I started this mid-week, way too early for what I rarely intend as anything more than casual note-taking, but with elections on Tuesday and the "kiddie-table debate" on Wednesday (credit the quote to SNL's Trump personifier), the stories piled up fast. Most of the early ones just got links, but some inevitably provoked one-liners, and soon enough longer disquisitions ensued. But some of the most important pieces are barely noted, like the Savage and Shafer pieces on Trump's second-term ambitions. (Sure, they're not exactly new news, but the new articles are more detailed and comprehensive.)
Still, mostly Israel this week, mostly rehashing points that were obvious from the start of October 7. The story there is, as it's always been, about power and resistance. As noted last week, Gabriel Winant described Israel as "a machine for the conversion of grief into power." That grief brings with it a great deal of anger and righteousness, which goes a long ways to explaining why Israeli power has been remarkably successful for so long. But the problem is that power never quite works the way you want it to. Every effort to exercise power, to impose your will on other people, meets the resistance of what we might as well call the human spirit. And that resistance takes a toll, both physical and psychic, as despite the hubris of the powerful, they too have human spirits.
So while the "Israel-Hamas War" since October 7, starting with one spectacular day of rebellion followed by a month-and-counting of relentless, methodical slaughter, has been an object lesson in the massive superiority of Israeli military power, it doesn't feel like a victory, least of all to the Israelis. For one thing, the revolt punctured Israel's long-held belief that power makes them invulnerable. For another, they're slowly coming to realize that they can't kill and destroy enough to stamp out resistance, which will return and flourish in their ruins. And finally, they're beginning to suspect that any victory they can claim will prove hollow. In this understanding, the world is moving way ahead of its leaders, perhaps because the human spirit is concentrated among the powerless, among those whose minds aren't corrupted by their pursuit and cultivation of power.
Given this, calling for an immediate cease-fire should be the easiest political decision ever. Even if your sympathies and/or identity is fully with Israel, an immediate halt is the only way to stop adding to the cumulative damage, not just to Palestinian lives but to Israel's tarnished humanity. Because, and we should be absolutely clear on this, what Israel has been doing for more than a month now isn't self-defense, isn't deterrence, isn't even retaliation: it is genocide. That is the intent, and that is the effect of their tools and tactics. Genocide is a practice that the whole world should, and eventually will, condemn. And while the roots of the impulse run deep in Israel's political history, down to the very core tenets of Zionism, we should understand that the actions were conscious decisions of specific political leaders, aided by key people who followed their orders, abetted by political parties that bought into their mindset. While it is very unlikely that even those leaders will ever be adequately punished -- as if such a thing is even possible -- unwinding their support will start to make amends.
It feels like I should keep going with this argument, but I'm dead tired, and rather sick of the whole thing, so will leave it at that.
I tossed this tweet out on Thursday:
Re Biden's polls, this "wag the dog" effect doesn't seem to be working. Rather than rallying behind the leader, it seems like he's getting blamed for all wars, even when few object to his policy. Have folks begun to realize all wars are preventable? So each reveals failure!
Israel: The ground war, ostensibly against Hamas, as well as the air war, really against all of Gaza, continues as it has since the Oct. 7 prison break. This section quickly gets filled up with opinion pieces, largely due to our vantage point far from the action, partly due to our intimate involvement with the long-running conflict, and the dire need to insist on a cease fire to put a stop to the mounting destruction, and allow for some measure of recovery to begin. So the actual day-to-day details tend to escape my interest. To obtain some sense of that, I thought I'd just list the headlines in the New York Times "updates" file(s):
- More patients die at major Gaza hospital amid fuel delivery dispute
- Crisis heightens at Gaza's main hospital amid dispute over desperately needed fuel.
- The U.S. carried out another round of airstrikes in Syria on Iran-linked targets.
- Netanyahu says he sees no role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, for now.
- Al-Quds Hospital halts operation as it runs out of fuel and power, the Red Crescent says.
- The U.S. warns Israel to avoid fighting in hospitals.
- Over 100,000 march in France against antisemitism.
- A U.N. residential compound in southern Gaza came under fire, officials say.
- Demands grow for a pause in fighting as the humanitarian situation worsens.
- Chris Christie is the first Republican presidential candidate to visit Israel since Oct. 7.
- Calls grow for Israel to pause fighting
- Demands grow for a pause in fighting as the humanitarian situation worsens.
- Gaza's main hospital struggles to keep patients alive
- Gaza's main hospital is without power and at a breaking point as fighting closes in.
- Thousands of protesters in Tel Aviv called on Israel to prioritize rescuing the hostages.
- Hezbollah's leader says his fighters will keep up pressure on Israel.
- Across Europe, thousands call for cease-fire in Gaza. [Photos of demonstrations in Edinburgh, Barcelona, London, and Brussels.]
