On Our "Virtual Route 66" This Week: On Our World

June has begun.   South Africa has rejected the ANC, and as we went to press, Mexico was about to go to the Polls.    India was to finalize Elections by June 4.   This is as Iran was also gearing up to elect a replacement for Raissi, who was killed in a helicopter crash.  This is also as the war raged on in Gaza and Ukraine.   Former President Trump was found guilty of 34 counts in New York, which created a fervent backlash from Republicans throughout Social Media. 

Our team pulled together a snapshot of the week that was courtesy of commentary by the team at the Financial Times, Defense One, The Economist of London, the Institute for Policy Studies, and Crooked Media:   

Biden’s Bloody-Red Line in Rafah Israel’s horrific attack on displaced Palestinians in Rafah comes as the Biden administration is facing increasing global isolation over its support for the assault on Gaza.

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Far From Cutting Power Plant Emissions, New EPA Rule May Make Things Worse The rule relies on “carbon capture” technology that hasn’t been proven to work — and may introduce other dangers.

VIDEO: For Palestinians, the Nakba Never Ended IPS Middle East expert Phyllis Bennis speaks at a UN panel on the ongoing displacement of Palestinians.

A Whistleblower Exposed Trump’s Tax Avoidance. Biden Should Pardon Him. An IRS contractor revealed the injustice of America’s tax system and the need for reform. He deserves a pardon, not a maximum prison sentence.

From Massachusetts, Some Tax-the-Rich Inspiration The super rich, worldwide, are regularly cowing their critics. Bay Staters have pounded back.

FACT SHEET: “Carbon Dioxide Removal” is Misguided and Should Be Abandoned Our public comment to the Department of Energy argues that CDR is expensive, untested, and could actually enable continued fossil fuel pollution.

LETTER: NAFTA Made Climate Action Harder. That Needs to Be Fixed. 35 prominent labor, environmental, consumer, community and social movement organizations from Canada, Mexico, and the United States urge the USMCA Free Trade Commission to reject harmful holdover policies from the NAFTA era.

Global Economy India elects, Europeans start voting and old allies remember The world’s largest democracy concludes its general election while the 80th anniversary of D-Day is celebrated in Europe JUNE 2, 2024 by Jonathan Moules South Africa's ANC to enter coalition talks after landmark election South Africa's ruling ANC on Sunday said it will enter talks with other parties to form a new government, after losing its three-decade-old absolute majority in a watershed election. READ MORE Ukraine’s allies greenlight attacks inside Russia   The leaders of France, Germany, and the U.S. have authorized Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons to strike Russian military targets well beyond the front lines of Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine invasion. Several news outlets reported the development out of the White House Thursday, including the New York Times (calling it a “major shift”), Politico, and the Associated Press. State Secretary Antony Blinken confirmed the updated policy Friday at a press conference in Prague.    “Over the past few weeks, Ukraine came to us and asked for the authorization to use weapons that we're providing to defend against this aggression, including against Russian forces that are massing on the Russian side of the border and then attacking into Ukraine,” said Blinken. “That went right to the President, and as you've heard, he's approved use of our weapons for that purpose,” he said. “Going forward, we'll continue to do what we've been doing, which is as necessary adapt and adjust,” he added.    Caveat: U.S.-provided weapons can only be used in this new manner for “counterfire purposes in the Kharkiv region so Ukraine can hit back against Russian forces that are attacking them or preparing to attack them,” a U.S. official told AP. Ukraine is also reportedly not allowed to use long-range missiles known as ATACMS, with a range of up to 186 miles, to attack targets inside Russia.    Kharkiv is home to Ukraine’s second-largest city, and it borders Russia, which has massed thousands of troops there over the past several weeks possibly signaling a coming offensive, possibly in preparation for an attempt to create a “buffer zone” in the area, possibly just a feint to draw Ukraine troops away from other highly contested regions of the country, including Donetsk to the east, or possibly a combination of all three.

