The Era of rivalry, Biden vs. Trump and their respective parties

The basis of American democracy -- the basis for any democracy -- is free and fair elections.

Led by their leader, Trump, and their new speaker, Mike Johnson, Republicans are out to destroy American democracy. Both still say Trump won the 2020 election.

The Hill reports, "The House GOP’s election of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), the architect of the conference’s legal strategy for challenging President Biden’s presidential win in 2020, is putting election denialism back to the center of the national conversation.

"Johnson took a leading role in spearheading an amicus brief backing a Texas lawsuit contesting the 2020 election results, which he said prompted former President Trump to call him to express his appreciation.

"Trump gave Johnson a hearty endorsement Wednesday, hours after he had torpedoed Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s (R-Minn.) Speakership bid. Emmer had voted to hold up the 2020 election in a series of votes, decisions that led Trump allies such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to oppose his nomination as Speaker.

"Republicans after picking Johnson didn’t want to talk about his role in challenging Biden’s victory; when an ABC News reporter tried to ask Johnson about his 2020 efforts, she was booed by several members while Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) told her to “shut up.”

"To Democrats, Johnson’s rise was clear evidence of the former president’s grip on the party."

Trump is bent on destroying the Republican Party.

“It is really sad that Trump continues to have so much sway with people who ought to know a lot better,” Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).

A number of Republicans in Congress have acknowledged that Biden won the election and warned that denying his legal victory could damage the country and the GOP., The Hill

Of course, the forum's Republicans will not respond.

 

Authorities are finally picking up on what many of us knew two days ago concerning the mass murderer, Robert Card. His car was abandoned near his boat. He is no where near Lewiston. He has traveled by boat to an unknown location.

CBS reports, "A Coast Guard official told CBS News that it has deployed resources to help search for Robert Card, the suspect in a mass shooting that left 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, dead late Wednesday night.

"Card has been charged with eight counts of murder, officials said Thursday morning, and he's expected to be charged with further counts as the victims of the shooting are identified.

"Police said they located a "vehicle of interest," a white Subaru Outback that was registered to Card, near a boat launch on the Androscoggin River.

"The Coast Guard is now using a response vessel dispatched from Boothbay Harbor, Maine, and a fixed-wing aircraft from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to search the waterways for Card. CBS News learned the crews have been searching for a 15-foot lake boat owned by Card.

"The Androscoggin River flows into the Kennebec River. Both rivers are more than 170 miles long and empty into the Gulf of Maine. Some of the gulf's shoreline is in Canada. Canada's Border Services Agency issued an "armed and dangerous" alert to its officers along the U.S.-Canada border."

 

The IDF ground invasion of Gaza is beginning!

CNBC reports, "The Israeli army is increasing its air attacks in Gaza and its ground forces are “expanding their activity” in the Gaza Strip, according to a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces. The news Friday came as a Palestinian data provider said internet service in the Gaza Strip has been cut off by Israeli bombardment.

"A spokesperson for IDF said Hamas is running part of its campaign from underneath the al-Shifa Hospital in central Gaza. The IDF shared more details of its recent strikes, saying ground troops, fighter jets and drones struck anti-tank missile launch sites, command centers and control centers. The IDF also said operatives of Palestinian militant group Hamas were hit.

"A large Israeli ground incursion into the Gaza Strip still appears likely, but humanitarian groups have warned against such a move, citing the worsening conditions for those trapped in the resource-deprived and blockaded enclave.

"On Thursday, violence in the Middle East escalated as U.S. President Biden ordered fighter jet strikes in eastern Syria, targeting facilities used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

"The U.S. Department of Defense said the strikes were in retaliation for attacks on U.S. forces."

 

Trump and his grassroots supporters will destroy the Republican Party. The forum's Republicans know this. It is why they remain silent.

The rise of Rep. Mike Johnson in the House, coupled with the fall of former Vice President Mike Pence and the dominance of ex-President Donald Trump, shows that 2020 election denialism is a prerequisite for winning Republican power.

