Portside

Hit that old song again, loud and clear! "Over there, over there, Send the word, send the word, That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming." Yes, sirree! Shades of 1918 and the Battle of the Marne! Shades of 1944 and the beaches of Normandy! But no, not just shades and not just words have already been sent. The U.S. is sending significant military assets to Germany, and to countries bordering Russia.

Reader Comments: Calling Working People of All Colors; The Scandal of Vast Inequality in Retirement Pay; Ohio Factory Workers Fight for a Union; No Rockettes Will Be Required to Perform at Inauguration; 25 Places That Raised the Minimum Wage in 2016; The UN Security Council Resolution; Israeli Hysteria Over UN Vote; Stop Fueling the Anti-Russia Frenzy; History, Political Strategy - for the Future; Resources; National Single Payer Strategy Conference; and more...

Progressives who treat anti-Russia propaganda spin as fact, in order to weaken Trump, are encouraging a kind of McCarthyism. Of all the good reasons to “delegitimate” Trump, alleged Kremlin intervention in the election should rank low. Focus should instead be on his greed, pathological lying, enthusiasm for oligarchy, bigotry, environmental destruction, racism, misogyny, economic injustice, voter suppression and rampant conflicts of interest.

Reader Comments: Fidel Castro's Impact; New York Activists to Gather in Tribute Sunday at Cuban Mission; Resisting the Trump Presidency - No to Muslim Registry; Yes to Women's March on Washington; How Did Workers Vote; Needed a History of Beer and the Socialist Brewers; About the so-called Russian fake news - readers don't agree; Resources for Immigrants; Labor Scholarships Available at UMASS; Trump World Order - NYC forum; and more ....

There is no way to know whether Russian 'fake news' efforts proved decisive in electing Trump, but researchers say it was part of a broadly effective strategy. The tactics included penetrating the computers of election officials and releasing troves of hacked emails that embarrassed Clinton in the final months of her campaign.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, called for peace and a de-escalation in tensions between the US and Russia. What is the future for dialogue between the two countries under current circumstances? Gorbachev spoke in Reykjavik on Monday, calling for increased dialogue between the US and Russia

The major powers are planning for war and claim that's the best way to defend against war. Will this mutual hawkishness lead to armed conflict?

The Turks don't want a Kurdish mini-state on their frontier any more than the Syrians want to lose territory to the Kurds (and neither do the Iranians, nor do the Russians want a Kurdish state on their border). And, Turkey is warming up to Russia and Iran in a bid to exit before a total rout of its proxies in Syria. Here Robert Fisk and Vijay Prashad present two nuanced perspectives.

The attempted military coup in Turkey and the possibility of a President Trump may have more Americans considering the military option. It's tempting to conclude that the same folks who approve of a military intervention into politics support Donald Trump's intervention into politics. Trump is, in a way, a one-man coup. He is an outsider. He has contempt for the normal workings of democracy.