Politics

Turkish opposition journalist Can Dündar narrowly escaped an assassination attempt outside a courthouse in Istanbul where he is on trial accused of revealing state secrets. The shooting happened during a break in the court proceedings where Dundar was awaiting a verdict that could see him imprisoned for life. Dündar, editor-in-chief of the leading opposition daily Cumhuriyet and Gül, the newspaper’s Ankara bureau chief, face life sentences for publishing a story that said Turkey was delivering arms to Islamist rebels in Syria.

Grab your popcorn. Having proclaimed his greatest achievement during his presidency as "saving the world from another Great Depression," we wonder what President Obama will have to say today when he discusses the economy. Following the decline in corporate profits, a manufacturing sector in recession, an auto industry which is shuttering production, minimum wage state job losses rising, and an equity market that is unable to make new highs, what cynical, skeptical, "fiction-peddlers" will he blame today's dismal jobs data on?

Submitted by David Stockman via Contra Corner blog,

When it comes to the economic future, a Trump presidency could bring either a shitstorm or salvation. Regrettably, the odds of the former are immensely the higher.

That’s because Trump is a welcome, but extremely unguided missile.

Turkey's conversion into an all out despotic, banana republic is almost complete.

Recall that in November, violence erupted in the troubled nation in which president Erdogan is now actively seeking dictatorial powers after a prominent lawyer and foe of Erdogan, was assassinated on live TV. This occured just days before Erdogan arrests journalists who exposed Erdogan's weapons smuggling to extremist Syrian rebels, among whom was Cumhuriyet editor in chief Can Dundar.

My latest column at The Week begins thusly:

With his last two opponents, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, out of the race, Donald Trump is now the presumptive nominee for president of the Republican Party. As Kublai Khan conquered the ancient Song Empire of China to become its first barbarian emperor, Trump swooped down and conquered the once-mighty party of Lincoln. Now that party has to figure out how to respond.