Will anyone deny that statement? No!

CNN reports, "Johnson, who played a leading role in the effort to block the certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, benefited in his ascent to the speakership last week from the approval of pro-Trump lawmakers.

"Pence suspended his run for the White House over the weekend after months mired in the single digits in surveys. His tortured explanations of his constitutionality correct decision – that he lacked power to overturn Biden’s 2020 election win in Congress – failed to convince grassroots Republicans bought into the ex-president’s false claims that he won the election. Pence now joins the swelling ranks of Republicans, from former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney to retiring Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, whose careers were eviscerated by contradicting Trump’s lies.

"Those lies – namely that he was unfairly and illegally ejected from the White House – are now the foundation of Trump’s 2024 campaign to win it back. And after discrediting the electoral system in the eyes of millions of his supporters, Trump is now setting about tarnishing another pillar of America’s democratic institutions – the courts. Over the weekend, the former president stepped up his social media rants at the judge presiding over a fraud trial in New York that targets him, his adult sons and his company, after he was fined for a second time last week for breaching a gag order by apparently attacking court personnel on social media."

Trump and his followers are a direct threat to our democracy.

Trump's followers will not respond to this message, thus providing corroboration for the report.

 

Two wars impacting our country are happening.

CNN reports, "Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who has held up military promotions for nine months, slammed a proposal being floated to change the chamber’s rules to allow a vote on many of the nominations en masse and attacked the White House and Senate Democrats for not negotiating with him.

“It’s typical of this place. This administration would rather burn the Senate down and that’s what would happen. … If you change the rules of the Senate then it lasts forever,” Tuberville told CNN’s Manu Raju. “So they would rather burn down the Senate than negotiate.”

What a jerk. A dumb one at that, but Trump's followers will believe it.

CNN continued, "Tuberville has been holding up military promotions since February because of a Department of Defense policy that reimburses travel costs for military members requiring reproductive care outside of the state in which they are stationed. The department enacted the policy after the reversal of Roe v. Wade last year overturned the constitutional right to an abortion and left the issue to individual states.

"The Alabama [I knew it, Trump country] Republican added: “If they go around and, without negotiating, change the rules of the Senate it just goes to show you they want it their way or the highway.” Note: The Senator is clueless, but Trump's followers will believe him. It's why he said it.

"Tuberville, declining to provide specifics, said that members of the military tell him that his holds are not impacting readiness – something which the Pentagon and White House have repeatedly highlighted in their arguments urging the senator to lift his objections."

"President Trump famously declared during his 2016 campaign that he loved the “poorly educated” because voters with lower levels of schooling delivered an overwhelming share of votes to him," the conservative Washington Times."

 

Will Trump keep his mouth shut this time?

Hell, no. He's begging for jail time. Excellent fund-raising tactic.

The judge should accommodate him when he verbally assaults witnesses or the prosecution.

NPR reports, "The judge presiding over Donald Trump's federal election interference case has reinstated a gag order on the former president.

"U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan imposed the restrictions on Trump two weeks ago, barring him from making public statements targeting prosecutors, court staff and likely witnesses. Trump appealed, and asked that the gag be lifted as that appeal plays out in the courts.

"Chutkan temporarily paused the restrictions to let the two sides brief her on their additional arguments. In her ruling, the judge said Trump is unlikely to win his appeal on the merits, and that the restrictions are necessary to protect the administration of justice.

"The First Amendment rights of participants in criminal proceedings must yield, when necessary, to the orderly administration of justice," the judge said in her order. "And contrary to Defendant's argument, the right to a fair trial is not his alone, but belongs also to the government and the public."

"Trump, she said, fails to acknowledge evidence presented by the government that when the former president publicly attacked individuals, including on issues related to this case, those individuals have faced threats and harassment."

Trump never, ever, talks about the evidence against him, and, in most cases, never declares his innocence.

