Dershowitz: Being Black Doesn't Give You a License to Call People Racist

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) called Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz's comments "absolutely racist" this week.

Dershowitz was being interviewed by Fox News and was giving analysis on which regions would be most favorable to the Trump side in a possible future trial (in terms of juries) when he noted that between a couple of options, "[Washington] has an ethnic and racial composition that would be somewhat less favorable to Donald Trump."

But Waters characterized Dershowitz comments as saying:

"What he's simply saying [is that] all of those black people are there and they don't like Trump, so he's not going to get a fair trial. And so they should take it out of that jurisdiction. It shouldn't be there to begin with. I don't like that. And I'm surprised that Alan Dershowitz is talking like that. And we will not stand for it. We will push back against that. Because that is absolutely racist."

Dershowitz replied later to Fox that Waters "should know better and does know better ... If I had said that race didn't matter, she would have called me a racist. She throws the term around so loosely and so inappropriately, and it weakens her credibility, because by calling everybody a racist, by calling me a racist, when she calls real racists racist nobody is going to believe her. Would she have called Johnny Cochran racist? ... Being black doesn't give you a licence to call people racist any more than being Jewish gives you a licence to call people anti-Semitic."

France, Soft Power Darling of the Year

The 2017 Soft Power Index upranked France 4 spots to first this year, just barely beating the UK and the US.

"France has emerged as the overall world leader when it comes to soft power," according to the Portland report, although it was only first in 1 of the 6 domains measured: Engagement.

Why? A rebound from a bad year in 2016 (Hollande's low popularity, big terrorist attacks, growing far-right populism); the election of a young pro-Europe Macron over the Front National and a near-future outlook of pro-business, pro-EU reforms and an energized, EU-leader France; Macron's social media engagement; and France's traditional diplomacy:

"Once again, France’s greatest strength lies in its vast diplomatic network. It is unrivalled in terms of membership to multilateral and international organisations, as well as in its diplomatic cultural missions. And with Macron having long campaigned for cooperation and integration, it is not unreasonable to expect France’s global engagement and influence to grow. Culturally, France also puts in a strong performance. The threat of terrorism has not stopped tourists flocking to France and enjoying its rich cultural offering, cuisine, and lifestyle – France’s restaurant scene is unrivalled, its film sector continues to flourish, and its museums and galleries are some of the most visited in the world."

Combine those factors with a UK losing some popularity after Brexit and a Trump US.

It should be noted that of the 6 domains, the US still took first in Education, Culture, and Digital. Singapore got Enterprise. Norway got Government.

Canada? Third in Education, fifth in Digital, ninth in Culture and Government. It didn't place in Enterprise or Engagement.

China Climbing in Soft Power

China is up from from 28 to 25 on this year's "Soft Power Ranking" due to its entertainment and sports appeal, as well as its recent positive participation as peace keepers for the UN and anti-piracy security services off the African coast, and its growing capacity for providing disaster relief.

China is now positioned above Russia's 27 and the Czech Republic's 29 (although both of these also rose in 2017). Below these countries were Hungary, Brazil, and Turkey, all of which dropped several spots.

Trump Replaces Chief of Staff

Reince Priebus was replaced by General John Kelly, who was already serving Trump as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Priebus was hoped to be a bridge between the Trump White House and Congress, along with Sessions, but things between the two groups are not going very smoothly.

Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif Out

In a democratic transfer of power, Sharif will select an interim successor to replace him. He was unanimously found guilty of earning an inappropriate amount of money after the Panama Leaks (by WikiLeaks) revealed his family held real estate in London no one knew about.

Sharif has been found guilty of a fair amount of other offenses during his career.

It is expected he will remain a powerful force in Pakistan, but now more from behind the scenes.

Justice Department's Corporate Crime Watchdog Resigns, Saying Trump Makes It Impossible To Do Job

One of the Justice Department’s top corporate crime watchdogs, Hui Chen, wrote on LinkedIn:

"On May 15, I informed the Fraud Section in the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice that I did not intend to renew my contract as its Compliance Counsel Expert. Last Friday, I officially ended that role.

"Leaving DOJ was not an easy decision. Serving as the Fraud Section’s compliance counsel had given me not only the privilege of working with some of the most dedicated, intelligent, and innovative prosecutors in the federal government, it had also given me a platform from which I believed I could make a positive difference. Now, my reason for leaving is the same: to make a difference. For reasons articulated below, I believe the time has come when I can make a bigger difference outside of the DOJ than inside.

"First, trying to hold companies to standards that our current administration is not living up to was creating a cognitive dissonance that I could not overcome. To sit across the table from companies and question how committed they were to ethics and compliance felt not only hypocritical, but very much like shuffling the deck chair on the Titanic. Even as I engaged in those questioning and evaluations, on my mind were the numerous lawsuits pending against the President of the United States for everything from violations of the Constitution to conflict of interest, the ongoing investigations of potentially treasonous conducts, and the investigators and prosecutors fired for their pursuits of principles and facts. Those are conducts I would not tolerate seeing in a company, yet I worked under an administration that engaged in exactly those conduct. I wanted no more part in it.

