AP News: Top UN court says Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian territories is illegal and must end

I want to thank Ali for kindly and nicely pointing out the link never published to this story. Thank you Ali you are grand! Hugs. Scottie

https://apnews.com/article/icj-court-israel-palestinians-settlements-2d5178500c0410341b252335859f2316

BY MIKE CORDER

Updated 10:18 PM EDT, July 19, 2024

Share

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The top United Nations court said Friday that Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful and called on it to end, and for settlement construction to stop immediately, issuing an unprecedented, sweeping condemnation of Israel’s rule over the lands it captured 57 years ago.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly denounced the nonbinding opinion issued by the 15-judge panel of the International Court of Justice, saying the territories are part of the Jewish people’s historic homeland. But the resounding breadth of the decision could impact international opinion and fuel moves for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.

The judges pointed to a wide list of policies, including the building and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, use of the area’s natural resources, the annexation and imposition of permanent control over lands and discriminatory policies against Palestinians, all of which it said violated international law.

The court said Israel had no right to sovereignty in the territories, was violating international laws against acquiring territory by force and was impeding Palestinians’ right to self-determination. It said other nations were obliged not to “render aid or assistance in maintaining” Israel’s presence in the territories. It said Israel must end settlement construction immediately and that existing settlements must be removed, according to a summary of the more than 80-page opinion read out by court President Nawaf Salam.

Israel’s “abuse of its status as the occupying power” renders its “presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful,” the court said, saying its presence must be ended as “rapidly as possible.”

The court’s opinion, sought by the U.N. General Assembly after a Palestinian request, came against the backdrop of Israel’s devastating military assault on Gaza, which was triggered by the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7. In a separate case, the International Court of Justice is considering a South African claim that Israel’s campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide, a claim that Israel vehemently denies.

The court said the General Assembly and Security Council — where staunch Israeli ally the United States holds a veto — should consider “the precise modalities” to end Israel’s presence in the territories.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will promptly transmit the advisory opinion to the 193-member world body and “it is for the General Assembly to decide how to proceed in the matter,” U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said.

The secretary-general reiterates his call for Israel and the Palestinians to engage “on the long-delayed political path towards ending the occupation and resolving the conflict in line with international law, relevant U.N. resolutions and bilateral agreements,” the spokesperson said.

Guterres also stressed that a two-state solution is “the only viable path” to seeing Israel and “a fully independent, democratic, contiguous, viable and sovereign Palestinian state” living side by side in peace and security, Haq said.

Israel, which normally considers the United Nations and international tribunals as unfair and biased, didn’t send a legal team to the hearings. Instead, it submitted written comments, saying that the questions put to the court are prejudiced and fail to address Israeli security concerns. Israeli officials have said the court’s intervention could undermine the peace process, which has been stagnant for more than a decade.

“The Jewish people are not conquerors in their own land — not in our eternal capital Jerusalem and not in the land of our ancestors in Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office, using the biblical terms for the West Bank. “No false decision in The Hague will distort this historical truth and likewise the legality of Israeli settlement in all the territories of our homeland cannot be contested.”

Speaking outside the court, Riad Malki, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called the opinion “a watershed moment for Palestine, for justice and for international law.”

He said other nations must now “uphold the clear obligations” outlined by the court. “No actions of any kind … to support Israel’s illegal occupation.”

Hamas welcomed the court’s decision and said in a statement that “serious steps on the ground” need to be taken in response.

Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek all three areas for an independent state.

Israel considers the West Bank to be disputed territory, the future of which should be decided in negotiations, while it has moved populations there in settlements to solidify its hold. It has annexed east Jerusalem in a move that isn’t internationally recognized, while it withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but maintained a blockade of the territory after Hamas took power in 2007. The international community generally considers all three areas to be occupied territory.

The court’s decision strikes at the heart of the ambiguity of Israel’s administration of the territories. Israel hasn’t annexed the West Bank — though settler groups have pressed it to do so — but it calls it part of its homeland and has effectively treated it as an extension of the nation. Along with the settlements, it has appropriated large swaths of the territory as “state lands.” At the same time, Netanyahu’s government has repeatedly rejected the creation of any Palestinian state. Abbas’ Palestinian Authority has been restricted to control over divided enclaves scattered around the West Bank.

