Israeli hardliners received the unqualified support of the Trump Administration when President Donald Trump made a surprise announcement recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Remembering the devastation of Operation Protective Edge in 2014, Trump has most likely emboldened the far Right-wing Netanyahu government to crackdown on any and all Palestinian resistance to the Likud Party’s political agenda. President Trump has attempted to frame his decision as a means to further peace talks by eliminating a distraction. Jerusalem is not, however, a distraction. It is a point of contention that is so sensitive that it is a major flash point, which should be avoided whenever possible. Trump’s decision will please select political factions, but it will also provoke violence in the Middle East that goes beyond the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
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Tax reform under the leadership of Congressional Republicans has been swift and contentious. Democrats and other opposition groups have attempted to publicly shame the Republican tax reform effort by focusing on the repeal of the Obamacare Individual Mandate and the anticipated rise in the number of uninsured Americans. Given the widespread distaste for the individual mandate, especially among Republicans, it has proven to be an ineffective strategy. Critics have also tried to derail the GOP effort by shining a light on their hypocrisy when it comes to ramming their bills through the legislature, which has also proven to be ineffective. Framing the tax reform effort as a “bad deal’ for average income and poor Americans has effectively soured public opinion, yet Congressional Republicans have blissfully pressed forward.
Michael Flynn, retired General and former National Security Adviser to President Donald Trump, has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. He has also agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller’s investigation into Russian efforts to influence the outcome of the 2016 US Presidential Election. The development likely means President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and other top Trump advisers did try to work with Russian officials before the President took office. Lying to investigators is, of course, a crime. Speaking to foreign officials is not necessarily a crime or improper, but the entire situation given the Ukraine Crisis, US Sanctions, and Russia’s attempts to influence US election raises far too many concerns to be ignored.
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April 2020
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