There You Go Again......

by Chris James

In my previous column, entitled "Good Luck With That," I surgically demolished the two most popular platitudes that are being used by Trumpists to try to persuade doubters and naysayers to vote for that quintessential Village Idiot. Namely, a) not voting for Trump is a vote for Hillary, and b) do it for the good of your children and grandchildren. I complacently thought that my skillful efforts more than justified a self-satisfied "Well, that takes care of that." Wrong. The Phoenix has since risen from the ashes. And so, like Sisyphus, I am hypnotically compelled to push that infuriating rock back up the hill again---and to mix metaphors.

There You Go Again, Sisyphus

by John Stevenson

My colleague Chris James mounts an argument against Trumpians.  I'm not one, but I rise to point out a fallacy in his argument. 

Chris declares Trump's isolationist policies would render the U.S. an economic basket case equivalent to Cuba and North Korea.  He ascribes their economic failure to isolationism. 

Not so.

North Korea is truly isolated from the world, but Cuba is not.  Cuba was isolated from us, but continued to do brisk business with other countries.  The common debilitating force defeating the Cuban and North Korean economies is not isolationism.  It is communism.  With a hefty dose of dictatorship thrown in for good measure.

Two Grieving Families

by John Stevenson

At the Democratic National Convention, a Muslim Pakistani-American spoke powerfully and eloquently.  Khizr Khan's son Humayun Khan, a captain in the U.S. Army, had been killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq in 2004.  Khizr spoke of his son's sacrifice.  He eviscerated the Republican presidential nominee for not having sacrificed for America and for advocating a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S.  Khizr did not say that the Republican candidate had anything whatever to do with the 2004 death of Humayun. 

Trump and the Ruskies

by John Stevenson

Dear reader: Do not expect to find here an advocacy for either Presidential Candidate Donald Trump or Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton (well, you wouldn't have expected that anyway)---or an argument against either one.  I focus here on the narrow issue of the hacking of the emails of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and, more specifically, the handling of that issue by the DNC, the media, the pundits, and the political operatives.  So this writing is rated "safe for all readers"---even for my Democrat friends (yes, I think I still have some).  But you'll have to pay attention because, as they say, it's complicated.