Mikey Likes It!: 2024-01-07

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Why season two of REACHER feels different, nutty John Fetterman and Doo-Doo DeSantis

First off REACHER, some people are not liking season two. I am enjoying it but if you'r etrying to figure out what's different, it's this back and forth storyline. That is confusing. It's also insulting to the actor. We don't need to see this teamwork from years prior. It slows the story down and the actors are talented enough that we know they have a shared past. We don't have to see that.

Things will be taking place in the present time and big moment of the show and then they'll cut back to years ago. And there's no suspense there. We know who lived.

It slows the show down -- the back and forth. I hated that about ARROW. I'm enduring it because I like REACHER. But that's the thing dragging season two. Season three better have better writing.

Okay, politics. Gather around, people, we have a new Doo-Doo in town and his name is John Fetterman. James Bickerton (NEWSWEEK) reports on the senator;

A large number of younger voters in Pennsylvania have a negative view of Senator John Fetterman, according to a recent poll, in stark contrast to older voters, who by a 22-point margin have a net positive perception of the Democratic congressman.

The Quinnipiac University survey suggests a sharp turn around from November 2022, when Fetterman defeated Donald Trump-backed Republican Dr Mehmet Oz thanks in part to substantial support from young voters.

Fetterman has emerged as one of the most outspokenly pro-Israel Democrats over the past few months, since the October 7 attack on Southern Israel by Hamas and the retaliatory invasion of the Gaza Strip. A recent New York Times/Sina College poll found that just 27 percent of young people sympathize with Israel versus 47 percent with the Palestinians, raising Democratic concern that President Biden's pro-Israeli position could cost him youth votes in November's presidential election.

According to the latest survey, of 1,680 Pennsylvania self-identified registered voters, which was conducted between January 4 and 8, only 28 percent of those aged 18-34 have a favorable view of Fetterman. By contrast, 45 percent had an unfavorable view of the senator, with 27 percent saying they hadn't heard enough to answer.

And some people thought he was crazy when he sought medical assistance. Getting paid off by AIPAC is a sure sign he's crazed. He's the Doo-Doo of the Democratic Party. A blustering bully who doesn't know what's what. And since he's said Harvard was always "a little pinko," let's note that he's always been a lot "nutso."

Last night, the original Doo-Doo stood on the stage debating Nikki Haley -- or doing something. CNN got Southern Illinois University's debate professor Todd Graham to weigh in and here's him on Doo-Doo DeSantis:

Unfortunately, the overall quality of his answers declined rapidly throughout the debate. His answers became alarmingly policy-free and could easily fit on bumper stickers. That’s what doomed DeSantis. And he telegraphed why he refused to leave the shallow end of the debating pool. After Haley made a pretty good point, DeSantis retorted, “She’s focused on a lot of political stuff – things that no voter cares about….” Wrong timing. Haley was making perfect sense, as she was every other time he accused Haley of a “word salad.” It’s as if DeSantis just learned that phrase, word salad, which I honestly don’t think he understands.

His answers on important subjects were often vapid. Haley couldn’t have been much better at presenting reasons why we must support Ukraine and help it beat back Russia’s invasion. DeSantis’s answer? “I think a lot of people have died. We need to find a way to end this.” Okay… Haley just told us how.

When asked if he would actually implement a flat tax that he’s mentioned, DeSantis replied that he would only adopt the flat tax if people are “better off” than they are now. That was his debate answer. I wish my teams got away with that!

Just imagine:

Random opponent: “Hey, SIU: What’s your plan?”

Southern Illinois University: “Flat tax. But only if we win the solvency debate that a flat tax is better than the status quo. Otherwise, we won’t do the flat tax.”

Random opponent: “Sounds perfectly reasonable and normal for debate and policymaking.”

Then there was his double-turn on abortion. I previously complimented how Haley approached the abortion debate. DeSantis was divided. Should he criticize Haley’s previous answer OR should he steal it because people liked it? DeSantis’s decision? Do both.

He said that while you’ve got to have “compassion” for what’s going on in the country, he also argued that Haley has been “using the language of the left” to attack anti-abortion activists.

Somehow DeSantis managed to say we need compassion, but compassion is the language of the left, which the left uses to attack anti-abortion activists. It’s tragic to think anyone on earth believes compassion to be a word or concept worthy of contempt, but it’s true and it’s happened before in another Republican presidential debate. Remember when the Republican audience booed the golden rule – do unto others as you would have them do unto you?

It was hard to get upset with DeSantis’s troubling statement because I was chuckling at him not realizing he also asked for compassion. I think he should have said “Ta-Da!” when he finished that whirlwind of an answer while giving everyone the famous DeSantis “fake” smile.

The spit-out-my-tea moment was when DeSantis was asked if the government should go after businesses that don’t agree with you, and it was specifically about Disney after they criticized DeSantis. His answer? He did it to protect the kids.

Disingenuous.

And more bad news for Doo-Doo:

A new poll of likely participants in the upcoming Iowa Republican Caucus conducted by Suffolk University released on Thursday indicates that former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley may hold a significant lead over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis just a few days out from the contest.

The survey of 500 respondents was conducted between January 6 and 10, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4%, and measured the preferences of Iowa voters whether or not former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie dropped out of the race, which he did on Wednesday.

The more relevant question that excluded Christie found that former President Donald Trump holds the hearts of 54% of likely caucus-goers and commanding 32-point lead over the second place Haley, who finished with 22%.

DeSantis (13%) and Vivek Ramaswamy (6%) rounded out the field.

Even in the now-hypothetical case that Christie had remained in the race, Haley finished in second place with 20%.

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Thursday, January 11, 2024. Looking at the mind-set of some who play the victim even when they aren't and use it to fuel their hatred, the genocide trial began today, and much more.

Let's start with the letter again. From yesterday's snapshot:

I guess the question is about the silence -- the silence of Julianna Margulies, Mayim Bialik, David Schwimmer and all the other hate mongers who refuse to call out these attacks on journalists. Is it because they're filthy liars. I read their whiny little letter and thought, "Al Jolson was in Blackface. He was in Blackface." Yet what they're whining about in the letter is that he played a character who is first generation born in the US and is moving away from the traditions of his immigrant parents -- demographically speaking, studies show this but I guess sociology and demographics weren't courses you studied.

But you ignore that reality and instead try to turn a highly offensive film -- due to Blackface -- into something else completely.

Have you no shame?

We're not linking to the piece of garbage letter that they signed but we will not how racist the ones signing that letter are.

An e-mail to the public e-mail account makes a point (that friends made over the phone -- first to make it was a Jewish director who -- unlike the signers of that letter -- has actually been nominated for an Academy Award) of noting that Al Jolson was Jewish. That is correct, the star of THE JAZZ SINGER was Jewish. So was the director. So was the screen writer.