- Surrounded by Israeli troops, Palestinians evacuate a cluster of hospitals in northern Gaza.
- Iran and Saudi Arabia, regional rivals, call for Gaza cease-fire at summit.
- Here's a map of the Gaza City hospitals Israel has been closing in on.
- Life in Gaza City: Privation, rationing and desperate fear.
- The W.H.O. chief says more than 250 attacks on Gaza and West Bank health care facilities have been verified.
- Israel lowers Oct. 7 death toll estimate to 1,200
- Israel has struggled to distinguish the remains of Oct. 7 victims from those of attackers.
- 'These babies, these ladies, these old people': Macron mourns civilian deaths and urges an Israeli cease-fire.
- Concerns grow for hospital patients and sheltering civilians.
- The W.H.O. chief says more than 250 attacks on Gaza and West Bank health care facilities have been verified.
- Al-Shifa Hospital is increasingly a flashpoint in the war.
- Israel steps up airstrikes inside Lebanon following Hezbollah drone and missile attacks.
- Israel is on high alert as regional threats from Iran-backed militants grow.
- Israel's public defenders refuse to represent Oct. 7 attackers.
- America's top diplomat says 'far too many Palestinians have been killed.'
- Israel is considering a deal for Hamas to release all civilian hostages in Gaza, officials say.
- Antisemitic hate crimes soared in New York City last month. [E.g., "police are searching . . . vandals who scrawled 'Hamas' and antisemitic graffiti on several Upper East Side apartment buildings last month."]
- The war has led to the deadliest month for journalists in at least three decades.
- U.N. human rights chief says Israel should end bombardment with heavy munitions.
- Intense protests again shut down Midtown Manhattan streets.
- The Israeli police detained Arab Israeli politicians preparing a vigil against Gaza srikes, civic groups say.
- Israel expands daily combat pauses to let civilians flee, White House says
- Israel has agreed to put in place regular daily four-hour pauses for civilians to flee, the White House said.
- A day of fierce combat and diplomatic talks ends with a deal to try to help Gazans reach safety.
- Islamic Jihad releases a video of two Israeli hostages in Gaza.
- The war has taken a staggering toll on the Palestinian economy.
- Israeli police detained five Arab Israeli politicians who planned a vigil against Gaza strikes, civic groups say.
- The C.I.A. director and the Israeli intelligence chief met with Qatari officials to discuss a possible Hamas hostage deal.
- Intense protests again shut down Midtown Manhattan streets.
- Video offer glimpses of battle in Gaza.
- Casualties in Gaza may be 'even higher' than previously thought, a U.S. official told Congress.
- Palestinian officials say 18 are killed in the West Bank as violence spikes.
- Chickenpox, scabies and other diseases surge in Gaza, the W.H.O. says.
- Macron convenes an aid conference on worsening conditions in Gaza.
- Archaeologists look for traces of the missing in the ashes of Hamas's attack.
Also see Maps: Tracking the Attacks in Israel and Gaza: Sections there:
- [11-09] Strikes hit hospitals, schools and other shelters for displaced people in the Gaza Strip
- [11-07] A third of buildings in northern Gaza are damaged or destroyed, analysis estimates
- [11-05] Frequent fighting along the Israel-Lebanon border continues as tensions mount
- [11-03] Where Israel's invasion has cut Gaza in two
- [11-02] Where Israeli forces are advancing toward Gaza City
- [10-31] At least a quarter of buildings in northern Gaza are damaged, analysis estimates
- [10-30] Where Israeli troops are encircling Gaza City
- [10-29] A more detailed look at Israel's advance into northern Gaza
- [10-28] Where Israeli military videos show ground forces entering Gaza
- [10-26] A new look at where Israel has hit Gaza
- [10-23] Deadliest period for Palestinians in the West Bank in 15 years
The file goes on, including several entries on the Oct. 18 blast at Ahli Arab Hospital, declaring the cause and death toll to be unclear. In addition to maps, there is a lot of aerial photography of destruction.
Some more news articles, mostly from the New York Times:
[11-11] Major pro-Palestinian march staged in London as police ramp up security: "The gathering drew an estimated 300,000 people."
[11-10 20:00]: Harvard, Columbia and Penn pledge to fight antisemitism on campus: "The universities are trying to address criticism by banning pro-Palestinian student groups, condemning slogans and starting task forces to address antisemitism." One of the "antisemitic" groups is Jewish Voice for Peace.
[11-10 18:52]: Gaza City hospitals are caught in deadly crossfire: "Battling Hamas fighters, Israeli forces are 'closing in' on hospitals where thousands of people are stranded, while the U.S. diplomat says 'far too many Palestinians have been killed.'"
