Sanity Sunday -Weekly Review (Aug 20- 26) and Nomadic Playlist

by Nomad

Things moved fast and furious this week. In terms of entertainment, the news of the week offered Nomads a lot of pulse-pounding excitement and stunning plot twists. It was the worst week of his presidency. We said that many times and every time it was true.

The lawyer to Stormy Daniels, (and Leadfoot's love interest) Michael Avenetti summed up the week's tumultuous events like this:

"The criminal enterprise that Donald Trump managed for so many years and was at the center of is quickly unraveling and I anticipate that it is going to pick up considerable momentum in the coming days and weeks ahead."

We can only pray he is correct.

Why Michael Cohen's Plea Arrangement Likely Also Implicates Donald Trump Jr.

by Nomad

It's hard not to view yesterday as a turning point in the Trump debacle.
At the trial of Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort was found guilty of eight felony charges, five tax fraud charges, one charge of hiding foreign bank accounts and two counts of bank fraud. He faces a maximum of 80 years in prison.

Meanwhile, in a Manhattan court, Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen yesterday pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws. He told the District Court judge that the payments to the women were made “in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office.”
And that candidate was not Hillary "Lock 'er up!" Clinton.
Altogether, it was a terrible day for Donald J. Trump and a terribly good day for the rule of law in America.

Paula White, the Prosperity Gospel and the Evangelical's Faustian Bargain

by Nomad

Since somebody had to do it, I have been reading- ok, skimming- through Omarosa's book, Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House. I won't go through a full review of the book but there was one scene from the transition period that caught my eye.

Sanity Sunday - Weekly Review (Aug 13- 19)

by Nomad

Hillary Clinton famously described Donald Trump as "a man you can bait with a tweet" and this week, Trump seemed to go out of his way to prove her remark was an understatement. In what seemed like a desperate attempt to hold onto control, the president spent most of the last seven days attacking his critics or trying to silence them.

Revenge Served Cold

The news this week was pretty much dominated by Omarosa Manigault Newman. The fired aide to the president- nobody was ever quite sure what her job actually was- revealed that she had secretly taped conversations during her stint at the White House. 

Why the Anti-Abortion Dream of Evangelicals Will Be a Nightmare for Young Women

by Nomad

With the confirmation of arch-conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, one of the long prayed-for dreams of the evangelical movement will very likely be attained: the overturning of 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.

Sanity Sunday - Weekly Review (August 6-12) and Nomadic Playlist 5

by Nomad

Paleobiologist, J. William Schopf, once pointed out that "for four-fifths of our history, our planet was populated by pond scum." Looking back over the last week, it's hard to see much sign that things- at least in the noxious world of politics-  have evolved all that much. Despite Trump's campaign promise to drain the swamp, the week proved that the levels of scum are not receding in the slightest. 
So it's time to put on our hip waders and take our weekly march into the muck. 


Trump Tweets about Secret Meeting
On Monday, President Trump admitted in a tweet something which will, legal experts said, be extraordinarily problematic for his defense against the charge of Russian collusion.

Why Social Media Platforms Are Finally Saying Adios to Alex Jones

by Nomad

Why A Court Victory for DACA Dreamers Won't Stop Trump's Zero Tolerance Policy

by Nomad

Although federal judges have ordered the administration to re-instate DACA in recent decisions, there is still plenty of dread and distrust amongst the Dreamers for this administration. 
And for good reason.


You might not have noticed what with all the usual insanity going on in the Trump administration but, on Friday, a federal judge delivered another serious blow to one of the president's most controversial decrees. This marks- perhaps- the death blow to Trump's fondest anti-immigration dreams.

Sanity Sunday - Week in Review (July 30 - August 5) and Nomadic Playlist 4

by Nomad

This edition of Weekly Review covers a lot of ground. While the last seven days weren't particularly dramatic, there were quite a few noteworthy events.  

Russia Brags About Infiltration

The week started off with a mysterious remark from Russia's top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov,  On Monday, Lavrov claimed  Russia now has access to insider information about U.S. military plans. Addressing the Terra Scientia on Klyazma River National Educational Youth Forum, he explained that Moscow would be

"provided with information about the schemes harbored by the militaries of both the U.S. and other Western countries against the Russian Federation."

The State Department declined to comment on Lavrov's remarks. However, the Defense Secretary, James Mattis put his own spin on the Russian admission, saying that it was "most important that we talk with those countries we have the largest disagreements with."
This is the man in charge of overseeing the defense of our nation.

