McMaster’s Challenge: His Boss Is Already Making America Less Safe

The following article by Vikram Singh and Peter Juul was posted on the Center for American Progress website February 22, 2017:

Photo: AP/Walsh

At a time when the Trump administration continues to spark an immediate and growing national security crises due to mismanagement and reckless policies, the national security community felt great relief at the president’s selection of Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as the next national security advisor. McMaster will be tasked with resolving a number of serious foreign policy blunders already committed by the new administration. President Trump must ensure that McMaster has the authority and tools to deal with the following seven problems.

  1. Chaotic and dysfunctional management. Even before former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s forced resignation, President Trump’s National Security Council proved disturbingly dysfunctional. For example, U.S. military officials told Reuters that the president “approved his first covert counterterrorism operation without sufficient intelligence, ground support or adequate backup preparations.” The operation in Yemen was launched with no normal process and resulted in the death of a Navy SEAL as well as dozens of civilians; it also reportedly ended American access to conduct ground operations in Yemen. Political infighting has left U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with virtually no staff. Worse still, the country lacks a systematic national security decisionmaking process to effectively deal with the inevitable next crisis.

Continue reading “McMaster’s Challenge: His Boss Is Already Making America Less Safe”

He’s the Boss

The following article by Leslie Bennetts was posted on the Washington Spectator website February 17, 2017:

Trump’s misogyny takes its toll on women

Patricia Bosworth met her future husband in a bar when he punched out a drunk who pinched her bottom. She was only 19, but they married with dizzying speed.

He began to abuse her almost as quickly. One night they argued about money, in the back seat of a taxi, and he started hitting her. Screaming and sobbing, she begged the cab driver for help, only to have him shrug off her pleas.

“He’s the boss, lady,” the driver said.

Bosworth finally left her husband when he tried to choke her to death because he was angry that his pet bird escaped. Now 83, she has since had a long career as an actress and author. Her latest book—The Men in My Life: A Memoir of Love and Art in 1950s Manhattan—describes the harrowing story of her first marriage in an era when the prevailing culture simply assumed that men were entitled to beat their wives. Continue reading “He’s the Boss”

Why The Flynn-Russia Affair Is So Troubling For Trump

The following article by Kurt Eichenwald was posted on the Newsweek website February 21, 2017:

Call it what you will: Flynnghazi. Russiagate. The Crackpot Dome scandal. No matter the sobriquet attached to the inappropriate discussions between the Russian ambassador and Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security advisor, the growing cancer from this case is not going away.

Perhaps the Russia scandal seemed like it had disappeared amid the antics of the past week, from Trump’s rambling, 77-minute press conference, his Saturday rally—where he surprised Sweden with news of some imaginary immigrant disaster the previous night—or his declaration that the news media was the enemy of the American people.  Continue reading “Why The Flynn-Russia Affair Is So Troubling For Trump”

Sen. Cwodzinski Commentary: School counselors are essential to the pursuit of happiness

The following commentary was posted on the Eden Prairie News website February 23, 2017:

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These three well-known words were written down by our county’s founders as examples of “unalienable rights” in the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration also states that governments are created to help protect these rights. I bring up this brief history lesson because lately I think we as a society have dropped the ball when it comes to allowing our children the pursuit of their own happiness.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in five children in the U.S. shows signs or symptoms of a mental health disorder. That means that in an average class, five of them could be struggling with some very grown-up issues – anxiety, depression or even substance abuse. Our kids are in crisis, and our schools simply aren’t equipped to handle all of their problems adequately. They’re not equipped because the average student-to-counselor ratio in Minnesota is 748 students to 1 counselor. That’s outrageous. Continue reading “Sen. Cwodzinski Commentary: School counselors are essential to the pursuit of happiness”

Want a stronger economy? Give immigrants a warm welcome.

The following article by Kevin Shih was posted on the Conversation website February 23, 2017:

Immigrant Elon Musk isn’t taking anyone’s job: he’s created thousands at Tesla and SpaceX. Stephen Lam/Reuters

Immigrants have long been a scapegoat when economies are sputtering, jobs are being lost or security is a concern.

