Warmongers have taken over the Democratic Party and funded candidates who defeated anti-war democrats in the elections. We are left with a democrat party that lacks moral courage. We should not be sending bombs and guns to Israel, yet we are. If we stopped sending bombs and guns, the war would stop. We need a new leader - like RFK jr.
which conspiracy? mrna was rushed into production without proper testing and it turns out that covid wasn't that deadly, no worse than the flu. Look up each of these things I just mentioned. You need to read independent scientists and journalists, not the first 10 things that pop up in a google search.
I don't think that RFK jr, as president, would let the Gaza war go this far. He would've stopped sending bombs and missiles to Israel to get them to stop. RFK jr is definitely against the Ukraine war while Biden is the warmonger in that scenario. And don't forget, Biden was pro war with Iraq in 2003. RFK jr would not have allowed that war. So, Grid, what is your response to this?
I can't vote for Biden but I don't trust RFK jr. I'll be writing in Jeff Merkley's (Oregon senator) name for president. But voting for RFK jr is better than voting for Trump or Biden. We all need to stop walking in lockstep to for vote people we don't like. Voting for the lesser of two evils never works. Being another vote among millions is throwing your vote away. Take a stand, make a statement by voting independent.
do some research, Victoria Nuland and others pushed Ukraine to be Nato when there was no reason for it. Listen to General Douglas MacGregor who was a USA military leader in the Iraq invasion of 1993. He says that we are partly or even mainly responsible for the Ukraine invasion by Russia because we crossed their "red line" by trying to make Ukraine part of Nato. see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6NL0PdQQmg&ab_channel=StephenGardner
I donated to RFK’s environmental causes 20 yrs ago, but he is 💯 pro Israel. He is correct on Julian Asssnge issue and about corporate corruption. Biden adopted Trumps policy on Assange, which are totally immoral
I think it is obvious with Harris making yesterday's speech and meeting with the opposition Israeli opposition leader IN THE WHITE HOUSE in full view of the world that the Biden administration has got the message and is working in the background to get the stakeholders to the table. What is needed is a ceasefire to allow negotiations to begin for a permanent two-state solution (not easy, maybe not achievable). But the fly in the ointment are the two million Israeli setters in occuppied territory. That is one third of the population of Israel.
I am still voting for Biden no matter what is going on otherwise I truly believe we are facing the end of democracy. I sincerely care about what is happening in Gaza and Biden needs to listen to us by stopping the funding to Israel, but putting a dictator at the helm of the USA terrifies me even more. Please vote Blue.
Good point. If this attack happened when Trump was in , there would have been the same response, but it wasn’t on his watch. Biden has adopted the Trump/Pompeo policy of continuing torturing Assange. There’s been a binary only narrative allowed on NATO, Ukraine issue on MSM. As Sy Hersh reported we blew up Nord stream and lied. I never bought into the Russophobia, Trump derangement syndrome. It was not a humanitarian mission. It was leverage.
Well, I think we'd all be far worse off under a second Trump term. I've only heard Republicans use the term "Trump derangement syndrome." It doesn't mean you're a Republican, but I'm guessing you don't see Trump and Putin as the major threats to world stability that many of us do.
Trump is dangerous for sure. I was a Democrat voter since 92’. It depends on who is worse off under Trump than Biden. Palestinians can’t distinguish between such choices. We’re privileged in US. I don’t spend much time talking about the GOP because they’re a lost cause. A lot of Democrats don’t actually know Biden’s record; he’s a neoliberal. The head of Goldman Sachs told the DNC “if you give us Bernie we’ll vote for Trump.” So the DNC said we’ll run Biden and they have mechanisms to remove candidates they don’t allow. Biden’s there to do the bidding of Wall Street and military industrial complex, his 94’ crime bill exploded the prison population with nonviolent offenders often given life sentences under enhancement laws that doubled tripled & quadrupled sentences compared with other countries and added 70 new death penalties which he openly bragged about. He voted for passage of NAFTA which offshored manufacturing jobs. He called to “take out Saddam” 5 yrs before the Bush invasion, voted for the invasion, wrote parts of the patriot act and supported invasions of Afghanistan and every war. He’s one of the highest paid recipients of Israeli lobby money, he enabled predatory credit card legislation. His nickname was Sen. credit card.” I’m not a fan or apologist of Putin but every diplomat for 30 yrs unanimously agreed (even Kissinger) that expanding NATO beyond the borders of a unified Germany would make no geopolitical sense and would provoke Russia. Also after listening to lectures by Jeffrey Sachs, John Mearsheimer, Chris Hedges I believe that the weapons industry saw a billion dollar bonanza in floating loans to arm countries to NATO hardware. I read Hedges book “the greatest evil is war” from last year and was even more convinced that the West is at fault. It is still an illegal invasion by Russia, but under Victoria nulund and the same neocons at the st Dept who brought us Iraq, we did a coup to overthrew the democratically elected leader of Ukraine in 2014, and purposely ignored peace agreements like Minsk. I absolutely do not like Trump but Mueller’s investigation came up empty handed time & again on any collusion between he & Putin. So I’m really surprised people think it anyway, that’s what I mean about Trump derangement syndrome, they could arrest him for crimes he actually committed but they go for things he did not really do. The MSm just keeps pumping out the same old garbage. MSNBC has intel agency on as analysts reporting on themselves, unchecked by any 3rd party journalists. Endless war is a key part of the US economy.
I can't believe I'm in my 70's and I'm still singing songs from the 70's ........."all we are saying is give Peace a chance". " War? Huh, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!"
unfortunately dismantling systems - patriarchy, capitalism - is not an easy project. people get tired, then a resurgence of fighting for rights and now here we are again...oh dear guess we didn't succeed last time (70s) - but now it's sitting right at the tipping point because those right wingers that couldn't see the banana if it was stuck to their noses are hellbent on maintaining such simple little lives - you know like men are the greatest and women are shit and there's NOTHING in our world except girls and boys who grow into women and men...such simple little minds, they can't handle a little variety in their lives. yeah I have covid right now so rambling...
Again, it is not just young voters who give a damn about what is happening in Gaza! Sure, it was wrong for Hamas to lob missiles into Israel. I imagine that they had their reasons, but the ends certainly do not justify the means. At the same time, the punishment should fit the crime. If someone punches you in the mouth, you punch him back. You don't use what he has done as an excuse for killing him and his entire family.
Hamas did not lab missiles into Israel. Hamas brutally sexually tortured beheaded and murdered 1,200 Israeli citizens And took hostages. Please do not minimize the horrible things that Hamas did.
There were no beheadings. Stop the lies the Israeli govt is repeating over and over again with absolutely no evidence. Israel is responsible for some of the Israeli deaths when they shot at places they knew had Hamas fighters holding hostages. Given what’s happened to the Gazans, Israel has already reportedly killed many of the hostages. We know they shot point blank 3 shirtless hostages waving white flags and yelling that they were Israeli. Who knows how many are actually still alive.
The point is that, solely for the purposes of this argument, it doesn't matter what Hamas did. Nothing that they did justifies what the Israelis are doing now.
However...Israel has denied the Palestinians the right of freedom of movement, the right to self determination, the right to move freely between areas, the right to safety, the right to have medical care, the right to have food, water and daily life necessities, the right to self-defense.....the Palestinians have spent 75 years living under a systematic siege by the Israeli's.... can you see that?