This is important -- to the arts and to Gaza -- Gaza being the reason we are starting with it -- to note.

They don't know demography, they don't know sociology and the writers and signers of that letter -- most of whom never had a successful film career and never, ever will -- maybe Josh Gad can star in THE JENNY CRAIG STORY as her father? and David Schwimmer as grandpa can do that same mugging and slow burn he does in pretty much every role when he's not just furrowing his brow like he does when he switches from comedy to drama -- the diversity and inclusion project of the Board of the Academy of Arts and Sciences was about providing a seat at the table for all.

There has been no historical (or modern) denial of Jewish people from Hollywood films.

There's never been a Jewish movie star in the US?

Except Barbra Streisand.

And Goldie Hawn.

And Paul Newman.

In fact, let's note a few who starred in at least three movies from major US film studios. Robert Downey Jr., Kate Hudson, Gene Wilder, Matthew Broadrick, Dyan Cannon, Laurence Harvey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Robby Benson, Tony Curtis, Barbara Hershey, Eddie Fisher, Dustin Hoffman, Shelley Winters, Debra Winger, John Garfield, Luise Rainer, Woody Allen, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Molly Ringwald, Mare Winningham, Sean Penn, Kevin Kline, Madeline Kahn, Gilda Radner, Paul Rudd, Natalie Portman, Shia LaBeouf, James Caan, Jonah Hill, Douglas Fairbanks, Bette Midler, Armie Hammer, Jerry Lewis, Tony Randall, Rosanna Arquette, Lauren Bacall, Gina Gershon, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Vic Morrow, Jason Segel, Lee Grant, Jennifer Connelly, Alicia Silverstone, Judy Holliday, George Segal, Richard Benjamin, Jack Black, Charles Grodin, Elliott Gould, Leslie Ann Warren, Walter Matthau, Scott Glenn, Richard Dreyfuss, Albert Brooks, Amy Irving, Carol Kane, James Franco, Ellen Barkin, Adam Sandler, Kyra Sedgwick, Sarah Jessica Parker, Helen Hunt, Winona Ryder, River Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Adrien Brody, Elizabeth Banks and Jake Gyllenhaal. And that's just off the top of my head.

Now try doing the same with African-American actors who've starred in at least three films from major US film studios. Or with Asian-Americans. Or with . . .

They're whining -- Julianna and company -- about how they were portrayed in a movie (a racist and offensive film to African-Americans but they ignore that to whine about themselves). Oh, boo hoo. You know I'm always the wrong one to whine to. Stand up for others, absolutely, but cry for yourself never cuts it with me. So they want to whine that in 2024, they feel misrepresented by a film made in 1927. But they can't be even honest -- again, this ties in the slaughter going on in Gaza -- about what took place. No, they have to whine that they have been victimized by others. Again, the star of the film, the director, the writer -- all Jewish. In terms of racism, they all failed. In terms of telling the story of 20th century immigration in the US, they were on stronger ground.

Again, learn demography.

But they want to find a new injury to be outraged about, even if they have to go back nearly 100 years, and they want to blame it on others.

In their laughable letter, they write, "The absence of Jews from 'under-represented' groupings implies that Jews are over-represented in films, which is simply untrue."

Do you get it?

And let me be clear, this sentence was pointed out to me -- this time from a friend who is Jewish, I didn't get there on my own, and is an Academy Award winning film producer.

In the minds of these people -- this group of of 'wronged' Jews -- there is no equality. There is only under or over represented.

Again, the issue is a seat at the table, a way to influence and ensure fairness in portrayals.

It's not my fault if, for example, Clifford Odets is the Jewish person given a seat and mails off all these letters to Jack Warner about how he's trying to take the Jewish factor out of the script he's writing for HUMORESQUE. That's not on me or anyone but Odets. (And, yes, that did happen and is documented.)

Jewish business people and artists have always been part of Hollywood's entertainment industry -- as actors, as directors, editors, writers, producers, agents, managers, crew members . . . MGM was formed by Louis B. Mayer, Samuel Goldwyn and Marcus Lowe. Another three Jewish men formed COLUMBIA PICTURES: Joe Brandt and Harry and Jack Cohn. Do we want to do PARAMONT? Adolph Zukor, Jesse L. Lasky, Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman.

They had a seat at the table and they were able to add their input. And many of them made historic and lasting contributions.

The groups highlighted by the Board are groups who have suffered historical discrimination in the Hollywood film community. That was the whole point the Academy was trying to address. I do so love it, as a member of the Academy, when those who aren't want to try to 'correct' what we're doing. Again, David Schwimmer, you're never going to be a member of the Academy -- no one in your peer group mistakes what you do for actual acting -- let alone good acting.

But this group of whiners can't tolerate inclusion or equality. They're of the opinion that there is only under representation and over representation -- per their own letter.

And doesn't that go to the historic treatment of Palestinians and the lies that those who support that treatment tell themselves and others?

A group of pampered whiny self-described victims want to push other people around using their 'victimhood' -- that's the writers and signers of that ridiculous letter and it's those who are okay and cheering on the murders of children, of the elderly, of women, of men, of journalists, of medical professionals. It's the same thinking -- where you only think about yourself.

That never works for me. And it's not working for most of the people in this world which is why, around the world, you see protests against the slaughter of Gaza.

NBC NEWS notes:

The United Nations’ top court has heard South Africa’s case that Israel’s military assault on the Gaza Strip amounts to genocide against Palestinians, an accusation that Israel strongly denies and has dismissed as "atrocious and preposterous." South Africa is initially asking the International Court of Justice to order an immediate halt of Israel’s offensive, though a decision will likely take weeks.

CNN's Antoinette Radford adds:

Mr Vusi Madonsela, South Africa’s ambassador to the Hague ended day one of the hearing by detailing the country’s requests for provisional measures.

He requested the measures be considered "as a matter of extreme urgency".

Among the provisional measures requested include:

That Israel suspends its military operations in and against Gaza
That Israel ensures its military - and any associated groups stop any military operations
That Israel stops killing Palestinian people
That Israel stops displacing Palestinian people from their homes and ensures they have access to food, water, healthcare and basic infrastructure
That Israel take "all reasonable actions within their power to prevent genocide"

Anna Holligan and Oliver Slow (BBC NEWS) explain:

Israel will offer its defence on Friday, but has previously said its actions in the Gaza Strip are justified because it is responding to Hamas's deadly attacks on 7 October.

But speaking in court on Thursday, South Africa's Justice Minister Ronald Lamola said that no attack "can provide justification for or defend breaches of the [Genocide] Convention".

Israel is a signatory to the Genocide Convention of 1948, which defines genocide and commits states to prevent it.

The ICJ is the United Nation's highest court, based in The Hague in the Netherlands. Its rulings are theoretically legally binding on parties to the ICJ - which include Israel and South Africa - but are not enforceable.

