News & Articles

The truth about the U.S. military as the world’s greatest polluter

There is a beloved illusion surrounding the United States military. It keeps us “free.” It brings “freedom and democracy” to nations less “free” than ours. It is a noble and an overwhelmingly positive entity around the globe. This is the story we are told from the cradle to the grave.
This illusion is threatening the entire planet. A new documentary dispels the myth and reveals that the U.S. military is the biggest and most unaccountable polluter on Earth. Earth’s Greatest Enemy, the latest film from director Abby Martin of the Empire Files, will be screened at the West Theatre in Duluth, 319 N. Central Ave., on Feb. 7 at 10 am. This free event is sponsored by Northland Grandmothers for Peace and Veterans for Peace Chapter 80, with the support of our community partners, the Twin ports Democratic Socialists of America, the North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club and Duluth Indivisible.

Between sprawling bases at home and abroad, weapons testing and wars, this unfettered destruction and ruin of the environment is a danger to everyone. It is time Americans faced that fact about the military and come to grips with what can be done about it.
Dorothy Wolden
Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin

Who would you cheer for?

Trump would feel more at home in Tehran than Washington, since during his first term while the George Floyd protests were going on he asked an adviser “Can’t we just shoot the protestors?”
Trump has no problem with protestors being shot in America, but then he cares about protestors being killed in Iran. Please.
Trump and Hegseth just want to “win” a “war” against a smaller nation that is defenseless to U.S. weaponry. They are both getting very intoxicated from the diseased belief that having powerful “war” weaponry equates with “war” accessibility. And that justice coincides with military might. Trump and Hegseth think the freedom to “war” comes from your ability to do “war.”

A “war” between the U.S. and Iran – who would you be cheering for? The U.S. government murdering 500,000 defenseless and innocent Iraqis in a phantom “war” that was nothing more than innocent Iraqis trying to defend themselves, or the Iranian government that murders defenseless protestors?
A “war” between two murderous governments – who would you cheer for?
Frank Erickson
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Donald Trump IS the Ugly American

The phrase “the ugly American” was coined to describe more than bad manners abroad. It captured a posture of arrogance, ignorance and contempt for shared norms — traits that diminish not only the individual, but the nation they claim to represent. By that definition, Donald Trump has become the most visible embodiment of the ugly American in modern political history.

Presidents are not merely policymakers; they are symbols. Their words and conduct telegraph to the world what America values. Trump’s record — publicly insulting allies, praising dictators, denigrating immigrants and treating diplomacy as a personal grudge match — has consistently projected hostility instead of leadership. Long-standing alliances were mocked as scams, international agreements discarded without strategy and complex global issues reduced to taunts and nicknames.

Equally damaging was the normalization of boastful ignorance. Trump repeatedly dismissed expertise, undermined science and portrayed compromise as weakness. This posture may energize an ignorant domestic base, but abroad it signaled that the United States was no longer interested in cooperation or credibility — only domination and spectacle. The result was not “America First,” but America isolated and alone.

The ugly American stereotype also hinges on a refusal to see other nations as equals worthy of respect.
Trump’s language toward developing countries, refugees and even democratic partners reinforced the idea that power excuses cruelty. That message reverberates far beyond any single news cycle; it shapes how Americans are perceived when they travel, negotiate or seek moral authority on the world stage.

Criticism of Donald Trump is often dismissed as partisan animus. But this is not about ideology. One can debate tax policy, trade or immigration in good faith. What cannot be brushed aside is the damage done when a president models disdain, impulsiveness, self-interest and personal greed as patriotic virtues.

America’s strength has never come from loudness or insult. It has come from confidence grounded in principle, humility paired with power and leadership that understands respect is not weakness. By abandoning those traditions, Donald Trump did not merely break norms — he embodied the very caricature Americans once worked hard to outgrow.
M. Arnold Bowen
Duluth, Minnesota