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

CNN reports (with some modifications), "More than 10,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military offensive nearly a month ago, Hamas said Monday.

"The Hamas spokesperson Ashraf Al Qudra said 10,022 Palestinians in the enclave had been killed by Israeli strikes, including 4,104 children, 2,641 women and 611 elderly people. Those numbers suggest about three-quarters of the dead are from vulnerable populations. Hamas also reported 25,408 injured."

It’s unclear how many combatants are included in the total. The media could not independently verify the numbers released by Hamas, which is sealed off by Israel and mostly sealed by Egypt.

Obviously, this is Hamas propaganda.

Why is the media reporting Hamas propaganda? Does it serve the media's purpose? Isn't accurate news the media's purpose?

If casualty figure are not available from reliable sources, don't report casualty figures.

 

CNN reports, "Israel will have the "overall security responsibility" in Gaza for an "indefinite period" after the war ends, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview that aired on ABC News on Monday.

Gaza should be governed by “those who don’t want to continue the way of Hamas," Netanyahu said, before adding, "I think Israel will, for an indefinite period, will have the overall security responsibility because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it.”

"The prime minister also repeated that Israel will not allow a general ceasefire until all hostages are released by Hamas.

"Netanyahu also addressed the role of Iran and Hezbollah in the conflict, cautioning them from getting more involved.

"I think they've understood that if they enter the war in a significant way, the response will be very, very powerful and I hope they don't make that mistake," Netanyahu told ABC.

 

If Trump Wins, More Voters Foresee Better Finances, Foreign Policy

If Trump wins, more voters foresee better finances, staying out of war — CBS News poll.

'More voters think they'd be better off financially if Trump wins in 2024, and more voters think it's Trump who can keep the U.S. out of a war, if he wins.'

That will be tough to beat.

 

"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."

This is the man Republicans want as our next President, but, as this thread shows, they can't explain why.

As Republicans cheer, the man flaunts our laws and our courts.

CNN reports, "The judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial despairingly pressed the ex-president’s lawyer: “I beseech you to control him if you can.”

"Judge Arthur Engoron’s plea reflected his frustration at an incorrigible witness who boasted Monday about his piles of cash, aimed scathing political attacks and spouted uniquely illogical logic.

"His testimony offered warnings to lawyers who will seek to puncture his self-created bubble of alternative realities with facts and evidence — and showed how he might try to charm and confuse jurors in his coming criminal trials.

"As he climbed into the witness box and lifted his hand and swore to tell the truth — an almost ironic act given his record of falsehoods — Trump obliterated yet another convention. Ex-presidents in America don’t typically get called to explain their actions in court. And Monday’s four-hour dive into the Trump Organization’s financial records was just a warm up for subsequent criminal courtroom dramas that could mean the Republican Party will nominate a convicted felon for president. Trump denies wrongdoing in each and every case against him."

Supported by a significant number of Republican lawmakers in our Congress, this is the man Republicans want. What does that say about their judgement?

 

"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.

 

After Hamas is destroyed, who will govern Gaza? The White House seems a bit confused on that issue.

CNN reports, "The White House maintained Tuesday that it doesn’t believe Israeli forces should reoccupy Gaza following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comments that the country will have the “overall security responsibility” in Gaza for an “indefinite period” after the war ends.

“The president still believes that a reoccupation of Gaza by Israeli forces is not good. It’s not good for Israel; not good for the Israeli people,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on “CNN This Morning.”

“One of the conversations that Secretary (Antony) Blinken has been having in the region is what does post-conflict Gaza look like? What does governance look like in Gaza? Because whatever it is it can’t be what it was on October 6. It can’t be Hamas,” he added.

"The latest warning from the White House comes after Netanyahu told ABC News on Monday that Gaza should be governed by “those who don’t want to continue the way of Hamas” before adding, “I think Israel will, for an indefinite period, will have the overall security responsibility because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it.”

