Tag: politics of the United States

Red and blue are no longer mere colors, but the war paints of choice of America’s dueling tribes. America’s emerging divisions were coming into focus. Enter Newt Gingrich, an army brat, small college history professor, and conservative trend-threader. When Ken Starr supplied congressional Republicans with ammunition to impeach President Clinton, Gingrich, the congressional GOP, and the Republican base eagerly drank from the poisoned chalice—even as it ended an ethically-addled Gingrich’s congressional career and to Republican defeat in the 1998 midterms, a historic rarity for the “out party” in the sixth year of a presidency. The Red and the Blue also captures the other players and hot-button issues that shape the politics of our day. Kornacki also notes Trump’s prior disdain for Buchanan in the context of the 2000 presidential contest where Buchanan ran on the Reform Party line. At the time, Trump and Buchanan both contemplated running for the party’s nomination. Fittingly, The Red and the Blue ends by circling back to Gingrich and Clinton. What he didn’t count on was that it would do the same for the Democrats. Like their party they could see where their future was.” But as the 2016 election teaches us, that’s not enough for the Democrats to get to 270.

The United States must be aware of the growing threat and mount a response. As the trade war between Washington and Beijing escalates, China is using economic leverage to exert pressure on the U.S. political system. While the trade war rages in public, behind the scenes the U.S. government is preparing for the possibility that the Chinese government will decide to weaponize the influence network inside the United States that it has been building for years. Although Beijing has not yet employed Russian-style “active measures,” it has these capabilities at the ready. The Chinese Communist Party and its allies have also bought up several Chinese-language media outlets inside the United States as part of an effort to influence overseas Chinese. Finally, Beijing interferes through co-opting American elites and persuading them to push Chinese Communist Party messages. Under President Xi Jinping, the party has been ramping up its comprehensive foreign influence operations strategy, known as “united front” work. Still described in Maoist terms — to mobilize the party’s friends to strike at the party’s enemies — the system is overseen by the party’s United Front Work Department. “The UFWD directs ‘overseas Chinese work,’ which seeks to co-opt ethnic Chinese individuals and communities living outside China, while a number of other key affiliated organizations guided by China’s broader United Front strategy conduct influence operations targeting foreign actors and states,” says a report released last month by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. But as tensions continue to rise, Beijing’s cost-benefit analysis may change.

The renowned American political dissident, MIT linguist, and author Noam Chomsky came out in criticism of the media’s portrayal of what he considers trivial issues – the Russia investigation, U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and Trump’s cozying up to Russia's Putin. Chomsky was interviewed by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now - an independent news program. He believes that there are more pressing issues to be addressed by the media, such as the root causes of immigration, Trump’s climate policies, and Israeli interference in U.S. elections. Chomsky said: "First of all, if you’re interested in foreign interference in our elections, whatever the Russians may have done barely counts or weighs in the balance as compared with what another state does, openly, brazenly and with enormous support.” chomsky criticises israel - ??? "Israeli intervention in U.S. elections vastly overwhelms anything the Russians may have done," Chomsky said. "I mean, even to the point where the prime minister of Israel, Netanyahu, goes directly to Congress, without even informing the president, and speaks to Congress, with overwhelming applause, to try to undermine the president’s policies—what happened with Obama and Netanyahu in 2015. Did Putin come to give an address to the joint sessions of Congress trying to—calling on them to reverse U.S. policy, without even informing the president?" "And that’s just a tiny bit of this overwhelming influence." The interview was recorded in late July, but is making waves in U.S. politics this week as Trump continues to attack the Trump-Russia investigation and RealClearPolitics highlighted the clip. Chomsky also said Trump is "perfectly right when he says we should have better relations with Russia. Being dragged through the mud for that is outlandish."

The renowned American political dissident, MIT linguist, and author Noam Chomsky came out in criticism of the media’s portrayal of what he considers trivial issues – the Russia investigation, U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and Trump’s cozying up to Russia's Putin. Chomsky was interviewed by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now - an independent news program. He believes that there are more pressing issues to be addressed by the media, such as the root causes of immigration, Trump’s climate policies, and Israeli interference in U.S. elections. Chomsky said: "First of all, if you’re interested in foreign interference in our elections, whatever the Russians may have done barely counts or weighs in the balance as compared with what another state does, openly, brazenly and with enormous support.” chomsky criticises israel - ??? "Israeli intervention in U.S. elections vastly overwhelms anything the Russians may have done," Chomsky said. "I mean, even to the point where the prime minister of Israel, Netanyahu, goes directly to Congress, without even informing the president, and speaks to Congress, with overwhelming applause, to try to undermine the president’s policies—what happened with Obama and Netanyahu in 2015. Did Putin come to give an address to the joint sessions of Congress trying to—calling on them to reverse U.S. policy, without even informing the president?" "And that’s just a tiny bit of this overwhelming influence." The interview was recorded in late July, but is making waves in U.S. politics this week as Trump continues to attack the Trump-Russia investigation and RealClearPolitics highlighted the clip. Chomsky also said Trump is "perfectly right when he says we should have better relations with Russia. Being dragged through the mud for that is outlandish."

