Our Hometown, Laguna Niguel, lit up our City's Christmas Tree as the Holiday Season begins in earnest, as the holiday parade was held, with thoughts courtesy the financial times, Institute for POlicy Studies, CalMatters, crooked media , INstitute for Economics and Peace, Le Monde Diplomatique, Bill Gaes and EartghDay.Org as Cop28 went in effect ....Javier Melli; Narges Mohammadi
Executives should think long and hard about what it would mean if the former president is re-elected
DECEMBER 3, 2023by Rana Foroohar
House Expels Santos
Rep. George Santos (R, NY-3) was expelled from Congress yesterday after the House voted 311-114 to oust the 35-year-old lawmaker. Santos is the sixth member of the House to be expelled in US history and the first to be removed without being convicted of a crime.
Santos has been at the center of a scandal since beginning his first term in office last year. Shortly after Santos was elected in November 2022, reports surfaced alleging he embellished his background, including his college degree and Wall Street career. Federal investigators hit Santos with 23 federal charges, including money laundering, wire fraud, identity theft, and lying to Congress. Santos has pleaded not guilty. The House Ethics Committee also uncovered similar allegations in a report released last month following its own probe into Santos. See a timeline of events here.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has 10 days to set a special election to fill Santos' open seat, which is likely to occur in February or March. Local party leaders—rather than voters—will choose the Democratic and Republican nominees ahead of the vote. See potential candidates here.
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O'Connor died from complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness. She was born in 1930 in Texas, raised at her family's Lazy B ranch in Arizona, and attended Stanford University at age 16, where she later graduated from its law school. O'Connor eventually became an Arizona state judge and was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1981 by then-President Ronald Regan. She was the court's first female justice in 191 years and later retired in 2006 to care for her husband who had Alzheimer's. See her notable court opinions here. View her life in pictures here.
Israel claimed Hamas fired rockets toward its territory in the last hour of their cease-fire deal, after which Israel struck more than 200 targets in Gaza, including areas of the southern city of Khan Younis. Israeli forces reportedly left leaflets in the city ordering residents to move further south to Rafah near Egypt's border. Another truce deal between the two sides does not appear to be likely, according to reports.
Venezuelans are expected to vote tomorrow on whether to establish a new state in a disputed oil-rich territory currently controlled by neighboring Guyana. While the land is governed by Guyana, Venezuela has laid claim to the region in a long-running dispute. The UN's International Court of Justice has ordered Venezuela to refrain from taking any action, but it's unclear if Venezuela will halt the referendum.
Former President Donald Trump had sought to dismiss cases accusing him of encouraging the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the US Capitol. Trump claimed he should be immune from the lawsuits because he was acting in his official capacity as president. The three-judge panel ruled Trump was acting under his personal capacity as a presidential candidate at the time, not as president.
A US district judge issued a preliminary injunction in a case filed by TikTok's Beijing-based parent ByteDance, ruling Montana's ban on the video-sharing app was unconstitutional. Montana's ban, which was set to take effect Jan. 1, would have prohibited downloads of TikTok in the state and fined an entity $10K each time someone in the state was able to access the platform.
The restaurant chain, known for its sandwiches, salads, and soups, confidentially filed paperwork for an initial public offering for next year. Panera, founded in St. Louis in 1987, last publicly traded in 2017 when German conglomerate JAB Holding bought it for $7.5B.
Researchers have discovered adult bottlenose dolphins use dimples on their snouts, known as vibrissal pits, to sense electric fields produced by lifeforms underwater. The ability to sense these electric fields helps the dolphins detect prey hidden in the sand.
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Today, we're sharing a story from reader Amanda M. in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
"When visiting Brooklyn for my niece’s wedding, I slipped on a wet metal grate and broke my kneecap. Six wonderful people stayed with me as we waited for an ambulance to come. They continually called to find out the status of the EMTs and stood around me to protect me from passing pedestrians. One man, Pedro, had some medical training and was particularly encouraging and kept me engaged in conversation to keep my mind off the pain. This group of angels stayed with me for two hours until my brother arrived (the ambulance never did come) and took me to an emergency room near his home. As they dispersed, they exchanged numbers with my brother and asked him to notify them about my condition later that evening. I will never forget their kindness and care for me when I was at my most vulnerable."
