Netanyahu’s deliberate politicization of America’s support for Israel was a huge and dangerous mistake that benefits him politically but hurts Israel's long term safety, but GOP leaders can't seem to think past their own next election cycle.
That half the country supports Trump despite the fact that Netanyahu, Putin, Jong-un, Xi, and Iran- all with security interests that gravely threaten our own- clearly want him back in office, suggests we aren’t a very smart people and our experiment has a limited shelf life.
“Half the country” does NOT support Trump. A contingent of Republicans do, and some Independents, but MOST of the country eschews the man! Our problem is not that half of us support him, but that our elections are skewed by an Electoral College that allows a minority of voters to prevail …And they KNOW that fact, which is why they continue to try to suppress OUR votes, to make it more likely that their minority will at least reach a necessary size to prevail over the majority, who do NOT want Trump in the White House, or any Republican, for that matter.
Fair enough. I'm talking about the fact that half the country is currently polling that way. Polls are flawed, don't reflect what's asked, etc., etc., showing any contest at all is problematic, given what we know about trump. Pew says we're about 50/50 D vs R, and I'd guess 40% of the GOP supports trump, which comes out to about 20% of the country. here's the pew ref: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/the-partisanship-and-ideology-of-american-voters/
And my point is, the poll reports, data AND the language used, are skewed to SOUND like half the country supports Trump. That’s a gross exaggeration. A decided minority of Americans even have any respect left for that man. His rabid Republican base is more like a cult than anything else. The Oligarchs who put money into keeping him in play politically are using him as a tool to bring us around to autocracy. He does have a base of support, but I get eternally tired of hearing that half of us support and respect that man, because that isn’t so. .
{I’m also exhausted by how much we hear about how old Joe is and how we hear little or nothing about the energy the man has expended all around the world putting our country back on a firm footing and strengthening alliances that The Other Guy decimated when he was in the White House. }
You could well be right, Sabrina. I think part of the problem is that many Americans don't have a very clear understanding of the world. Yes, a lot of us travel abroad but that is often to resorts and well known tourist sites, and understanding the deeper history and cultures of even these places is spotty. Business people may often travel and trade abroad...but it is usually with people like them and they certainly aren't likely to visit the poorer areas if they can help it. (I'm at the other extreme, having been to well over 100 countries just for fun and to see the "real" world, as well as holding graduate degrees in geography.)
This is nothing new...think of how in the 1930s Chamberlain wrote off Czechoslovakia as a "distant country" that Hitler could have, and how even in World War 2 the U.S. government had to make films explaining to the public "Why we fight." So it is no surprise today that places like Ukraine, Taiwan or Gaza are "out there" and of little interest to many Americans struggling with higher prices. Speaking very generally, we don't have long attention spans and we want simple answers to complicated questions. When Trump can get away with calling Biden a "Communist" you know that few people are listening.
our public education systems have been poorly funded for about two decades; it's been a steady - deliberate- decline. I've read that the disdain for public education began under Reagan; that's easy to believe. Most of our decline began then.
Doc. I don't think that we can count Gaza as a flashpoint, it is a special case, although the Ummah hyperventilates and gets student and other idiots to fall out an block bridges, freeways, parade with signs and call Jews names. The Arab states are not interested in the Gazans or West bank Arab residents.
Egypt has built a wall to keep them out. What you call Palestine use to belong to Jordan, and the Kingdoms of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, want nothing to do with these people, they block them from entering and deport them when they sneak through. They have stable societies, and they would only be destabilized if they accepted them.
Jordan is already overwhelmed by Syrian Refugees, and the Syrians are not at war with the Jews, like the Gazans and West Bank are, and the children haven't been raised on comic books that depict Jews as Vampires and ogres
Now Iran that is a problem, Iran has to keep the Jews front and center as a threat and target of animosity, because most authoritarian societies need a common threat. Think of how the earth would respond to an alien invasion. Well some would try to sell out and broker a deal as Quislings, people and nations. Like MAGA and Greenies are doing towards Russia.
Iran has to go through Iraq, Jordan and possibly Saudi Arabia to get to Israel.
Easier said than done. Iran and Iraq are predominantly Shia, and thus you would think natural allies, but Iran is not Arab, Iraq is, and there is a long simmering hostility between Arabs and Iranians. One that Saddam took advantage of in his war with Iran.
The Arab nations want nothing to do with HAMAS, Gazans, West Bank, Iran does because they are useful for domestic and strategic purposes, but. let's call Gaza Iran's martyrs, their sacrifice to Allah.
The range of possible October Surprise(s) Trump and his allies could employ from driving a foreign policy crisis, to Katherine Harris style voter suppression, to telling his Proud Boy acolytes to lock and load for election day are all not only possible, but likely.
As a Veteran and especially on this Memorial Day I feel deep sadness in knowing that the nation I and my father served and the deaths of so many decent men in the process to support E Pluribus Unum will likely have been in vain.
What our coming demise proves is that in the end unbridled rampant Capitalism that metastasizes in the hands of malignant personalities who enlist the paranoia of weak minded racist and religious fanatics will, with enough money over time, win the war for them.
Should Biden again, squeak by with a few million votes and the 270 to win, there absolutely will be a January 6th scaled up across the nation to every state-house.
Will Biden have courage to use an already co-opted military to detain these armed to the teeth insurrectionists? I hope so, as I hope that should Trump win I won’t find myself able to access public services or be bussed to a Texas Border detention camp ala GITMO.
