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It’s become a perennial question and there aren’t a lot of good answers. But they should at least try to do something different. I’m not sure I agree with all of these suggestions by Tom Rosenstiel in the LA Times but it’s worth considering. I do think that Trump absolutely must be covered because it’s vitally important that the normal people in this country do not lose sight of what a monstrous imbecile he really is, which is easy to do if he just becomes a regular candidate and they only cover him as some sort of a phantom from a vaguely remembered past. People must be relentlessly reminded of his current statements, which are even worse in many ways than those we recall from the last two elections. He is not a has-been clown we don’t need to worry about anymore, he is running again with a full-blown cult backing him up and it’s going to be close. I have my doubts about what Rosenstiel says about journalists confronting Trump in interviews — he prevails by spewing a fire hose of bullshit that runs over even the best reporters. I think interviews are overrated anyway.
An insane man says Democrats kill babies after they’re born if the mother doesn’t want them Trump says this is Democrats’ position on abortion: “If it’s after the 9th month and the baby was born you put the baby aside. You discuss with the mother and if the mother doesn’t want the baby we execute the baby. This is part of their thing.” pic.twitter.com/1bZlO9MWQI — Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 7, 2023 And that’s not all: Trump claims Hamas would not have attacked Israel if he was president, and Russia would not have invaded Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/GkoD9sIeyX — Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 7, 2023 Trump on Biden going shirtless at the beach: “I have a much better body than him.” pic.twitter.com/tjFXCcUH65 — Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 7, 2023 Trump says grocery stores make people show photo ID to buy food. pic.twitter.com/Q2psGqL0Lz — Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 7, 2023 Aaaaand: Trump on Hannibal Lecter: You know why I like him?
For once I was taken by surprise. I didn’t expect this attack and despite my low opinion of the Israeli military, would not have expected it to be so successful.
Hamas actually captured the Israeli southern command base briefly. It was retaken with massive air strikes (meaning Israel was willing to hit its own people.) In the initial 12 hours or so they wiped the floor with local Israeli forces.
This is the most successful Palestinian military operation I can think of.
Hamas could not, of course, hold the ground it took and is retreating to Gaza. Israel has declared war and stated that they will invade Gaza.
A ground invasion will be extremely bloody, Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on Earth, and Hamas has had plenty of time to prepare. Bombing and shelling urban areas does not make invasion significantly easier.
Let’s drawn out some specific points:
Complete Mossad Intelligence Failure
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If you’re in earshot of Donald Trump, chances are you’ll hear him blurt out some classified information Our best satirist Alexandra Petri makes a good point here: The more that comes out about Donald Trump’s post-presidency conduct, the clearer it becomes that the real challenge was not prying confidential information out of Trump but avoiding receiving confidential information. I think I see the problem. Donald Trump has two modes of conversation. He is either ranting about all the things he intends to do when he becomes dictator of the country — so many rights to strip away! so much vengeance to extract against his enemies! so many guardrails to dismantle! — or he is volunteering classified information. Those are really it. If you don’t want one, you have to buckle in for the other. Which brings us to the news from special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation that Donald Trump apparently shared sensitive information about U.S. nuclear submarines with an Australian billionaire. You might be wondering: Is this a private party, or can anyone play? Yes!
50 years ago, Kissinger said that Nixon was too drunk to talk to the British Prime Minister when the Yom Kipper War broke out. During Yom Kippur War fifty years ago this week, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger tells aide Brent Scowcroft that President Nixon is “loaded” and thus cannot speak to British Prime Minister: pic.twitter.com/RgbWnD9Evl — Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) October 7, 2023 Right wingers are attacking Joe Biden all over the internet for waiting a couple of hours to issue a statement about the Israeli crisis, suggesting that he’s “in his basement” (which would be correct since that’s where the Situation Room is. ) Anyway, I think they need to shut their pieholes.
Use to discuss topics unrelated to recent posts.
Doctor Who #WhoSpy is back with another teaser image, offering us a little Gallifreyan in the process. Is it a preview of the TARDIS console?
This could be a syntax problem but that doesn’t make any sense either. Is he saying that “many reports are that American taxpayer dollars helped fund the attacks?” What does that mean? All the “reports” said that the money released recently to Iran was from a frozen account in South Korea that was sent to Qatar and hasn’t been released yet. In any case, this garbled nonsense is typical for the putative GOP nominee for president. I’m not going to be commenting too much on the Israel situation today because it’s very hard right now to get real information from social media and the mainstream media is also difficult to sort out. This was obviously a massive intelligence failure which is a condemnation of the current Israeli government as well as those supposed new Middle Eastern allies that Trump is so proud of creating. This is going to turn out to be more complicated than usual and that’s saying something.
