He got loads of press coverage for the stunt, which I believed it was from the start. I wonder how many concerned Democrats encouraged by the "ban" will even beware of how hollow it truly was.
I think Israel is effectively destroying its future. Nobody approves of ethnic cleansing and the only thing that has allowed Israel to do it with impunity is the protection of the US. Now with this blatant slaughter in Gaza any sympathy provided by the holocaust is exhausted and everyone now alive above the age of 15 will have the images of Gaza in their heads for a lifetime, not least the Gazans and the entire Arab world. The UN every year has tried to sanction Israel and get it to give up the occupied territories and every year the US has vetoed it. What an awful indelible record of injustice.
I read Haaretz every day and I am impressed by the fact that the comments on the articles there are overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian, many of those commenting saying that they are Jews. Israel is eagerly destroying its successful image building campaign to reveal the heart of the project. The whole world is repulsed. 38 members of Congress voted against sending the last batch of weapons to Israel. 38 members when not long ago one couldn't find a single vote against anything that wasn't beneficial to Israel. Congress is taking heat for the first time over Israel. That is something for this septuagenarian to see.
The jig is up and the US is embarrassed almost every day for what it is doing that has nothing to do with liberty and justice for all. If I had to bet on the money from billionaires or the protesters I would bet on the protesters, growing in number all the time. Israel's supporters in the US sound ever more frantic and deranged (Ben Shapiro, Bill Ackman and Alan Dershowitz) defending the indefensible. The exposure of Zionism is the one area of world affairs where I am optimistic, but there will be plenty more blood spilled and lots of big donor money spent before an accommodation is reached. A bonus to all this tragedy is that the corruption of the US political system is laid bare alongside the ideology of Zionism that the corruption supports.
And very badly. Just like our foreign policy. It reminds me of the Bertrand Russell line that if a society concentrates on turning out third rate philosophers rather than first rate plumbers, neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.
The thing to remember about Biden's stunt/performance is that it is all totally and completely controlled by his owners, operators, commanders, and controllers thru his handlers and script writers.
And given the fact that he has been in DC since Nixon was President, that shouldn't come as a great surprise to anybody, should it?
I will be curious to see if the puppet masters allow Biden on a stage with Trump in a debate without a teleprompter or a set of notes. Either that or they pump him full of drugs as he seemed to be at the SOTU and let him go off on Trump.
Anybody with any doubts whatsoever that Trump and Biden are owned, operated, commanded, and controlled by the same Ruling Political Class of America needs to read and reflect on the following... :
TRUMP AND BIDEN UPEND THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES by Justin Green, Alex Thompson, Sophia Cai, and Erin Doherty / AXIOS 15 May24
In a whirlwind few hours, President Biden and former President Trump have upended the traditional presidential debates — and moved to box out RFK Jr.
Why it matters: BOTH BIDEN AND TRUMP ARE GENUINELY CONVINCED THE COUNTRY WILL SIDE WITH THEM AFTER SEEING THE TWO OF THEM ON STAGE TOGETHER: Trump doesn't believe Biden has the mental or physical stamina for the job; Biden thinks people will recoil at Trump's behavior and rhetoric.
To catch you up on today's rapid-fire back and forth:
Biden's campaign announced this morning it wouldn't take part in fall debates by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. It offered one-on-one debates with Trump in June and September, with no studio audience and microphones that could be cut.
Trump immediately accepted, telling Salem Media radio host Hugh Hewitt he'll debate with any moderator.
Biden and Trump accepted a CNN invite for a debate on June 27, the two candidates said this morning. THAT'S BEFORE EITHER PARTY HAS ITS NATIONAL CONVENTION TO OFFICIALLY PICK PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEES.
The Trump campaign then proposed extra debates in July and August.
RFK Jr. then accused the two campaigns of "colluding" against his campaign to "avoid discussion of their eight years of mutual failure."
Trump and Biden then accepted invites from ABC News for a debate on Sept. 10.
Trump also said that he accepted a debate with Fox News on Oct. 2.
Zoom in: The campaigns have agreed to no audience for the CNN debate, but they're still negotiating on how to handle cutting off microphones.
