* Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel on Oct. 7 was a distracting, geopolitical gift to Russia. Also call it an ironic birthday present for the 71-year-old Putin, who knew this could lead to “Ukraine fatigue.”
* “March for Israel.” “March for Palestinians.” Why not just a “March for Civilian Victims”?
* “God, Guns And Trump”: New campaign hats on display at the recent Freedumb Summit in Kissimmee.
* “All Gave Some, Some Gave All, One Had Bone Spurs.”–Vets Against Trump T-Shirt.
* Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has endorsed Ron DiSastrous. Typically, Iowa governors stay neutral before the January caucuses. Trump remains a heavy favorite in the Silo State. How important is Iowa for momentum? The last three GOP winners: Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum and Ted Cruz.
* “Father Time is undefeated. Donald Trump is not exempt from any of that.”–Ron DiSastrous.
* Legacy reminder: The national debt actually increased by nearly $8 trillion during the Trump Administration. It’s not “fake news.” And it’s something Trump would have had to defend had he participated in the Miami debate. So, however cowardly, as Chris Christie labeled it, Trump’s no-show seems a strategic success.
* If Trump escapes the slammer and wins the nomination, speculation will be rampant about a running mate. Reportedly, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kid Rock are still in the populist mix.
* “I had no involvement and never worked on my father’s statement of financial condition.” That was Eric Trump in the context of his father’s civil fraud trial over inflated net worth. Bottom disingenuous line: He was only the vice president of the Trump Organization, so he wouldn’t be involved in serious financial matters. Another day at the orifice.
*” I beseech you to control him if you can. If you can’t, I will.”–New York state Judge Arthur Engoron to Trump’s attorney at his fraud trial.
* A reminder of the best, self-serving, strategic response under oath: “I don’t recall”—Ivanka Trump.
* “He has incredible vision that other people don’t.”–Donald Trump Jr., the visionary’s son, at his father’s trial.
* “Each courtroom defeat, small and procedural or a full-on guilty verdict, simply fans the flames for (Trump) rally crowds.”–Peter Van Buren, The American Conservative.
* Exporting Trump: Hard-right icon Geert Wilders and his anti-European Union Party for Freedom finished first in recent parliamentary elections in the Netherlands. Wilders is known as the “Dutch Donald Trump.”
* Remember when South Carolina GOP Rep. Joe Wilson shouted “You lie!” as President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress and laid out his health care proposal? What an outrage. And what a precursor. It did get worse.
* Donald Trump got a Rick Scott endorsement. So what.
* “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.”–Bertrand Russell.
* “War is always cruel, and who pays the price? Children.”–Pope Francis.
* “Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed.”–China President Xi Jinping, in a meeting with President Biden on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in San Francisco.
* “China bans criticism it doesn’t like. You can’t even post a picture of Winnie the Pooh, because it’s seen as a jab as Xi Jinping.”–Jonah Goldberg, The Dispatch.
* “A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman thinks of the next generation.”–19th century theologian and author James Freeman Clarke.
* “While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this Court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics.”–SCOTUS Justice John Paul Stevens, in reference to the Citizens United case.
* “The biggest menace we face is our own political dysfunction. … The new generation of America Firsters seems hellbent on crippling the United States’ global power.”–Max Boot, Council on Foreign Relations.
* “Definitely Biden is less forceful in his presentation than he used to be. But he also just keeps succeeding in every category except the crucial one in which Donald Trump excels, which is showmanship, and so gets far less credit than he deserves.”–Melinda Henneberger, Kansas City Star.
* “I’ve never seen in my 30 years of public service this magnitude of pain, shock and anger burning in the hearts of all Jews.”–Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
* “This is going to be a reality for us very soon.”–TIA CEO Joe Lopano, on the upcoming use of electric air taxis.
* “The police department can’t handle this problem on its own. This is a community problem.”–Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw, in reference to recent Ybor City shootings.
* “I will not let you down.”–Hillsborough County School Superintendent Van Ayres, now that his “interim” status has become permanent.
* “The proposed streetcar expansion isn’t geared toward tourists; it will provide a reliable transit option for our residents and enable us to accommodate more people in our urban core.”–Tampa City Councilman Alan Clendinen.
* “The Hines/Rays agreement framework is affordable, responsible and provides significant returns to the city.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Kenneth T. Welch.
Rick Scott. Remember when it couldn’t get much than worse than that? An HCA fraudster who refused federal money for a high-speed Orlando-Tampa rail connection. We’d be on “the hook,” although formal bids hadn’t yet been received.
Then came Ron DeSantis, from the Fox green room and Trump’s petting zoo to an agenda against all things “woke.” Indeed, it did get worse—from book-bans and COVID outliers to paying for border migrants to fly to other states.
And now, head’s up. Looks like Panhandle punk Matt Gaetz wants his goobernatorial shot. In an age of political outrage, anything is possible, if not downright likely. Including a ring leader for governor. For now, at least, the public has forgotten about those sexual misconduct allegations and campaign finance shenanigans, if not a Leo Gorcey Dead Ender caricature from hell.
You don’t have to be anti-Semitic to criticize Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu has an authoritarian side, and there’s nothing about de facto apartheid to rally around. A two-state solution has to happen.
But nothing–nothing–justifies the defense of Hamas-instigated horrifics perpetrated on civilians and their families, some of them American. Harvard-activist protests notwithstanding, this was no prison escape. Escapees don’t stop to rape, behead and take hostages.
As long as there is no two-state solution, there will be no solution—and no haven for the helpless and innocent.
It’s not just the Electoral College that’s woefully out of date. We’ve just been reminded—thanks to Matt Gaetz—that’s there’s another anachronism bedeviling our democracy. It’s the rule that allows a single member of the House to force de facto-coup action on a resolution to remove the Speaker. Maybe single-member motion to vacate doesn’t sound as ill-advised and chaotic as it is: Just call it Gaetzgate.
He has also proposed sanctions on Iran. He obviously needs some form of foreign policy bona fides beyond the Ukrainian “border dispute.”