Month: April 2024

We know that Trump will claim that the upcoming election is “rigged” against him, because that’s what he always does. But with the end of special pandemic voting rules and the adoption of plenty of new restrictive state election laws, this argument will make less sense. How, then, will he say the “rigging” is taking place?

Trump and his followers will insist that local election officials in large cities are throwing his ballots into creeks and bringing fake Biden ballots to polling places in suitcases. What they really mean by this is that black Americans in urban areas aren’t real Americans, so they shouldn’t be allowed to vote. The allegedly corrupt urban polling place is a dog whistle for an unsavory morsel of racist ideology.

The Israeli Army’s chief of staff apparently noted this morning that Israel was at war with Hamas, not the people of Gaza. He is exactly right; Hamas didn’t mobilize the people of Gaza for war, it hid underneath them. That’s the reason, as I have noted previously, that the World War II analogy used by some Israelis doesn’t apply here.

But the war Israel is actually fighting doesn’t match the guy’s words. The Israelis are making little effort to separate the fighters from the civilian population. Instead of enthusiastically protecting civilians in an effort to isolate the militants, they do as little as possible to meet the needs of non-combatants and complain bitterly when the rest of the world prods them to do so.

Will this latest mistake cause the government to change course? Don’t hold your breath, because there are several members of the Israeli cabinet who view the enemy as the entire Palestinian population, not just Hamas, and Bibi needs their votes to stay in power.

A right to privacy was added to the Florida Constitution in 1980 by popular vote. As a result of the decision in Roe, it was commonly understood that the concept of privacy included abortion at the time of the vote. In light of that, and the reasoning in Roe, the Florida Supreme Court found that the Florida Constitution provided protections for abortion above and beyond what could be found in the US Constitution and case law.

But a new Florida Supreme Court, packed with DeSantis supporters, decided that all of the evidence of the public’s understanding of the amendment was unconvincing and overturned the previous decision on Monday. It was an unscrupulous act of raw judicial power. Thomas and Scalia would be proud.

The Florida court probably thinks it immunized itself from criticism by permitting, by the narrowest of margins, the 2024 ballot referendum on abortion rights to go forward. In the press, yes; in my eyes, no.

Bibi uncharacteristically apologized for the deaths of aid workers at the hands of Israeli soldiers, but he also added, “It happens.” He’s right; soldiers rarely have perfect information, and they’re bound to make mistakes at times. But it is far more likely that they will kill innocent aid workers if your country’s leadership openly puts a much higher priority on killing terrorists than on providing food for desperate civilians. This was bound to happen sooner or later.

At some point, if only for his own political survival, Biden is going to have to make it clear in public that America will no longer provide weapons or diplomatic support if the Israelis continue to ignore our advice. Could this episode be the turning point? It’s possible; even the Israelis acknowledge they were in the wrong this time.

We, the real people of America, in order to destroy wokeness, promote the interest of white Christians, encourage the use of fossil fuels, suck up to foreign dictators, and eliminate expertise in our government, do hereby appoint Donald J. Trump as the ruler of our country, with unlimited and perpetual power to do whatever he pleases.

I hold these truths to be self-evident: that all real Americans are created equal, except me; that I was appointed by God, if there is anyone greater than me, to rule over America; that it is therefore the obligation of all true Americans to suck up to me; and that the purpose of government is to give me unlimited power to abuse and make miserable anyone claiming to be an American who doesn’t fall into line.

Beyonce doesn’t make albums; she makes statements. She doesn’t try to persuade you; she demands your allegiance. She can do that, too. She has an internet army to back her up.

And so, the question was whether she could make the country music establishment bend the knee to her by releasing a record with several country songs. So far, the answer is no. While her record, as usual, has been received ecstatically by her fans and the critics, country radio won’t play it.

But this should be fun, if you’re a member of the blue team. First of all, some hapless country music establishment figure is bound to put his foot in it, and the Beyhive will respond with all of its fury. There are times when it feels like only the red team is fighting the culture war, so this will provide some reassurance to the rest of us. In addition, it would be amusing to see Beyonce, Jay-Z, and family performing at the Grand Old Opry as the Carter Family.