Information, Please
The fourth week of no Speaker has begun. Nine Republicans are running this time. They are Tom Emmer (Minnesota), Kevin Hern (Oklahoma), Pete Sessions (Texas), Austin Scott (Georgia), Byron Donalds (Florida), Jack Bergman (Michigan), Mike Johnson (Louisiana), Dan Meuser (Pennsylvania) and Gary Palmer (Alabama). None of them are camera hogs so not much is known about any of them, just that 7 of them voted not to certify the 2020 election. The only 2 who admitted that Biden won are Tom Emmer and Austin Scott. They’ll make their pitches tonight in a closed door meeting. The soonest a new floor vote can happen is tomorrow.
Israel delayed its ground invasion of Gaza. The rest of the world is holding its breath, hoping that this war doesn’t spread. Hezbollah, a terrorist organization that operates out of Lebanon north of Israel, has gotten involved. Both Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza are supported by Iran. Israel bombed Syria which is Iran’s closest ally.
Trump could have inadvertently helped Iran attack Israel by giving the Russians classified information while they were in the Oval Office. He shared Israeli intelligence with them. American intelligence asked Israel not to give Trump any information after he was elected because he could give it to Russia who could then give it to Iran. It’s not publicly known if Israel heeded that advice. Time will tell.
Trump wanted a war with Iran. He directed an assassination of Iran’s top military commander, Qasem Soleimani along with nine others WITHOUT CONGRESS. He pulled out of the Iran deal which kept Iran from developing nuclear warheads. Russians were free to sell them uranium since they were already selling them weapons. Prior to that, in 2015 when Obama was president and was attempting to make a nuclear deal with Iran, 47 Republican senators signed a “for your information” open letter addressed to “Leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran” warning them that if they entered an agreement with Obama they’d reverse it when a new Republican president was elected.
Trump used to threaten Iran in tweets revealing inside information which made America less safe.
It’s very, very hard for the public to get reliable information on what’s going on with Israel, Hamas, and the Palestinian people. Twitter is totally useless because Elon Musk wrecked it. It used to be a fast, reliable source for news. Now it’s pure junk, ads, and bots. All other social media platforms are awash with extreme emotion and rage. People have really lost it. Public protests are happening all around the world. Journalists are getting killed. Everybody needs to be extra careful about accepting information as truth.
Former Michigan Congressman, Palestinian-American Justin Amash has several relatives in Gaza who were killed by an Israeli airstrike. He was one of the only Republicans brave enough to call Trump out. He voted to impeach him which cost him his job.
In Illinois, a Palestinian-American mom of a 6 year old boy who was killed by their landlord who stabbed him over 20 times has left the hospital. She was stabbed, too — 12 times. The landlord was charged with murder and hate crimes. Police say they were targeted due to “their Islamic faith and the Israel-Hamas war.” The killer’s wife said he got all of his information from right wing media outlets.
In DC, a major event had to be cancelled due to threats. A hotel that was supposed to host an annual banquet for America’s largest Muslim civil rights organization opted to call off the dinner to keep their staff and guests safe.
In Detroit, the president of a Jewish synagogue was stabbed to death in front of her house. Law enforcement is asking people not to rush to judgement that it was a hate crime until they finish their investigation.
In Minneapolis, protesters blocked traffic and attacked an elderly Jewish driver.
The attack on Israel was the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
The lack of definitive, reliable information on what is going on in Israel and Gaza is made worse by the general ignorance of the masses regarding the politics of the region. Naivete, emotion, and varying definitions of what oppression looks like make for volatile, uncertain, dangeous times in the middle east and beyond. A lot more information is needed, please.
