By Patricia Lee Sharpe Putin’s approval rating has jumped from a not-so-bad 77% to a much better 83% according to a recent “state-backed” opinion poll. So says the Wall Street Journal, while noting that “experts have cautioned against taking current... Continue reading

By Patricia Lee Sharpe Maybe Valieva got tired of being a pawn of the Russian system and did the best she could do, but in a surprising way. Maybe she threw the race. First the Russians put her through the... Continue reading

By Patricia Lee Sharpe (Background reading: “Did the War in Afghanistan have to Happen?” in the NYT: https:// www.nytimes.com/2021/08/23/world/middleeast/afghanistan-taliban-deal-united-states.html Let me be the first to congratulate Joe Biden for his handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He had the... Continue reading

By Patricia Lee Sharpe Red state leaders have decided to starve their citizens into accepting underpaid jobs instead of persuading employers to offer a living wage. They are cutting off those $300 per week unemployment benefits. Unskilled labor, it seems,... Continue reading

by Patricia Lee Sharpe The U.S. has loaded many missions onto its agenda in Afghanistan, but the original mission has long since been accomplished. Bin Laden is dead. His Al Qaeda is no longer a threat to the U.S. Can... Continue reading

by Patricia Lee Sharpe Rule one for young writers is this: whenever possible, use the active, not the passive voice. For example, which of the following is more powerful? (Or, if we’re talking about a fictional character, which version makes... Continue reading

For some time I thought it peculiar that you picked fights with all our allies and cozied up to those who, like the Red Queen, shout, “Off with their heads!” to those who challenge them. Emperor Xi of China. Tsar Vladimir of Russia. Chairman Kim of North Korea. And lots of pettier tyrants. But the fact is you envy them. You really do want the powers they have. For the same reason you trample on law and ignore due process, both of which interfere with your freedom of action. And when reality displeases you, you lie, having learned from the Nazi propaganda machine that lies repeated become the truth. To some people anyway. Especially since, by discrediting the media—”Off with their heads!”—you limit the access to the truth. Continue reading

Saudi Arabia, the arch enemy of Iran, claims that Teheran has sabotaged two of its ships, and Donald Trump, who’s been dying for an excuse to attack Iran, is ready to go to war. Is it too late to make the Saudis impound the ships and get the gashes examined by an incorruptible, neutral party?Meanwhile, until the damage is verified by such non-U.S., non-Israeli, non-Saudi and non-Emirati experts, is it too much to ask that all references to such allegations be put in quotes? As claims, not established facts. Continue reading

Finally, let’s take effective action on the strangely overlooked, non-controversial part of the Mueller report. Let’s unite behind the sections that provide clear evidence of Russian meddling. Has everything been done that needs to be done to protect the 2020 election from foreign interference? If not, why not? There’s still time to plug software security holes, buy voting machines that leave a paper trail and force Facebook, Twitter and other social media to do the right thing. Continue reading

Diana Forrest abandons a bad marriage, rejoins the Foreign Service and is sent to counter Soviet disinformation in Tanzania, where bribery corrupts the socialist ideal and elephant lovers are battling ivory poachers. Toggling between a diffident boss and a hard-to-please... Continue reading

In 2016, many American’s fell for the notion that an uber entrepreneur can run a government better than the bureaucrats. We should think twice before we fall for that line again. Continue reading

There are plenty of qualified conservatives who have no need to repress memories of drunken lechery. If the Senators had proceeded with all DELIBERATE speed, they might have uncovered Kavanaugh’s unfitness in time for the President to find a nominee less in his own image. Now they have a problem—and it’s of their own making. They and Kavanaugh banked on a fast, not a fair, process. Continue reading

The cruel and unfair process to which Anita Hill was subjected has not been forgotten. However, there is little indication that the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee, some of whom participated in the lynching of Anita Hill, are inclined to be any more judicious in examining the allegations of Dr. Ford. They should think again. Accused and accuser must be treated with equal respect. Issues deserve thorough, opem-minded investigation. In short, the process as such is critical, whatever the outcome. If this inquiry is not seen to be far and thorough, the looming 2018 midterm elections are likely to tilt decisively toward Democrats. Continue reading