President Donald Trump’s planned wall along the Mexican border, for example, is premised on the notion that immigrants are pouring across the border (they’re not), taking Americans’ jobs (they haven’t) and committing a disproportionate share of crimes (they don’t).

The presumed threats of immigration were also front and center in Trump’s recently announced plan to deport millions of people who were in the U.S. illegally. Continue reading “Want a stronger economy? Give immigrants a warm welcome.”

President Trump is losing his war with the media

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website February 22, 2017:

It’s pretty clear what President Trump is doing by going after the media. He sees someone who is tough on him, with a lower approval rating, and he sets up a contrast. It’s like making yourself look taller by standing next to a short person.

“You have a lower approval rate than Congress,” he needled reporters at last week’s news conference, making clear he had done the math.

Except maybe it’s not really working. Continue reading “President Trump is losing his war with the media”

Thousands of emails detail EPA head’s close ties to fossil fuel industry

The following article by Brady Dennis and Steven Mufson was posted on the Washington Post website February 22, 2017:

In his previous role as Oklahoma’s attorney general, the Environmental Protection Agency’s new administrator regularly huddled with fossil fuel firms and electric utilities about how to combat federal environmental regulations and spoke to conservative political groups about what they called government “overreach,” according to thousands of pages of emails made public Wednesday.

“The newly released emails reveal a close and friendly relationship between Scott Pruitt’s office and the fossil fuel industry, with frequent meetings, calls, dinners and other events,” said Nick Surgey, research director for the Center for Media and Democracy, which has sued to compel the release of the emails. Continue reading “Thousands of emails detail EPA head’s close ties to fossil fuel industry”

No, Mr. President, we’re not the enemy

The following commentary by the Editorial Board of the Star Tribune was posted on their website February 21, 2017:

The nation’s founders recognized the importance of a free press.

Amendment 1: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press …

It’s all right there in the first 26 words of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: the foundation upon which this democracy is built. When President Trump declared the media the “enemy of the American people,” he took on an institution that has been part of the fabric of this country since before its birth. Continue reading “No, Mr. President, we’re not the enemy”

Michael Moore Steps Up With Resistance Calendar and Website Devoted to Stopping President Trump

The following article by Don Hazen was posted on the Alternet website February 21, 2017:

He offers his 10-step program to rally the troops for the long-term resistance battle.

Editor’s Note: Filmmaker Michael Moore, one of the most visible and active leaders of the Trump resistance movement, has stepped up with two major contributions to the battle ahead. He has created an easily accessible website—a Resistance Calendar—where people can post news about upcoming resistance activities and find out what is going on in their community and region. Moore writes: “I’ve promised you a one-stop site, a clearinghouse of all actions—a RESISTANCE CALENDAR—where you can find every upcoming action, protest, march, sit-in, town hall, anti-Trump, pro-democracy event in all 50 states!”

Moore has also unleashed “The Michael Moore Easy-to-Follow 10-Point Plan to Stop Trump,” published below, which contains Moore’s list of tactics for resisters all over the country. Part of Moore’s plan is to take over the Democratic Party, which to him means getting Congressman Keith Ellison elected to head the DNC when it meets this Saturday, February 25. A key element of Moore’s plan is getting five to 20 of your friends and family members together to create a personal “Rapid Response Team.” Moore also wants thousands of progressives to run for office and make their own media using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and other social media sites to spread news and information. He says, “Make sure all your friends and family are signed up.”

 —Don Hazen, executive editor, AlterNet

The Michael Moore Easy-to-Follow 10-Point Plan to Stop Trump

First, let’s acknowledge what we all know to be true: Trump is in deep, deep trouble—in the pocket of Russians, surrounded by alt-right idiots, alone in his bathrobe in a mostly empty White House—and caught inside a disgusting “shit-sandwich,” so said his supporter who turned down the NSA job. Continue reading “Michael Moore Steps Up With Resistance Calendar and Website Devoted to Stopping President Trump”