It should not be hard for those who are horrified by the Gaza situation to vote for Biden. I am one of them. Here is why I am an ardent Biden/Harris supporter:
1. Israel is a sovereign nation. The USA can advise but not command.
2. It is my understanding that the military aid that the USA continues to send to Israel was approved by Congress. Therefore I don’t know if Biden can unilaterally stop it. Maybe he could through executive action, but it still seems to me that Congress should act. (Like this Congress would ever do that.). So the anger should be aimed much broader.
3. The experience and temperament of Biden is markedly different from Trump. I trust that Biden has a solid moral compass. I trust that he will work to make the Gazan situation better as well as stem the tide of rising antisemitism in the USA. Trump will do whatever is politically expedient at that moment and flip flop the next when it becomes unpopular.
Then there are the broader concerns easily summed up:
Biden has the best interest of all USA citizens in mind. Trump cares only for himself.
Biden is focused on restoring good jobs to rebuild our middle class. He will support measures like child tax credit which have been proven to raise children out of poverty and give them a chance to get an education and become self sufficient adults. With help from solid Senate and House majorities, he will be able to narrow the huge income inequality in this country. He will (I hope) drive a stake to through the heart of the failed Reaganomics, that after almost half a century have managed to create the morbidly rich, the starving poor, and the struggling middle class. Time to change. Trump uses his position to enrich himself, his family, and the already morbidly rich.
Biden/Harris will solidly support reproductive freedom, LGBTQ rights, and equality for all without regards to race, gender, or creed. Trump is selling bibles and is in the pocket of the ChristoFascists.
Finally, this stark contrast:
Biden is a normal person, a normal citizen. He follows the rules of law. He is sane.
Trump is clearly mentally ill. He is also in the early stages of dementia. (I am a medical doctor and this is my diagnosis based on his public behaviors). Trump states publicly and repeatedly that he will be a dictator. He quotes Hitler. He speaks of rounding people up into camps. He speaks of retribution. There is a written plan to accomplish this. It is called Project 2025. Read it and fear.
Vote for Biden/Harris and live to fight another day.
I'm also one of them. Netanyahu is, possibly, even more evil than Trump, who to me is more of an empty vessel.
But Biden said the other day, during protests, "They have a point."
Trump would have mocked them.
Young folks need to vote in local elections if they don't want a centrist president. Back in my day as a youth, nobody voted then, either.
The habit of young people, of all generations, seems to be: Don't vote, then complain when wars break out. I'm not picking on today's young people. We did it, too.
Check out these links to two PoliticsGirl episodes with the same guest, Ahmed Baba. The first talks about Project 2025 and is a couple of months old. The second is from her show last week about Trump's personal fever dream (aka "Agenda 47"):
It is important that people hear about this stuff, because most of the mainstream media is ignoring what is right under their noses. Trump and the GOP have told us who they are and what they will do if elected to power - BELIEVE THEM!!
Please spread the word and help educate your friends and family about what is at stake.
I am reposting Dennis Drennan’s post below lest it get lost. He states it very well, as do others on this string. It I so clear to me and I don’t understand why others don’t see it.
From Dennis:
“ While I understand and agree with those protesting the Netanyahu-driven slaughter of innocent Palestinians in Gaza--and to be sure, this is being driven by Netanyahu and not by the general Israeli and Jewish populations--voting for Trump, voting for a third party candidate, or just sitting out the 2024 election, could very well result in Trump's election. We will then see a partnership between two corrupt political leaders that will lead to the annexation and occupation of Gaza by Israel. When that happens, and the people protesting against President Biden seek to blame someone, they need to look in the mirror.”
Where are you getting that information, Peter? I would say that isn’t true. Most Israelis are mortified with the actions by Bibi and IDF. They want the hostages released. And they want Bibi removed from power and tried in court.
They may want the big Bibi out, and they may want hostages released and the like, but polls still show support for the over-all project. Look it up. (And, if by now, my information is out of date, because this is a dynamically changing situation, you will find that even with a majority of Israelis turning against the genocide, there yet remains a large minority still very much behind it.)
I'm not sure who is going to be running as a third party candidate by the election, but can you imagine a young progressive angry at the way Biden is dealing with the Gaza war, saying "Oh! I'll vote for the anti-vaxxer! That would fit right in with what I believe."
Well, if they do, they are ill informed and voting away their future. Hopefully few young people will fall for the anti-vaxxer nonsense. For those of us that remember the misery and the deaths(!) of childhood illnesses, I can only shake my head in disgust. Those who choose not to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
I had school friends incapacitated by polio. Measles stuck me in a dark room for a couple of weeks just as I started to devour reading. Chickenpox drove me crazy with itches--the smell of calamine lotion brings it all back vividly. And the shingles shot today is the worst ever for side effects. At least my generation didn't have to worry about diphtheria or whooping cough. Kids nowadays have no idea what they are "missing" by being vaccinated.
When the Sabin (live attenuated) vaccine came out in 1961, my parents, my toddler brother and I all stood in line seemingly for hours in a Piggly Wiggly parking lot under the Texas sun on a very hot July day, to get the vaccine. The line was long. At one point, employees came out of the store with those small glass bottles of Coca Cola, icy cold. I still remember how good it tasted.
Everyone I knew got vaccinated that day. Parents were thrilled to get their kids vaccinate so they would not get the dreaded polio.
I got the measles in first grade. I brought it home to my infant brother, who had a bad case. I was miserable, he was screaming for hours on end. Looking back, my mother, a trained microbiologist, must have been terrified that he was going to die. We all survived, but it was not fun. And we had the chicken pox at the same time as well as the mumps. The reality that children (and their parents) can avoid these awful illnesses by getting a series of shots, still feels like a miracle to me, even decades later.
I'm even older and I had a scary version. When the SALK vaccine came out, the first one, a nurse friend of my mother's had early access to it and came over and gave me a shot. I think my brother was too young. Anyway, it turned out to be the one from Cutter Labs, that through a formulation error was actually GIVING kids polio. I didn't get it (or if I did I was symptomless) but I can remember mom and her nurse friend hovering over me for weeks WATCHING for symptoms.