CNN announced Wednesday that its news anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will moderate the June 27th debate.
The Trump and Biden campaigns recently held back-channel conversations about cutting the Commission on Presidential Debates out of the process, the Washington Post reports.
The bottom line: RFK Jr. had a real chance at making the presidential debate stage for the traditional fall debates but could be cut out by the moved-up timelines of the new contests.
CNN's rules say a candidate needs four polls at 15% and they have to be on the ballot in enough states to secure 270 electoral votes.
Kennedy recently scored one poll at 16%, CNN's Harry Enten pointed out earlier this week.
Kennedy is on the ballot in four states, with ongoing efforts in 38 more.
I think Biden has lost the youth vote for good. Or maybe Israel isn't their primary issue. Major blunder combined with attacking their right to protest. . .
1. The U.S. [ie, the MICC, S3CP2, etc] "won" its Forever War against Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Yemen [with Saudi help], etc. Just like it [they] "won" in Kuwait, Central America, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and Korea before that.
2. Having destroyed Gaza, what will the U.S. have to do to save Israel? And along with it, America's corporate fossil fuel interests in the entire Middle East?
3. Since when did the MICC/S3CP2 worry about American military forces being defeated in any War with Anybody? Remember: the objective of all of America's Wars has not ever been to Win them, but to Have them. All the while setting the stage for the Next War against Somebody else, Someplace else,
4. How long do You think they will go along with having No Say on any of this before they rise up and declare ¡YA BASTA! , and then act upon that declaration.
1. Losses can always be spun as wins. It's the American way.
2. Corporate interests are transnational and bigger than the U.S.
3. True. But Americans don't like losers, so the losses need to spun as "wins" or blamed on anti-war critics like us.
4. We're trapped on the Titanic after striking the iceberg. So how can we rise up when the ship is sinking? It's every person for himself/herself/themselves.
1. How is what is happening in Ukraine or Palestine being EFFECTIVELY spun as being “wins,” Bill? And how many Americans are taking in what is being described to them as “Wins,” and are beginning to realize that they are more likely to be ~ if not now, then eventually ~ Losses?
That may explain why is there a significant and growing dissent in Congress about increasing, continuing, or stopping military aid to Kyiv and/or Tel Aviv. From all sides of the spectrum. And i suspect that there is growing dissent ~ and discontent ~ among certain elements of the American Peoples on these matters, as well.
2. Are they bigger than Israel? And how effective would all those transnational, corporate interests be if they did not have at their ready beck, call, and disposal America’s MICC/S3CP2? Or would they turn to Russia and/or China for security purposes?
3. And so how are we war critics reacting and responding to being blamed for another War ~ or, in this case, Wars ~ that is/are being “lost”? Or at least not “Won,” by any definition. Now that there has been the initial flurry of activity, what happens next? The Times, they just keep on getting interestiner and innerestinger, eh?
What is the State of the AntiWar Movement in America today, 173 days before Election2024? Are the pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel/anti-Hamas-Israel War efforts all there is? Are there any active or sustained efforts against America’s War with Russia in Ukraine? Or anybody anticipating any fun and games between China and the American-commanded Ring Of Fire assembling to China’s East? Or when the U.S. launches an assault on its Southern Border? i need to do some research.
4. Then You DO think that it is already far, far too late for any changes to America’s system of government and governance; that the hull has been breached and is irreparable?
i must admit, Bill, that that takes me a bit by surprise. And not just a little bit; but quite a bit.
If i may ask: When do You think America hit The Iceberg; and What specifically was The Iceberg that it hit?
That is indeed a very striking analogy, Bill. It lends a whole new dimension to and perspective on: #USACCL???: Will America Survive To Celebrate Its 250th Birthday on July 4, 2026, 780 days from today?
ps: Additional Question:
5. Are there any other Nation-State Ships close enough to the sinking United States Of America Ship to rescue survivors of the Iceberg Strike and the immediate chaos afterward?
1. The Biden admin. is telling the American people Ukraine is winning and that Ukraine will prevail. And that we're on the right side against Evil Putin. That narrative is "winning" judging by the roughly $175 billion sent or promised to Ukraine by Congress.
