Global

Well, if you thought the American Civil War ended back in 1865, you are apparently wrong. No less an authority than President Joe Biden, in a May 13th commencement speech to historically black Howard University’s graduates, told the overwhelmingly black students and their families that “The most dangerous terrorist threat to our homeland is white supremacy. And I’m not saying this because I’m at a Black HBCU, I say it wherever I go.” Indeed, both Biden and his inert Attorney General Merrick Garland nee Garfinkel have delivered that same message on a number of occasions, but this was the first time it was employed in such a racially charged environment.

“Go back to where you came from.”

This is basic American politics – what I might call spiritual ignorance: a dismissal of refugees fleeing war, famine and poverty as global sludge, clogging up our way of life. So many media stories about the border – our border – begin with an unquestioned presumption. These aren’t individual humans fleeing hell and trying to reclaim their lives. They exist only en masse – basically, in the millions.

And they’re going to be nothing but trouble for us. Either they want to work for a living and, thus, claim American jobs, or they’re simply leeches, utterly without skills, simply in possession of their needs, which of course will drain our resources. Go back to where you came from!

Look what happened earlier this month, when New York City’s mayor bused a bunch of migrants out of town – oh, boohoo, too many for you, Mayor Adams? – to several hotels in Orange County, about 60 miles to the north. It just so happened, according to a bogus claim that made big news for a while, that in order for the migrants to get their living space, a bunch of homeless veterans, a.k.a, American heroes, had to be evicted.

In anticipation of next month's United Nations Security Council talks on reforming the inherently archaic and dysfunctional political body, China’s foreign policy chief, Yang Yi stated his country's demands. 

“. . . we belong to the Earth rather than to a nation . . .”

These words stick in my heart like a wedding ring. They emanate a cutting glow, a crying wish and hope that slices to the core of me. At the same time, I feel surrounded by a cynical “realism”: Don’t be a fool. A marriage like that isn’t possible. Be grateful you’re an American. Arm yourself! We’re being invaded.

I’m looking at the new report from Costs of War.

Five years ago, I think Nicolas Davies credibly and conservatively estimated 6 million people directly killed in U.S. wars since 2001 in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia.

What Costs of War has now done is to go with the highly dubious but corporate-respectable estimate of 900,000 directly killed in all of those wars, but leaving out Libya and Somalia. They’ve then documented a pattern of four indirect deaths for every direct death. By indirect deaths, they mean deaths caused by a war’s impact on:

“1) economic collapse, loss of livelihood and food insecurity;
2) destruction of public services and health infrastructure;
3) environmental contamination; and
4) reverberating trauma and violence.”

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Liberal Pita Limjaroenrat, 32, won the most seats in Sunday's (May 14) nationwide elections, and is trying to form a coalition to become prime minister, possibly sharing power with a scion of Thailand's two convicted coup-toppled leaders, challenging the governing, putsch-empowered, U.S.-trained military.

The popularity of Mr. Pita and Paetongtarn Shinawatra in Parliament's 500-member House of Representatives faces harsh "screening" by the military's 250-seat appointed Senate which does not agree with the two civilians' policies or plans.

A prime minister is expected to be named during the next few months after political wrangling to form a coalition.

This Buddhist-majority Southeast Asian nation is closely watched and wooed by Washington and Beijing.

Thailand's friendly diplomatic, commercial, and military balancing act between the U.S. and China is expected to remain unchanged no matter who wins the election.

Early unofficial results indicated Mr. Pita and his liberal, youth-led Move Forward Party (MFP) scored big wins, appearing to outpace Ms. Paetongtarn's party.

My fellow Americans:

I’ve changed my mind. With a heavy heart, I am announcing that I will not seek or accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for president in 2024.

The poll numbers indicate that I would be a burden on the party’s national ticket next year and would also have problematic effects on many down-ballot races. It’s time to face grim political realities -- however unfortunate they may be.

While I appreciate the loyalty of so many Democrats in Congress who would like to run for the 2024 presidential nomination but would not consider running against me, I now realize that my insistence on seeking re-election has had important negative effects. And the longer I delay in announcing a change of course, the less time they’ll have to build their own national campaigns.

The specter of a second Donald Trump presidency is just too cataclysmic to allow any personal political ambition on my part to serve as an enabler to that fascistic demagogue.