President Trump’s latest media distraction involving basketball legends LeBron James and Michael Jordan raises the question whether one can remain truly neutral in the era of Trump. For non-basketball fans, LeBron James just finished an epic playoff run where he carried a mediocre Cavalier team to the NBA Finals – his eighth-consecutive appearance. This achievement …
Here is a sampling of the headlines today, which are almost uniformly awful for Trump. PUTIN PETS HIS POODLE Boston Globe Editorial: Putin pets his poodle at the Helsinki summit https://t.co/EYkv6X4GpP — The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) July 17, 2018 TRUMP’S DISGRACEFUL BOW TO RUSSIA Charlotte Observer It was the first time in memory a …
Time to Question “The Internet of Hal” The Facebook Scandal and the Dawn of Internet Skepticism This year the web will reach a major milestone as more than half of the world’s population will be online. Worldwide web founder Tim Berners-Lee announced this on the web’s 29th birthday in March, while questioning “are we sure …
The Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi invites a white liberal New England Senator to speak at an economic town hall on the 50th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther Kings, Jr. Some African-Americans in Jackson objected to the invitation saying that it was just the White Senator’s typical town hall meeting with an MLK label put …
The U.S.Irish-American population of 34.5 million is seven times greater than the population of Ireland itself which is a mere 4.68 million. On St. Patrick’s Day, its worth remembering why the Irish came to America and their early experiences in their adopted land. Why They Left Queen Elizabeth I conquered Ireland in 1603 and it …
Was Clinton campaign’s “Basket of Deplorables” speech the worst political gaffe in the presidential election history? If not, what was the worst? Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” comment offended people who were already chanting “lock her up”. There really was no political consequence for her. Here are my top 5 Presidential campaign gaffes that were actually very … Continue reading
Brooklyn’s Elizabeth Holtzman was the youngest woman elected to Congress after she upset House Judiciary Committee Chairman Emanuel Celler (the longest-serving member of Congress) in 1972. She immediately gained prominence serving on the Judiciary Committee as it considered articles of impeachment against President Nixon in 1974. She later became chair of the Immigration Subcommittee and … Continue reading
Raif Badawi and the Myth of Saudi Liberalization June 24, 2018 Link Today the world is seeing images of Saudi women driving for the first time as the government lifted the planet’s only gender ban on driving. These images, coupled with the premiere of the film Black Panther ending a 35-year ban on cinemas, give the impression … Continue reading
RFK Remembered With Peter Edelman CLBR is thrilled to have to Peter Edelman, my law professor and aide to Bobby Kennedy, to talk about the 50th anniversary of his presidential campaign and assassination and what it means today. LISTEN VIA THESE CHANNELS LINK LINK LINK LINK LINK Edelman and RFK After serving as … Continue reading
The Presidency is commonly referred to as the Bully Pulpit. There is no doubt that the President sets a tone, for good and bad. I thought it would be interesting to quantify how different these first months of the Trump administration has been compared to the same period for the Obama administration in terms of … Continue reading
Today President Trump trotted out this theory supposedly stated by “numerous legal scholars,” which appears to include his consigliere and lapdog Rudy Guliani. As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the … Continue reading
It’s time again for the unique political beast known as California’s jungle primary. Here is a brief outline of my choices for Tuesday and why. FEDERAL RACES Senator – Dianne Feinstein Seniority matters in Congress. At a time when the administration is openly at war with the state of California (and even Republican members of … Continue reading
The Volcanologist Taking on Trump and the GOP in 2018 LISTEN VIA THESE CHANNELS LINK LINK LINK LINK LINK Over the years, CLBR has tried to provide insight from a tech perspective on upcoming elections. In 2014, when there was a vacancy in the Congressional District representing Silicon Beach we hosted a tech … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Press Club announced the finalists for the 60th Southern California Journalism Awards and I am pleased to be included for the 13th Consecutive Year with my 23rd and 24th nomination. Winners will be announced at a June 24, 2018 gala that will honor NBC’s Lester Holt and jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi. … Continue reading
Today marks the 25th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day. As UNESCO explains, The theme chosen for this year’s World Press Freedom Day is “Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and the Rule of Law.” It explores the interaction between the judiciary and the media, and their complementary roles in fostering transparency, accountability and … Continue reading
Meet LeeAnne Walters, a mother of four in Flint, Michigan, who took action when she noticed her family getting rashes, losing hair and suffering illness following the city’s decision to switch the water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River in April 2014. Walters reported the problem to the city which did not test … Continue reading
On Wednesday morning Laura Ingraham released the following gleeful tweet mocking Parkland student David Hogg: David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it. (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA…totally predictable given acceptance rates.) https://t.co/wflA4hWHXY — Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 28, 2018 She was promptly denounced for the statement, … Continue reading
St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in America are older the nation itself, although not entirely in the same form as today. I’m pretty sure George Washington and Thomas Jefferson did not complain about green beer and shamrock shakes. Records indicate St. Patrick’s Day was first celebrated in the “New World” as early as 1600 in St … Continue reading
The current tempest engulfing Washington involves a memo prepared at the direction of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) concerning a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant for Carter Page. Who is Devin Nunes? Nunes is an eight-term Republican Congressman from California’s San Joaquin Valley, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee which is conducting an investigation … Continue reading
Who are the most influential US attorney generals of the past 100 years? Robert F. Kennedy The most influential U.S. Attorney General by far is Robert F. Kennedy because of his role as right hand to President Kennedy and for his leadership role in the early desegregation battles in the South and battling organized crime. The Justice … Continue reading
How did Jimmy Carter become President? Jimmy Carter ran a brilliant underdog campaign which is detailed in the seminal campaign book “Marathon[1]”. Carter was an unknown Southern governor who really showed the potential of the Iowa caucus to put a campaign on the map. Carter spent a great deal of time in the state, … Continue reading
New York Times’ White House correspondent Mark Landler has written a very important assessment of President Trump’s first year in foreign policy entitled: Trump’s Way: Trump, the Insurgent, Breaks With 70 Years of American Foreign Policy. Here are six key takeaways from this assessment of an uninformed amateur blundering his way through the world. Trump … Continue reading
THE GOP TAX BILL TREATS PUERTO RICO LIKE A FOREIGN TERRITORY AND WILL DEVASTATE ITS ECONOMY Puerto Rico is already hurting and the Republican tax bill is going to make it worse pic.twitter.com/ghrFyDZ3fl — NowThis (@nowthisnews) December 19, 2017 From Mother Jones: The tax bill, as written, would include taxes on payments between US companies and their … Continue reading
Below are a few resources outlining how President Trump’s removing climate change as a national security threat is contrary to the view of the Pentagon and Congress and ignores the link between climate change and terrorism, the refugee crisis and food security. Trump’s Continued Recklessness on Climate Change While military commanders consider climate change a … Continue reading
The fact that the Trump administration’s decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem breaks with 60 years of U.S. policy; has caused the U.S. to put troops on alert and warn Americans traveling abroad, and is opposed by our allies worldwide; tells you everything you need to know. It … Continue reading