Does this scare me? Of course, but in actuality this whole nightmare must have the implicit support of our current Republican neighbors. Based on what I see in how they support an oversexed, Mom’s for Liberty school Board member where I live, I’d say they like the German citizen’s of the 30’s will just look away.
What was the line from Vonnegut? “And so it goes…”
Well, the game plans you lay out are daunting and need to be exposed in every media, just as Putin’s plan to invade Ukraine were exposed. The Electorate needs to understand the traitorous history of the Republicans and the plays the 2024 Axis of Evils - including Netanyahu - may roll out. These plans have to be met with overwhelming force at the outset of any actions to upend our Election system.
Donald Richardson, an axis is an imaginary line around which a body rotates. Israel is not part of that body, it is an outlier and stands alone, as does Netanyahu, he as is Trump are their own axis of evil., Iran, North Korea, Russia another. China is in and out, they play thejr own game. there is more than one "axis of evil". You might include India, because Russia is selling cheap oil to India, and thus enabling Putin in his attack on Ukraine.
Simplistic thinking, thanks to George W Bush, who coined the term Axis of Evil, or was that Bolton, it doesn't matter. Bush owned is a simplistic and stupid way of looking at the world.
Here is food for thought, modern technological industrial society is highly dependent on rare earth metals and natural resources, much of which is produced in Africa, and guess who is becoming persona non grata and kicked out of Africa? The US or A and guess who is being welcomed and invited in?Russia and China. Russia and China aren't belabored with human rights, greenies and lefties like America. The will finance, fund, militarily support any tin pot dictator that will provide them access to natural resources and strategic pots.
The Biden administration welcomed that reality when it invited and feted the President of Kenya to the White House and for that Biden has caught grief.
We have greened America by exporting factories to Mexico and Asia, and jobs along with it, now lets give Africa and it's resources to Russia and China, and we can sit back while they black mail and starve us with vital resources.
Nobody thinks things through to their logical conclusion, it is all emotion, all of the time. Emotion vrs Greed. What a world I have to live in.
Obama, as a young Senator, addressed exactly that issue in a speech he gave on foreign policy. He was brilliant and informed on how important Africa would become strategically. He of course was ignored.
I personally like Obama, and consider him a decent man, but he was naive and unconnected as he entered the oval office, and was pounced on and taken advantage of by the likes of Larry Summers and his henchman Rahm Emanuel.
And he was right about the importance of Africa, and yes he was ignored. It was George W Bush that created AfriCom (African Command), but penny pinching Republicans have ceded influence to Russia and China. Now African nations are kicking us out, partly because we have backed the establishment in the nations, even when they are oppressing and murdering their own people.
China has made a substantial financial investment, building infrastructure, Russia has supplied mercenaries to bolster regimes, and weapons for insurgents.
America because of "morality" and politics can only sit back and watch.
If only we had a 'liberal press' to present all the facts. We don't even see any reports on the success of Biden's Infrastructure Act, or anything else he's accomplished. Or about how the republicans block Voting rights. We see only trump outrages; they sell papers.
The longer I live the more I realize that human beings are not basically good at all. We are selfish, self-centered, greedy, spiteful, envious, ignorant, bigoted, small-minded, vengeful, tribal in far too many instances. I seriously doubt our poor grandson will have a long or very good life. I am glad we have given him an idyllic, even enchanted, childhood, co-parenting him with his Mom from the day he was born. He will, if we and the world can survive a couple of more years, have some wonderful memories at least. Hardly enough, but all we can control. I truly believe we have an odd instinct for mass suicide that is surging, and may well take us over the brink in a worldwide mushroom cloud. The Nazis and the Japanese, against whom my late honored father, his two brothers, and my father-in-law fought in WWII, and whose memories I hold dear, especially on this Memorial Day, started us down this road. The Republican Party in this country (I am not forgetting LBJ, who was misguided but sincere, or Obama, who was feckless in many ways, but honorable) has done even more to push us closer to the tipping point, and is on the brink, with the aid of the authoritarian gangsters it so admires, of moving us past it. That is a somber thought on this Memorial Day. Thank you, Thom, not for the unvarnished bleakness of your columns, but because they force us to look the plain truth in the eye. And it is terrible to behold. Even if we defeat the malignant forces of the cult of tfg in November, it may be too late to matter. I pray not, and that we succeed in doing that at least.
The last October surprise was when FBI director James Comey accused Hillary of using an unsecured phone for getting emails? It turned out to be a lie, but it did help Donald get elected.
When our FBI and attorney general turn a blind eye to traitorous
activities, you can count on more October surprises. Since Nixon, I think the GOP have all used an October surprise?
It is looking more and more obvious that the ultra rich want to use all of the resources, that includes humans to make their lives more comfortable, while the planet overheats. The thug dictators will probably take all their wealth. Either we all unite and fight for a piece of the pie, or we will all starve or die slowly of disease. As long as Biden is making money for the autocrats, we have a chance of saving democracy, slim at best!
Bob in my uninformed opinion Hillary lost the election in swing states and the electoral count, not the popular vote, and not because of Comey and even Russia, but because the rust belt remembered her husband lost jobs when he signed NAFTA and GATT and the factories moved to Mexico and Asia.
