Michael Bloomberg spoke last night at the Democratic National Convention about patriotism, leadership, and hope and found Donald Trump failing in all categories.

Bloomberg’s message was one of several eloquent, compelling, and significant speeches, each deserving attention and admiration.

I single out Bloomberg because he offered what few could, a peer review of Trump.

Bloomberg, who by all accounts is far wealthier than Trump, did not speak about his own fortune; instead he reminded Trump of the riches of the American legacy. Bloomberg called on the American Framers to spell out the nation priorities, “When the Founding Fathers arrived here in Philadelphia to forge a new nation, they didn’t come as Democrats or Republicans, or to nominate a presidential candidate. They came as patriots who feared party politics.” read more

Since Monday, the Republican National Convention has featured a historic spectacle of vigilante justice.

In a mere two days it has demonstrated how in an instant an ordinary crowd could become an ugly screaming mob. Each day of the convention has been punctuated by mostly law-abiding and mostly nice people morphing into a mob screaming with hatred and glee, “jail Hillary.”

Whatever people may think of Hillary Clinton’s use of email, last night’s mob at the convention didn’t sound like the Law and Order slogan the Republicans keep claiming as their property. The convention sounded more like the French mob screaming outside the Dreyfus trial, like the mobs that attacked Jews in pogroms in Europe and like the historic mobs breaking into prisons to lynch black Americans. read more

This time it was President Barack Obama who used the formula “because of the color of their skin,” after a police officer killed Philando Castile during a traffic stop for a broken taillight: “When incidents like this occur, there’s a big chunk of our citizenry that feels as if, because of the color of their skin, they are not being
treated the same.”

He was not the first and will not be the last to cast matters in that topsy-turvy way. Martin Luther King Jr’s reference to “the color of their skin” in his “I Have a Dream” speech has normalized the formula in Americans’ ears, though King probably considered it a reductio ad absurdum rather than an explanation. read more

Our 4^th of July flags were still flying high when seven people died leaving behind bereaved parents, children, relatives and friends. Families and friends from now on will have to celebrate births, confirmations, graduations, and marriages with tears, memories, and pictures.

The chronology of the tragic events took place in front of our eyes. In real time we saw Alton Sterling a black man shot and killed while pinned down on the ground by police officers in Baton Rouge America. On the scene was Muflahi the owner of the convenient store who kept repeating, “It was a nightmare,” contradicting the police version, “there was no altercation,” he said. read more

First, the good news: Bernie Sanders endorsed Hillary Clinton today, to the discomfiture of some diehard Bernie or Busters, and the gratified relief of everyone who wants to see Donald Trump defeated in November. Extended political campaigns tend to bruise feelings, and this was no exception, but the Dems will be united, behind a strong platform (wish it could have mentioned the occupation, however) and should be well positioned to win, with the backing of liberals and progressives, whites, blacks, Latinos, and Asians, and everyone who is serious about not wanting Donald Trump as the next president of the United States. read more

On the eve of Israel’s last election, we strongly believed that in order to ensure the future of the state as Jewish and democratic we must change the regime.

We had known that a new coalition with Netanyahu at the helm would not be able to achieve a separation from the Palestinians and a two-states agreement.

To bring about political change we forged a number of alliances to win in the voting booth, but we failed to bring about change and the results of the election confirmed our worst fears. read more