Of course, it doesn't. Where have I written otherwise? However, one of the first lessons that I was taught when I was a child is that two wrongs don't make a right.
please do more research...visit jewishvoicesforpeace.org you cannot just finalize 'belief' in one scenario - you must continue to research - as you must be aware: misinformation/disinformation is rampant and one must keep at it...weigh the information, test it, source it, suspend decision believing it or not, on what's real, true : not real, a lie. if you researched the history of gaza and actually spent some time imagining how you would function living in circumstances like that what would happen to you?
actually, both of those accusations have been shown to be false (sexual torture and beheading children and adults)..The New York Times reporter's writings on these allegations have been debunked.....you can look that up~..Palestinians have been living inside a concentration camp for decades.....Their rights violated...their humanity denied...their freedom to move freely denied.....the Palestinians in Gaza have no freedom of movement~ their hospitals have been destroyed.... Israel has held Palestinians prisoners for decades...
And you probably deny the Holocaust as well. Hamas themselves filmed their own atrocities while they were being committed. So please spare me your anti-semitic pontificating.
Real antisemitism vs calling someone “antisemitic” for exercising free speech in their criticism of military policy. The same militarists also convinced a population to ignore Julian Assange’ reporting. It’s child psychology that will only work on non-thinkers
In this political climate, people can say kill the Jews or more specifically from the river to the.sea...and that is considered Free speech. Sorry, doesn't cut it for me. But then again I'm a Jew and you are not.
I get much of my info from Jewish people regarding this subject. I’ve always agreed Oct 7 or any violence is a nightmare. 9/11 and Oct 7 affected us. Most US/Israeli citizens live in a protective bubble. Nationalism is a disease that obviously runs rampant. There is simply far too much damning information for me to trust a Netanyahu gov’t, a Biden or Trump gov’t. ALL these power elites are keeping Assange locked up for exposing an unprecedented amount of corruption and WAR CRIMES. Therefore they’ve been exposed for who they really are and are embarrassed by it so they resort to torturing a publisher. Any critical thinker would be skeptical of anything they say. If journalists can not do their job we won’t know the truth. I’m not interested in winning contests. How did Hamas penetrate into Israel? Half the purpose of Israel is to work as a military outpost for the US in the Middle East, a sophisticated military, surveillance state. Netanyahu was facing prison for corruption and is very unpopular. Yitzhak Rabin’s widow blamed him and his ilk for her husband’s assassination. The US proxy war in Ukraine in not fully reported on MSM. Therefore Americans believe it’s a binary narrative only, which is also how the media has attempted to cover Israel/Gaza.
That’s true, but Netanyahu funded him ass for his own leverage. Netanyahu was facing prison for corruption. No one likes him his generals will all quit when this recent revenge campaign stops.
I agree. I abhor the killing of 30,000 civilians, 2/3s of whom are children, women and elderly. As I abhor the kidnapping and torturing of Israeli civilians and children.
The distinction is that my tax dollars are not arming and funding Hamas. Nor starving and leaving exposed to the elements 1.8 million people.
Michael, I’m a fan and I’ve often commented on substack entries regarding how you were right about no red wave and I often repeat your line that there are more of us than there are of them. It’s devastatingly brutal what’s being wrought on innocent Palastinians. It has to stop and I am appalled at our supportive involvement but all through this I couldn’t help substitute Ukranians and the savage attack on that country by an invading Putin who is Trump’s bosom buddy. After this election the New York Times and other corporate media will continue their bias reporting and slanted supporting of their corporate wish list. I cancelled all of that today. If Trump were to drop dead there would be a slew of billionaires and wannabe trillionaires to push their agenda which will enrich them even more. They’ve so far kept a low profile but for one Jamie Dimon burst with pride at his support for Trump and/or the Trump/Republican agenda. Then there’s Project 2025 with the always charming snake Steven Miller ready to pounce, Republican Foundation loaded with cash to unload against Democrats, as well as the NoLabels too. There are dictators all over this world slaughtering their own people and Trump claims he’d be free to do this too. Getting rid of the riffraff!
I spent much of my life in Catholic education and despite what some may say it is where I learned to value all people, to care for those in need and I cling to that value and never regret it. We are up shit’s creek with the vast cruelty that could lie ahead with power in the hands of these people. After all Trump and his minions support war and killing wherever they and their buddy Putin sees fit. To support President Biden and take no chances otherwise at least I feel we might have a chance to slightly right this ship. The alternative is unthinkable.
Well, how would you feel if your sister, mother wife had been raped by Hamas with a knife in her back and had her breasts cut off in the process of being raped and murdered. Do you think you would have responded by playing nice in the sandbox? Do you think if this had happened in the US?.. proportional numbers would be about 15000... Do you think the US would have responded any differently?
I agree that it would suck. So do most other crimes. But, again, the punishment should fit the crime. I would hope that justice would deal harshly with someone convicted of raping and murdering another human being. But, justice not permit the annihilation of the rapist/murderer's entire family.
I agree with you that no nation is likely to place nice after such a horrific attack. This does not however, make Israel any safer in the long run. Only a peaceful 2 state or 1 secular multi-cultural state solution will do that. The horror of the Hamas attack deos not dim the horror of 250 under 1-year old babies dead in Gaza since the bombardment, of mass starvation and displacement, of over one million human beings, of the whole sale razing of cultural institutions such as universities and libraries, and of parents, if they are still alive, having to hold the hands of children having their injured limbs amputated without anesthetic.
We need not be selctively compassionate. We can care about and be outraged by the tormenting and murder of ALL of the VICTIMS. Moreover, we must hold Hamas and the IDF to account for their crimes agaisnt humanity.
What will end this carnage is genuine hard-nosed insistence on a path to peace, backed up by teeth- no funding for war. Killing forty members of peoples' families does not generally make for less extremism and crulelty.
But we don’t punch the neighbors of the attackers, that is what is happening in Gaza. Let’s face facts, Israel cannot tell you who Hamas is in Gaza, so they to their short sidedness have decided to punish everyone in Gaza. The complete wrong answer to the problem.
Two state solution. Then Israel can declare war on a nation.
Exactly. I'm a 59year old white Christian woman and I am horrified. It is wrong to murder toddlers. Period. Wrong of Hamas. Wrong for our tax dollars. Evil in fact is the better word.
Excellent post, Michael. You lay it out so succinctly.
Two points, though, that I’m sure you’d rather to say…
It’s not just young people who will not vote for Biden.
And it’s too late for Biden to do anything to reverse that. The jig is up. Biden’s campaign is toast. There is no recovery from this point in time.
There are many older citizens who will not say yes to the person who gave Netanyahu his complete and total support. It’s not just the young.
AIPAC needs to be ruled a foreign agent. Wonks love to talk about Putin’s interference in our politics. What about this goddamn group of Israeli fascists, Zionists and their sympathizers, who are pouring money into our political campaigns?!? And at the same time, attempting to oust anyone who counters their narrative and litany of constant boldfaced LIES!
The jig is up. There is absolutely nothing Biden and his admin can do that will make us not see what has been live-streaming before our eyes for now 5 months.
If we vote for Biden, we are telling him and the entire DNC that we’re a-ok with the heinous crimes against the Palestinians. I’m here to you that I am one who absolutely cannot whitewash over these horrific atrocities.
And oh btw - we need to stop verbalizing that the death count is anything close to the publicized number. It must be no less than DOUBLE that number given the bodies buried in rubble. And how many babies, children, women and men are barely alive - either by lost limbs or by starvation.