What act(s) of kindness did you experience this week? Tell us here.
Etcetera
Bookkeeping
> Chinstrap penguins survive on four-second naps more than 10,000 times a day.
>Red Lobster raises price of its "ultimate endless shrimp" after citing it as a reason for its roughly $11M loss in the third quarter of 2023.
> How playing Flo from Progressive altered Stephanie Courtney's life as an actor.
> An interactive dive examining Earth's growing population, how we've changed the planet over time to feed ourselves, and the land required to continue to do so.
Historybook: Abolitionist John Brown dies (1859); US Environmental Protection Agency formed (1970); Britney Spears born (1981); Benazir Bhutto becomes first female prime minister of Pakistan (1988); Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is killed (1993).
"To make peace, one must be an uncompromising leader. To make peace, one must also embody compromise."
Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is now just plain old George Santos. He said goodbye to the House of Representatives… and hello to a future on reality TV, presumably!
Gonzales guessed right about shit-canning Santos. But even this third attempt to expel the Long Island rep wasn’t a slam-dunk. According to some members, the GOP-led effort to oust Santos was flagging as late as this morning, as Santos’ detractors failed to convince enough Republicans that a con-artist liar-thief is unworthy of the public trust (imagine that!). But then Rep. Max Miller, a Trumpist Republican from Ohio, circulated a letter to GOP members detailing how Santos had ripped off him…and his mom. Miller alleged that Santos’ campaign had made unauthorized charges, in excess of federal campaign contribution limits, to his and his mom’s credit cards. He added that he’s seen a list of up to 400 others, including possibly other GOP lawmakers, who were similarly scammed. “I think Max’s last-minute email to all the members determined the outcome for him,” Rep. David Joyce (R-OH), who authored the Ethics Committee report against Santos, told CNN after the vote.
Ripping off American voters is one thing…. But ripping off Max Miller’s mom? Too far!
A whopping 105 Republicans joined with all but two Dems for expulsion. But 112 Republicans voted not to expel Santos, including Speaker Mike Johnson and the three other top GOP House leaders. On one hand, their support of Santos is another example of the giddy embrace of lawlessness (for Republicans) that animates the Trumpist House GOP. After you’ve supported overturning an election, celebrated rioters, threatened witnesses, interfered in criminal investigations, and promoted Jan. 6 propaganda, what’s one Long Island huckster in fancy shoes? (Answer: He’s your kinda guy!) On the other hand, it’s an example of the stunning hypocrisy that continues to animate the GOP, which remains in Trump’s thrall. A highly specific House Ethics report detailing Santos’ lying and griftiness, along with a 23-count federal indictment, was not enough real evidence to convince these GOP leaders that Santos should go. But they have plenty of imaginary evidence to pretend they’ve got a serious impeachment case against Joe Biden. “It’s not that deep. It’s theft,” Rep. Joyce said, emphasizing that his Ethics report is very, very easy to follow for signs of Santos’ inexcusable behavior. Asked how he could support Santos given the evidence of his lying and criminality, Rep. Tim Burchett simply shrugged and said: “We’re a bunch of sinners.” Keep that in mind when it’s time for Hunter Biden to seek a grace-check from GOP lawmakers.
“Why would I want to stay here?,” asked Santos, the guy who fought to stay there.
Aside from gleeful dishonesty, GOP leaders are also motivated to keep Santos by legislative math. With Santos gone, the four-vote cushion, which was very much not enjoyed by ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, is now three. Ohio GOP Rep. Bill Johnson is leaving to take a higher-paying university job by mid-March, so make that margin two. No wonder right-wing lawmakers like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene were so mad at the idea of accountability for a Republican. Speaker Mike Johnson is headed into a fight over funding for Israel, Ukraine, the U.S. border and more that splits his party in several ways. Dems are split too, particularly on Israel, but Johnson is the one that will have to muster an agreement with Senate Dems and Republicans to avoid leaving Israel in the lurch. And, as we wrote yesterday, he’s already bleeding right-wing support. Even Fox News lamented that Santos’ ouster was a shame because he was such a big Israel supporter. Which brings us to…N.Y.-3.