"The evidence is in the record," Chutkan wrote. "Defendant fails to acknowledge it."

 

“We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”
“When you catch somebody in a fraud, you are allowed to go by very different rules."
“We fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
"Now it is up to Congress to confront this egregious assault on our democracy. And after this, we’re going to walk down, and I’ll be there with you. We are going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”
***********************************************************************************************************************************************************Donald J. Trump, Jan. 6, 2021

The AP reports, "Colorado lawyers seeking to disqualify former President Donald Trump from running for the White House again argued on Monday that his role in the January 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol runs afoul of the Constitution’s insurrection clause, opening a hearing that could break new ground in constitutional law.

"Attorney Eric Olson recounted Trump’s violent rhetoric preceding the Jan. 6 attack and his encouraging a crowd that came within “40 feet” of the vice president when it stormed the Capitol. He said Trump “summoned and organized the mob.”

“We are here because Trump claims, after all that, that he has the right to be president again,” Olson said. “But our Constitution, the shared charter of our nation, says he cannot do so.”

"Trump’s legal team and presidential campaign assailed the lawsuit as little more than an attempt by Democrats to derail his attempt to reclaim his old job. Trump is so far dominating the Republican presidential primary. Note: Actually Democrats are hoping Trump is the Republican candidate.

The AP continued, "Monday’s hearing in Colorado state court is in the first of two lawsuits that could end up reaching the U.S. Supreme Court. On Thursday, the Minnesota Supreme Court hears oral arguments in a similar case."

 

No doubt about it. Trump wants to go to jail.

He is the leader of the Republican Party, and the leading Republican candidate for the Presidency.

With four criminal indictments, no wonder his followers avoid him.

ABC reports, "Former President Donald Trump lashed out Monday at the judge overseeing his federal election interference case after she reinstated a limited gag order prohibiting him from attacking some of those involved in the case.

"U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Sunday night reinstated the limited gag order she imposed on Trump after temporarily halting it earlier this month.

"Trump, responding on his Truth Social platform to the reinstatement of the limited gag order Monday, called Chutkan a "TRUE TRUMP HATER" and criticized her ability to preside over a fair trial.

"In other posts, Trump complained about the timing of his indictments and falsely accused President Joe Biden of ordering them.

"Chutkan's limited gag order does not specifically prohibit Trump from targeting her."

Why? Why not include the judge in the gag order Chutkan has never bothered to explain that oddity. Trump can't malign a clerk, but he tell the judge "to go to hell."

 

CNN reports, "The 14th Amendment disqualification trial against former President Donald Trump continued Tuesday in Colorado, where a group of voters are trying to keep him off the 2024 ballot based on the Constitution’s post-Civil War “insurrectionist ban.”

"An expert on right-wing extremism dissected Trump’s history of fomenting unrest and testified that Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021, was unmistakably interpreted by his most militant supporters as “a call to violence.” This is a key part of the challengers’ argument that Trump “engaged” in the insurrection and is therefore ineligible for office.

"The 14th Amendment says US officials who take an oath to uphold the Constitution are disqualified from office if they “engaged in insurrection” or aided the country’s enemies.

"Peter Simi, a sociology professor at Chapman University who studies extremism, testified about Trump’s history of embracing of far-right brawler groups like the Proud Boys, albeit with enough wiggle room for plausible deniability

"Trump was often “using language with a wink and a nod,” Simi said, but members of these extremist groups consistently interpreted his comments as a “clarion call” toward “anger, resentment and mobilization.” This ramped up in summer 2020 as Trump claimed he was being cheated in the presidential election, Simi said."

Trump rarely fully commits himself to a course of action, and resists putting anything in writing. In the same speech -- sometimes in the same paragraph -- he often contradicts himself to avoid being fully committed. He thinks this is smart.

He does not use email. First, because he would commit his words to the internet. Second because he wants one-way discussions -- his way.

Put another way, Trump is scared to do what I am doing now.

