13
11, 2020
The Ecstatic Agony of Jeffrey Toobin
Mr. Toobin is a celebrity. Therefore, he has no right (as it were) to lower himself to our level or at least not in such a way that we are made aware of it. Discretion is the better part of ardor, especially for those in the public eye. Since those who wield power (control over other people’s destinies) belong to the priestly caste of society, they must relinquish the life of the peasant in exchange for their rank as sanctified members of the hierarchy. The peasant is no better than an animal; the priest must not descend to the level of the peasant, or be witnessed doing so, lest the peasantry become disillusioned, and begin to question their lack of status, let alone, rebel against priestly authority. That violates the tacit social contract (or unstated Freudian bargain) that we make with our living symbols of supernal grace.
13
11, 2020
What Does Joe Biden’s Win Mean For Africa?
Biden’s win means that multilateralism is the new game in town. Trump preferred unilateral pursuit of American national interests through bilateral trade negotiations with individual countries on the continent. Ironically, individual countries on the continent gained great traction with the Trump administration. Now policy makers are not sure how the new administration will approach these negotiations.
23
10, 2020
Why I Signed the “Dump Trump, then Battle Biden” Open Letter
I surprised myself, because the position of advocating a lesser-evil vote – not for myself in Massachusetts, but for those in “battleground” states – is one that I would not ordinarily take. But this is not an ordinary moment, and the allowance for this kind of exception finds strong precedents, including in the strategic thinking of Marx.
8
10, 2020
When Is The Right Time To Nominate a Supreme Court Justice After One Has Passed Away – A Flowchart by the RNC
A totally non-partisan and not-at-all-self-serving flowchart to SCOTUS nominations beginning with the question: Which Party has Control of the Senate?
8
10, 2020
The Trump Covid Hoax?
By: Dan Corjescu Political theater is nothing new. And Trump is, arguably, a master at it. The speed with which
18
09, 2020
Our New Civil War
What distinguishes Trump from every other president in my lifetime is that he appears to be a supremacist, not only in action, but in ideological commitment. It is just in this sense that Trump is anti-American.
13
08, 2020
Defund the police?
Protesters keep using the slogan “Defund the Police,” but I don’t think the slogan means what many protestors claim it means—and I’m deeply troubled and even suspicious that those protestors continue to use the slogan because there are also many protestors who do think it means what it clearly says it means.
13
08, 2020
Lebanon: This Time It’s Different.
Historically, Lebanese politicians have comprised and struck bargains across the sectarian divide to form governments. A political class in Lebanon has existed for decades and typically “new” governments have simply been re-configured versions of the old. However, recent protests, rooted in the 2015 garbage crisis, have taken on a different flavor. The protests of old were very often driven by sectarianism, but these newer protests appear to be driven by a unified public. On the heels of a global pandemic and a massive economic crisis in which many Lebanese struggle to have enough food, the port blast may very well be the proverbial last straw for the public.
15
06, 2020
Kenya’s quest for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council is meaningless without United Nations reform
Non-permanent rotating membership seats on the Security Council do not afford the weaker nations of the world an avenue to advance their interests. Developing nations are played off against each other by major powers based on the perceived allure of a non-permanent seat. Without reform, these seat are little more than contemptuous tokenism.
12
06, 2020
Immigrant media guru struggles with Kikuyu vernacular African media television station in the diaspora
What place should vernacular stations have in the diaspora landscape? Are they instruments to preserve cultural heritage or vehicles to sharpen ethnolinguistic cleavages for African migrant communities that have had decades of post-colonial conflict between them? What is true, is that the question of vernacular language in the African diaspora community broadly, is both a bridge and a barrier to bringing the African community together.