Volume 270 | No. 24

Much Worse Than the Vandals

To the Editor: Trump’s right about vandals damaging the reflecting pool; however, the truth is Trump is the vandal. His hire-the-incompetent approach to government is ruining more than the reflecting pond. He vandalized the Kennedy Center when he defaced it with his name. Millions of taxpayers’ dollars brought back the Kennedy (only) Center. He vandalized the White House by demolishing the East Wing. Like the ignorant Vandals, history means nothing to Trump. He vandalized the Rose Garden by paving it over. Like ancient Vandals he destroys places of beauty. He vandalized signage throughout our national parks. Like illiterate Vandals, Trump doesn’t read. He’ll vandalize the …

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Farewell, Beanie

by W.D. Ehrhart Last Friday was a very sad day for me, my wife Anne, and my daughter Leela. We had to euthanize our cat Beanie, who had been with us for nearly 22 years. That’s almost half of Anne’s and my 45 years of marriage. And as anyone who’s ever loved a pet knows, Beanie was a member of our family. She wasn’t like a family member; she was a family member. Our daughter Leela and her then-boyfriend found Beanie in the boyfriend’s yard one cold November night when Beanie was maybe five weeks old and weighed barely a pound. Beanie had gotten separated …

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Raúl Castro: A Guide to Manufacturing Martyrs

by Richard M. Balzano There is a certain dark comedy in watching Washington indict former Cuban president Raúl Castro for allegedly killing civilians over Caribbean waters after the United States bombed boats and killed civilians in Caribbean waters. Progressive commentators like Ryan Grim and Julia Conley at Common Dreams quickly noted the irony after Miami prosecutors indicted the 94-year-old on one count of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, four counts of murder, and two counts of aircraft destruction. The charges stemmed from a February 24, 1996 confrontation in which Cuban fighter jets destroyed two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft as they either approached or had …

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Our Criminal Justice Department

Tuesday, Stewart Rhodes and his Oath Keepers—who millions of Americans saw with their own eyes, on live television, attacking the U.S. Congress on January 6, 2021 intending to prevent the orderly transition of executive power—were handed a “Get Out of Jail Free” card by the Justice Department, currently being run by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Through sheer force of character, we presume, Judge Mehta declined to mention Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener in his opinion. Nevertheless, he made it clear that he would have preferred not to issue it. “Before turning to the government’s proffered justifications for dismissal, it is important to note the reasons …

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Volume 270, No. 24

Because we are so fortunate as to not yet have been thrown into some stinking cell for an imaginary crime existing solely in the misfiring mind of a puffed-up grifter who only retains power through the avarice and cowardice of a slew of reprehensible flunkies, we decided to celebrate by doing what we love best: putting out yet another newspaper. You can read it by clicking on this link right here.