Trump wants to be our next President, and he is heavily favored within the Republican Party.

What does that say about Republicans? Geez, they can't even talk.

 

Why is our media broadcasting Hamas propaganda video?

Why is our media accepting Hamas propaganda which is providing the war's casualty count and the number dead children?

Please recall when an Islamic Jihad rocket hit a hospital parking lot, Hamas propaganda said the number killed was over four hundred. Our media accepted that figure initially. As the facts came in, the figure was drastically reduced.

The IDF must win quickly to avoid a two-front or three-front war with Hezbollah and Syria jumping in to save Hamas. Hence, the strike today on a large refugee camp filled with Palestinians who chose to stay in north Gaza and were shielding Hamas leaders.

 

The naïveté of some Americans is breathtaking, that includes 18 members of Congress!

They seem unaware that Hamas terrorists hide amongst the civilian population. For the second day in a row, Israel was forced to bomb a refugee camp in Gaza because the headquarters of the Hamas terrorist group was hiding there.

Palestinians chose Hamas to govern them. In addition, at any time Palestinians living in Gaza could leave and live under the Palestinian Authority on the West Bank, roughly a hundred miles away. Palestinians trapped in Gaza now chose Hamas.

On Oct. 7, Hamas went on a murder raid, murdering over 1400 Israelis as well as others. The war between Israel and Hamas began. Young, amateurish progressives want the U.S.to declare a ceasefire between these two foreign adversaries. They can't explain how the Biden administration is supposed to do that.

NPR reports, "The progressive Jewish group If Not Now went to Capitol Hill last week to talk to lawmakers and hold a rally.

"While the group sang a call-and-response of "cease-fire now" and "not in our name" next to the Reflecting Pool, Matan Arad-Neeman, the group's spokesman, explained why they were there.

"We've only seen — what is it — 17 members of Congress so far call for a cease-fire. And I'm so grateful for their moral courage," he said. "But the rest of Congress needs to step up and end this bloodshed."

"As of today, 18 House members have signed on to a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas.

"In March, Gallup found that for the first time in more than two decades of tracking, Democrats sympathized with Palestinians more than Israelis. About half of Democrats said their sympathies are more with Palestinians, compared to about 4 in 10 who said their sympathies are more with the Israelis. That divide is decades in the making."

On Oct. 7, Palestinians murdered over 1,400 people and started a war that will desecrate their homeland. Over 8,800 Palestinians have been killed.

The young progressives support a group bent on murder and suicide.

 

The people who live in glass houses theme.

ABC reports, "A very big hello to a place where we've done very well: Sioux Falls. Thank you very much, Sioux Falls," Trump boomed into the microphone as he launched into his remarks.

"But Trump was actually in Sioux City, Iowa -- not Sioux Falls, South Dakota -- and while the blunder caught the attention of those in the crowd, who shouted out the right location, he didn't correct himself until a state lawmaker whispered in his ear.

"The Biden campaign soon seized on the "Sioux Falls" slip, in the latest example of how Trump is being scrutinized for his own mistakes while trying to make Biden's age and alleged infirmity one of the key issues of 2024."

The man didn't know where he was. He wants to be our next President. Republican voters overwhelmingly support the idea.

 

Trump is benefiting from the staggering number felonies for which he is being charged. His trial calendar is loaded while his followers remain silent.

CNN reports, "The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago document-mishandling case cast doubt on the viability having a trial in May 2024, signaling she may postpone the criminal proceedings.

"During a hearing Wednesday in south Florida, US District Judge Aileen Cannon raised concerns that the defense team wouldn’t be able to complete trial preparations between now and the spring as they handle other cases for Trump and a stacked trial schedule."

Cannon is the young judge Trump appointed late in his term. In an earlier ruling on related matter, she protected Trump to the extreme. So much so, the conservative 11th Circuit overruled her, and gave her a slap on the wrist.

