Taxation in the US is already to the favor of corporations & billionaires. When I worked for a tax lawyer while in college in the 1960s, she told me the tax laws were so unfair that if the American people knew the extent of inequity, there would be a revolution. Working with her, I saw that the poorest pay disproportionately high taxes.

Of course this Trump bill is more gravy train for corporations & billionaires. The unions are so hog-tied to the Democratic Party & so at war with each other that they will not mobilize workers, who are already hit in the jugular with taxes, to oppose the Trump tax bill. The only good news is that even though American workers are slow learners, historically they’ve made up for it with a fury. But when?

Saudi so-called reform is a palace coup not heralding democracy

Let’s hazard a guess about the political reform in Saudi Arabia which is really a palace coup, not a fundamental revolution heralding democracy. The ousted princes were “imprisoned” in a five-star hotel, not the Saudi gulag & they will not face execution by beheading. The Saudi monarchy works bomb to bomb with the US to maintain tyranny in the Middle East–as we see in its nearly 3-year bombing campaign in Yemen, intended to crush every remnant of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising. It is involved in funding & arming terrorist militias in Syria, Afghanistan, & elsewhere. Trump’s visit was to solidify & extend that relationship not for purposes of peace in the Middle East but to destroy every movement for democracy.

We’re supposed to get excited because women can drive now? What about all the other rights Saudi women demand? What about allowing all Saudi citizens & immigrant workers democratic rights? What about the Yemeni women who played a leading role in the 2011 uprising who are now targets of Saudi bombs?
Every time the Saudi regime beheads dissidents there is an international chorus of outrage about its relationship with the US.

The so-called reforms are a cosmetic makeover to make US & European alliance with Saudi Arabia look good. Like putting lipstick on a serial killer.

Just so there’s no confusion, I do not include all Catholics in my criticisms of Pope Francis. I come from the Catholic tradition & know most certainly do not sanction the persecution of other human beings. The pope put himself in the middle of a genocide giving the Rohingya & their supporters hopes that he would try to make a difference in their defense. He didn’t just cave but he rendered legitimacy to the Burmese genocidaires. Like every other human being, he has to be held accountable for his actions. He doesn’t speak ex cathedra in politics & apparently requires remedial education in faith & morals. When he compromises with genocide he has to face the music for such a monstrous betrayal.