At COMMON DREAMS, BRETT WILKINS offers this overview:

Two Israeli lawmakers from right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party doubled down Wednesday on calls to destroy or depopulate Gaza, prompting an admonition from the country's attorney general on the eve of an emergency hearing in the South African-led genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

In an interview with Hakol Baramah radio, Deputy Knesset Speaker Nissim Vaturi said he did not regret his November call for Israel to "stop being humane" and "burn Gaza now."

"I stand behind my words," Vaturi said, according toThe Times of Israel. "It is better to burn down buildings rather than have soldiers harmed. There are no innocents there."

Referring to Palestinian civilians trapped in northern Gaza, Vaturi added that he has "no mercy for those who are still there."

"We need to eliminate them," he asserted.

On Tuesday, Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara cautioned government officials against making inflammatory statements like Vaturi's.

Baharav-Miara said officials are "obligated to act according to the principles of international law and the laws of war."

"Statements that call for, among other things, intentional harm to uninvolved citizens, are against the prevailing policy and may constitute criminal offenses, including incitement," she added.

Vaturi's remarks came as more than 90,000 Palestinians have been killed, wounded, or left missing by 96 days of largely indiscriminate Israeli bombardment of Gaza, where around 90% of the territory's 2.3 million residents have been displaced and most of its infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to Palestinian and United Nations officials.

Meanwhile, Haaretzreported that Danny Danon, a former United Nations ambassador now serving in the Knesset, said in a Wednesday radio interview that Israel must "not do half a job" in Gaza.

That, Danon said, means "voluntary migration" of Palestinians from Gaza—a euphemism, critics say, for an ethnic cleansing campaign akin to the Nakba, or "catastrophe," in which more than 750,000 Arabs were forcibly expelled from Palestine during the war to establish the modern state of Israel in 1948.

In November, Danon co-authored a Wall Street Journalopinion piece suggesting the ethnic cleansing of some of Gaza's population to Western countries that would accept the refugees.

Danon and Vaturi's remarks came as the International Court of Justice prepared to convene an emergency hearing Thursday in The Hague in a genocide case against Israel filed by South Africa and backed by nations including Pakistan, Turkey, Malaysia, Venezuela, Jordan, and Bolivia.

The filing in the World Court specifically mentions "direct and public incitement to genocide by senior Israeli officials and others."

From yesterday's DEMOCRACY NOW!

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

Several United Nations agencies, including the World Food Programme, say Israel’s bombardment of Gaza could lead to a famine throughout the entire Gaza Strip within six months, unless immediate action is taken. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are now in Rafah, and many are waiting in line for hours for small amounts of food, as aid agencies struggle to meet the demand.

MARIAM AL-AHMAD: [translated] I came here to get food. I’ve been here since 9 a.m. just to get a plate full of food, because the situation is very difficult. We are from Gaza City, and we came to Rafah. The people of Rafah received us and welcomed us, but the numbers are large, and the situation is very difficult. … There is no money to buy food, and there’s no flour. We have no money to buy anything at home. There is no gas or anything that would help us to cook even a plate of lentils. We come here to get this plate of food, and it is not enough.

AMY GOODMAN: This comes as hundreds of trucks trying to bring aid to Gaza are backed up for miles in Egypt at the Rafah border crossing and have been forced to wait for weeks to enter. On Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron urged Israel to lift barriers on delivering humanitarian aid into Gaza, citing, quote, “real widespread hunger.” Cameron was cross-examined by the Scottish MP Brendan O’Hara.

BRENDAN O’HARA: Two or three minutes ago, in answer, a reply to the chair, you said — and I quote — “One of the things we’d like the Israelis to do is switch the water back on.” Now, that says that they turned it off. It says that you recognize they have the power to turn it on. Therefore, isn’t turning water off and having the ability to turn it back on but choosing not to — isn’t that a breach of international humanitarian law?

DAVID CAMERON: It’s just something they ought to do, in my opinion.

BRENDAN O’HARA: No. Of course they should do it. Every human being would say you don’t cut people’s water supply off. But I’m asking you, in your position as foreign secretary —

DAVID CAMERON: Well, I don’t know. I mean —

BRENDAN O’HARA: — around a point of international humanitarian law. If Israel have the power to turn the water back on that they turned off, surely, that is a flagrant breach of international humanitarian law.

DAVID CAMERON: Well, I’m not a lawyer. My view is they ought to switch it on, because the north of Gaza, the conflict is now effectively over there, and so getting more water and power into northern Gaza would be a very good thing to do. You don’t have to be a lawyer to make a judgment about that. You just have to be a human being.

AMY GOODMAN: Last month, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution to immediately increase aid deliveries in Gaza, and Human Rights Watch accused Israel of using starvation as a method of warfare, which violates international humanitarian law.

Well, for more, we’re going to Tel Aviv. We’re joined by Sarit Michaeli, international advocacy lead for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, which has just published a new report, “Israel is starving Gaza,” that says starvation is, quote, “not a byproduct of war, but a direct result of Israel’s declared policy.”

Sarit, welcome to Democracy Now! Lay out exactly what you found and what you feel can be done about it.

SARIT MICHAELI: Well, in very basic terms, almost everyone in Gaza is hungry almost all of the time. Two-point-three million people are surviving mostly on sometimes one meal a day, people skipping meals in order to feed their children, people busy constantly looking for the next meal, for the next source of food for them and their families and children.

And all of this is happening in a place that is pretty much an hour’s drive from here — right? — where supplying humanitarian assistance and food and all the necessities, like water and other things that people rely on, should not be a difficult problem. We’re not talking about some sort of remote region internationally. We’re talking about an area that is accessible, where the things that impede this provision of food for people who are starving is a declared policy by Israel — the fact that Israel isn’t allowing enough trucks in, the fact that Israel isn’t providing the ability, the logistical infrastructure to actually drive this food into Gaza through places where it’s possible to do, and many other decisions taken by the Israeli government that are impacting this, that are making it — making the amount of assistance that is coming into Gaza simply a fraction of what the population need.

And, Amy, you quoted the international experts on this issue. Within a month, they expect almost all of the residents of the Gaza Strip to be up to what is phase three of this scale of horror of hunger. And this is simply unacceptable when it’s very clearly preventable. And the things that were said in the British Parliament by Minister Cameron are very clearly a clarification that this is the result of Israeli policies and actions. This is not just some sort of coincidence or just some unfortunate byproduct of war.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, Sarit, I wanted to ask you: How is Israel controlling the food supply, especially in Rafah, where Rafah leads into Egypt? So, how exactly does it manage to continue to —

SARIT MICHAELI: Right.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: — prevent trucks from getting in?