"In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” last month, Biden said it would be a “big mistake” for Israel to occupy Gaza. At the time, Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, told CNN’s Jake Tapper that Israel does not intend to occupy Gaza after the conflict ends.

"Israeli government officials have not yet elaborated on how Gaza would be governed should they succeed in eliminating Hamas.

"Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday that Israel will “retain complete freedom of action to respond to any situation in the Gaza Strip” once the war ends. Gallant said that “at the end of this ‘campaign,’ Hamas, as a military organization or governing body in Gaza, will cease to exist.”

"US officials had previously told CNN that they didn’t have a clear sense for Israel’s intentions in Gaza and believe it will be difficult for Hamas to be eradicated entirely.

"Despite the apparent gaps between his administration and the Israeli government, Biden reiterated support for Israel during a call with Netanyahu on Monday, Kirby said."

 

Polls are one thing. Elections are something else!

It is one thing to say in poll that one would vote for Trump. It is quite another to vote for a man for President who has been charged with 91 felonies within four criminal indictments while committing fraud against the government.

Elections prove that point, while polls, especially ones that are a year out, are meaningless. Last night the Democrats achieved significant victories in southern states, Trump country.

The Times reports, "On Tuesday, Democrats found new evidence to bolster their case in victories by Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, who criticized his opponent’s defense of the state’s near-total ban; legislative candidates in Virginia who opposed the 15-week abortion ban proposed by the Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin; and, above all, the Ohio referendum establishing a right to abortion access. A Pennsylvania Supreme Court candidate who ran on abortion rights, Daniel McCaffery, also won, giving Democrats a 5-2 majority.

"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."

Last night's elections proved something else. The Republican base consists of farmers and shopkeepers in the rural counties of the South and elsewhere. The Democratic base for the most part consists of lawyers, doctors, teachers, health care providers, and other professionals in the urban and suburban counties of America.

The latter is informed because they keep up with the realities of today's world. The former are too busy eking out a living, and they avoid today's realities. They don't pay much attention to responsible news sources, but they do listen to The Farm Report.

This would explain Trump's enormous support within the rural ranks. The rural Republican voter in most cases is completely unaware that Trump committed fraud and is charged with 91 felonies in four criminal indictments. They have no idea Trump is skipping the Republican Presidential debates because of those factors.

This also explains why they are incapable of making responses to this thread which is highly critical of their hero! They avoid the reality within this thread.

Trump's supporters are unable to explain their support, further proving this analysis. In fact, as this forum shows, they pretty much avoid Trump.

 

"Ivanka Trump said she could not remember property deals she handled at her father's firm, as she testified in a civil fraud case that threatens his business empire," BBC.

In today's fraud trial things went as expected. Trump and his kids run the business, but they don't know anything. The accountants decided to commit fraud.

The BBC continued, "A judge has already found Donald Trump and two adult sons, Eric and Donald Jr, liable for fraud, ruling they inflated assets to secure favourable loans.
Ivanka Trump, 42, was initially a co-defendant, too, until an appeals court ruling in her favour this year.

"This is a non-jury trial, in which the judge will decide on allegations of falsifying business records, insurance fraud and conspiracy. Mr Trump - the former US president and Republican front-runner for next year's White House election - could be stripped of prized assets like Trump Tower. He and his sons deny wrongdoing.

"During four hours of testimony in the New York Supreme Court in lower Manhattan on Wednesday, Ms Trump spoke softly into the microphone, sitting upright with her hands in her lap, at times smiling brightly.

"In composed and succinct responses, she repeatedly said she did not recall specifics, or was not aware."

 

Why is our President so unpopular? No one seems to know.

The Biden economy is on fire.

Unfortunately Americans don't know that. Instead, they bitch.

ABC reports, "The U.S. economy grew at a blistering pace over three months ending in September, more than doubling growth in the previous quarter and rebuking worries about a possible recession. The robust performance, however, complicates the fight to dial back inflation.