"The clerk will notify the Governor of New York of the action of the House," Speaker Johnson declared as he brought the gavel down on Santos’ expulsion. New York’s 3rd Congressional District is what Dem strategists and pollsters refer to as “a juicy, ripe tomato.” Okay, we made that up. But seriously: Joe Biden won NY-3 by eight points in 2020 before Santos got elected in 2022. Under New York law, the governor has 10 days from today to call a special election, and that spesh has to take place between 70 and 80 days later. That means Dems have a big chance to flip that Long Island seat by mid-March or so. It’s a crowded field already, including former Rep. Tom Suozzi, who didn’t run in 2022 because he was running unsuccessfully for governor. BTW, having Santos gone could also make it harder for Speaker Johnson to officially pursue impeaching Joe Biden. Johnson’s under pressure to officially launch that inquiry and try to impeach Biden on the floor, but swing-district Republicans aren’t into it and he lacks the votes.
And yes, Santos can run again. There’s nothing barring an expelled member from trying to get back in the House. Was Santos lying on Thursday, when he said he could give Congress another shot, or on Friday, when he said, “why would I want to stay here?” Who knows!
This week’s Keep It is all about movies and movie stars! Tune in to hear Louis and Ira’s thoughts on the recently released film, Saltburn starring Barry Keoghan and internet heartthrob Jacob Elordi. Plus, they react to the recent firing of actress Melissa Barrera from the iconic Scream franchise over her pro-palestinian comments. And, you’ll hear their interview with May December’s Director Todd Haynes. Fair warning, there are definitely spoilers in this episode.
Israel and Hamas resumed fighting after their seven-day truce ended this morning. Each side blamed the other for breaking the truce, but both sides seemed to acknowledge that the root cause was a breakdown in the hostages-for-ceasefire equation that had allowed the truce to begin. Hamas launched rockets into Israel, while IDF units resumed operations in Gaza. The resumption of fighting signaled an end to the brief, relatively brighter period of news about the daily release of hostages and prisoners, and a return of the dark business of civilians caught in a war with few options to escape the carnage.
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court, died Friday at 93. O’Connor began her career at a time when a woman law graduate could barely get a job as a lawyer. But she rose through the appellate court to an historic SCOTUS appointment by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. She served on the Court for 24 years.
O’Connor was a Republican. But she’d hardly recognize the Court’s partisan rightward lurch under its current GOP-appointed majority. “She was not an ideologue…she didn’t like posturing, she didn’t like showing off,” said Evan Thomas, the biographer and author of “First: Sandra Day O’Connor.” She was critical in fashioning 1992’s Casey v Planned Parenthood decision, which preserved abortion rights at a time when the Court’s conservatives were gunning for them. (Of course, they’d finally succeed 30 years later with the Dobbs decision last year.) O’Connor also authored the 5-4 majority opinion upholding affirmative action in college admissions in 2003’s Grutter v. Bollinger.
O’Connor’s career is yet another reminder of what’s at stake as Republicans pursue an ideological takeover of the judiciary, and how vital the 2024 election is — for both the White House AND the Senate
The war is back on. Civilians who had hoped that the ceasefire was the start of the end of their misery are once more falling victim to Israel's war machine. Our reporters are also back on the frontline, reporting on the dead and the living, the war and the hope for peace - and on those who continue to resist, in every way available to them.
Sending even more military aid now is a lose-lose proposition: It would enable the war to go longer and cost more lives while depriving us of resources at home.
At Scripps News, Chuck Collins breaks down the true cost of billionaire philanthropy — and how to put charitable donations back in the hands of actual charities.
Hwang Sok-Yong's novel Mater 2-10 chronicles Korean resistance to--and collaboration with--Japanese occupation.
POLITICS
Far-right populist leader Geert Wilders wins big in the Dutch elections. European democracies face the possibility of having to deal with the first far-right prime minister of the Netherlands, populist Geert Wilders.
President-Elect Arevalo fights attempts to prevent inauguration. Bernardo Arevalo, the president-elect of Guatemala, rejected accusations of damage to national heritage brought against him by the Public Prosecutor's Office as being an attempt to prevent his official confirmation as president in 2024.
EU countries agree on new scheme to allocate migrants across bloc. Fourteen member countries of the European Union have agreed to a new "solidarity mechanism" proposed by Germany and France to allocate migrants across the bloc.