She may be protecting Trump again. Will she do Trump's bidding? Will she postpone the trial until after the election?

 

Your claim is fake news. The Senate can approve whoever they want, by recorded vote. Tuberville can't stop that. So why are you pretending that he can?

 

Tuberville is a real jerk. Nearly every Republican Senator disagrees with him because our national security is involved. Tuberville wants to be famous even if it means putting our national security at risk, and he is doing so by objecting to travel expenses for reproductive care.

ABC reports, "Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville said Thursday he is not backing down after his fiery battle with Republican colleagues on the Senate floor over his unprecedented move to hold up hundreds of military nominations and promotions.

"Senate Republicans, led by Sens. Dan Sullivan and Joni Ernst, on Wednesday night angrily challenged Tuberville in an all out Republican-on-Republican brawl on the floor, during which they held the floor for more than four hours as they repeatedly tried and repeatedly failed to get Tuberville to cave on his military holds -- his attempt to change Pentagon abortion policy. Republicans brought 61 military nominees up for individual consideration on the Senate floor Wednesday night. Tuberville spiked every single one.

"Tuberville announced the holds late last year after the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs that abortion limits should be left to the states. Under the new policy, service members, who often do not get a say in where they are assigned, are reimbursed for travel costs incurred for seeking an abortion or other reproductive care if they are serving in a state that has outlawed those services.

"Republicans were out in full force Thursday airing their frustration with Tuberville.

"Well I'm frustrated on behalf of the force," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said. "The effect on the force is real, people are losing their slot ... and the ripple effect is going to the lower ranks."

"On Thursday, Tuberville doubled down, saying he "works for the American people" and speculated that many don't want their money to go toward service members' abortions. Tuberville has been holding military nominees for months over objection to a Department of Defense policy that allows service members to receive compensation to travel out of state for abortion, asserting that it is taxpayer-funded abortion and a violation of the Constitution."

 

The AP reports, "President Joe Biden said he thought there should be a humanitarian “pause” in the Israel-Hamas war, after his campaign speech Wednesday evening was interrupted by a protester calling for a cease-fire.

“I think we need a pause,” Biden said.

Israel's response, a huge aerial assault on northern Gaza.

The Times reports, "Israeli soldiers have encircled Gaza City, the Israeli military said on Thursday night, waging close-quarters combat with Hamas as they push forward with what officials have predicted will be a long and bloody ground invasion.

“Armor forces and infantry, backed by many aircraft, are attacking outposts, command centers, launching positions, and additional terrorist infrastructure used by Hamas,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, said in a statement. He added: “The soldiers are eliminating terrorists in face-to-face battles.”

Following the murder raid by Hamas on Oct. 7, the world wants Israel to play nice. Let us not forget, following 9/11, the U.S. declared war on Afghanistan and Iraq. Western allies joined the .U.S.

The Times continued, "With Israeli forces surrounding and venturing into Gaza City, and extending their devastating bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip, international criticism of Israel’s war effort mounted on Thursday and the Biden administration pushed for a humanitarian pause in the fighting.

"Rescue efforts pressed ahead on Thursday in Jabaliya, a densely populated area just north of Gaza City where Israeli airstrikes have leveled whole blocks and the ground forces of Israel and Hamas, the group that controls Gaza, have engaged in fierce urban combat."

Hamas terrorists hide amidst the civilian population and place their command and control centers in refugee camps and below hospitals. Hamas prevents civilians from fleeing. Israel is being blamed for civilian casualties despite urging Gaza civilians to flee to south Gaza.

 

No he isn't.

Only if Dems put violating the Hyde Amendment and Abortion above national security. Further, Tuberville cannot stop the confirmation of anyone. Everyone knows this, they are just locking up promotions for political advantage.

Fake news. The Hyde Amendment only forbids federal money for abortions, not reproduction.

 

Even with a brand new, young, naive speaker, Republicans are still preventing Congress to function.

It is not an issue of not being able to govern.