CNN reports, "Mortgage rates tumbled this week in the biggest one-week drop since last November. It’s the second straight week that rates have fallen, after rising for seven consecutive weeks."

"For Democrats, who have made abortion rights a central part of their pitch to voters since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling erased federal protections, the initiatives could help boost turnout among the kind of voters they’ll need in the general election. The increased turnout will be critical to President Joe Biden’s reelection hopes with polls by CNN and others showing him struggling to generate enthusiasm amid deep public discontent over his job performance and the state of the economy. ?!?!?!

"Illinois is becoming a key spot for another thorny issue for the president – border security – as concerns over mass migration have spilled into interior cities with an influx of new arrivals. Note: Our southern border has been a problem for the last ten President. No President, including Trump, has been able to solve the problem. Republicans criticize Biden for the border issues because .there is little else. The Republican impeachment inquiry is going nowhere.

"The economy is set to be a prominent issue heading into next year’s election, with 66% of registered voters saying it will be extremely important to their vote in 2024, according to the latest CNN poll conducted by SSRS. Around half say immigration is an important issue.

"The administration is trying to tackle both – fanning out across the country to sell the economic agenda and working behind the scenes to quell concerns among allies, including city and state officials in Illinois, over crossings at the US-Mexico border."

For the first time in five decades we have full employment. We have robust spending. Inflation is a byproduct of prosperity. An economy can't have one without the other, and the current inflation rate is a reasonable 3.70%, compared to 3.67% last month and 8.20% last year.

Our President did not cause inflation. A person wanting inflation to cease is hoping for increased unemployment, causing less spending, and a recession. That is the way a free enterprise economy works. Obviously, a good many Americans do not realize that even though it is obvious.

Keeping all that in mind, will someone please explain why they do not like our President.

 

USA Today reports, "In a crucial breakthrough for the global effort to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza, Israel has agreed to daily four-hour pauses in fighting across northern Gaza, the White House said Thursday.

"U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the Israelis had committed to announcing each four-hour window at least three hours in advance starting Thursday. Israel also was opening a second corridor for civilians to flee the areas being pounded by Israel's military campaign aimed at wiping out Hamas after the brutal Oct. 7 attack on border communities, with a coastal road joining the territory’s main north-south highway, he said.

"By Thursday night, though, there was still no sign the fighting had stopped or confirmation of such plans from Israel, Reuters reported."

Netanyahu so far has said nothing about 4-hour pauses.

 

As expected, no response. Of course, Republicans avoid this thread. They shun reality, and they lack the ability to intelligently respond.

 

Here we go again. Are Republicans going to cause problems in funding the government? Is the Republican Party going to cause our government to default on its obligations?

Republicans don't govern. They create chaos. The Republican base lies in the rural counties of America. Apparently, this is what the intellectually challenged farmers and rural shopkeepers want.

How else do you explain it?

CNN reports, "Newly minted Speaker Mike Johnson is running smack dab into the same spending problems that plagued his predecessor, raising the prospects of a government shutdown if Congress doesn’t act between now and next Friday and further exposing divisions within the conference.

"House Republican leaders were forced to abruptly pull two year-long spending bills from the floor this week amid opposition from both ends of their badly divided GOP conference. And Johnson is still grappling with a strategy to keep the government’s lights on without sparking a right-wing rebellion, with the current funding patch set to expire in eight days – an all too familiar dynamic for Republican leadership.

"GOP Rep. Max Miller of Ohio, responding to leadership pulling final passage of the House Financial Services and General Government bill on Thursday, called his party “embarrassing” and “incredibly upsetting.”

"It shows how ungovernable the House continues to be after right-wing Republicans ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy over complaints about his handling of government funding," NBC said.

"I don't think the Lord Jesus himself could manage this group," said Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas.

 

"No Labels is registered as a political party, but is incorporated as a social welfare nonprofit, according to NBC, which allows it to skirt federal financial disclosure rules for political organizations."