King of Fake News: How Trump Made a Tragic Crash that Killed 3 Executives All About Him

by Nomad

King of the Tabloids

Anyone who has bothered to track the career of property developer Trump can't help but be a little stunned to hear President Trump's hysterical outrage over "fake news."  In-the-know New Yorkers who were around during his rise are well-acquainted with Trump's casual manipulation of the press. 

Our Mobster President: Rudy Giuliani Bumbling and Ironic Defense of Trump

by Nomad

Trump defender Rudy Giuliani's Fox News interview really underscored what a lot of us have- if only subconsciously- already realized: Trump's a gangster.

Giuliani's Soprano Defense

In an op-ed piece, Eugene Robinson, columnist and an associate editor of The Washington Post, referred to a comment Mr. Guiliani made after CNN published the first of hundreds taped conversations between Trump and his lawyer, Michael Cohen. And what a defense Rudy came up with.

Sanity Sunday- July 23- 29 Week in Review and Nomadic Playlist 3

by Nomad

Compared to previous weeks, the last week (July 23- 29) was subdued all in all. That didn't mean there was not a whole lot of unnecessary confusion, alternate facts and general incompetence. After all, Donald Trump is still the president. 

FBI Indictment Of Russian Officers Reveals Extent of Putin's Attack on US Election System

by Nomad

Amid the hubbub of Trump's catastrophic NATO meeting and humiliating summit with Vladimir Putin, the indictment of 12 Russian intel officers for the state-sponsored cyber-attack on the US was mostly overlooked. The details found in that indictment reveal the scope and precision of the Mueller investigation.  

"Don't Think About This Anymore Again"

Last week, In Helsinki, President Trump was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Russian President Putin, the man over a dozen intel agencies have fingered as the person behind cyber attacks on the US election.

Putin's Grand Offensive Against the West and What We Must Do About It - Part 2

by Nomad

In part one of this two-part series, we looked at Putin's strategy and the origins of his ire with the West. Writing for Foreign Affairs, Michael Anthony McFaul, the US ambassador to Russia between 2012 and 2014, offers his recommendations on the best path forward for the US.

The Humiliation of a Superpower in Decline

Even before the Trump-Putin summit last week, Russian state-run media outlets were hard at work praising the Russian president's strategy.
According to the Washington Post, one Russian state TV host brazenly asserted that "Trump is ours" and he "joked" that the recent visit by US lawmakers- on July 4, no less - was an attempt “to make deals with our hackers, so they can rig the midterms in favor of Trump’s team.”  

Sanity Sunday- Weekly Review and Nomadic Playlist 2

by Nomad

The Week in Review- Calamitous

Even by Trump's usual standards, this was a calamitous week of mind-numbing bombshells. By week's end, it was pretty clear that "events are spiraling out of control" was too mild an expression to use.

Putin's Grand Offensive Against the West and What We Must Do About It - Part 1

by Nomad

In a piece for Foreign Affairs, Michael Anthony McFaul, the US ambassador to Russia between 2012 and 2014, offers us some interesting insights into what went wrong between the former Cold War adversaries. McFaul lays out challenges ahead, what the US and the West must do in a time of "hot peace."

The Russian Offensive Against the West

Even though the era of competing ideologies (communism vs capitalism) may be over, that hasn't stopped Russian president Vladimir Putin from posturing himself as a leader of conservative nationalism fighting against a decadent West.

Sanity Sunday - Weekly Highlights and Nomadic Playlist 1

by Nomad

The Week in Review

Last week, the world witnessed a happy ending when 12 Thai boys and their coach were successfully rescued after being trapped in the Tham Luang cave complex.
The boys, aged between 11 to 16, spent over two weeks in the cave after the passageways unexpectedly flooded. As Navy SEALS and teams of international experts raced against time, people around the world were riveted by the rescue.
By10 pm Tuesday local time, all thirteen had been led out of the cave.

In less heart-warming news, Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh, as his replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. If confirmed, he is expected to tilt the court to the right for the foreseeable future.

Notes on Philip Roth's "The Plot Against America" in the Age of Trump

by Nomad

Published in 2004, novelist Philip Roth's last book what-if alternative history has definitely come back to haunt us. 

The events in "The Plot Against America" takes place between June 1940 and October 1942 in a world that took a different course.

The middle-class Roth family from New Jersey- a re-imagining of the author's real family- live in an America where President Franklin Delano Roosevelt has lost his bid for a third term. His unlikely Republican challenger? The aviator and all-American hero, Charles Lindbergh.

Some readers back in 2004 might be forgiven for thinking that this event was extremely far-fetched. Who back then would have ever believed that a celebrity without any political experience whatsoever could win a presidential election?

