Frontline PBS: 'How Mitch McConnell Helped Pave The Way For Donald Trump’s Presidency

Source:PBS- then U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Republican, Kentucky)

"Through his actions in 2016, “Mitch McConnell brought about the election of someone who, in almost every particular, he deplored,” conservative columnist George Will says in this excerpt from the new FRONTLINE documentary "McConnell, the GOP & the Court."

This journalism is made possible by viewers like you. Support your local PBS station here:PBS

Among those actions: Blocking any Senate consideration of then-President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee after Justice Antonin Scalia died months before the 2016 presidential election -- and later placing his support behind Trump, framing Scalia's Supreme Court seat as a central issue, as this excerpt explores.

“There was a lot of skepticism on the right of what Donald Trump was, and holding that Supreme Court seat open just as a political matter reminded Republicans, we can’t leave to chance that Hillary Clinton might put a liberal on the court,” Scott Jennings, a McConnell political adviser, says in the excerpt. 

“McConnell, the GOP & the Court” traces the path to power of an unlikely political leader who has dramatically reshaped the Supreme Court — and whose decisions helped usher in an era of deep polarization in both the U.S. and the Republican party." 

From PBS 

"The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial,[1][2][3][4][5] free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia.[6][7][8][9] PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educational programs to public television stations in the United States,[10][11][12][13] distributing shows such as Frontline, Nova, PBS NewsHour, Arthur, Sesame Street, and This Old House.[14]

PBS is funded by a combination of member station dues, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, pledge drives, and donations from both private foundations and individual citizens. All proposed funding for programming is subject to a set of standards to ensure the program is free of influence from the funding source.[15] PBS has over 350 member television stations, many owned by educational institutions, nonprofit groups both independent or affiliated with one particular local public school district or collegiate educational institution, or entities owned by or related to state government.[4]

As of 2020, PBS has nearly 350 member stations around the United States." 

From Wikipedia 

Whenever I hear a story about Senate Republican Mitch McConnell, especially as it relates to the U.S. Federal judicial system, I'm even more convinced that I would never want the left-wing in America (in and out of the Democratic Party) to ever be in charged of a local car wash, let alone in charge of any government in this country, especially the Federal Government. Because for the simple fact that they don't believe in governing. As much as they talk about the need for government and how much they believe in and support government and democracy, they don't actually believe in governing and they don't know how to govern.

I'm one of the first people to tell you that I don't like Mitch McConnell, simply because of his pure and open political hypocrisy. He simply believes that Democrats, especially in Congress, should be held to higher standards than Republicans in Congress. When he's the Senate Minority Leader, he uses every rule and tool that he has to try to stop Democrats from passing their agenda. But then when he's Majority Leader, he changes the rules to to help himself and the Republican Party. 

Leader McConnell was against the Senate filibuster on nominations, before he was in favor of it and then he becomes Majority Leader and has a Republican President, now he's against the filibuster on nominations. 

In 2016, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announces that the 2016 presidential election should decide who'll fill Justice Antonin Scalia's seat, not President Barack Obama, who still had about a year left on his term. Then in 2020, when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg dies, he goes out-of-his-way to make sure that President Donald Trump gets to fill her seat with a Republican, before that election is decided and there's a new Congress.

But to go back to my original point about left-wing Democrats not believing in governing and perhaps not even government at all: if they had bothered to turn out and vote in 2014, Senate Democrats at the very least could've minimized their losses, perhaps not keep control of the Senate, but they wouldn't have lost 9 seats. 

And if the far-left had bothered to turn out and vote Democratic in 2016, worst case scenario, Hillary Clinton gets elected President in 2016, no President Donald Trump, and at the very least, Democrats win back the Senate that year. And now a President Hillary Clinton probably gets 3 Supreme Court nominations through a Democratic Senate, just in her first term alone. 

As bad as Mitch McConnell might be from a personal standpoint, when it comes to character and honesty as a political leader, especially as one of the most successful Congressional leaders in American history, he's still just on person. The Democratic Party was always big enough to stop and defeat him, if they had just bothered to turn out and vote for the Democrats.

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Michael Smerconish: Mike Murphy: 'Everyone Needs To Quit The Race But One'

Source:Michael Smerconish interviewing longtime Republican political consultant and pundit Michael Murphy. A chance to like Mike, or like the Mike's right here.

"Michael Interviews famed conservative political media consultant Mike Murphy who says everyone should quit except Nikki Haley." 

From Michael Smerconish

I agree that if Mike Murphy that if we ever got into a one-on-one matchup between President Joe Biden and former Ambassador Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley has the best shot at beating the President. I don't she automatically beats him, because the Democratic Party still looks determined defend American democracy, the Constitution, rule of law, and now abortion rights, etc. And that alone will get then to turn out and vote for President, to protect their democratic values. 

Also, between Joe Biden and Nikki Haley, would Trump voters turn out and vote for her? They tend not to turn out and vote in big numbers, when they're cult leader (sometimes you have to be frank) isn't on the ballot. And would they vote for someone whose not just a woman, but a Never-Trumper, whose also not from their race, ethnicity, generation, culture, etc? 

And if she goes out-of-her-way for their vote and just tries to appeal to those voters, would that turn Independents off for her and also turn out more Democrats against her? 