SARIT MICHAELI: So, Juan, let’s even look at the past situation. I mean, Gaza was on the brink of collapse even before this war began with the horrific October 7th attack by Hamas against Israelis, right? So, this has been a situation of food insecurity since the beginning of the Israeli blockade on Gaza almost 17 years ago. But the Israeli decisions to cut off electricity, to cut off the water supply, that Israel sells Gaza, to not allow all of the movement of the international humanitarian provision of supplies, those decisions made it almost impossible, from the start, for even bakeries to operate and provide for the people. And now what we — so, the collapse was very quick and based on a very long period of deprivation.

But now the issue really is that there needs to be hundreds of trucks entering Gaza every day, and just a fraction of that is entering. This is happening because the Rafah crossing is just not equipped for the movement of goods. Goods should be entering Gaza through other border crossings, that are generally with Israel, not with Egypt. Israel is also prohibiting the provision of food purchased on the Israeli market, so the aid agencies have to bring it from Egypt, which is even more difficult. Plus, there are also many restrictions on the ability to distribute it once it actually gets into the Gaza Strip. And then we see these awful images of desperate people charging these provision convoys that are coming in, and taking what they can, because they are simply so desperate, and the food isn’t reaching some areas of Gaza. So you have a situation where in some areas of Gaza things are only just bad, whereas in others things are just absolutely atrocious. And this is not a very large area.

So, certainly — and I think it’s recognized now by the international community — the Israeli government is at fault, is responsible for this. And this should lead to immediate international action, not simply conversations with Israeli policymakers, but actually clear clarifications that Israel is violating both its legal obligations — i.e. this is a war crime — and also that this is simply an immoral way to treat a civilian population.

AMY GOODMAN: After a visit to the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, U.S. Democratic Senators Jeff Merkley and Chris Van Hollen blasted the Israeli process for screening the aid. Senator Van Hollen spoke to CBS Face the Nation. This is what he said.

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: Many items that should be allowed to go into Gaza — water sort of filtration systems, other systems like that — were in a warehouse of rejected items that we visited. While we were there, we saw a truck turned away that had a big box from UNICEF, which is, of course, the U.N. organization that helps children. It was a unit to help with water desalinization. It was rejected. And when one item on a truck is rejected, the entire truck is rejected. The other big issue is within Gaza, the so-called deconfliction process, which is just a fancy name for those who are providing humanitarian assistance to have the confidence that they can deliver it without being killed.

AMY GOODMAN: If you can talk more about this, Sarit? Again, the senator, Van Hollen, is the one who has also called for the release of more information about the Israeli sniper who murdered Shirin Abu Akleh on May 11th, 2022, in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.

SARIT MICHAELI: Yeah, absolutely, Amy. Well, we certainly appreciate the leadership that Senator Van Hollen and, actually, Senator Merkley are showing on this issue. And it is absolutely crucial that U.S. lawmakers, both from the more progressive part of the Democratic Party but also from the mainstream, security-oriented, kind of more established part of the Democratic Party, are engaging with President Biden to demand action on this issue — simply an unconscionable situation that is unfolding in front of us.

Now, I’d like to refer to the second part of Senator Hollen’s discussion of the dangers inside of Gaza. Yes,, absolutely, there’s been another update by the office of — the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs discussing an additional rejection by the Israeli authorities of another attempt to coordinate the transfer of medical goods into hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip. This was only the day before yesterday, apparently. So, we’re seeing that there are simply so many difficulties in trying to bring the aid, deliver the aid, with safety for the aid providers, obviously, in this area that is bombed.

And this brings us to the essential issue, which is that there needs to be a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. There needs to be a halt to Israeli airstrikes and bombardments in order for this food and aid and assistance — and not only food; medical supplies and other necessities have to be provided. And this is one — the continuation of the hostilities is making this provision far too dangerous and impossible currently. This is one other reason why we need this to stop.

B’Tselem has called for a ceasefire. But, of course, the most important reason for this to stop is to stop the killing of civilians, of women and children and human beings in the Gaza Strip, in a way that absolutely is disproportionate to what is facing Israel right now, and to the policies of, basically, airstrikes bombing residential homes. All of this is one — you know, and the huge death toll, 23,000 Gazans and counting, as a result, you know, that can only be described as a revenge attack after the horrific death toll that Israelis have suffered. But we simply cannot accept. You know, it’s certainly not moral, and it’s certainly not legal, that we inflict such a degree of suffering on Gazans — we Israelis — regardless of how much we have suffered and how horrific we have been affected by this. There is simply no justification for the continuation of this Israeli attack on Gaza, and it has to stop. There has to be a ceasefire.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Sarit, I wanted to ask you — you’re talking to us from Tel Aviv. How aware are Israelis of the catastrophic situation so close to where most of them live? And is there any significant portion of the population that cares?

SARIT MICHAELI: Well, unfortunately, Juan, the situation is very, very depressing and just painful when we look at the responses of many Israelis, possibly even the majority of Israelis, to what we see now in Gaza. I think the majority of Israelis still support what we are doing there. There is very little protest or very little rejection of the methods that Israel is employing in its attack against the civilian population of Gaza. The Israeli media doesn’t really broadcast much information about the suffering of Gazans, the devastation, the utter devastation, of infrastructure and the loss of homes, and human beings being killed on a daily basis, on an hourly basis.

But one of the saddest aspects of this is that even when people are aware of it, there are so many politicians and influencers and people who are simply rejecting any need to respect the humanity of people in Gaza. And unfortunately, some of the people who are aware of the huge price, the horrific toll that Gazans are paying, are not — you know, are simply OK with it. And this is one of the most depressing aspects of what is going on now in terms of the total dehumanization of Gazans among many people in Israel.

There are — I should mention there are Israelis who are opposed to this situation. There are Israelis who are calling to recognize the humanity of Gazans. But we are in the minority, unfortunately.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Yeah, we have less than a minute left, but I wanted to ask you, quickly — you’ve also been monitoring the violence in the West Bank, that has gotten far less attention. Could you talk about what you’ve chronicled?

SARIT MICHAELI: Absolutely, yes. So, since October 7th, there has also been a massive increase in the violence by Israeli soldiers and also security forces and Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank. It has led to a really large number of Palestinians killed by soldiers and by Israeli settlers. It has led to takeovers of land by settlers, to the removal, to the forcible transfer of Palestinian herding communities from very large parts of the West Bank. It’s led to, you know, the total destruction of the olive harvest, for example, as a coordinated campaign by settlers to damage the Palestinian economy. And all of these things are happening with very little international attention.

And again, this has got to end. There has to be a recognition of what is going on throughout the West Bank, of Israeli actions there. And as we call when it comes to the situation in the Gaza Strip, there has to be international action to hold Israeli policymakers accountable for their decisions that have led to these horrific results, horrific outcomes.

