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. 

How Gerrymandering Negatively Impacts the Economic Development of a District

by Nomad

We all know that gerrymandering as a tool to win elections has proved advantageous. Some critics have claimed that this partisan tactic has in recent years become more extreme and has begun to warp democracy.

In a search for the facts, researchers at Boston College decided to look a bit closer. They began by asking a simple question: How does gerrymandering affect the quality of political representation in a district?

Sanity Sunday - A Selection of Dream Pop Songs

by Nomad  

I've long ago given up trying to follow musical genres and sub-genres. It just seemed impossible but it does help you find the type of music you like.
After listening to some music I enjoyed this week, I learned that alternative rock and neo-psychedelia (another unknown genre) hooked up sometime in the 80s and had a love child called Dream Pop.
As a subgenre, Dream Pop is all about atmosphere and often features "breathy vocals and processed, echo-laden guitars and synthesizers." The lyrics tend to be short poems.
I think you will find this style soothing on the nerves.

A Nation of Suckers: How a 1947 Film Exposes the Truth about Trumpism

by Nomad

Released in 1947, this 23-minute film, "Don't be a Sucker" was produced by United States Department of War. Its aim was to educate the American public about the dangers of fascism, racism empowered by prejudice and discrimination.

The Guys Who Stay Up Nights

In a real awakening of right-wing extremism, the message of this film has found a new audience. I found it interesting (and timely) how rabble-rousers were portrayed as swindling con artists, rather than just power-hungry politicians. "There are all kinds of games and all kinds of suckers." 

Extolling the beauty of American diversity, the narrator points out that America is composed of..

..all kinds of people, people from different countries with different religions, different colored skins, free people. They can live together and work together and build America together because they're free, free to vote to say what they please go to their own churches, to pick their own jobs.

But, the film reminds us, "there are guys who stay up nights figuring out how to take that away from [us]."

Speaking is Difficult

by Nomad

Directed and edited by AJ Schnack, this short but powerful film is very simple in concept: a catalog of the 911 calls of mass shootings in America since January 2011.  In reverse order, the first call is by a young man from Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

"Hate Was Their Handshake"

by Nomad

Recently I stumbled across a fascinating book called "Under Cover: My Four Years in the Nazi Underworld of America." One of the things you quickly learn from reading the book is that the techniques used in politics nowadays were used in the past- albeit primitively, by today's standards. The modus operandi never really changes.

In the years just before WWII, Armenia-American journalist Arthur Derounian (using the alias John Roy Carlson) went underground to investigate and to expose the various organizations that supported fascism and Nazi causes.

When it was published, the book served as a warning that fascism could flourish just as easily in Chicago and New York as it could in Rome or Berlin.

Sanity Sunday- Dulcimer Music by Ted Yoder

by Nomad

Goshen, Indiana resident Ted Yoder has been called "the master of the hammer dulcimer." Although Yoder grew up in a musical family, he received his first dulcimer as a wedding gift only 13 years ago. Yet the talented musician has since grown to become the 2010 National Hammer Dulcimer Champion.

Here are a few of his covers of familiar tunes.

Father Coughlin: How Christian Fascists in the 1930s Perverted the Term "Social Justice"

by Nomad

Last week, Rev. Grady Arnold, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Cuero, Texas, submitted a draft resolution demanding that the Southern Baptist Convention reject various forms of “social justice” philosophy. Arnold called the concept of social justice to be an example of Marxist ideology.

According to Arnold, social justice was an “evil" and not about rights and compassion but about “liberal theology.” In his resolution, he claimed that social justice activism is "a vehicle to promote abortion, homosexuality, gender confusion, and a host of other ideas that are antithetical to the gospel."

“This social justice is creeping down into local churches. If we start down this road today, where will it end?”