Also, the Democratic Party is still bigger than the Republican Party, so in a heavy turnout election, especially on the Democratic side and in a one-one-one election between the Republican and Democrat, the Democrat wins. Unless the Republican wins the Independent votes solidly, which is one way that George W. Bush beat Al Gore in 2000. But that's assuming the Trump voters bother to vote for anyone other than Donald John Trump. When The Donald is not on the ballot, Trump voters tend not to turn out and vote in big numbers. We saw that in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, last year, etc.

In a perfect world and in a normal Republican Party, (and if we had that today, poverty would also be wiped out and Israel and Palestine would also be best friends) with someone like Donald Trump running for President in the Republican Party, with base and ability to raise money for himself as Donald Trump has, with him already being President and now being the big loser that he's been for himself, as well as the Republican Party, since he became President in 2017, the number one goal of the Republican Party would simply be to defeat the former President. 

In a normal Republican Party, you wouldn't have 7-10 establishment, center-right Republicans running for President right now. You would have 3, at most 5, with half of those folks already packing it in and endorsing someone not named Donald Trump for President right now.  

I think the best case scenario for anyone whose still a Republican today and still cares about the Republican Party, perhaps the best case scenario for any American who still believes in American democracy and the two-party system, is that by December or January, there at best only 3 Republicans left to challenge Donald Trump, that everyone else is out before Iowa. 

But as unpopular as Governor Ron DeSantis is because of his unique talent to piss off practically everyone he ever talks too, he's still raising a lot of money. And as long as he's doing that, he's going to stay in the race, because the future of the Republican Party or even the American republic is not what he cares about. He's only interested in being President of the United States and he thinks 2024 is his best shot at doing that.

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Michael Popok: 'Federal Judge ACTS URGENTLY On Donald Trump THREATS, REIMPOSES ORDER'

Source:Michael Popok talking about U.S. Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan's gag order ruling on Donald J. Trump.

"Judge Chutkan has heard enough from Trump and just a day after Donald Trump filed his last brief, and without a hearing, she has reimposed her gag order on his using violent rhetoric to target in attack my name, participants in the criminal justice system against him.  Michael Popok of Legal AF explains why this is a brilliant move by her. It makes it much harder for Trump to have the gag stayed by the DC court of appeals now that there is a full record and briefing at the trial court level, making it more likely that the appeals court will uphold Judge Chutkan’s gag order at the end." 

From Michael Popok

Why is Donald J. Trump under a Federal gag order? Because he publicly attacks Federal workers in the judicial system, like judges, clerks, prosecutors, knowing that his base will use that as justification to physically and verbally intimidate these judicial workers. 

If this was about gagging someone simply for speaking out against the case against them and saying that they have no case, the prosecutor is going beyond their limits to prosecute them, then this gag order doesn't happen, because that would be a clear violation of the First Amendment. 

But no American has the constitutional right to defame, to threaten, or incite violence, against another American. Judge Tanya Chutkan knows that and is enforcing this order, to protect her staff, as well as the prosecutors in this case. 

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Real Time With Bill Maher: The MAGA Party

Source:Real Time With Bill Maher- FNC anchor Jessica Tarlov.

"Jessica Tarlov and Scott Galloway join Bill to discuss the threat posed to democracy by the GOP's embrace of Christian nationalism." 

From Real Time With Bill Maher

I hate to sound like a traffic cop whose always telling people to slow down, or even a political traffic cop, whose telling people they need to think about this and hold off a little bit, before reaching a final conclusion on this, because that's like considered so old school in today's modern 24 hour, pop political culture, where everything is about trending on social media and so-forth, but we don't know who Speaker Mike Johnson is. 

We should wait on him and see what his Speakership will be like, a few months even, before we decide to call him MAGA Mike, or just plain Speaker Mike Johnson, because he's actually doing the job as Speaker and not trying to act like the next lord and savior of the MAGA movement, perhaps even replacing their national cult hero, also known as Donald J. Trump. 

We know who U.S. Representative Mike Johnson is, before he became Speaker of the House. And to paraphrase former U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger, who is now a political commentator for CNN, Mike Johnson when they were in the House together during the last decade, he would tell you that Representative Johnson was a center-right, establishment Republican, who would work others in order to pass positive legislation. 

But then Superstorm Donald hit the Republican Party and it just occurred to Johnson, that he represents Shreveport, Louisiana in the House, which is one of the state capitals of the MAGA movement and he figured he needed to be The Donald of Shreveport, to keep his job and to advance in the Republican Party. Which is exactly what he did when he personally represented former President Trump when Trump got impeached for the 2nd time in 2021 and he represented Trump at the 2nd Senate trial. And of course was personally involved in the Trump's Campaign to try to overturn the certified 2020 presidential election as well. 

I'm not saying that Speaker Mike Johnson is not MAGA Mike, because he could very well be MAGA Mike, which is what Representative Matt Gaetz (whose not as politically braindead, as he seems to want people to believe) calls him. I'm just saying that there are other things and possibilities that people need to think about here and also take a lesson from fairly recent political history and at least consider this before making up their minds on the new Speaker. 

Go back to the mid 1990s and the House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich, when he was campaigning for House Republicans to win back the House in 1994. Newt was as wildcard, and right-wing populist as Matt Gaetz is today. Most establishment Republicans didn't like Newt either. 