Trump’s missile strike turned out to be as successful as the Obama/Russia negotiations which also failed to rid Syria of chemical weapons. What an irony! Continue reading

We mere citizens need Robert Mueller to continue his methodical dissection of the Russian-tainted anomalies of the 2016 election. So why, Jill and Bernie, are you not leading the clamor for answers and solutions? And why, have you not unequivocally disavowed all the unwelcome—surely, it was unwelcome!—support you received from Russian operatives? Once upon a time there were credible reasons for idealists on the American left to be soft on Russia. That was before Communist realities relegated all hopes for a workers’ paradise in the Soviet Union to the dustbin of history. Continue reading

The whole world already knows that the U.S. is powerful, and previous American presidents have felt no need for crass displays of the obvious. Self confident leaders don’t need to peacock with the national defense. They don't brag about the size of their missiles. So a military worthy of a democracy would be (and hopefully already is) raining heavily on this charade—oops! parade, which doesn’t preclude its traditional, dignified contributions to Fourth of July celebrations that honor the country, not a wanna-be czar who cries “treason” when he’s not applauded. Continue reading

If Oprah Winfrey has decided she’d like to try her hand at politics, let her do it the responsible way. Let her run for Congress. Let her follow up with a stint in the Senate. And then, having earned her spurs, let her go for broke. Millions may like her on Facebook, but that doesn’t mean she’s ready for the presidency. Continue reading

By Patricia Lee Sharpe Most Western observers have attributed the ongoing tragedy in Myanmar’s Rakhine province to ethnic and religious intolerance: a Buddhist majority zealously reclaiming its land from Muslim interlopers. Is this the whole story? I don’t think so.... Continue reading

Dear Hillary, thank you for all your good works: working for children early on, standing up for women internationally, getting the universal health care ball rolling. And more. But do cancel your speaking tours and your interviews. I know. It’s hard to step down. Everyone who has occupied a position of some influence knows the agony of handing the reins over to a new generation. But it has to be done. Your books claim that you delight in the presence of your grandchildren. Did you mean it? Or were those merely words thrown in to showcase your humanity? Continue reading

By Patricia Lee Sharpe I touched a man last week. A strange young man, no less. He’d asked a good question after a lecture. I delivered my compliment while laying my hand on a jacketed shoulder, after which I went... Continue reading

By Patricia Lee Sharpe Here's the DNC homework assignment: Take a closer look at the factors that drove a once solidly Democratic labor force to vote in ways that seem to be self-defeating. Feel your way in, too. Empathize. Then... Continue reading

Kelly began well. If he’d stopped after insisting that Trump was guilty only of saying the right thing clumsily, he’d have been fine. Instead he went on and on, like a man not in his right mind. After months of tightrope walking, he fell, one more decent men who lost his honor to Donald Trump’s insatiable ego. I like many others have been grateful for Mr. Kelly’s service, thinking him to be a reliable voice of sanity in a mad house, thinking him strong enough to survive in that poisonous atmosphere. But Trump found his weak point and played on it, his grief as a father, and now it’s clear that we can no longer depend on him. For his own sake and for the sake of the country, he needs to resign. Continue reading

There is no acceptable reason to legitimize a violent “alt-left, ” but muzzling foul-mouthed racists will hurt more than it will help. As for those who cower behind masks and pseudonyms, the more they mask their identity the more fully they acknowledge their shame. Continue reading

So Congress, here what you need to do: (1) Do the right thing. Get the Dreamers on a quickstep to citizenship. A few months should do it. (2) Be brave and do the intelligent thing. Pass a color blind, secular, comprehensive immigration reform bill that will strengthen the U.S. as it faces formidable new challenges. Hint: the goal isn’t to limit immigration but to ensure a steady influx of energetic new Americans. Continue reading