The Palestinians presented arguments at hearings in February, along with 49 other nations and three international organizations. In the hearings, Malki accused Israel of apartheid and urged the United Nations’ top court to declare that Israel’s occupation of lands sought by the Palestinians is illegal and must end immediately and unconditionally for any hope for a two-state future to survive.

Erwin van Veen, a senior research fellow at the Clingendael think tank in The Hague, said before the decision that a ruling that Israel’s policies breach international law would “isolate Israel further internationally, at least from a legal point of view.”

He said such a ruling would remove “any kind of legal, political, philosophical underpinning of the Israeli expansion project.” It could also increase the number of countries that recognize a Palestinian state, in particular in the Western world, following the recent example of Spain, Norway and Ireland, he said.

It’s not the first time the ICJ has been asked to give its legal opinion on Israeli policies. Two decades ago, the court ruled that Israel’s West Bank separation barrier was “contrary to international law.” Israel boycotted those proceedings, saying they were politically motivated.

Israel says the barrier is a security measure. Palestinians say the structure amounts to a massive land grab, because it frequently dips into the West Bank.

The court said that Israel’s construction of settlements in the West Bank violated international laws prohibiting countries from moving their population into territories they occupy.

Israel has built well over 100 settlements, according to the anti-settlement monitoring group Peace Now. The West Bank settler population has grown by more than 15% in the past five years to more than 500,000 Israelis, according to a pro-settler group. Their residents are Israeli citizens governed by domestic law and served by government ministries, services, banks and other businesses — effectively integrating them into Israel.

Israel also has annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city to be its capital. An additional 200,000 Israelis live in settlements built in east Jerusalem that Israel considers to be neighborhoods of its capital. Palestinian residents of the city face systematic discrimination, making it difficult for them to build new homes or expand existing ones.

The international community considers all settlements to be illegal or obstacles to peace since they are built on lands sought by the Palestinians for their state.

Netanyahu’s hard-line government is dominated by settlers and their political supporters. Netanyahu has given his Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, a former settler leader, unprecedented authority over settlement policy. Smotrich has used this position to cement Israel’s control over the West Bank by pushing forward plans to build more settlement homes and to legalize outposts.

When Hatred of the Left Becomes Love for Putin

AZspot

“What’s more, the grievance and resentment at the heart of Trumpist nationalism in America is in some ways quite similar to the mentality of Putinist nationalism in Russia: One obsesses over losing the culture war and being disrespected by the “elites”; the other, over losing the Cold War and being disrespected by the West. Perhaps this explains other similarities in the two mindsets, from the penchant for provocation and in-your-face defiance of norms to the affinity for conspiracy theories. Too many American rightists look at the Putin regime and see kindred spirits.”

Ohio and Oklahoma: Two States Where Public Education Is Being Undermined by Far-Right Ideologues

Ohio and Oklahoma: Two States Where Public Education Is Being Undermined by Far-Right Ideologues

Thanks to politicians are poody heads for the link. Their link below. Destroying public education has been a goal of the right for a long time. They want to make it for profit and use it for public indoctrination in both right wing ideology and in the Christian religion. The one thing they don’t want to use school for is an educated public. The well off do not send their kids to public school. They want the public school to educate workers to follow orders and not to think for themselves. Hugs. Scottie

Posted on July 9, 2024 by janresseger

Ohio Senate President, Matt Huffman has been trying to hide behind the gerrymandered power of the Ohio GOP to avoid being deposed in court about the lobbyists he talked with privately as the Ohio Senate was getting ready to insert an especially lavish, last minute expansion of EdChoice vouchers into the state budget bill in June of 2023.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer‘s Laura Hancock explains: “A judge can’t force Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman to answer lawyers’ questions about which private school lobbyists he speaks to outside of legislative chambers, the Republican has argued before the Ohio Supreme Court.” Huffman doesn’t want to comply with a subpoena to testify in the case of the Vouchers Hurt Ohio, brought by 200 school districts to demonstrate that private school tuition vouchers violate the provisions of the Ohio Constitution. Hancock continues, referring to the step Huffman took to discourage school districts from joining the lawsuit: “Huffman’s battle has lasted over a year, and even included a request from Huffman during last year’s state budget season that every school district provide the legislature and Ohio Auditor Keith Faber the amount of money they’re spending on the litigation…. Huffman believes that a portion of the Ohio Constitution that privileges lawmakers’ speech and debate from questioning applies not just to speech and debate on the Senate floor but to all discussion on bills…”