But then Newt becomes Speaker and realizes that there's still a Democratic President and for him and House Republicans to get anything done, for any of their agenda, their Contract With America to actually become law, they would not just have to be able to work with President Bill Clinton, but have to work with Senate Republicans, who tend to be more moderate anyway, because they represent entire states and not just gerrymandered House districts. And he might have to work with at least some so-called moderate House Democrats, just to get their bills out of the House. And look at the results of the Gingrich Speakership, at least from a Republican perspective: 

Welfare To Work

Balanced budgets

Entitlement reform

Tax cuts 

Line item veto

All of these proposals were part of the Gingrich Contract With America from 1994 and all of them became law, by the time that Newt Gingrich left the House by the end of 1998. And none of this happens, if he doesn't work with not just so-called moderates in the House Republican Conference, but Senate Republicans, as well as President Clinton. 

I'm just saying there's another road for Speaker Johnson to take, that he could take, if he wants to be remembered as a Speaker who did something besides become the highest ranking member of the MAGA movement, in the Republican Party, as well as the 3rd ranking officer in the entire U.S. Government. 

If Mike Johnson is just MAGA Mike, that's all he'll be and we can expect another year of: 

government shutdowns 

government defaults 

no appropriations bills 

no budgets being passed 

the House almost in complete gridlock, because of how tight the Republican majority still is, and with their inability to even work with their own members, let alone House Democrats, 

with House Republicans, especially the 20-30 House Republicans who'll have nothing positive to run for reelection on, who are endangered of losing their House seats next year to Democrats 

and Democrats winning back the House as a result, because American voters are fed up with the gridlock and want their government working and representing their interests again. 

Or we could see Mike Johnson become Speaker Johnson and decide to work with what's left of the center-right in his own conference, as well as Senate Democrats, and The White House, to keep the government running and operating as it's supposed to be and create some real positive change in a bipartisan way. Or he could decide after he becomes Speaker of the House, that he's nothing but another MAGA soldier, but who now has a speaker's gavel. But it's too early for this. Let's see where the House is in a few months from now. 

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C-SPAN: 'Former Attorney General Bill Barr On Former President Trump'

Source:C-SPAN- former U.S. Attorney General William Barr at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.

"At an event hosted by UChicago Institute of Politics, former Attorney General Bill Barr said a lot of what former President Trump does is "performance rather than substance." 

From C-SPAN 

I agree with most if not everything that Attorney General William Barr said here. If there's anything that Donald Trump has ever been good at in his life, it's entertaining people, along with being the New York, or certainly Manhattan conman of all-time. 

Donald Trump is a very funny man and a lot of that is intentional. Don't believe the noise that Donald Trump doesn't have a sense of humor. That's obviously not true. If he didn't go into the real estate business, I think he would've been great as either a physical or standup comedian, especially on shows like Saturday Night Live. 

And because of Mr. Trump's ability to entertain people, (and without that, he never gets close to The White House) he was able to fool and the blue-collar, populist-right of the Republican Party, that's been in the Republican Party since the late 1960s, thanks to politicians like Richard Nixon, he can make believe that he's fighting for these folks who believe that America has been going downhill since the 1960s, thanks to integration, immigration, the freedom for non-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant, blue-collar men, to make it on their own in America. These folks believe that they're losing their America, that they want it back, and that Donald Trump is the man to bring it back for them. 

But the fact is, the only thing, along with power, that Donald Trump has ever cared about, is himself. He's just a conman who uses people to get what he wants.

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CNN: Lauren del Valle & Jeremy Herb: Ivanka Trump Must Testify At Her Father’s Civil Fraud Trial, Judge Rules

Source:CNN- Ivanka Trump and her father Donald, when they were still at The White House. Thank God that's over.

Source:The New Democrat

“New York Judge Arthur Engoron denied a motion from Ivanka Trump’s attorneys to quash a subpoena for her testimony, though he said her testimony should not be scheduled before Wednesday to give her time to appeal his ruling.

Ivanka Trump’s attorney had argued that she should not be forced to appear after an appellate court removed her as a defendant in the case.

“Ms. Trump has clearly availed herself of the privilege of doing business in New York,” Engoron said.

The judge also said Ivanka Trump should have submitted an affidavit asserting that she does not live or work in the state presently. “Only she can tell us that, and it’s too late to do that now,” Engoron said.

Following his decision, Engoron quickly denied a follow-up request from Donald Trump’s attorney Chris Kise to entertain a deposition from Ivanka Trump taken in Florida. “We want her here in person,” Engoron said, noting that he prefers to hear testimony live in court.

Attorneys for Donald and Ivanka Trump argued that Ivanka Trump has not lived or worked in New York since 2017, so the court does not have jurisdiction over her, accusing New York Attorney General Letitia James of seeking her testimony to create a media spectacle.

Kise called the subpoena “continued harassment of President Trump’s children.”

“They just want another free-for-all on one of President Trump’s children,” Kise said. “They want her in the courtroom so it can be filled with media and we can have another circus day.”

Ivanka Trump had initially been listed as a co-defendant – along with Donald Trump, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and several Trump Organization executives – in the $250 million lawsuit filed last September by James, alleging they were involved in an expansive fraud scheme lasting over a decade that the former president and his eldest children used to enrich themselves.

