Happy Solstice! And welcome to the longest night. The sun will set at 4:20 pm today, and won’t come back until 7:55 am tomorrow morning. Solstice “day” is officially tomorrow. Build a bonfire, light candles, get witchy. (The Seattle Times has a roundup of nighttime walks in the woods). And after we celebrate our longest night, the days start getting longer again.
Harrell’s war on taggers: Lol. King County prosecutors filed more than 30 criminal cases against 16 taggers around Seattle. Most of the charges are for first- and second-degree malicious mischief (which all sounds very festive). The charges focused mostly on two big crews that you’ve probably seen on onramps around town: MSP, or “Making Suckas Panic” and BTM, “Big Time Mobb.” DOTCOM also got a shoutout. At a press conference, Prosecutor Leesa Manion called it “felony-level behavior,” and Seattle police Detective Robert Belshay called it “basically organized crime.” Prosecutors said that they’re only looking for restitution in these cases, so at least they admit that they’re in it for the cash.
Update from Ashley at 9:15 am!
Seattle’s new top hog: Mayor Bruce Harrell announced Shon Barnes as Seattle’s new chief of police Friday. Barnes currently leads the police department in Madison, Wisconsin. Unlike in Harrell’s last police chief search, he held absolutely zero public forums to solicit public input. If Harrell had, people might have brought up accusations that Barnes mishandled police accountability cases and asked an officer about her sexual orientation in their exit interview. I’d want to avoid that if I was Harrell. Barnes still needs to be confirmed by City Council.
Obeying (and profiting) in advance: The ACLU announced yesterday that through a FOIA request, they obtained records that revealed that “ICE is actively considering proposals to expand immigration detention in California, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington state.” One of the proposals is from GEO Group Inc., which already operates Washington’s only for-profit prison: the Northwest ICE Processing Center, which according to La Resistencia, has seen 13 hunger strikes this year alone.
Get your flu shots, kids: Vaccination rates are down across the country, but we’re really taking the cake here in Washington. Child flu vaccination rates are down 15.9 percentage points—more than double the nationwide decline. King County’s mostly keeping it together (we only dipped by a few percentage points) but the state numbers are concerning: So far this flu season, the CDC has reported 200 pediatric flu deaths, a record high for a non-pandemic flu year. I know it sucks for like, a second, but get your shot.
Birds and Cows and Cougars, Oh My: Farmers are calling the bird flu “Covid for Cows.” The virus has hit California dairy farms hard—impacting more than 600 of them in the last four months. Meanwhile here in Washington, two wild cougars died of the same flu. (TIL that our cougar population is small and pretty inbred, so they’re especially vulnerable to disease. The more you know!) So far we’ve had 14 confirmed and probable cases in humans in the state. The CDC still maintains that the risk to humans is low, but cougars and California dairy farmers are feeling anxious.
Justice for Ayşenur: The family of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, the 26-year-old Seattlite who was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, met with the Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week to demand a U.S. investigation into her killing. Eygi’s widower, Hamid Ali, told the Seattle Times that even their “low expectations were not met.” Her sister told the paper that Blinken “essentially said he wouldn’t be doing anything.” The family is trying to talk to members of Congress who might be willing to put pressure on the administration.
ICYMI: Got a uterus? Got good news for you. Yesterday, Stranger contributor Megan Burbank reported on a new bill that was introduced into the Washington state legislature that would require medical professionals to discuss pain management options before inserting an IUD. From Megan: “If you’ve ever gotten an IUD—or talked to a fellow drunk girl in a bathroom line for just a little too long—the pain that can accompany an insertion is not new information. When I surveyed IUD users—or would-be users—about their experiences most recently, I was immediately flooded with responses describing ‘mind-bending pain,’ prolonged failed insertion attempts, repeated uses of the word ‘brutal,’ and comparisons to things like ‘a small dragon … trying to claw out of my body for 24-36 hours.’” The cervixes of Washington state thank you, Rep. Amy Walen.