That too. It was a bad combination. Plus her campaign really stank. She was a good politician and would have been a good president. But she just didn't have the 'populist touch".
No she didn't Linda, she came across as insincere and cold, but in fact she was a typical politician, self serving she had great ambition when she married Bill,and like a politician tried to be all things to all people.
I remember her response to being tagged as cold.,was to try and soften her image in a TV spectacle.
As a president she would have served the masters who funded her and the Democratic party.
There is a reason that so many Representatives and Senators are lawyers, that so many lawyers are found in politics.
The reason is that lawyers, per se, and their are exceptions have no moral center or principles.
A defense lawyer this year, a prosecutor the next.
The point is, Trump and the FBI colluded, it MAY not have worked as well as they wanted it to though. Obama could have had single payer and Clinton could have not signed NAFTA and GATT. That is why I'm not a big fan of either of those two, or the last 11 presidents. Funny how overpopulation gets blamed on the greenies though.
The FBI is "conservative", by that I mean hard right, always has been. It is dedicated to investigating the left, be they liberal, progressive, civil rights, even anti fascists, that has been the culture of the FBI, that is how agents perceive themselves The FBI of today is the same FBI that wiretapped and harassed MLK Jr.
I have never heard of overpopulation being blamed on anything, especially the Greenies, but I know the Greenies have given us the likes of Kristen Sinema, Jill Stein, and are responsible for the election of George W Bush and Donald J Trump, by siphoning popular votes away from the Democrats in vital swing states, and are set to do it again. they might as well be a branch of the fascist party, called Republican.
I am not happy with Joe Biden, but I know what is in store if Trump wins, so once again I will crawl over broken glass to vote against Trump by voting for Biden.
There will be the increased price of the gallon. Is gop the only responsible for these october surprises? Then they are the big rotten and corrupt traitors to the constitution and its founders. Scoundrels like these must be dealt with harshly. No mercy. No remorse. Fake christians still know that you reap what you sow.
We can all easily fall into the pit of Hysteria. We are attracted to fear-based dilemmas which obviously appear diabolically unable to solve. I follow Thom and Steve Schmidt who among others unwittingly amplify the fear-factor, even the New York Times. If we want to defeat Trump, which I believe the majority of the country wants to do, let's fight for the democratic rights that the Biden "administration" is promoting. And I say, "administration" because it all comes down to attention-getting personality factors of the candidates. It is not just promoting Biden but what his administration is committed to. We need to fight FOR not just AGAINST. This is just not happening, here or elsewhere. Almost all of the relevant statistics favor what the present Administration is actually doing, standing up against extremism, promoting climate change and gun control, mitigating immigration problems, commitment to resolving complex problems such as in Israel/Gaza. We are all unfortunately addicted to hysterical headlines.
There wouldn't be so much hysteria if garland would have prosecuted the instigators of the insurrection promptly! They should all be locked up by now! Acting like business as usual is going to work is not very intelligent.
I and all the groups I belong to are working to register voters. We often meet resistance, though. The worst demographic, surprisingly, is YOUNG WOMEN ! If we thing the abortion issue is going to give us the win, we are wrong. I think it's going to be the border.
Awareness of these October Surprises — and their ubiquity! — is key.
A problem I observe all too often, though, is that few people are as obsessive about following the day’s events, and the trajectory of events over years [eg, history], as I tend to be. The result is, they are not aware of these things, and they resent being lectured to…Which, sadly, makes them more susceptible to the scam. Even knowing I think that about them would make them angry at my “arrogance” and less willing to talk about these things.
Thinking toward the coming election…approaching Autumn and October…these are obstacles to be overcome, if we are to prevail in preserving our democracy.
As democracy lovers we should make a list of the 10 most probable October surprises. It may be all 10 of them? The gOP would probably use it as a list of ideas though.
Trump cultists monitor the internet including substack and as we get closer to November more of them will be logging on and commenting. and others will be taking away hints like you suggest. We shouldn't give them ideas.
LBJ KNEW thatTricky Dick’s people scuttled the Paris Peace Talks, which was not only treason, but prolonged the war in Vietnam for six more years. Because he thought it would be a political fire storm right before the 1968 election, LBJ kept his mouth shut.
Look at what it got us …
Same with Reagan and getting Iran to hold onto hostages for a few extra months …
And now, Trump is suggesting he can do the same thing with a journalist held in Russia …
Why do we think these things should be kept under wraps, and why do we let them get away with this crap?
LBJ should have told American voters the truth, and we should have had a chance NOT to vote Tricky Dick into office.
Same with The Donald these days. He’s a lousy, conniving little crook, and people should have a chance to find that out and NOT vote for him ever again …
Agh. It’s exhausting, all the posturing and mind-reading and horsing around … All the “optics” and BS. Crooked SCOTUS and no way to call it like it is…
We had better be damned ready for an. October “surprise” — the country and the world deserves better than a Republican autocratic coup in America…
There is one thing different in the era of Trump and he has mastered the art of chaos.
Society, much less the media, pundits, you and I struggle to keep up with the bright shiny things Trump flings like a caged ape flings shit., so much comes at us that we are breathless and tire trying to catch up.
The tactic works and is serving him well. It would have exhausted any other tyrant. The buffoon is perpetually manic.
Except when snoozing in court. Also William, he hasn't mastered anything---the chaos IS him. His brain is a mess. I often wonder if that is what the MAGAs identify with the most.