In June, however, a New York appeals court dismissed Ivanka Trump as a co-defendant, finding the claims against Ivanka Trump were too old, because she was not part of an August 2021 agreement between James’ office and the Trump Organization to toll the statute of limitations.

Ivanka Trump was still identified by the New York attorney general’s office as a potential witness they could call in the case.

Bennet Moskowitz, an attorney for Ivanka Trump, argued that she has not lived or worked regularly in New York since 2017, so the court does not have jurisdiction over her. He offered to file an affidavit signed by Ivanka saying as much.

She is no longer a party in this case and the business entities registered in New York where the AG’s office sent the subpoena are not parties in this case either, Moskowitz argued.

Another Trump attorney, Cliff Robert, said Eric Trump is willing to be the corporate representative for the Trump Organization because he’s going to be testifying at trial anyway.

An attorney for the attorney general’s office, Kevin Wallace, argued that Ivanka Trump is still intertwined with Trump Organization, and that she has personal knowledge of a loan for the Old Post Office project in Washington, DC.

The attorney general’s complaint alleged that Ivanka Trump was liable for the fraud committed on a Deutsche Bank loan issued to Trump and his company for the Old Post Office project.

“She ran that project, not Eric Trump,” Wallace said.

Because she personally profited from the Old Post Office deal, Wallace said, Ivanka Trump was acting for her own interest when she negotiated the loan with Deutsche Bank.

Engoron asked the attorney general’s lawyer about the prospect of limiting the scope of her questioning to the Old Post Office loan with Deutsche Bank.”

From CNN 

Once again, I’m not a lawyer. Also, water is still wet and fire is still hot. In case there are any doubts about that as well.

But getting back to this story: this can’t be good for Donald J. Trump. If there was anyone that Mr. Trump ever trusted in his life, before he became President of the United States, other than perhaps his former fixer/lawyer Michael Cohen, it was his 1st daughter Ivanka Trump. His two sons Donald Jr. and Eric, ran his company (at least as far as we know) when he was President. But no one knows as much about the Trump Organization and its finances, like where they were getting the finances for their projects, including in Washington right before Mr. Trump became President, then his 1st daughter Ivanka Trump.

Assuming Ivanka loses her appeal, which she might just be doing to try to delay her testimony as long as possible, similar to her testifying in front of the House Jan 6. Committee, she going to be forced to testify truthfully under oath about her involvement in the Trump Organization and what she saw there while she was working there full-time. And she might just be granted immunity by NYAG automatically, to prevent her from pleading the 5th. Which would mean she testifies truthfully at this trial, or risk being held in contempt by the Judge Arthur Engoron.

Alan Dershowitz: Can Donald Trump Survive His Friends Turning On Him?

Source:Alan Dershowitz talking about the case against Donald. J. Trump.

"This is Alan Dershowitz's video podcast called The Dershow. We discuss politics, law, the constitution and current events." 

From Alan Dershowitz

I don't mean this as insulting or as complementary, but Alan Dershowitz is now sounding like one of those Hippie lawyers from the 1960s and 70s (and he was born in the late 1930s) who made his career defending left-wing militants, who seem like the coolest people in the world, other than being political terrorists who are prone to violence and go by the notion of, "by any means necessary) to accomplish their political objectives. I'm thinking that Alan Dershowitz is a big fan or admirer of the famous left-wing defense attorney William Kuntsler. 

Alan Dershowitz going through the whole process of how prosecutors make their cases against lead defendants, but going after the smaller fish in the pond. Convincing the associates of the top defendant, the leader of the criminal conspiracy (in this case Donald J. Trump) to tell them what they know about their role and their boss's role in the criminal conspiracy and they'll get a lesser penalty and perhaps avoid prison all together, if they give them truthful testimony and tell them what they know about the conspiracy and lead defendant. 

Dershowitz is implying that the prosecutors in Atlanta and Washington, are essentially buying testimony from the co-defendants and basically telling them to lie about Donald J. Trump. He's basically accusing the Washington and Atlanta prosecutors, of corruption against Donald J. Trump, without even bothering to try to offer any evidence in support of that. in order to put Mr. Trump in prison. That's what he's telling his viewers here and if his viewers tend to be Trump supporters, of course they're believe Mr. Dershowitz. 

The problem is, the facts and evidence are out now and are less you are prone to conspiracy theories, (perhaps you drink too much and are a drug addict) it's really hard to honestly ignore all the fact and evidence against Donald Trump, including from his own former lawyers and employees at The White House.  If Alan Dershowitz really wants to be Donald Trump's defense lawyer, (and he can afford to work for free) he knows who to call to make that happen for himself.

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CNN: 'An Upset Donald Trump Speaks To Reporters After Storming Out of Court'

Source:CNN- former President Donald J. Trump & now New York State defendant Donald J. Trump.

"Former President Donald Trump spoke to reporters after he "stormed" out of a courtroom where the New York civil fraud trial against him continues." 

From CNN

Considering that we're now in a 24 hour news cycle, (thanks to cable, but now social media as well, thanks to the internet) Donald J. Trump storming out of a New York courthouse, where he's currently on trial for what might be his financial life, would seem like a King Kong jumping off the Empire State Building, sized story. But this happened 21 hours ago and in today's media, that's an old story. But what do you want? It's slow news day, (at least so far. Tune in later to see more) and quite frankly I don't have anything else to write about now. 