And another addendum. Ruth Ben-Ghiat writes Lucid on Sub-Stack. She has promised to publicize the reality and implications of Project 2025 far and wide. Please support her efforts.
However, regarding #2, why is Biden asking congress for more money for Netanyahu if Israel has all the munitions, etc that they need?
The money that hasn’t been spent yet should go to Ukraine. That’s where the money can do the most good to stave off Putin. All support for Bibi’s war should stop. Netanyahu assisted in creating a lot of the misery in that part of the world.
Because despite what people seem to think, "The President" has a lot less unilateral power to change Congressional decisions already made (i.e. stopping or diverting funding from Israel to Ukraine) and some of the funding is aid for Gaza, NOT munitions for Israel. & while I agree that future munitions should have conditions (& I'm 100% certain these are already being conveyed via direct Biden to Netanyahu conversations plus unrelenting back-channels to other Israeli govt officials) I have not read anywhere that Israel has said they have "all the munitions etc. that they need"? Pulling back to the bigger picture, it is still a danger that Hamas supporting regimes might think it an opportune time to attack Israel, so the Gaza focus is not the only one the USA needs to consider - hate what is happening, but simplistic unrealistic "solutions" can't/won't happen.
I am a smart person, well educated, well read. I have a lot of opinions on a lot of things. I have solutions to offer up for a lot of problems. The Middle East is a quagmire and has been for a very long time. On the issues/problems of the Middle East, I have no ideas, no opinions, no solutions, no answers; other than stop killing/terrorizing people! I have nothing. Nada. Bupkis. Zippo.
Biden is damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. He is living in the space between the rock and the hard place. He has my sympathy, my prayers, and my heartfelt good wishes. I hope he can navigate. Many have tried and all have failed. God bless President Biden. (And thank you God that Trump lost in 2020.)
Smart and well read can also mean you read propaganda and regurgitate effectively.
You are correct on the ME, but your critical thinking ability must be questioned for your ignorance as to the overreach and danger of the radical policies rammed through, abandonment of meritocracy in favor of virtue signaling, and short-sighted power drunkenness of the wholly corrupt Biden administration.
Completely brainwashed… absolutely stunning that you can post this with a straight face.
Trump sucks, but they also impeached him for trying to uncover the very corruption that got us involved with Ukraine at the hands of the Bidens…. How you warp this as otherwise in your mind is astounding.
It gave him a platform forhis "crime is out of control" message. Trump has zero empathy and if I were the family of the slain officer I wouldn't want him there since it is ALWAYS about Trump.
Law enforcement officers died as a direct result of MAGAt treason. And if you bothered to read any of the transcript gathered in the investigation, you would know that tRump and Meadows were offering up murder of Pence to the traitors.
“Investigation” HA!! I know it’s standard practice to book the Super Bowl producer and not hear any dissenting witnesses in such a thoughtful ‘investigation’… what a joke
Oh yes police died. And I named more than one in another posting that YOU had the audacity to ask the same question. You are a troll. Go fuck off, traitor.
I understand the outrage over innocent lives being slaughtered in Palestine, Netanyahu being a despicable person, and of course Hamas, which definitely deserves to be eliminated. What I don't understand is the protesters outrage at President Biden. Our foreign policy with Israel is what it's always been. He didn't invent it. Why are these protesters not aiming their outrage at Hamas and Netanyahu? Why no blowback over Jared recently saying something about wiping out Gaza for future development, by him, I'd imagine? I don't get it. I feel they're hurting their cause by the stunts they're pulling, like blocking traffic over the holidays at airports, and stuff like that. The media obviously is no help in getting actual facts out to the masses.
Politically, that can't happen. I think he's doing all he can do, but he's walking a really fine line. If we had normal Republicans, there could be some sort of united policy. However, with what we have and who they are, he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. Like I said, the media is working against any kind of solution.
Could it be that Biden is the one in the Oval Office and holds the power? Could that be it? Could it be that he could cause a significant change in direction, if he preferred to?
I agree with what you’ve written here with one exception: no, it should NOT be a difficult decision for Progressives (or anyone else):There’s democracy and there’s the end of democracy.
Agreed. Progressives who are intending to hold their support from Biden are buying the agenda of tyrants like Putin and Bibi hook line and sinker. Bibi would love nothing more than to get Trump back into office, and it would be the biggest gift to Putin.
To top it off, progressives who say Biden cannot win their vote no matter what have just guaranteed that they will lose any power or say they might have had. If they won’t vote no matter what his administration does, he has NO incentive to work for anything they want. He will go looking for support in the center/right.
It’s frustrating and tiring. I get what they are trying to do in their hearts. But they’ve stopped using their heads as a result.
Yep. I came of age during the Viet Nam war. The insistence on “stop the war now” led ultimately to the disastrous 1968 election of Nixon. One of the many things I have learned since that time is that change is almost always incremental. The left wing of the Democratic Party needs to embrace that understanding and continue to have a seat at the table. Otherwise, they get nothing. Truly, live to fight another day.
Thanks for this report! That's fun stuff re: the huge rally for Biden. I haven't had time to keep up on this stuff, so much appreciated.
Gaza is very important, but I think my friends on the left, and I consider myself left of Bernie, for some reason seem blind to the way Trump enabled Netanyahu's behavior when he was in office, including moving the embassy to Jerusalem.
Trump would be doing photo opps with Netanyahu while they mow down Palestinian refugee camps right now if he was prez. He'd be riding in a tank cheering Netanyahu on.
If not for all of Trump's coddling of Likud, I doubt they would have been emboldened to both ignore the warnings (purposefully?) about the Gaza attacks and respond so disproportionally. The entire problem, as usual, was set up by Trump, and Biden is paying the political price.