And the gerrymandered legislature’s attempt to wield power isn’t limited to trying to avoid testifying in court about the voucher expansion. Marilou Johanek just penned another bombshell Ohio Capital Journal column about the debate last week as the legislature finished up work for the summer and autumn: “Nobody, but showboating extremists in the Ohio legislature, gives a damn about which school bathroom is used by a minuscule number of transgender students… Same goes for the nonsense cooked up in the Ohio Senate to wield an authoritarian hammer over the state’s highly regarded colleges and universities. It’s a kneejerk response to a long-running Fox News narrative about leftist indoctrination ruining higher ed. The MAGA Republican fever dream to own campus libs by censoring them lives in the Senate bill stalled in the Ohio House that nobody—except gerrymandered ideologues—wants or needs…. It doesn’t improve life for students or faculty and threatens to make it worse with tyrannical rule over great academic institutions.”

The best one can say is both of these bills have been passed by only one chamber and can’t be acted on again until the legislature reconvenes for a lame duck session right after the November election.

But Ohio’s GOP dictatorship pales compared what’s happening this month in Oklahoma—the state where, The Oklahoman‘s Murray Evans reports, “Oklahoma State Schools Superintendent Ryan Walters sent a letter to state school districts… ordering them to incorporate the Bible ‘as an instructional support into the curriculum’ for grades 5 through 12, citing its importance as a historical document. ‘Adherence to this mandate is compulsory,’ Walters’ letter read…. ‘Immediate and strict compliance is expected.’…. Walters announcement came two days after the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that a contract between the Statewide Virtual School Charter Board and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would have been the nation’s first religious-based charter school, violated both the state and U.S. Constitutions and state law.”

Evans provides evidence that Walter’s new order does not seem to represent the will of the voters. In 2016, they rejected “by more than 200,000 votes,” a state constitutional amendment to remove Section 5, Article 2 of the Oklahoma Constitution, “which states, ‘No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such.’”

It is hard to understand why Oklahoma’s state school superintendent is prioritizing mandating the insertion of Bible teaching into the public schools when, as in Ohio, needed school funding and other immediate issues for the state’s public schools are apparent. For years, for example, we have read about teachers leaving Oklahoma for nearby Texas, where teachers’ salaries are higher. In the most recent in a series of reports tracking teachers’ salaries, the Economic Policy Institute showed that in Oklahoma, the disparity between the salaries of teachers and other comparably trained professionals is forth largest in the nation. The only states where teachers’ salaries are more inadequate are Colorado, Arizona, and Virginia.

The President and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Rachel Laser released the following statement about Ryan Walter’s act to command Bible teaching in all of Oklahoma’s public schools: “Public schools are not Sunday schools… This is textbook Christian Nationalism. Walters is abusing the power of his public office to impose his religious beliefs on everyone else’s children… Christian Nationalists and their lawmaker allies want to replace school counselors with religious chaplains, allow teachers and coaches to pray with students, teach Creationism in science classes, and ban books and censor curricula that feature LGBTQ+ people and racial and religious minorities.”

Two sociologists, Philip S. Gorski at Yale University and Samuel L. Perry at the University of Oklahoma, define the mythology of white Christian nationalism in their excellent book, The Flag and the Cross: “White Christian nationalism is a ‘deep story’ about America’s past and a vision of its future. It includes cherished assumptions about what America was and is, but also what it it should be… America was founded as a Christian nation by (white) men who were ‘traditional’ Christians, who based the nation’s founding documents on ‘Christian principles.’ The United States is blessed by God, which is why it has been so successful; and the nation has a special role to play in God’s plan for humanity. But these blessings are threatened by cultural degradation from ‘un-American’ influences both inside and outside our borders.” (The Flag and The Cross, pp. 3-4)

Gorski and Perry conclude: “White Christian nationalism is our term for the ethno-traditionalism among many white Americans that conflates racial, religious, and national identity (the deep story) and pines for cultural and political power that demographic and cultural shifts have increasingly threatened…. (T)he term Christian in white Christian nationalism is often far more akin to a dog whistle that calls out to an aggrieved tribe than a description of the content of one’s faith.” (The Flag and The Cross, p. 44)