Sun Tze said "Never underestimate your enemy", by brushing Trump aside and diminishing him, you are actually helping and aiding him. Trump is a cult leader, and he has mastered the ability to attract, manipulate and use people who want and need someone like him.
The cult has been a virus in the blood stream of America since he beginning, waiting for the weakness in it's immune system to manifest. Trump showed up and exploited the weakness,, and is now directing and controlling the virus that will kill the body politic.
It has to be the cheese burgers, KFC and Aspartame in the Diet Coke, what I don't understand is why he hasn't died from cancer or kidney failure. He must be an alien. His digestive system is kaput, from the drugs like ritalin he has been taken since a child. He has no bowel control and wears a diaper. Cohen wasn't just hurling a slur when he called him Baron von Shitzenhispants.
He said he was afraid to start a massive sh*tstorm {my words, his meaning}, but he made a mistake. Voters should have known what they were voting for. LBJ knew Nixon would get in. He didn’t want to create a crisis days before the election — he was afraid, but he was afraid of the wrong thing … He should have exposed the bastards….
Thanks for once again reminding us of important issues with lessons from the past. So many people tend to forget what has happened even in their own lifetimes. We need to be alert to the potential "monsters" coming down the road toward us as well as hope many will "fall in the ditch" before they get too close. I think of and care about those of the world who are now battling for survival against real monsters who are already upon them. We who live in America have never experienced the horrors some live with daily. Many of us lack the good sense and imagination for those possibilities that could come upon us, here at home. If "t" and his thugs of destruction seize power here at home, we will all learn the hard way. They will not allow free and fair elections. Beware! Ruthie B.
Agreed, but what effect does staying alert have when we take no action to fight the very dangers we see? This fascist movement has been developing since the GOP failed to put Nixon on a throne. Scholars & historians have been warning us about what’s going on since that time & before, but today even legitimate MSM can’t say the word fascism! That, to me, feels much more like denial than staying alert!
Change is coming and it is not in favor of past dictator style of governments. As bad as it can look the past is not our future. Extreme change is coming and the future looks good. Keep working for the good and we will all get the benefits of our good works. Fight were there is need but hold to the truth.
Biden only has to make 2 small commitments in order win the election by a landslide. Stop the Israeli welfare checks and say he would not veto Expanded and Improved Medicare for All if it came across his desk! Both are socially just and morally right. But they don’t benefit our elected politicians campaign piggy banks! Stop trying to blame the American people for the corrupt choices of our leaders!
If he has something to say about US support of Israel, or more accurately, support of Netanyhu’s policies and actions, it needs to be complex and carefully framed, or he will lose more people than he gains. He should do and say the honorable and decent thing, but not be ham-handed about it.
What’s that supposed to mean? “Chastise him but don’t stop those campaign donations coming back into our campaign coffers!” Politicians taking AIPAC money needs to become toxic. Replace them with new blood. Representatives with a heartbeat!
It means reject Netanyahu’s monstrous behavior and NOT lose the understanding of voters that Biden is our shot to stop the Republican machine from dismantling our democracy.
It’s NOT about “campaign money.” It’s about VOTERS and about Fascism vs. Democracy. We want the anti-Fascism vote …
I believe Thom is spot-on to suspect foreign actors will provoke incidents that will hurt the current American administration. Frankly, following the "who benefits" rule I firmly follow, I feel quite sure it has already begun. I would bet that Iran -- perhaps with old Vladmir in the background -- prodded HAMAS into that stupid series of attacks on Israel, back in October. There is no possible benefit the Palestinian people could have derived from those attacks. So, who was HAMAS acting for? Who benefited?
Certainly Iran: Derailing the gradual progress of Israel and the Saudis toward some form of peace deal was a priority for them. Iran's theocracy sees the Saudis -- the prime mover among Sunni Moslems -- as their principal enemy in all the world.
And the act surely shows how inaffective Biden is in trying to end Israel's massive over-reaction -- an onslaught we are paying for.
For me, the more critical question is: Are the National level Democrats -- or any true Americans in positions of power -- going to stand up and play hard ball? Or are they just going to wring their hands, fold their tents, and fall back to their country homes, letting the world slide into a nuclear powered replay of the 1930s/1940s?
Netanyahu’s deliberate politicization of America’s support for Israel was a huge and dangerous mistake that benefits him politically but hurts Israel's long term safety, but GOP leaders can't seem to think past their own next election cycle.
That half the country supports Trump despite the fact that Netanyahu, Putin, Jong-un, Xi, and Iran- all with security interests that gravely threaten our own- clearly want him back in office, suggests we aren’t a very smart people and our experiment has a limited shelf life.
“Half the country” does NOT support Trump. A contingent of Republicans do, and some Independents, but MOST of the country eschews the man! Our problem is not that half of us support him, but that our elections are skewed by an Electoral College that allows a minority of voters to prevail …And they KNOW that fact, which is why they continue to try to suppress OUR votes, to make it more likely that their minority will at least reach a necessary size to prevail over the majority, who do NOT want Trump in the White House, or any Republican, for that matter.