Russia warns of a 'crisis' at Arctic border with Finland. Russia said a humanitarian emergency was unfolding at one of its checkpoints on the Arctic border with Finland, where it said hundreds of migrants were stranded in freezing temperatures.
Romanian prosecutors ask to investigate former PM over vaccine contracts. Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors asked parliament and the president to allow a criminal investigation into former prime minister Florin Citu and two former ministers for suspected abuse of office concerning COVID-19 vaccine purchases.
CONFLICT
Chinese military conducts drills near Myanmar border after convoy fire. China's military will begin combat training activities on its side of the border with Myanmar, a day after a convoy of trucks carrying goods into the neighbouring Southeast Asian nation went up in flames.
Australia and Philippines begin joint patrols in South China Sea as regional tensions rise. The countries say joint patrols is their commitment to closer cooperation and a rules-based order in the region, in response to China’s claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, including areas owned by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
North Korea vows more satellite launches, beefs up military on border. A new North Korean satellite launch prompted South Korea to resume aerial surveillance near the border as Kim Jong Un broke a military agreement with its neighbour. Ten members of the UN Security Council condemned the satellite launch, while Russia and China declined.
Switzerland moves to ban Hamas and supports Israel's self-defence rights. The Swiss government, which has allocated $US102 million in humanitarian aid for the region, says it will pass a new law by the end of February to ban any “Hamas activities" or support for the Palestinian group, which the Swiss Federal Council designated as a terrorist organisation.
Sierra Leone declares nationwide curfew after gunmen attack military barracks. The unidentified gunmen attacked the military’s largest barracks in the West African nation’s capital, Freetown.
Russia downs 'dozens' of Ukrainian missiles headed for Moscow. Russian authorities claimed Ukraine attacked Moscow with dozens of drones, a day after Russia launched its most intense drone attack on Kyiv since the start of its full-scale war.
ECONOMICS
China wealth manager Zhongzhi flags insolvency, US$64 billion in liabilities. The worsening issues at Zhongzhi, a major player in China's US$3 trillion shadow banking sector, is set to rekindle economic worries. Analysts expect regulators to step in to stem a wider fallout.
Support for Germany's Greens falls amid budget crisis. The Green Party's popularity with voters has fallen to its lowest in over five years, as Germany's coalition government grapples with a big hole in its budget.
COP28: UAE plan to use climate talks to make oil deals. Leaked briefing documents reveal UAE plans to discuss fossil fuel deals with nations at the COP28 climate summit. The UN said the summit hosts were expected to act without bias or self-interest.
Malawi criticized for exporting workers to Israel amid Gaza conflict. President Chakwera was criticized for sending about 200 young people to work on Israeli farms under a labour export deal.
Kenya to privatise 35 state organisations. Kenyan authorities intend to privatise 35 state-owned companies and are considering opening the capital of 100 others amid liquidity and cost-of-living challenges.
DEVELOPMENT
Protests against mining project continue in Panama. Panamanians are continuing to protest against Law 406, which grants Minera Panama permission to exploit an open-pit copper mine for 20 years.
Somalia joins East Africa trade bloc. Somalia has become the 8th member of the Community of East African States, a single market of 300 million people allowing free movement of goods and people across Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
UN vote challenges OECD global tax leadership. The OECD leadership on global tax coordination has been challenged after a majority of UN members backed an African-led initiative to switch international tax cooperation to the UN, in the wake of frustration among developing countries with the OECD.
Cameroon receives 300,000 doses of Malaria vaccine. The life-saving drug is the first approved for this use by the WHO, with 1.7 million more doses being delivered in coming weeks to Burkina Faso, Liberia, Niger, and Sierra Leone.
Iran sues newspaper for publishing morality guard documents. Iranian public prosecutor's office has brought charges against a prominent newspaper for publishing a top-secret government document about the country's volunteer morality guards and their deployment to enforce the country's strict Islamic dress code for women.
SOCIAL
WHO asks China for more details on unexplained pneumonia outbreak. The World Health Organization has asked Beijing for more information on an outbreak of mysterious pneumonia in northern China that appears mostly to be affecting children. Reports state children’s hospitals in several regions are overwhelmed with sick children.