It's a lot like the supply chain problems that Trump set up and Biden solved. Trump set the stage for inflation, and Biden paid the political price. This has been the story of Biden's presidency, It seems like much of the country outside of our echo chambers has forgotten just how hideous the Trump presidency was.
Also share what great things Biden has accomplished. There is a huge quantity of info on the official WH website. www.whitehouse.gov about Biden accomplishments. Also check out www.activateamerica.vote/amplify. And Demcast has Pro Biden stuff to share as well as the anti-Trump stuff mentioned above.
In addition, Simon Rosenberg of Hopium Chronicles has some good "compare and contrast material - an example can be found here:
For those raging against Biden for not being more forceful in protecting Palestinians, I'd suggest they consider the alternative: Jared Kushner's remarks in February praising the “very valuable” potential of Gaza's “waterfront property” and suggested Israel should remove civilians while it “cleans up” the strip. Palestinians are not going to be better off under Trump!
It’s a comment about how they have zero economy… and to be self sufficient as a state, without being corrupted by Hamas, they need economic freedom and resources. The waterfront is all they have to offer on that front.
If you don’t agree, list all of their natural/economic resources that could help them become free from extremist influences.
While I understand and agree with those protesting the Netanyahu-driven slaughter of innocent Palestinians in Gaza--and to be sure, this is being driven by Netanyahu and not by the general Israeli and Jewish populations--voting for Trump, voting for a third party candidate, or just sitting out the 2024 election, could very well result in Trump's election. We will then see a partnership between two corrupt political leaders that will lead to the annexation and occupation of Gaza by Israel. When that happens, and the people protesting against President Biden seek to blame someone, they need to look in the mirror.
A reporter who attended the event described how, instead of just walking out onto the stage, they rose up out of the floor together to an appreciative roar from the crowd (something not possible in most venues). As they departed, the three donned aviator shades and President Biden's closing line was "Dark Brandon is real", triggering another appreciative cheer from those in attendance.
Right now the polls with Biden slightly leading, but those same polls also show the "third party" candidate RF Kennedy getting around 12%. No third party candidate has gotten more than 3% since Ross Perot, so that doesn't feel right to me. Not to mention that his new spending account... err... running mate seems be be firmly against IVF. Not exactly a winning position these days. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/nicole-shanahan-rfk-jr-running-mate-ivf-1234996038/
The following is a bit of a non sequitur, but I sent it to Hakeem Jeffries today and would appreciate any feedback that you might have.
~~~~
A modest proposal…
Donald Trump keeps working to delay all of the legal procedures in which he is embroiled, all the while claiming that they constitute "election interference."
Since we are in wholly unprecedented territory, our legal system seems incapable of adjusting to a presidential candidate under multiple indictments. They are allowing the normal delaying of judicial processes through appeals, objections, and filed motions. The circumstances however, are anything BUT normal. Trump's very qualification to hold office is on trial in two of those cases. (Documents case - 25th amendment, January 6th case - 14th amendment).
Let's turn it on its head.
If the SCOTUS and appellate courts cannot get their act together to complete these trials before the election, then LET'S DELAY THE ELECTION until the conclusion of the trials, or at the very least the trials over the January 6 insurrection and the Mar-a-Lago documents case.
Voters should not have to go to the polls not knowing the outcomes of those trials. Donald Trump and the Supreme Court want to slow walk those trials past the election, doing precisely that? Fine.
Tell them to take "all the time you need." When they are done and have concluded their processes, THEN we can go ahead with a presidential election.
I agree that we should not have to go to the polls not knowing. But. There would be a huge backlash, even if it were solidly bi-partisan. Remember when Trump wanted to delay the election because of Covid. Of course there were options to voting in public. Ones he tried to squash. This situation is clearly different. But I still think it is ill advised.
I don't want this dysfunctional Congress in place any longer than neccessary! And I think it would backfire bigly... with Trump and Co. twisting it to their advantage in their constant effort to "both sides" every issue. Just look at their behavior on the classified documents issue!
I think we need to hammer on "if he is an innocent man and the evidence will exonerate him (as he has claimed numerous times), then he should want the cloud hanging over his head cleared up by having a speedy trial"
Agree. One thing I learned in my years as an elementary school teacher is that often the most effective action is making your point and walking away. People won't always behave as you think they should, and you won't always win, but that is not a good reason to say nothing.
Electors meet in state capitols and vote in December. The 20th Amendment requires a new Congress take office on January 3 every other year and that a new presidential term starts on January 20 every four years. Those dates would be harder to move.
I wonder who the people are who choose to not protest Putin's war on Ukraine, the impact of climate change and natural disasters on poor countries, the takeover of Haiti by gangs, ongoing civil wars in Syria and several African countries, the rise of right-wing extremism and authoritarianism in several countries, the rise of misogyny and violence against women globally, etc.
It’s Biden’s war, Obama’s too. Merely a coverup for our corruption within in the region. Loss of life sucks, but we are not involved and it never begins if we didn’t meddle in 2014 or if the Bidens weren’t laundering money through one of the top 5 most corrupt nations on the planet.
The Man-made Climate crisis is a scare tactic meant to defraud you. Simply a money laundering transfer of assets to politically connected criminals. The global temps have been rising since the end of the last ice age and the Younger Dryas Period ~14k yrs ago. Should we be good stewards of the planet, of course. But charging your EV from the coal fired grid with your BLM stickers on the back while little black children die in the Chinese-run cobalt mines is mere virtue signaling for your Chardonnay Book Club. Show me the study of what % of each degree of temperature rise manmade vs natural continuation of the millennia-long trend… you can’t, because it doesn’t exist. If climate change is such an emergency, every green bill proposal should have military-grade satellite images and the munition specs required to level every Indian and Chinese coal plant in service, as well as the dozens under construction. The fact that they don’t makes it utterly obvious that the people pushing this legislation aren’t really serious.
The downfall of Haiti is lined with boatloads of Clinton Foundation and Soros profiteering. They care not for those people. Plenty of corrupt actors there, but those two were the MVPs of the pillaging that resulted in this power vacuum.
