podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/battleground-ukraine/id1617276298
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The Nation Magazine
— Read on www.thenation.com/article/politics/gerrymandering-supreme-court-race/excerpts
The case is significant because it’s the first racial gerrymandering case to make its way to the Supreme Court since Chief Justice John Roberts invented an entirely new standard for these kinds of cases in 2019’s Rucho v. Common Cause. In that case, Roberts ruled (and his conservative buddies agreed) that political gerrymanders are “non-justiciable”—meaning federal judges can’t stop states from gerrymandering away political power from one party or another—but that racial gerrymanders are both justiciable and unconstitutional. The gaping and obvious loophole in Roberts’s ruling was the likelihood that every state that unconstitutionally uses race to gerrymander away voting power would claim that they were just being political.
While Roberts was busy pretending that racism was an unknowable thing, alleged attempted rapist Brett Kavanaugh deployed a different trope to deny racism exists: the invocation of a Black friend.
That Black friend was Representative Jim Clyburn. As I mentioned, District 1 cuts through the city of Charleston and shoves its majority Black precincts into Clyburn’s District 6. ProPublica reported back in May that this Republican plan was essentially approved by Clyburn, a Democrat, increasing the safety of his district at the expense of making District 1 more competitive.
Where that leaves the future of racial gerrymandering will be exactly where it’s been since Rucho: Republicans are free to do it; they just have to lie about why. And lying comes as easy to Republicans as using antidemocratic institutions to impose minority rule.
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How the group’s attack could disrupt the emerging order in the Middle East.
— Read on www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/war-hamas-always-wanted -
A standoff in the Senate is undermining civilian control of the military.
— Read on www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/paralysis-pentagonExcerpts
right now, politics at home are complicating the Pentagon’s long-term contingency planning. For months, the nominations of several top U.S. military officers slated to take command over forces in the Middle East have been left in limbo. President Joe Biden’s choices for the next deputy commander of U.S. Central Command (which oversees U.S. military operations in the region) and the next commander of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet (which is responsible for the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and the North Arabian Sea) have been stalled in the U.S. Senate because of a standoff between the administration and a lone Republican senator, Tommy Tuberville.
These holdups would disrupt any government agency, but they are especially pernicious at the Pentagon. A growing reliance on acting officials erodes civilian control of the military, and delays in the confirmation process put the futures of uniformed officers at the mercy of partisan agendas. Defense officials who lack the imprimatur of Senate confirmation find the legitimacy of their actions questioned by colleagues, lawmakers, and foreign counterparts. As temporary custodians of vacant offices, they may be reluctant to initiate the kinds of reform programs that would enhance U.S. national security. And in the absence of firmly installed civilian leaders who can speak with authority on security policy, active generals may be pressured to wade more deeply into the realm of politics.
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Disarming Hamas will be costly but essential for peace.
— Read on www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/hamas-what-israel-must-doExcerpts
But
But
Then, in June 2007, Hamas ousted the
Hamas seems to specialize in making Palestinians pay. Since taking power in Gaza, it has provoked conflicts with Israel in 2008–9, 2012, 2014, and 2021—with more limited skirmishes with the Israelis in the years between. Aside from consolidating its control, Hamas’s main agenda for Gaza is building its own military infrastructure and arsenal.
Hamas’s priority is destroying Israel, not building Gaza. Hamas’s ideological aims are negative, not positive ones that might help Palestinians.
Each conflict that Hamas has provoked with Israel has left Gaza worse off. Hamas has regarded every cease-fire negotiated with Israel as an opportunity to buy time to rebuild its arsenal and get ready for the next round. Hamas is not a partner for peace; it is an agent of war and destruction. Talk of a Marshall Plan for Gaza has never been credible because international donors and investors know that whatever is built is likely to be destroyed the next time Hamas decides to trigger a new conflict with the Israelis.
The Biden administration has pledged to support Israel and affirmed its right to self-defense. But the longer the conflict continues, Israel will face growing pressure to end it. As the toll in Gaza mounts, some Western and Arab leaders will likely argue that Israeli military action is disproportionate. It is fair to ask what is proportional when confronting a group that deliberately kills the innocent, takes women and children hostage, and uses every cease-fire to prepare for the next set of attacks. If Hamas retains any ability to threaten Israel, it will present itself as the victor, and that will be a tremendous boost to radical and destabilizing forces across the region that embrace violence and reject peace.
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The Republican Party had a great day in the Supreme Court today. Voting rights did not.
— Read on www.vox.com/scotus/2023/10/11/23912904/supreme-court-voting-rights-gerrymander-south-carolina-alexander-naacp -
apple.news/ANNSpVqWdRHqJTqNkyMYigw
Israel has said there will be no humanitarian break to its siege of the Gaza Strip until all its hostages are freed, amid growing concern over dwindling water, food and fuel supplies after a fifth night of bombardment.