It has become obvious Republicans don't want to govern. Their goal is anarchy.

CNN reports, "The House passed a bill on Thursday to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel as it fights a war against Hamas – a move that sets up a clash with the Democratic-led Senate in an early leadership test for Speaker Mike Johnson.

"Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called the House GOP bill a “deeply flawed proposal” that the Senate will not take it up. Democrats are objecting to the fact that the bill does not include aid to Ukraine and would enact funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service. The House vote was 226 to 196. Two Republicans opposed the bill and 12 Democrats supported it.

"There is bipartisan support for aid to Israel and further aid to Ukraine. But in the House, many Republicans are opposed to sending more aid to Ukraine, putting the two chambers at odds.

"In an attempt to offset the cost of the $14.3 billion in Israel aid, the House bill would rescind $14.3 billion in funding for the Internal Revenue Service. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said, however, that the proposal to offset aid to Israel by cutting IRS funding would add to the deficit and result in roughly $26.8 billion in lost revenue over 10 years."

The Republican bill has a zero chance in the Senate. Senate Republicans won't even vote for it.

 

Iran and its proxies want nothing to do with this. For one thing, Israel has approximately 150 nuclear weapons. Iran and its proxies have none.

Faced with extinction, what might Israel do?

CNN reports, "The US intelligence community believes – for now – that Iran and its proxies are calibrating their response to Israel’s military intervention in Gaza to avoid direct conflict with Israel or the US while still exacting costs on its adversaries.

"But the US is also keenly aware that Iran does not maintain perfect control of its umbrella of proxies – in particular over Lebanese Hezbollah, the largest and most capable of the various groups. Hezbollah is an ally of Hamas, the group that attacked Israel on October 7, and has long positioned itself as fighting against Israel. US officials are deeply concerned that the group’s internal politics may cause Hezbollah to escalate simmering tensions.

"The US also does not always have perfect visibility into the communications between Iran and its various proxies, according to sources familiar with US intelligence in the region.

"Tehran knows that if Hezbollah escalates the conflict with Israel or the United States it would likely provoke direct counterattacks against Iran that could be devastating to it, said one US official. The kind of lower-level attacks that different proxy groups have launched against Israel and the US since October 7 have caused the US to deploy significant military assets, forced Israel to spread out its forces and munitions, and allowed Iran to be seen as “doing something” about the killing of Palestinians in Gaza, the official said.

 

Another associate of Trump's was sentenced Friday to 70 months in prison for his violent role on January 6, 2021.

CNN reports, "Federico Klein, a former State Department appointee, was found guilty following a bench trial before Judge Trevor McFadden this summer of multiple counts, including assaulting multiple police officers that day.

“Your actions on January 6 were shocking and egregious,” McFadden, also a Trump appointee, said during Friday’s sentencing.

"According to the judge, Klein assaulted an officer during an initial breach on the Capitol grounds, telling the officer “you can’t stop us.”

"McFadden also detailed several other assaults on officers from Klein, many of which occurred in the lower west terrace tunnel, one of the most violent scenes that day."

Klein joins a long list of Trump's associates who have faced criminal charges. The list includes Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, Allen Weisselberg, Peter Navarro, Michael Cohen, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Elliot Broidy, and over a 1,000 charged in connection with the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021!

Donald Trump wants to be our next President. He is favored by a majority of Republican voters who also want to choose our lawmakers. Little wonder as to why the forum's Republicans stay silent. They avoid reality, preferring their fantasies from obscure, unreliable Trump friendly sources.

 

Fake news. Congress is functioning fine.

The Dem Senate unable to even have a vote? How dysfunctional. The well working House had a vote and passed a bill.

Get back to us when the deeply dysfunctional Senate can actually debate and pass a bill like the House did.

 

The Appeals Court is playing Trump's game of delay, delay, and delay some more.