50 Years Ago, Civil Rights Leaders Spoke Out on Gun Control.. Today the Problem is Worse

by Nomad

A half-century ago, these two civil rights leaders spoke out for the need for sensible gun control laws in this country. Not long afterward, they were senselessly murdered by lone, deranged extremists with guns.

Sanity Sunday - The Music of Camera Obscura

by Nomad

The group, Camera Obscura, has been around for awhile. This  Scottish indie pop band from Glasgow was formed back in 1996. I have my own association with the group. Their songs offered me a good deal of comfort when I was exiled to New York City during a time of apprehension and anxiety.
But that's another story.

The band has shape-shifted somewhat over the years. It is currently comprised of Tracyanne Campbell (guitar, vocals), Kenny McKeeve ( guitar, vocals), Gavin Dunbar (bass), and Lee Thomson  (drums). If you would like to learn more about the group, click here.

The Incremental Steps Toward a Fascist State

by Nomad

First published in 1955, the book, They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45,  dealt with a difficult subject in the aftermath of a national catastrophe. It is an examination of the lives of ordinary Germans who lived under the Third Reich.

Journalist Milton Mayer's goal wasn't to shame or berate or even to hold anybody accountable. Without moral judgment, without recriminations, he simply searched for answers: How could this have happened? Or more precisely, how could people let this happen?

Why Oliver North is the Perfect Choice for President of the Extremist NRA

by Nomad

Back in 2011, Nomadic Politics ran a comprehensive examination into the life, career and- most importantly, the extreme ideology of  Lt. Col. Oliver North. It was entitled Along Came a Hero: The Oliver North Myth. Since I wrote that long long article, it has been buried in the archives.

About three weeks ago, I noticed that this article was suddenly picking up a lot of attention. Traffic is always welcome but I was curious why.
The other shoe dropped when the NRA announced that North was to be their president. Obviously, it was time for a revisit.

Film Friday: Liberty Hill

by Nomad

For this Film Friday, I'd like to introduce you Karen Collins from Texas. Until the election of 2016, Collins admits that she took little interest in politics. 

"The election caught me off-guard. I did not really believe that Donald Trump was going to win. I couldn't believe that people could say those things about other religions, about other groups of people, and I was kind of depressed for a couple of weeks. And then, I got mad."

Top Negotiator says US Withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal "A Major Strategic Mistake"

by Nomad

Prior to President Trump's decision to pull out of the Iranian nuclear arms accord, polls showed that majority of Americans (63 percent) said the United States should not withdraw from the agreement. 

According to the poll conducted by SSRS, an independent research company,  29 percent in the latest survey said the U.S. should exit, eight percent did not have an opinion.

Nearly half of those surveyed, 46 percent, said they disapprove of how the president is managing the nation’s relationship with Iran, while 37 percent said they approve. Seventeen percent said they did not have an opinion on the matter.

Sanity Sunday- First Aid Kit

by Nomad

Sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg from  Stockholm, Sweden perform under the name First Aid Kit. They first came to the world's attention back in 2008 when they posted a YouTube video cover of the Fleet Foxes's song "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song." (In fact,  the pair were already well-known in their home country.)

Film Friday: Room for Change

by Nomad

A short film about passing the torch. 

Room for Change from Dan Fipphen on Vimeo.

Calling Out the Global Problem of Sexual Harassment on the Streets

by Nomad

Women as Objects on Display

Jen Corey was no stranger to being looked at and judged by men. The tall blonde was crowned Miss DC in 2009 and made it to the top 10 of the Miss America Pageant in 2010.
Ever since she was a teenager, Corey has encountered overzealous men. However, after an incident in a bar, she decided to use her beauty queen fame to speak out against street harassment.

Corey found that too often people she spoke with dismissed the subject as just part of life as a woman in the city. Cat-calls,  long looks, sexual comments were something women should expect, especially if they dress in a certain way, act in a certain way or walk through a certain neighborhood at a certain time. 