[11-09 17:05]: Israeli forces have limited time in Gaza, U.S. officials say : "Israel's response to the Hamas attacks has fueled sympathy around the world for the Palestinian cause even as Israel continues to bury its dead."
[11-06]: The State Department approves $320 million sale of guided bomb equipment to Israel.
If you want something that reads less like Israeli Pravda, Mondoweiss has a daily summary:
Here are this week's batch of articles:
Paula Aceves: [11-07] The corporate and cultural fallout from the Israel-Hamas war: Updated, though with new outrages every day, they're falling behind.
Geoffrey Aronson: [11-09] The ghost of Ariel Sharon hovers over the Gaza Strip.
Michael Arria: [11-10] Columbia University suspends Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace.
Bill Astore: [11-11] When collateral damage is the strategy: "Buildings destroyed, civilians killed, millions made refugees: mission accomplished."
Omer Bartov: [11-10] What I believe as a historian of genocide: Author is "a professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University," a job description which suggests viewpoint as much as expertise, or if it doesn't to you, just read his quibbles and hair-splitting.
The Holocaust was the ne plus ultra of genocides. Nothing else comes remotely close in either the scale, the speed, or the single-mindedness of the killing, but the impulse, the intent, was hardly unique to Nazi Germany. That's why the generic term was coined: not to describe specifically what Nazi Germany did -- Shoah and Holocaust suffice for that -- but to identify comparable forces of which Nazi Germany is one obvious example.
Bartov makes this clear when he cites the UN definition of genocide: "the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such." Immediately after Oct. 7, many prominent Israelis, including the Prime Minister, were very explicit about their intent to commit genocide. The subsequent bombing killed indiscriminately, and created conditions to kill further. The scale of the destruction easily satisfies "in part." And the destruction is continuing, with no end in sight. That sure sounds like genocide to me.
Do we really have to wait until the last Palestinian is killed? No one has tried to argue that since some Jews survived in Auschwitz, the Nazis fell short of "the crime of crimes." By the way, the line Bartov draws between "ethnic cleansing" (which he defines as "aims to remove a population from a territory") and real genocide is spurious -- the intent and practical effect is the same, and the term itself is fraught (it was originally a Serbian euphemism for mass killing, bound to notions of racial and/or ethnic purity). I think it's caught on because older terms like "removal," "transfer," and "exile" seemed too sanitary, but they are all instances of the same hideous mindset.
Of course, if Israel ceases its assault on Gaza, and behaves decently in the aftermath (which minimally includes arresting the pogroms in the West Bank), we might reduce the charge, granting that they weren't fully intent on genocide. But right now is not the time to make excuses for what they are doing. Also see:
Kenn Orphan: [11-10] It is time to stop mincing words. This is genocide.
Sasha Friedman/Sig Giordano/Ari Bee: [11-11] As Jews we know, this is not war. It's genocide.
Saleh Abdel Jawad: [11-10] The genocide in Gaza is one of the worst in modern history.
Zack Beauchamp: [11-09] In the West Bank, Israeli settlers are on an anti-Palestinian rampage: "Since October 7, settler radicals have been attacking Palestinians at an unprecedented rate -- uprooting entire communities and threatening a wider war."
Jason Burke: [11-06] 'I could never dream such a nightmare': Gaza in grip of humanitarian disaster.
Isaac Chotiner: [11-11] The extreme ambitions of West Bank settlers: Interview with Daniella Weiss, a longtime leader of the settler movement and an ally of Bezalel Smotrich ("the extremist minister of finance, who has said that the Palestinian people do not exist and that Palestinian communities need to be erased").
Sandhya Dirks: [10-23] Palestinian Americans on the Israel-Hamas war: 'We're not even allowed to grieve'.
Thomas L Friedman: [11-09] I have never been to this Israel before: For many decades, Israel's number one fanboy, but lately he's been disturbed by the Netanyahu government's far-right turn, especially the decision to restack the courts against democracy, and he's even shown signs of sobriety in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks. However, with his return to Tel Aviv, he's back in the fold, reprogrammed to parrot Israel's existential fears, even if the "I love Bibi" module hasn't kicked in yet. He outlines "three key reasons" why Israel is in "more danger than at any other time since its War of Independence in 1948".
The first is an array of daunting enemies ("modern armies with brigades, battalions, cybercapabilities, long-range rockets, drones and technical support" -- mostly Iran-backed, "and now even the openly Hamas-embracing Vladimir Putin"; "all of them seemed to surface together like dragons during this conflict").
The second danger is that Israel's ability "to fight such a difficult war with so many enemies" is critically dependant on "unwavering partners abroad, led by the United States," including "a coalition of U.S., European and moderate Arab partners," which is tricky as long as Netanyahu's basic pitch is "help us defeat Hamas in Gaza while we work to expand settlements, annex the West Bank and build a Jewish supremacist state there" -- i.e., exactly what Israel has been doing since the June 1967 war. So the third danger is really just Netanyahu himself: "the worst leader in [Israel's] history -- maybe in all of Jewish history -- who has no will or ability to produce such an initiative."