NPR reports, "The New York Times reported that the group is planning to run a moderate Republican at the top of the 2024 presidential ticket.

"Speaking to reporters, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she believes the group is not truly nonpartisan, but that it and its donors want to advance Republican policies.

"It's not just Pelosi: the White House is reportedly concerned that No Labels could cause the election of Donald Trump. Throughout 2023, it has been laying the groundwork for a 2024 presidential run — working to get onto ballots in all 50 states and, in No Labels' words, "building a data vault to target and turnout the commonsense majority."

"Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) teased a presidential run at a No Labels event in key primary state New Hampshire, though he said he had no intention of running in the 2024 presidential election to spoil a race for another candidate, only that he would run if he thought he could win."

That last bit is pure political B.S. Manchin loves attention. How better to gain attention than to create chaos in a Presidential election. If he causes Trump, a convicted felon, an insurrectionist, to be elected President, so be it.

 

Trump is losing it. Only in a third world country would a candidate for office refer to his political opponents as "vermin," and threaten them imprisonment.

Come to think of it, that wouldn't even happen in a third world country, but it has happened in our county.

In addition, it appears that Trump is losing his mind.

Dean Obeidallah writes, "In a speech to the conservative Pray Vote Stand summit, Trump made a series of errors. He confused Barack Obama with President Joe Biden, first saying he was “leading by a lot” against Obama.” (Obviously, Obama is not running in 2024.)

"During that same appearance, Trump declared, “With Obama, we won an election (2016) that everyone said couldn’t be won.”

"Trump claimed that Biden would get the United States into “World War II,” apparently forgetting that WWII ended seventy-eight years ago..

"During a speech in New Hampshire, Trump appeared confused about which country Viktor Orban is the president of. He told the audience: “There’s a man — Viktor Orban — anybody ever hear of him? He’s probably, like, one of the strongest leaders anywhere in the world,” Trump said, adding, “He’s the leader of Turkey.” Actually, however, Orban is the leader of Hungary. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the president of Turkey.

Note: Trump's followers don't care. They don't know where Hungary is. For that matter, they don't know where Turkey is, either. Moreover, unless it is in The Farm Report, Trump's rural followers will never know he made that gaffe. They avoid reality whenever possible. They want to pick our next President, though.
Obeidallah continued, "As he took the stage on Octobr 29, Trump greeted the crowd with the words, “Hello, to a place where we’ve done very well, Sioux Falls! Thank you very much.” Trump was in Sioux City, Iowa — not in Sioux Falls, a city in South Dakota.

Trump is becoming a joke.

"That brings us to the most recent gaffe this Veterans Day weekend, when Trump again invoked Orban during a speech in Claremont, New Hampshire.
Trump said that the Hungarian leader had been asked what advice he would give to “President Obama” about how to proceed in a world that “seems to be exploding and imploding.” According to Trump, Orban replied that Obama “should immediately resign and they should replace him with President Trump, who kept the world safe.”

As everyone not named Donald Trump knows — Obama is not the sitting US president.

 

The Hill reports, "Congress is barreling toward a government shutdown this week as Friday’s funding deadline inches closer, with House Republicans at odds over Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) pitch to keep the lights on in Washington.

"Johnson unveiled an unconventional two-step stopgap bill over the weekend, which would extend funding at current levels for some agencies until mid-January and the rest through early February. That proposal, however, is already dividing the fractious House GOP conference, with some hard-line conservatives voicing opposition to the legislation because of the lack of spending cuts.

"Aside from funding the government, the House this week will weigh in on a resolution to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) moved to force a vote on the legislation last week. And Republicans are bracing for an update regarding the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), which will likely lead to a third effort to expel him from office. (???? and lets not forget Republicans want to impeach our President)

"Some members of the right flank are coming out against his proposal because it does not include spending cuts and instead funds the government at current levels.

"It remains unclear, however, how the entire Democratic caucus is viewing the laddered continuing resolution. Depending on how many Republicans oppose the legislation, a handful of Democratic votes could help get it over the finish line.