The Strike Before Christmas: Get your peppermint mocha somewhere else, Starbucks is going on strike today. Stranger Contributor Conor Kelley reported that their bitter negotiations have reached a breaking point. Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) said that the company has failed to bargain in earnest, so they’re launching 5 days of escalating walkouts, starting today. Read more about it here.
We did it! Remember when murder hornets were one of the seven plagues visited upon us in 2020? Well officials announced that we’ve eradicated them from the United States. “It is a rare day when the humans actually get to win one against the insects,” said Sven Spichiger, an entomologist with the Washington state Department of Agriculture, to KUOW.
Keeping the lights on? For the 20-somethingth time since 1976, the government could shutdown tonight. Looming shutdowns always feel like political theater, but this time, the President-elect is trying to swing his dick around before he’s even in office, attempting to shoehorn in a two-year suspension of the federal debt limit. House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected that proposal, but now we’re back to where we started. If the government shuts down, a reminder that it’s a huge worker issue. Many will be furloughed, and their work will halt (which already sucks) but workers that are considered “essential”—including 59,000 TSA workers—will be forced to work through the shutdown without pay.
Mangione could face the death penalty: Luigi Mangione, who’s charged with the fatal shooting of the UHC CEO, was already charged in New York, where the death penalty is illegal—meaning the most severe punishment he could receive would be life without parole. But yesterday, prosecutors added four federal charges for stalking across state lines and murder. The majority of states (27 of ‘em) have stopped using the death penalty, including New York and Washington state. Cuz maybe the government shouldn’t kill people.
A little treat: A touch of very lesbian country for your morning. Julien Baker (who, at the very least, you know as one third of boygenius) and indie singer-songwriter TORRES teamed up for the queer country album of your dreams, and “Sugar in the Tank” is their first single. It’s been stuck in my head for days and I’m not mad at it.
More in NEWS
Local (and not-so-local) news from your favorite writers.
keep to the Center
don’t rock the boat
Billionaires’re our
Friends that’s all
she wrote.
@48 “thirteen12, let’s not be disingenuous. The absolute last thing you want is for Democrats to actually listen to voters.”
Of course I do, most voters want what I want:
https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2024/4/29/much-of-congressional-progressive-caucus-agenda-popular-with-swing-state-voters
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/ballot-measures-deliver-big-wins-progressive-policy-priorities-rcna179308
Unfortunately the corporate lackeys at the DNC do not
thirteen12, unfortunately, this will have to be my last comment on this thread. I have a job and I simply don’t have the kind of time or professional involvement that an influencer like you apparently has to have this sort of research handy.
But it’s quite telling that you are citing polls and ballot measures rather than elections for office. As if conducting a poll that tells you exactly what you wanted to hear constitutes listening to voters about why you lost an election. As if ballot measures and elections for office are the same thing.
thirteen12, this must be the perfect election cycle for you. Democrats completely lost federal power, and you can ratchet up the pressure even further to ensure they are further and further marginalized. There’s a reason you have the sort of message discipline you have.
BTW, you’re always welcome to urge our elected officials here in Seattle to legalize vandalism. I’m sure that’s a real winner.
@51 what type of job do you have that allows you precisely enough time to write a four paragraph reply but not to know anything about the topic you’re commenting on?
good Luck 13Twelve.
(‘spose they’re Hiring!?)
moving On
nyt:
House Sends Stopgap
Funding Bill to Senate Hours
Ahead of Shutdown Deadline
Dec. 20, 2024, 8:40 p.m. ET; 15 minutes ago
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/12/20/us/government-shutdown-trump-news
and
nyt: G.O.P.
Spending Hawks
Defy Trump on the Debt
Limit, Previewing More Clashes
President-elect Donald J. Trump is known
for his tight grip on members of his party,
but the rare rejection of his demand to
suspend the debt limit reflected a
disconnect that could
plague his policy
agenda.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/us/politics/gop-spending-hawks-trump-debt.html
[Uncle Shummer says it’s a Go].
