Politics

If Fox asked Facebook to tabulate the number of viewers at tonight's GOP republican debate in Des Moines, Iowa, the answer would probably be over 1 billion.

In 2005, the great Hungary-born conservative (he prefers the term “reactionary”) historian John Lukacs published an unfortunately not-very-good book called Democracy and Populism: Fear and Hatred. It wasn’t very good simply because it reads like his notebook, not like an actual book. It’s not well organized, I mean. But there are gems scattered throughout, and they glitter with particular brightness in this political moment.

Washington and Wall Street are beginning to show signs of fear as Senator Bernie Sanders surges in polls in the race for the Democratic nominee for President. The former athlete and man of the people who claims to represent 99.99% of the voters in America is causing a very public panic for the establishment as he surges in the polls. According to Brent Budowsky who writes for The Hill, Sanders may well win both Iowa and New Hampshire, gaining him additional momentum for the race to the White House, as more and more people believe in the Senator from Vermont.

In March, Saudi Arabia’s air campaign in Yemen will enter its second year.

Riyadh began flying combat missions last year in an effort to rollback the Iran-backed militiamen who drove Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi into exile. The results of the strikes have been mixed. The Houthis were driven from Aden but the fight for Sana’a is far from over.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has criticised Israel in its occupation of Palestinian territories and treatment of Palestinian people, accusing Israeli authorities of being “gangsters and hoodlums”. Ban Ki-moon declared: “After nearly 50 years of occupation—after decades of waiting for the fulfilment of the Oslo promises—Palestinians are losing hope. Young people especially are losing hope.