2. Transnational corporate interests are bigger than Israel, but they are not inseparable from that country, I think.
3. We say bullshit, but our voices are drowned out by the corporate media. The antiwar movement in America, sadly, is less than the sum of its parts because "leftist" voices don't make common cause with "rightist" ones, and vice-versa. And, of course, there's no draft while the wars also occur off-stage to most Americans.
4. I don't know. My analogy to the Titanic was meant to be serious and humorous at the same time. Given the corruption of Congress, the "choice" of Biden or Trump, the compromised nature of SCOTUS, and the domination of the National Security State over foreign affairs, I am very pessimistic about a political revolution, Jeff.
1. And we are told and attempted to be sold the same thing about being on “the right side” against the Evil Hamas [not, please note, the Evil Gazans or Palestinians or Muslims or Arabs], and the amount of money sent to and spent on Israel as the cost of admission to that “right side.”
But my point was and is that that money for Ukraine and Israel didn’t just sail thru Congress to Biden’s desk. It took some wheeling and dealing at the slickest levels by the current “Leadership” of the American government ~ of both parties ~ for that promise by Congress to be made and now have kept. That’s a bit different than things have been recently, isn’t it? At least since 9/11.
2. Again, i’ll ask: Are they inseparable from the US? Particularly when it comes to using its military might and, probably even more so, its status as prime holder of the world’s reserve currency, quantity available able to be increased at will? [At least for the moment.]
3. Can that fact be overcome, Bill? That the “left” and the “right” can’t set aside their completely, totally, fundamentally not merely Different, but strongly if not totally Opposing legal/social/economic/and political worldviews, theories, and manifestations in the Real World to become a Force for Peace and Against War. And to focus on That, and Only That.
Can there be some way ~ any way ~ that the Cause of Peace, of The End of War can be placed at the top of the List Of Things To Get Done by both the Left and the Right, and set all those other less immediately critical issues and disagreements on hold until there is, in fact, The End of War?
And here’s a Thought [offered not in jest]: Start a campaign to bring back The Draft for the sole, publicly expressed purpose and intention being to bring all of America’s Wars from off-stage to right on the front row at high school graduation.
If America’s high schoolers had to worry about getting drafted and sent off to fight, kill, maim and/or be killed or maimed in someplace they can’t find on a map of the World, they might begin to pay more attention to things going on around and ahead of them.
It could be sold to The Right as every American’s “Patriotic Duty” to serve her or his country if and as necessary; and to the Left as how to prevent this government from having to use a Draft to defend the country. Particularly in places most Americans ~ and not just high schoolers ~ can’t find on a map of the world.
4. It was indeed very serious and humorous [as in “striking”] at the same time. It definitely got and has my attention, at least.
And to go back to the original style of Question: What were the odds that Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence would or even could eventually morph into the Constitution of The United States of America after the original Colonies successfully seceded from the British Empire in what is mistermed “The American Revolution”?
I think Biden's "reversal" is not that at all. It shows that His "red line" was theatrical not ethical.
He got loads of press coverage for the stunt, which I believed it was from the start. I wonder how many concerned Democrats encouraged by the "ban" will even beware of how hollow it truly was.
EXACTLY, TW and TomG. It was theater, a stunt, meant to give Biden a bit of (im)plausible deniability for the worst of what is to occur in Rafah.
I think Israel is effectively destroying its future. Nobody approves of ethnic cleansing and the only thing that has allowed Israel to do it with impunity is the protection of the US. Now with this blatant slaughter in Gaza any sympathy provided by the holocaust is exhausted and everyone now alive above the age of 15 will have the images of Gaza in their heads for a lifetime, not least the Gazans and the entire Arab world. The UN every year has tried to sanction Israel and get it to give up the occupied territories and every year the US has vetoed it. What an awful indelible record of injustice.
I read Haaretz every day and I am impressed by the fact that the comments on the articles there are overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian, many of those commenting saying that they are Jews. Israel is eagerly destroying its successful image building campaign to reveal the heart of the project. The whole world is repulsed. 38 members of Congress voted against sending the last batch of weapons to Israel. 38 members when not long ago one couldn't find a single vote against anything that wasn't beneficial to Israel. Congress is taking heat for the first time over Israel. That is something for this septuagenarian to see.
