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Desperate to bomb Iran so he can be seen to “kick ass”
On Monday Oliver Willis of Daily Kos offered possible reasons why the nasty guy authorized bombs to be dropped on three Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend. Perhaps it’s because Republican leaders pushed it, as they have doing for many conflicts over the years.
Or perhaps Fox News kept pushing for the attacks. The network seems to be the nasty guy’s most influential advisor. Willis listed the praise the network gave Israel’s military operations. Then he listed several network hosts who pushed US involvement.
We should also remember the number of Fox News personalities who are in his cabinet and administration – Pete Hegseth, Sean Duffey, Pam Bondi and 20 others.
In Tuesday’s pundit roundup for Kos Chitown Kev quoted Bernd Ulrich of the German weekly Die Zeit (translated by Irene Caselli):
It is not the fault of some mythical traits — real or imagined — of the “Orient.” No, there is another reason that things in the Middle East tend to turn out differently than expected, that actions produce unintended and often overwhelmingly negative consequences.
It’s not a mirage, nor the shimmering heat, nor the buzzing bazaar that’s to blame — it’s the West itself, repeatedly falling into the same traps. It has interests in the region, but no real interest in the region.
The image at the top of Kev’s post shows a satellite image of line of vehicles outside a building with the caption, “Satellite imagery showing that Iran may have moved significant amounts of enriched uranium prior to Saturday's American strike on Fordo.”
In today’s roundup, Greg Dworkin quoted two sets of tweets by Phillips O’Brien:
So the US air campaign against Iran seems to have gone like this.
1) Trump does not want to get involved
2) he is told that Israel is having lots of success
3) he becomes desperate to join so he can be seen to “kick ass”
4) He bombs Iran one night
5) The results of the bombing
[6 is not mentioned]
Now we have moment 7
7) Trump slaps down Israel because the campaign was really about his personal glory.
Ps. Trump does not care a win for Iran or Israel, it’s all what it means for him
And...
There is a chance that Trump's bombing of Iran might turn out to be the most ludicrous use of military force in US history. Not the worst or the most destructive--just the most absurd. A failed attempt by a weak man desperate for glory.
Maybe the only good thing to come out of this was that the American people, by a large majority, saw these strikes for the self glorifying gestures that they were, and disapprove. What’s the opposite of rallying around the flag?
Yesterday was the primary election for mayor in New York City. Much to the surprise of many Andrew Cuomo lost to Zohran Mamdani, who has described himself as a Democratic Socialist. He ran on making NYC affordable. Dworkin quoted Mike Madrid on Threadreader:
One of the interesting things to look for is how working class Black and Brown residents voted. If these voters break left after moving towards Trump there’s a lot of water thrown on the ‘racial realignment’ narrative.
These voters are becoming more populist NOT more conservative.
Voters are absolutely sick and tired of establishment politics. It’s not ideological and that’s what the parties, pollsters and politicians are missing.
A tweet by David Dayen:
It will be tempting to analogize from one idiosyncratic municipal election that the old guard of the Democratic establishment has been wholly discredited and should be dismantled to make way for new leadership. Tempting, and also correct.
In the comments is a cartoon posted by paulpro and created by M. Wuerker to mark the three year anniversary of when Roe v. Wade was overturned. It shows a man in a MAGA hat with a sign saying, “No Masks” and a t-shirt saying, “My body my choice.” Looking at him is a woman with a sign saying, “Pro choice” and also with a t-shirt saying, “My body my choice.”
Alexandra Bowman posted a cartoon with characters from Star Wars, Sound of Music, and Indiana Jones. They ask, “Did all those anti-fascist movies teach you nothing?”
Alex Samuels of Kos, in a weekly column looking at polls, wrote:
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll reveals significant frustration among Democratic voters who believe their party is too focused on social issues—like transgender rights—and not nearly focused enough on the economy. That disconnect between what voters want and what they think party leaders care about could spell trouble, especially with a critical midterm election map approaching.
Sixty-two percent of self-identified Democrats indicated the party’s leadership should be replaced. Just 24% disagreed.
Samuels lists a few issues – taxing the rich, focusing on everyday needs, reducing corporate influence in politics – get high support from Democrats with noticeably fewer saying they think the party leadership feels the same way. On the flip side, only 17% of Democrats feel transgender women competing in women’s sports is a priority while 28% feel the leadership think of it as a priority.