"Second, my ability to do good at a more micro-level, by exchanging ideas with the compliance community on ways to assess the effectiveness of compliance programs, was severely limited. The management of the Criminal Division, of which the Fraud Section is a part, has persistently prohibited me from public speaking. This inability to engage was particularly frustrating after the release of the Evaluations of Corporate Compliance document, as I watched almost everyone except me being able to talk about (and often misinterpreting) my work.

"Third, I have come to realize that nothing matters to me more than working to restore the notions of integrity, decency, and intellect back into our government. I yearn to be a part of that effort more directly than volunteering for and attending protests: I want to help elect candidates who stand for those values, and I cannot do that while under contract with the Criminal Division due to Hatch Act restrictions.

"The time I spent in the Fraud Section has been among of the most rewarding experiences in my career, and I cannot speak more highly of the prosecutors with whom I had the pleasure of working. I will miss them dearly, and I hope and pray that they remain in the government to protect and defend our Constitution and to hold corporations accountable. As a citizen advocate, I will also fight for resources and support for them to do their jobs.

"What will I do now? The mission is the same: to make a difference.  It seems clear that there is much work to do not only in taking corporate ethics & compliance to the next level, but also in raising the moral consciousness of societies. To those ends, I will engage publicly through speaking, writing, and consulting, working with not only corporations interested in enhancing their ethics & compliance programs, but also with foreign and domestic government agencies to enhance their leadership in the markets. I will also consider it my personal mission to participate in efforts to hold our elected representatives accountable and to protect our environment. I believe it has never been more important for every individual to speak and act on their conscience and belief.

"We have just one life to live, and the mission we choose for that life matters as much as the life itself."

U.S. Selling 1.4b in Weapons to Taiwan, China Protests

China considers Taiwan, the seat of the original Chinese government, a renegade state.

Panama's Ex-Pres Arrested in Florida

According to the U.S. Marshals, the 65-year-old ex-president of Panama (he governed 2009-14) was arrested near his Florida house.

Panama's government has since last year wanted Martinelli extradited to their country for charges of corruption and spying on political opponents.

Martinelli says the allegations are politically motivated, a political vendetta by his opponents.

Panama Switches to 'One-China'

Panama had dealt with Taiwan, the seat of the original Chinese government, ignoring the claim of Beijing's 'One-China' up until this week.

China has done quite a bit of investment in Panama in recent years.

Now Panama has cut off relations with Taiwan in favor of Beijing. Most countries have now done this. Canada did so in 1971 and the U.S. did so in 1979.

Taiwan still has non-diplomatic, unofficial governmental relations with the European Union and at least 47 states, including Canada and the U.S.

U.S. Intelligence Officials Tell Senate They Will Not Repeat What Was Said in Conversations With Trump

At a Senate intelligence hearing for an unrelated matter this week, senators ended up asking NSA and other intelligence brass about the president and the Russia investigation.

The officials told senators they would not discuss the specifics of conversations with the president.

They said they thought it was confidential information that should be protected from public hearing. They also said they were waiting for more guidance from the White House.

There was some talk about senators now being concerned about their ability to look into these matters and get answers from U.S. intelligence, and whether power has now shifted to the executive.

Comey Testifies About Trump Meetings

Fired FBI Director James Comey has delivered a prepared statement to Congress this week.

The statement described the six meetings Comey had with the president, some of which are considered quite unusual by analysts.

During one meeting with Trump, Comey testified, he shared with the president sensitive information of a salacious nature that had been gathered as part of the FBI's Russia investigation. At another meeting Trump asked everyone to leave except Comey and then spoke about "letting Flynn go."

Trump several times referred to "a cloud" being over the White House because of the Russia investigation, according to Comey, who also related that Trump told him "had not been involved with hookers in Russia," among other references.

Trump's attorney issued a statement that he felt vindicated because Comey had said Trump himself was not under investigation.

Trump, Flynn, Comey Thing Ongoing

Although there haven't been any big breaks in the story, the relationship between Trump, Trump staff, Flynn, and Comey continues to dominate U.S. news headlines this week.

Comey Asked to Testify Before Senate as a Private Citizen

One day after he was fired as FBI Director by Trump, senators from both sides of the isle asked Comey to appear before the committee next week, reportedly.

It is not known whether the session will be public. Comey would be allowed to speak on classified intelligence to Senators in a classified setting as a private citizen, but in public classified information would not be given, although Comey's personal thoughts on the matter might be more forthcoming than if he were still employed by the FBI.

Comey later declined the request. The President tweeted that Comey "better hope there are no 'tapes'" of the conversation the two shared, but it is not known whether this was related to Comey's decision.

Trump Fires FBI Director James Comey

"Today, President Donald J. Trump informed FBI Director James Comey that he has been terminated and removed from office," read the statement issued by the White House Tuesday.

"President Trump acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions."

Comey was heading the FBI investigation into the possible Russian hacking of Clinton's email servers and whether there was any collusion on the part of Trump associates. A similar investigation is also being conducted by both the Senate Intelligence Committee and the House Intelligence Committee. So far, there is no evidence that there was collusion.

The Story of Michael Flynn

The former Obama administration director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and former Trump administration National Security Advisor is back in the news this week after Sally Yates, former acting-Attorney General, testified to the Senate about his history.

She said that the Obama administration had warned Trump not to hire Flynn because Flynn was vulnerable to blackmail from Moscow because Flynn wanted to hide his dealings with Russia.

The reasons behind Flynn's decisions are known only to him and perhaps the FBI, which is investigating Flynn and others in the Trump administration for possible collusion with Russia during the election.

Flynn was first fired by Obama in 2014.

Between that time and Trump's candidacy, Flynn was a paid guest on RT, where he criticized the U.S. government, and even shared a table with Putin, reportedly.

During Trump's run in 2016, Flynn was a big supporter, although he also was being paid $500,000 by Turkey to work on their behalf, reportedly. Flynn did not disclose the relationship with Turkey to the relevant authorities in the U.S. or to the Trump administration.

When Trump was elected he appointed Flynn as National Security Advisor, despite reported warnings from the Obama administration and, according to some, Obama himself, that Flynn could not be trusted because he had lied to the Trump administration about meetings Flynn had with a Russian ambassador (Sergey Kislyak, talking about lifting the sanctions currently on Russia over Crimea and Ukraine issues) during the election.

Additionally, when he was appointed by Trump to become National Security Advisor he did not disclose his dealings with Russia on his security clearance form (a federal crime).

When the Trump administration was warned by the Obama administration about Flynn, he was not fired until 2 weeks later, just after the Washington Post reported on the conversation Flynn had with the Russian Ambassador.

Washington Post, NYTimes, NYTimes, NYTimes, NBC News, Foreign Policy, CBS News

Macron Still Faces Challenges

The French president-elect, the youngest leader of the country since Napoleon and a man who was unknown a year ago, could find himself without much power to act if he doesn't quickly form a movement to win a majority in the French national assembly.

In the run up to the election, two candidates were chosen from a dozen, with Macron getting voter support from 24% of French citizens and Le Pen getting 22%.

Between the two candidates, Macron won a decisive victory, getting 65% of the votes in an election in which relatively few people went out to vote for either option. In all, less than a third of the country voted for the president in the election.

Evidence of how divided France is can be seen in the 35% garnered by Le Pen, whose political views are considered extreme and very different from those of the new president, who was the first choice of less than a quarter of the French public. Another important statistic: 40% of France is against the EU (which represents globalization in Europe), which Macron is in favor of.

Analysts said that there has never been a similar situation in French political life.

Confederate Monument Removal Protesters Clash

New Orleans has been removing monuments to its Confederate history, led by Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

Sunday afternoon protesters met at Lee Square, as did people who support monument removal.

The protesters included some considered to be white supremacists, but the peaceful protesters of all beliefs were aligned, as, in the words of one man who attended who did not give his full name: "As long as they're fighting for my interests I'm with them."

Many have voiced their concern about the erasing of history, whether they agree with the beliefs of those commemorated at the time or not.

However, monument removal advocates voiced their opinion in chants such as "Go home racists," and "Hey hey, ho ho, white supremacy's got to go."

Macron, President of France

The 39-year-old centrist independent will win, it looks like, by a decisive margin of 65% to 35%.

Le Pen’s 35% is seen as still being an important indicator of political feeling in the country.

French Candidate Macron Email Hack

Many parties are concerned about hacking having an effect on the election, and there are questions about whether false material is mixed in with the email leaks, which are purported to be from four top-level members of the Macron campaign.

Macron is the front-runner in the the election, which is itself a runoff (with Macron and Le Pen combined receiving less than 50% of the vote in the first stage of the election.

In France, the media is not allowed to report on political topics 24 hours before the election begins.

Some are alleging that the hacks stem from the Russian government, which has been active in trying to influence other elections around the world. There is no hard evidence to support this, though, and no evidence is likely to be found, given the nature of the type of activity (cyber).

Did You Know ... French Election Media Blackouts

Two days before the French Election, there is a media blackout for anything political.

This is supposed to provide a few days of uninterrupted consideration of the candidates, without the distraction of big news headlines, scandalous revelations, or campaigning last minute.

Similar things are done in other countries.

In the UK, for example, on the day of an election news can't be about anything that could potentially favor a particular party. The parliament, as soon as it is dissolved before an election, enters a state of "purdah" (a Persian word for "curtain") and can't announce any controversial or contentious legislation.

Spain, although it does not have a media blackout, does have a "reflection" period after official campaigning ends the day before the election, and no more electoral acts are performed. They also forbid news to publish polls in the week leading up to an election.