The jig is up and the US is embarrassed almost every day for what it is doing that has nothing to do with liberty and justice for all. If I had to bet on the money from billionaires or the protesters I would bet on the protesters, growing in number all the time. Israel's supporters in the US sound ever more frantic and deranged (Ben Shapiro, Bill Ackman and Alan Dershowitz) defending the indefensible. The exposure of Zionism is the one area of world affairs where I am optimistic, but there will be plenty more blood spilled and lots of big donor money spent before an accommodation is reached. A bonus to all this tragedy is that the corruption of the US political system is laid bare alongside the ideology of Zionism that the corruption supports.
Biden remains the same amoral corrupt politician he's always been. His pronouncements have always been distortions and lies.
How could we expect anything more from this savage beast of a man?
Like i just commented, TomR: Biden has been in Washington since Nixon was President.
What else can, could, or should anybody expect from him except what they get?
And meanwhile, Blinken is playing guitar at a bar in Kiev.
And very badly. Just like our foreign policy. It reminds me of the Bertrand Russell line that if a society concentrates on turning out third rate philosophers rather than first rate plumbers, neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.
Biden called for labelling every other munition "approved" and the others "not approved" and decided to ship only the "approved" ones. (sarc)
Hey Dennis, did you catch this: https://babylonbee.com/news/to-avoid-further-embarrassment-white-house-installs-breathalyzer-on-kamala-harriss-microphone
The thing to remember about Biden's stunt/performance is that it is all totally and completely controlled by his owners, operators, commanders, and controllers thru his handlers and script writers.
And given the fact that he has been in DC since Nixon was President, that shouldn't come as a great surprise to anybody, should it?
True.
Still a war criminal on his own.
I will be curious to see if the puppet masters allow Biden on a stage with Trump in a debate without a teleprompter or a set of notes. Either that or they pump him full of drugs as he seemed to be at the SOTU and let him go off on Trump.
Ben Dover for Satan!
Anybody with any doubts whatsoever that Trump and Biden are owned, operated, commanded, and controlled by the same Ruling Political Class of America needs to read and reflect on the following... :
TRUMP AND BIDEN UPEND THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES by Justin Green, Alex Thompson, Sophia Cai, and Erin Doherty / AXIOS 15 May24
In a whirlwind few hours, President Biden and former President Trump have upended the traditional presidential debates — and moved to box out RFK Jr.
Why it matters: BOTH BIDEN AND TRUMP ARE GENUINELY CONVINCED THE COUNTRY WILL SIDE WITH THEM AFTER SEEING THE TWO OF THEM ON STAGE TOGETHER: Trump doesn't believe Biden has the mental or physical stamina for the job; Biden thinks people will recoil at Trump's behavior and rhetoric.
To catch you up on today's rapid-fire back and forth:
Biden's campaign announced this morning it wouldn't take part in fall debates by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. It offered one-on-one debates with Trump in June and September, with no studio audience and microphones that could be cut.
Trump immediately accepted, telling Salem Media radio host Hugh Hewitt he'll debate with any moderator.
Biden and Trump accepted a CNN invite for a debate on June 27, the two candidates said this morning. THAT'S BEFORE EITHER PARTY HAS ITS NATIONAL CONVENTION TO OFFICIALLY PICK PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEES.
The Trump campaign then proposed extra debates in July and August.
RFK Jr. then accused the two campaigns of "colluding" against his campaign to "avoid discussion of their eight years of mutual failure."
Trump and Biden then accepted invites from ABC News for a debate on Sept. 10.
Trump also said that he accepted a debate with Fox News on Oct. 2.
Zoom in: The campaigns have agreed to no audience for the CNN debate, but they're still negotiating on how to handle cutting off microphones.
CNN announced Wednesday that its news anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will moderate the June 27th debate.
The Trump and Biden campaigns recently held back-channel conversations about cutting the Commission on Presidential Debates out of the process, the Washington Post reports.