Couldn’t agree more, I’m a 78 years old, Jewish war veteran ( Vietnam, not Israel) and I'm long past the point kidding anyone that I could ever pull a lever for Biden. The deed is done and there’s no undoing it but I still demand a change in course, as is my right. I’m not telling anyone what they should do but from my point of view, persisting in pushing his candidacy is political suicide.
And this is one of the moments I experience when something just doesn’t make sense from any angle…I ask, Why would they want it that way? No conspiracy thinking. Just who will benefit from this outcome ? Who will feel no pain because of it ??
I would urge you then, to campaign for progressive Democrats who support the Ceasefire. Hold Biden to account and beat back the Fascist Wave on the Right, but please do not abandon electoral politics now. Please use your power to help those more vulnerable than yourself. Like my best friend in junior high who was raped and impregnated by a family member. She would be forced to give birth now in 38 states.
I agree and I hope we can all talk. I talk to Trump supporters. I do not understand them on their view of him, but I understand their discontent. An estimated $40 trillion dollars goes in the pockets of 1% of the population over 40 yrs; hence a frightening figure who is often laughed at, even by the establishment suddenly seizes power.” It’s classic. 20 yrs out of the past 32 years the white house has been under Democratic adm. why are we in this situation? Because neoliberalism is a fraud, and it needs to be called out. Critics have tried to call it out for yrs and they get ruthlessly silenced.
In the days of Cronkite it was better, far from perfect, but Clinton deregulated the FCC which tightly consolidated ownership of media. Chomsky’s “Manufacturing consent” was 1988 , it’s only worse now and libs have to learn it isn’t only Fox. MSNBC, CNN invite intel agency on as analysts without any independent journalists. It’s so simple to pull back that veil but the population has trouble doing it.
Agree Trump supporters believe him and he is a snake oil salesman, that may be the easiest part for the rest of us to understand. Unlike Michael Moore, who I’ve always respected, I believe Trump is a symptom. The Trump phenomenon is a symptom. Many friends and relatives of mine believe he was elected by a sort of spontaneous, unfortunate accident or by “bad taste.” Not so, people have always had bad taste.
It MUST end! I don’t blame Biden for not wanting to go to Michigan (it’s a Primary) & have protests —last thing he needs on MSM right now. I’m also glad you mentioned, at the end, all the good that has been done under Biden—because he listened to Bernie (especially w/the MAGA House trumpers not willing to do what’s right for the country)! I protested Vietnam & marched for Civil Rights/Justice in the ‘60s, and trump & Co. are the WORST thing that’s happened to this country & the world! If he is somehow re-elected, we are DONE —as a country & what will happen to the rest of the world!!
This is really scary. Biden is one stubborn guy & increasingly he behaves like many of our local politicians who absolutely ignore the wishes of their constituents. Were the option not so onerous, I would vote for the other candidate.
...................^^^ I have actually done that - but I was too intoxicated to "Tootle vigorously" - but I did read the manual. A sixteen year old is fearless (especially in the company of a woman that he wishes to impress.).
Mike, I have an idea: let all the Jews (any non-Jewish friends so known by Jews are welcome to join) who want an immediate cease-fire, both here and in Israel, finance and organize a food/water caravan to go into Gaza. They'd need to be armed lest Hamas steal their cargo and murder the members, but how dare the IDF do anything but help to guard them? Is this a good idea, or am I somewhere out of the ballpark? I would like to know.
Reading some of the comments is making me ill. Right here, with Harris making a firm statement against the attrocities committed on both sides and taking a firm stand on ending the humanitarian crisis and negotiating a lasting peace (plus getting the hostages back) and we are here as subscribers to Moore's podcast are fighting, in some cases viciously among ourselves is pretty sad. Everyone has a right to their point of view, but at some point you have to begin to heal and to move forward in ways that solve problems. The media continues to stir the pot, something that I did accuse Moore of, when obviously, while he was complaining and encouraging his fellow Michiginians to send a message to Biden, his people were already working in the background to end the humanitarian crisis and set the groundwork for a two-state solution, a process that is fraught with difficulties and may, in the end, prove impossible to attain. Maybe we all need to stop, take a deep breath, and let the people who do have the power to work things out. Of course, that said, there is no guarantee that anything positive will happen. But at least it would nice if it happens here. Don't we all want the same thing -- peace and properity for all despite all the bad actors that are lurking in the shadows?
Does it really matter? We have two sides that like the status quo, Hamas and Netanyahu and the Isreali extreme right. What remains to be seen is how both parties react to the US change in position. If nothing happens, then Biden gets the blame for insincerity, Hamas and Netanyahu continue their dangerous paths, and all people of goodwill are ignored. Biden has made a step. Has it been made in good faith. I believe so, because his prospects for re-election may depend on it. These days, it seems like the good guys never seem to win. All we are asking is for people in the world to simply "get along". Global climate change created by too many people on the planet using up dwindling resources creates the problem of displacement (border issues, starvation, lack of water, and fear by those who have of people who have not). Other issues are age old hatred between races, regional groups, and so on. Just remember that the conflict in the Middle East has been going on for thousands of years pitting the sons of Abraham against the sons of Ishmeal. And we have centers of power (US, China, Russia, and Iran) all with different agendas. Add to that most people in the world wake up hungry and thirsty in a world will civil war is the rule rather than the exception. I was brought up to believe that the world in its adolescence and that we are moving toward maturity. Now, I believe that is not true. The world is the same cesspool that it has always been. Start in the Garden of Eden with the Judeo/Christian belief in a God whose prize creations could not make past the first generation, and things went downhill. The God of the Bible's solution was to start over with Noah. So here we are. Mother Nature is threatening an extinction event for the human race. And while this is as the big picture, we continue to squabble like rats fighting for food. Mother Nature does not care. She will carry out her plan and cleanse the earth just as the God of the Bible did. But then, if you look at the natural order, desctruction, a la disease, bacteria, plague, survival of the fittest are all part of our ecological system, built into it. So why should we expect that things will go swimmingly for us. We are born and at some point our bodies begin to die very early leading to our eventual death. A very pessimistic view. I though technology would save us and the lessons of history, but what is happening in our world right now destroys that argument. I thought I would not live to see the end of life as we know it, but now there are predictions (well founded) that say within the next 10 to 20 years our resources will begin to be used up and we are toast. So sticking my head in the sand will not work.
Hamas are raping misogynistic murderers. Israel wants to live in peace in their little slice of land the size of NJ. Everyone should be urging Palestinians to be peaceful or move back to Transjordan. Or both. There is no balance of extremes between Israel and Hamas. Perhaps you would like to live in Iran under sharia law. Otherwise your statement is off base.
Biden won't charge course on Israel...he stated that he is a Zionist. 🤢The military industrial complex runs the Democrats and the country. Democrats are the war party now!.😡
You are absolutely right...Wall Street and the military industrial complex together. The military contractors like Raytheon, Northup Grummann, etc. are making a bundle from these forever wars and helping to drive to bull market.
Biden and his administration is forced to serve a capitalistic -imperialistic system, and to bow down to an extreme white supremacy government. Now murdering the innocent, threatening to destroy a whole population in a neighboring area. There must be an enormous amount of fear involved, not stopping this despite the ongoing horror. I can’t understand that fear, when it would be so easy to lift up the phone and say NO.