AMY GOODMAN: Sarit Michaeli, we have to leave it there. We thank you so much for being with us, with the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

Gaza remains under assault. Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion. The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction. But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets: How to justify it? Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence." CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund." ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them." NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza." The slaughter continues. It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service. Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide." The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is now well over 20,000. NBC NEWS notes, "The vast majority of its 2.2 million people are displaced, and an estimated half face starvation amid an unfolding humanitarian crisis." THE GUARDIAN notes, "A total of 23,210 Palestinians have been killed and 59,167 have been wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday." In addition to the dead and the injured, there are the missing. AP notes, "About 4,000 people are reported missing." And the area itself? Isabele Debre (AP) reveals, "Israel’s military offensive has turned much of northern Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape. Whole neighborhoods have been erased. Homes, schools and hospitals have been blasted by airstrikes and scorched by tank fire. Some buildings are still standing, but most are battered shells." Kieron Monks (I NEWS) reports, "More than 40 per cent of the buildings in northern Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, according to a new study of satellite imagery by US researchers Jamon Van Den Hoek from Oregon State University and Corey Scher at the City University of New York. The UN gave a figure of 45 per cent of housing destroyed or damaged across the strip in less than six weeks. The rate of destruction is among the highest of any conflict since the Second World War." Max Butterworth (NBC NEWS) adds, "Satellite images captured by Maxar Technologies on Sunday reveal three of the main hospitals in Gaza from above, surrounded by the rubble of destroyed buildings after weeks of intense bombing in the region by Israeli forces."

Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "The Debate" went up last night and the following sites updated:

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Nikki just keeps beating Doo-Doo Ron

Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "The Debate" went up a little while ago.

If you missed it, Doo-Doo DeSantis has been revealed as a big failure yet again. Giulia Carbonaro (NEWSWEEK) reports:

Former South Carolina governor and presidential hopeful Nikki Haley would beat Donald Trump in Michigan in a potential November 5 head-to-head matchup against incumbent President Joe Biden, according to recent polling from The Detroit News.

According to the latest polling by the Michigan newspaper, in a direct contest against Biden during the general election, Haley would beat the Democrat by a margin of 10 percentage points, with 44 percent of the vote against Biden's 34 percent.

Poor Doo-Doo. He's such a failure. And John L. Dorman (BUSINESS INSIDER) reports:

A former Florida Democratic state lawmaker who has battled with Gov. Ron DeSantis said that the GOP presidential contender will be not merely a lame-duck governor but an "angry duck" upon his return to the state.

In an interview with The Washington Post, ex-state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith predicted that DeSantis — who is currently fighting an uphill battle in the GOP presidential primaries — would return to Florida in a weakened state.

"His political clout is severely diminished because of what's happened with his campaign," Guillermo Smith told The Post.

Still, Guillermo Smith acknowledged that DeSantis, whose political operation has lorded over Florida GOP lawmakers with an iron fist, would have some measure of power in Tallahassee.

"[H]e still has the veto pen," Guillermo Smith told the newspaper. "So I think rather than facing a lame duck governor, we're going to be dealing with an angry duck who will lash out."

Oh, well. Maybe Nikki will pick Doo-Doo as her number two. If you aren't getting how deeply stupid Doo-Doo is, Molly Sprayregen (LGBTQ NATION) reports:

A Florida school district has literally banned the dictionary in an effort to comply with Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s (R) book-banning law.

The Escambia County School District has reportedly removed over 2800 books from library shelves as they undergo a review process that will determine if they are inappropriate for students, according to Popular Information. Among the books currently relegated to storage are The American Heritage Children’s Dictionary, Webster’s Dictionary for Students, and Merriam-Webster’s Elementary Dictionary.

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Wednesday, Janaury 10, 2023. Journalists and children are killed in the slaughter on Gaza but so many Hollywood celebrities remain silent while writing a letter that's laughable, Crooked Clarence Thomas can't sit in judgment of his wife's activities and must recues himself, and much more.

At THE GUARDIAN, Chris McGreal writes of the many journalists that have been killed in the months long slaughter of Gaza and notes:

Even reporting from Gaza during the second intifada 20 years ago, when the Israeli military regularly invaded, bombed and flattened Palestinian neighbourhoods, did not feel especially unsafe compared with other regions. Not that the Israeli army was above killing people it knew to be journalists.

In 2003, an Israeli soldier shot dead the British documentary cameraman James Miller in Gaza. An inquest in the UK returned a verdict of unlawful killing. Israel declined to prosecute the soldier responsible but it did pay £1.5m in compensation, which Miller’s family said was “probably the closest we’ll get to an admission of guilt on the part of the Israelis”.

Miller’s killing looked to be part of a pattern of ill-disciplined Israeli soldiers shooting whoever they felt like – not only journalists but UN officials and aid workers as well as Palestinian children. The army was usually quick to try to cover up the killings but it did not appear they were coordinated.

Gaza looks very different today. As the CPJ and the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders say, the scale and nature of the deaths of journalists and their families suggests there is more going on than a few ill-disciplined soldiers taking pot shots at reporters, even taking into account the deaths of thousands of other Palestinians, including more than 8,000 children.

Certainly the message from some Israeli leaders is that journalists are fair game. Israeli politicians were quick to call for the “elimination” of a number of Palestinian journalists working for foreign news organisations who were falsely accused by a pro-Israel pressure group in the US of being “embedded with Hamas” on 7 October. Benny Gantz, a member of the Israeli war cabinet, said they should be hunted down as terrorists, reflecting a widely held suspicion among Israeli officials that Palestinian journalists are an appendage of Hamas.

Miller’s family got a payout because he was British. Dead western journalists create more waves, which is presumably one of the reasons Israel has locked the foreign press out of Gaza during the present war. International news organisations now rely on those same Palestinian reporters targeted by Israel. They provide many of the pictures the rest of the world sees of the horror in Gaza.

And when not killed, tortured? ALJAZEERA reports:

Journalist Diaa al-Kahlout, who was detained by Israeli authorities along with dozens of other Palestinian men in northern Gaza on December 7, has described painful details of his 25 days in Israeli custody.

“There are no red lines for the Israeli army in dealing with detainees from Gaza,” al-Kahlout, who was released earlier this week, told Al Jazeera. “We were sitting in a situation of torture”.

Al-Kahlout, a Gaza-based correspondent for news outlet Al Araby Al Jadeed, said Israel’s Shin Bet security service interrogated him about his reporting and journalistic sources while in custody.

During this time, he also saw prisoners being “beaten and humiliated”, facing conditions that amounted to “torture”, he said.

But you ignore that reality and instead try to turn a highly offensive film -- due to Blackface -- into something else completely.

Have you no shame?

We're not linking to the piece of garbage letter that they signed but we will not how racist the ones signing that letter are.

And, yes, they don't speak out for the journalists being killed. They don't speak out for the children but they scream and rage about the silence on the still unproven rapes of October 7th. Talk about victim mentality. This is the salt0in-the-wound they need to rub in order to justify the killing of all the children, it's what they have to do because they know deep in side that there is no excuse or justification for what the Israeli government is doing.

