Andrew Sullivan is back, with a long piece in New York Magazine about how Donald Trump’s campaign is evidence of the decadence of our democracy and a harbinger of its possible end. I’m glad to see he’s his usual level-headed, temperate self. He concludes as follows:
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has compared the People’s Republic of China to a rapist and has vowed to turn the situation around. Referring to China’s high number of exports relative to the U.S., Trump said: “We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country, and that’s what they’re doing” CNN reports: Trump has repeatedly accused China of manipulating its currency to make its exports more competitive on the global market and has claimed that China is “killing” the U.S. on trade.
Heidi Cruz dropped a bombshell during an Indiana campaign trail on Saturday, saying that her husband Senator Ted Cruz “is an immigrant”. “Ted is an immigrant. He is Hispanic,” Heidi Cruz said of her husband, an American citizen who renounced his Canadian citizenship even though he was born north of the American border. “He can unify this party.” “We have libertarians joining our cause. I have people every day from the Democrat Party telling me that they re-registered to vote for Ted as a Republican.
CIA Director John Brennan has said that the official 9/11 report is full of inaccuracies and unsubstantiated information. Brennan told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program that releasing the 28 classified pages from the 9/11 Commission report would be a huge mistake. “This chapter was kept out because of concerns about sensitive methods, investigative actions, and the investigation of 9/11 was still underway in 2002.“ Brennan said information in the 28 pages hasn’t been vetted or corroborated, and warned that people would use the information to unfairly attack Saudi Arabia.
A popular Iranian newspaper has called on the government to intercept US cargo ships stationed in the Persian Gulf in retaliation to America freezing Iran’s assets. Kayhan newspaper urged the government to take action, after Iran’s appeal to the UN to stop US violations of state immunity and seizure of assets fell on deaf ears. Presstv.com reports: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote to UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday to ask him to intervene with his “good offices,” but the United Nations said it would intervene should both parties request it.