An AI system self-organises to develop features of brains of complex organisms. Scientists have shown that placing physical constraints on an artificially-intelligent system – similar to the way the human brain works within constraints – allows it to develop features of the brains of complex organisms in order to solve tasks.
A23a: World's biggest iceberg on the move after 30 years. The world's biggest iceberg, at almost 4,000 square km (1,500 sq miles), is on the move after more than 30 years being stuck to the ocean floor and is set to spill beyond Antarctic waters.
Sugar prices are rising worldwide. Sugar worldwide is trading at the highest prices since 2011, mainly due to lower global supplies after unusually dry weather damaged harvests in India and Thailand, hitting developing nations the hardest and contributing to food insecurity.
Study finds bacteria's unique ability to store and transfer 'memories'. A study discovered that brainless bacteria may have "memory" from previous experiences. Researchers said E. coli has created a natural biological system in which iron levels function as a trigger, creating a type of memory in bacteria that regulates their behaviour.
Are you mentally prepping for a second round of a Donald Trump presidency? Are you on Google late at night exploring residency in Canada or Costa Rica? Are you laying in bed imagining columns of disaffected youth marching firmly away from the Biden Democrats while tens of thousands of Michigan Arabs are marching right behind them?
If so, I understand. You are only reacting to the non-stop garbage being pumped out about the 2024 campaign. As Dan Pfeiffer –former senior advisor to Barack Obama—said in his recent newsletter, the national punditocracy is framing “the entire conversation around the 2024 election [as] happening through the prism of Joe Biden’s weaknesses — his age, approval rating, and public perception of the economy under his watch.” ,
The whole prevailing media narrative can be summed up as: ”Biden is an ancient 81 years old, his supporters are fleeing in droves, the economy has collapsed, and his poll numbers are headed for the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.”
As if there is no candidate running against him.
What has it been, two years now since the media has predicted The Biden recession that fails to materialize and instead is replaced by record job numbers?
I am acutely aware of the inequities in the American economy. And it means that a whole lot of people feel under the gun. Just as they have for the last 50 years and probably will for the next 50 as it is The System not the White House that steers the economy. I am not about to tell people that they are not feeling what they are feeling.
But the facts contradict the supposed public mood as interpreted by the omniscient beltway columnists: wages are way up, inflation has dramatically stemmed, jobs are plentiful, and even in the most daunting aspect of the economy –housing costs—prices have started falling. Most importantly, one study after another tells us that most Americans are actually “satisfied” about their personal economy but have doubts and fears about the larger economy (once again proving that ¼ through the 21 century most Americans are actually very poorly educated and that their mis-education is re-enforced daily by millionaire anchors reading copy written by their much lower paid minions). Are Americans so out to lunch that they forgot the pandemic that wiped out 20 million jobs and drove unemployment to stratospheric levels? Are they so entitled they believe they should experience immediate full and bountiful recovery after a global disease that killed millions? Would they expect green shoots to appear in an H-bomb crater one week after the impact?
I’m not going to bore you with the usual but very cogent disclaimer about the unreliability of polls a year out from the election. But whatever their flaws or deceptions, it is absolutely undeniable that Biden is politically weak, quite vulnerable, and certainly could lose the election. (I will say in passing that the fact we are even discussing this when the opposing candidate is a criminal Donald Trump, is a ringing indictment of the last several decades of the Democratic Party that has squandered its working class base and at this juncture ought to be 30 points ahead of the claptrap Clown Shown known as the GOP).
So let’s get that firmly on the record. Biden is wobbly and could lose.
What’s not being emphasized by our beloved Punditocracy is that while Biden is, indeed, weak his opponent is even weaker and is much more likely to lose the general election than is Biden (Another thought in passing. Nikki Haley will not prevail over Trump who will be the Republican nominee. Take that to the bank).
Says Pfeiffer:
“The conversation about 2024 is overly one-sided. Lost is the fact that Donald Trump is an incredibly flawed candidate presiding over a divided party. Political coverage tends to be simplistic and binary — if Biden is weak, Trump must be strong. But that’s not the case — there is ample evidence in the polling crosstabs and basic common sense that Republicans are about to pick a flawed nominee that could cost them a winnable election.”