In actual history, Lindbergh was an isolationist and the leading voice of the America First Committee — an isolationist group of some 800,000 members. The organization believed that England was attempting to drag the US into another European war.

Good News Round Up- July 2018

by Nomad

The theme for this month's good news round-up is compassion. In a time of growing intolerance and the mentality of "might makes right," it might seem like the idea of compassion has gone extinct. It's not so hard to find evidence to the contrary.

Toddlers in Court: The Cruel Absurdity of Trump's Child Separation Policy

by Nomad

According to attorneys in Texas, California and Washington, D.C., children as young as three have been ordered to appear in court (without legal representation) for their own deportation proceedings.

You might be surprised to learn that requiring unaccompanied minors to go through deportation alone is not a new practice. However under Trump's zero-tolerance policy, More children - and some much younger- are now being ordered to appear before a judge.

Thomas Paine and the Despotic Danger of the Unaccountable Presidency

by Nomad

A Nation Turning Its Back on Its Own Glory

The last years of Thomas Paine, one of America's first and most outspoken intellectuals, were bitter ones. The American political activist and philosopher had left in the spring of 1787, bound for France.
A strong supporter for the anti-royalist side, he was caught up in the lethal throes of the revolution there. Charged with crimes against the state, Paine was arrested in December 1793 and was imprisoned for a year in Luxembourg Prison (formerly a palace.)
His survival was, by his own account, based solely on sheer luck. 

Sanity Sunday- The Lullabies and Ballads of Jackie Oates

by Nomad

English folk singer and fiddle player, Jackie Oates hails from Staffordshire. Since her debut in 2006, Oates has released 6 albums. According to her bio, she was a finalist in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards 2003 and has performed extensively at festivals and venues across the country and beyond. 

Righteous and Wrong: Why Trump's Immigrant policy is Anti-Christian, Cruel, and Doomed

by Nomad

Justifying the Indefensible

When Attorney General Jeff Sessions used a Bible verse to justify separating immigrant children from their families, a milestone in America's march toward a Christian theocracy was reached.

Instead of citing decades of legal precedent, Mr. Sessions quoted Romans 13.

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Later, Press Secretary (and uber-Christian) Sarah Huckabee Sanders  endorsed Sessions by telling the shell-shocked White House news corp “it is very biblical to enforce the law.” And yet, at no place in the Bible does it say that splitting up families or caging children is a particularly Christian thing to do.

Sanity Sunday- Piano Music by Tristan Eckerson

by Nomad

According to his biography, since his teenage years, musician Tristan Eckerson has lived the life of a nomad. His musical career has taken him to a range of places like Charleston, South Carolina, San Sebastian, Spain, San Francisco, California, Seattle, Washington, and Asheville, North Carolina.

Throughout his travels he has written music and performed in multiple groups on both U.S. Coasts, Canada, and Europe, recording with members of the Ray Charles Orchestra, writing string arrangements for the Magik*Magik Orchestra, receiving his Master's degree in Music Production and Sound Design from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and writing original music for multiple award-winning films, commercials, and animation projects.

Stéphane Hessel and the Importance of Being Outraged

by Nomad

Stéphane Frédéric Hessel isn't a name you are likely to recognize but that doesn't mean he wasn't an influential person who lived an uneventful life.
Before his death five years ago, the New York Times called Hessel “one of the last living heroes of the darkest era of the twentieth century.”

Families Torn Apart and Kids in Cages: Moral Outrage in the Comment Section

by Nomad

Today, the AP featured a story about the living conditions of the hundreds of immigrant children currently being warehoused in South Texas.

Nearly 2,000 children have been taken from their parents since Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the policy, which directs Homeland Security officials to refer all cases of illegal entry into the United States for prosecution. Church groups and human rights advocates have sharply criticized the policy, calling it inhumane.

Cancerous Presidency: Donald Trump's Strange and Deadly Love Affair with Asbestos

by Nomad

Back in August 2016, Nomadic Politics featured a post on Trump's peculiar relationship with the carcinogen asbestos. The other day, I took a look at that post and decided it was time to update it.

Trump's Outlandish Claim

Of all of the Trump's absurd notions, one of the most peculiar is his ideas about the World Trade Center and asbestos. In his opinion, if only the world had listened to him, the Twin Towers would not have fallen.
Had, he claimed, contractors not been forced to use an alternative fire retardant, the World Trade Center would have been able to withstand the attack. If only asbestos had been used, the Twin Towers would still be standing today.