"Democratic leadership has not yet put out its recommendation for how to vote on the measure."

 

“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

Can Trump run for President after leading an attempt to overthrow our elected government? The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution says no, he can't.

CNN reports, "Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers pushed back in court Thursday against efforts to remove him from Michigan’s 2024 ballot based on the 14th Amendment’s insurrectionist ban, the third state to grapple with the matter this month.

"The hearing unfolded in Grand Rapids one day after the Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed a similar challenge – though their ruling only applies to the GOP primary election – and while a Colorado judge is still weighing arguments in a related case.

"Trump lawyer Michael Columbo argued in the Michigan Court of Claims that judges don’t have a role enforcing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of, which says US officials who take an oath to support the US Constitution are banned from future office if they “engaged in insurrection.”

"He said the provision only applies to elected officeholders-to-be and doesn’t apply to candidates running for office. If the challengers want to disqualify Trump based on his role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection, the right time to do it would be in early 2025, after he wins the 2024 presidential election.

"Mark Brewer, a lawyer for the challengers, forcefully argued against that theory."

“We’ve heard this morning about chaos… talk about chaos,” Brewer said. “That would require the country then to what, rerun the entire presidential election? It’s in this country’s interest to resolve these important constitutional issues now.”

 

Are Americans finally learning? If so, bad news for Republicans. They want Americans to think the Biden economy is a disaster when it is not.

CNN reports, "New survey data released Monday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed that US consumers believe inflation will continue to ease, the labor market will remain strong and they will continue to spend more than they did pre-pandemic.

"The October Survey of Consumer Expectations painted a largely more positive picture than the New York Fed’s survey a month before, when consumers were as apprehensive of not making a minimum debt payment as they were in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Consumers’ expectations for inflation one year and five years from now both dropped 0.1 percentage points from the month before, to land at 3.6% and 2.7%, respectively.

"The Federal Reserve closely watches consumers’ inflation expectations, as they can be a self-fulfilling prophecy: If consumers anticipate that prices will remain high, they might spend more now and demand higher wages, and businesses might raise prices to accommodate higher demand and wages."

 

We dodged a bullet. Thanks to Democratic support that overcame Republican objections, the House passed Republican Speaker Johnson's plan to fund the government. The Republican bill will pass in the Senate and be signed into law by our President.

ABC reports, "In a bipartisan vote, the House has passed Speaker Mike Johnson's plan to avert a government shutdown just days ahead of a Friday deadline.

"The final vote was 336-95 with more Democrats voting for the bill than Republicans -- 209 to 127, respectively. More than 90 Republicans voted against it. The bill received the two-thirds majority to pass.

"The bill now goes on to the Senate for approval. Senate leaders have indicated they will support it.

"In his first test as the newly-appointed speaker, Johnson pitched a two-step government plan that he described as a "laddered CR" or continuing resolution that would keep the government funded at 2023 levels. The bill extends government funding until Jan. 19 for veterans' affairs, military construction, transportation, housing and urban development, and the Energy-Water Department. The rest of the government is funded until Feb. 2."

This is exactly what got McCarthy in trouble with Republicans, and they kicked him out of the speakership.

 

I have been following media coverage of recent wars for over 60 years. The wars would include the Vietnam War, the first Iraq War, and the second Iraq War, lasting eight years.

Noting that wars are extremely hazardous for civilians, in most wars, civilian casualties outnumber combatant casualties. That was particularly true of World War Two in which major cities were a primary target much like Gaza City is today.

I have been amazed at the media's acceptance of Hamas casualty figures usually stated with a disclaimer.

But the damage is done.

In over sixty years I have never seen the amount of media coverage I am seeing now of civilian losses, with an emphasis on women, children, and hospital damage in a besieged city where the enemy hides behind the civilian population. The coverage of civilian losses is incessant, and, again, the supporting data is provided by Hamas.

