Law, Power, and Justice

Saturday 2 MARCH 2024

NEWS NOTES

Russia

• Putin has threatened using nuclear weapons at three points in the past two years since the second invasion of Ukraine.  On Thursday, as he senses a decrease in American resolve he threatened again.  He knows that Biden fears “escalation of the conflict most of all.”  In the equivalent of Putin’s State of the Union address, he signaled he was doubling down in Ukraine and that he was not considering renovating the last major arms-control treaty in force with the US, unless he is handed Ukraine (NYT, 3/1/24).
• Putin’s threats have worked in the past, at the beginning of this second invasion, Putin threatened and the west “hesitated to provide long-range missiles, tanks and fighter jets to Ukraine.  Both the behavior of Trump and the Republicans in Congress has emboldened Putin (NYT, 3/1/24).
• Macron of France talked about the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine (NYT, 3/1/24). 
• Thousands poured into the streets to remember Navalny at his funeral.  Navalny’s wife could not attend.  She and the children are still out of the country.
• Other inmates who have served time in the same prison as Navalny, spoke to the crushing conditions: “the exceptional psychological pressure and loneliness”  “a system devised to break the human spirit,” survival depended on “total and unconditional obedience to the will of guards.” (Quotes from NYT article, 3/1/24)

Israel

• Biden is revealing intention to airdrop aid into Gaza (NYT, 3/1/24).
• There are widespread condemnations of the aid convoy killings on Thursday and demands for investigations (nyt, 3/1/24).
• NYT 3/1/24, Opinion Page: David Grossman “I fear that Israel is more fortress than home.  It offers neither security nor ease…”  “What has also been clarified is how deeply rooted the hatred of this nation is.”  “The trauma of becoming refugees is fundamental and primal for both Israelis and Palestinians, and yet neither side is capable of viewing the other’s tragedy with a shred of understanding – not to mention compassion.”  “Only when it comes to Israel is it acceptable to publicly demand the elimination of a state.”  “It is furthermore intolerable that certain parties are attempting to force the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a colonialist framework when they willfully and stubbornly forget that Jews do not have another country…and obscure the fact that Jews did not arrive in the land of Israel iin conquest but seeking safety; that their powerful affinity with this land is almost 4,000 years old; that this is where they emerged as a nation, a religion, a culture and a language.”

US: Presidential Politics

Books (NYT, 2/1/24)

• Book: Dixon, Matt  “Trump vs. De Santis: the Greatest Show on Earth.” 
• Book: Green, Joshua  “Devil’s Bargin”  The political alliance between Steve Bannon and Trump. 
• Book: Green, Joshua (2024) “The Rebels: Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ad the Struggle for a New American Politics.”  There was a Democratic slide away from the “labor-centered liberalism” that had prevailed since WWII.  “Psychologically cogent portraits.”  “Green’s analysis is rich and lively.” 

US: Capitalism and the Rot of Character:  Everybody’s For Sale: Robert Menendez (NYT, 3/1/24)

• Former New Jersey insurance broker, Jose Uribe, plead guilty to a “broad bribery scheme” involving Menendez.  Menendez, as he did last time he was indicted for corruption, plead not guilty.
• Uribe admitted providing Menendez’s wife with a Mercedes-Benz in exchange for efforts to “intercede in an insurance fraud investigation.”
• Uribe has also agreed to cooperate. 
• Menendez is also charged with accepting gold bullion and money in exchange for providing political favors and helping the governments of Egypt and Qatar.
• Menendez’s lawyers are using the Supreme Court established in the case of Bob McDonnell, which made it harder to prosecute public officials (note: just what we needed).