I’d say the globalists with foundations in Marxist ideology, like the WHO, WEF and their leftist Antifa and DEI foot soldiers, are a much greater threat to human prosperity… given that all of their policies have always led to suffering and massacre. Every. Single. Time.
What’s a woman? …I also remember when we used to frown upon the irreversible genital mutilation of young women. Alas.
Want to add just a key point: Orange Adolf went to that police funeral on Long Island (it pains me that we occupied the same Island yesterday — pure vomit). I have a question for every cop out there. Why do you vote republican at all or support Orange Adolf at all considering the following:
Take the comment from Orange Adolf about soldiers. They are suckers. They are losers. His words. Many within his own circle including his former Chief of Staff confirmed he said it. Police officers are not active dury military, but they fall into the same space of service to community/country. Do you believe he really sees you at all? And if he does — what makes you think he doesn't view you the same way — as a sucker.... and a loser... because you are serving the community. I understand he is saying something else on social media or to your face — but he's lying to you. You have been trained to spot lies as cops.... right?
Take January 6. He and all of his supporters — many of whom like the scream "Back the Blue" and they fly the American Flag with the black color and one blue stripe. They all claim to be "pro police" and yet they had no hesitation to kill police on January 6. What kind of people harm police officers with direct violence? Criminals. So why would you elect criminals for public office?
Speaking of criminals — the party of law and order is running a twice impeached 90+ count criminally indicted, court-proven sexual assaulter, court proven defamer and court proven fraud, liar, conman, tax cheat. How is a person like that going to support police exactly? Put it another way — how many of the people that you arrest — the drug king pins, mob bosses — are they providing you with support – or would they kill you if they had a chance??
Another nugget: What is it that you worry about while on the job? I would guess that getting killed would be high on the list, and that someone shooting you would be the main area of concern. Tell me — which party wants to provide you with more safety by taking firearms off the streets and OUT of the hands of criminals, and which party wants more guns on the streets?
This just nags at me because it just makes zero logical sense whatsoever for you to vote republican considering republicans are the ones putting your life in danger and in particular Orange Adolf is really putting you in harms way. So you have to sit me down and explain it to me.
I recall a time visiting DC a few years back post 1/6. Talking to a Capitol Police Officer that day, and asking him about it, he told me the things he heard said as the rioters went by were some of the worst things he has ever heard. He shook his head and said "pro police my ass..."
I wished people would stop using Trump vernacular. It is like giving him credit for destroying the English language. Bigly, Yuge etc. even by using them to make fun of him it is paying tribute.
Agree to disagree. When we give Trump credit for being a moron, it's not a tribute. I mean, he said inject bleach in your arm and pour it into your lungs. If anyone takes that as anything but, "Yeah, what a moron!", then I think that is a problem with them.
I just wish he would disappear out of our lives and that includes his influence on the language. Everywhere I hear people using his words and I think it is terrible.
I wish he'd disappear too, but there is a lot of difference between influencing the language, like Ben Franklin did, and being such a moron that people make fun of you by repeating your stupidity.
Too late, Gabriela. 'Bigly' and other tfg-invented terms have now entered firmly into the vernacular. They're being used in other contexts unconnected to tfg.
It should not be hard for those who are horrified by the Gaza situation to vote for Biden. I am one of them. Here is why I am an ardent Biden/Harris supporter:
1. Israel is a sovereign nation. The USA can advise but not command.
2. It is my understanding that the military aid that the USA continues to send to Israel was approved by Congress. Therefore I don’t know if Biden can unilaterally stop it. Maybe he could through executive action, but it still seems to me that Congress should act. (Like this Congress would ever do that.). So the anger should be aimed much broader.
3. The experience and temperament of Biden is markedly different from Trump. I trust that Biden has a solid moral compass. I trust that he will work to make the Gazan situation better as well as stem the tide of rising antisemitism in the USA. Trump will do whatever is politically expedient at that moment and flip flop the next when it becomes unpopular.
Then there are the broader concerns easily summed up:
Biden has the best interest of all USA citizens in mind. Trump cares only for himself.
Biden is focused on restoring good jobs to rebuild our middle class. He will support measures like child tax credit which have been proven to raise children out of poverty and give them a chance to get an education and become self sufficient adults. With help from solid Senate and House majorities, he will be able to narrow the huge income inequality in this country. He will (I hope) drive a stake to through the heart of the failed Reaganomics, that after almost half a century have managed to create the morbidly rich, the starving poor, and the struggling middle class. Time to change. Trump uses his position to enrich himself, his family, and the already morbidly rich.
Biden/Harris will solidly support reproductive freedom, LGBTQ rights, and equality for all without regards to race, gender, or creed. Trump is selling bibles and is in the pocket of the ChristoFascists.
Finally, this stark contrast:
Biden is a normal person, a normal citizen. He follows the rules of law. He is sane.
Trump is clearly mentally ill. He is also in the early stages of dementia. (I am a medical doctor and this is my diagnosis based on his public behaviors). Trump states publicly and repeatedly that he will be a dictator. He quotes Hitler. He speaks of rounding people up into camps. He speaks of retribution. There is a written plan to accomplish this. It is called Project 2025. Read it and fear.
Vote for Biden/Harris and live to fight another day.
Vote for Trump and never vote again.
You are 100% right, starting with "it should not be hard."
I'm voting for Biden for a number of reasons, including the fact that his opponent will be far worse on every issue, including the Middle East.
I'm voting for Biden because I'm putting American's human and civil rights first.
I'm voting for Biden because he's been extraordinarily successful the past 3.5 years.
Well stated!!! Your post should be required reading for all!
I'm also one of them. Netanyahu is, possibly, even more evil than Trump, who to me is more of an empty vessel.
But Biden said the other day, during protests, "They have a point."
Trump would have mocked them.
Young folks need to vote in local elections if they don't want a centrist president. Back in my day as a youth, nobody voted then, either.