In an opinion piece for CNN, the executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty, Amanda Tyler succinctly defines how Christian nationalists like Oklahoma State Schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, “threaten the careful balance worked out over more than half a century by the courts, presidential administrations from both parties and a diverse set of interest groups about how best to recognize the religious freedom rights of students, teachers and administrators in our pluralistic public schools. These recent developments are… just the latest examples of a concerted strategy to inject the political ideology of Christian nationalism into public education. Christian nationalism, which merges Christian and American identities, relies on a false narrative of the U.S. as a ‘Christian nation’—a country founded by Christians and for Christians. Such mythology betrays our history and constitutional framework, which created a separation between the institutions of religion and government so that all religions could flourish without the state’s control.”

Trump’s VP Pick J.D. Vance Is an Anti-LGBTQ+ Nightmare

https://www.them.us/story/jd-vance-trump-vp-running-mate-anti-lgbtq-record

The Ohio senator vocally supports anti-trans policies and opposed a law codifying marriage equality.

BY NICO LANG
July 15, 2024

Bloomberg

Donald Trump has chosen J.D. Vance as his running mate, the former president announced on Monday.

Vance, a first-term Republican senator from Ohio, was widely expected to be Trump’s vice presidential pick as the pool of potential hopefuls narrowed earlier in the day. Just hours before the announcement, several outlets reported that Gov. Doug Burgum (R-N.D.) and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) were informed by the Trump campaign that they would not be on the 2024 ticket. Others previously thought to be on Trump’s short list included Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), U.S. House Rep. Elise Stefanink (R-N.Y.), and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.

In a post on his own tech platform, Truth Social, Trump lauded Vance as the “person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States.”

“J.D. honorably served our Country in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, Summa Cum Laude, and is a Yale Law School Graduate, where he was Editor of The Yale Law Journal, and President of the Yale Law Veterans Association,” he said, adding that he “will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond.”

The choice of Vance, who rose to fame as the author of the controversial memoir Hillbilly Elegy, was likely intended to help Trump shore up support among white, lower-income voters in the Midwest, where President Joe Biden is considered vulnerable in the 2024 race. According to poll averages from FiveThirtyEight, Trump leads Biden by more than nine points in Vance’s home state of Ohio, and Biden also trails in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Biden would likely need to win all three of the latter states to stave off a second Trump term, with swing states like Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada also looking vulnerable in 2024.

A former critic of Trump who recast himself as a politician in the MAGA model, Vance’s LGBTQ+ record differs very little from the man at the top of his ticket. During his two years in the U.S. Senate, Vance opposed the Respect for Marriage Act, which codified federal same-sex marriage rights in the event that Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2004 ruling legalizing marriage equality, is repealed by the Supreme Court. He also authored the Protect Children’s Innocence Act, which would make it a class C felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, to provide gender-affirming surgery to trans minors. (This despite the fact that transition surgeries are rarely offered to patients under the age of 18 and only in cases of extreme medical need.)

Additionally, Vance is a supporter of the so-called “parent’s rights” movement, which advocates that LGBTQ+ students be outed to their parents and seeks to remove queer-affirming resources from classrooms. He has repeatedly referred to opponents of those actions as “groomers,” such as in an April 2022 post on X. “I’ll stop calling people ‘groomers’ when they stop freaking out about bills that prevent the sexualization of my children,” he wrote at the time.

The 39-year-old politician has also opposed diversity and inclusion in the U.S. armed forces, suggesting that he is likely to support re-banning trans servicemembers from the military should Trump be elected. “American political leaders should stop using America’s military as a social justice side project,” his 2022 campaign site reads. “Troops don’t need to focus on diversity or equity or any other progressive buzzword; they need to focus on fighting and winning America’s wars.” The removal of trans troops from the military is a major component of Project 2025, a set of far-right policy proposals shaped and promoted by the anti-LGBTQ+ Heritage Foundation, which Trump has sought to distance himself from in recent days.

Vance’s anti-LGBTQ+ background also includes claiming that Biden supports Ukraine because Russian President Vladimir Putin is anti-trans and blaming the “childless left” for America’s decline, specifically citing U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Furthermore, he once accused U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) of making up the term “Two-Spirit,” which is broadly embraced by LGBTQ+ Native Americans to describe their identities. “Would love if progressives just stopped inventing words,” Vance posted on X in February 2021.