Excellent.
already tng with
the overreach. is he
gonna assassinate a few
of ‘em, teach the rest a Lesson?
B. why Must The donold
WAIT till J/20? It’s a Ridiculous
Rule and No One’s EVER been so
Poorly-treated. Does his mean he’s
gotta Wait till then before terminating
his Enemies? He’s pretty Busy fascsitting.
ii!ii
donold.
(wonder if MUX’ll
Impeach him)?
(still Plenty
of Time).
@53
sorry:
fascistting
plus, he’s Elon’s
‘right hand man’ an
MUXXY’s gots NEEDS, bro
@25: There were many deciding factors in the 2024 elections (duh). Whatever effect it had, Sawant’s campaigning for Trump most certainly did not help Harris win. As Sawant spent ten years ‘representing’ an electorate which might vote 25% for Trump at the very most — an electorate which went for Harris in a huge way — it might be nice for the Stranger, and supportive commenters here, to admit Sawant stumped for Trump, and to consider what her actions mean in the context of all the words she ever spewed. But you lack both the integrity and intestinal fortitude to examine what you really supported all those years, and why you fell for it. Of course you’re angry at anyone who mentions your gullibility, but as you’re not going to take any responsibility for having supported Sawant, you’ll just have to whine in impotent rage whenever anyone mentions what she really did, and try to twist our words to escape their obvious implications. (That effort is also failing.) Trump will again be a disaster for America and the world, but this time, every time the Stranger (or supportive commenter) mentions just how bad he is, it will also be a reminder of who helped to get him there. Enjoy!
What remains is Sawant stumped for Trump, and in so doing, nicely exemplified Horseshoe Theory. That’s what you really supported all of those years — not the agenda she constantly preached, but rarely did anything to advance.
The reason Harrell talks about Grafitti is because it’s one of the top complaints that come through council offices, the mayor’s office, and the Customer Service Bureau. It’s as simple as that. If the pro-grafitti crowd were large and vocal, he’d be giving out spray paint.
Of course, if the police would get over their hurt feelings and actually started patrolling, the graffiti might be reduced. But then they’d also start enforcing the speed limits, and no one wants that.
@43 So protecting tenants through policy is “political theater” but prioritizing the prosecution of taggers and graffiti artists is an “optics win” and “broken window” claptrap?
You seem more upset about my comment (or may be I should say ‘comments’) than I am about Harrell’s demagoguery
To be sure some of these taggers should take art lessons. That’ll punish them!
@48 the most suspicious part of it is how all the people you claim to be “right wing influencers” advocate for actual left wing politics
they’re calling for only thee most
middle of the road trepidity
when advocating for those
to the left of Mussolini
we wouldn’t wanna
overexcite the very
far Far FAR ‘right.’
it’s Wormtongue
Brainiactics aka
let’s let the ‘d’
nc Decide:
our
Portfolios
Must Be Protected.
so STFUA.
cancel culture
for the Masses
it’s NEVER
the fault of those
shoving their milquetoast
middle of the road corporate types
down our throats and their
deflections’re merely key
to a conscience free
from Culpability
see also:
bibi and his
keep outta prison
gambit cum Genocide.
@57: Do these laws actually protect tenants, though? If the laws don’t really protect tenants, but the sponsors and supporters of the laws loudly make that claim, then the claim really is just “political theater,” isn’t it?
For example, Sharon Lee, head of the Low Income Housing Institute, recently claimed abuses of eviction moratoria were harming attempts at building more affordable housing. (https://www.thestranger.com/news/2024/05/28/79529050/seattles-winter-and-school-year-eviction-moratoriums-could-be-on-the-chopping-block)
If that is true, then those “tenant protections” may actually result in fewer affordable units. It’s hard to see how that protects tenants.