COLOGNE, Germany – As Germany ponders a suitable successor for the nuclear-capable Tornado aircraft, U.S. government officials are keeping a close eye on the proceedings -- and could have an outsized impact on Germany’s final options. Among the four competing aircraft types, three are American: the Lockheed Martin F-35, as well as variants of Boeing’s F-15 and F-18. But officials at the ministry of defense in Berlin are leaning toward a European aircraft, the Eurofighter Typhoon. Under a NATO agreement dating back to the Cold War, Germany has outfitted its Tornado fleet with a nuclear option, enabling the planes to carry U.S. atomic bombs eastward in case of a major war between the alliance and the former Soviet Union. Reuters reported in June that German officials had sent a letter to Washington asking what it would take to certify the Eurofighter for the nuclear mission. In contrast, certifying U.S. aircraft to carry U.S. atomic bombs flown by German pilots is expected to be a simpler proposition. German officials have declined to discuss the reported Eurofighter inquiry or anything related to the nuclear capabilities of the envisioned Tornado successor aircraft. “The U.S. government is actively engaged with the German Ministry of Defense to identify the requirements for its Tornado replacement program,” spokesman Johnny Michael wrote. But in the age of Trump, these matters could take a very different turn, argues Christian Mölling of the German Council on Foreign Relations. “But right now everything is political between Germany and the United States.” President Trump is known for his desire to inject an economic calculus into all sorts of policy debates, and the U.S. leverage over German-carried American nukes may just turn out to become another opportunity to boost American firms.

Opinion Modal Trigger If there’s a single idea that has defined the politics of the last 70 years it is the notion of “the center.” What constituted the center of American politics has always been up for debate. Did the center mean mushy moderation? Or was the center whatever positions could win over enough people who called themselves “centrists” or “independents”? On countless other issues, from trade and foreign policy to immigration, Trump’s underlying positions are much less controversial than the way he talks about them or handles them. Most Americans don’t want immigration increased, and most Americans don’t like the way Trump talks about immigrants. Most Americans don’t want to see Confederate statues toppled, and I suspect that most Americans don’t like the way he talks about that issue either. Meanwhile, Democrats, in part as a reaction to Trump’s base-appeasing style, have become policy extremists. Thus, the political incentive for most politicians isn’t to cultivate the center to cobble together a majority coalition, but to gin up the base as much as possible. It didn’t work very well for the rest of his party. The GOP didn’t moderate under Obama either.

We must safeguard Iowa’s courts by resisting efforts to inject politics into the judicial selection process. When politics drives the selection of judges, our courts lose their impartiality. In states that elect judges, like Illinois, political parties or interest groups choose and fund candidates. That is not a fair and impartial justice system. Iowa does judicial selection better. Iowa’s merit selection system ensures accountability and transparency. While judges are nominated by a commission and chosen by the governor, voters have the final say. In 2010, three Iowa Supreme Court justices were removed in a retention election. In other states, and at the federal level, the judicial selection process puts politics first. Not in Iowa.