The Perplexing Case of the Nimer Murders

by Nomad

Back in 2009, I stumbled across this strange story about an investigation of a horrific pair of murders that took a bizarre twist.

A two-page article in the September 22 1958 issue of LIFE magazine relates the chilling and bewildering story of the Nimer murder case. The double homicide of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Nimer of Staten Island, New York, was a sensation at the time. The reason?
The chief suspect in the crime was their eight-year-old son, Melvin Dean Nimer.

The Murders and the Suspicions

Sometime before two in the morning of September 2, 1958, Melvin Nimer and his wife, Lou Jean Nimer were apparently attacked by an armed assailant in their home.

According to their son's initial account, he was awakened in the night to find a masked man attempting to choke him. His parents rushed to his aid and, in the struggle, were stabbed in the struggle. Based on the boy's description, police issued a manhunt for a white male, wearing blue dungarees and a blue print-striped shirt.
But the police officers felt something was not quite right. Given the fact that he had just witnessed the violent deaths of both his parents, his calm behavior seemed suspicious.

Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un: Trump's "Honorable" Little Rocket Man

by Nomad

Recent surprising comments from President Trump calls into question his ability to judge the character of his adversaries.

Open and Honorable

Despite over a year of saber-rattling and the trashing any kind of negotiation with North Korean leader, President Trump recently did an inexplicable about-face. 

Just the other day, Trump declared that the dictator Kim Jong-un "has really been very open and I think very honorable based on what we are seeing." Trump also said that he was looking forward to meeting Kim "very soon."

Good News Round-up- April 2018

by Nomad

This month's good news round-up includes stories about technology making life better, health breakthroughs and remarkable people going out of their way to help others.

Sanity Sunday- Music by The Secret Trio

by Nomad

For this Sanity Sunday, I want to introduce you to three artists, each of them can be considered esteemed artists in their own right.

Here's Why Trump's Solution to the Opioid Epidemic is Foolish, Cruel and Bound to Fail

by Nomad

"This Horrible, Horrible Situation"

President Trump has never shied away from talking about the opioid epidemic. In October, he declared it to be a national public health emergency under federal law. He said:

No part of our society — not young or old, rich or poor, urban or rural — has been spared this plague of drug addiction and this horrible, horrible situation that’s taken place with opioids.

Twelve Russian Vetoes and the Failure of the UN Security Council

by Nomad

An Exchange of Vetoes

On Tuesday of this week,  April 10, Russia used its veto power at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to block the adoption of a resolution to condemn last week’s deadly gas attack in Syria and push Moscow’s ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to cooperate with international inquiries into the incident.

A Look Back at the Time Fox and Friends Called Mr. Rogers an "Evil, Evil Man"

by Nomad

Fox & Friends, the folks who the Washington Post described as "very much governing the thoughts and impulses of President Trump" has had a long history of spreading hate. But who remembers the time when they attacked one of America's most beloved icons, Fred Rogers. 

The Evil Genius

Back in May 2008, the producers of Fox & Friends turned the blowtorch of hate to one of America's best-loved and iconic figures, Mr. Fred Rogers. Mr. Rogers, children's television personality, musician, puppeteer, had died five years before and was unable to defend himself.
For this reason, Fox News must have considered him "fair game."

Sanity Sunday- The Classical Ukulele of Samantha Muir

by Nomad

Whenever I think of the ukulele, I see visions of Hawaiian dancers in grass skirts and hibiscus flowers in their hair. If I think a bit harder, there's image of a 1920s Princeton student with a pennant and a straw hat, wearing a raccoon coat.
After that, I draw blanks.

Musician Samantha Muir has opened my mind to the possibilities of the ukulele. Born in England, Samantha moved to Australia with her family at the age of seven.  Muir has studied at prestigious schools such as Sydney Conservatorium, the Victorian College of the Arts and the Royal College of Music in London. She has given solo recitals in England, Wales, Australia, and Spain.(You can find her complete biography here.)