Haspel Applies CIA Tradecraft To Trump Conundrum NYT, 16 April 2019, Gina Haspel Relies on Spy Skills to Connect With Trump. He Doesn’t Always Listen. The C.I.A. director, Gina Haspel, appears to have struck a balance between sticking to her principles while also keeping the C.I.A. mostly free from President Trump’s ire. Summary/Extract:  Gina Haspel…

Trump Gives Presidential Historians Migraine BBC, 17 January 2019, How will history judge President Trump? Hostile historians may come to regard Donald Trump’s presidency as an aggregation of the lesser traits of his predecessors. Extract/Summary:  The bullying of Lyndon Baines Johnson, who demeaned White House aides and even humiliated his Vice-President Hubert Humphrey – forcing…

Julian Assange is Behind Bars.  What Now?   NYT, 11 April 2019, Julian Assange’s Seven Strange Years in Self-Imposed Isolation   Extract/Summary:  The spectacle of Julian Assange, bearded and haggard, resisting arrest while London police officers dragged him through the street, punctuated the end of seven confounding years inside the Ecuadorean Embassy, where he lived…

Netanyahu, Voters Sully Israeli Democracy Vox, 10 April 2019, Israeli democracy is rotting from the inside Extract/Summary:  Israel’s 2019 election results are in, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is all but certain to stay in office for a record fifth term. (In fact, challenger, retired General Benny Gantz, evidently has now conceded defeat, despite the election…

Biden, For Now, Survives Torrent of Negative News Coverage  Nate Silver 538.com, 10 April 2019, Biden Supporters Are Older And More Moderate — And Sticking With Him So Far Summary/Extract:  Allegations from several women that Joe Biden touched them in ways that they felt were inappropriate — and Biden’s decision to make light of the controversy — don’t appear…

Ukrainian Comedian Leads Poroshenko, Despite Corrupt Oligarch’s Backing & Vague  Platform RFE/RL.ORG, 8 April 2019, So Far, Zelenskiy Is High On Charisma And Light On Policy. Do Ukrainians Care? Summary/Extract:   Comedian and TV star Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is challenging incumbent Ukrainian President Porosheno in the second round of the country’s presidential elections, has been heavy…

May, Corbyn Haggle As UK Faces Crisis Deadline  NYT, 8 April 2019, After Years of Ambiguity About Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn Faces a Decision Summary/Extract:  Two weeks before Britain was originally scheduled to leave the European Union, Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, was asked on television whether Britain should stay or go.…

Biden Should Run as Center-Left Pragmatist; Should Not Let Himself Be Steamrollered Real Clear Politics, E.J. Dionne, Despite It All, Joe Biden Should Run Extract/Summary:  It will be good for the country and the Democratic Party for Joe Biden to run for president. But it could be hell on him. If Biden backed off from…