The company, which said it is in the early stages of its investigation, held briefings in the House and Senate this week. The company said it doesn't know who is behind the efforts, but said there may be connections to Russia. Facebook said it has found some connections between the accounts it removed and the accounts connected to Russia's Internet Research Agency that it removed before and after the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. “Today’s disclosure is further evidence that the Kremlin continues to exploit platforms like Facebook to sow division and spread disinformation, and I am glad that Facebook is taking some steps to pinpoint and address this activity," Warner said in a statement to Fox News. There is still much that needs to be done to prevent and counter foreign interference on social media." Facebook says more than 290,000 accounts followed at least one of the fake pages. Facebook says the pages ran about 150 ads for $11,000 on Facebook and Instagram, paid for in U.S. and Canadian dollars. That group was created by Russian government figures but had been dormant since Facebook disabled its administrators last year. However, the tech company chose to remove the group to protect the privacy of its members in advance of a forthcoming report from the Atlantic Council that will analyze the Pages, profiles and accounts that Facebook disabled today. Miller continued: “We will not be safe from foreign interference -- and Facebook’s own business model of profiting off of bad actors -- until Congress and the FTC step in to break up the company and impose strong privacy rules.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Opinion editorial Modal Trigger Conservative: Bam Slams Habits That Drove His Career Speaking in South Africa, Barack Obama this week “said a lot of things that could, or should, get conservatives nodding in agreement” about the state of US politics and the broader geopolitical scene, contends National Review’s Jim Geraghty. But the former president never seemed to “confront the fact that he had a lot to do” with both. NATO “remains intact and is getting stronger.” Russia “is a weak, declining power,” and North Korea “for now has been tamed.” But the president has a tendency to “undermine it all with shoot-from-the-hip comments that could prove politically fatal if he is not careful.” When Trump “opens his mouth,” cautions Kazanis, he threatens to undo all of his success. Cuomo “is trying to have it both ways,” charges NY1’s Bob Hardt: On the one hand, he’s intimidating his campaign foes with a $31 million warchest. But he “also wants to look like he’s a man of the people” by boasting about a slew of small donations.” So instead of talking about the Winkelvoss twins, who gave his campaign $130,000 “while benefiting from a decision by state regulators,” Cuomo prefers “the 67 times that someone named Christopher Kim” — who happens to live with one of the governor’s campaign aides — “decided to donate $1 to Cuomo.” That’s just one of several “ham-handed attempts at inflating the number of governor’s small donations.” And while “there’s nothing inherently wrong with being a middle-aged pol with rich friends,” it “looks bad when you’re trying to sing a different tune.” From the left: Yelling ‘Treason’ Plays Into Trump’s Hands President Trump’s critics “need to stop saying the word ‘treason,’ ” warns The Daily Beast’s Jay Michaelson, calling it “factually incorrect and politically counterproductive.” Treason, he notes, “is clearly defined in the Constitution,” but that definition “doesn’t apply to Trump” and his critics should be leery of bending the rules. Because it merely “increases the volume and decreases the meaning of the accusation.” Fact is, “it’s the kind of sloppy falsehood Trump himself would use.” Fiscal expert: Uncapping a SALT Cap Surprise A federal lawsuit filed by four states, including New York and New Jersey, charges that the new limit on state and local tax deductions “is likely to substantially decrease home values,” reports the Empire Center’s E.J. The suit cites a December 2017 Moody’s analysis that made just such a prediction. One problem, says McMahon: So far, “there’s no sign of this happening.” Indeed, the real-estate markets in the region’s most highly taxed suburbs show “tight inventories” and “rising price levels.” This, even though you’d expect homeowners looking at higher taxes “to be rushing to the exits.” But housing prices are “heavily influenced by other factors, including mortgage rates” and demand, particularly from young buyers, which remains strong. Yes, prices will eventually weaken, and Gov. Cuomo “will seize on the trend as evidence that the federal tax law is to blame.” But “we’ll have no way of knowing for sure.” — Compiled by Eric Fettmann

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s charges against 12 members of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency accused of hacking related to the 2016 US presidential election are a stark reminder of the ways in which technology can be used to disrupt democratic processes. Speaking at a press conference announcing the charges today, Rod Rosenstein, the deputy US attorney general (pictured at center above), said the indictment (PDF) didn’t contain allegations that the hacking had actually influenced the outcome of the 2016 election. But it provides plenty of details about just how extensive and well-planned the attack was on targets that included the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Democratic National Committee, and the Clinton campaign. Here are a few of the things that immediately stand out. Once in, they knew how to get data out: Using malware dubbed X-Agent, the indictment says, the hackers were able to infect computers at the DCCC and gain access to the DNC’s network. They got far more than just e-mails, too—the malware allowed the attackers to snoop on what staffers were typing and take screenshots of their work. They tried their best to cover their tracks … The Russians allegedly used an extensive network of servers to hide their tracks and funded the purchase of computer infrastructure using Bitcoin. Among other things, this enabled the hackers to pay a firm based in Romania to register a domain they used to distribute stolen content. (The indictment says one, unnamed US congressional candidate subsequently reached out to Guccifer to get access to stolen information.) Given the sophistication of the attacks revealed in the indictment, election officials will need all the help they can get.