Wind and solar roll-outs are increasing globally but Australia and other Climate Wreckers are ignoring the science and developing new oil and gas fields. Wind and solar investments and roll-outs increasing Some countries had by 2022 achieved high rates of penetration of wind and solar into their electricity supply (Denmark 61% and Lithuania 48%) and Continue reading »
‘It is no longer possible to doubt the human origin of climate change’ (Pope Francis). Popes in the past usually quoted ancient theologians, or themselves, as footnote authorities in official documents. So, you know something’s changed when a pope’s footnotes quote the IPCC, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or the UN Climate Change 2023 Continue reading »
Culturally most events seem random. But sometimes there are a constellation of events that seem meaningful. Which makes this month’s triptych of Ted Gurner, Russell Brand and Rupert Murdoch so intriguing. Now who do these three remind us of? If one name doesn’t spring to mind, then really we are not paying attention. For anyone Continue reading »
In Northumbria, a majestic Sycamore Gap Tree has flourished at the site of Hadrian’s Wall for some 300 odd years. Last week it was cut down by some vicious, uncaring vandal. From the moment the trunk of that beautiful old tree hit the ground the thud of destruction turned into a thunder of condemnation across the Continue reading »
Things did not go so well this time around. When the worn Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy turned up banging on the doors of Washington’s powerful on September 21, he found fewer open hearts and an increasingly large number of closed wallets. The old ogre of national self-interest seemed to be presiding and was in no Continue reading »
Tel Aviv is estimated to have up to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, making it the sole possessor of non-conventional arms in West Asia. First published in THE CRADLE September 30, 2023 Qatar has called for intensifying international efforts to subject all Israeli nuclear facilities to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and for Continue reading »
China’s capacity to surprise western politicians was demonstrated recently, when Chinese leader Xi Jinping was unexpectedly absent from the G20 summit. There were a few reasons why this G20 might have been less important for Xi, including the rising influence of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) partnership. But often western reactions to a Chinese decision Continue reading »
Prior to WW II, many U.S. Nazi sympathizers secretly gathered, pushing antisemitic & far-right agendas, with aspirations of creating a Hitler-style dictatorship in the US. In her new book “Prequel,” MSNBC’s Rachel @maddow explores our nation’s ongoing struggle against fascism. pic.twitter.com/z1rBJKLa9P — CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) October 7, 2023 Inspired by her research for the hit podcast Ultra, in PREQUEL: An American Fight Against Fascism, #1 New York Times bestselling author Rachel Maddow traces the fight to preserve American democracy back to World War II, when a handful of committed public servants and brave private citizens thwarted far-right plotters trying to steer our nation toward an alliance with the Nazis. I don’t think I would have ever thought I’d see the necessity for understanding this history in 2023 but here we are.
Trump’s endorsement may not be enough If John Fetterman can wear a hoodie, Jim Jordan should be able to go jacketless as speaker. But he’s not there yet. “GOP lawmakers are casting doubt on whether former President Trump’s endorsement of House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) will move the needle in the speaker race, Axios has learned.” One side: On the other hand: As Digby said, this is their problem. Ours is how long are Americans going to hand a book of matches to Republican arsonists and expect Democrats to put out the fires an clean up the mess?
A key reason David Tennant is the face of the modern era of Doctor Who under Russell T. Davies? By becoming the Internet's first "boyfriend."
Plus California starts union leaders young, artists catch a break, and the government beefs up consumer protection
What the left is missing Ok, my neurons fire funny. Stick with me. Something about bonding is coming. The last several days, people of all ages from the community here have been building a playground not far from where I sit. Rather, rebuilding a playground: After two years of fundraising and advocating for a park rebuild, ground was broken Sept. 28 for Candace Pickens Memorial Park, formerly Jones Park Playground, in North Asheville. One of the people holding a shovel was Keesha Martinez, whose daughter, Pickens, was the 22-year-old murdered at the park in May 2016. […] Pickens was killed in 2016 on her then 3-year-old’s son birthday. She had taken him to the park to celebrate, according to previous Citizen Times reporting. Her son, Zachaeus, was also shot, losing his left eye and surviving. The company that designed and furnished material relies on community volunteers to build out the site under direction from its superintendent and foremen. They supply most tools. Neighbors bring theirs too. While we were hauling materials around the site last night, Martinez introduced herself as Candace’s mother. An idiot, I didn’t know what to say.
Exclusive interviews with Daniel Ellsberg and a long-buried memo reveal new details about one of the 20th century's biggest scoops.
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