The habit of young people, of all generations, seems to be: Don't vote, then complain when wars break out. I'm not picking on today's young people. We did it, too.
Trump would have them shot in the legs. Or worse.
So true!
Yes and I eas one if them t
Years ago.
Never again. Ever.
I teach My chikd about how important it is to vote and that it protects our freedoms and rights as well as protection of our country
To piggyback n yur excellent post:
Check out these links to two PoliticsGirl episodes with the same guest, Ahmed Baba. The first talks about Project 2025 and is a couple of months old. The second is from her show last week about Trump's personal fever dream (aka "Agenda 47"):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPgeg_Jij8c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW-NjxL5oUw
It is important that people hear about this stuff, because most of the mainstream media is ignoring what is right under their noses. Trump and the GOP have told us who they are and what they will do if elected to power - BELIEVE THEM!!
Please spread the word and help educate your friends and family about what is at stake.
Thank you. I am well aware of Project 2025. I am not familiar with Agenda 47. I will check it out and prepare to be disgusted and horrified!
I am reposting Dennis Drennan’s post below lest it get lost. He states it very well, as do others on this string. It I so clear to me and I don’t understand why others don’t see it.
From Dennis:
“ While I understand and agree with those protesting the Netanyahu-driven slaughter of innocent Palestinians in Gaza--and to be sure, this is being driven by Netanyahu and not by the general Israeli and Jewish populations--voting for Trump, voting for a third party candidate, or just sitting out the 2024 election, could very well result in Trump's election. We will then see a partnership between two corrupt political leaders that will lead to the annexation and occupation of Gaza by Israel. When that happens, and the people protesting against President Biden seek to blame someone, they need to look in the mirror.”
Polls show that the majority of Israelis stand behind both the Gaza occupation and the ongoing operation there. Stop excusing them.
Where are you getting that information, Peter? I would say that isn’t true. Most Israelis are mortified with the actions by Bibi and IDF. They want the hostages released. And they want Bibi removed from power and tried in court.
They may want the big Bibi out, and they may want hostages released and the like, but polls still show support for the over-all project. Look it up. (And, if by now, my information is out of date, because this is a dynamically changing situation, you will find that even with a majority of Israelis turning against the genocide, there yet remains a large minority still very much behind it.)
I'm not sure who is going to be running as a third party candidate by the election, but can you imagine a young progressive angry at the way Biden is dealing with the Gaza war, saying "Oh! I'll vote for the anti-vaxxer! That would fit right in with what I believe."
Well, if they do, they are ill informed and voting away their future. Hopefully few young people will fall for the anti-vaxxer nonsense. For those of us that remember the misery and the deaths(!) of childhood illnesses, I can only shake my head in disgust. Those who choose not to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
I had school friends incapacitated by polio. Measles stuck me in a dark room for a couple of weeks just as I started to devour reading. Chickenpox drove me crazy with itches--the smell of calamine lotion brings it all back vividly. And the shingles shot today is the worst ever for side effects. At least my generation didn't have to worry about diphtheria or whooping cough. Kids nowadays have no idea what they are "missing" by being vaccinated.
Sounds like we come from a similar era.
When the Sabin (live attenuated) vaccine came out in 1961, my parents, my toddler brother and I all stood in line seemingly for hours in a Piggly Wiggly parking lot under the Texas sun on a very hot July day, to get the vaccine. The line was long. At one point, employees came out of the store with those small glass bottles of Coca Cola, icy cold. I still remember how good it tasted.
Everyone I knew got vaccinated that day. Parents were thrilled to get their kids vaccinate so they would not get the dreaded polio.
I got the measles in first grade. I brought it home to my infant brother, who had a bad case. I was miserable, he was screaming for hours on end. Looking back, my mother, a trained microbiologist, must have been terrified that he was going to die. We all survived, but it was not fun. And we had the chicken pox at the same time as well as the mumps. The reality that children (and their parents) can avoid these awful illnesses by getting a series of shots, still feels like a miracle to me, even decades later.
I'm even older and I had a scary version. When the SALK vaccine came out, the first one, a nurse friend of my mother's had early access to it and came over and gave me a shot. I think my brother was too young. Anyway, it turned out to be the one from Cutter Labs, that through a formulation error was actually GIVING kids polio. I didn't get it (or if I did I was symptomless) but I can remember mom and her nurse friend hovering over me for weeks WATCHING for symptoms.
Thank you, Sky 777! Thank you.
And another addendum. Ruth Ben-Ghiat writes Lucid on Sub-Stack. She has promised to publicize the reality and implications of Project 2025 far and wide. Please support her efforts.
https://open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/video-q-and-a-march-22-renaming-project?r=a7p13&utm_medium=ios
Perfectly summarized Sky 777! Thank you! I am voting for Biden/Harris to live and fight another day.
Well said.
However, regarding #2, why is Biden asking congress for more money for Netanyahu if Israel has all the munitions, etc that they need?
The money that hasn’t been spent yet should go to Ukraine. That’s where the money can do the most good to stave off Putin. All support for Bibi’s war should stop. Netanyahu assisted in creating a lot of the misery in that part of the world.
Because despite what people seem to think, "The President" has a lot less unilateral power to change Congressional decisions already made (i.e. stopping or diverting funding from Israel to Ukraine) and some of the funding is aid for Gaza, NOT munitions for Israel. & while I agree that future munitions should have conditions (& I'm 100% certain these are already being conveyed via direct Biden to Netanyahu conversations plus unrelenting back-channels to other Israeli govt officials) I have not read anywhere that Israel has said they have "all the munitions etc. that they need"? Pulling back to the bigger picture, it is still a danger that Hamas supporting regimes might think it an opportune time to attack Israel, so the Gaza focus is not the only one the USA needs to consider - hate what is happening, but simplistic unrealistic "solutions" can't/won't happen.