In Vietnam and the two wars in Iraq, there was no overriding concern for Vietnamese or Iraqi civilians. Is that because the losses were caused by American guns and bombs?

Hamas started this war with a murder raid on October 7. That raid follows a number of incursions by Hamas into Israel. Israel is determined to eliminate the enemy's ability to attack once and for all.

She has every right to do that without the media's incessant coverage of collateral damage.

The media coverage of Hamas propaganda is just not right. The media's insatiate desire to interview Americans whose families were foolish enough to visit or live in or near Gaza is not right. Their ludicrous demands by these people on our President and embattled and surrounded Israel is not right.

 

This is the party that wants to provide Americans with their next President.

Its followers, mostly farmers and rural shopkeepers, are unable to respond to reports on this thread.

Their nominee for President is likely to be Donald Trump.

Trump recently confused Barack Obama with President Joe Biden, first saying he was “leading by a lot” against Obama.” (Obviously, Obama is not running in 2024.) Then Trump declared, “With Obama, we won an election (2016) that everyone said couldn’t be won.”

Trump claimed that Biden would get the United States into “World War II,” apparently forgetting that WWII ended seventy-eight years ago..

Trump provided an uplifting speech in New Hampshire recently, providing insight into his political opponents. He wants to jail them.. “We will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country,” Trump said, warning that “the real threat is not from the radical right. The real threat is from the radical left, and it’s growing every day.”

“The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within,” he added.

Then we have Republican lawmakers.

Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett, one of the eight Republicans who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy from the speakership last month, claimed to ABC News that McCarthy elbowed him in the back after a House GOP meeting on Tuesday morning.

"He just elbowed me in the kidneys ... It was deliberate. It was just a cheap shot," he said.

Republicans start fights in the Senate, too.

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican former mixed martial arts fighter, challenged International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O'Brien to fistfight in the middle of a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and rose from his seat before Sen. Bernie Sanders, the committee chairman, ordered him to sit down.

This is the party that wants to choose our next President.

 

Reuters reports, "Israeli troops found a command centre and weapons and combat gear belonging to Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza's biggest hospital on Wednesday, Israel's military said, in a campaign that stoked global alarm over the fate of civilians inside.

"Al Shifa hospital had become the chief target of a Gaza City incursion by Israeli forces, who said the "beating heart" of the Hamas fighters' operations was headquartered in tunnels beneath it. Hamas denied the accusation and on Wednesday dismissed the Israeli statements as "lies and cheap propaganda".

"Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the troops were still searching, having entered the hospital early on Wednesday after days of clashes around it.

"The military simultaneously released a video it said showed some of the materials it recovered from an undisclosed building in the hospital compound, including automatic weapons, grenades, ammunition and flak jackets.

"In one hospital department, "the soldiers located an operational command centre and technological assets belonging to Hamas, indicating that the terrorist organization uses the hospital for terrorist purposes," an Israeli military statement said.

"Israel has consistently said the hospital sits above a Hamas headquarters, an assertion the United States said on Tuesday was supported by its own intelligence."

 

Politico reports, "There’s finally a date for New Hampshire’s 2024 presidential primaries: Jan. 23.

"The long-awaited announcement from Secretary of State David Scanlan on Wednesday firms up Republicans’ nominating calendar and officially puts the state out of compliance with national Democrats’ preferred voting order.

“New Hampshire has held the first-in-the-nation presidential primary election for over 100 years.” Scanlan said at the State House in Concord, flanked by GOP Gov. Chris Sununu and both the Republican and Democratic state party chairs. “And we will vigorously defend it.”


"Based on the GOP calendar, Jan. 23 was the date widely expected. It’s just over a week after Iowa’s Jan. 15 caucuses — enough time for New Hampshire to bask in the flood of post-Iowa campaigning. And it’s more than a week before South Carolina’s Democratic primary on Feb. 3, keeping in line with New Hampshire law that requires the Granite State hold its primary a week before any similar contest. South Carolina’s GOP primary is Feb. 24.

