DL Open Thread Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Media chatter has turned to Thursday night’s televised debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and it seems nobody is pretending anymore that the event has anything to do with educating the electorate. If it were, you’d see articles comparing and contrasting the positions espoused by the two grandpas. Instead we get stories about colleges missing out on a big payday when the campaigns cut out the debate commission, and how CNN hopes to boost its sagging ratings by hosting the first debate to grant exclusive broadcast rights. The next step is probably commemorative merch.
You’ve probably seen stories about various state GOPs consumed by infighting, but Our Liberal Media has yet to piece it all together as “Republicans at each other’s throats,” so Amanda Marcotte did, and she doesn’t even include every state. Another MSM mistake: The sides aren’t MAGAts vs. Never Trumpers – they’re MAGAts vs. people further to the right.
You thought that if a cease-fire could be negotiated in Gaza, Israel would stop attacking its neighbors? What, and let the country go back to putting Netanyahu in prison? No, no, no. Once all of Gaza has been bombed to rubble, it’s gonna be time to attack Lebanon. At what point will American politicians, and a majority of the public, realize that we’re backing yet another megalomaniacal right-wing autocrat?
Social scientists might offer a clue about where all this right-wing aggression is coming from: In a word, men. The troubling trend: Gen Z men tend to feel marginalized more conservative than their fathers and grandfathers, and – surprise! – it leads to women being scapegoated for getting educated and becoming independent. This helps explain why the Christianists are trying to put the birth control genie back in the bottle.
The floor’s yours.
THIS could shake things up in Israel:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/06/25/israel-haredi-ultra-orthodox/
The ultra-Orthodox militants are perhaps the strongest supporters of Netanhyahu and the war in Gaza. Easy to do when you don’t have to fight. But now?:
“The decision follows decades of controversy, in which the once small ultra-Orthodox minority has mushroomed into a million-strong community that makes up more than 12 percent of the population. Its political parties have provided crucial backing to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalitions in exchange for their exemption from military service.”
“it’s gonna be time to attack Lebanon. ”
Or, for Lebanon to stop hosting Hezbollah terrorists. Their choice. Meanwhile the Hezbollah rockets keep falling in Israel.
Actually, not really their choice, because the Lebanese government is too weak to kick out the Hezbollah warlords. Another situation where regional powers are failing to deal with the situation and leave it to Israel.
Like the U.S., Israel can easily justify permanent war.
Permanent casus belli, permanent war. The petro-states look on with glee as their clients attack Israel. The whole point of the nation of Israel is so Jews no longer have to cower and run away when attacked.
Yes, now they get to hunker in place when attacked. Such an improvement!
In 1967, there was no talk of annexation of the West Bank. No one expected this occupation to go on long enough for anyone to publicly spout about a greater Israel. The six day war was defensive. Now, all these years later, including a signed agreement in Oslo, we have the Israeli right wing expressing very covetous ideas indeed regarding the West Bank. It is offensive.