The bottom line: RFK Jr. had a real chance at making the presidential debate stage for the traditional fall debates but could be cut out by the moved-up timelines of the new contests.
CNN's rules say a candidate needs four polls at 15% and they have to be on the ballot in enough states to secure 270 electoral votes.
Kennedy recently scored one poll at 16%, CNN's Harry Enten pointed out earlier this week.
Kennedy is on the ballot in four states, with ongoing efforts in 38 more.
Source: https://www.axios.com/2024/05/15/biden-trump-presidential-debates-cnn-abc-rfk-jr ; EMPHASES added.
And this Phase of the proposed, projected, planned, and programmed War with China may have just begun... :
BIDEN HIKES TARIFFS ON CHINESE EVS, SOLAR CELLS, STEEL, ALUMINUM - AND SNIPES AT TRUMP
Source: https://apnews.com/article/biden-china-tariffs-electric-vehicles-evs-solar-2024ba735c47e04a50898a88425c5e2c .
I think Biden has lost the youth vote for good. Or maybe Israel isn't their primary issue. Major blunder combined with attacking their right to protest. . .
Overheard in the War Planning Room Latrine... :
“What are the odds that America is going to lose its proxy War with Russia in Ukraine?”
“What are the odds that Israel and America are going to lose their genocidal War with Palestine in Gaza?”
“What are the odds that American military forces will be defeated by Chinese forces when in direct combat in East Asia?”
“And how will the American Peoples react and respond when any and/or all of those things happen? Any bets any way on that?”
My take, Jeff:
1. In Ukraine, the U.S. has already "won," by which I mean the corporate owners and war profiteers.
2. Gaza has largely ceased to exist. We had to destroy Gaza to save it. Mission accomplished.
3. Very high, hence there'll be no war with China.
4. The American people have no say.
Heh. Very Good points, Bill. If that's case:
1. The U.S. [ie, the MICC, S3CP2, etc] "won" its Forever War against Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Yemen [with Saudi help], etc. Just like it [they] "won" in Kuwait, Central America, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and Korea before that.
2. Having destroyed Gaza, what will the U.S. have to do to save Israel? And along with it, America's corporate fossil fuel interests in the entire Middle East?
3. Since when did the MICC/S3CP2 worry about American military forces being defeated in any War with Anybody? Remember: the objective of all of America's Wars has not ever been to Win them, but to Have them. All the while setting the stage for the Next War against Somebody else, Someplace else,
4. How long do You think they will go along with having No Say on any of this before they rise up and declare ¡YA BASTA! , and then act upon that declaration.
[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C2%A1Ya_basta! ]
Or is it already far, far too late for that?
1. Losses can always be spun as wins. It's the American way.
2. Corporate interests are transnational and bigger than the U.S.
3. True. But Americans don't like losers, so the losses need to spun as "wins" or blamed on anti-war critics like us.
4. We're trapped on the Titanic after striking the iceberg. So how can we rise up when the ship is sinking? It's every person for himself/herself/themselves.
1. How is what is happening in Ukraine or Palestine being EFFECTIVELY spun as being “wins,” Bill? And how many Americans are taking in what is being described to them as “Wins,” and are beginning to realize that they are more likely to be ~ if not now, then eventually ~ Losses?
That may explain why is there a significant and growing dissent in Congress about increasing, continuing, or stopping military aid to Kyiv and/or Tel Aviv. From all sides of the spectrum. And i suspect that there is growing dissent ~ and discontent ~ among certain elements of the American Peoples on these matters, as well.
2. Are they bigger than Israel? And how effective would all those transnational, corporate interests be if they did not have at their ready beck, call, and disposal America’s MICC/S3CP2? Or would they turn to Russia and/or China for security purposes?
3. And so how are we war critics reacting and responding to being blamed for another War ~ or, in this case, Wars ~ that is/are being “lost”? Or at least not “Won,” by any definition. Now that there has been the initial flurry of activity, what happens next? The Times, they just keep on getting interestiner and innerestinger, eh?
What is the State of the AntiWar Movement in America today, 173 days before Election2024? Are the pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel/anti-Hamas-Israel War efforts all there is? Are there any active or sustained efforts against America’s War with Russia in Ukraine? Or anybody anticipating any fun and games between China and the American-commanded Ring Of Fire assembling to China’s East? Or when the U.S. launches an assault on its Southern Border? i need to do some research.