Doctors Without Borders issued the following:

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) condemns in the strongest possible terms the 8 January strike on an MSF shelter in Gaza, Palestine, which led to the death of the five-year-old daughter of an MSF staff member.

Yesterday morning, a shell, resembling that from a tank, broke through the wall of the building where over 100 MSF staff and their family members were seeking shelter in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip. The five-year-old girl was critically injured by the strike and underwent surgery at the Gaza European Hospital. However, she later died of her injuries on 9 January. Three other people were slightly injured in the strike.

“We are outraged and deeply saddened by the death of yet another family member of our MSF staff,” says Thomas Lauvin, MSF project coordinator in Gaza. “This strike on civilians is unacceptable and, once again, goes to show that it doesn’t matter where you are in Gaza, nowhere is safe.”

“The shell did not detonate on impact, otherwise many more of our staff and their families would have most likely been killed,” Lauvin added.

Prior to the incident, MSF notified Israeli forces that the shelter near Gaza European Hospital was housing MSF staff and their families. Furthermore, no evacuation orders were issued before the strike. While MSF is not able to confirm the origin of the shell, it appears to be similar to those used by Israeli tanks. MSF has contacted Israeli authorities and is seeking further explanation.

Four MSF staff have been killed since the beginning of the war, in addition to numerous family members.

We reiterate our call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza. Indiscriminate violence against civilians must end now.

EURONEWS notes:

Security camera video from a West Bank village shows a young man standing in a central square when he is suddenly shot and drops to the ground. Two others rushing to his aid are also hit, leaving a 17-year-old dead, moments before Israeli military jeeps roll in.

An Associated Press review of the video and interviews with the two wounded survivors showed Israeli soldiers opened fire on the three when they did not appear to pose a threat.

One of the wounded Palestinians was shot a second time after he got up and tried to hop away.

Yesterday, Amy Goodman (DEMOCRACY NOW!) noted, "Israel has also carried out a number of military raids in the occupied West Bank. On Monday, Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinian men in the city of Tulkarem. Video has emerged showing an Israeli military vehicle running over one of the men who had been shot. More than 340 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7." Last night, Rebecca noted THE WASHINGTON POST reporting:

The threats were sent via Facebook on Oct. 9 to residents of Qusra, a Palestinian community in the Israeli-occupied West Bank: “To all the rats in the sewers of Qusra village we are waiting for you and we will have no mercy. The day of revenge is coming.”

Two days later, on a sunny Wednesday afternoon, a group of masked and armed Israeli settlers struck the village in what would be the deadliest attack by settlers in the West Bank since the Israel-Gaza war began three months ago.

A Washington Post review of exclusive visuals of the attack, medical records and interviews with witnesses and first responders reveals that one of the Palestinians killed, 17-year-old Obada Saed Abu Srour, was shot in the back by settlers, probably as he was running from gunfire.

Israeli troops, meanwhile, did not forcefully intervene, despite their obligation under international and Israeli law to protect all residents of the West Bank, including Palestinians. Soldiers and police were photographed at the scene of the deaths only after the attack ended, even though troops stationed at nearby military outposts were within earshot of the gunfire and had views of an earlier attack by settlers, the visual evidence shows.

It's outrageous and the world sees it and knows it's outrageous. Julia Conley (COMMON DREAMS) reports:

After arriving at the United Nations headquarters on Tuesday, ostensibly for a scheduled tour, three dozen rabbis and rabbinical students made their way into the U.N. Security Council's chamber to stage the latest high-profile demonstration demanding the United States end its opposition to a cease-fire in Gaza.

The rabbis—whose action was organized by Rabbis for Cease-fire, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, Jewish Voice for Peace, and IfNotNow—displayed banners with messages for U.S. President Joe Biden: "Biden: The World Says Cease-Fire," and "Biden: Stop Vetoing Peace."

The protest came weeks after the U.S. alone vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for Israel to end its bombardment of Gaza, which has killed at least 23,210 people, injured more than 59,100, and left thousands more missing and feared dead under rubble, as the population of the enclave faces starvation and disease stemming from Israel's blockade.

"[President Joe] Biden and the U.S. must stop vetoing peace and end Israel's bombing and starvation of Gaza," said IfNotNow.

US President Joe Biden is facing mounting criticism for his participation in the slaughter and refusal to demand a cease-fire. From yesterday's DEMOCRACY NOW!

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

We turn now to South Carolina, where President Biden delivered his second campaign speech of the year at the historic Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where in 2015 eight Black parishioners and their pastor were shot dead by a white supremacist. Biden remembered the victims.

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: On June 17th, 2015, the beautiful souls, five survivors — and five survivors invited a stranger into this church to pray with them. The word of God was pierced by bullets in hate, of rage, propelled by not just gunpowder but by a poison, a poison that’s for too long haunted this nation. What is that poison? White supremacy. Oh, it is. It’s a poison. Throughout our history, it’s ripped this nation apart. This has no place in America, not today, tomorrow or ever.

PROTESTERS: Ceasefire now! Ceasefire now!

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: That’s all right. That’s all right.

PROTESTERS: Ceasefire now!

AMY GOODMAN: As he spoke, Biden was disrupted by activists demanding a Gaza ceasefire.

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Without light, there’s no path from this darkness.

PROTESTER: If you really care about the lives lost here, then you should honor the lives lost and call for a ceasefire in Palestine!

PROTESTERS: Ceasefire now! Ceasefire now! Ceasefire now! Ceasefire now! Ceasefire now! Ceasefire now!

AMY GOODMAN: As the protesters were removed from the church, supporters of President Biden began chanting “four more years.” He addressed the protesters.

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I understand their passion. And I’ve been quietly working — I’ve been quietly working with the Israeli government to get them to reduce and significantly get out of Gaza. I’ve been using all that I can to do that.

AMY GOODMAN: Without naming Donald Trump, Biden blasted the former president and leading 2024 Republican candidate as a loser who tried to overthrow the 2020 election results by urging his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. A number carried Confederate flags and wore white supremacist and far-right symbols.

Following the massacre at the Emanuel AME Church in 2015, following the mass funeral at the University of Charleston arena that thousands came out for, our next guest, Bree Newsome Bass, scaled the 30-foot flagpole at the South Carolina state Capitol and removed the Confederate flag. As police officers shouted at her to come down, she shimmied to the top of the flagpole, took the flag in her hand and said, “You come against me with hatred. I come against you in the name of God. This flag comes down today.”

BREE NEWSOME BASS: You come against me with hatred and oppression and violence. I come against you in the name of God. This flag comes down today!