Let's get real here. This is probably the worst case of threat inflation since the run up to the 1967 war, where a government that had absolute confidence in its ability to defeat its combined enemies (which it did decisively in six days, and those enemies really did have planes, tanks, and battalions) yet spent several months scaring the daylights out of its own citizens to justify its aggression. None of today's "enemies" have the wherewithal to do any serious damage to Israel, let alone the desire to expose themselves to retaliation that could include nuclear weapons. (Ok, Hamas had the desire, but that was only because they were desperate enough to mount what was effectively a suicide raid, but even that threat is now spent.)
As for the alliance, while Israel always welcomes American arms and money (and, as Moshe Dayan explained, ignores the advice that comes with it), Israel needs no help containing Hamas, intimidating Hezbollah, or beating up on Palestinians. And they could flip "the Iran threat" in an instant if they just told Biden to make up with Iran and let them buy some Boeing airliners. Israel's problem is not that they need help fighting. It's that they need help calling off the fight, which is the only thing they know how to do, the only thing they've prepared for, but against such a weakened enemy looks more and more like genocide, making them out to be monsters. Sure, Biden hasn't turned on them yet, but all around the world it's getting harder and harder to ignore that this war is Israel's true self, fashioned over a century of continuous conflict.
Here's a quick rundown of Friedman's columns, showing how quickly his initial caution gave way to the company line. One common thread throughout is that there's never the slightest inkling of sympathy for any Palestinians:
[10-16] Why a Gaza invasion and 'once and for all' thinking are wrong for Israel.
[10-29] The Israeli officials I speak with tell me they know two things for sure.
[11-02] The two things worrying U.S. military officials about Israel and Hamas: Russia, which is trying to keep Ukraine from joining Europe, and Israel from joining "the new Middle East." And Iran. It's always Iran, isn't it?
Masha Gessen:
[11-12] How to maintain hope in an age of catastrophe: Interview with Robert Jay Lifton. Gessen quotes from Lifton's book about Hiroshima, Death in Life, which I read shortly after it came out in 1968: "We are all survivors of Hiroshima, and, in our imaginations, of future nuclear holocaust." Ever since then, I've been touched by that same imagination, the ability to see oneself both as victim and survivor, of the worst human tragedies, also the most mundane.
Farrah Hassen: [11-10] Americans want a ceasefire; it's our politicians who are out of touch. It's our politicians who are owned, with many of them trapped in a belief system that sees war as a noble activity.
Yoav Haifawi: [11-11] From the river to the sea: There is one Israeli dictatorship: "How repression is deepening inside the Israeli dictatorship."
Ellen Ioanes: [11-11] Israel's humanitarian pauses in Gaza, explained: Well, it's pretty simple: Israel wants to drive Palestinains out of northern Gaza, so they can complete its demolition while lessening the staggering number of casualties they're inflicting. They also hope the southward tide of refugees will empty out into Egypt, never to return. A cease fire wouldn't help, as it would just encourage people to stay in or close to their homes. But as long as more bombing is coming, people are motivated to flee for their lives. That's basically how the Nakba worked in 1948-49. The legal term for it today is genocide. Israeli apologists may tell you it's just "ethnic cleansing," but that phrase has never been anything but a euphemism. "Humanitarian" isn't even that.
Sarah Jones: [11-10] Listen to dissenters on Israel.
Nicki Kattoura/Geo Maher: [11-09] Why must Palestinians condemn themselves for daring to fight back?
Karim Khan: [11-10] We are witnessing a pandemic of inhumanity: to halt the spread, we must cling to the law: Author is chief prosecutor at ICC.
Jen Kirby: [11-11] The Israel-Gaza war is exposing Europe's divisions.
Nicholas Kristof: [11-11] 'We cannot kill our way out of this endeavor'. He's never been someone I look to for insight, but sometimes the simpleton is right. Since I've listed Thomas Friedman's op-eds above, here are his (do you suppose his job at the Times is to make up for Friedman's empathy deficit?):
[10-14] What does destroying Gaza solve?
[10-21] We must not kill Gazan children to try to protect Israel's children.
[10-25] 'I'm crying for all the victims that are going to suffer'.
[10-28] A man orphaned by Hamas calls on Israel: Stop the 'cycle of blood'.
[10-28] 'We are overpaying the price for a sin we didn't commit'.
[11-01] The words in the Middle East that are breaking my heart.
[11-04] Losing hope in the west bank: Photographs by William Keo.