@58: The point you keep missing is her implied claim: you’re doing such an obstreperously bad job of advocating for left-wing policies, you actually are (or are functionally indistinguishable from) right-wing ‘agents saboteurs’.
@56: No, it’s even simpler than that. The mayor doesn’t want the city looking like a dystopian dump.
I don’t know what “hurt feelings” you think the police have. You’re probably just saying that because ‘ACAB’ is a bit extreme for you.
@55 that’s a lot of ad hominems just to avoid answering the simple question posed: “did losing the support of leftists like Sawant cost Dems the election, and if so shouldn’t they cater more to the left if they hope to win.” Feel free to take another crack at it, if you have the “integrity and intestinal fortitude.”
drag us to the ‘center’
the abyss opens wide
justify the mediocrity
it Can’t be genocide
@63, The biggest shifts in voting behavior were among independents and union workers. Union workers have not been fans of the Progressive social agenda.
@63: Yeah, you’re really insistent that if the gun jammed, then the assailant didn’t really attempt murder. It doesn’t work that way. Sawant stumped for Trump, which, at the very least, didn’t help Harris — and therefore helped to elect Trump. You’re free to address Sawant’s actions any time you like.
How could Democrats possibly have won the support of Sawant? She spent a decade calling them sellouts, corporate stooges, traitors, etc. As I wrote, her version of working with someone was having that person always immediately follow her orders. Full stop. Her agenda was deeply unpopular even in Seattle, so your constant unsupported claim it would have been popular elsewhere doesn’t deserve any more than the dismissive response I’ve already given.
Also, even if Sawant could somehow have supported the Democrats, how many votes would they have lost from accepting her support? That’s another obvious question you won’t answer, or even consider.
Finally, it’s great to see Sawant’s supporters fully embrace her critics’ point: she’s totally ineffectual in advancing her agenda. Please do keep pounding that point.
@50 Anyone that uses the term “corporate lackeys” deserves to not be taken seriously. Let me guess, you want to “eat the rich” too?
@8 Slog didn’t cover that the suspect is a homeless person, nor did Slog publicize the pictures of the suspect that the SPD put out there to help find the guy. But nice try.
@61 This is your claim; “If the laws don’t really protect tenants,”
This is what lee said: “Lee told The Stranger that LIHI supports strong tenant protections and called the exclusion of renters with income a “narrow exception” to the moratoriums, not a repeal”. In other words, Lee wanted to exclude tenants who could afford the rent from a winter/school year eviction moratorium that protects tenants.
You are a deceitful jackass, and almost all of your comments amount to distortions and/or lies. It is painful to watch how much garbage you spew.
@66 “Sawant stumped for Trump”
Liar. It’s be accurate to say that Sawant stumped for Stein in swing states, which was helpful to Trump but you can’t help yourself. You humiliated yourself so many times spewing corporate propaganda fruitlessly against Sawant during her several election successes, including the repeal, that you are now attempting to depict her in the worst light possible even if it means blatantly lying.
Needless to sat that I am NOT going to spend the entire weekend battling your continuous stream of lies and distortions.
@68,
I know this is a herculean ask and I truly apologize for placing such a monumental burden on your shoulders, but if you were to take 45 seconds and go back to check on the Slog’s reporting, you would find that the suspect hadn’t been identified at the time the story was reported.
@70 — “We are not in a position to win the White House. But we do have a real opportunity to win something historic. We could deny Kamala Harris the state of MI. And the polls show that most likely Harris cannot win the election without MI.”
Kshama Sawant, 10/7/24.
Rather than calling others a liar, perhaps you should take a look in the mirror.
@72 and? She acknowledges Stein won’t win the White House but that she could win MI as some polls showed Stein doing quite well with Arab voters.
Giving a speech for Stein in MI is not “stumping for Trump” no matter how much you morons claim it is.