I am a smart person, well educated, well read. I have a lot of opinions on a lot of things. I have solutions to offer up for a lot of problems. The Middle East is a quagmire and has been for a very long time. On the issues/problems of the Middle East, I have no ideas, no opinions, no solutions, no answers; other than stop killing/terrorizing people! I have nothing. Nada. Bupkis. Zippo.
Biden is damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. He is living in the space between the rock and the hard place. He has my sympathy, my prayers, and my heartfelt good wishes. I hope he can navigate. Many have tried and all have failed. God bless President Biden. (And thank you God that Trump lost in 2020.)
Smart and well read can also mean you read propaganda and regurgitate effectively.
You are correct on the ME, but your critical thinking ability must be questioned for your ignorance as to the overreach and danger of the radical policies rammed through, abandonment of meritocracy in favor of virtue signaling, and short-sighted power drunkenness of the wholly corrupt Biden administration.
He could have very the least, though, as the slaughter continued, and as the starvation grew ever more acute, stood up and strongly spoken against it.
He still could do that. But he hasn’t.
I so agree.
Well stated! 👏👏👏
Excellent breakdown. Thank you.
Excellent summary!
So well stated.
Perfectly and succinctly stated! Thank you. Unless you object, I'd like to copy & paste to my FB page.
Of course. It is an honor.
Completely brainwashed… absolutely stunning that you can post this with a straight face.
Trump sucks, but they also impeached him for trying to uncover the very corruption that got us involved with Ukraine at the hands of the Bidens…. How you warp this as otherwise in your mind is astounding.
Full brainwash…
Happy April Fool’s Day to you, too!
If Diaper Don cares so much about the police, he should address the ones who were killed or injured on Jan 6 when he incited a coup attempt.
But, . . . We know he doesn’t give a flying shit about police. It’s all a game for him.
It gave him a platform forhis "crime is out of control" message. Trump has zero empathy and if I were the family of the slain officer I wouldn't want him there since it is ALWAYS about Trump.
I imagine (could be wrong) that they are Trump supporters or they definitely would not have him there. I know many police are.
I read the family invited Trumputin.
Yes that was reported in Newsday, our local LI newspaper.
No police were killed on J6… only an unarmed vet, by a diverse policeman. So of course it’s swept under the rug.
Law enforcement officers died as a direct result of MAGAt treason. And if you bothered to read any of the transcript gathered in the investigation, you would know that tRump and Meadows were offering up murder of Pence to the traitors.
“Investigation” HA!! I know it’s standard practice to book the Super Bowl producer and not hear any dissenting witnesses in such a thoughtful ‘investigation’… what a joke
Same as above. I’m sure you’d find the post if you weren’t so busy spreading lies.
Name one????
Oh yes police died. And I named more than one in another posting that YOU had the audacity to ask the same question. You are a troll. Go fuck off, traitor.
My favorite line in your column today: "Trump said with his usual eloquence and profundity." ... just couldn't stop giggling ... :)
Yes, that was beautiful! 😉🙃
I understand the outrage over innocent lives being slaughtered in Palestine, Netanyahu being a despicable person, and of course Hamas, which definitely deserves to be eliminated. What I don't understand is the protesters outrage at President Biden. Our foreign policy with Israel is what it's always been. He didn't invent it. Why are these protesters not aiming their outrage at Hamas and Netanyahu? Why no blowback over Jared recently saying something about wiping out Gaza for future development, by him, I'd imagine? I don't get it. I feel they're hurting their cause by the stunts they're pulling, like blocking traffic over the holidays at airports, and stuff like that. The media obviously is no help in getting actual facts out to the masses.
Biden MUST stop supporting Bibi’s war. There’s a real genocide occurring right now. I feel for the people being starved and bombed.
Additionally, I don’t want us to give up our democracy for that monster running Israel. It’s not much of a democracy there now anyway.
Politically, that can't happen. I think he's doing all he can do, but he's walking a really fine line. If we had normal Republicans, there could be some sort of united policy. However, with what we have and who they are, he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. Like I said, the media is working against any kind of solution.
Thank you for saying this. There is *nothing* simple about the Middle East. And the media doesn’t want solutions. They don’t drive clicks.
The solution is very simple: stop all military aid to Netanyahu.
There is no upside in supporting Bibi.
The aid going there now was approved by Congress. Biden cannot stop that.
If you think trump will be better after moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and stating he wants the Palestinians wiped out, think again.
Could it be that Biden is the one in the Oval Office and holds the power? Could that be it? Could it be that he could cause a significant change in direction, if he preferred to?
Well, hasn't there been a ceasefire initiative, 2 in fact, and hummass didn't go along?
I agree with what you’ve written here with one exception: no, it should NOT be a difficult decision for Progressives (or anyone else):There’s democracy and there’s the end of democracy.
Agreed. Progressives who are intending to hold their support from Biden are buying the agenda of tyrants like Putin and Bibi hook line and sinker. Bibi would love nothing more than to get Trump back into office, and it would be the biggest gift to Putin.
To top it off, progressives who say Biden cannot win their vote no matter what have just guaranteed that they will lose any power or say they might have had. If they won’t vote no matter what his administration does, he has NO incentive to work for anything they want. He will go looking for support in the center/right.
It’s frustrating and tiring. I get what they are trying to do in their hearts. But they’ve stopped using their heads as a result.
Yep. I came of age during the Viet Nam war. The insistence on “stop the war now” led ultimately to the disastrous 1968 election of Nixon. One of the many things I have learned since that time is that change is almost always incremental. The left wing of the Democratic Party needs to embrace that understanding and continue to have a seat at the table. Otherwise, they get nothing. Truly, live to fight another day.
Thanks for not uttering "progressives".
You are welcome. I generally avoid the terms “progressive” and “conservative” as they are really meaningless these days.
There's democracy and there is The American Taliban.
Thanks for this report! That's fun stuff re: the huge rally for Biden. I haven't had time to keep up on this stuff, so much appreciated.