In repeatedly opposing LGBTQ+ equality, Vance has found a perfect match in Trump, whose administration was responsible for more than 200 attacks on queer rights in four years, according to GLAAD. These assaults included repealing protections for trans students, removing resources for LGBTQ+ Americans from federal websites, decimating funding for global HIV/AIDS prevention, and appointing a record-number of judges opposed to LGBTQ+ equality. His administration also made it harder for marginally housed people to find safe shelter and opposed workplace protections for LGBTQ+ employees.

Trump, whose own supporters threatened to kill his last vice president for refusing to support Trump’s 2020 bid to remain in office, is likely to resume many of those policies if reelected in November.

Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for Them’s weekly newsletter here.

Report: Staggering Number Of Palestinians Have And Will Die Because Of Israel Since Oct. 7th

Gaza BOMBSHELL Report Ignored By Mainstream Media

This Lancet article by three medical experts is absolutely chilling – and yet largely ignored. That tells you all you need to know.

The Media Rigs The 2024 Election

https://www.oliverexplains.com/p/the-media-rigs-the-2024-election

I want to thank Ten Bears for the link, his link I will post below. Please read the article, and see how the news media has tried to mislead and lead the public to accept the candidate that will make them the most income. Grand read. Please do. It explains the totally unequal reporting on Biden and tRump, and other elections, and explains we must ignore it, and vote for democracy and that means vote for Biden. Hugs. Scottie.

Some quotes from the article.

How else to explain the manner in which the people who reflexively insist there are “two sides” to every issue have completely dispensed with reporting in full dimensions the issues around Biden’s performance? The press has chosen a lane, best exemplified by the New York Times loading up their front page and home page with anti-Biden narratives. The debate within the Democratic Party and liberalism is being reported as a one-sided affair, despite prominent leaders in the party making the argument for Biden’s continued candidacy. In the media pack, that storyline effectively has ceased to exist. They want Biden out, and they want him out now.

Why is the press doing this? While I think that there is some truth to the fact that the ownership of most of these media outlets has a conservative world view and that they are happy to pillory the Democratic Party at every opportunity they get, I think the reasoning is simpler.

The Biden administration has been competently boring, passing a roster of better than anticipated legislative achievements that have led to low unemployment, low fuel prices, massive infrastructure investment and now-declining inflation. This is great for America but it sucks for the bank accounts of most journalists.

During the Trump presidency they didn’t have to bother covering things like replacing lead pipes in Black communities or attempts to forgive billions in student debt. No, under Trump they had a never ending stream of feuds instigated by Trump, ranging from childish insults thrown at Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, NATO, and random people on social media. They had Trump insiders leaking office gossip about Omarosa, Diet Pepsi and other nonsense to stenographers like the New York Times’ resident Regina George, Maggie Haberman.

This led to massive online traffic, a bump in television ratings and book deals, so many book deals. ABC News’ Jonathan Karl has somehow squeezed out three Trump books, and the title of his first bestselling tome gives the game away: “Front Row at the Trump Show.”

Faced with the choice of another four years of Biden/Harris or the gravy train of Trump, the press has openly picked Trump. Even before the debate, the media studiously minimized Trump’s criminal convictions, fascist rantings, verbal diarrhea and his use of language literally out of Adolf Hitler’s playbook. Instead, they decided that the most important story in this race was Biden’s age.

See the point of the article. The media makes big money off tRump and loses money on Biden. They don’t give a flying F**k about democracy, in the US profit is king! So please read the article and don’t fall for it. Hugs. Scottie.

Twicky Twexas Twosday …

History Continues To Repeat Itself

OLIVER WILLIS

JUL 05, 2024

President Joe Biden’s performance in the first presidential debate was abysmal. Regardless of the reason for what occurred it was a betrayal of the trust millions of Americans have put in him over the last four years, not just as a partisan party leader, but as the head of the American government. The debate over how he and the Democrats should proceed from here is a legitimate discussion worth having.

Oliver Willis Explains is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe

This is completely separate from the media feeding frenzy that has raged nonstop since before the end of the debate.

What is happening in the mainstream American media in outlets like the New York Times, CNN, the Associated Press and beyond is disgraceful and beyond contempt. The free flow of disdain for Biden, Democratic voters, and the sanctity of public discourse is obvious to even the most casual observer.