@72: At most, Sawant wanted to spoil the election for Machavellian reasons – but that doesn’t even remotely add up to “Sawant stumped for Trump”.
@73 — just say you — like Sawant — support Trump and stop wasting all of our time.
@74 — it requires truly hurculean levels of intellectual gymnastics to say that explicitly advocating for Kamala Harris to lose so Donald Trump can win does not mean you want Donald Trump to win, but whatever helps you sleep at night I guess.
@76: I’m sorry that you don’t get the distinction between hoping Trump wins to feed a counter movement or whatever as opposed to believing in his MAGA politics.
Nevertheless, she would look lovely in Mar-A-Lago adorned with one of her trademark scarfs posing with Donald with his thumb up.
@69: Nothing you wrote contradicted my point. Lee clearly said the eviction moratoria, as currently structured, were threatening LIHI’s ability to build more affordable housing. Again, if that is true, then those “tenant protections” may actually result in fewer affordable units. It’s hard to see how that protects tenants.
With any policy, a periodic review of results is necessary to ensure the policy is working. If the policy’s results prove detrimental to the long-term goals of the policy, then praising the policy is actually worse than merely “political theater,” it’s outright deception. (And, when the policy intends to provide housing to the most vulnerable among us, it’s extremely cruel deception.)
In that headline post, Lee’s claim immediately received hostile dismissive responses, including from the Stranger — but no data to invalidate her concerns. When the experienced head of a local affordable-housing provider raises a concern about the policy, the proper first response is a willingness to investigate those concerns with a healthy skepticism. Immediate refusal to credit those concerns at all, along with snide attacks upon the provider for expressing them, shows a severe unwillingness to examine policy goals against results. Again, that’s far worse than mere “political theater.”
Harris ran a Shite campaign
the “d”nc’s now done it
Thrice — keep up with
your Deflections and
they’ll fucking Do
It Again.
@75 It takes an authoritarian to say that calling to vote for a 3rd party in order to build an alternative to an inadequate duopoly is the same as campaigning (stumping) for your opponent in the duopoly, and a mental midget for believing that forever invoking the lesser evil is a winning strategy as recently demonstrated (not that you’ll learn anything from it)
For the record, I always said that people should vote for Harris in swing states even though i repeatedly complained about Harris’ rightwing turn on multiple fronts and Democrats’ tone deafness regarding the economic hardship encountered by a majority of Americans
@79: Nobody deserves to be madder at the DNC than Bernie Sanders.
@77 “hoping Trump wins to feed a counter movement”
It’s not what Sawant says and I doubt she believes that. She says that building up the Stein vote would contribute to building an alternative to the duopoly that she wants to break. She explicitly called to vote against Harris and against Trump, which is of course disappeared by the partial quote artists. Her MI speech is on youtube if anyone really needs to know what she actually said rather than regurgitate DNC propaganda. There is plenty to disagree about what Sawant says without making shit up and forcing down our throats the duopoly that delivered Trump for a 2nd term.
@79 “they’ll fucking Do
It Again.”
Given the DNC much prefers Trump’s pro-corporate policies to Sanders’ anti-corporate policies, they’ll do it as often as necessary in order to protect the status quo.
@81 — “Nobody
deserves to be madder
at the DNC than Bernie Sanders.”
bingo
well Bernie
And those favoring
Bernie’s Policies which
is in Fact MOST of the Electorate
they’ve
gottta
LOTTA
Nerve
calling themselves
democratic. But
then again they
Never put it to
a Vote: LLC,
bitches. lol
@77, @80: Why all of this supposed confusion about what Sawant wanted? She stated very clearly:
‘At a rally in Michigan last week, Sawant called the state “ground zero to punish Kamala Harris and defeat her.”’
(Seattle Times, Oct. 16, 2024, p. A7)
No one should find this surprising. Punishing another woman for daring to defeat her formed the basis for one of the charges of malfeasance on Sawant’s Recall ballot. Sawant led a vandalizing mob to the family home of a political opponent, a move more appropriate for the boss of a crime syndicate than for an elected official in a liberal democracy.