Fair enough. I'm talking about the fact that half the country is currently polling that way. Polls are flawed, don't reflect what's asked, etc., etc., showing any contest at all is problematic, given what we know about trump. Pew says we're about 50/50 D vs R, and I'd guess 40% of the GOP supports trump, which comes out to about 20% of the country. here's the pew ref: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/the-partisanship-and-ideology-of-american-voters/
And my point is, the poll reports, data AND the language used, are skewed to SOUND like half the country supports Trump. That’s a gross exaggeration. A decided minority of Americans even have any respect left for that man. His rabid Republican base is more like a cult than anything else. The Oligarchs who put money into keeping him in play politically are using him as a tool to bring us around to autocracy. He does have a base of support, but I get eternally tired of hearing that half of us support and respect that man, because that isn’t so. .
{I’m also exhausted by how much we hear about how old Joe is and how we hear little or nothing about the energy the man has expended all around the world putting our country back on a firm footing and strengthening alliances that The Other Guy decimated when he was in the White House. }
Recall Dukakis led Bush by 18 points on Labor Day, enough about Memorial Day polls.
You could well be right, Sabrina. I think part of the problem is that many Americans don't have a very clear understanding of the world. Yes, a lot of us travel abroad but that is often to resorts and well known tourist sites, and understanding the deeper history and cultures of even these places is spotty. Business people may often travel and trade abroad...but it is usually with people like them and they certainly aren't likely to visit the poorer areas if they can help it. (I'm at the other extreme, having been to well over 100 countries just for fun and to see the "real" world, as well as holding graduate degrees in geography.)
This is nothing new...think of how in the 1930s Chamberlain wrote off Czechoslovakia as a "distant country" that Hitler could have, and how even in World War 2 the U.S. government had to make films explaining to the public "Why we fight." So it is no surprise today that places like Ukraine, Taiwan or Gaza are "out there" and of little interest to many Americans struggling with higher prices. Speaking very generally, we don't have long attention spans and we want simple answers to complicated questions. When Trump can get away with calling Biden a "Communist" you know that few people are listening.
appreciate the perspective, but it seems our dummying-down has become deliberate in the past 20 years or so.
Sabrina, ever since organized religion we have been dumbed down. Throw in unlimited greed and the family unit and you have a recipe for dictatorship.
💯
our public education systems have been poorly funded for about two decades; it's been a steady - deliberate- decline. I've read that the disdain for public education began under Reagan; that's easy to believe. Most of our decline began then.
Doc. I don't think that we can count Gaza as a flashpoint, it is a special case, although the Ummah hyperventilates and gets student and other idiots to fall out an block bridges, freeways, parade with signs and call Jews names. The Arab states are not interested in the Gazans or West bank Arab residents.
Egypt has built a wall to keep them out. What you call Palestine use to belong to Jordan, and the Kingdoms of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, want nothing to do with these people, they block them from entering and deport them when they sneak through. They have stable societies, and they would only be destabilized if they accepted them.
Jordan is already overwhelmed by Syrian Refugees, and the Syrians are not at war with the Jews, like the Gazans and West Bank are, and the children haven't been raised on comic books that depict Jews as Vampires and ogres
Now Iran that is a problem, Iran has to keep the Jews front and center as a threat and target of animosity, because most authoritarian societies need a common threat. Think of how the earth would respond to an alien invasion. Well some would try to sell out and broker a deal as Quislings, people and nations. Like MAGA and Greenies are doing towards Russia.
Iran has to go through Iraq, Jordan and possibly Saudi Arabia to get to Israel.
Easier said than done. Iran and Iraq are predominantly Shia, and thus you would think natural allies, but Iran is not Arab, Iraq is, and there is a long simmering hostility between Arabs and Iranians. One that Saddam took advantage of in his war with Iran.
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is westernized and wants nothing to do with Islamic wars, especially Shia Iran. It even has a contingent of women in the Armed Force, hijab and all, but not wearing bee keeper suits., you won't find this in Saudi Arabia, syria, Iraq and Iran. Makes my heart throb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTni41s_egQ&ab_channel=%D0%97%D0%92%D0%95%D0%97%D0%94%D0%90%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%B8 and not all are wearing hijabs, the put the IDF to shame at least on the parade field.
The Arab nations want nothing to do with HAMAS, Gazans, West Bank, Iran does because they are useful for domestic and strategic purposes, but. let's call Gaza Iran's martyrs, their sacrifice to Allah.
Most likely riots in our streets. White supremacists were caught starting the Floyd riots and placing the blame on Blacks.
The range of possible October Surprise(s) Trump and his allies could employ from driving a foreign policy crisis, to Katherine Harris style voter suppression, to telling his Proud Boy acolytes to lock and load for election day are all not only possible, but likely.
As a Veteran and especially on this Memorial Day I feel deep sadness in knowing that the nation I and my father served and the deaths of so many decent men in the process to support E Pluribus Unum will likely have been in vain.
What our coming demise proves is that in the end unbridled rampant Capitalism that metastasizes in the hands of malignant personalities who enlist the paranoia of weak minded racist and religious fanatics will, with enough money over time, win the war for them.
Should Biden again, squeak by with a few million votes and the 270 to win, there absolutely will be a January 6th scaled up across the nation to every state-house.
Will Biden have courage to use an already co-opted military to detain these armed to the teeth insurrectionists? I hope so, as I hope that should Trump win I won’t find myself able to access public services or be bussed to a Texas Border detention camp ala GITMO.
Does this scare me? Of course, but in actuality this whole nightmare must have the implicit support of our current Republican neighbors. Based on what I see in how they support an oversexed, Mom’s for Liberty school Board member where I live, I’d say they like the German citizen’s of the 30’s will just look away.
