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bolverk

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by bolverk

  1. I see I'm not the only one who's fallen victim to this site's predilection to adding strikethroughs on long quotes. For others, here's the full article (free link): https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/09/us/antisemitism-republicans-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qk0.clvT.xMBF37o5FYc0&smid=url-share Many of those who continue to decry the protests as being chiefly antisemitic (yes, there are some antisemites partaking) are among those who've been trafficking in this shit for years, including Trump. But somehow, being opposed to the occupation of the West Bank and indiscriminate killing in Gaza makes one an antisemite. Some key passages about Trump in this very long piece (there's a shitton of other examples from other Republicans in this piece too): Former President Donald J. Trump chimed in. President Biden, he wrote on Truth Social, “HATES Israel and Hates the Jewish people.” Amid the widening protests and the unease, if not fear, among many Jews, Republicans have sought to seize the political advantage by portraying themselves as the true protectors of Israel and Jews under assault from the progressive left. ***** Debate rages over the extent to which the protests on the political left constitute coded or even direct attacks on Jews. But far less attention has been paid to a trend on the right: For all of their rhetoric of the moment, increasingly through the Trump era many Republicans have helped inject into the mainstream thinly veiled anti-Jewish messages with deep historical roots. The conspiracy theory taking on fresh currency is one that dates back hundreds of years and has perennially bubbled into view: that a shady cabal of wealthy Jews secretly controls events and institutions contrary to the national interest of whatever country it is operating in. The current formulation of the trope taps into the populist loathing of an elite “ruling class.” “Globalists” or “globalist elites” are blamed for everything from Black Lives Matter to the influx of migrants across the southern border, often described as a plot to replace native-born Americans with foreigners who will vote for Democrats. The favored personification of the globalist enemy is George Soros, the 93-year-old Hungarian American Jewish financier and Holocaust survivor who has spent billions in support of liberal causes and democratic institutions. This language is hardly new — Mr. Soros became a boogeyman of the American far right long before the ascendancy of Mr. Trump. And the elected officials now invoking him or the globalists rarely, if ever, directly mention Jews or blame them outright. Some of them may not immediately understand the antisemitic resonance of the meme, and in some cases its use may simply be reflexive political rhetoric. But its rising ubiquity reflects the breaking down of old guardrails on all types of degrading speech, and the cross-pollination with the raw, sometimes hate-filled speech of the extreme right, in a party under the sway of the norm-defying former, and perhaps future, president. In a July 2023 email to supporters, the Trump campaign employed an image that bears striking resemblance to a Nazi-era cartoon of a hook-nosed puppet master manipulating world figures: Mr. Soros as puppet master, pulling the strings controlling President Biden. ***** Dov Waxman, a professor of Israel studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that Mr. Trump and other Republicans “are presenting themselves as committed to fighting antisemitism, but they’re actually mainstreaming some of the most antisemitic ideas in circulation today.” That duality was encapsulated on the day the House speaker visited Columbia. Mr. Trump, speaking to reporters that evening at the Manhattan courthouse where he is on trial, amped up his criticism of the campus protests — and added a twist: He compared them to the violent 2017 march in Charlottesville, Va., where torch-bearing white supremacists chanted, “Jews will not replace us.” At the time, he sought to minimize the deadly Charlottesville rally by saying there were “very fine people on both sides.” Now, he called it “a little peanut,” adding: “The hate wasn’t the kind of hate that you have here. This is tremendous hate.” ***** In March, when the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat and the nation’s highest-ranking Jewish elected official, called for new elections to replace Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, congressional Republicans accused him of being anti-Israel. Mr. Trump went further, saying that “any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion.” When Jewish groups criticized his comments, the Trump campaign held firm, saying that the Democratic Party “has turned into a full-blown anti-Israel, antisemitic, pro-terrorist cabal.” ***** Mr. Trump once claimed to be “the least antisemitic person that you’ve ever seen in your entire life,” but he has a history of trafficking in antisemitic tropes. During the 2016 campaign, he tweeted a photo of Hillary Clinton against a backdrop of $100 bills and a Star of David. His closing campaign ad featured Mr. Soros — along with Janet L. Yellen, then chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, and Lloyd Blankfein, then the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, both of whom are Jewish — as examples of “global special interests” enriching themselves on the backs of working Americans.
  2. Pronghorn is probably a follower.
  3. Meanwhile, outside the courthouse (from the NYTimes update feed): As an antidote to the intensity inside the courthouse on Thursday morning, toymakers turned out early with their takes on the defendant. Rose Brennan, 63, of Bernardsville, N.J., stood in line for the overflow room with her left hand inside Donald J. Puppet. Made of an orange athletic sock with black button eyes and yellow yarn hair, Ms. Brennan, who retired from the software industry, made her creation say, “You’re the puppet!” “He wanted to come and support his brother puppet,” Ms. Brennan said. A few feet away sat Guy Jacobson, 60, a former lawyer who lives in Manhattan. With him was a stuffed orange pig with a red tie. “This is one is cuter, less fat, more intelligent, and doesn’t talk so much,” Mr. Jacobson said. “And it doesn’t stink.” The Trump toys outnumbered the visible Trump supporters outside the courthouse as the former president's motorcade drove by. There was a single woman in a MAGA hat.
  4. He had to do something to get Bibi's attention. Besides, it's only a partial hold that applies to a specific type of bomb. Other arms are still being supplied, so it doesn't place Israel's security in question. It's also not unprecedented. Both Reagan and George H.W. also held back weapons or other aid from Israel at various points to lodge protests against actions in Lebanon and the West Bank. There's also the legal matter that prohibits the use of U.S. arms exports in war crimes. The State Department delayed releasing its report on Israel's conduct in this war because the deadline was missed. It kind of makes me wonder whether the decision not to send these bombs might also be tied to any internally released preliminary findings.
  5. These soldiers marching in the parade look far different from the ones actually fighting on the front lines, and it's not just the dress uniforms. They look fit and well-fed. I imagine their lives hanging back in the barracks around Moscow/St. Petersburg near friends and family might actually be somewhat pleasant. For example, start at 32:31 and let it run for a minute so you can also see the smiling soldierettes. If Putin ever has to commit any of these who are marching, then we might start to see folks protesting the war.
  6. bolverk