Eric Levitz: [11-09] The two-state solution is still our only (distant) hope. Curiously, there's no section here explaining what the much vaunted "two-state solution" might look like these days. That hardly matters, because the real stickler for Israelis is "solution": they've never wanted one, and now that they have a clear war path, they sure don't want one now. If they did, I have no doubt they could make something work. All it really takes is some system that allows Palestinians to live where they are now in some measure of peace and dignity. They could be citizens of Israel ("one-state") or of some other entity ("two states" or some kind of confederation or bination) or some combination of the two. The problem is that no one can force them to allow peace/dignity, and they've become too twisted to see that would be better for them as well. Indeed, that's been a given for so long that the main selling point behind "two states" was that it would allow Israel to exclude most Palestinians from their apartheid state. Still, even that promise wasn't good enough for Israel's leaders. They insisted not only on separation but on distinct systems of law and order to maintain their superiority and to punish and control the unchosen.
Louisa Loveluck: [11-09] Settler violence is erasing Palestinian communities in the West Bank. Which leads to Yasmeen Abutaleb: [11-10] White House urges Israel to curtail settler violence in West Bank. Which leads to, well, nothing.
Ruth Margalit: [11-11] The long wait of the hostages' families. This shouldn't be a hard problem. The way to save the hostages is to stop destroying Gaza. Given that Israel has nothing to gain, and good will to lose, from further destruction of Gaza, a long-term cease-fire the obvious first step. After that, release of the hostages will depend more on whether the people holding them can trust Israel not to break its cease-fire than on any negotiated swaps.
Israel's own bad faith in this was shown by their immediate efforts to scoop up hundreds or thousands of Palestinians, making them hostages as well -- though our press simply calls them "prisoners." Hostage negotiations are always nasty business, fraught with overtones of extortion, feeding into the fear that each successful negotiation will incentivize more hostage-taking. The real challenge is to find the right thing to do regardless. That's often difficult, but here it's remarkably easy: stop the genocide.
Aaron Maté:
[10-15] The roots of Israel's ethnic cleansing in Gaza: "Israel has always chosen occupation and supremacy over peace and security."
[11-10] Biden's 'personal attachment to Israel' fuels its massacres in Gaza.
James North: [11-09] "Hostages?" How the U.S. media is distorting the news from Palestine.
Orly Noy: [11-10] The Israeli public has embraced the Smotrich doctrine: "The internalization of the far-right minister's 'Decisive Plan' is evident in the popular support for a new ultimatum for Gaza: emigration or annihilation."
Yumna Patel: [11-09] 'Thought police': Israel passes law criminalizing 'consumption of terrorist materials': By "materials" they mostly mean publications.
Samah Salaime: [11-06] For Israeli leaders, every Palestinian citizen has a seat on the bus to Gaza.
Sarah Salem: [11-09] Palestinians in the U.S. are under attack.
Alex Shams: [11-10] 'They don't want people to know we exist': "Palestinians across the West Bank describe what life has been like since October 7."
Richard Silverstein:
Jeffrey St Clair: [11-04] An infinite distance [The scourging of Gaza: Diary of a genocidal war]: Behind the paywall, a long list of bullet points like his "Roaming Charges" posts.
Nahal Toosi: [11-06] U.S. diplomats slam Israel policy in leaked memo.
Li Zhou: [11-09] The House censure of Rashida Tlaib, explained. One of the charges was her use of a slogan, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." For more on this terminology, see Jewish Currents editor Arielle Angel: What does "From the river to the sea" really mean?, which includes a reprint of a 2021 article by Yousef Munayyer. Also:
Robert Wright: [11-10] The 'river to the sea' Rorschach test.
Tuesday's elections: Democrats came away with some bragging rights, but none of these results were resounding wins:
We had two signs up in front of our house. Our mayoral favorite lost to the Koch money machine, but our school board pick won.
Andrew Prokop: [11-08] 3 winners and 1 loser from Election Day 2023: "Democrats had a good night. So did abortion rights. Glenn Youngkin, not so much."
Jamelle Bouie: [11-10] The GOP's culture war shtick is wearing thin with voters.
Sarah Jones: [11-08] The anti-trans backlash failed last night.
Ed Kilgore: [11-09] Are Democrats the party of low-turnout elections now? Too many wrong takes here to work through, but the idea that low voter turnout favored Republicans was largely established in 2010, when marginal Democrats who had landslided for Obama in 2008 stayed home, giving Republicans what seemed like an amazing rebound. Few people noticed that the 2010 turnout was almost exactly the same as 2006, which had been a huge Democratic wave, as Bush tanked post-Katrina, even pre-recession. Since 2010, Democrats have tried hard to increase voter turnout, and Republicans have worked even harder to suppress it. The West Coast, with high voter turnout mostly due to mail order, seemed to support the Democrats.
