The spectacle of clueless U.S. media personalities, like George Stephanopoulos, chastising Donald Trump for getting facts wrong would be funny if it weren't indicative of a political-media system failing the American people and what's left of the democratic Republic, writes Robert Parry.
Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
The deliberations of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were held in strict secrecy. Consequently, anxious citizens gathered outside Independence Hall when the proceedings ended in order to learn what had been produced behind closed doors. The answer was provided immediately. A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”
If one were asked to name the top five issues on America’s collective mind as we head into 2016, gun violence would almost certainly make the list.
A string of incidents that culminated in the massacre in San Bernardino earlier this month has put gun control back in the limelight as the nation debates the best way to prevent mass shootings.
Submitted by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,
Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s seminal masterpiece Crime and Punishment is often thought of as one of the longest classics at more than 200,000 words.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, which was signed into law on Friday, is nearly twice as long.
In case you’re not familiar with the background, the author was once quite wealthy.
But through years of reckless, irresponsible behavior, he gambled away his wealth until he was impoverished and unable to pay his creditors.
The Democratic debates do not have to be as theatrical as the Trump-dominated Republican debates. Democrats have proven they can disagree without being overly disagreeable. But they have not proven it on nights when viewership is robust and coverage is serious. Saturday-night debates are rarely, if ever, a good idea. The DNC needs to schedule more debates on more nights when more Americans are watching.