@82: “She explicitly called to vote against Harris and against Trump, which is of course disappeared by the partial quote artists.”
Those bastards!
‘”Sawant gave a blistering speech, assailing the two-party system, but focusing her ire on the Democratic Party and Vice President Kamala Harris.
‘“Kamala Harris deserves to lose 1,000 times over,” Sawant said, blaming her for the deaths of tens of thousands of people in Gaza.’
‘Speaking to about 150 people at Washington Hall in the Central District, Sawant accused Harris of being “more pliable and controllable” by Wall Street interests.’
Feel the symmetry!
@82: ‘She says that building up the Stein vote would contribute to building an alternative to the duopoly that she wants to break.’
“This is Stein’s third presidential campaign. She got about 1% of the national vote in 2016 and less than 0.5% in 2012. She also ran for Massachusetts governor in 2002 and 2010, coming nowhere close to victory either time.”
Ok, given Sawant’s record of accomplishment on the Seattle City Council, we can understand how she looked at those numbers and saw wildly unbeatable success. But those of us with this thing called memory recall that ‘building up the Green Party’ was the exc– REASON given for voting Nader in 2000, fortified by statements about how the two parties are functionally the same. (See, for example, the two parties’ identical attitudes on Roe v. Wade.) As one can easily see from Stein’s numbers, the Green Party has been built into an unstoppable juggernaut by such brilliant tactics. (Well, ok, at least when compared to Socialist Alternative, and Workers Strike Back.)
the ‘d’nc
cannot abide
socialism for Any-
one other than the Wealthy
and they themselves
obviously and as long
as we keep Asking for
nice things they’re just
gonna give us bushes &
h. clintons & eltrumpfsters
& bidens (pulling a Ruth Bader
Ginsburg, SABOTAGING Kamala’s
shite Campaign) & More eltrumpfsters
this is
UTTER
Futility
wethey
are running
Outta TIME
may have run.
Power
is Never
given. it is
only Wrested.
nyt:
Homeless Woman
Going Into Labor Is Cited
for Violating Camping Ban
Body-camera footage shows an officer from the Louisville Metro Police Department in Kentucky detain the woman, who gave birth later that day.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/21/us/kentucky-woman-pregnant-homeless-police.html
yeah
let’s just
Schweep our
Billionaire’s refusal
to pay Their Fair Share
to where, exactly: St. Fucking Elsewhere?
Remove the Symptoms
Or FIX THE FUCKING PROBLEM?
Hint: Whilst they’re not Both
the Same fucking Thing
DOing the Latter will
FIX the Former.
@86: “eltrumpfsters”
Sawant isn’t a Democrat. She’s been extremely clear about that for a very long time.
Imagine her actually paying the slightest bit of attention to you. Do you really want to run the risk of displeasing her?
wtf
wormmy’re
you even talking about?
btw
that’s a rhetorical query
you inconsequential
nincompoop
aka
my
little
Trolly.
‘”Sawant gave a blistering speech, assailing the two-party system, but focusing her ire on the Democratic Party and Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Which party has been overseeing and abetting genocide in Gaza when most of their supporters are anti-war? Which party could and should have made a difference and instead chose to participate to the murder of 10,000s of innocents while gaslighting an overwhelming majority of Democrats and independents about whether they could do anything about it. Did anyone expect Republicans to do anything other than what they did?
‘“Kamala Harris deserves to lose 1,000 times over,” Sawant said, blaming her for the deaths of tens of thousands of people in Gaza.’
Morons like you have been laughing at people who were telling you that supporting genocide would be very costly to Democrats and now you still deny it. You chose to support Israel in spite of public opinion and now you blame public opinion for holding Democrats accountable. Your crass stupidity is the problem here.