What was the line from Vonnegut? “And so it goes…”
Well, the game plans you lay out are daunting and need to be exposed in every media, just as Putin’s plan to invade Ukraine were exposed. The Electorate needs to understand the traitorous history of the Republicans and the plays the 2024 Axis of Evils - including Netanyahu - may roll out. These plans have to be met with overwhelming force at the outset of any actions to upend our Election system.
Donald Richardson, an axis is an imaginary line around which a body rotates. Israel is not part of that body, it is an outlier and stands alone, as does Netanyahu, he as is Trump are their own axis of evil., Iran, North Korea, Russia another. China is in and out, they play thejr own game. there is more than one "axis of evil". You might include India, because Russia is selling cheap oil to India, and thus enabling Putin in his attack on Ukraine.
Simplistic thinking, thanks to George W Bush, who coined the term Axis of Evil, or was that Bolton, it doesn't matter. Bush owned is a simplistic and stupid way of looking at the world.
Here is food for thought, modern technological industrial society is highly dependent on rare earth metals and natural resources, much of which is produced in Africa, and guess who is becoming persona non grata and kicked out of Africa? The US or A and guess who is being welcomed and invited in?Russia and China. Russia and China aren't belabored with human rights, greenies and lefties like America. The will finance, fund, militarily support any tin pot dictator that will provide them access to natural resources and strategic pots.
The Biden administration welcomed that reality when it invited and feted the President of Kenya to the White House and for that Biden has caught grief.
We have greened America by exporting factories to Mexico and Asia, and jobs along with it, now lets give Africa and it's resources to Russia and China, and we can sit back while they black mail and starve us with vital resources.
Nobody thinks things through to their logical conclusion, it is all emotion, all of the time. Emotion vrs Greed. What a world I have to live in.
Obama, as a young Senator, addressed exactly that issue in a speech he gave on foreign policy. He was brilliant and informed on how important Africa would become strategically. He of course was ignored.
I personally like Obama, and consider him a decent man, but he was naive and unconnected as he entered the oval office, and was pounced on and taken advantage of by the likes of Larry Summers and his henchman Rahm Emanuel.
And he was right about the importance of Africa, and yes he was ignored. It was George W Bush that created AfriCom (African Command), but penny pinching Republicans have ceded influence to Russia and China. Now African nations are kicking us out, partly because we have backed the establishment in the nations, even when they are oppressing and murdering their own people.
China has made a substantial financial investment, building infrastructure, Russia has supplied mercenaries to bolster regimes, and weapons for insurgents.
America because of "morality" and politics can only sit back and watch.
If only we had a 'liberal press' to present all the facts. We don't even see any reports on the success of Biden's Infrastructure Act, or anything else he's accomplished. Or about how the republicans block Voting rights. We see only trump outrages; they sell papers.
Right. It is almost as if they are only interested in their own existence, not our democracy’s. Ironic and abets the Treason in full bloom around us.
The longer I live the more I realize that human beings are not basically good at all. We are selfish, self-centered, greedy, spiteful, envious, ignorant, bigoted, small-minded, vengeful, tribal in far too many instances. I seriously doubt our poor grandson will have a long or very good life. I am glad we have given him an idyllic, even enchanted, childhood, co-parenting him with his Mom from the day he was born. He will, if we and the world can survive a couple of more years, have some wonderful memories at least. Hardly enough, but all we can control. I truly believe we have an odd instinct for mass suicide that is surging, and may well take us over the brink in a worldwide mushroom cloud. The Nazis and the Japanese, against whom my late honored father, his two brothers, and my father-in-law fought in WWII, and whose memories I hold dear, especially on this Memorial Day, started us down this road. The Republican Party in this country (I am not forgetting LBJ, who was misguided but sincere, or Obama, who was feckless in many ways, but honorable) has done even more to push us closer to the tipping point, and is on the brink, with the aid of the authoritarian gangsters it so admires, of moving us past it. That is a somber thought on this Memorial Day. Thank you, Thom, not for the unvarnished bleakness of your columns, but because they force us to look the plain truth in the eye. And it is terrible to behold. Even if we defeat the malignant forces of the cult of tfg in November, it may be too late to matter. I pray not, and that we succeed in doing that at least.
I too worry about my grandchildren. We fought off fascism in WW11, but now, who will save us if we move into a fascist state? I fear no one.
The last October surprise was when FBI director James Comey accused Hillary of using an unsecured phone for getting emails? It turned out to be a lie, but it did help Donald get elected.
When our FBI and attorney general turn a blind eye to traitorous
activities, you can count on more October surprises. Since Nixon, I think the GOP have all used an October surprise?
It is looking more and more obvious that the ultra rich want to use all of the resources, that includes humans to make their lives more comfortable, while the planet overheats. The thug dictators will probably take all their wealth. Either we all unite and fight for a piece of the pie, or we will all starve or die slowly of disease. As long as Biden is making money for the autocrats, we have a chance of saving democracy, slim at best!
Bob in my uninformed opinion Hillary lost the election in swing states and the electoral count, not the popular vote, and not because of Comey and even Russia, but because the rust belt remembered her husband lost jobs when he signed NAFTA and GATT and the factories moved to Mexico and Asia.
