Steve Kelman on politics, culture, and life July 11, 2025
Patel new use of lie detectors for FBI agents
The lead story in The Times today reports that FBI Director Patel is using lie detectors for agents not the way they normally used, to investigate security breaches, but to ask them questions about whether they’ve ever criticized Patel. Alarming.
“Rule of law”
Border czar Tom Homan being interviewed on Fox just used the phrase “rule of law” the way it is used by the Chinese Communist Party, i.e. “Obey the law!”
Trump and Harvard antisemitism
As a proud Jew, I want yet again to express my utter disgust with the atrocious efforts of the Trump administration to harass Harvard by connecting the university with antisemitism.
Israel less popular among Democrats than Cuba
The left-wing Jewish New York Times columnist, Peter Beinart, notes today that Israel is significantly less popular among Democratic voters than Cuba. To me, this is a sad and tragic statement about the state of the situation in the Democratic Party. Cuba is a communist dictatorship.
Liberia president can speak English
Trump praised the visiting president of Liberia for speaking “such good English.” The official language of Liberia, which was founded by former slaves from the United States, is English.
Global warming makes cold Sweden more attractive as vacation destination
According to an article in Sweden’s leading newspaper, Sweden is now becoming more attractive as a summer vacation destination as global warming in the rest of Europe favors the relatively cooler summers that Sweden has always had.