CNN reports, "A federal appeals court on Friday temporarily froze the limited gag order issued against Donald Trump in the former president’s election subversion criminal case in Washington, DC, allowing him to again speak freely with criticism of possible witnesses in the case.

"In a brief order, a three-judge panel at the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals said they were pausing the gag order issued by District Judge Tanya Chutkan to give them more time to consider Trump’s request to pause the order while his appeal plays out before the court." Note: The three judges were picked by Obama and Biden.

Please recall that whenever Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., or Erick Trump speak publicly about the various court cases, they always deal personally with judges, prosecutors, witnesses, and law clerks.

They never deal with the evidence.

 

CNN reports, "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that his government opposed any temporary ceasefire in Gaza unless Hamas freed all the hostages it holds.

The Biden administration is trying to avoid using the term, "ceasefire."

"US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Tel Aviv on Friday said the US believes efforts to get humanitarian assistance in and hostages out “would be facilitated by humanitarian pauses,'" CNN.

Pause in fighting or a ceasefire is a difference without a distinction.

CNN continued, "Israel claimed responsibility for an attack outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City that Hamas said killed 15 people and wounded 50 others.

"Multiple videos from the scene show at least a dozen bloodied people strewn across the ground near an ambulance. There appears to be some shrapnel damage to at least one of the cars on the scene.

"In a statement, Israel said it targeted the ambulance because it was being used by Hamas. A spokesperson for Hamas said Friday that the ambulance was in a medical convoy from the hospital, traveling to the Rafah border crossing, and had informed the International Committee of the Red Cross about the move.

"The ICRC, in a statement, confirmed it was aware of the scheduled movement of a convoy of vehicles carrying wounded patients from northern Gaza to the south, but it was not part of it.

"The Palestine Red Crescent Society said one of its ambulances was in the convoy and was damaged by shelling, but none of its members were harmed."

We know Hamas hides its fighters and its command and control within the civilian population. It is no stretch that Hamas terrorists would use an ambulance to escape to the south.

Why is it that Israel is being blamed for civilian casualties? Why isn't Hamas being blamed for civilian casualties?

Naive lawmakers in Washington crying out for a pause in the fighting don't deal with that issue and can't understand that a third party (the U.S.) is powerless in a war involving two foreign powers.

 

The Palestinian Authority States that Hamas was using ambulances to escape.

'The head of the Palestinian Authority said: 'The #Hamas leaders – and I say this for the first time – fled #Gaza to the Sinai in ambulances, leaving their people behind.''

https://twitter.com/Ostrov_A/status/1720672182420848996

 

"President Trump famously declared during his 2016 campaign that he loved the “poorly educated” because voters with lower levels of schooling delivered an overwhelming share of votes to him," the conservative Washington Times."

As a recent poll shows, Trump is popular with Republican voters despite being charged with 91 felonies within four criminal indictments and has been deemed guilty of fraud in the current trial.

As this thread shows. Republican voters are unable to explain why they support Trump!

All we know about them is they love it when Trump attacks the judge, the judge's clerk, and the prosecutor to avoid the evidence against him.

Of course, the reason is, even Republican voters know he is guilty as hell.

The only question is, why is Donald so stupid as to anger the judge who will decide his fate? That's not very bright.

Reuters, reports, "Donald Trump complained of unfair treatment in defiant and rambling testimony on the witness stand at the civil fraud trial about his New York business on Monday, prompting the judge at one point to threaten to cut his testimony short.

"Under questioning about his company's accounting practices, the former U.S. president clearly aggravated Judge Arthur Engoron, who is weighing whether to impose hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and other penalties that could hobble the real estate empire that vaulted Trump to prominence.

"Engoron warned Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in the 2024 election, that he might remove him from the witness stand if he did not answer questions directly."

"Can you control your client?" Engoron asked Trump's lawyer, Christopher Kise. "This is not a political rally. This is a courtroom."

As is their custom, the forum's Republicans will remain silent. They are not smart enough to respond, but they want to choose our next President.