According to the report, since the fighting began, six neighbourhoods in the strip have been destroyed. Eighteen healthcare facilities and 20 ambulances had been affected and 11 healthcare workers killed, the World Health Organization said, in the most intense bombing campaign the strip has suffered in the 16 years since Hamas seized control of the tiny, overcrowded area, home to 2.3 million people.
The UN said late on Wednesday the number of people displaced by the airstrikes had soared 30% within 24 hours to 339,000 – two-thirds of them crowding into UN schools. Palestinian media said that bombing had killed the brother of Mohammed Deif, Hamas’s military commander, and a senior commander from Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Gaza’s crossing point with Egypt, remains closed, and the only power station ran out of fuel on Tuesday, leaving the strip powered by scattered private generators. Those will shut off as well if fuel is not allowed in: the Red Cross has pleased for fuel deliveries in order to prevent overwhelmed hospitals from “turning into morgues
Abbas, whose Fatah movement lost control of Gaza to Hamas in 2007, has not condemned the attacks on Israel, instead blaming the violence on the neglect of Palestinian grievances and the 56-year-old occupation, and has called for Palestinians outside Gaza to resist the Israeli military.
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Wednesday morning 11 October 2023
Israel
- The standard way of operating with Iran is to arm and support independent groups and allow them to pursue their own projects. Along with this line of reasoning, this argument…Iran wasn’t directly involved with the Hamas attack because they didn’t have to be.
- What is Hamas? The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/10/what-is-hamas/675594/
- Gaza is not an open region where people are free to leave.
Wednesday afternoon 11 October 2023
MSNBC
- Ayman M., reporter
- This is the fifth Israeli operation within fifteen years.
- Most of these people are under 15.
- Impoverished. No bunkers. They are being portrayed as Hamas “accomplices.”
- Peter Beinart, Journalism Professor
- There have been protests against Hamas rule.
- The “open air prison” did not keep Israeli safe.
- Bombing after bombing after bombing, it doesn’t work.
- Trama inflicts more hatred. They are saying that if they can’t live safe lives, Israelis cannot either.
- There may be a short term rallying around Netanyahu, but in the long term, there will be a commission to examine the government.
- Netanyahu’s reputation was that he was good on security. That will be damaged. There is a potential end to his Party. We don’t know what will replace it.
- Joy Reid
- The obvious answer seems to be the two state solution. Why now with the potential Suadi agreement?
- Ayman
- What Oslo tried to set up was flawed.
- The Palestinians were not seeking land. They were seeking freedom and self determination.
- Israeli became more extreme, pushing for more settlements. The PA became more corrupt and more weak. The West Bank is no longer viable as a Palestinian state.
- As Netanyahu came into power, he wanted to make peace with Arab regimes who did not usually reflect their own people and ignore the Palestinians.
- The West let Israel get away with this, hide from the problem – self-determination for the Palestinians.
- Reid: Did the Netanyahu government not realize they were provoking Hamas?
- Marc Polymeropoulos, former CIA
- After 1973, there was a similar examination.
- The Intelligence services failed. “political disfunction” Netanuahu was in great conflict with the heads of his security services.
- Haaretz editorial.
Chris Hayes
- Netanyahu promised harsh response.
- (Note: The stories, the individual stories, breed support for an unstrained response. There are individual stories in Ukraine and in Palestine).
- Velshi, interviewed an Israeli “I want Gaza flattened.”
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Wednesday 11 October 2023
The news is filled this morning with a proposed “Unity government.” But, yesterday, at least one commentator was explaining that Netanyahu’s establishment of this unity government was to offer the opposition to join with in exchange for nothing.
One of the people negotiating with Netanyahu to be part of this unity government has previously been totally betrayed by Netanyahu.
Right-wing ministers leading Israel’s far-right government (2022).
Benny Gantz
The New Cabinet
- Will make decisions about the war, nothing else.
- Far right-wing will be excluded?
- Includes people from the IDF. (Why did it take so long for this to develop).
On a lighter note…
- Cardinals and titmice at the bird feeder, trying desperately to get some seeds before the squirrels take over.
- Youngest former feral cat, Hiram Bernard, is staying pretty close since his last visit to the vet.
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The corruption trial against Israel’s Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resumed after a month-long break. That turns the spotlight back on the long-serving leader’s legal woes after a wave of protests against his government’s plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary system. Netanyahu is on trial on charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate scandals involving powerful media moguls and wealthy associates. He denies wrongdoing. Critics say that Netanyahu is driven to weaken the courts and change the legal system as a way to open an escape route from his trial. He dismisses those claims as untrue.
— Read on apnews.com/article/israel-netanyahu-corruption-trial-courts-4e18ed8f34e65707bd47e37696da4705 -
Israel has the world’s very best intel services, yet allegedly failed to foresee a massive invasion months in the making. Now media outlets are beginning to point a finger at Netanyahu—as is the IDF.
— Read on sethabramson.substack.com/p/as-israel-reels-from-mass-deaths
Law, Power, and Justice 