If Michael Cohen is all that the New York State Attorney General (Letitia James) has against The Donald of Manhattan, then they wouldn't even be at this point. Cohen's job in court is essentially just to back up what NYAG already has against the former President. As well as to explain what he personally knows about the former President's businesses and personal finances, when he was Mr. Trump's personal lawyer, just 6-7 years ago. 

Again, of course Michael Cohen is a convicted liar and the Trump legal team can use that against him. But similar to Mark Meadows, his job is really just to confirm what others in this case have already said, what the documents in this case say as well. He's not the difference between Trump winning or losing this case. 

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Forbes Magazine: 'JUST IN: Mike Johnson Delivers First Remarks As Speaker Of The House'

Source:Forbes Magazine- U.S. Representative Mike Johnson (Republican, Louisiana) the new Speaker of the House of Representatives, in the 118th Congress.

"The newly-elected 56th Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) spoke after being handed the gavel and assuming his new role." 

From Forbes Magazine

I will get into new Speaker Mike Johnson's speech here, but I first want to get into why he might be the current Speaker of the House. Which is no offense to the new Speaker, (and I wish him the best for the sake of America) is a lot more important and interesting here. 

The final vote to make Mike Johnson the Speaker, was 220 Republicans and 0 Democrats for Mike Johnson and 209 Democrats and 0 Republicans for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. 6 representatives didn't vote at all, which might be another story, but Speaker Johnson needed almost his entire conference to vote in favor of him, for him to become Speaker Johnson. Assuming not one House Democrat voted for him for Speaker and voted for Hakeem Jeffries instead. 

In case you are just waking up from a coma, (no offense to comatose patients) or have been vacationing in Afghanistan for the last month, (no offense to Afghanistan) the House Republican Conference is literally divided between what's left of the center-right of the Republican Party, (the real Conservative Republicans, not RINOS) and the House MAGA Caucus, who are literally dedicated to protecting the political career and freedom of Donald Trump, as well as their own, regardless of what the facts and evidence that Donald Trump is currently facing and will face in the future. 

Representative Mike Johnson comes from the MAGA wing of the Republican Party, at least since 2021 when he not only fought in the House to overturn the 2020 presidential election and declare Donald Trump the winner and then served as one of Donald Trump's lawyers when he was impeached for the 2nd time in 2021. 

And then you have what's left of the establishment wing of the Republican Party, the real Conservatives in the party, who believe in old fashion American values like facts, evidence, character, morality, honesty, justice, accountability. And they apply those conservative values to everyone, not just Democrats. 

So you have these two competing factions in the House Republican Conference right now and they all voted for Mike Johnson to be Speaker of the House. Which tells me that Mr. Johnson had to do something to keep the entire MAGA Caucus behind him, without losing establishment caucus (let's call them) in order to become Speaker of the House. Because you have 20-30 House Republicans who are up for reelection next year, who are in Democratic leaning districts, with President Joe Biden up for reelection in those districts as well. So I want to know what the new Speaker did to get both factions of the House Republican Conference behind him, so he could become Speaker of the House.

As far as the speech: good speech. The new Speaker showing some good political humor and suggesting that he's willing to work with Democrats for the good of the country. But words are just things that you say. They mean nothing if you don't back them up with actions. So we'll see what the Speakership of Mike Johnson is like and will be like, over the next few months.

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CNN: The Source With Kaitlan Collins: Maggie Haberman Explains Why Mark Meadows Testimony Could Be Damaging For Donald Trump

Source:CNN- New York Times national political reporter Maggie Haberman.

"CNN political analyst and New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman and CNN legal analyst Elie Honig react to a report from ABC News that Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, was granted immunity by special counsel Jack Smith and has met with federal prosecutors multiple times in their investigation into the efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election." 

From CNN

Imagine a man trying to walk a tightrope to try to get to Paradise. He makes just one little slip or loses his balance (perhaps he drank too much before he got on the tightrope) he's doomed and will probably fall to his death. And in Mark Meadows case, that will be his political death, meaning his career in elected public office is now over. Because either he works with the prosecutors and tells them everything that he knows about his last 3 months as White House Chief of Staff that the prosecutors want to know, about what he knows, or he ends up in state or Federal prison as a 64-65 year old man, perhaps looking at 10 years in prison. 

Again I'm not a lawyer, (also in the news: it gets cold at the North Pole) but as Ellie Honig whose a career prosecutor will tell you, prosecutors don't give out immunity like its Halloween candy. And I would add that prosecutor offices are not supermarkets, looking to get rid of their Halloween candy in November, selling everything at half price. 

Mark Meadows wants to stay out of prison, which seems to be more valuable to whatever political future that he might still be contemplating. Which is very understandable, since he's a man whose now in his mid 60s. And apparently he has what it takes to stay out of prison, by telling the prosecutors what he knows about the Trump White House's and Trump Campaign's attempt, to overturn the 2020 presidential election, as if it didn't happen and just declare Donald Trump the winner. 

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Forbes Magazine: 'Here’s What To Know About The New GOP Speaker Nominee Endorsed By Kevin McCarthy But Criticized By Donald Trump'

Source:Forbes Magazine- U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (Republican, Minnesota)

"Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) won the Republican nomination for House speaker Tuesday following Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) ouster on October 3, but he faces an uphill battle for the support he needs from former President Donald Trump’s allies in Congress to win the gavel." 

From Forbes Magazine

So if you are the Biden Administration and the House Democrats led by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, or Senate Democrats led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, you would probably live fairly comfortably with a Speaker Tom Emmer. He seems to be a pragmatist, honest, (at least for members of Congress) and someone who can play and work with people who tend to disagree with him. Unlike former Speaker Kevin McCarthy who would claim to be both Superman, Batman, and the King of the United Kingdom, in order to be Speaker of the House and get Donald Trump to say that he's a good man. 

All the qualities (if you want to call them that) I just laid out for the House Majority Whip, are reasons why House MAGA won't like him and perhaps would need the same deal that they got with Kevin McCarthy, like the motion to vacate the Speakership, that any representative could file, to vacate the current Speaker. 

If you remember my post on The New Democrat yesterday: 

"To sort of try to sum up and put a little light, on a very serious subject and try to explain Senator Romney's point this way and I agree with everything that he said here: We're now seeing professional reality TV's or pro wrestling's impact, on American politics and government. 

Political reality TV is not just in Congress, but if you look at the presidential campaign season, or politicians and wannabe politicians at the state level, we're seeing the same thing there as well.

We now have an era of American politicians, who think that the way you be famous and cool in politics, (as if being politically cool is even important) is by being crazy and nasty in public and on social media, especially towards the other party, or to mainstream members of your own party. I think that's Senator Romney's point about Representative Jordan. I just phrased it differently." 

That's what House MAGA (that I call the far-right of the Republican Party) wants in a Speaker of the House. They don't want a Speaker of the House. They want politician who gets thrown out of bars and nightclubs for fighting for what MAGA believes and kissing Donald Trump's feet (to put it mildly) for pleasure. 

So the question is whether the political reality TV wing (or insane asylum) of the House Republican Conference, will back someone like Tom Emmer, who knows how to count votes, even in presidential elections and has a habit of acknowledging reality, if not the obvious, or will they vote for another MAGA Republican, just to prevent Tom Emmer from the House Speakership. 

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CNN: ‘Former Trump Campaign Lawyer Jenna Ellis Pleads Guilty in Georgia Case’

Source:CNN- former Donald Trump 2020 campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis pleading guilty on Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia.

Source:The New Democrat

“Former Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis pleaded guilty Tuesday in the Georgia election subversion case and will cooperate with Fulton County prosecutors – the third guilty plea in the past week.

At an unscheduled hearing in Atlanta, Ellis pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting false statements, a felony stemming from the election lies that Ellis and other Donald Trump lawyers peddled to Georgia lawmakers in December 2020.

She was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution.

Ellis delivered a tearful statement to the judge Tuesday while pleading guilty, disavowing her participation in Trump’s unprecedented attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

“If I knew then what I knew now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges. I look back on this experience with deep remorse,” Ellis said, her voice breaking at times.

The development comes after back-to-back guilty pleas last week in the sprawling case from former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, who helped devise the fake electors plot.

These three plea deals are a monumental step forward for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who charged the case in August and is preparing for trials against Trump, his former attorney Rudy Giuliani, his chief of staff Mark Meadows and other top figures. (They have all pleaded not guilty.)

Ellis, Chesebro and Powell all agreed to testify on behalf of the prosecution at future trials. By flipping, these onetime Trump insiders are now on track to become major Trump nemeses. They are all lawyers and can shed light on what was happening behind the scenes in 2020.

Prosecutors originally charged 19 people in the sprawling case. So far, four have pleaded guilty.

In a tearful apology in court, Ellis spoke of her personal “failures” and expressed “deep remorse” while disavowing her involvement in Trump’s legal efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

“As an attorney who is also a Christian, I take my responsibilities as a lawyer very seriously and I endeavor to be a person of sound moral and ethical character in all of my dealings,” Ellis said.

But after the 2020 election, “I failed to do my due diligence,” she said.

“I relied on others, including lawyers with many more years of experience than I, to provide me with true and reliable information … what I did not do, but should have done, your honor, was to make sure that the facts the other lawyers alleged to be true were, in fact, true,” Ellis said.

The plea from Ellis implicated Giuliani in a state crime – lying to Georgia legislators by peddling false voter-fraud theories. This comes one week after Chesebro implicated Giuliani in the fake electors scheme that tried to subvert the Electoral College process. Giuliani denies wrongdoing.

According to court filings, Ellis admitted that she “intentionally aided and abetted” Giuliani and another Trump lawyer, Ray Smith, in “in knowingly, willfully, and unlawfully making … false statements to members of the Georgia Senate.”

Their false statements included baseless claims of massive voter fraud – including through mail-in ballots, and with thousands of supposedly illegal votes from felons, minors and “dead people.” Both Smith and Giuliani pleaded not guilty.

None of these allegations were true, according to multiple investigation and recounts by Georgia election officials. Trump lost the state to Joe Biden by about 12,000 votes.

In exchange for Ellis’ cooperation, prosecutors dropped her original two charges, including a violation of Georgia’s racketeering law known as RICO. Trump lawyer Steve Sadow said in a statement that he believes this helps his client and noted that the criminal conduct admitted to by Ellis “doesn’t even mention President Trump.”

