The RPI Challenge

It looks like the United States, along with 9 allies — Great Britain, Italy, Bahrain, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain — are on the verge of entangling itself in a new Middle East quagmire as an international armada assembles in the international waters around Yemen. The mission? Stop Yemen from threatening cargo and oil tankers headed to Israel. Tiny Yemen has surprised the West with its tenacity and ferocity in attacking ships trying to ferry containers and fuel...

Should there be a ceasefire in Gaza? Yes! Palestinian deaths in Gaza are approaching an horrific 20,000, plus another 55,000 wounded, as Israel expands its violence into the West Bank. One hundred and fifty-three member nations of the United Nations General Assembly agreed to a draft resolution calling for a ceasefire. The US voted “NO.” Is Pope Francis correct in saying this has “gone beyond war. This is terrorism” as he describes what is happening in Gaza? The pope was especially focused on...

Just before leaving town for Christmas break, the US House gave Americans a last-minute holiday gift: a nearly trillion dollar military spending bill filled with lots of goodies for the special interests and the military-industrial complex. Unfortunately, the rest of America got nothing but coal in its stockings. With Constitutionalists like Rep. Thomas Massie on the House Rules Committee, Speaker Johnson made the unusual move of bringing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) under...

The Biden Administration declassified a U.S. intelligence assessment on the war in Ukraine and it was promptly shared with the media as part of a Biden Administration full court press to persuade Congress to cough up more bucks for Ukraine. The information reported by Politico and CNN is disturbing because it shows the U.S. is out of touch with reality and furiously spinning in order to give the politicians what they want to hear. These are classic examples of politics taking precedence over...

The first week in December of this year was all about America’s apparent inextinguishable love for the state of Israel. After a short pause to exchange hostages for prisoners, the Israelis re-launched their drive to exterminate the Gazans and steal what remains of their land and property. President Joe Biden, ably assisted by his ever-present sidekick State Department honcho Antony Blinken, welcomed the Jewish state’s onslaught by pushing the pedal to the metal on aiding the loveable Bibi...

“I disagree with what you say but will defend to the death your right to say it.” -- Voltaire (1694-1778) When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he included in it a list of the colonists’ grievances with the British government. Notably absent were any complaints that the British government infringed upon the freedom of speech. In those days, speech was as acerbic as it is today. Yet, if words were aimed at other colonists or at Parliament, all words were lawful. If they...

In 1966, Charlotte E. Keyes wrote a famous article for McCall’s magazine titled “Suppose They Gave a War and No One Came.” Special Counsel Jack Smith may be contemplating the same fate. Putting the tongue-in-cheek title aside, the odds are that some people will come to any trial of President Donald Trump. After all, a lot of people have to come from the judge to the jurors and counsel. However, Smith has had an ominous week that could severely complicate his plans for convicting Donald Trump...

Forget about stopping the purported evil despot Vladimir Putin intent on taking over all of Europe and maybe the rest of the world. Forget about helping — try to keep a straight face on this one — the democracy and freedom supporting nation of Ukraine. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken was out last week promoting a new reason to continue supporting the Ukraine War — ensuring there are more American jobs in the military-industrial complex. Speaking Thursday in a joint press...

I do not believe that anything I say about what is happening in Gaza will affect Israeli or American policy in that conflict. But I want to be on record so that when historians look back on this moral calamity, they will see that some Americans were on the right side of history. What Israel is doing in Gaza to the Palestinian civilian population – with the support of the Biden administration – is a crime against humanity that serves no meaningful military purpose. As J-Street, an...

Once a dictator, always a dictator. Power-hungry, lawless and steadfast in its pursuit of authoritarian powers, the government does not voluntarily relinquish those powers once it acquires, uses and inevitably abuses them. Likewise, any presidential candidate who promises to be a dictator on day one, if elected, will be a dictator-in-chief for life. Then again, the president is already a dictator with permanent powers: imperial, unaccountable and unconstitutional thanks to a relatively...

With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the running as an independent candidate in the 2024 presidential election, it’s a good time to revisit a part of the US election process that seems specifically designed to protect the status quo. In 1987, a strange thing happened on the treacherous road to US democracy. Instead of the League of Women Voters (LWV) sponsoring the US presidential debates, something the ladies had done without a hitch since 1976, the campaign teams of George H.W. Bush and Michael...

The two-part Washington Post report on the failed Ukraine counter offensive was written primarily to blame Ukraine for the debacle and exonerate the United States. My analysis of those articles (here and here) highlighted astounding miscalculations and malpractice by U.S. and NATO advisors. The fundamental flaw is the U.S. military personnel are pretending to have experience that they do not have. The U.S. military is like a Driver’s Education school. They are qualified and competent...

President Biden recently repeated the claim that high prices are caused by greedy businesses. Biden is not alone in trying to gaslight the people into thinking price inflation is rooted in the actions of private individuals and not the fiat money system Americans have lived under since 1971. In the media we see excessive consumer spending on luxury items, for example, being blamed for continued price inflation. The fact is that increased consumer demand can only cause prices to rise in those...

Aside from Israel, the United States is the nation most responsible for the pain and suffering people in Gaza are experiencing due to Israel’s devastating military action of the last two months. This is because the US is now and long has been the number one provider of weapons to Israel, as well as the source of much intelligence employed to direct the use of those weapons. The Israel government bears responsibility for its ongoing devastating attack on Gaza. But, the destruction, with truth...