Trump's bet on Viktor Orban flopped. His war in Iran is massively unpopular. His insanity is becoming clearer even to erstwhile supporters. My latest Authoritarian Watch column for the Nation explores Trump's dog days. www.thenation.com/article/poli...
The Nation's May issue is devoted to articles exploring the growing impact of AI on the economy and on daily life. Here is my article on its uses in surveillance systems in San Diego. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
After a week of increasingly apocalyptic threats emanating from Trump, here is my Authoritarian Watch column exploring the vast implications of the US president's embrace of terror. www.thenation.com/article/poli...
If one read this without knowing it was written by the president of the United States, would one not think a madman had gotten loose on social media again? Yet all New York Times had to say was that Trump used "starkly personal terms" to criticize these men and women. Yes, um, ok... I guess!
If Melania Trump is serious about clearing her "good name," she could start by dumping her genocidal lunatic of a husband and denouncing his threats to make a "civilization die"... what's that old adage about how you can tell a person's character by their bedfellows?
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/u...
Trump wants to pay for his illegal war in Iran by drastic cuts to what remains of the healthcare safety net. In my Truthout article, I explain what the impact will likely be.
truthout.org/articles/tru...
As inflation spikes and mortgage rates increase, my latest Santa Fe Reporter discusses the impact of the Iran War on Americans' pocketbooks and on the country's reputation in the world. sfreporter.com/archives/op-...
The man whose mantra is Make America Great Again has instead made America look despicable and small. He has demonstrated mental instability on a global stage that demands competence and tact. The world's other Great Powers must be salivating at this all-too-public presidential collapse.
On every level, this is a catastrophe -- both for the world and for the United States. It hasn't resulted in regime change in Iran, has likely only solidified the most radical elements of that regime, and has shattered any remaining trust in American leadership and stewardship.
At end of the day, if he is lucky, things will revert to a status quo ante bellum in the Straits of Hormuz. More likely, Trump will have to accept greater Iranian control over the vital shipping lanes. In other words, after all of the death and destruction, there will be little to show for the war.
He has also accelerated the collapse of the Pax Americana, since no allies will want -- or be allowed by their electorates -- to put their continued security interests entirely in Trump's unsteady hands.
With the implied threat of nuclear terror, Trump has utterly unnerved America's allies, driven away core parts of his MAGA base, put the 25th Amendment center-stage, and alienated key global figures, including UN leadership and the Pope -- both of whom made strong statements against Trump's threats.
This is, to say the least, bipolar diplomacy. It accomplishes nothing but sowing fear and destroying trust in the US as a stable partner. Trump seems to think he can bandy about blood-curdling threats with no consequence. In reality, it's far easier to break things than to rebuild them.
Trump announced two-week ceasefire with Iran minutes before his "civilization-ending" deadline. His reason? "We have already met and exceeded all Military objectives." Which does beg the question: if military objectives met, was he planning to kill an entire civilization just for shits and giggles?
None of this is very hard: If you are Barack Obama, or Bill Clinton, or George Bush, or Joe Biden, you have an obligation to humanity to be screaming from the rooftops today. If you have a public platform, there is no greater betrayal of the public trust than staying silent in a moment like this.
Or this: "America fought a world war to defeat Fascism and Nazism. How dare the US president embrace a rhetoric and actions that Hitler himself would have been entirely comfortable with."
Or this: "When the country that was indispensable to building an international rules-based order embraces threats of a Holocaust against an entire people as a negotiating strategy, that country has ceased to function as a democracy."
Since the living ex-presidents haven't said a word about Trump's threats to annihilate an entire civilization, how about this: "When leaders of great countries make monstrous threats, they turn those great countries into pariahs. Trust cultivated over generations is being squandered overnight."
We are four hours and fifteen minutes until Trump's deadline for make a "whole civilization die." Where are America's moral leaders? It is time to invoke the 25th Amendment NOW -- not after the fact, but before he orders unspeakable atrocities.
How come every living ex-president, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff hasn't issued a statement today saying that killing off an entire civilization would constitute an extraordinary war crime? Where are America's moral leaders in this moment of emergency?
JD Vance is in Hungary ginning up support for Europe's most noxious leader. Trump is in DC whooping up genocide. Hegseth is in DC comparing the rescued US airman to Jesus. Yes, I'd say the adults are firmly in control, and that guardrails are holding against fanatical govt. Nothing to see here...
The New York Times is still using euphemisms, referring to Trump's "grave threats". Promising to unleash genocide is not a "grave threat," it's the rantings of a madman who needs to be in a padded cell. Let's call this for what it is: the man with his finger on the nuclear button has gone crazy.
Do the heads of the US military really want to go down in history as enablers of a madman's apocalypse? Does Congress really want to be stained with Trump's mass murder? Do the saner members of Trump's cabinet really want to be considered in same category as Hitler's enablers?
Everyone involved in the chain of command has to know that carrying out illegal orders is... ILLEGAL. It's also immoral. Trump has become entirely messianic in recent days, posting "Glory be to God," stating that God wants the US to fight this war, etc. He is pushing an apocalyptic vision.
Trump is threatening that "a whole civilization will die tonight." Make no mistake, this is a genocidal threat, with implication of use of nuclear weapons behind it. If he carries this out, it will be one of the most unspeakable crimes against humanity in human history. Time for 25th Amendment now.
His recent social media posts and today's press conference signify that he has the self-control, and the vengeful rage, of a street corner lunatic. Yet, his sycophantic cabinet and quiescent Congress are treating his every mad utterance as well-thought-out public policy. How will this end?
Trump may be mad, but he isn't a king. He is the head of a constitutional government that, in theory at least, is rules-bound. When he says that committing war crimes "doesn't worry" him, that's a pretty darn clear signal he has gone off the deep end.
When a president and his "secretary of war" revel in the ability to inflict untold damage on civilians and civilian infrastructure, they are essentially telling the military to ignore the law, ignore the esprit de corps, and follow the Trumpian bloodlust. That is the Fuhrerprinzip in action.
Trump has spent the day ramping up his war crime threats. A reminder: the Nuremberg Tribunals were pretty damn clear that "I was only obeying orders" doesn't fly when it comes to inflicting war crimes and crimes against humanity on a population.
The footage from a quarter of a million miles away shows, like nothing else, how we are one interconnected family, that we sink or swim as one, and that, at the most basic level, we are all stardust. It should be humbling. The footage from Trump shows, well, the sheer, bloviating, banality of evil.