Advice for Michael: why don't you actually respond to some of our questions and our comments. Paul Krugman does and it is great. It would help us to feel as though you are listening to us and not just expecting us to listen to you. There are no NY Time columnist that I know of takes the time that Krugman does to directly respond to comments in the comments section of his columns. It helps also to level out the discussion and make it less volatile. Instead of leaving us the hash things out with each other, it helps him to mentor and to mediate and to provide a much needed perspective. After all, people in the media have access to sources that we do not. And by sharing the reasons and the source material that you use to make your decisions, it helps us to feel that we are not just on the outside looking in.
The constant thundering drumbeat of Vote! Vote! Vote!, - regardless of age, ethnic and political demographic, economic status, etc. - is meaningless and misplaced. We have already lost the 2024 election (s). It is 2020 all over again. Not metaphorically, not just with the same candidates, not in attitude, but literally. Our votes are valueless unless the candidates commit to abiding by the results. OK, fine, they have the recourse to challenge in the courts, but, just like in 2020, the challenges where legally without merit and has left us living with the fact that Trump, Kari Lake and the entire GOP has embraced denial of the election PROCESS itself. Trump "wins" regardless of the vote. This is not a mystery. There is no surprise here. Just blindness and comfortable indifference. Trump and the GOP are actively, publicly announcing and preparing for the next "insurrection." To them the actual vote is meaningless. If they lose its Big Lie 2; if they win it was free and fair.
We MUST forego all the "get out to vote" hoopla, bean counting, organize your neighborhood injunctions and SOLELY concentrate on extracting, by waterboarding if necessary, and incessant media focus, ironclad guarantees from the candidates, from legislation both at the local and regional level, by federal imperatives, by Electoral College mandate and by creating public AWARENESS that the 2024 elections are fair, genuine and reflective of the country's will. It is going to be hard enough with AI fakes abounding, Russian and Chinese hacking and stupid, uncaring people voting how Tucker wants, to pull of a legitimate count.
THEN - and only THEN - when we feel secure in the voting system, should we bandwagon our favorites
The Election Pledge – a blatant paraphrase of “The War Prayer” by Mark Twain
2024 was a time of great and unnerving turmoil. The country was up in arms, the election was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism, some on fire to save democracy, others unknowingly cheering for tyranny… on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags of various colors and design flashed in the sun… nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to speeches which stirred the deepest of their hearts, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in churches pastors preached devotion to Donald Trump and invoked the God of totalitarian fascism beseeching his aid in their cause in outpourings of venom and vitriol devoid of fervid eloquence and laced with profanity which incited their listeners to violent revenge…
Monday morning came–next day a group of very gentle souls would head for the polling places; the hall was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with dreams of a better world of justice and peace, the gathering momentum, the rush to the polls, the flashing determination, the rout of the fascists, the victory, the triumph of democracy, the outcome of freedom, the joy! Then home from the polls, heroic citizens, submerged in I Voted stickers!... The meeting proceeded; a chapter on the evils of war was read; the first pledge was said…
Then came the “long” pledge. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The gist of it was that they could no longer vote for a candidate who had done evil. Lesser evils are still evil, after all, and they would no longer participate in a two-party system when both choices were evil. Joe Biden’s support of Netanyahu’s genocidal policies were a last straw. Their consciences would no longer allow them to vote for anyone that would harm another. A vote for “Genocide Joe” would only encourage that behavior. The two-party system would only keep kicking the can down the road indefinitely, and things would never change. They pledged to do the right thing for humanity and put a stop to the nonsense once and for all. They would vote for the person they really wanted for the job and refuse to settle for the two evil choices forced upon them. Some would vote for Marianne Williamson, others for Jill Stein. Still others would write in Bernie Sanders or someone else they thought would do the best job. One thing they were sure of is that they would send a message loud and clear that the American people were fed up with evil once and for all and would settle for nothing less than a peaceful outcome…
An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the speaker, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness… he ascended to the speaker’s side and stood there waiting. …
The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside–which the startled speaker did–and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said:
“I come from the universe which hears all intentions that are set–bearing a message!”...
“The universe has registered your pledge. Has it paused and taken thought? Is it one pledge? No, it is two–one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of those who hear, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this–keep it in mind. If you would pledge an action, beware! Lest you receive all that goes with that action at the same time. If you pledge to take an action for something good without considering all of its implications, by that act you are bringing upon yourselves a curse which may prevent all the good you intend and injure everyone else and yourselves in the process.
“You have heard your speaker’s pledge–the uttered part of it. I am commissioned to put into words the other part of it–that part which your speaker–and also you in your hearts–fervently pledged silently. And ignorant and unthinkingly? Well, it was so! When you pledged to send a message, you have pledged many unmentioned results which the action you took must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit the universe fell also the unspoken part of the pledge. It has been put into words. Listen!
“We pledge to send a message to Joe Biden that we do not approve of his support for Netanyahu’s policy of genocide and to vote only for candidates who can promise to do the right thing. We pledge this intending to send a message to those in power and to take full responsibility for all possible results of our actions. We are completely aware of all of the ramifications of taking the action we have pledged. We fully realize and are willing to bear the burden of a second term for Donald Trump, who is likely to be re-elected. We know that may mean a lot of grief for his political opponents, but it is a sacrifice we are willing to make. We know it will present an undue burden on our gay and trans neighbors and friends, create further hardship for Black, Indigenous, and Latin American citizens, people on welfare and those collecting Social Security. There will be bans on abortion and IVG, and rape victims will be forced to carry their babies to term regardless of their age and risk to their own life and health. We are willing to make them bear that burden for the sake of the Palestinian people. In fact, we will welcome the reinstatement of Trump’s Muslim ban that Biden had rescinded; and refusal to accept Gazan refugees. We would welcome the deportations of and discrimination against Arab and Muslim Americans, refugees, and students. We pledge never to lose sight of our single goal of denying Joe Biden a second term, and we are ready and willing to accept all of the collateral damage that is likely to occur as a result.
(After a pause.) “You have pledged it; if you still desire it, speak! The universe awaits!”
It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.
Why is Netanyahu still in power?
Why is Trump not in prison?
Why is Biden sabotaging his own reelection?
Why aren’t people doing anything about this?
Warmongers have taken over the Democratic Party and funded candidates who defeated anti-war democrats in the elections. We are left with a democrat party that lacks moral courage. We should not be sending bombs and guns to Israel, yet we are. If we stopped sending bombs and guns, the war would stop. We need a new leader - like RFK jr.
RFK is a former junkie and pushes conspiracy theories. He has more pull with the Trump antivax crowd.
which conspiracy? mrna was rushed into production without proper testing and it turns out that covid wasn't that deadly, no worse than the flu. Look up each of these things I just mentioned. You need to read independent scientists and journalists, not the first 10 things that pop up in a google search.
Even though a lot of people died from it in the first year?
look up "white blood clots Dr John Campbell" on youtube, and look up "excess deaths vaccine" also on youtube
RFK jr is a pro Israel warmonger, too. Look it up. And Trump made a cryptic comment about Gaza, that Israel should finish the job.
I don't think that RFK jr, as president, would let the Gaza war go this far. He would've stopped sending bombs and missiles to Israel to get them to stop. RFK jr is definitely against the Ukraine war while Biden is the warmonger in that scenario. And don't forget, Biden was pro war with Iraq in 2003. RFK jr would not have allowed that war. So, Grid, what is your response to this?
I can't vote for Biden but I don't trust RFK jr. I'll be writing in Jeff Merkley's (Oregon senator) name for president. But voting for RFK jr is better than voting for Trump or Biden. We all need to stop walking in lockstep to for vote people we don't like. Voting for the lesser of two evils never works. Being another vote among millions is throwing your vote away. Take a stand, make a statement by voting independent.