In general, people who don't feel they have much stake in the system are the ones who don't vote, or don't vote regularly. Most of these people should align better economically with Democrats, but they often can't see that, and Democrats haven't worked very hard at winning them back -- at least since the 1980s, the focus has mainly been on raising money. Trump threw a monkey wrench into this: a lot of low-info, low-concern people like him for what we'll call aesthetic reasons, and that's boosted his vote totals, to where in 2016 and 2020 he ran about three points better than the "likely voter" polls, which got him way closer than he should have been, and helped Republicans overperform elsewhere. But I believe the underlying dynamic is a gradual shift from R-to-D, at least among regular voters (and young voters who are increasingly seeing voting as worth their time). This is being masked because Democrats still aren't very good at getting people to vote economic interests (although under Biden they've started to pay off), and Republicans are still very effective at lying to people and scheming behind their backs, and the media is way too generous to Republicans. On the other hand, Republican voter suppression often backfires. Philosophically, Democrats believe in high turnout, because they believe in democracy, where Republicans only believe in winning. So in most ways, the issue is probably a wash.
Dion Lefler: [11-08] The $630,000 mayor: Can Lily Wu keep her boldest promises? While Democrats were enjoying wins elsewhere, here in Kansas we lost our mayor to a Koch-financed Republican dressed up as a Libertarian, checking off a lot of diversity boxes no one has come forward to brag about (female, non-white, immigrant from Guatemala, but also non-hispanic). Although the elections were technically non-partisan, Republicans claimed three seats -- with Wu, a majority -- on the Wichita City Council. Curiously enough, the School Board seats shifted to Democrats, including one at-large seat won by Melody McCrae-Miller.
Charles P Pierce: [11-08] Ohio Republicans are already beefing with the will of the voters on abortion and weed: One thing you'll never hear a Republican say after a loss: "the people have spoken, and we have to heed their decision."
Bill Scher: [11-08] Glenn Youngkin's big fat 15-week abortion ban belly flop.
Li Zhou: [11-07] Andy Beshear offers Democrats some lessons for how to win in Trump country: "Here's how a Democrat won reelection in Kentucky."
The "third Republican presidential debate": We might as well split this out from the general morass of Republicanism, even though it did little more than exemplify it. I didn't watch, but my wife did, so I overheard a segment on foreign policy that was several orders of magnitude beyond bonkers.
Andrew Prokop: [11-08] 0 winners and 5 losers from the third Republican presidential debate: "All the candidates failed, but they failed in different ways."
Zack Beauchamp: [11-08] The Republican debate is fake.
Jim Geraghty: [11-09] A sober GOP debate for serious times. Just as well Trump wasn't there. By far the silliest take on the debate.
Ed Kilgore: [11-09] Republican debaters want to go to war with everyone (except Trump):
Egged on by moderator Hugh Hewitt, a Navy-obsessed conservative pundit, all five candidates called for a lot more defense spending even as they railed against debts and deficits. To the extent they disagreed on foreign policy, it was mostly about whether defending or defunding Ukraine was the best tack for combating China. (Haley and Christie took the former position, while DeSantis and Ramaswamy took the latter.)
Getting closer to home, there was total unanimity among the debaters on the need to ignore climate change and frantically resume uninhibited exploitation of fossil fuels. Haley called DeSantis a "liberal on the environment," forcing him to defend his determination to frack and drill until the icecaps fully melt.
Ramaswamy played his anti-neocon card by dubbing Haley as "Dick Cheney in three-inch heels," then adding "we have two of them on stage," lest DeSantis feel left out, but Ramaswamy was an eager for war against China as any of them.
Natalie Allison: [11-12] Tim Scott suspends his presidential campaign.
I generally hate it when people try to make a case by pointing out how a person looks, but I've been having a lot of trouble in following clips of Ramaswamy, not just because he's so nonsensical but because he doesn't seem to have a face behind the mouth that spouts such nonsense. Perhaps this is just something that happens with age, but it's not a problem I see with the other candidates (DeSantis has a face, although it's turned into a self-caricature, a different problem), or most other people. I'm looking at Salon as I write this, and even Ivanka (7 pictures) has some kind of face-in-progress. Her father (8 pictures) has a face, even if it's mostly buried in bronzer. Even Brian Kilmeade, staring as blankly as his brain, has a face. But Ramaswamy doesn't.
Trump, and other Republicans:
Michelle Cottle: [11-08] What voters want that Trump seems to have: She beats around the bush a bit, but the ultimate point is that Republicans hate the other half of America, and they realize that the most effective way to express their hate is to restore Trump, given their understanding of how much their targets fear and loathe Trump. Trump's entire campaign so far is nothing but persecution complaints and revenge fantasies. No other Republican candidate, no matter how evil, comes close to challenging Trump in that regard.