4. Then You DO think that it is already far, far too late for any changes to America’s system of government and governance; that the hull has been breached and is irreparable?
i must admit, Bill, that that takes me a bit by surprise. And not just a little bit; but quite a bit.
If i may ask: When do You think America hit The Iceberg; and What specifically was The Iceberg that it hit?
That is indeed a very striking analogy, Bill. It lends a whole new dimension to and perspective on: #USACCL???: Will America Survive To Celebrate Its 250th Birthday on July 4, 2026, 780 days from today?
ps: Additional Question:
5. Are there any other Nation-State Ships close enough to the sinking United States Of America Ship to rescue survivors of the Iceberg Strike and the immediate chaos afterward?
1. The Biden admin. is telling the American people Ukraine is winning and that Ukraine will prevail. And that we're on the right side against Evil Putin. That narrative is "winning" judging by the roughly $175 billion sent or promised to Ukraine by Congress.
2. Transnational corporate interests are bigger than Israel, but they are not inseparable from that country, I think.
3. We say bullshit, but our voices are drowned out by the corporate media. The antiwar movement in America, sadly, is less than the sum of its parts because "leftist" voices don't make common cause with "rightist" ones, and vice-versa. And, of course, there's no draft while the wars also occur off-stage to most Americans.
4. I don't know. My analogy to the Titanic was meant to be serious and humorous at the same time. Given the corruption of Congress, the "choice" of Biden or Trump, the compromised nature of SCOTUS, and the domination of the National Security State over foreign affairs, I am very pessimistic about a political revolution, Jeff.
1. And we are told and attempted to be sold the same thing about being on “the right side” against the Evil Hamas [not, please note, the Evil Gazans or Palestinians or Muslims or Arabs], and the amount of money sent to and spent on Israel as the cost of admission to that “right side.”
But my point was and is that that money for Ukraine and Israel didn’t just sail thru Congress to Biden’s desk. It took some wheeling and dealing at the slickest levels by the current “Leadership” of the American government ~ of both parties ~ for that promise by Congress to be made and now have kept. That’s a bit different than things have been recently, isn’t it? At least since 9/11.
2. Again, i’ll ask: Are they inseparable from the US? Particularly when it comes to using its military might and, probably even more so, its status as prime holder of the world’s reserve currency, quantity available able to be increased at will? [At least for the moment.]
3. Can that fact be overcome, Bill? That the “left” and the “right” can’t set aside their completely, totally, fundamentally not merely Different, but strongly if not totally Opposing legal/social/economic/and political worldviews, theories, and manifestations in the Real World to become a Force for Peace and Against War. And to focus on That, and Only That.
Can there be some way ~ any way ~ that the Cause of Peace, of The End of War can be placed at the top of the List Of Things To Get Done by both the Left and the Right, and set all those other less immediately critical issues and disagreements on hold until there is, in fact, The End of War?
And here’s a Thought [offered not in jest]: Start a campaign to bring back The Draft for the sole, publicly expressed purpose and intention being to bring all of America’s Wars from off-stage to right on the front row at high school graduation.
If America’s high schoolers had to worry about getting drafted and sent off to fight, kill, maim and/or be killed or maimed in someplace they can’t find on a map of the World, they might begin to pay more attention to things going on around and ahead of them.
It could be sold to The Right as every American’s “Patriotic Duty” to serve her or his country if and as necessary; and to the Left as how to prevent this government from having to use a Draft to defend the country. Particularly in places most Americans ~ and not just high schoolers ~ can’t find on a map of the world.
4. It was indeed very serious and humorous [as in “striking”] at the same time. It definitely got and has my attention, at least.
And to go back to the original style of Question: What were the odds that Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence would or even could eventually morph into the Constitution of The United States of America after the original Colonies successfully seceded from the British Empire in what is mistermed “The American Revolution”?
I don't want to confuse the message with the courage of the messenger.
"like" is not the reappropriate response here.
How true. Perhaps "disgusted" should be added as an option.