A few news briefs

1.  All the time being spent by pundits and politicos on trying to figure out which Trump staffer wrote the anonymous op-ed in the New York Times should instead be focused on the question:   "Is it true?"
     The answer is obviously Yes;  and, since the Republicans in Congress aren't going to do anything about it but shrug, it's up to everyone who cares about preserving our democracy to send the loudest possible message by voting on November 6th.   Give the Democrats control of both the House and the Senate.  And something will get done.

2.  India's Supreme Court has struck down its ban on gay sex, saying that the law was "irrational, and manifestly arbitrary."   Thus, the world's second most populous nation has removed the anachronistic law, which stems from the British Colonial era in India.   According to the New York Times, the leading religion in India, Hinduism, has historically been tolerant of same-sex unions.

3.  The shocking report from a grand jury investigation of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania over decades has led to action from law enforcement authorities in the states of New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska and New Mexico.   The actions range from subpoenas of records to active investigations.   This marks a change from the past, when the Catholic Church asserted its authority over priestly abuse as being an internal matter that would not be referred to secular law enforcement authorities.
     This also comes on the heels of the explosive letter to Pope Francis from a former Vatican official, Carlo Maria Vigano, accusing the pope of being part of the cover-up and calling on him to resign.   It remains to be seen whether this letter is based on facts or may reflect doctrinal disagreements between conservative elements in the Vatican and the more liberal Pope Francis.

4.  The United Nations Security Council has a system in which the chairmanship rotates on a monthly basis among the member-nations of the Council.   The United States will have the month of September, and President Trump is planning to use the opportunity to focus the Council on Iran and what the New York Times calls its "malign activities" in the Middle East.  European diplomats fear this will underline the lack of unity in the West and further undermine the multi-nation nuclear deal with Iran, which Trump pulled the U.S. out of.
     At this point, the only U.N. resolution on Iran currently in force is the nuclear deal, and there is apparently no plan that Trump will try to get a new resolution passed.   But, short of that, there will be plenty of opportunity for him to show his lack of understanding of the deal, as well as his total lack of diplomatic skills.   U.N. Ambassador Nicki Haley and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will have their "containment" work cut out for them.

5.  Former president Barack Obama has emerged from his reticence to criticize his successor and hit the campaign trail.   His speech was the kickoff of a two month campaign blitz to help Democrats take back control of Congress.   He was openly critical of President Trump, sometimes laceratingly so;   but he also said that this didn't start with Donald Trump.   "He is a symptom, not the cause.  He's just capitalizing on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years."