After back-to-back Republican and Democratic conventions, the stage is set for a 100-day mad dash to the November presidential contest. There were telling differences between the two events.To begin with, the conventions revealed the state of play within each party.Both Repu

To understand why the United States fails so miserably in efforts to achieve an Israeli/Palestinian peace, all you need to do is take a look at the mix of bad policy and bad politics found in the Israel/Palestine sections of the platforms of both the Republican and Democratic par

I grew up watching both parties’ conventions. Television networks covered them from beginning to end. Oftentimes, because the outcome was not assured, there was drama and tension. During the past several decades, conventions have lost their excitement.

Last week, a coalition of mostly far-right “Christian” organisations hosted a conference in Washington that claimed to be defending persecuted minorities in the Middle East.Given the very real threat posed to vulnerable ancient religious communities by barbarous groups like Daesh

At last week’s Democratic Party platform drafting meeting, I introduced Bernie Sanders’ amendment to the Israel/Palestine section calling for an end to the occupation and settlements. What follows are my comments, speaking for the amendment.During her opening comments, DNC C

Shortly after Tim Kaine had been elected governor of Virginia in 2006, a discussion ensued among Democratic Party leaders about the lessons that could learned from Kaine’s victory. Some observations were interesting; others were not.

We woke up last Sunday morning to news of the senseless slaughter of 49 innocent people at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida.Because many of the victims were gay, it appeared that that was a hate crime.It was not long before the killer was identified as Omar Mateen, the American-bo

Recent Trump outrages have thrown the GOP establishment into a tizzy.Reactions have been varied, ranging from a few brave souls who denounced their nominee’s bigotry to those who continue to hope against hope that Trump will begin to behave more “presidential”.Ignored in all this

I was not going to write about this subject, but something happened yesterday over lunch that prompted me to reconsider.I was having a peaceful meal with my wife when two men sat down in the next booth.