I have not seen worse behavior since the same press aided and abetted George W. Bush in selling a pack of lies about Iraq and weapons of mass destruction from 2001-2004. It isn’t even worth saying the press should be ashamed because they have shown us time and time again, they have no shame.

As a longtime critic of political reporting, a frequent fig leaf often offered in defense as outlets circle the wagons against liberal criticism, is that it is unfair to assess them as a herd. We are individuals, they protest, and the worst of us should not be lumped in with exemplary moments of reporting.

But to appropriate Bette Davis in Whatever Happened To Baby Jane: Media, you are in that pack.

How else to explain the manner in which the people who reflexively insist there are “two sides” to every issue have completely dispensed with reporting in full dimensions the issues around Biden’s performance? The press has chosen a lane, best exemplified by the New York Times loading up their front page and home page with anti-Biden narratives. The debate within the Democratic Party and liberalism is being reported as a one-sided affair, despite prominent leaders in the party making the argument for Biden’s continued candidacy. In the media pack, that storyline effectively has ceased to exist. They want Biden out, and they want him out now.

We’ve seen this kind of thing again and again from this pack of jackals. We saw it in the withdrawal from Afghanistan, when the press all but ignored successful operations to evacuate personnel and instead hyped up problems and misfires. We had purportedly nonpartisan reporters at outlets like CNN sounding like sock puppets for the Lindsey Grahams and Ted Cruzes of the world in expressing exasperation at Biden’s operation.

We also of course saw it in the 2016 election, when a collective shrug was made at Trump after he mocked the disabled and called Mexicans rapists, in favor of what was the single most important national security issue in American history: Hillary Clinton’s emails.

This deranged behavior also popped up when the press complained incessantly that President Barack Obama needed to go out and play golf with then-Speaker John Boehner, and again when the media decided the Clintons were too bumpkin to be a part of official Washington in the early 1990s, and their behavior helped pave the way for one of the most disastrous presidencies in American history because they spent the entire 2000 election cycle calling Al Gore a liar. Ever notice how even though Bush knowingly lied about WMDs, the press has never elevated that to the same level of scandal as Gore (accurately) describing his key role in contributing to the early internet? Yeah.

Why is the press doing this? While I think that there is some truth to the fact that the ownership of most of these media outlets has a conservative world view and that they are happy to pillory the Democratic Party at every opportunity they get, I think the reasoning is simpler.

The media misses Donald Trump. And they would like him to win.

The members of the mainstream media are human beings (despite frequent appearances to the contrary) and human beings respond to incentives. There is an enormous personal financial incentive to another four years of Trump in the White House, and a disincentive for the press pack if Biden (or any other Democrat) is in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Biden administration has been competently boring, passing a roster of better than anticipated legislative achievements that have led to low unemployment, low fuel prices, massive infrastructure investment and now-declining inflation. This is great for America but it sucks for the bank accounts of most journalists.

During the Trump presidency they didn’t have to bother covering things like replacing lead pipes in Black communities or attempts to forgive billions in student debt. No, under Trump they had a never ending stream of feuds instigated by Trump, ranging from childish insults thrown at Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, NATO, and random people on social media. They had Trump insiders leaking office gossip about Omarosa, Diet Pepsi and other nonsense to stenographers like the New York Times’ resident Regina George, Maggie Haberman.

This led to massive online traffic, a bump in television ratings and book deals, so many book deals. ABC News’ Jonathan Karl has somehow squeezed out three Trump books, and the title of his first bestselling tome gives the game away: “Front Row at the Trump Show.”

Faced with the choice of another four years of Biden/Harris or the gravy train of Trump, the press has openly picked Trump. Even before the debate, the media studiously minimized Trump’s criminal convictions, fascist rantings, verbal diarrhea and his use of language literally out of Adolf Hitler’s playbook. Instead, they decided that the most important story in this race was Biden’s age.

When responding to criticism of this coverage choice, they resort to that tired old defense, insisting that they merely cover the news and that liberals are upset because it paints their candidate in a poor light.

But what they chose to do was put their entire body (not just a thumb) on the scales. The same way in which they minimized Russian interference in the election to focus on Clinton’s staffers sharing food recipes and the national security implications of risotto, they elevated Biden’s age above all else.

