Political Discourse 2020

Many thanks to Maura Fitzgerald for so succinctly making the case for Rep. John Larson’s candidacy in the August 11 th Democratic primary against his main opponent, former Hartford Mayor, Luke Bronin. She is on target in pointing to Larson’s seniority as a major advantage against President Trump’s unrelenting effort to dismantle democratic governance. This is particularly the case with the so called Save America Act, aimed to prevent the “godless communists” of the “Dumocrat” party from winning congressional election in either house in 2026, thereby, upholding the MAGA vision for decades to come. It is this objective—of promising Republicans that if they passed the Act they would win elections for the next 100 years—which is the rot at the center of this legislative proposal.   What makes Larson’s reelection so vital is his seasoned experience in providing needed oversight, particularly in his passioned commitment to protect and expand social security benefits for millions of se...

  In 2015, the Obama administration negotiated an agreement with Iran which resulted in the regulation and reduction of that nation’s nuclear program capable of producing weapons ‑ grade material in exchange for sanctions relief. Specifically, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) plan was concluded by the governments of the U.S., China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany, coordinated by the European Union. It resulted in a significant reduction of Iran ’ s ability to enrich uranium and sharply limited the amount of enriched material it was permitted to retain. It also established strict monitoring of its nuclear activities.   The agreement had the objective of extending that nation’s “breakout” time from a few months to a year before they would reach capacity to acquire the material and technical capability to build a nuclear weapon should the agreement be broken. At the time of the deal, Iran possessed a uranium stockpile that, if further enriched, co...

  With little prospect for normalcy to reassert itself in our deranged political culture, the new year unfolds upon us with three dominating stories: the intrusion into Venezuela, the killings by ICE of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota, and the reigniting of Trump’s obsession to control Greenland. This letter addresses the interrelated foreign policy issues.   The move to take out former Venezuelan President, Nicolos Maduro cannot be viewed in isolation but needs to be seen within a broader objective of exerting U.S. power in Latin and South America and the intrusion into the wider western hemisphere. Whatever other reasons offered, the least credible was that of preserving democracy in Venezuela. Equally dubious was the accusation that Venezuela was a primary source of fentanyl importation into the U.S., given that most fentanyl imports originate in Mexico.   A somewhat stronger case could be made for Venezuela’s role in facilitating cocaine shipments to the U...

With little prospect for normalcy to reassert itself in our deranged political culture, the new year unfolds upon us with three dominating stories: the intrusion into Venezuela, the killing by ICE of Renee Good in Minnesota, and the reigniting of Trump’s obsession to control Greenland. This letter addresses the interrelated foreign policy issues.   The move to take out former Venezuelan President, Nicolos Maduro cannot be viewed in isolation. It must be understood within a broader context that included the previous several month bombings of small vessel ships in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, the broader objective of exerting U.S. power in Latin and South America, and the intrusion into the wider western hemisphere, particularly Canada and Greenland. Whatever other reasons underlying the Trump administration’s push to remove Madruro, the least credible was that of preserving democracy in Venezuela. Equally dubious was the accusation that Venezuela was a primary source of fent...

If the initial 28-plan program developed by the Trump- and Putin-led governments, which gave Russia nearly everything it wanted in its war against Ukraine is any indication, the United States is on the verge of rewarding the naked aggression of Russia against its neighboring country. Given the current occupant of the White House this should surprise no one. When Russia initially invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, then former President Trump declared the unprovoked act “wonderful.” There is a long history of Trump’s involvement with Russia extending to the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant in Russia and the machinations of his 2016 campaign manager, Paul Manafort’s lobbying for Russian favored politicians in Ukraine. Trump’s emissary to Ukraine, Rudy Giuliani acted to remove the highly acclaimed Marie Yovanovitch as Ambassador to Ukraine because she obstructed efforts to get negative information on the Biden’s during the spring of 2019 in anticipation of the 2020 Presidential election. ...

  According to the President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, Jeffrey Rosen, a constitutional crisis  occurs “if a president refuses to carry out an authoritative opinion of the Supreme Court.” Adam Liptak provides a more expansive view, defining a constitutional crisis as “generally the product of presidential defiance of laws and judicial rulings. It is not binary: It is a slope, not a switch. It can be cumulative, and once one starts, it can get much worse.” (New York Times, 2-12-2025). Consider Trump’s response to federal judge James Boasberg who temporarily blocked the removal by the Trump administration of Venezuelan migrants under the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798, which his administration is stonewalling. In Trump’s eloquent phrasing, the judge is a “Radical Left Lunatic” who should be impeached (Huffington Post, 5-20, 2025). This evoked a response from Chief Justice John Roberts that “for more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachmen...