After Hamas left Gaza and carried out of a brutal raid in western Israel, killing 1400 Israelis, Israel enjoyed the sympathy of the international community. They immediately retaliated with a saturation bombing campaign. Now many thousands of Palestinians are dead and that sympathy for Israel is all but gone.
After three weeks of chaos and uncertainty, the Republican House of Representatives finally settled on a speaker, right-wing Louisiana representative Mike Johnson. All they wanted was a warm body; what they got was a loose cannon.
Former President Donald Trump has been hit by another gag order prohibiting him from disparaging witnesses and court officials in his public statements. Getting him to shut up, however, seems like an attempt to defy the laws of physics.
Leonard Cure was released from prison after serving 16 years for a crime he didn’t commit. Then he was pulled over by the police. They shot him to death.
Some employers are circulating a blacklist of college students who signed anti-Israel petitions with a view toward making them unemployable. What next?
After Hamas fighters brutally murdered hundreds of Israelis in a raid, and took many others hostage, Israel escalated the situation by tightening its 15-year-long blockade of the impoverished Gaza Strip by depriving its 2.3 million people of water, food, medical supplies and everything else. According to international law, collective punishment is considered a violation of international law like the Geneva Conventions. Israel’s blockade has been defined as collective punishment by the Red Cross and the United Nations.
Israel is about to launch a ground invasion into the Gaza Strip with the war aim of toppling the Hamas government and installing a compliant puppet regime. Recent history suggests the long-term outcome of this strategy goes not give much cause for optimism.
Republican Civil War within the House of Representatives grinds on as a majority vote goes to representative Steve Scalise. Even though his rival, Jim Jordan said that he would vote for Scalise, the House Freedom Caucus seems likely to hold out, possibly forcing more painful floor votes.
For the first time in American history, a Speaker of the House of Representatives has been removed by a vote by his colleagues. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and 7 far-right allies teamed with Democrats to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California as Speaker, throwing Congress into chaos.
Without a Speaker of the House, Republicans aren’t able to advance their agenda. Is that necessarily a terrible thing?
