US Politics

Kevin McCarthy: Why Republicans are preventing their own leader from becoming US speaker

— Why breakaway Republicans are blocking the election of a new speaker of the US House of Representatives.

Brazil

At Lula’s inauguration, did Bolsonaro ‘eat the last cannibal’?

— When Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, widely known as Lula, assumed the Brazilian presidency on New Year’s Day 2023, his predecessor had already created an element of something called ‘eating the cannibal’.

OPINION

If Trump is waning, what are his options?

— As his “brand” starts to diminish, there are three choices left for former President Donald J. Trump.

OPINION

Donald Trump may or may not go away but Trumpism will remain

— The vote results of the last mid-term elections have had political pundits, politicians, and the news media speculating that it’s the end of Donald Trump’s political dominance.

Analysis

An indictment wouldn’t end Trump’s run for the presidency – He could even campaign or serve from a jail cell

— Donald Trump made little mention of his personal legal battles as he announced his bid to retake the White House. But would an indictment end the former president’s run for presidency?

Analysis

Why some people think fascism is the greatest expression of democracy ever invented

— Some fascists claim that democracy and fascism have the same goal – to give effect to the will of the people. But who the people are is where the ideologies divide.

OPINION

Post-election thoughts

— President Biden had it right when he said that democracy won Tuesday’s elections. The pundits, pollsters and press had it wrong when they say Democrats won the election.

OPINION

It’s not your dads’ GOP anymore, and never will be again

— If you ever entertained any notion that the Republican Party will endure in a democracy, tell me what you’re smoking, please.

OPINION

For GOP, it’s Trump Road whether he runs or not

— Between Ron DeSantis, Liz Cheney and Donald Trump, the Republicans seem to have already chosen their candidate for 2024 – or have they?

OPINION

The return of the Yos! and Oys! – plus a new addition.

— B. Jay Cooper occasionally hands out awards for Yos! and Oys!, celebrating those individuals who do good deeds (Yo!) and bad ones (Oy!). The Committee on Yos! and Oys! meets when it feels like it.

OPINION

Last week the Axis Of Autocracy was consummated.

— If Donald Trump is elected President in 2024, none of the world’s democracies will be safe or protected from China’s or Russia’s forced attempts to convert democracies to autocracies.

Donald Trump

How the FBI knew what to search for at Mar-a-Lago – and why the Presidential Records Act is an essential tool for future historians.

— A presidential scholar sets the history and context for the battle over President Trump’s official records – and says it isn’t the first records battle between the government and a former president.

Donald Trump

New photos suggest how Trump, flush with power, may have sent official documents down the toilet.

— Photos showing what appear to be torn-up documents in two different toilets may provide more evidence of the former president’s habit of destroying his presidential documents.

OPINION

I believe her. Mostly.

— I don’t believe Cassidy Hutchinson intentionally lied on the stand, at all. I believe she testified honestly to what she knows first-hand and to what she heard second-hand.

COMMENT

In Iran, one man exercises complete control for his lifetime. In the US, it’s now six people.

— Political gridlock across the US federal government has made the country’s supreme court uniquely powerful.

COMMENT

A peaceful transfer of power in America? Yes, but...

— I don’t know about you but the Colombian election has been a rare bright spot in the news from the Americas.