The press has long ago thrown away the veneer of plausible deniability in this practice and where I would fault fellow liberals is giving the press the benefit of the doubt. Surely, the thought process goes, they are as afraid of how a second Trump term would crack down on their ability to do their jobs and exercise their freedom as the rest of us.

This is unfortunately naive. These people do not care. They are far more interested in their personal financial gain and professional standing than the future of the country. Just like they didn’t care about what Bush would do to the citizens of Iraq and the American military as they rushed to publish and broadcast “scoops” about nonexistent weapons. They don’t care. A cursory study of the history of Germany shows far too many were quite happy to either turn a blind eye to Hitler’s ascent because after all, currency from Nazis is still currency.

We are in a bad place in this country and we have been for some time. The political system has been in near-constant upheaval, the party tasked with providing adult leadership (the Democrats) has shown a compulsive disinterest in adapting to the politics and communications strategies of the modern era, and the press stinks.

What is needed is constant pressure on these people, in nonviolent and legal ways, to blunt the ill effects of their zealotry on the country. The press went off into the deep end decades ago, now they are trying to drag the rest of us even further into deep, dark trenches that we may never be able to claw our way out of.

“The actions of the junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn’t create this situation of fear; he merely exploited it – and rather successfully. Cassius was right. ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.’

Good night and good luck.” – Edward R. Murrow, 1954

If you like this newsletter, please consider becoming a paying subscriber by clicking here to join. I won’t be putting any of my regular columns behind a paywall and they will always be free. Thanks to everyone who has subscribed so far!

— Oliver

Follow me, Oliver Willis, on Threads @owillis1977

Exclusive Kal-El Photo

Kal is blissfully unaware of this mess and I envy him. The squirrels are a problem though.

Subscribe to Oliver Willis Explains

Hundreds of paid subscribers

Oliver Willis explains politics, the media, and the world

Subscribe

The Loudest Pundits Don’t Talk to Voters, I do…

https://jesspiper.substack.com/p/the-loudest-pundits-dont-talk-to?r=1pk2l&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true

This was from a link from Ali. I have asked Ali to be an author on the blog, she could then post these links she feels are important. This should put to rest the idea of replacing Biden. Even progressives I follow and love can not see that their denigration and desire to replace Biden is hurting the democrats, helping to elect tRump. Look, it is too late to change horses in midstream. This is being pushed by the news media because they want more advertising money and more of a horse race. Hell one station I just heard a clip from suggested Hillary Clinton to replace Biden? Why would they claim or say that?. It is a wish and daydream. None of the major democratic players and big money donors want the same candidate. I love the VP, and yet big money and democratic leaders are suggesting other people. Hugs. Scottie

JESS PIPER

JUL 06, 2024

Tysons, Virginia. Wasting time waiting for my Uber and my late flight out after speaking at an event the night before. I was in the lobby of the fanciest hotel I’ve ever stayed in — The Watermark. I sat in the lobby workstation watching a breathtakingly beautiful young woman take professional photos for her new career and trying to hide my excitement each time she came out in a new outfit. The photographer showed her each pose and then the young woman would imitate her. Sometimes with a laptop or a book in her lap.

She is going to have a beautiful LinkedIn profile.

I was invited to speak at a summit just outside of DC, and just got back a week ago. The Women’s Summit is a large annual conference hosted in part by Network Nova. I have to tell you something: the message from rural America never fails to captivate an audience. Especially an audience filled with activists in a solidly Democratic city and region.

But I am not writing to tell you what I spoke about. I am writing to tell you what I heard when I listened to the voters and activists in the room.

What you’ll hear me say is not at all what the pundits are saying about Biden after the disastrous debate. It is the opposite of the narrative being furiously flung at us each day by everyone from MSNBC to CNN to the New York Times to the nightly news to opinion pieces across the country.

I speak to actual people…the pundits feed off each other. I work with grassroots organizers to spread Democratic messaging…the pundits write clickbait headlines and stoke fear.

The debate.

First of all, I did not watch but a few minutes of the debate live. I chose to watch it in clips and videos afterward. I was horrified. I felt like I was watching a trainwreck in slow motion. Biden performed terribly and Trump lied continuously.

Honestly, I wish Biden had never accepted the debate premise because it’s pointless to debate a liar. It just gives Trump the runway to lie even more, and without pushback from the moderators, the debate went nowhere.