AMY GOODMAN: While Bree Newsome was arrested, along with an ally, it was only after this action that the Confederate flag was formally removed from the South Carolina Statehouse grounds. Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was governor of South Carolina at the time. She has faced fresh backlash after she didn’t mention slavery when asked about the cause of the U.S. Civil War during a recent town hall in New Hampshire.

Well, for more, we’re joined in Raleigh, North Carolina, by Bree Newsome Bass, artist, antiracist activist.

Bree, welcome back to Democracy Now! This certainly does take us back. As people debate whether it was Nikki Haley who ultimately forced the flag to come down, we’re going to the woman who actually took it down and risked your freedom to do it. Talk about why you did that then — ultimately, the Legislature would vote to take it down — and how you feel about what’s happening today.

BREE NEWSOME BASS: Yes. And thank you again so much for having me on.

You know, and I want to make it clear: Yes, I did scale the pole and take the Confederate flag down; this was an issue that people had been protesting for years and years and years. And that’s part of what made it so egregious in 2015, when we had the massacre at Emanuel AME and South Carolina refused to lower the flag, because part of the reason why they were refusing to lower the flag is that they had passed a law in the year 2000 saying that it couldn’t be lowered for any reason, after they moved it from the Capitol dome to the flagpole on the lawn, where it was at the time that I took it down. So this had been going on for years and years and years.

And Nikki Haley actually opposed taking the flag down, right up until those massacres occurred and the mounting political protest and, you know, the pressure made it where she basically had to, at that point, support the flag coming down. So, ideologically, she has never really had the stance of being opposed to either the Confederacy or — excuse me — symbols of the Confederacy, and certainly not opposed to racist policies. She went right from the governorship to serving in the Trump administration. And she’s had a number of incidents over the years, where the things that she says or the things that she does directly contradict with her claim of having led the way on taking the Confederate flag down. At one of her recent rallies, she played that song “Find Out in a Small Town,” you know, the song that people really raised a lot of concern about because it was obviously alluding to sundown towns and the racial violence that Black people have experienced here for decades and decades and decades. So this is not new for Nikki Haley. It just shows that she does not really represent antiracism in any real way.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Bree, I’d like to ask you — in response to President Biden’s speech, you posted on social media, quote, “How the Black church is used as a prop for white politicians actually proves the point that racism is alive & well & strong.” Could you expand on that?

BREE NEWSOME BASS: Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, I think that the whole way that the incidents in 2015, both the massacre at Emanuel AME, the refocus on the Confederate flag there in South Carolina, the formal ceremony around taking the flag down, and the way that American politics returns to those moments again and again and again speaks to how relevant it still is, the fact that Black churches are frequently used as, you know, political campaign stops for politicians.

In this case with Joe Biden, you know, he is clearly trying to make an appeal not just to Black voters, but really trying to fend off criticism that he is racist, that he is sponsoring a genocide. And that criticism is completely well founded, because he is sponsoring a genocide, and genocide is the most extreme form of racial violence that there is. And so, to use the pulpit at Emanuel AME in this manner, to make it a prop, essentially, for Joe Biden’s reelection bid, to me, is the greatest assault on truth. I know Joe Biden stood there in the pulpit and said that there is an assault on truth that’s happening right now. Joe Biden is, in many ways, leading that assault. And I know that he’s running against Donald Trump, who we know is also a serial liar, but Donald Trump is not the one who is currently in office right now. It is Joe Biden.

And this effort to use the church, not just the Black church, but the site of racial violence, of a mass murder, to deflect from the fact that Joe Biden himself is bombing churches, bombing mosques, bombing places of worship and murdering many civilians, people who have sought shelter in those places, it just exposes the complete hypocrisy of this entire situation and the vacuum of moral leadership at the top. And that’s why I took offense to it. I think that’s why many people who watched it took offense to it. I’m very glad that the young people stood up and protested, because even though they were few in that audience, they represented the majority of people worldwide.

AMY GOODMAN: You know, it’s interesting, Bree. The polls that have just come out today indicate that Nikki Haley is surging in the polls in New Hampshire. You referenced where she stood on the Confederate flag. I wanted to go back to 2014, when then-South Carolina Republican Governor Nikki Haley suggested South Carolina had resolved its image problem and that having the Confederate flag at the Statehouse was fine because not a single CEO had complained. She was speaking at a gubernatorial debate.

GOV. NIKKI HALEY: You know, the Confederate flag is a very sensitive issue. And what I can tell you is, over the last three-and-a-half years I spend a lot of my days on the phones with CEOs and recruiting jobs to this state. I can honestly say I have not had one conversation with a single CEO about the Confederate flag. What is important here is that we look at the fact that, yes, perception of South Carolina matters. That’s why we have everybody answering the phones, “It’s a great day in South Carolina.” That’s why we’re being named the friendliest state, the most patriotic state, and getting all these great accolades. But we really kind of fixed all that when you elected the first Indian American female governor, when we appointed the first African American U.S. senator.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Nikki Haley back in 2014. Bree Newsome Bass, your final comment?

BREE NEWSOME BASS: I mean, I think that says it all, right? So, first of all, she’s saying that it’s OK, the optics are OK. Right? We’re not talking about the substance. We’re not talking about the experience. We’re not talking about whether people are actually experiencing equal treatment under the law. Just the optics. So the optics are fine, because it’s not disrupting business, right? And then the other thing that she offers as evidence that everything is OK is the fact that she’s nonwhite, she is an Indian American woman, and then she points to other people in the administration — excuse me — who are nonwhite.

Well, that’s the entire problem right there. The idea is that so long as we can keep business going as usual, it doesn’t matter that there’s violence, it doesn’t matter that there’s racism. All that matters is the optics. And that is what Nikki Haley’s campaign represents in her falsely claiming that she led the way on taking the Confederate flag down. That’s what Joe Biden’s campaign represents in terms of thinking that all that matters is giving a speech at a church, and ignoring all of the churches that are being blown up and all of the Palestinians that are being killed, ignored the fact that young people are demanding a future, and we have people who are older who don’t seem to care at all that this assault in Palestine is disproportionately affecting children or killing children.

And then, in the case of Nikki Haley, again, she does not truly represent any of the things that she is claiming when it comes to being antiracist. You can say whatever words you want to say, you can put together whatever kind of events you want to put together, but the fact is that the truth is going to be the truth. We see what is actually happening.

And I support all of the disruptions, because the last thing that we need is to carry on business as usual when our democracy is absolutely under attack. Democracy is under attack worldwide. And genocide is the most extreme — the most extreme form of racial violence that there is. So there’s no way that we are fighting white supremacy simply by taking down a flag or having an event at Emanuel AME in the midst of genocide, in the midst of doing away with affirmative action, voting rights, the attack on abortion rights. This is where we are at. It’s a very dangerous place. And I hope that people look beyond the optics and support those people who are disrupting, because the last thing that we need is to carry on with business as usual.