Gaza is very important, but I think my friends on the left, and I consider myself left of Bernie, for some reason seem blind to the way Trump enabled Netanyahu's behavior when he was in office, including moving the embassy to Jerusalem.
Trump would be doing photo opps with Netanyahu while they mow down Palestinian refugee camps right now if he was prez. He'd be riding in a tank cheering Netanyahu on.
If not for all of Trump's coddling of Likud, I doubt they would have been emboldened to both ignore the warnings (purposefully?) about the Gaza attacks and respond so disproportionally. The entire problem, as usual, was set up by Trump, and Biden is paying the political price.
It's a lot like the supply chain problems that Trump set up and Biden solved. Trump set the stage for inflation, and Biden paid the political price. This has been the story of Biden's presidency, It seems like much of the country outside of our echo chambers has forgotten just how hideous the Trump presidency was.
"It seems like much of the country outside of our echo chambers has forgotten just how hideous the Trump presidency was".
I agree, but it is up to us to remind them. There is lots of good shareable material on DemCast (https://demcastusa.com/), much of it suitable for sharing on Social Media. I also follow the Lincoln project on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@TheLincolnProject) since I'm not on X or Threads. They are adept at living in Trump's head rent free! A recent gem is "Phantom of the MAGA" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgoR9DsxR3Q
Also share what great things Biden has accomplished. There is a huge quantity of info on the official WH website. www.whitehouse.gov about Biden accomplishments. Also check out www.activateamerica.vote/amplify. And Demcast has Pro Biden stuff to share as well as the anti-Trump stuff mentioned above.
In addition, Simon Rosenberg of Hopium Chronicles has some good "compare and contrast material - an example can be found here:
https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/the-country-is-better-off-biden-raises?r=1aiy5t&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
A wealth of information and great ideas!
Thanks!
Ha! tRump in a war zone?! Never! He wouldn’t want his comb over flying in the wind and he would never get his tiny hands dirty.
Biden wasn’t afraid though.
For those raging against Biden for not being more forceful in protecting Palestinians, I'd suggest they consider the alternative: Jared Kushner's remarks in February praising the “very valuable” potential of Gaza's “waterfront property” and suggested Israel should remove civilians while it “cleans up” the strip. Palestinians are not going to be better off under Trump!
Sheesh, I forgot about that one.
Me too
It’s a comment about how they have zero economy… and to be self sufficient as a state, without being corrupted by Hamas, they need economic freedom and resources. The waterfront is all they have to offer on that front.
If you don’t agree, list all of their natural/economic resources that could help them become free from extremist influences.
While I understand and agree with those protesting the Netanyahu-driven slaughter of innocent Palestinians in Gaza--and to be sure, this is being driven by Netanyahu and not by the general Israeli and Jewish populations--voting for Trump, voting for a third party candidate, or just sitting out the 2024 election, could very well result in Trump's election. We will then see a partnership between two corrupt political leaders that will lead to the annexation and occupation of Gaza by Israel. When that happens, and the people protesting against President Biden seek to blame someone, they need to look in the mirror.
Yes. You have stated it so clearly. This is so obvious to me. I don’t understand why others don’t see it.
And on a lighter note...
A reporter who attended the event described how, instead of just walking out onto the stage, they rose up out of the floor together to an appreciative roar from the crowd (something not possible in most venues). As they departed, the three donned aviator shades and President Biden's closing line was "Dark Brandon is real", triggering another appreciative cheer from those in attendance.
Right now the polls with Biden slightly leading, but those same polls also show the "third party" candidate RF Kennedy getting around 12%. No third party candidate has gotten more than 3% since Ross Perot, so that doesn't feel right to me. Not to mention that his new spending account... err... running mate seems be be firmly against IVF. Not exactly a winning position these days. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/nicole-shanahan-rfk-jr-running-mate-ivf-1234996038/
They will shift downward in all likelihood.
Thank you for this uplifting piece.
The following is a bit of a non sequitur, but I sent it to Hakeem Jeffries today and would appreciate any feedback that you might have.
~~~~
A modest proposal…
Donald Trump keeps working to delay all of the legal procedures in which he is embroiled, all the while claiming that they constitute "election interference."
Since we are in wholly unprecedented territory, our legal system seems incapable of adjusting to a presidential candidate under multiple indictments. They are allowing the normal delaying of judicial processes through appeals, objections, and filed motions. The circumstances however, are anything BUT normal. Trump's very qualification to hold office is on trial in two of those cases. (Documents case - 25th amendment, January 6th case - 14th amendment).
Let's turn it on its head.
If the SCOTUS and appellate courts cannot get their act together to complete these trials before the election, then LET'S DELAY THE ELECTION until the conclusion of the trials, or at the very least the trials over the January 6 insurrection and the Mar-a-Lago documents case.
Voters should not have to go to the polls not knowing the outcomes of those trials. Donald Trump and the Supreme Court want to slow walk those trials past the election, doing precisely that? Fine.
Tell them to take "all the time you need." When they are done and have concluded their processes, THEN we can go ahead with a presidential election.
I agree that we should not have to go to the polls not knowing. But. There would be a huge backlash, even if it were solidly bi-partisan. Remember when Trump wanted to delay the election because of Covid. Of course there were options to voting in public. Ones he tried to squash. This situation is clearly different. But I still think it is ill advised.
I don't want this dysfunctional Congress in place any longer than neccessary! And I think it would backfire bigly... with Trump and Co. twisting it to their advantage in their constant effort to "both sides" every issue. Just look at their behavior on the classified documents issue!
I think we need to hammer on "if he is an innocent man and the evidence will exonerate him (as he has claimed numerous times), then he should want the cloud hanging over his head cleared up by having a speedy trial"
I think making the motion would send a very powerful message that would be difficult to contradict.
Agree. One thing I learned in my years as an elementary school teacher is that often the most effective action is making your point and walking away. People won't always behave as you think they should, and you won't always win, but that is not a good reason to say nothing.