A momentous moment Violence mars Mexicans’ biggest elections ever A lot is at stake besides who will become the new president

The other 19,999 Why Mexico’s largest-ever election matters The results will determine the political environment in which Mexico’s next president operates

The vote bank in the United States Mexico’s mighty diaspora punches below its weight in elections But its participation is steadily increasing

The villains are thriving Criminal gangs are showing their muscle as Mexico’s elections loom The next president must make the country safer

 

The war in the south In Crimea, Ukraine is beating Russia The peninsula is becoming a death trap for the Kremlin’s forces

Strength through outrage What Republicans make of Donald Trump’s conviction The party is never as unified as when its members are defending the former president

Beyond petroleum How Saudi Aramco plans to win the oil endgame The world’s biggest energy firm is the linchpin of the kingdom’s ambitions

India’s election Exit polls point to a crushing victory for Narendra Modi The BJP is expected to extend its reach across India

The humiliation of the ANC South Africa stands on the brink of salvation—or catastrophe To prevent a coalition of chaos, Cyril Ramaphosa and the Democratic Alliance must do a deal

A momentous moment Violence mars Mexicans’ biggest elections ever A lot is at stake besides who will become the new president

Give me votes but not too many What is the point of the Lib Dems? They’re nice, like raincoats and don’t like sewage—or power

The Weekend Intelligence Lagos is sinking A dispatch from a city trying to stay above water

-Donald Trump on covering up hush money payments to a porn star before an election, moments before a jury called it a crime.

Disgraced former president Donald Trump just became the convicted felon we always knew he really was, in our hearts.    Trump was found guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records by a jury of 12 average citizens in a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday. That makes him not just the first former president ever charged with crimes, but now the first actual criminal. Prosecutors proved Trump broke the law by attempting to hide $130,000 in hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claims she slept with Trump. The details of the case involved tawdry tales of sex and cash, a billionaire, and a porn star. But prosecutors cast the scheme as an attempt to steal the 2016 election. Trump’s team rushed to silence Stormy in the days before the vote over fears her story would cost him the presidency. In the end, the jury agreed that Trump broke the law, beyond any reasonable doubt.    Will Trump go to prison? It’s possible. This is all unprecedented, so no one really knows. Each of the 34 counts carries a possible four-year sentence and a $5,000 fine. Trump will be sentenced by Judge Juan Merchan, who ran this trial, at 10 a.m. on July 11, just four days before the Republican National Convention kicks off and makes Trump the official GOP nominee.   Normally, the odds would be against prison time for these offenses. But legal experts say this isn’t normal. “Most first-time non-violent offenders do not get jail time,” noted Paul Rosenzweig, a former member of the Ken Starr investigation into Bill Clinton in the 1990s, and an expert on the history of presidential investigations. But Trump’s outrageous conduct during the trial, when he violated his gag order multiple times, might tilt the balance in favor of real prison time, according to Rosenzweig. “If Trump winds up being incarcerated it will almost certainly be a result of his contumacious conduct during trial,” he said. But the judge may simply give Trump house arrest, or community service.

The bigger question is: What will voters think?    Sizable minorities of Trump’s own supporters have said they’d balk at sending a convicted felon to the White House. Some might change their minds by November, and his biggest fans have repeatedly moved the goalposts for him in the past. In one recent poll, 6 percent of self-identifying Trump voters said a conviction would make them less likely to vote for him, while 68 percent said it would make no difference.    Another 24 percent of Trump supporters in that same poll said they’d be even MORE likely to vote for him if he’s convicted of a crime, which tells you something about how Trump has warped people’s minds. Eight years ago, Trump thought an affair would ruin his prospects. After the verdict came down, notorious right-winger Ann Coulter tweeted: “These idiot liberals may have just gotten Trump elected.” The fact that we even have to ask how voters will react is a scary sign of our troubled times. And in the end, it's on the voters, not the prosecutors. No criminal charge can stop Trump from becoming president by itself. He would still legally be allowed to run for president, and win, from a prison cell.  In a tight race, losing 6 percent of Trump’s voters could make all the difference. Trump Donation Page Crashes after Conviction in Bragg Trial Trump was convicted on all counts in the hush-money trial, becoming the first former president to become a ... READ MORE