Drumbeats category archive
The Jingo Jangle 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Cindy Watson looks at how interconnected the world has become and suggests it’s time to rethink nationalism.
Methinks one doesn’t need to look beyond page one headlines to realize that she makes some good points.
Learning from Experience 0
At the Tampa Bay Times, Vietnam veteran Mike Kanter observes Memorial Day by offering some lessons to be learned from that venture. Here’s a tiny bit of his article (emphasis in the original):
For the politicians and senior public officials: Don’t capriciously go to war. Few wars are truly justified.
The entire piece is worth the few minutes it will take to read it.
Fair and Balanced? 0
At the Portland Press-Herald, Victoria Hugo-Nidal suggests that the press coverage of the student demonstrations at U. S. colleges may be slightly–er–skewed. Here’s a bit of her article:
It’s difficult to imagine getting away with doing this for any other group. Can you imagine if I pointed to Rep. Michael Lemelin – you know, the guy who said that the Lewiston mass shooting was God’s punishment on Maine for enacting “immoral laws” – and said he represented the beliefs of every single Republican in the state of Maine? I’d get torn apart. Nobody would let me get away with that.
The article is worth the two or three minutes you’ll need to read it.
Fail Columbia? 0
At the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a Jewish student from Georgia currently enrolled at Columbia University expresses his disappointment at how his college has reacted to the demonstrations there and his dismay at how some students, professors, and pundits are portraying both the demonstrations and the conflict in Gaza. It is a thoughtful piece well-worth a read.
Here’s a tiny bit:
Truth vs. Moscow Marge 0
David describes what happens when fiction meets fact. (Warning: Short promo at the end.)
Russian Impulses 0
Republican Ken Buck, who resigned his post in the House of Representatives in disgust, comments on the Greene raw deal.
Via C&L, which has commentary.
“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Echoes”* 0
At the Portland Press-Herald, Victoria Hugo-Vidal looks at the conflict in Gaza and hears an echo.
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*Mark Twain
“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Echoes”* 0
At the Des Moines Register, David Skidmore looks at Republican obstructionism as regards aid to Ukraine and hears an echo.
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*Mark Twain.
The Mechanics of Mind Control 0
Der Spiegel takes a long and penetrating look at how Vladimir Putin maintains his control on Russia. It is well-worth a read in these troubled and troubling times.
Here’s a tiny bit:
“It’s quite simple,” says (Russian ex-pat Ekaterina–ed.) Schulman. Putin claimed that Ukraine had to be de-Nazified, she says. “The autocrat’s word is the official Russian position. There is pressure to be loyal and there is punishment for those who publicly deviate from this narrative.”
Putin has imposed wartime censorship. According to the regime, anyone who criticizes the attack on the neighboring country is slandering the army and is subject to prosecution. The censorship laws are so vaguely formulated that the security authorities can take action against just about anyone. Just wearing blue and yellow sneakers, the colors of Ukraine, can be enough to land a person in hot water. One Moscow man who did that got fined the equivalent of 100 euros. Meanwhile, a woman in Krasnodar was talking to her husband about the war in a restaurant. A restaurant employee reported her to the police and she had to pay the equivalent of 400 euros in fines; her husband went to jail for 15 days for “rioting.” People are snitching on others all over the place in Russia right now. Compliant helpers have denounced tens of thousands of fellow citizens to the security authorities – also because of critical posts on the internet.
One Thing Is Not Like the Other Thing 0
Robert Reich takes exception to a comment by noted fifth columnist Tucker Carlson:
Well, I’m sorry, Tucker. You’re wrong.
Real leadership is the opposite of thuggery.
Follow the link for the evidence.
The Fifth Columnists 0
The Pittsburgh Post’s Gazette’s Gene Collier finds Republicans’ refusal to assist Ukraine to resist Putin’s aggression to be–er–somewhat problematic. Here’s a bit of what he has to say:
It was Johnson who scuttled the bi-partisan border deal Republicans have been screaming about for decades, which he did at the urging of Trump, who has to run for president on something other than 91 felony charges. Trump was doubtless behind Johnson’s Ukraine walkout as well, which happened just as Putin opponent Alexei Navalny was turning up dead in a Russian prison.
Another Fifth Columinst 0
Dick Polman looks at Tucker Carlson’s Russian impulses and finds a parallel from the past.
The Fifth Columnist 0
At AL.com, John W. Davis savages Donald Trump’s ahistorical, incorrect, incoherent, inane promise to lead the United States to violate its commitment to its NATO allies. Here’s a bit (emphasis added); follow the link for the rest.
Former President Trump said he would not defend NATO allies if invaded, if he deemed them financially delinquent. Says Trump, who regularly reneged on just payments to his own contractors. Says Trump who would encourage Russia to, “… do whatever the Hell they want” to our allies. Our NATO allies risked all to trust and join NATO, so to shed Soviet chains and torture chambers. Russia’s leaders want nothing better than to enslave Eastern Europe again.
Those Who Forget the Past . . . 0
. . . would doom themselves–and the rest of us–to repeat it.