No, Trump is the warmonger regarding Ukraine. He supports Putin invading it.
do some research, Victoria Nuland and others pushed Ukraine to be Nato when there was no reason for it. Listen to General Douglas MacGregor who was a USA military leader in the Iraq invasion of 1993. He says that we are partly or even mainly responsible for the Ukraine invasion by Russia because we crossed their "red line" by trying to make Ukraine part of Nato. see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6NL0PdQQmg&ab_channel=StephenGardner
I know the term "democrat party." It's a GOP dog whistle.
I donated to RFK’s environmental causes 20 yrs ago, but he is 💯 pro Israel. He is correct on Julian Asssnge issue and about corporate corruption. Biden adopted Trumps policy on Assange, which are totally immoral
Jeff Merkley, Raphael Warnock, Bernie Sanders, The Squad, and many others are an exception to this
Trump is rich. The rich take longer to face justice.
That’s why Assange is in prison and none of the criminals he exposed are
I really hope the Biden administration cuts off Netanyahu, how can we make this happen?
By being loud. That is all we have. Email the White House.
I called the White House. I’ve also called them twice regarding the Julian Assange case and how disgusting that is.
I think it is obvious with Harris making yesterday's speech and meeting with the opposition Israeli opposition leader IN THE WHITE HOUSE in full view of the world that the Biden administration has got the message and is working in the background to get the stakeholders to the table. What is needed is a ceasefire to allow negotiations to begin for a permanent two-state solution (not easy, maybe not achievable). But the fly in the ointment are the two million Israeli setters in occuppied territory. That is one third of the population of Israel.
They won’t. Biden has taken vast sums of money from the Israeli lobby, that’s why he’s allowed this to continue as long as it has
Voting "uncommitted" phoning and writing often? My suggestions.
I am still voting for Biden no matter what is going on otherwise I truly believe we are facing the end of democracy. I sincerely care about what is happening in Gaza and Biden needs to listen to us by stopping the funding to Israel, but putting a dictator at the helm of the USA terrifies me even more. Please vote Blue.
Because I seriously don't think the Palestinian people would be in any better condition under a second Trump term.
Good point. If this attack happened when Trump was in , there would have been the same response, but it wasn’t on his watch. Biden has adopted the Trump/Pompeo policy of continuing torturing Assange. There’s been a binary only narrative allowed on NATO, Ukraine issue on MSM. As Sy Hersh reported we blew up Nord stream and lied. I never bought into the Russophobia, Trump derangement syndrome. It was not a humanitarian mission. It was leverage.
Well, I think we'd all be far worse off under a second Trump term. I've only heard Republicans use the term "Trump derangement syndrome." It doesn't mean you're a Republican, but I'm guessing you don't see Trump and Putin as the major threats to world stability that many of us do.
Trump is dangerous for sure. I was a Democrat voter since 92’. It depends on who is worse off under Trump than Biden. Palestinians can’t distinguish between such choices. We’re privileged in US. I don’t spend much time talking about the GOP because they’re a lost cause. A lot of Democrats don’t actually know Biden’s record; he’s a neoliberal. The head of Goldman Sachs told the DNC “if you give us Bernie we’ll vote for Trump.” So the DNC said we’ll run Biden and they have mechanisms to remove candidates they don’t allow. Biden’s there to do the bidding of Wall Street and military industrial complex, his 94’ crime bill exploded the prison population with nonviolent offenders often given life sentences under enhancement laws that doubled tripled & quadrupled sentences compared with other countries and added 70 new death penalties which he openly bragged about. He voted for passage of NAFTA which offshored manufacturing jobs. He called to “take out Saddam” 5 yrs before the Bush invasion, voted for the invasion, wrote parts of the patriot act and supported invasions of Afghanistan and every war. He’s one of the highest paid recipients of Israeli lobby money, he enabled predatory credit card legislation. His nickname was Sen. credit card.” I’m not a fan or apologist of Putin but every diplomat for 30 yrs unanimously agreed (even Kissinger) that expanding NATO beyond the borders of a unified Germany would make no geopolitical sense and would provoke Russia. Also after listening to lectures by Jeffrey Sachs, John Mearsheimer, Chris Hedges I believe that the weapons industry saw a billion dollar bonanza in floating loans to arm countries to NATO hardware. I read Hedges book “the greatest evil is war” from last year and was even more convinced that the West is at fault. It is still an illegal invasion by Russia, but under Victoria nulund and the same neocons at the st Dept who brought us Iraq, we did a coup to overthrew the democratically elected leader of Ukraine in 2014, and purposely ignored peace agreements like Minsk. I absolutely do not like Trump but Mueller’s investigation came up empty handed time & again on any collusion between he & Putin. So I’m really surprised people think it anyway, that’s what I mean about Trump derangement syndrome, they could arrest him for crimes he actually committed but they go for things he did not really do. The MSm just keeps pumping out the same old garbage. MSNBC has intel agency on as analysts reporting on themselves, unchecked by any 3rd party journalists. Endless war is a key part of the US economy.
so John, who are you voting for? RFK jr (like I am)?
I agree with everything you wrote. Tim West needs to do more research on what you wrote.
"It depends on who is worse off under Trump than Biden. Palestinians can’t distinguish between such choices. "
Who would be worse under Biden?
I can't believe I'm in my 70's and I'm still singing songs from the 70's ........."all we are saying is give Peace a chance". " War? Huh, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!"
Do you need the definition of insanity???
unfortunately dismantling systems - patriarchy, capitalism - is not an easy project. people get tired, then a resurgence of fighting for rights and now here we are again...oh dear guess we didn't succeed last time (70s) - but now it's sitting right at the tipping point because those right wingers that couldn't see the banana if it was stuck to their noses are hellbent on maintaining such simple little lives - you know like men are the greatest and women are shit and there's NOTHING in our world except girls and boys who grow into women and men...such simple little minds, they can't handle a little variety in their lives. yeah I have covid right now so rambling...
Again, it is not just young voters who give a damn about what is happening in Gaza! Sure, it was wrong for Hamas to lob missiles into Israel. I imagine that they had their reasons, but the ends certainly do not justify the means. At the same time, the punishment should fit the crime. If someone punches you in the mouth, you punch him back. You don't use what he has done as an excuse for killing him and his entire family.
Hamas did not lab missiles into Israel. Hamas brutally sexually tortured beheaded and murdered 1,200 Israeli citizens And took hostages. Please do not minimize the horrible things that Hamas did.
There were no beheadings. Stop the lies the Israeli govt is repeating over and over again with absolutely no evidence. Israel is responsible for some of the Israeli deaths when they shot at places they knew had Hamas fighters holding hostages. Given what’s happened to the Gazans, Israel has already reportedly killed many of the hostages. We know they shot point blank 3 shirtless hostages waving white flags and yelling that they were Israeli. Who knows how many are actually still alive.
The point is that, solely for the purposes of this argument, it doesn't matter what Hamas did. Nothing that they did justifies what the Israelis are doing now.
ergo, nothing Israel did justifies Hamas's war crimes either. both are true.
However...Israel has denied the Palestinians the right of freedom of movement, the right to self determination, the right to move freely between areas, the right to safety, the right to have medical care, the right to have food, water and daily life necessities, the right to self-defense.....the Palestinians have spent 75 years living under a systematic siege by the Israeli's.... can you see that?
Of course, it doesn't. Where have I written otherwise? However, one of the first lessons that I was taught when I was a child is that two wrongs don't make a right.