The best example I can come up with about the absurd stupidity of the current political coverage is with a sports metaphor. Be advised I’m not much of a fan –except for the Dodgers—and you don’t have to be one to get my following point. Whenever a sports reporter refers to a specific team it is almost always within the larger context of its competitors, the league, and even how it might do in the post-season against this or that other team. That’s because the San Francisco Giants or the New York Yankees don’t just do batting practice They are teams that compete against other teams.
Biden is not standing in a batting cage where he feebly swings at 95 mph pitches and we all wince. The 2024 election is not formally a referendum on Joe Biden where we have to decide if he is too old to do whatever no matter how hard the GOP tries to make it that way. It is going to be a choice.
A choice between Biden and Trump. You know, like between the Rangers and the D-Backs. Of course, the Republicans, aided by soft-headed pundits, would love to make this an up/down vote on Biden foregoing the small detail that taking him down puts Donald Trump up and back in office. Any discussion of a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses must be made in the context of comparison with the Other Guy because that is what an election is about. Otherwise, who cares?
Not to mention that we are not electing just an individual to the one office as if he held total power, like a medieval King. We are electing one team or another. Who sits in the cabinet, who advises the president, who staffs the agencies, who actually runs the government hands on is not the president. It’s rather the 5,000 or so political appointments he makes and, excuse me for complicating the discourse, but shouldn’t we also be thinking about that? Is Joe Biden being 82 when he would be sworn in any more of a relevant political fact than what sort of fascist bozo Trump would appoint to Defense Secretary? Or FBI chief? Or CIA chief? Or would populate Congress?
Isn’t the fact that the Republican Party now hews to an explicitly authoritarian leader and program as important as Biden’s birthday? How about MORE important?
Yes, Joe Biden just turned 81. And Donald Trump just vowed that he would “weaponize” the DOJ to “go after” his critics, he has vowed “revenge” and “retribution” – against whom? He also says he will use a “special prosecutor” to indict his critics. He’s not shied away from adapting some Nazi-like verbiage, suggesting his former top US military commander be “executed” and that once back in office, Trumps says he will “root out” the “vermin” eating away at America, the precise language Hitler used about Jews. He did not specify if that would be before or after his newly announced plan to massively round up immigrants, hold them in “camps” and then deport all of them, nor if it would it proceed or follow his latest proposal to deploy the U.S. Army into urban centers he considers unruly. That’s what General Pinochet did when faced with street dissent.
“I’m hard-pressed to find any candidates anywhere who are so open that they would use the power of the state to go after critics and enemies,” says Steven Levitsky, a Harvard government professor and co-author of How Democracies Die.
“This is one of the most openly authoritarian campaigns I’ve ever seen. You have to go back to the far-right authoritarians in the 1930s in Europe or in 1970s Latin America to find the kind of dehumanizing and violent language that Trump is starting to consistently use…US, democratic institutions are hard to kill,” notes Levitsky. “But Trump and people around him are better prepared this time. Trump learned he needs to purge and pack an administration with his loyalists. Autocrats have to take state institutions and pack them. Trump has learned from experience which makes him more dangerous.”
But, Biden is 81. And Trump a spry 77.
Just how weak or wobbly is Donald Trump? Let me count the ways.
Yes, he’s ahead in a few polls. But almost every poll shows a majority of voters saying they don’t want him back in the White House.
The Republican Party, in case, you didn’t notice it, is in the process of a shattering implosion. It took 15 rounds of voting to elect Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker only so he could then be replaced, after 22 days of chaos, by a guy who is basically an extremist Imam in a suit and tie and Clark Kent glasses. The MAGA-fication of the GOP is now complete as the party is loyally lining up behind its addled demagogue. The GOP debate have been amazing theater with Trump’s supposed opponents apparently jostling each other to fellate him.
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Nikki Haley bucked the trend but she is a totally empty vessel (see Tim Alberta’s withering profile in Politico) but she makes just enough sense, she at least sounds just rational enough, to turn off about 4 out of 5 Republicans and 6 months from now she will be lucky if she’s an asterisk. Indeed, the big news this week is that Mitt Romney said the country would be better off with a Democratic president and that makes him the first and only high profile Republican to utter such a thing. Everybody else, including, Nikki, says if Trump is the candidate, they will vote for him no matter what.
