Just when I was getting depressed from all the bad news everywhere, the rain has returned with a vengeance to Potlatch. Right now it is 2 pm and dark as night outside, just as it seems to be for people in Afghanistan and those among us grappling with the urgent issues of the Covid-19 pandemic…

Here is a Canadian view of the current crisis in Afghanistan. The author, David Pugliese is a journalist who covers military affairs. A DOOMED MISSION Many predicted Afghanistan failure Ottawa Citizen18 Aug 2021DAVID PUGLIESE dpugliese Last week, Global Affairs Canada officials met with Canadian military officers in Ottawa to discuss the worsening situation in Afghanistan….

I’ve long been uncomfortable with the idea of an all-volunteer military, not because of its professionalism and expertise, but because it tends to separate us as a nation from the serious nature of war itself. The debacle of recent wars and the present case of Afghanistan provide a case in point. For me the idea…

This past weekend the news turned more sour than usual. The horrific destruction wrought by an earthquake in Haiti and the disastrous unfolding of the U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan have temporarily knocked the lethal surge of Covid-19 off the front page. Take your pick as to what is the worst. The first was an “act…

This cartoon struck me as being especially relevant to our politics today; like a picture, it says a thousand words. It certainly suggests the absurdity of our contemporary political discourse. Our polemics address the trivial to the exclusion of more important issues. We need to ask ourselves tough questions about our partisanship. This is especially…

After several days of entertaining out-of-town guests here at Potlatch, we joined two of our friends for a night at their cousin’s cabin on Lake Rabun, the gem of Georgia’s lakes. Part of a chain of six lakes, Lake Rabun is the oldest, dating from 1925 when it became a haven for many of Atlanta’s…

Another article from the Ottawa Citizen courtesy of George Shafer in Almonte, Ontario. By Andrew Cohen It is not new, unusual or original to consider the decline of the United States. Many have, at different times, for different reasons, since the end of the Second World War. The country emerged as the world’s lone nuclear…

For some time now, my good libertarian friend has continued to send me information extolling libertarian values and criticism of the two major political parties, the Democrats and Republicans. He has always been particularly exercised about the Libertarian Party’s continual struggle with ballot access, the nemesis of all third parties in our two-party system. He…

The Republican Party has been around since its founding in 1854 in the little hamlet of Ripon, Wisconsin. It was cobbled together from disgruntled Democrats, the Free Soil Party, former Whigs and anti-slavery advocates in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act which permitted the expansion of slavery into the territories. After running John C. Fremont as…

In my continuing effort to bring news and views of American politics from beyond our borders, I’m printing this piece from my Canadian friend up in Almonte, Ontario. It helps to see how others see our politics. Much to lament in U.S. hearings on Capitol revolt Ottawa Citizen 30 Jul 2021 ANDREW COHEN Boston Andrew…