That too. It was a bad combination. Plus her campaign really stank. She was a good politician and would have been a good president. But she just didn't have the 'populist touch".
No she didn't Linda, she came across as insincere and cold, but in fact she was a typical politician, self serving she had great ambition when she married Bill,and like a politician tried to be all things to all people.
I remember her response to being tagged as cold.,was to try and soften her image in a TV spectacle.
As a president she would have served the masters who funded her and the Democratic party.
There is a reason that so many Representatives and Senators are lawyers, that so many lawyers are found in politics.
The reason is that lawyers, per se, and their are exceptions have no moral center or principles.
A defense lawyer this year, a prosecutor the next.
The point is, Trump and the FBI colluded, it MAY not have worked as well as they wanted it to though. Obama could have had single payer and Clinton could have not signed NAFTA and GATT. That is why I'm not a big fan of either of those two, or the last 11 presidents. Funny how overpopulation gets blamed on the greenies though.
The FBI is "conservative", by that I mean hard right, always has been. It is dedicated to investigating the left, be they liberal, progressive, civil rights, even anti fascists, that has been the culture of the FBI, that is how agents perceive themselves The FBI of today is the same FBI that wiretapped and harassed MLK Jr.
I have never heard of overpopulation being blamed on anything, especially the Greenies, but I know the Greenies have given us the likes of Kristen Sinema, Jill Stein, and are responsible for the election of George W Bush and Donald J Trump, by siphoning popular votes away from the Democrats in vital swing states, and are set to do it again. they might as well be a branch of the fascist party, called Republican.
I am not happy with Joe Biden, but I know what is in store if Trump wins, so once again I will crawl over broken glass to vote against Trump by voting for Biden.
There will be the increased price of the gallon. Is gop the only responsible for these october surprises? Then they are the big rotten and corrupt traitors to the constitution and its founders. Scoundrels like these must be dealt with harshly. No mercy. No remorse. Fake christians still know that you reap what you sow.
The GOP is the only party who consistently NEEDS an Oct surprise.
We can all easily fall into the pit of Hysteria. We are attracted to fear-based dilemmas which obviously appear diabolically unable to solve. I follow Thom and Steve Schmidt who among others unwittingly amplify the fear-factor, even the New York Times. If we want to defeat Trump, which I believe the majority of the country wants to do, let's fight for the democratic rights that the Biden "administration" is promoting. And I say, "administration" because it all comes down to attention-getting personality factors of the candidates. It is not just promoting Biden but what his administration is committed to. We need to fight FOR not just AGAINST. This is just not happening, here or elsewhere. Almost all of the relevant statistics favor what the present Administration is actually doing, standing up against extremism, promoting climate change and gun control, mitigating immigration problems, commitment to resolving complex problems such as in Israel/Gaza. We are all unfortunately addicted to hysterical headlines.
We c an sweep. Millions of unregistered folk trend heavily Democratic. Register Democrats to save us.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
There wouldn't be so much hysteria if garland would have prosecuted the instigators of the insurrection promptly! They should all be locked up by now! Acting like business as usual is going to work is not very intelligent.
I and all the groups I belong to are working to register voters. We often meet resistance, though. The worst demographic, surprisingly, is YOUNG WOMEN ! If we thing the abortion issue is going to give us the win, we are wrong. I think it's going to be the border.
YES
Awareness of these October Surprises — and their ubiquity! — is key.
A problem I observe all too often, though, is that few people are as obsessive about following the day’s events, and the trajectory of events over years [eg, history], as I tend to be. The result is, they are not aware of these things, and they resent being lectured to…Which, sadly, makes them more susceptible to the scam. Even knowing I think that about them would make them angry at my “arrogance” and less willing to talk about these things.
Thinking toward the coming election…approaching Autumn and October…these are obstacles to be overcome, if we are to prevail in preserving our democracy.
As democracy lovers we should make a list of the 10 most probable October surprises. It may be all 10 of them? The gOP would probably use it as a list of ideas though.
Trump cultists monitor the internet including substack and as we get closer to November more of them will be logging on and commenting. and others will be taking away hints like you suggest. We shouldn't give them ideas.
I did kind of think I wouldn’t want to put ideas in their heads … Oy, vey. I’m exhausted…
Pat you just described Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I am of the damned if you do school.
LBJ KNEW thatTricky Dick’s people scuttled the Paris Peace Talks, which was not only treason, but prolonged the war in Vietnam for six more years. Because he thought it would be a political fire storm right before the 1968 election, LBJ kept his mouth shut.
Look at what it got us …
Same with Reagan and getting Iran to hold onto hostages for a few extra months …
And now, Trump is suggesting he can do the same thing with a journalist held in Russia …
Why do we think these things should be kept under wraps, and why do we let them get away with this crap?
LBJ should have told American voters the truth, and we should have had a chance NOT to vote Tricky Dick into office.
Same with The Donald these days. He’s a lousy, conniving little crook, and people should have a chance to find that out and NOT vote for him ever again …
Agh. It’s exhausting, all the posturing and mind-reading and horsing around … All the “optics” and BS. Crooked SCOTUS and no way to call it like it is…
We had better be damned ready for an. October “surprise” — the country and the world deserves better than a Republican autocratic coup in America…
There is one thing different in the era of Trump and he has mastered the art of chaos.
