A friend sends me this column by Niall Ferguson: I don’t see myself naturally aligned with Ferguson on much, but I found this analysis interesting. That said, I think he glosses over the fact that China represents a wholly different political system with regard to human rights and freedoms than the US and Europe do. That […]
The Trump-Kim summit is tomorrow (Singapore time), and I guess I’ll weigh in on it – mostly just because they’re both staying about a five-minute walk away on either side of me. Everyone has to wish that this meeting works out. Even if this could mean an easier path to a second term for Trump, […]
In a previous post I asked the question, am I a journalist? From reading that, you will know that my answer is yes, under a couple of conditions: That I will be transparent about my worldview and associations. That I will hold to the commitments and habits of a journalist, including retaining a healthy skepticism, […]
As you can see at the top of my website, I describe myself as a journalist. However, if you spend any time reading my blog or my social media posts, you’ll quickly see why, when asked, I also describe myself as a liberal. If you’re of a particular mindset about journalism, you might find that […]
The carnage on the border between Gaza and Israel is horrific. I get it that, after decades of conflict, no one in the Mideast has clean hands (including, or especially, the US), but the deaths in this conflict are completely lopsided: The US should be working to restrain Israel and seek a just peace. But we’re […]
I didn’t find the ABC interview with former FBI director James Comey to be that interesting in the end. There wasn’t a lot of new information or insight. In fact, David Graham of the Atlantic had a good summary: The interview also captured the sense of surrealism that has pervaded much of American political life […]
As someone who finds Pres. Trump to be an awful person and disagrees with many (but not all) of his policies, I’m supposed to be delighted with the raids on Pres. Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen. After all, this could be a big step toward finding out whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russian operatives to […]
Even though I consider myself a journalist, I refuse to let that deprive me of the privileges of citizenship. So, when an issue clearly has one answer – gun control, for example – I’ll make my support known. Also, I vote. Living abroad as I do, I vote by mail. Today, I shipped my ballot […]
While I want the Mueller investigation to continue – and I sure want to know if the Trump campaign directly colluded with the Russian government to hack the DNC and Podesta – I’m not comfortable with every aspect of it. First off, the recent subpoena against Sam Nunberg seemed awfully broad – both in terms […]
This is a couple weeks old, but still worth a look. Apparently the mainstream policy wonks of the Democratic party are embracing a version of single-payer – finally. Under the plan, dubbed Medicare Extra (because Bernie Sander’s Medicare-for-All shall not be named, it seems), Americans would have guaranteed health insurance, getting them needed medical care […]
Bill Poorman 