Electors meet in state capitols and vote in December. The 20th Amendment requires a new Congress take office on January 3 every other year and that a new presidential term starts on January 20 every four years. Those dates would be harder to move.
And…I would bet the judicial process would speed up considerably.
Wow, that is the most interesting proposal yet.
Worth thinking about and discussing...
I like that idea!!
Sounds like an insurrectionist’s plot to retain power to me… listen to yourselves people.
I wonder who the people are who choose to not protest Putin's war on Ukraine, the impact of climate change and natural disasters on poor countries, the takeover of Haiti by gangs, ongoing civil wars in Syria and several African countries, the rise of right-wing extremism and authoritarianism in several countries, the rise of misogyny and violence against women globally, etc.
It’s Biden’s war, Obama’s too. Merely a coverup for our corruption within in the region. Loss of life sucks, but we are not involved and it never begins if we didn’t meddle in 2014 or if the Bidens weren’t laundering money through one of the top 5 most corrupt nations on the planet.
The Man-made Climate crisis is a scare tactic meant to defraud you. Simply a money laundering transfer of assets to politically connected criminals. The global temps have been rising since the end of the last ice age and the Younger Dryas Period ~14k yrs ago. Should we be good stewards of the planet, of course. But charging your EV from the coal fired grid with your BLM stickers on the back while little black children die in the Chinese-run cobalt mines is mere virtue signaling for your Chardonnay Book Club. Show me the study of what % of each degree of temperature rise manmade vs natural continuation of the millennia-long trend… you can’t, because it doesn’t exist. If climate change is such an emergency, every green bill proposal should have military-grade satellite images and the munition specs required to level every Indian and Chinese coal plant in service, as well as the dozens under construction. The fact that they don’t makes it utterly obvious that the people pushing this legislation aren’t really serious.
The downfall of Haiti is lined with boatloads of Clinton Foundation and Soros profiteering. They care not for those people. Plenty of corrupt actors there, but those two were the MVPs of the pillaging that resulted in this power vacuum.
I’d say the globalists with foundations in Marxist ideology, like the WHO, WEF and their leftist Antifa and DEI foot soldiers, are a much greater threat to human prosperity… given that all of their policies have always led to suffering and massacre. Every. Single. Time.
What’s a woman? …I also remember when we used to frown upon the irreversible genital mutilation of young women. Alas.
Netanyahu reversed that decision not to allow his representatives to show up to negotiate, I think because of the pressures from the hostage families (https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-03-29/ty-article/.premium/parents-of-captured-idf-soldiers-after-meeting-netanyahu-we-got-no-answers/0000018e-898d-d0d3-a98e-dfff82ed0000) plus the fact the latest polls show he would lose very badly were elections run today: https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-poll-shows-anti-netanyahu-bloc-with-75-seats-smotrich-on-the-brink/.
So, there is that, at least. Perhaps Biden can still pull a rabbit out of the hat. It is an impossible situation any way you look at it.
"Nothing to lose and a lot to say" - I think you could sell a lot of t-shirts with that slogan.
Unfortunately, both sides could appropriate that, each with their own reasons.
Excellent piece.
Want to add just a key point: Orange Adolf went to that police funeral on Long Island (it pains me that we occupied the same Island yesterday — pure vomit). I have a question for every cop out there. Why do you vote republican at all or support Orange Adolf at all considering the following:
Take the comment from Orange Adolf about soldiers. They are suckers. They are losers. His words. Many within his own circle including his former Chief of Staff confirmed he said it. Police officers are not active dury military, but they fall into the same space of service to community/country. Do you believe he really sees you at all? And if he does — what makes you think he doesn't view you the same way — as a sucker.... and a loser... because you are serving the community. I understand he is saying something else on social media or to your face — but he's lying to you. You have been trained to spot lies as cops.... right?
Take January 6. He and all of his supporters — many of whom like the scream "Back the Blue" and they fly the American Flag with the black color and one blue stripe. They all claim to be "pro police" and yet they had no hesitation to kill police on January 6. What kind of people harm police officers with direct violence? Criminals. So why would you elect criminals for public office?
Speaking of criminals — the party of law and order is running a twice impeached 90+ count criminally indicted, court-proven sexual assaulter, court proven defamer and court proven fraud, liar, conman, tax cheat. How is a person like that going to support police exactly? Put it another way — how many of the people that you arrest — the drug king pins, mob bosses — are they providing you with support – or would they kill you if they had a chance??
Another nugget: What is it that you worry about while on the job? I would guess that getting killed would be high on the list, and that someone shooting you would be the main area of concern. Tell me — which party wants to provide you with more safety by taking firearms off the streets and OUT of the hands of criminals, and which party wants more guns on the streets?
This just nags at me because it just makes zero logical sense whatsoever for you to vote republican considering republicans are the ones putting your life in danger and in particular Orange Adolf is really putting you in harms way. So you have to sit me down and explain it to me.
I recall a time visiting DC a few years back post 1/6. Talking to a Capitol Police Officer that day, and asking him about it, he told me the things he heard said as the rioters went by were some of the worst things he has ever heard. He shook his head and said "pro police my ass..."
"Republicans divided—largely." I think you meant bigly.
I wished people would stop using Trump vernacular. It is like giving him credit for destroying the English language. Bigly, Yuge etc. even by using them to make fun of him it is paying tribute.
Agree to disagree. When we give Trump credit for being a moron, it's not a tribute. I mean, he said inject bleach in your arm and pour it into your lungs. If anyone takes that as anything but, "Yeah, what a moron!", then I think that is a problem with them.
I just wish he would disappear out of our lives and that includes his influence on the language. Everywhere I hear people using his words and I think it is terrible.
I wish he'd disappear too, but there is a lot of difference between influencing the language, like Ben Franklin did, and being such a moron that people make fun of you by repeating your stupidity.
Too late, Gabriela. 'Bigly' and other tfg-invented terms have now entered firmly into the vernacular. They're being used in other contexts unconnected to tfg.