"President Joe Biden and top Democrats wanted South Carolina — a more diverse state that propelled Biden to the nomination in 2020 — in the leadoff spot for their 2024 calendar. New Hampshire was supposed to vote second on a shared date with Nevada.

"But Scanlan and other Republicans who control state government long said they wouldn’t bend to Democrats’ demands."

 

Their nominee for President is likely to be Donald Trump. He recently confused Barack Obama with President Joe Biden, first saying he was “leading by a lot” against Obama.” (Obviously, Obama is not running in 2024.) Then Trump declared, “With Obama, we won an election (2016) that everyone said couldn’t be won.” Trump ran against Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Trump claimed that Biden would get the United States into “World War II,” apparently forgetting that WWII ended seventy-eight years ago..

Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett, one of the eight Republicans who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy from the speakership last month, accused McCarthy of elbowing him in the back after a House GOP meeting on Tuesday morning.

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican former mixed martial arts fighter, challenged Teamsters President Sean O'Brien to fistfight in the middle of a Senate hearing.

Then we come to Republican Georgia Santos who faces expulsion from the House of Representatives for his incessant lying and bad behavior.

NBC reports, "The House Ethics Committee will release its report on Rep. George Santos before the end of the week, but it won't offer any recommendations on what members should do about the scandal-plagued Republican, the panel's chair said Wednesday.

"New York Republicans who led a failed effort this month to expel Santos, however, were clear they still want to see Santos gone no matter what the report says.

“I would certainly support expulsion again,” Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., said.

Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., called Santos "a fraud."

"He should not be a member of Congress," Molinaro said. "I called for his resignation. I forwarded a vote to expel. I think this report, however, will give other members the opportunity to reflect, to affirm and confirm what we know."

Little wonder as to why the forum's Republicans do not want to talk about their party!

 

The Republican base is largely rural, consisting of farmers, ranchers, and rural shopkeepers for the most part. Oklahoma is largely rural.

"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."

Keeping in mind this guy is a Senator, The Hill reports, "Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), the former mixed martial arts fighter who challenged a labor leader to a brawl in the middle of a Senate hearing room Tuesday, says there’s a long history of violence in American politics, claiming in an interview: “You used to be able to cane.”

"Mullin isn’t backing down or apologizing after his confrontation with Teamsters President Sean O’Brien at a Senate Health Committee hearing nearly came to blows, forcing Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to step in to break up the potential fight.

"Mullin defended his conduct in an interview with Newsmax, asserting: “Every now and then, you need to get punched in the face.”

“People ask me today is this becoming of a U.S. senator. I was like, ‘I’m a guy from Oklahoma first.’ In Oklahoma, you don’t run your mouth like that and if you do run your mouth like that, you’re expected to be called out on it,”

"Mullin argued it wouldn’t have necessarily violated the Senate rules if he and O’Brien had duked it out in the middle of the hearing room."

Republicans want to pick our next President.

 

Where are they? Can they talk?

CNN reports, "Former President Donald Trump maintains a significant lead among likely voters in New Hampshire’s Republican presidential primary, but former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has moved ahead of Trump’s other rivals and holds second place, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire.

"Trump’s advantage in New Hampshire remains short of the majority support he garners in primary polling nationally: 42% say they would vote for him, followed by Haley at 20%, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 14%, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 9%, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy at 8%, and no other candidate holding more than 2% support. Haley’s support has climbed 8 percentage points from the last CNN/UNH poll in September, with Ramaswamy dipping 5 points and support for Trump, Christie and DeSantis remaining relatively steady.

"The survey finds that Trump’s standing in New Hampshire is boosted by majority support among registered Republicans, 55% backing him.

However, as this thread shows, Republicans back him but they don't defend him. They don't even talk about him. Is that because they know he is a crook?

Republicans back him in the polls, but they pretty much avoid him.

Crazy, but true!