But not all Republicans. It’s the elected, congressional Republicans who are our domestic Vichy. Republican voters – the tens of millions of them—are a little more varied in opinion and enough so to hobble Trump. A full third of them say that the 2020 election was not stolen and that they are not interested in rehashing it again and again and again. A Stanford study of the 2022 mid terms revealed that Republican candidates who denied the validity of the 2020 election, on average, got 2.3% fewer votes than Republican candidates who validated the election. So while the Stop the Steal rhetoric jazzes the knuckle-draggers, somewhat more sober Republicans are turned off by Trump’s continuation of The Big Lie.
And then there’s that abortion issue which refuses to do but continues to kill GOP plans to outlaw it. We don;t know for sure but I am willing to bet the farm that the GOP position is still gonna play in the moderate burbs much like Hitler’s Bar Mitzvah.
Also, hidden in the cross tabs of that New York Times poll is another crucial number. While Trump racking up 91 felony counts has seemed to bolster him in the fanboy primaries, an almost certain conviction, a guilty verdict in the months to come, begins to scramble things.
From The New York Times poll that put Biden behind in most of the swing states:
“If the former president is convicted and sentenced — as many of his allies expect him to be in the Jan. 6-related trial held next year in Washington, D.C. — around 6 percent of voters across Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin say they would switch their votes to Mr. Biden. That would be enough, potentially, to decide the election.”
That’s pretty good news, I would say.
On the other hand, the intent of this note is not to placate your fears. Fearing what Trump II might mean is actually an obligation we must undertake much more seriously than to date. The threat to American democracy, the threat to many of our civil rights and liberties, the threat to turn American politics into a WWE spectacle, the threat to further coarsen civil discourse, is very real and very near. And we have not even dealt yet (in this newsletter) with the egomaniacal third party candidates – Marianne Williamson, RFK Jr., Cornel West and maybe drilling magnate and part-time Senator Joe Manchin—who can upend the whole show of we are not careful.
International mediators had hoped to extend week-long truce to an eighth day
DECEMBER 1, 2023by Chloe Cornish in Jerusalem
... Gaza war: Israel's unremitting logic of expulsion; how Germany rallied to Israel; in this conflict, memories of past harms run deep on both sides; but there's no justification for contravening international law; the Palestine Communist Party's long push for an Arab-Jewish state; Armenia defeated in disputed Caucasus enclave; Bulgaria's militias take over from a failing state; Cuba's disastrous currency reform; Ecuador, a toxic election campaign amid violence and corruption; Pakistan army clamps down ever harder; COP 28, why smarter adaptation just isn't enough...
When, on the morning of 28 February 2022, four days after the Russian invasion began, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to the European Union on Facebook to let his country join 'immediately under a new special procedure', no one (...)
'There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state,' says Joe Biden, but it's far from clear what that path looks like. Meanwhile, Israel's right see an opportunity in the tragedy.
A key aim of the Geneva conventions was to minimise harm to civilians in wartime. They prohibit reprisals and collective punishments. So why have Israel's actions been treated as a 'legitimate response'?
In the early 20th century, the Palestine Communist Party regarded the creation of a Jewish state as an imperialist plan to continue to divide and rule. The second world war would put their resolve to the test.
Memories of past harms run deep on both sides in this conflict. Both people's fears are real. But that doesn't negate the fact that one side has long been an occupier and the other the occupied.
Unregulated private security has plugged a gap where the state has failed, tackling petty crime and even providing social services. But too often it's become embroiled in corruption and political manipulation.
Following protests and riots in May, Pakistan's elections were postponed as the army clamped down hard. It's long called the shots, but now it's out in the open.
A 2021 state law has radically changed the housing equation in San Diego. Advocates, developers, and policymakers are split on whether it should be exported to other jurisdictions.
Mildred GarcÃa, the new Cal State chancellor, is earning a total compensation of nearly $1 million. Meanwhile, university president pay has increased at a greater rate than that of faculty, who are preparing to strike in early December, and the system is raising tuition. Yet, Cal State execs still say their pay lags behind the national average.
Small, rural districts often struggle to pass local bond measures to pay for school construction and repairs. In some cases, leaking roofs, dry rot and broken air conditioners haven’t been fixed in years.