Society, much less the media, pundits, you and I struggle to keep up with the bright shiny things Trump flings like a caged ape flings shit., so much comes at us that we are breathless and tire trying to catch up.
The tactic works and is serving him well. It would have exhausted any other tyrant. The buffoon is perpetually manic.
Except when snoozing in court. Also William, he hasn't mastered anything---the chaos IS him. His brain is a mess. I often wonder if that is what the MAGAs identify with the most.
Sun Tze said "Never underestimate your enemy", by brushing Trump aside and diminishing him, you are actually helping and aiding him. Trump is a cult leader, and he has mastered the ability to attract, manipulate and use people who want and need someone like him.
The cult has been a virus in the blood stream of America since he beginning, waiting for the weakness in it's immune system to manifest. Trump showed up and exploited the weakness,, and is now directing and controlling the virus that will kill the body politic.
He is absolutely all of that!
It has to be the cheese burgers, KFC and Aspartame in the Diet Coke, what I don't understand is why he hasn't died from cancer or kidney failure. He must be an alien. His digestive system is kaput, from the drugs like ritalin he has been taken since a child. He has no bowel control and wears a diaper. Cohen wasn't just hurling a slur when he called him Baron von Shitzenhispants.
Former Apprentice staffer Noel Casler reveals all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N60ceYRlY2I&t=76s&ab_channel=MeidasTouch
Now that have "macho Trumpers" wearing diapers saying real men wear diapers.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/fact-check-photos-purportedly-show-174100807.html
If a photo of Trump giving Putin a blow job appeared, his cult would form a daisy chain.
You are one dour-thinking individual, William, though I cannot say I disagree with you on this …
Why LBJ kept his mouth shut is a mystery; even knowing the times we lived in then, when propriety and tradition ruled.
He said he was afraid to start a massive sh*tstorm {my words, his meaning}, but he made a mistake. Voters should have known what they were voting for. LBJ knew Nixon would get in. He didn’t want to create a crisis days before the election — he was afraid, but he was afraid of the wrong thing … He should have exposed the bastards….
Thanks for once again reminding us of important issues with lessons from the past. So many people tend to forget what has happened even in their own lifetimes. We need to be alert to the potential "monsters" coming down the road toward us as well as hope many will "fall in the ditch" before they get too close. I think of and care about those of the world who are now battling for survival against real monsters who are already upon them. We who live in America have never experienced the horrors some live with daily. Many of us lack the good sense and imagination for those possibilities that could come upon us, here at home. If "t" and his thugs of destruction seize power here at home, we will all learn the hard way. They will not allow free and fair elections. Beware! Ruthie B.
Agreed, but what effect does staying alert have when we take no action to fight the very dangers we see? This fascist movement has been developing since the GOP failed to put Nixon on a throne. Scholars & historians have been warning us about what’s going on since that time & before, but today even legitimate MSM can’t say the word fascism! That, to me, feels much more like denial than staying alert!
Change is coming and it is not in favor of past dictator style of governments. As bad as it can look the past is not our future. Extreme change is coming and the future looks good. Keep working for the good and we will all get the benefits of our good works. Fight were there is need but hold to the truth.
Evil knows no limits.
Biden only has to make 2 small commitments in order win the election by a landslide. Stop the Israeli welfare checks and say he would not veto Expanded and Improved Medicare for All if it came across his desk! Both are socially just and morally right. But they don’t benefit our elected politicians campaign piggy banks! Stop trying to blame the American people for the corrupt choices of our leaders!
If he has something to say about US support of Israel, or more accurately, support of Netanyhu’s policies and actions, it needs to be complex and carefully framed, or he will lose more people than he gains. He should do and say the honorable and decent thing, but not be ham-handed about it.
What’s that supposed to mean? “Chastise him but don’t stop those campaign donations coming back into our campaign coffers!” Politicians taking AIPAC money needs to become toxic. Replace them with new blood. Representatives with a heartbeat!
NO, that is not what that means.
It means reject Netanyahu’s monstrous behavior and NOT lose the understanding of voters that Biden is our shot to stop the Republican machine from dismantling our democracy.
It’s NOT about “campaign money.” It’s about VOTERS and about Fascism vs. Democracy. We want the anti-Fascism vote …
This column gave me chills. Thanks a lot for one more gigantic worry this Fall!
Thanks so much for your reply. Yeah, it seems that Garland is hesitant to act and be a model of leadership.
I believe Thom is spot-on to suspect foreign actors will provoke incidents that will hurt the current American administration. Frankly, following the "who benefits" rule I firmly follow, I feel quite sure it has already begun. I would bet that Iran -- perhaps with old Vladmir in the background -- prodded HAMAS into that stupid series of attacks on Israel, back in October. There is no possible benefit the Palestinian people could have derived from those attacks. So, who was HAMAS acting for? Who benefited?
Certainly Iran: Derailing the gradual progress of Israel and the Saudis toward some form of peace deal was a priority for them. Iran's theocracy sees the Saudis -- the prime mover among Sunni Moslems -- as their principal enemy in all the world.
And the act surely shows how inaffective Biden is in trying to end Israel's massive over-reaction -- an onslaught we are paying for.
For me, the more critical question is: Are the National level Democrats -- or any true Americans in positions of power -- going to stand up and play hard ball? Or are they just going to wring their hands, fold their tents, and fall back to their country homes, letting the world slide into a nuclear powered replay of the 1930s/1940s?
D.