Something is wrong with our bloody ships — Oops I mean process on July 16, 2020On May 31, 1916 as the naval battle of Jutland raged and as his battle cruisers were being blown out of the water by the German High Seas Fleet, Royal Navy Vice Admiral David Beatty moaned that “something is wrong with our bloody ships today.” That comment should apply to the Trump Administration’s National Security […]
Mutiny on the Gru and not Hms Bounty on July 8, 2020Last week, the New York Times broke that sensational story that Russia’s military intelligence arm, the GRU and its Unit 21955, paid $100,000 bounties to the Taliban for killing US and allied troops in Afghanistan. The story attributed the deaths of three marines last year to these GRU bounties. Those revelations created an instantaneous double […]
The new maga: making America Gaga! on June 17, 2020Donald Trump’s marquis four letter slogan that got him to the White House and now is central to his re-election campaign is MAGA: Make America Great Again. Despite the rhetoric flourish, the term is and was oxymoronic. A more fitting MAGA is “Making America GAGA.” GAGA is a non-technical term referring not to the entertainer […]
The fifth horseman unloosened on June 3, 2020No sooner had this column identified the Fifth Horseman accompanied by MAD (Massive Attacks of Disruption), both struck with a vengeance following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis las week. Nation-wide protests erupted. Many were not peaceful. Riots and violence broke out and still rage. Just a few blocks west of where we live […]
Beyond Corona: three other political viruses on March 18, 2020Corona or Covid-19 is the immediate threat to the nation’s well-being. How it spreads, the impact on the economies and on the social fabrics not only of the United States but other nations are now unknowable. Conceivably, hundreds of millions and even billions could be infected. On the other hand, the actions taken by South […]
Cronkite, Desert One And Corona: one missing consequence on March 12, 2020Covid-19 looms as a Damoclean sword that could slice either way come the November presidential elections. If the virus runs its course by mid-summer and the world becomes more or less “stable,” Donald Trump will understandably claim victory. A stock market recovery to pre-Corona days would also reinforce that claim. Alternatively, should this optimistic scenario […]
The Katrina virus on March 4, 2020In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck America’s southeast. New Orleans was especially hard hit, much of it demolished by floods. Over 1700 people died. And George W. Bush’s administration was rightly pilloried because of the lack of preparation and anticipation of the annual recurrence of hurricanes. Is CODIV-19 virus, aka Corona Virus, a potential Katrina […]
Prime Minister Trump on February 24, 2020Bucharest, Romania: The question this week for many columnists was to write about the Democratic debate held last Wednesday in Nevada or something more serious. Given the performance of the contenders, the clear winner was Donald Trump. However, a so far invisible tectonic shift in American politics is taking place. Whether Americans like or loath […]
The stupid gene on February 20, 2020In Anatomy of Failure: Why America Loses Every War It Starts, one of the endemic causes of failure was due to the acute lack of knowledge and understanding of the circumstances in which force was used. Obviously ideology, politics, group think, bureaucratic ineptness and other factors contributed. However, in retrospect, perhaps another reason demonstrated failure: […]
China and Russia ain’t ten feet tall on February 11, 2020London, England: Many states and leaders need threats and dangers, foreign and domestic, to stir public opinion, through fear and worry, to follow their policies and maintain or increase power. The US was never immune. Immigrants, regardless of origin, often were victims of fear mongering including Germans, Irish and East Europeans to Japanese and Chinese. […]