Notes from a Disillusioned Democrat

 The US Department of Justice announced that: 1. It has charged two employees of RT (formerly Russia Today) with planting media content designed to interfere in American elections. Did Russia do it? Probably. They would be stupid not to work in their own favor. Does the US government interfere in foreign elections? Do you even have to ask?  2. The DOJ also announced that it has shut down 32 websites that it believes are spreading Russian propaganda.  Thomas Knapp, a libertarian, has published an article about it on Counterpunch .  As he points out, the First Amendment does not contain an exception for ideas originating from countries we hate or for ideas that the government finds odious.  On the other hand, if I am reading Russian propaganda, I want to *know* it is Russsian propaganda.  I believe I have a solution to this dilemma: require any website, newspaper, or other journalistic medium not supported by personal or family money to disclose its funding s...

 There are excellent reasons for opposing sanctions on any country: They are a collective punishment that affects ordinary people far more than it affects the government officials who make the policies the US objects to.  Sanctions often lead to undernutrition and a lack of necessary medical supplies. There is little proof that sanctions achieve meaningful goals. The US has imposed sanctions on Cuba for decades. The truly oppressive and awful Cuban government remains in power. Sanctions against Iraq led to at least 350 thousand deaths of children. [Figures for child deaths due to sanctions against Iraq vary greatly from a low of 67 thousand children age 5 and under to a high of 525 thousand. I have chosen a figure in the middle.] Children who lost limbs during the 2003 invasion had to endure soul-searing pain without pain relief because of US sanctions. With the exception of South Africa, sanctions appear not to effect a change in government. South Africa also had other factor...

 On this date, November 2, 2024, the polls are predicting a presidential race that is too close to call. It seems likely that the election results will not be known until at least a week after election day. It also seems likely that there will be weeks of litigation by the losing side--regardless of whether the losing candidate is Harris or Trump. While I cannot predict the results of the upcoming presidential election, I am willing to go out on a limb and sugggest what WILL happen if Trump wins. He will not serve out the full four years.  If impeached by the House of Representatives, he will not be convicted by the Senate because conviction requires a 2/3 vote and the Democrats will not control 2/3 of the Senate. Rather, I predict that IF Trump wins,  Vice President Vance will invoke the 25th Amendment, have him declared incompetent, and will remove him from office. Vance, of course, would then become the president.  The groundwork is already being laid. The news ma...

[This post was first published in October but I have added some updates about Elon Musk.]  Donald Trump surrounds himself with men who have some disturbing attitudes about women. 1. J.D. Vance singled out childless *women* and called them sociopaths. Yet, he said nothing about childless men. He showed himself oblivious to the many reasons a non-sociopathic woman might choose not to have children: infertility, genetic problems in the family, other medical issues, poverty, being unmarried--and kids in fatherless homes don't do well. These reasons are not at all sociopathic. In fact, not passing on genetic problems might be called humane and responsible.  If Vance were some person of limited intelligence and minimal education, he could be forgiven. But he has a law degree from Yale.  Now, Tucker Carlson has come along and said something even worse than than Vance: And when Dad gets home, you know what he says? You’ve been a bad girl . You’ve been a bad little girl and you’re...