“For the fourth time, Fani Willis and her prosecution team have dismissed the RICO charge in return for a plea to probation,” Sadow said. “What that shows is this so-called RICO case is nothing more than a bargaining chip for DA Willis.”

As a result of the plea deal, Ellis, who has an active online presence, is also banned from posting anything on social media about the case while the proceedings are unfolding against any of the defendants, prosecutors said.

In unrelated disciplinary proceedings in Colorado, where Ellis is a practicing attorney, Ellis admitted that many of her post-election public statements were false, including her claim that the race was “stolen” from Trump. She was censured by a judge and agreed to pay $224, ending the misconduct probe.

She hasn’t been in Trump’s orbit in recent months – and she has publicly been supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

After Ellis’ indictment, she publicly complained about the lack of financial support from pro-Trump groups. She has raised more than $216,000 through an online crowdfunding website.”

From CNN 

“Former Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis reached a plea deal with Georgia prosecutors in the 2020 election subversion case. Ellis gave a tearful apology in court after pleading guilty to one count of aiding and abetting false statements in writing.” 

From CNN 

I don’t have much to add here (which might come as a relief for some people) because I think most of everything about this story has been said. Jenna Ellis is guilty of giving false information about the 2020 presidential election, to Georgia state officials. Information that she says came from people that she also said knew more about the 2020 presidential election, at least in Georgia, than she did. And what she says she’s guilty of, is essentially not doing her homework and research about the information that she was given by Rudy Giuliani and others.

I think this is going to be a common theme for most of the Fulton County defendants. Most of them are career lawyers with no criminal histories. None of them even want to give up their law licenses, let alone go to prison, especially for someone like Donald Trump whose probably going to fight to the bitter end and hope he can find one MAGA holdout on the jury or just win the presidential election, before he ends up in prison in Georgia. But the rest of them seem to be decent, moral people, who don’t want to go to prison, especially for a career conman, like Donald Trump.

C-SPAN: Senator Mitt Romney Criticizes Representative Jim Jordan

Source:C-SPAN- U.S. Senator Mitt Romney, (Republican, Utah) criticizing Republican members of the lower chamber of Congress.

"Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) criticizes Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the latest candidate nominated to be the speaker by Republicans, saying Mr. Jordan has passed zero bills and is more of a performance artist. He also criticizes the media saying editors and fact- checkers no longer exist." 

From C-SPAN 

Just in case you thought that The New Democrat was just criticizing the Far-Left in America, or at least supporters of the Far-Left in America, (whether they're actually far-leftists themselves, or just "bullshitters", is an open question) here you have Senator Mitt Romney, going after one of his Republican colleagues in Congress, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio. 

It's not often that you hear a member of one chamber of Congress, go after a member of Congress from the other chamber of Congress, especially a member that's from his or her own party. Exceptions to every rule: you will hear non-leadership members, go after leader of the other party, from the other chamber. But it's rare that you'll hear a senator or representative, whose not his their party's leadership, openly criticize a member from their own party, whose also not in their party's leadership, from the other chamber. 

To sort of try to sum up and put a little light, on a very serious subject and try to explain Senator Romney's point this way and I agree with everything that he said here: We're now seeing professional reality TV's or pro wrestling's impact, on American politics and government. 

Political reality TV is not just in Congress, but if you look at the presidential campaign season, or politicians and wannabe politicians at the state level, we're seeing the same thing there as well.

We now have an era of American politicians, who think that the way you be famous and cool in politics, (as if being politically cool is even important) is by being crazy and nasty in public and on social media, especially towards the other party, or to mainstream members of your own party. I think that's Senator Romney's point about Representative Jordan. I just phrased it differently.

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Real Time With Bill Maher: 'New Rule: Don't Go To College'

Source:Real Time With Bill Maher- going after illiberal (not liberal) education in America.

"In his editorial New Rule, Bill warns that college life has become a day spa combined with a North Korean reeducation camp, where students are indoctrinated into a stew of bad ideas." 

From Real Time With Bill Maher

I'm just glad that Bill Maher called these Ivy League schools (which is another way of saying Communist training camps) illiberal, (which means not liberal) because that's exactly what they are. 

A real liberal education is: 

"The American Association for the Advancement of Science describes a liberal education in this way: "Ideally, a liberal education produces persons who are open-minded and free from provincialism, dogma, preconception, and ideology; conscious of their opinions and judgments; reflective of their actions; and aware of their place in the social and natural worlds."[4] Liberally educated people are skeptical of their own traditions; they are trained to think for themselves rather than conform to higher authorities.[5]

It also cultivates "active citizenship" through off-campus community service, internships, research, and study abroad.[6] Some faculty see this movement towards "civic engagement" as more pedagogically powerful than traditional classroom teaching, but opponents argue that the education occurring within an academic institution must be purely intellectual and scholarly.[7]

A liberal education combines an education in the classics, literature, the humanities, moral virtues, and others... 

From Wikipedia 

To put all of this in English: with a liberal education, you are taught how to think and how to obtain facts and information. You are not taught what to think, but instead taught about the important facts and subjects, including history (a word that young people today might not even be able to spell, let alone define) but you are not taught to think what those facts mean. You are instead given the freedom to think for yourself. 