PS: Ok, I just jumped on the idea of Cottle's piece. Dean Baker read it and takes exception to the details: [11-08] Michelle Cottle makes up facts to push the Trump case: "I guess that New York Times columnists get to be condescending, out-of-touch jerks when they want to make their case. If they insist that people think the economy is awful, we can't let what people say get in the way."
SV Date: [11-11] If progressives don't like Biden's Gaza position, wait till they learn about Trump's.
David Freedlander: [11-10] Live with Rudy: "Indicted, isolated, and broke, Giuliani has one comfort left: the sound of his own voice."
Marisa Iati/Isaac Arnsdorf: [11-11] Trump's rivals seize on opportunities to challenge his acuity.
Laura Jedeed: [11-10] Inside Mike Johnson's ties to a far-right movement to gut the constitution.
Ed Kilgore: [11-10] Speaker Johnson has one weird plan for avoiding a shutdown.
Paul Krugman: [11-06] Why does the right hate America? Fair question, one that occurred to Krugman after reading Damon Linker's recent [11-04] Get to know the influential conservative intellectuals who help explain GOP extremism (which I cited last week, but mostly just took names). A glib but not inaccurate answer is: "because they hate our freedom" -- which seemed silly as an explanation for Islamic terrorism, but with these guys, their fear and loathing bleeds from every line. Sure, we on the left are more conscious of the freedom we're still denied, but any fair review of American history will remind us that everything in our history that we take pride in, at least as far back as "all men are created equal," came from the left, and was resisted by the right, same as today.
Kelly McClure: [11-11] Ted Cruz blames extreme left for rise in antisemitism: Cruz was plugging his new book: Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America. Quite an accomplishment. It's really hard to put that much stupid into such a short title.
Charlie Savage/Maggie Haberman/Jonathan Swan: [11-11] Sweeping raids, giant camps and mass deportations: Inside Trump's 2025 immigration plans.
Jack Shafer: [11-07] l Trump's recipe for a shockingly raw power grab. Starts with "plans on the first day of his new administration to invoke the Insurrection Act so he can dispatch the military to counter any demonstrations that might resist his policies." (See: Trump and allies plot revenge, Justice Department control in a second term.)
Steven Shepard: [11-11] The power grabs that will determine control of Congress: "Partisan gerrymandering isn't new, but what's happening right now is far from normal."
Michael Tomasky: [11-12] It's official: With "vermin," Trump is now using straight-up Nazi talk.
Biden and/or the Democrats:
Jonathan Guyer: [11-09] More than 500 Biden campaign alumni want a Gaza ceasefire.
Eric Levitz: [11-08] Do Democrats need to get less 'globalist'? Fairly long piece occasioned by the new John Judis/Ruy Teixeira book, Where Have All the Democrats Gone? Probably worth some thought, but the focus here is on trade (good for capitalists, not so much for workers) and migration (one way workers try to catch up), while skipping other aspects of international policy, such as war and climate. For more on this book:
Kenneth S Baer: [11-06] Where did the Democrats go wrong?
Carlos Lozada: [11-11] A Trump-Biden rematch is the election we need.
Andrew Marantz: [11-02] How Israel is splitting the Democrats. Isn't it basically between the politicians, who are virtually all on the take, and the base, who once again have every reason to suspect their leaders?
Andrew Prokop: [11-09] Joe Manchin retires, making Democrats' brutal 2024 Senate map even more brutal. On the other hand, Manchin is still a possible presidential election spoiler, for which see Ed Kilgore: [11-09] Joe Manchin announces end of Senate career, new 2024 threat.
Molly Redden: [11-09] 'The phone doesn't stop': Overwhelming demands for a cease-fire catch Democrats off guard.
Legal matters and other crimes:
Ian Millhiser:
[11-06] A foolish state official may have just handed the NRA a big Supreme Court victory.
[11-07] The Supreme Court appears poised to rein in its worst decision on guns: Do domestic abusers really have a right to guns?
Tensim Zekeria/Rebecca Crosby: [11-07] Criminalizing dissent: The RICO indictment of protesters against Cop City in Atlanta.
Climate and environment:
Alex Harris/Ashley Miznazi: [11-05] King tide floods offer glimpse of Miami's soggy, salty future. I saw this in the Wichita Eagle today, which led me to more pieces:
Nathan Crabbe: [11-02] Climate change making king tide flooding more common; federal plan could require millions to buy flood insurance
Lizette Alvarez/Frances Robles: [2016-11-17] Intensified by climate change, 'king tides' change ways of life in Florida.