The voters and activists I listened to in Virginia weren’t wondering if Biden should step aside and none of them were kidding themselves about what they witnessed during the debate. They are solidly behind the Biden administration. Solidly.

The summit in Virginia was diverse. Hundreds of women gathered and many were Black women. I like to hear the viewpoints of folks who are neither rural nor white — I am not in enough diverse rooms. I get a different POV and that’s important. What I heard was real and heartfelt. They are behind Biden.

I listened as several Black women spoke about their admiration for Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer, but how pundits holding them up as replacements for Joe Biden is condescending and irritating. Joe Biden has a Vice President. A Black woman — Kamala Harris. The women wondered aloud if there would be such a push to replace Biden on the ballot if his VP were not Black.

Same.

They wondered why journalists and politicos demand that Biden step down, but not Trump. They wondered why so many articles are being written about Biden’s age and fitness, but not the same about Trump. They wondered why Democratic strategists are making voters fearful instead of leading with a steady hand. They wondered why Biden is taking all the hits while a felon with a rape conviction, his opponent, is not even addressed.

Same.

The biggest takeaway from the folks outside DC is they are angry that the “same shit” that happened in 2016 is rearing its head again. Several stated they are tired of the line “The DNC chose Biden.” They reminded me that primary voters picked him…Black voters picked him. They are sick of repeating it.

These voters and activists did not waver when they repeated over and over again that they have no hesitation in voting for Biden in November.

From that group of over 600 suburban folks to a group of about 20 rural Dems…

You know I am rural and I often speak in rural spaces. Most of these spaces are older and White. When I listen to voters in these spaces, they have zero doubt about who their candidate is…even after the debate. Do they doubt that it was an awful showing? They do not. They watched it with their own eyes. Do they wish Biden performed better? Seemed younger? Spoke more clearly and concisely? Yes. Will they still vote for him? Also yes.

Not one rural person I’ve spoken with wants to remove Biden from the ballot in favor of another candidate. They believe in the administration and they are fearful of another Trump presidency. They think Biden can beat Trump.

This is what rural voters have told me: Biden has been good for ordinary people. He’s worked for public schools and the LGBTQ community and student loan forgiveness and infrastructure and rural broadband. They’ve seen highway projects funded. They remember that Biden curbed COVID deaths and consistently pushes for union jobs. They know he will not sign away reproductive rights.

Leave a comment

Listen, I am not paid by the DNC and I don’t earn a dime from my state party. I am a Democrat because the party aligns with most of my views, but I am not a party first person…I am a country first person. I can see with my own eyes what the Republicans are about and I already know what a Trump presidency will bring. We all know what it will mean.

I will never forget the maxim: Democrats fall in love. Republicans fall in line. I know many of us are not in love, but can we come together to beat a certain autocrat? To overcome the fascism and Christian nationalism creeping in?

I was as scared as any of us after the debate. I had a feeling of doom bearing down on me. After talking to so many voters since, even after reading so many terribly divisive pieces, I feel more calm. The voters I’ve listened to are not doing what the pundits claim they are doing. They have said that replacing Biden on the ticket will almost certainly divide the party. They have faith in the Biden administration. They have faith in his VP.

I am tired of pundits creating a narrative that I don’t see in real life. I don’t know why they do it? For clout? For clicks?

I hate that each of us is exposed to the fear every single day. I hate that many in the media are driving a wedge between Democrats with this incessant message of doom and gloom and the need for a new nominee.

I have no crystal ball, but I do have neighbors and friends and I know organizers across the country. I hope we can make it through this with a nominee intact and a win in November. I hope we can listen to our neighbors and mute the pundit-class.

Our country can’t manage another Trump presidency.

~Jess

How a second Trump presidency could impact the LGBTQ+ community

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump has been outlining what he plans to do if elected in November. That includes rolling back the rights of millions of LGBTQ+ people. It’s part of a wider playbook to undo many modern civil rights advances for minority groups. White House Correspondent Laura Barrón-López reports.

His ‘Refutiation’ Is As Real As His Tan, Bigly (Project 2025)

His ‘Refutiation’ Is As Real As His Tan, Bigly (Project 2025)

While a lot of the people that follow Mock Paper Sissors follow me, I still loved this post so much and the way TG wrote it, I am reposting it here. Hugs. Scottie