I’m with the voters on this one. As much as I believe transgender women need to be allowed to play in women’s sports I agree it is a low priority. The other issues listed above, plus all the things needed to be done to secure our democracy are a much higher priority.
Overall, voter mood says Democrats should stop playing nice with the nasty guy and Republicans.
Samuels discussed views on how concerned people are of far-right and far-left extremism. 55% are very or somewhat concerned about the far-right and 49% are very or somewhat concerned about the far-left. Not a great deal of difference.
Then Samuels noted since 9/11 far-right extremists have killed at least 130 people in the US. Samuels doesn’t list a body count from far-left extremists – perhaps it is zero? – though notes far-left violence does exist.
Lisa Needham of Kos reported that the nasty guys judicial picks are now more terrible – nominees are now asked whether Biden won the 2000 election. They quickly learn the correct answer, used by other types of nominees, is: “Joe Biden was certified as the winner of the 2020 presidential election and served four years as president.”
There’s no question that Trump’s first-term nominees were bad in some spectacular ways, eager to help the wannabe autocrat eradicate rights and regulations. But when it came to the wide variety of election conspiracy cases Trump filed in his failed bid to overturn the election, even his own appointees did not sign on, ruling against him. Trump isn’t going to make that mistake again. He doesn’t just need conservative ideologues in the federal courts: He needs judges who won’t stop him no matter what he does, and agreeing to the farce that Biden didn’t win in 2020 is a pretty big tell that these nominees see their primary job as ensuring Trump gets his way, no matter what the law says.
...
None of these nominees will act as a check or balance on Trump. It’s pretty obvious they would not have gotten the nod if they believed the judiciary had any authority over the president. So, instead of normal judicial candidates, we’re going to get a motley mix of true believers crawling over one another to prove that they are the most committed to the Big Lie and the most eager to let Trump do whatever he wants.
That is going to be terrific for Trump, but terrible for democracy.
Kiley Price of Inside Climate News, in an article posted on Kos wrote that climate change is making protests against climate change harder. The example is the recent No Kings demonstrations where in El Paso, Texas temperatures passed 100F (38C). Protests in such high heat carries public health risks. It can also galvanize climate protesters. Many protests are also in urban areas, which tend to have higher heat and poor air quality.
So how can people stay safe during an outdoor protest? Many tips are fairly simple, such as using sunscreen, wearing sunglasses or a hat and drinking copious amounts of water.
As Wired points out in their guide to safe protesting, these supplies can also be used to guard yourself from other threats; sunglasses can shield your face from surveillance while water can be used to clean wounds and flush your eyes if you are pepper-sprayed or hit with chemical gas.
Public health experts say it is also crucial to recognize the signs of heat stress, which include heavy sweating, dizziness, cramping and headaches.
A health professional at the Denver protest put it this way:
“Best case? We just hand out water, treat a few heat injuries and eat pizza at the med tent,” Jake Paul, the group’s medical coordinator, told CBS prior to the demonstrations. “If we’re bored, that means everyone’s safe.”
Two weeks ago Nineteenletterslong of the Kos community reported:
Southern Baptists have endorsed a ban to end same-sex marriage in America marking the first time the group has officially opposed the ruling in Obergefell v Hodges, the case which legalized it in 2015. The vote on the motion came during the annual Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas, Texas, attended by over 10,000 church representatives this past Tuesday.
The Southern Baptists' resolution does not use the word "ban" directly. Instead, it calls for the "overturning of laws and court rulings, including Obergefell v. Hodges, that defy God's design for marriage and family" (something something something, separation of church and state though...).
The motion additionally calls "for laws that affirm marriage between one man and one woman".
The denomination’s values are shifting to align with the far-right.
A reversal would not automatically lead to a nationwide ban of same-sex marriage (as was the case with abortion rights). Same-sex marriage had already been legalized in 36 stated when the Supremes ruled in 2015 and nearly 70% of Americans support it.
Alas, Michigan is not one of those 36. It passed a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in 2004, when several other states did (part of a bid to bring Bush II voters to the polls). The federal decision overrules it for now, but if that is overturned Michiganders would lose rights. There is the start of movement to overturn that amendment.
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