US Presidential Nominee Donald Trump continues to amass the reluctant endorsements of top GOP leaders. True to his nature, Trump sparked controversy after House Speaker Paul Ryan promised his much delayed support by arguing the judge overseeing litigation against the now-defunct “Trump University” was biased due to his Mexican heritage and controversial statements Trump has made against illegal immigrates. Since then, Trump has continued to dismiss criticism for the racist remarks and the self-serving attempt to discredit the legal proceedings against his company as Republicans beg him to act more “Presidential.”
In many respects, the stream of insincere Trump endorsements does more to discredit those offering superficial support and reveals the true nature of the political culture. The pressure that finally pushed Paul Ryan to support Trump demonstrates an unwillingness to accept dissent from the group-think that rules Washington. It also demonstrates how political hardliners can herd the political majority, against the will of their constituents, if they develop a strong enough following and are persistent enough to threat the herd’s image. In bucking pressure to endorse Donald Trump, based solely on his Nominee status, unless he learns to be more Presidential, people like Susan Collin offer the kind of leadership the US needs.
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Ramadan is a month-long opportunity for over one-fifth of the world’s population to engage in spiritual reflection. To observe Ramadan, Muslims are expected to fast from dawn to dusk, offer alums, pray, study the Quran, and abstain from sinful behavior, which includes fighting. Sadly, many faithful Muslims live in regions ravished by poverty, terrorism, war, and abusive governance at the hands of their fellow Muslims. Although these conditions can make it nearly impossible for faithful Muslims to fully honor their obligations to Islam, especially when it comes to violence, Muslims can still reflect upon the spiritual implications of their struggles.
There is a great sense of injustice that drives the civil unrest seen throughout the Middle East. In the decades preceding the Arab Spring Revolutions, negligent, abusive governments, with the aid of International powers and extremists, helped create many of the issues and grievances that fuel conflicts across the Muslim world today. Between European colonialism and American interventionism, Western governments and businesses have committed many wrongs against Muslims. Self-serving, unresponsive Muslim-led governments and violent Islamist extremist are just as responsible while they and jihadi terrorists continue to exasperate the wrongs already done. Venezuela’s rich, diverse landscape should make it a bountiful garden that provides for all the basic needs of the Venezuelan People, yet the People are starving. Venezuela is a victim of an economic system that relies on exports to fuel massive social welfare programs and imports to provide for the raw materials used by its stunted industries. Facing shortages of food, water, electricity, basic building supplies, and raw materials, Venezuela is on the verge of collapse as it struggles to overcome political discontent aimed at the successor of the beloved President Hugo Chavez, Nicolás Maduro.
With the capitalist-versus-socialist struggle very much alive in South America, it is easy to misdiagnosis Venezuela’s problems as simply the result of flawed socialist ideologies and/or imperialist conspiracy theories that project blame for serious governance issues onto the United States. Where high commodity prices helped inflate the cost of imported goods, even higher oil revenue allowed the Venezuelan government to hide the true cost of imported goods with subsidies. Once oil prices collapsed, however, the government could no longer afford to subsidize imports, even though suppressed commodity prices helped push import prices down. The 2015 USA Freedom Act is now enabling companies like Yahoo to release information about so-called National Security Letters (NSLs) from the FBI. Not only were these extrajudicial writs simply issued with the approval of a Special Agent from an investigating office, they included indefinite gag orders that prevented recipients from even confirming they received a request from the FBI. Used in increasing frequency since the early 1980’s, NSLs are a means to keep the FBI in the dark. Although secrecy is needed during ongoing investigations, the law enforcement community needs transparency and public scrutiny to remain honest.
Citizens must be able to trust law enforcement when there is a need for secrecy, but that is only possible when authorities are open and honest when security is nonessential. Indefinite gag orders simply serve to shield the FBI from public scrutiny, which empowers the corrupted. Unfortunately, the FBI is resisting increased transparency. This is made evident by the FBI’s attempt to exempt its national database of fingerprints and facial photos from the Privacy Act, which allows US Citizens to learn if the FBI has a file on them. From the FBI’s iPhone hacking scandal, it appears the Bureau is trying to fine new powers to avoid transparency and scrutiny. |
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April 2020
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