The NY Times is currently investigating the Truth of this allegation. They published this and may retract it.
What allegation are you referencing, Marian?
please do more research...visit jewishvoicesforpeace.org you cannot just finalize 'belief' in one scenario - you must continue to research - as you must be aware: misinformation/disinformation is rampant and one must keep at it...weigh the information, test it, source it, suspend decision believing it or not, on what's real, true : not real, a lie. if you researched the history of gaza and actually spent some time imagining how you would function living in circumstances like that what would happen to you?
actually, both of those accusations have been shown to be false (sexual torture and beheading children and adults)..The New York Times reporter's writings on these allegations have been debunked.....you can look that up~..Palestinians have been living inside a concentration camp for decades.....Their rights violated...their humanity denied...their freedom to move freely denied.....the Palestinians in Gaza have no freedom of movement~ their hospitals have been destroyed.... Israel has held Palestinians prisoners for decades...
And you probably deny the Holocaust as well. Hamas themselves filmed their own atrocities while they were being committed. So please spare me your anti-semitic pontificating.
You poor soul. You have no idea how anti-Semitic you are.
Real antisemitism vs calling someone “antisemitic” for exercising free speech in their criticism of military policy. The same militarists also convinced a population to ignore Julian Assange’ reporting. It’s child psychology that will only work on non-thinkers
In this political climate, people can say kill the Jews or more specifically from the river to the.sea...and that is considered Free speech. Sorry, doesn't cut it for me. But then again I'm a Jew and you are not.
I get much of my info from Jewish people regarding this subject. I’ve always agreed Oct 7 or any violence is a nightmare. 9/11 and Oct 7 affected us. Most US/Israeli citizens live in a protective bubble. Nationalism is a disease that obviously runs rampant. There is simply far too much damning information for me to trust a Netanyahu gov’t, a Biden or Trump gov’t. ALL these power elites are keeping Assange locked up for exposing an unprecedented amount of corruption and WAR CRIMES. Therefore they’ve been exposed for who they really are and are embarrassed by it so they resort to torturing a publisher. Any critical thinker would be skeptical of anything they say. If journalists can not do their job we won’t know the truth. I’m not interested in winning contests. How did Hamas penetrate into Israel? Half the purpose of Israel is to work as a military outpost for the US in the Middle East, a sophisticated military, surveillance state. Netanyahu was facing prison for corruption and is very unpopular. Yitzhak Rabin’s widow blamed him and his ilk for her husband’s assassination. The US proxy war in Ukraine in not fully reported on MSM. Therefore Americans believe it’s a binary narrative only, which is also how the media has attempted to cover Israel/Gaza.
You have sadly confused opinion with fact. I'd like to see your receipts.. citations for these lies that you have stated here.
That’s true, but Netanyahu funded him ass for his own leverage. Netanyahu was facing prison for corruption. No one likes him his generals will all quit when this recent revenge campaign stops.
I agree. I abhor the killing of 30,000 civilians, 2/3s of whom are children, women and elderly. As I abhor the kidnapping and torturing of Israeli civilians and children.
The distinction is that my tax dollars are not arming and funding Hamas. Nor starving and leaving exposed to the elements 1.8 million people.
Myrna, Yes, I may have understated the case. But, my premise remains the same.
Michael, I’m a fan and I’ve often commented on substack entries regarding how you were right about no red wave and I often repeat your line that there are more of us than there are of them. It’s devastatingly brutal what’s being wrought on innocent Palastinians. It has to stop and I am appalled at our supportive involvement but all through this I couldn’t help substitute Ukranians and the savage attack on that country by an invading Putin who is Trump’s bosom buddy. After this election the New York Times and other corporate media will continue their bias reporting and slanted supporting of their corporate wish list. I cancelled all of that today. If Trump were to drop dead there would be a slew of billionaires and wannabe trillionaires to push their agenda which will enrich them even more. They’ve so far kept a low profile but for one Jamie Dimon burst with pride at his support for Trump and/or the Trump/Republican agenda. Then there’s Project 2025 with the always charming snake Steven Miller ready to pounce, Republican Foundation loaded with cash to unload against Democrats, as well as the NoLabels too. There are dictators all over this world slaughtering their own people and Trump claims he’d be free to do this too. Getting rid of the riffraff!
I spent much of my life in Catholic education and despite what some may say it is where I learned to value all people, to care for those in need and I cling to that value and never regret it. We are up shit’s creek with the vast cruelty that could lie ahead with power in the hands of these people. After all Trump and his minions support war and killing wherever they and their buddy Putin sees fit. To support President Biden and take no chances otherwise at least I feel we might have a chance to slightly right this ship. The alternative is unthinkable.
Well, how would you feel if your sister, mother wife had been raped by Hamas with a knife in her back and had her breasts cut off in the process of being raped and murdered. Do you think you would have responded by playing nice in the sandbox? Do you think if this had happened in the US?.. proportional numbers would be about 15000... Do you think the US would have responded any differently?
I agree that it would suck. So do most other crimes. But, again, the punishment should fit the crime. I would hope that justice would deal harshly with someone convicted of raping and murdering another human being. But, justice not permit the annihilation of the rapist/murderer's entire family.
Again - Lies. Lies. Lies.
I agree with you that no nation is likely to place nice after such a horrific attack. This does not however, make Israel any safer in the long run. Only a peaceful 2 state or 1 secular multi-cultural state solution will do that. The horror of the Hamas attack deos not dim the horror of 250 under 1-year old babies dead in Gaza since the bombardment, of mass starvation and displacement, of over one million human beings, of the whole sale razing of cultural institutions such as universities and libraries, and of parents, if they are still alive, having to hold the hands of children having their injured limbs amputated without anesthetic.
We need not be selctively compassionate. We can care about and be outraged by the tormenting and murder of ALL of the VICTIMS. Moreover, we must hold Hamas and the IDF to account for their crimes agaisnt humanity.
What will end this carnage is genuine hard-nosed insistence on a path to peace, backed up by teeth- no funding for war. Killing forty members of peoples' families does not generally make for less extremism and crulelty.
But we don’t punch the neighbors of the attackers, that is what is happening in Gaza. Let’s face facts, Israel cannot tell you who Hamas is in Gaza, so they to their short sidedness have decided to punish everyone in Gaza. The complete wrong answer to the problem.
Two state solution. Then Israel can declare war on a nation.
Exactly. I'm a 59year old white Christian woman and I am horrified. It is wrong to murder toddlers. Period. Wrong of Hamas. Wrong for our tax dollars. Evil in fact is the better word.
It is appalling that our country is even allowing Trump to even be on the ballot! A testament to the corruption in our country!
I’ve been saying this for so long…anyone up for all those trials, impeached, so many counts against him can even run for president
No, I don’t think so. My Republican father is rolling in his grave watching how far the Republican Party has fallen 😢
So, why is that? What's with contemporary Americans? Social media and Putin bots are one cause I think in this moral and mental degradation.
That said, we have had really bad horrible presidents in the past. Polk springs to mind.
Excellent post, Michael. You lay it out so succinctly.
Two points, though, that I’m sure you’d rather to say…
It’s not just young people who will not vote for Biden.
And it’s too late for Biden to do anything to reverse that. The jig is up. Biden’s campaign is toast. There is no recovery from this point in time.
There are many older citizens who will not say yes to the person who gave Netanyahu his complete and total support. It’s not just the young.
AIPAC needs to be ruled a foreign agent. Wonks love to talk about Putin’s interference in our politics. What about this goddamn group of Israeli fascists, Zionists and their sympathizers, who are pouring money into our political campaigns?!? And at the same time, attempting to oust anyone who counters their narrative and litany of constant boldfaced LIES!
The jig is up. There is absolutely nothing Biden and his admin can do that will make us not see what has been live-streaming before our eyes for now 5 months.
If we vote for Biden, we are telling him and the entire DNC that we’re a-ok with the heinous crimes against the Palestinians. I’m here to you that I am one who absolutely cannot whitewash over these horrific atrocities.
And oh btw - we need to stop verbalizing that the death count is anything close to the publicized number. It must be no less than DOUBLE that number given the bodies buried in rubble. And how many babies, children, women and men are barely alive - either by lost limbs or by starvation.
Couldn’t agree more, I’m a 78 years old, Jewish war veteran ( Vietnam, not Israel) and I'm long past the point kidding anyone that I could ever pull a lever for Biden. The deed is done and there’s no undoing it but I still demand a change in course, as is my right. I’m not telling anyone what they should do but from my point of view, persisting in pushing his candidacy is political suicide.
Why would Trump be better?
Couldn’t agree more.
And this is one of the moments I experience when something just doesn’t make sense from any angle…I ask, Why would they want it that way? No conspiracy thinking. Just who will benefit from this outcome ? Who will feel no pain because of it ??
I would urge you then, to campaign for progressive Democrats who support the Ceasefire. Hold Biden to account and beat back the Fascist Wave on the Right, but please do not abandon electoral politics now. Please use your power to help those more vulnerable than yourself. Like my best friend in junior high who was raped and impregnated by a family member. She would be forced to give birth now in 38 states.
I agree and I hope we can all talk. I talk to Trump supporters. I do not understand them on their view of him, but I understand their discontent. An estimated $40 trillion dollars goes in the pockets of 1% of the population over 40 yrs; hence a frightening figure who is often laughed at, even by the establishment suddenly seizes power.” It’s classic. 20 yrs out of the past 32 years the white house has been under Democratic adm. why are we in this situation? Because neoliberalism is a fraud, and it needs to be called out. Critics have tried to call it out for yrs and they get ruthlessly silenced.
In the days of Cronkite it was better, far from perfect, but Clinton deregulated the FCC which tightly consolidated ownership of media. Chomsky’s “Manufacturing consent” was 1988 , it’s only worse now and libs have to learn it isn’t only Fox. MSNBC, CNN invite intel agency on as analysts without any independent journalists. It’s so simple to pull back that veil but the population has trouble doing it.
Agree Trump supporters believe him and he is a snake oil salesman, that may be the easiest part for the rest of us to understand. Unlike Michael Moore, who I’ve always respected, I believe Trump is a symptom. The Trump phenomenon is a symptom. Many friends and relatives of mine believe he was elected by a sort of spontaneous, unfortunate accident or by “bad taste.” Not so, people have always had bad taste.
Totally agree w/you on Gaza & Netanyahu!
It MUST end! I don’t blame Biden for not wanting to go to Michigan (it’s a Primary) & have protests —last thing he needs on MSM right now. I’m also glad you mentioned, at the end, all the good that has been done under Biden—because he listened to Bernie (especially w/the MAGA House trumpers not willing to do what’s right for the country)! I protested Vietnam & marched for Civil Rights/Justice in the ‘60s, and trump & Co. are the WORST thing that’s happened to this country & the world! If he is somehow re-elected, we are DONE —as a country & what will happen to the rest of the world!!
This is really scary. Biden is one stubborn guy & increasingly he behaves like many of our local politicians who absolutely ignore the wishes of their constituents. Were the option not so onerous, I would vote for the other candidate.
Yes - a man who is a crooked bigot seems to be all we are offered. [If I have read that right.].
なぜバイデンなのか――私たちが選択しなければならないのはバイデンだけだからだ。 [私が正しく読んでいれば。]
Biden don't care.
Back to the Crusades and the 1100's we go.
_____________________________________________________________
バイデンは関係ないよ。
十字軍と1100年代に戻りましょう。
^^^ Literally.
.........^^^ 文字通り
...................^^^ I have actually done that - but I was too intoxicated to "Tootle vigorously" - but I did read the manual. A sixteen year old is fearless (especially in the company of a woman that he wishes to impress.).
Mike, I have an idea: let all the Jews (any non-Jewish friends so known by Jews are welcome to join) who want an immediate cease-fire, both here and in Israel, finance and organize a food/water caravan to go into Gaza. They'd need to be armed lest Hamas steal their cargo and murder the members, but how dare the IDF do anything but help to guard them? Is this a good idea, or am I somewhere out of the ballpark? I would like to know.
Reading some of the comments is making me ill. Right here, with Harris making a firm statement against the attrocities committed on both sides and taking a firm stand on ending the humanitarian crisis and negotiating a lasting peace (plus getting the hostages back) and we are here as subscribers to Moore's podcast are fighting, in some cases viciously among ourselves is pretty sad. Everyone has a right to their point of view, but at some point you have to begin to heal and to move forward in ways that solve problems. The media continues to stir the pot, something that I did accuse Moore of, when obviously, while he was complaining and encouraging his fellow Michiginians to send a message to Biden, his people were already working in the background to end the humanitarian crisis and set the groundwork for a two-state solution, a process that is fraught with difficulties and may, in the end, prove impossible to attain. Maybe we all need to stop, take a deep breath, and let the people who do have the power to work things out. Of course, that said, there is no guarantee that anything positive will happen. But at least it would nice if it happens here. Don't we all want the same thing -- peace and properity for all despite all the bad actors that are lurking in the shadows?
Does it really matter? We have two sides that like the status quo, Hamas and Netanyahu and the Isreali extreme right. What remains to be seen is how both parties react to the US change in position. If nothing happens, then Biden gets the blame for insincerity, Hamas and Netanyahu continue their dangerous paths, and all people of goodwill are ignored. Biden has made a step. Has it been made in good faith. I believe so, because his prospects for re-election may depend on it. These days, it seems like the good guys never seem to win. All we are asking is for people in the world to simply "get along". Global climate change created by too many people on the planet using up dwindling resources creates the problem of displacement (border issues, starvation, lack of water, and fear by those who have of people who have not). Other issues are age old hatred between races, regional groups, and so on. Just remember that the conflict in the Middle East has been going on for thousands of years pitting the sons of Abraham against the sons of Ishmeal. And we have centers of power (US, China, Russia, and Iran) all with different agendas. Add to that most people in the world wake up hungry and thirsty in a world will civil war is the rule rather than the exception. I was brought up to believe that the world in its adolescence and that we are moving toward maturity. Now, I believe that is not true. The world is the same cesspool that it has always been. Start in the Garden of Eden with the Judeo/Christian belief in a God whose prize creations could not make past the first generation, and things went downhill. The God of the Bible's solution was to start over with Noah. So here we are. Mother Nature is threatening an extinction event for the human race. And while this is as the big picture, we continue to squabble like rats fighting for food. Mother Nature does not care. She will carry out her plan and cleanse the earth just as the God of the Bible did. But then, if you look at the natural order, desctruction, a la disease, bacteria, plague, survival of the fittest are all part of our ecological system, built into it. So why should we expect that things will go swimmingly for us. We are born and at some point our bodies begin to die very early leading to our eventual death. A very pessimistic view. I though technology would save us and the lessons of history, but what is happening in our world right now destroys that argument. I thought I would not live to see the end of life as we know it, but now there are predictions (well founded) that say within the next 10 to 20 years our resources will begin to be used up and we are toast. So sticking my head in the sand will not work.
