Logo Logo
President Barack Obama talks with his personal aide Reggie Love, Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton, and Director of Political Affairs Patrick Gaspard, aboard Marine One. Aug. 9, 2010. (Pete Souza)
The Fourth Estate

Vichy Journalism on Steroids: Obama and the New Wave of “All-Good” Black Journalism

Archives for January 2018

Why Trump’s Support Among His Base Is Slipping

Recent polls suggest that Trump support is slipping.  While a hard-core of Trump supporters will likely remain loyal to Republican candidates, others are likely to either stay home, vote for a Democrat or another candidate.

David Rosen
By David Rosen
The crowd cheers as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Baton Rouge, La., Feb. 11, 2016. (AP/Gerald Herbert)

Donald Trump was elected president by successfully fuzzing the political tension between economic concerns and cultural factors.  His core constituency is broadly conceived as disaffected white working-class men, 40-plus years old, with less than a college degree, self-identifying as evangelical Christians and Republican voters.  He promised – and

Read Full Article

Despite Corruption Allegations, Brazil’s Leftist Lula Leads Presidential Polls

Amid a flurry of corruption allegations, Brazil’s leftist candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva tops the presidential polls, reflecting the growing discontent with Brazil’s recent rightward surge.

teleSUR
By teleSUR
A wall displaying posters with line drawings that depict Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and a message that reads in Portuguese, “Lula is innocent”, in Brasilia, Brazil, Jan. 29, 2018. (AP/Eraldo Peres)

Even after three judges from Brazil's Fourth Regional Federal Court, TRF-4, unanimously upheld his 2017 corruption conviction — a case many observers deem lawfare at its finest — former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva continues to top this year's presidential poll. The survey, which was undertaken by Datafolha and published in

Read Full Article

Trump and the GOP’s Israel Policy Is About Defunding Democrats

Donald Trump’s Israel policies may have more to do with outmaneuvering Democrats than they do with any concern for Middle East peace.

Jonathan Marshall
By Jonathan Marshall
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the 2016 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference at the Verizon Center, on Monday, March 21, 2016, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Vice President Mike Pence’s trip to Israel last week revived warnings by foreign policy experts over the Trump administration’s controversial announcement that it will break with past policy and relocate the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. “It’s still mysterious just how Mr. Trump believes he has advanced the cause of peace, or fortified America’s

Read Full Article

The Secret Cold War Plan To Nuke Middle East Oil Fields

British and U.S. intelligence considered obliterating the Middle East’s most valuable resource instead of allowing it to fall into Soviet hands.

Irina Slav
By Irina Slav

The 1950s were a turbulent time on both sides of the Iron Curtain. With the Second World War over and the star role played by crude oil in its outcome, British and U.S. intelligence agencies wasted no time working out scenarios should the Soviets invade the Middle East. In hindsight, especially to younger generations, this might seem eccentric,

Read Full Article

Will Washington’s Syria Chess Game Lead to War with NATO Ally Turkey?

America’s current Syria strategy opens up the door for a war with Turkey and a potential war with Iran and Syria. All the while the U.S. loses its status as the so-called global leader, with Russia emerging unscathed from the conflict as the region’s major power broker.

Darius Shahtahmasebi
By Darius Shahtahmasebi
Turkey-backed Syrian rebels and Turkish troops secure the Bursayah hill, which separates the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin from the Turkey-controlled town of Azaz, Syria, Jan. 28, 2018. (AP Photo)

WASHINGTON (Analysis) -- It’s not clear if the United States knows what it is doing in Syria anymore. Having successfully toppled the Libyan government in 2011, former President Barack Obama subsequently spent a good three years attempting to bring about the fall of the Syrian government, under the guise of humanitarianism, that embroiled the

Read Full Article

From Pentagon Papers to Pressman’s Strike: The Washington Post and American Journalism Lost Their Way

The Post’s redoubled emphasis on the bottom line exemplified a crucial change in American newspapering and reflected the transformation of the daily newspaper in the United States from a family enterprise to a corporation with an obligation to its stockholders to ‘maximize’ profits.

Jon Jeter
By Jon Jeter
Over 1,000 striking pressmen and supporters stage a march and rally on the one year anniversary of the Pressman's strike on October 2, 1976 that culminated with burning Katherine Graham in effigy in front of the Post headquarters. (Photo: Reading/Simpson, non-commercial use permitted)

WASHINGTON (Opinion) -- Meryl Streep received her 21st Oscar nomination last week for her portrayal of Katharine Graham in Steven Spielberg’s thriller, The Post. The film depicts the iconic newspaper publisher and her storied editor, Ben Bradlee (played by Tom Hanks), staring down a ruthless Nixon administration and cautious shareholders to print

Read Full Article