    LBGTQ

    The grammatical structure of your first sentence made me struggle to understand what you were saying.
  7. bolverk

    LBGTQ

    What does this mean?
  8. TLDW: Good news: Polling indicates that Gaza isn't going to be a big issue for young voters. They're more concerned with bread-and-butter issues: healthcare, the economy, student debt, etc. Bad news: RFK Jr. has swallowed up just about the entire delta of support Biden had over Trump in 2020 and is polling at 29% of all youth. In-fucking-sane.
  9. There really doesn't seem to be any kind of centralized leadership with this pro-Palestine movement. A few days ago, a poster raised the question of who's funding the protesters, and another one tracked down an article about some nonprofits raising funds, and a couple of them had ties to some nasty assholes. I wanted to see if the protesters at UT had similar ties to abhorrent shit (good news: I couldn't find any), but what really surprised me was that at UT and around Austin, it looked like there were half a dozen separate organizations. If you scale that up to the whole country and all these universities, there must be hundreds of them. I really think that's playing into how some of the protests aren't making the news because they haven't turned into chaotic circuses while others have. And, honestly, some of that bullshit has been the result of the original response by local authorities and/or campus presidents. But, yeah, who's the credible leader with impeccable standing and moral authority to lead this protest movement across America? There ain't one, and that's why it's a shitshow.
  10. I agree with everything you're saying, but not all of the protests are as well organized as you suggest. Some might well be. For instance, the original one at UT on Speedway seemed super efficient and well organized (remember the leaders in yellow vests?). I think that over time, these things start to fall apart as bad actors begin to glom onto an issue/movement and cause trouble. It all just gets out of control, which is why I've been saying for a couple of weeks now that these protests have become counterproductive.
  11. I'm glad you agree we shouldn't paint protesters with a broad brush because it'd be silly to label everyone protesting the war as "pro-Hamas" or "anti-semitic."
  12. I'm curious. Do you also consider the families of the hostages who are protesting in Israel because their government rejected the ceasefire deal as also pro-Hamas? Their protesters are especially right now, but they've been calling for a ceasefire for quite a while.
  13. What pisses me off is she fucking knows that it's the Republicans, but she (and Fox) are willing to make bald-faced lies to the audience with the hope that this Republican governor will gladly go along with it.
  14. Since Trump isn't likely to testify, they're using his published words against him. ‘Every Dollar Counts’: Prosecutors Use Quotes From Trump’s Books Against Him Donald J. Trump’s books provided prosecutors with passages they believe can help their case, as they argue that he knew that his company falsified business records to cover up a hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors cannot force Donald J. Trump to testify at his criminal trial in Manhattan, but that does not mean they can’t use his words against him. On Tuesday, the prosecutors unearthed a series of damaging excerpts from books that the former president wrote, plucking out passages to help make their case against Mr. Trump. In essence, they called a past version of Mr. Trump to testify against his future self. In his own words, Mr. Trump described how he kept a focus on minute details and watched every penny that left his accounts, corroborating a core component of the prosecution’s case as they argue that he knew that his company falsified business records to cover up a hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels, a porn star. On cross-examination, Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, suggested that a ghost writer had been responsible for these words. Mr. Trump’s written words also described how he sees sexual potential in women that he encounters, a salient point in a trial tethered to encounters with women that he is accused of covering up. “All the women on ‘The Apprentice’ flirted with me,” he wrote. Prosecutors introduced the damning excerpts by questioning Sally Franklin, a witness who is an executive and editor, to read excerpts from “Trump: How to Get Rich” and “Trump: Think Like a Billionaire,” both of which were published by Ballantine, a Penguin Random House imprint. The jury heard Trump’s written words: “Every dollar counts in business, and for that matter, every dime.” The text continued, “Even in high end shops, I bargain,” adding, “I hate paying retail.” This was not the first time jurors heard Trump in his own words. Last week, prosecutors played video clips of him talking, and they have questioned witnesses about Mr. Trump’s infamous statement on the set of “Access Hollywood” that he would grab women by the genitals. But the judge would not allow prosecutors to play the tape for jurors, a decision that elevated the importance of the book passages, or any other opportunity to use Mr. Trump as a witness against himself. It might not be the only opportunity for jurors to hear from the former president. Although the prosecution cannot legally call him to testify, Mr. Trump could take the witness stand in his own defense, though it is unclear whether he will do so. For now, jurors heard his words via Ms. Franklin, who read ominous passages in which Mr. Trump spoke of how he treated his perceived enemies. “For many years I’ve said that if someone screws you, screw them back,” she read from a book by Mr. Trump. It continued: “When somebody hurts you, just go after them as viciously and as violently as you can. Like it says in the Bible, an eye for an eye.” As jurors listened, Mr. Trump’s smiling image on a book cover was plastered on screens across the courtroom, a sharp contrast from the scowl he sported throughout the testimony.
  15. This is the best I could find from her testimony in real-time, with the cringiest stuff highlighted. I've left out about half of the posts from this morning, so what's left should all be worth reading. Unfortunately, it looks like the reporters left out the best stuff. Hopefully, a full transcript will come out. spoilered to avoid long-cattting the page
  16. Gotcha. Sorry to have gone off. It was difficult to discern your intent. I think I read a week or so ago that the IDF believed the last 4 of Hamas's original 34-36 brigades were left, and yes, my assumption is that the last of the surviving hostages are likely there with them somewhere, likely hidden deep underground. I believe I've read there remain scattered elements of Hamas elsewhere in the Strip since the IDF hasn't fully established security. One bright spot for the refugees right now is that the IDF sounds like they're trying to be a little more surgical with this latest push.
  17. While waiting for more updates, here's a Stormy-Donny timeline they've just added. I'm not sure how relevant it is to the discussion, but it's more content for you thirsty bastards.
  18. Are you asking whether civilians are identifying the locations of Hamas fighters or Israeli hostages? How should I know? I have heard that it's not unheard of for Palestinians to cooperate with the IDF, so maybe? Should they? I mean, sure, that would be the moral decision, but I'm not sure the average refugee is in the position to do so or have knowledge of all of Hamas's hidey holes. Do you think the typical Palestinian has secret intel? I can see quite a few being a bit ornery at the suggestion they should after being forced to live in squalor for months on end and then being evacuated to even worse conditions. I can also see more being scared to death of any potential reprisals, much less approaching an IDF soldier out of fear of getting shot or blown the fuck up. It seems the vast majority are just doing their best to survive and keep their heads down in a shitty no-win situation. We know that demographically, about half the population is under the age of 18, so that means there's a mom and dad who've got at least a couple of kids in tow and maybe an elderly parent they're been desperately trying to keep alive while sharing a single shitter with 850 other fucking people and not much food to eat. And even if some are withholding information, which I'm sure there are, are you completely comfortable with the notion of collectively punishing the thousands of others who didn't? Seriously, what kind of question is that? Can you not imagine putting yourself in a position where you have virtually no power to influence a gigantic shit-storm of war surrounding you? Are you really that incapable of having empathy for the suffering of other people just trying to survive an awful situation that they can't control?
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