AMY GOODMAN: Bree Newsome Bass, artist, antiracist activist. In 2015, following the massacre of the eight African American parishioners and their pastor by a white supremacist at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, Bree scaled the 30-foot flagpole at the South Carolina state Capitol and removed the Confederate flag.

Next up, we go to the growing support for reparations in America. Stay with us.

Joe's heckled as protests in the country continue. JD Morris (SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE) reports on another development:

San Francisco supervisors have joined the ranks of local legislative bodies calling for a sustained cease-fire in Gaza.

The Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday in favor of a resolution spearheaded by Supervisor Dean Preston that urges the Biden Administration and Congress to support a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas War, along with the delivery of humanitarian aid and the release of all hostages in the region. Supervisors passed the resolution in an 8-3 vote after Board President Aaron Peskin successfully overhauled the document’s language in an effort to gain wider support from his colleagues.

The resolution — which also condemns antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of discrimination — drew an outpouring of public feedback, including from hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who packed City Hall when it was introduced late last year. A similar scene played out Monday, when the board’s Rules Committee advanced the resolution and public comment lasted for several emotional hours.

Jose Martinez (CBS NEWS) adds:

The resolution passed as amended with an 8-3 vote. In addition to calling for a cease-fire, the resolution also condemns anti-Semitic, anti-Palestinian, and Islamophobic rhetoric and attacks, as well as calls for humanitarian aid in the region and the release of hostages.

The amendment introduced by Board of Supervisor President Aaron Peskin calls for the Biden Administration to do the same. It further condemns Hamas's attack on Oct. 7 and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's response which has killed thousands.

Kelsey Landis (ST LOUIS POST-DISPATCH) notes:

A few dozen protesters on Tuesday evening urged the St. Louis County Council to pass a resolution demanding a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

Local governments nationwide, including in St. Louis, have considered symbolic cease-fire resolutions calling for an end to Israeli assaults on the blockaded strip that have caused a humanitarian crisis. Resolutions have also supported Israel after the militant group Hamas killed about 1,200 and took more than 200 hostages in an attack launched on Oct. 7.

Haley Millner, a St. Louis County resident, said the Israeli bombardment of innocent civilians over the past four months amounts to genocide. Israel’s offensive has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians and displaced almost 85% of its population of 2.3 million. A quarter face starvation.

We need to wind down but we've got one more topic. The Sweetheart of The Federalist Society, professional nitwit and transphobe Jonathan Turley hissed at US House Rep Nancy Pelosi yesterday because someone took a dump in his littler box:

Hardly a profile of courage. As with President Biden, Pelosi refused to do as principled Democrats have done in denouncing this antidemocratic effort. When history called for people of good faith to stand up, some shrugged and walked away.

It's not Nancy's job to stand against the Constitution. I get it, Jonathan's life now is just one long, never ending stagger down the Walk of Shame but the reality is Donald Trump broke his oath of office.

As we've noted, it is outlined in the Constitution -- a document he took an oath to uphold -- how the electoral college works. The President of the United States is not a part of that system nor is he/she authorized to call states and create 'alternate' delegates. That's cheating at a bare minimu.

Donald refused to keep his oath. He broke it. Disqualified from running right there.

That is a high crime and misdemeanor which goes completely against the Constitution and our democracy.

They should have impeached him on that. They had enough proof of that even on January 6, 2021.

I had other things to focus on in real time and I don't do drama.

The crying was an embarrassment -- US House Reps and Senators crying about themselves and the violence that might have taken place against them. I don't give a damn about that, sorry. American children have that at their schools and Congress refuses to deal with it, so cry me a river. They made it about themselves and that turns me off every time.

The issue was democracy. The issue was a refusal to follow the rules.

Those were the issues.

Now I think there is more than enough evidence -- thanks mainly to the special prosecutors -- to make a case that Donald's guilty of insurrection.

But what we do know is that he broke his oath to the Constitution. Those actions were illegal.

And we need to be stressing that.

AOC wants Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself on the issue of Donald being on the ballot.

She's right.

But you've got the Jonathan Turleys who lie and manipulate.

Jonathan Turley, is the electoral college process outlined in the Constitution? Yes, it is. Did Donald take an oath to uphold the Constitution -- the law of the land? Yes, he did.

Did he break that oath and break the law?

Yes, he did.

Why does that matter?

Ginni Thomas supposedly knows the law. She's married to Clarence. He can't rule on this case. He's got a vested interest in it. He must recuse himself.

Again, I say Donald is guilty of insurrection and I'll also say that Ginni Thomas is as well.

However, for those who aren't there yet, Donald broke the law and Ginni helped him -- that's what they did when they broke the laws regarding the electoral college. So, no, Clarence cannot rule on a case that involves his wife's own activities.

Matthew Chapman notes:

A group of 19 former Republican lawmakers are warning the Supreme Court in an open letter published in The Bulwark to end former President Donald Trump's "immunity" gambit immediately, or create a disaster for the rule of law.

Among the signatories were former Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Steve Bartlett (R-TX), Barbara Comstock (R-VA), Charlie Dent (R-PA), David Jolly (R-FL), and Joe Walsh (R-IL).

"As former members of Congress, all of us Republicans, we dedicated ourselves to upholding this principle," they wrote. "And we are now deeply concerned that former President Donald Trump’s response to the ongoing criminal prosecutions against him are testing it — requiring the U.S. Supreme Court to act swiftly to meet the moment. In no case is this more true than in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Trump for his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In this case, the federal courts are confronted with Trump’s gambit to escape accountability altogether: assert an unprecedented claim of absolute presidential immunity from criminal prosecution and use the appellate process to delay the trial until after the November election."

He has to be held accountable. If he's not, it says -- what Nixon argued -- that anything a sitting president does is legal just because they're a sitting president. In addition, if he gets away with trying to overturn the election, that's telling the next person who loses that you don't have to step down and there's no punishment at all.

Jose Pagliery (DAILY BEAST) notes:

On a phone call last week, legal scholars convened a press conference to discuss the rocky road ahead and warn about the peril that could follow if higher courts grant Trump the sweeping immunity and unchecked power he craves. Speaking about the D.C. appellate court’s current consideration of Trump’s attempted power grab, attorney Norman L. Eisen put it in stark terms.

“It may be the single most important question confronting our democracy this year,” Eisen said. “There is no absolute immunity to prosecution!”

Eisen, a former Obama White House ethics czar who later helped the House Judiciary Committee build the case for Trump’s first impeachment, warned that appellate judges will essentially determine if an American president has king-like powers. He and others on the call said they expect the D.C. Court of Appeals to quickly reject Trump’s attempt to assert that a president has blanket immunity for whatever they do while in office, but they acknowledged that it will merely be a step on the way toward the showdown’s unavoidable conclusion at the Supreme Court—where three of the nine justices were appointed by Trump himself.

The following sites updated: