TheNextReport

Alicia Machado was 18 years old when she won the title of Miss Universe, better known as the most beautiful woman in the world. It was 1996 and ownership of the international beauty pageant had recently been secured by billionaire presidential candidate and Jabba the Hutt look-alike, Donald Trump. Some people were surprised when Trump added the pageant to his portfolio of real estate, luxury office buildings, business parks, golf courses, hotels, gambling casinos, television production companies, exclusive wines, signature apparel and other properties. Others who were familiar with the Donald's dalliances and his multiple marriages knew that the pageant acquisition was par for the course. Mr. Trump, who makes millions from licensing the Trump name, likes to collect beautiful things, especially beautiful women.  Like the aforementioned Hutt, he was known as a well-heeled fat-cat, a high-powered wheeler-dealer with questionable ethics and deep media contacts. Mr. Trump's approv...

With sixty days left until the U.S. elections, the campaign for president has turned into an unprecedented circus of vicious personal attacks, bombastic jingoism, and racist rhetoric largely as a result of the deranged behavior of Donald Trump. One of the factors repeatedly cited by Mr. Trump as a justification for his candidacy has been his skill as a business man. Though it has never been shown exactly how business success translates into effectiveness as a statesman, this belief continues to be widespread, even when a business person has demonstrated questionable business ethics. Mr. Trump's business acumen has been shown in the four bankruptcies he has accumulated, in the lawsuits brought by numerous building contractors, trades-people and small businesses that Trump refused to pay over the years, and by students who were denied tuition refunds when Trump University shut down in 2012.    In the run-up to the presidential race, Donald Trump has surrounded himself with...

   The 2016 presidential election (better known as the insane campaign) motored on with Donald Trump visiting a black Baptist church in Detroit where he made another appeal for the votes of the nation's African Americans. The visit was part of the candidate's effort to reach out to the nation's minorities.  It was reported that the event would include an interview with the pastor of the church with the questions and answers entirely scripted.  With polls showing that a hearty one percent of black people support Trump's candidacy, winning over the folks that he has insulted so often would be a long row to hoe. Reports indicated that Mr Trump was greeted with politely scattered applause from the church goers, a reflection it would seem of the profound discomfort felt by the black community aware of his refusal to disavow statements of support from the KKK and other extreme rightest groups. The video of the visit showed the yellow coifed New York real estate magnate a...

According to certain informed sources, Republican Party soldiers believe they can arrange a meeting with Donald Trump and "reset" the presidential nominee's campaign. How they hope to accomplish this is not clear. The Donald has convinced the world that he doesn't like being told what to do and would likely not respond to an attempt at political arm-twisting. Beyond memorizing some basic data needed to get him through the debates, Trump will continue on his own chosen path, acting out, dodging questions about policy, playing for the adulation of his followers and anyone else who needs to be entertained. The party hacks who want to reset Donald Trump will not succeed. To do so they would have to erase the past Trumpian behavior that has amused and outraged so much of the public.  They will find out that history matters, even for the American people. He who believes otherwise is  as delusional as Trump himself.

Narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration and a lack of understanding of others' feelings . People  afflicted with NPD typically value themselves over others to the extent that they disregard the feelings and wishes of others and expect to be treated as superior regardless of their actual status or achievements. People with NPD may exhibit fragile egos, an inability to tolerate criticism, and a tendency to belittle others in an attempt to validate their own superiority . Sound familiar?  Aside from single-handedly destroying the Republican Party, Donald Trump should be thanked by the nation for holding a mirror to the dark area of American culture, its obsessive cult of personality and its dangerous acceptance of hypocrisy. 

The killing of three police officers in Baton Rouge yesterday morning should be a matter of grave concern for every citizen of the United States. Coming on July 17th, just a few short weeks after the shooting of five police in Dallas, Texas, it could spell the beginning of a national crackdown on freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and other constitutional rights.  Authorities fear widening unrest as African American communities across the country seek to bring the nation's attention to the problem of racial profiling and police killings of young black men. Sources close to the story said there is evidence that the Baton Rouge shooter may have lured police into a trap by placing false 9-11 calls. Promising to prevent religious fanatics, right wing patriot extremists and other demented individuals from engaging in an all out war with police, law enforcement officials plan to ramp up efforts to hunt down those who pose a threat before they have the opportunity to strike. GOP n...

The greatest country on the face of the earth; a shining city on the hill; the last great hope of mankind. These unseemly boasts have often been used by American politicians in describing the United States. They have been employed so often that the people who are running for office are expected to use them. While our country turns 240 years old today, there are many signs that this arrogant facade has begun to show widening cracks. It is true that America and its educational institutes have been responsible for some of the world's most bold innovations and scientific discoveries, unparalleled in the annals of human achievement. We have landed on the moon and sent probes to the deepest parts of space; we have connected our planet with a miraculous electronic network that permits human beings to get access to information representing the totality of human knowledge; we have developed complex instruments for medical research and associated technologies designed to fight disease and ...