Hamas are raping misogynistic murderers. Israel wants to live in peace in their little slice of land the size of NJ. Everyone should be urging Palestinians to be peaceful or move back to Transjordan. Or both. There is no balance of extremes between Israel and Hamas. Perhaps you would like to live in Iran under sharia law. Otherwise your statement is off base.
Biden won't charge course on Israel...he stated that he is a Zionist. 🤢The military industrial complex runs the Democrats and the country. Democrats are the war party now!.😡
I think Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan (ie, Wall Street) runs the Democratic Party.
You are absolutely right...Wall Street and the military industrial complex together. The military contractors like Raytheon, Northup Grummann, etc. are making a bundle from these forever wars and helping to drive to bull market.
And Republicans are the peace party?
Biden and his administration is forced to serve a capitalistic -imperialistic system, and to bow down to an extreme white supremacy government. Now murdering the innocent, threatening to destroy a whole population in a neighboring area. There must be an enormous amount of fear involved, not stopping this despite the ongoing horror. I can’t understand that fear, when it would be so easy to lift up the phone and say NO.
Advice for Michael: why don't you actually respond to some of our questions and our comments. Paul Krugman does and it is great. It would help us to feel as though you are listening to us and not just expecting us to listen to you. There are no NY Time columnist that I know of takes the time that Krugman does to directly respond to comments in the comments section of his columns. It helps also to level out the discussion and make it less volatile. Instead of leaving us the hash things out with each other, it helps him to mentor and to mediate and to provide a much needed perspective. After all, people in the media have access to sources that we do not. And by sharing the reasons and the source material that you use to make your decisions, it helps us to feel that we are not just on the outside looking in.
The constant thundering drumbeat of Vote! Vote! Vote!, - regardless of age, ethnic and political demographic, economic status, etc. - is meaningless and misplaced. We have already lost the 2024 election (s). It is 2020 all over again. Not metaphorically, not just with the same candidates, not in attitude, but literally. Our votes are valueless unless the candidates commit to abiding by the results. OK, fine, they have the recourse to challenge in the courts, but, just like in 2020, the challenges where legally without merit and has left us living with the fact that Trump, Kari Lake and the entire GOP has embraced denial of the election PROCESS itself. Trump "wins" regardless of the vote. This is not a mystery. There is no surprise here. Just blindness and comfortable indifference. Trump and the GOP are actively, publicly announcing and preparing for the next "insurrection." To them the actual vote is meaningless. If they lose its Big Lie 2; if they win it was free and fair.
We MUST forego all the "get out to vote" hoopla, bean counting, organize your neighborhood injunctions and SOLELY concentrate on extracting, by waterboarding if necessary, and incessant media focus, ironclad guarantees from the candidates, from legislation both at the local and regional level, by federal imperatives, by Electoral College mandate and by creating public AWARENESS that the 2024 elections are fair, genuine and reflective of the country's will. It is going to be hard enough with AI fakes abounding, Russian and Chinese hacking and stupid, uncaring people voting how Tucker wants, to pull of a legitimate count.
THEN - and only THEN - when we feel secure in the voting system, should we bandwagon our favorites
Waterboarding? Are you serious? Count me out!
Joke.
It wasn't obvious.
I have had a number of positive comments. They all found it obvious.
Well, good for them.
The Election Pledge – a blatant paraphrase of “The War Prayer” by Mark Twain
2024 was a time of great and unnerving turmoil. The country was up in arms, the election was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism, some on fire to save democracy, others unknowingly cheering for tyranny… on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags of various colors and design flashed in the sun… nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to speeches which stirred the deepest of their hearts, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in churches pastors preached devotion to Donald Trump and invoked the God of totalitarian fascism beseeching his aid in their cause in outpourings of venom and vitriol devoid of fervid eloquence and laced with profanity which incited their listeners to violent revenge…
Monday morning came–next day a group of very gentle souls would head for the polling places; the hall was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with dreams of a better world of justice and peace, the gathering momentum, the rush to the polls, the flashing determination, the rout of the fascists, the victory, the triumph of democracy, the outcome of freedom, the joy! Then home from the polls, heroic citizens, submerged in I Voted stickers!... The meeting proceeded; a chapter on the evils of war was read; the first pledge was said…
Then came the “long” pledge. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The gist of it was that they could no longer vote for a candidate who had done evil. Lesser evils are still evil, after all, and they would no longer participate in a two-party system when both choices were evil. Joe Biden’s support of Netanyahu’s genocidal policies were a last straw. Their consciences would no longer allow them to vote for anyone that would harm another. A vote for “Genocide Joe” would only encourage that behavior. The two-party system would only keep kicking the can down the road indefinitely, and things would never change. They pledged to do the right thing for humanity and put a stop to the nonsense once and for all. They would vote for the person they really wanted for the job and refuse to settle for the two evil choices forced upon them. Some would vote for Marianne Williamson, others for Jill Stein. Still others would write in Bernie Sanders or someone else they thought would do the best job. One thing they were sure of is that they would send a message loud and clear that the American people were fed up with evil once and for all and would settle for nothing less than a peaceful outcome…
An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the speaker, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness… he ascended to the speaker’s side and stood there waiting. …
The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside–which the startled speaker did–and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said:
“I come from the universe which hears all intentions that are set–bearing a message!”...
“The universe has registered your pledge. Has it paused and taken thought? Is it one pledge? No, it is two–one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of those who hear, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this–keep it in mind. If you would pledge an action, beware! Lest you receive all that goes with that action at the same time. If you pledge to take an action for something good without considering all of its implications, by that act you are bringing upon yourselves a curse which may prevent all the good you intend and injure everyone else and yourselves in the process.
“You have heard your speaker’s pledge–the uttered part of it. I am commissioned to put into words the other part of it–that part which your speaker–and also you in your hearts–fervently pledged silently. And ignorant and unthinkingly? Well, it was so! When you pledged to send a message, you have pledged many unmentioned results which the action you took must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit the universe fell also the unspoken part of the pledge. It has been put into words. Listen!
“We pledge to send a message to Joe Biden that we do not approve of his support for Netanyahu’s policy of genocide and to vote only for candidates who can promise to do the right thing. We pledge this intending to send a message to those in power and to take full responsibility for all possible results of our actions. We are completely aware of all of the ramifications of taking the action we have pledged. We fully realize and are willing to bear the burden of a second term for Donald Trump, who is likely to be re-elected. We know that may mean a lot of grief for his political opponents, but it is a sacrifice we are willing to make. We know it will present an undue burden on our gay and trans neighbors and friends, create further hardship for Black, Indigenous, and Latin American citizens, people on welfare and those collecting Social Security. There will be bans on abortion and IVG, and rape victims will be forced to carry their babies to term regardless of their age and risk to their own life and health. We are willing to make them bear that burden for the sake of the Palestinian people. In fact, we will welcome the reinstatement of Trump’s Muslim ban that Biden had rescinded; and refusal to accept Gazan refugees. We would welcome the deportations of and discrimination against Arab and Muslim Americans, refugees, and students. We pledge never to lose sight of our single goal of denying Joe Biden a second term, and we are ready and willing to accept all of the collateral damage that is likely to occur as a result.
(After a pause.) “You have pledged it; if you still desire it, speak! The universe awaits!”
It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.