An emergency is defined as “a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action.” By Julie Slama – After agreeing to sign bipartisan legislation passed by both houses of Congress to keep the government open and provide $1.375 billion for border fencing, not the wall Trump wanted and far less than the $5.7 billion…
By Robert Reich – The only redeeming aspect to Trump’s presidency is he brings us back to basics. And what could be more basic than the difference between democracy and dictatorship? Democracy is about means, not ends. If we all agreed on the ends (such as whether to build a wall along the Mexican border)…
Science can help us make sense of the president’s seeming political invincibility – Mind In The Machine – Bobby Azarian Ph.D. – Whether we want to or not, we must try to understand the Donald Trump phenomenon, as it has completely swept the nation and also fiercely divided it. What is most baffling about it…
By David Underhill — MOBILE, Ala. — Unlike the thousands who marched in San Francisco’s Rise for Climate, Jobs & Justice last Saturday, it was a minor triumph for Mobile to have a rally at all in a downtown square. Ten feet above ground blue ribbons circled pillars of the bandstand where speakers stood. I…
Following the Vietnam war hero and Senator John McCain’s death, Rick Davis, Senator McCain’s former presidential campaign manager and a family spokesman, read the following farewell statement at a news conference at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix on Monday. “My fellow Americans, whom I have gratefully served for sixty years, and especially my fellow…
Guest Column – By U.S. Senator Doug Jones – Joshua Hillman, a bright young man from Prattville, Alabama, is heading to law school this fall with the hopes of someday becoming an advocate for others who need help. Joshua knows firsthand what it’s like to face a daily struggle and to do so with a…
Guest Column – By Doug Jones – WASHINGTON, D.C. — From Florence to Dothan, Mobile to Huntsville, and every stop in between, Alabama is a proud producer and exporter of goods to countries around the world. In fact, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, more than 567,000 Alabama jobs are supported by global trade.…
By Robert Reich – I keep hearing that if Trump fires Mueller we’ll face a constitutional crisis. Or if Mueller subpoenas Trump to testify and Trump defies the subpoena, it’s a constitutional crisis. Or if Mueller comes up with substantial evidence that Trump is guilty of colluding with Russia or of obstructing justice but the…
By Robert Reich – Imagine that an impeachment resolution against Trump passes the House. Trump claims it’s the work of the “deep state.†Fox News’s Sean Hannity demands every honest patriot take to the streets. Rightwing social media call for war. As insurrection spreads, Trump commands the armed forces to side with the “patriots.†Or…
By David Underhill – In an inscrutable Oriental blink the mirage of Korean peace begins to fade. North Korea’s “Little Rocket Man”, whose grim regime was a target for fire and fury like the world has never seen, according to last year’s Trumpet blasts, yielded to the Bigger Man with the Bigger Nuclear Button. The…
By Robert Reich – Why did working class voters choose a selfish, thin-skinned, petulant, lying, narcissistic, boastful, megalomaniac for president? With the 2018 midterms around the corner, and prospective Democratic candidates already eyeing the 2020 race, the answer is important because it will influence how Democrats campaign. One explanation focuses on economic hardship. The working…
Editor’s Note: Monday, April 23 was celebrated in Alabama as Confederate Memorial Day, a state holiday that some say should be removed from the official calendar much like the Confederate Battle Flag was removed from state capitol buildings. The controversy over removing Confederate monuments which sparked protests in New Orleans and Charlottesville, Virginia has now…
Editor’s Note: While the New American Journal has not endorsed any candidates for office yet this year, we find the arguments persuasive in this editorial from the University of Alabama’s student newspaper. We republish here for your consideration. On June 5th, Alabama voters will have the opportunity to participate in the state’s gubernatorial primary. Both…
By Robert Reich – The petulant adolescent in the White House – who has replaced most of the adults around him with raging sycophants and has demoted his chief of staff, John Kelly, to lapdog – lacks adequate supervision. Before, he was merely petty and vindictive. He’d tweet nasty things about people he wanted to…
By Robert Reich – America has had its share of crooks (Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon), bigots (Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan), and incompetents (Andrew Johnson, George W. Bush). But never before Donald Trump have we had a president who combined all these nefarious qualities. America’s great good fortune was to begin with the opposite –…
By Keven Smith – FaceBook criticism is nothing new. In fact, there’s an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to it, which began, interestingly enough, in 2007 – a mere two years after the company, under CEO Mark Zuckerberg, settled a lawsuit with brothers Cameron, and Tyler Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra claiming that he had stolen the…
By Robert Reich – What’s worrying isn’t that Trump is now getting advice about policy from fanatics like John Bolton and Lawrence Kudlow. Trump has never cared about policy. The real worry is that – with Robert Mueller breathing down his neck, and several special elections suggesting a giant “blue wave” in November – Trump…
By David Underhill – When Roman emperors knew they were finished, the courageous ones would fall on their own swords. Infirm and unable to defend themselves against their rivals. Or about to lose in a palace coup or civil war. Or having done something so disgraceful their reputation could never recover. Rather than submit to…
By Robert Reich – Before I turn to Jared Kushner, let me ask: Do you believe the U.S. government does the right thing all or most of the time? The Gallup organization started asking this question in 1963, when over 70 percent of Americans said they did. Since then, the percent has steadily declined. By…
By Rowland Scherman – Mr. Trump has tried very hard to implement his campaign promises, the tax cut for the richest, the dismantling of Obamacare and many others. His idea to build a wall is his plan to protect national security. “Good fences make good neighbors.” Most people, it seems, choose to regard those words…