‘Speaking to about 150 people at Washington Hall in the Central District, Sawant accused Harris of being “more pliable and controllable” by Wall Street interests.’
This I disagree with Sawant but the point still stands that Democrats are essentially as responsible as Republicans for the neoliberal policies that led to grotesque inequalities unseen in a century and ultimately led the party of FDR to be deserted by working people
“Feel the symmetry!”
is this your entire argument? You are pathetic. Why should there be symmetry when everyone already knows that someone like Sawant of course is against everything that Trump stands for, when there is a lot more pressure on anyone on the left to explain why they aren’t campaigning for Democrats. You also regurgitated a biased article that failed to cite her comments about Republicans and the GOP
far right propagandaists
like our dear Wormtongue
here’re Counting on our ignoring
what’s right in front of our faces: the
undemocratic power of top-down Corps
and their undying support of Israel’s soon-
to-be Omnicide from rampant disease starvation
elemental exposures snipers 2,000 lb bunker bustin’
bombs indifference from those swayed by Wormtongue
and his histrionic insidious and never-ending Justifications
for bibi’s little keep-the-Fuck-outta-Prison gambit gone Mad
and their Lackeys in the ‘Democratic’ partay.
They’ve
GOTTA Blame
Sawant. we cannot
be Allowed to look at
to See who it Is who’s ac-
tually Running the Show or
their house of cards’ll come a’
tumblin’ down. it’s all propped
up by lies and those unprepared
or too frightened to See who. we. are.
perhaps
Thedonold’ll
help remove the masks.
@83 “Given the DNC much prefers Trump’s pro-corporate policies to Sanders’ anti-corporate policies, they’ll do it as often as necessary in order to protect the status quo.”
This right here is the whole problem. Dems couldn’t campaign on an economic plan that helps working people because they don’t actually care about working people just corporate profits–just like Republicans. They couldn’t campaign on bringing peace to Gaza because they don’t actually care about Gazans just arms deals and maintaining a strategic alliance in the region to preserve the US military empire–just like Republicans.
Harris lost because Sawant was saying what millions of voters were thinking and it shows in the dramatically decreased turnout. Tensorna and them are ranting at the canary in the coal mine for lying down on the job.
“Welcome to the world of oligarchy”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79KDKWEOJ1s
It’s quite possible the Trump presidency will bring peace to Gaza more swiftly than a Harris presidency would have.
The collapse of the Assad government, the humiliating rout of Hizbollah, and Iran’s evident intimidation in the face of Israel’s elimination of its primary air defense systems will all place enormous pressure on Hamas. Hamas was always counting on a widespread Middle Eastern alliance against Israel to step in on its behalf, and it’s now clear that will not happen this time. Hamas will fight alone.
Hamas’s final hope was that the Americans might restrain the Israelis, but with Trump returning to office, that hope will likely be dashed as well. Trump’s victory appears to have put the final nail in the coffin of Hamas’s strategy. I predict Hamas will now be looking to cut the best peace deal they can and get to work rebuilding their forces in preparation for some future effort.
So, happy news, there is good reason for hope! AverageBob in particular must be over the moon at the imminent prospect of peace in Gaza! 😉
@95 I certainly welcome a stop to the inhumane mass murdering of Palestinians but I also know that Palestinians won’t stop dying due to the complete destruction of infrastructure in Gaza over the last 14 mos and a return to apartheid on steroid that will take place in occupied territories. It takes a special kind of military propagandist like thumpus to claim that this is the kind of peace for which we should “be over the moon”
“So, happy news, there is good reason for hope! AverageBob in particular must be over the moon at the imminent prospect of peace in Gaza! 😉” ~–@🛴
and sometimes
the messenger can
take the piss out of it
looks like wormmy’s
found his Voice.
where Is he
standing back
or standing bye
snidely whiplashing
himself in droll ant-
icipation of seizing
the Last Comment
the highly-coveted
@99 — aka the
Last Word.