Nathan J Robinson: [11-10] The climate crisis is slipping from the news right when it needs our attention most. This is the kind of idea that gets in the way of thinking, and for that matter communicating. It's not like climate crisis hasn't gotten any ink this year. Various storm and fire disasters have been front page a couple times each month, and statistical effects have been written up -- I don't think we've had a single month this year that wasn't among the hottest in history (usually number one), plus there's all the melting ice caps, the record high tides, etc. Sure, not enough is being done about it, and nowhere near fast enough, but that's a bigger political and economic quagmire, one that needs not just attention but a serious rethink. But how the hell's that going to happen when we can't even think our way out of a stupid, pointless, and extremely cruel war like Israel's?
Economic matters:
Paul Krugman:
Eric Levitz: [11-12] 3 reasons Biden's strong economy is unpopular.
Ukraine War:
Connor Echols: [11-10] Diplomacy Watch: Western pressure on Ukraine grows.
Shane Harris/Isabelle Khurshudyan: [11-11] Ukrainian military officer coordinated Nord Stream pipeline attack: "Roman Chervinsky, a colonel in Ukraine's special operations forces, was integral to the brazen sabotage operation, say people familiar with planning." Still, questions remain:
Kelley Beaucar Vlahos: [11-12] Latest Nord Stream break: propaganda, patsy, or truth?
William Hartung: [11-12] American arms makers, cashing in on conflict.
David C Hendrickson: [11-08] Why do we let Israel and Ukraine wag the US dog? "In America's weird empire, dependents call the shots. Soon we will be suffering the consequences." I filed this under Ukraine rather than Israel to keep it from being buried in rubble, although the point is much clearer with Israel. The latter has a lot of political clout in the US, and has used that to mold American policy and to humble American political figures. Ukraine has no such clout, and has developed considerable antipathy from many Republicans. It seems most likely that Zelensky is simply doing what the US wants
Ted Snider: [11-08] Is this the beginning of the end of the war in Ukraine? "The Western media is suddenly teeming with signs of fatigue and even . . . diplomacy?"
Around the world:
Margaret Hartmann: [11-07] King Charles forced to deliver speech he hates. At this stage, ending the British monarchy would be an act of mercy.
Charles Hirschkind: [11-08] Exterminate the brutes: "Beneath the veneer of a celebrated concern for human rights, the racism that defined 19th century colonialism continues to provide the dominant lens through which the West exercises the subordination of non-Western populations." Another piece about Israel, but I thought I should give it a little distance.
Matthew Hoh: [11-10] Armistice Day and the empire: A name change and the catastrophe that followed. It's now Veterans Day, November 11, signifying not the arrival of peace (after WWI) but the endless waste of war.
Yarden Katz: [11-09] Are Israelis Jews? Returning to Jewish minority life: Argues that "Israel has erased the Jewish people and destroyed the possibilities for Jews to live in Palestine as non-colonizers. 'Israeli' is a colonial identity we should renounce, because it harms both Palestinians and Jews." Interesting attempt to drive a wedge between identities Jewish and Israeli, then flip them over. Nothing is quite that simple.
Jeremy Kuzmarov: [11-10] How Bill Clinton set the groundwork for today's foreign policy disasters. Co-author, with John Marciano, of a book I should have noted when it appeared in 2018: The Russians Are Coming, Again: The First Cold War as Tragedy, the Second as Farce; also Obama's Unending Wars: Fronting the Foreign Policy of the Permanent Warfare State (2019); and forthcoming: Warmonger: How Clinton's Malign Foreign Policy Launched the US Trajectory From Bush II to Biden.
Keren Landman: [11-09] It's getting increasingly dangerous to be a newborn in the US. A big part of this seems to be: Alice Miranda Ollstein: [11-07] Congenital syphilis jumped tenfold over the last decade.[
Michaelangelo Matos: [11-05] Documentary review: 'The War on Disco': I accidentally saw a bit of this show, but didn't stick around long enough to evaluate Matos on the subject (although I know him to be one of the best dance-oriented critics around). I always thought the anti-disco rants in the 1970s were more stupid than racist (although what finally shut them up were disco hits by Blondie and New Order, so go figure).
Nathan J Robinson: [09-19] Is Thomas Sowell a legendary "maverick" intellectual or a pseudo-scholarly propagandist? Asking the question practically answers itself. One more in a long series of profiles in right-wing mind-rot.
Aja Romano: [11-10] What the Hasan Minhaj controversy says about the trouble with storytelling.
Robert Sherrill: [1988-06-11] William F. Buckley lived off evil as mold lives off garbage: An archive piece, by one of my favorite journalists fifty years ago, a review of John B Judis: William F Buckley, Jr: Patron Saint of the Conservatives. Sherrill's title bears structural resemblance to his book, Military Justice Is to Justice as Military Music Is to Music.
Alissa Wilkinson: [11-09] The long, long Hollywood strikes have ended.