If you are someone like me or are older, (and I'm a gen-xer) you are least remember the last 10-15 years of the Cold War. I only mention that because during the American-Russian Cold War we got to hear about Communist indoctrination camps, where people were grabbed up like Russia, China, North Korea, and other Communist states during the Cold War and taught not just how to think and what to think. Like America and it's western, democratic, developed, allies being the real Evil Empire and not the Soviet Union. They were taught how to be Communists and learned about the opposites being the real facts in life. 

I'm not calling all Ivy League and other elite Northeast and West Coast college professors Communists, for the simple fact that I believe a lot of them are just professional bullshitters, who don't believe most of their propaganda. Who think that it's cool to talk down to America, especially when they're with young people and believe teaching people the opposites of life, makes them cool. And they teach their students that: 

capitalism is racist 

personal freedom is dangerous

free speech is bigoted 

America is the real Evil Empire and terrorist state

liberal democracy is the real threat to world peace 

and today the Jewish State of Israel is the real terrorist state and that Hamas are simply just freedom fighters (hard to say that without laughing) who are simply trying to kick out the illegal invaders, meaning the Israeli Jews. 

The reason why I call these elite universities professional bullshitters, it's not just they don't believe a lot of what they actually teach and say. While they're putting America and it's allies down, they're living the good life in America, loving their personal and economic wealth, taking advantage of every tax break that they can get, and there isn't another country in the world where they rather live. 

If you are going to send your kids to college, send them somewhere where they're taught the facts of life and how to think. Not left-wing or right-wing propaganda. Send them to a school where they're free to think and act of themselves and not taught that they have to be part of some larger collective, to live a good, moral, life.

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Forbes Magazine: 'BREAKING: Hakeem Jeffries Holds A Press Briefing After Jim Jordan's 3rd Bid For Speakership Fails'

Source:Forbes Magazine- left to right: failed House Speaker candidate Jim Jordan (Republican, Ohio) & House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Democrat, New York)

"House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) held a press briefing on Friday moments after Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) failed in his effort to become speaker." 

From Forbes Magazine

Just to lay my my own full-disclosure here on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries: he was mine and The New Democrat's original choice to be House Minority Leader in this Congress, after House Democrats lost their majority in 2022. So we're big fans of him and think he's an excellent choice to lead the House Democrats not just while they're still in the minority, but back into the majority as soon as January, 2025. 

The key point that I take away from Minority Leader Jeffries press conference here, is him saying that there are House MAGA Republicans, that would only vote for Jim Jordan as Speaker of the House. House Republicans just voted 112-86 to remove Representative Jordan as a Speaker candidate. So if that's the case and I have no reason to doubt the Minority Leader, House Republicans are very short in electing their own Speaker, at least on their own. 

If Hakeem Jeffries is right here, that gives him room to negotiate with the center-right, establishment wing of the House Republican Conference, that's essentially being led by Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, to elect a new bipartisan Speaker, where all the establishment Republicans would vote for McHenry or some other center-right Republican, with Democratic votes led by Hakeem Jeffries. 

But if a deal like this would go through and could even be reached between the Minority Leader and establishment Republicans, Jeffries would have to first be able to sell that deal to his caucus. And that means getting something substantial in return. 

A bipartisan deal between Hakeem Jeffries and establishment House Republicans that could be things like: 

no more emergency crisis governing in the House 

returning the House to regular order with committee hearings, markups, votes 

allowing all House members to be able to read every bill before voting on it 

being able to offer and have their amendments voted on in committee and on the House floor 

the minority being able to offer their own substitutes to bills that House Republicans are trying to pass by themselves. etc. 

If House Republicans are still short on electing their own Speaker next week, this would open up the door for a bipartisan deal to elect a consensus Speaker and reopen the House of Representatives.

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CNN: 'Pro-Trump Attorney Pleads Guilty in Georgia Election Case'

Source:CNN- former Donald J. Trump Kenneth Chesebro pleading guilty in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia.

"Kenneth Chesebro, a Donald Trump-aligned attorney who helped craft the 2020 fake elector plot, is pleading guilty in the Georgia election subversion case. The plea deal is another major victory for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who charged Trump and 18 others in the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election results." 

From CNN

So what is this fake electors plot? 

Kenneth Chesebro was responsible for appointing fake electors in the Electoral College, to represent Georgia and declare that Donald J. Trump won Georgia in the 2020 presidential election. 

The Trump Campaign wasn't just trying to get the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, and the Republican controlled State Legislature (House & Senate) in Georgia, to throw out Democratic votes and just automatically declare that then President Donald Trump won Georgia in 2020, because they like his hair or something. 

The Trump Campaign was trying to replace the legally elected Georgia electors in the Electoral College, with fake, pro-Trump electors, that would just declare Donald Trump the winner in Georgia, because they voted for him. And Mr. Chesebro knows all about this and knows what Donald Trump wanted from him and what he was doing for him. Another Black Friday (pardon the expression) for Mr. Donald J. Trump.

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Forbes Magazine: 'JUST IN: Chris Christie Roasts Donald Trump After 'Crazy & Unethical' Sidney Powell Pleads Guilty'

Source:Forbes Magazine- Chris Christie with a blunt take on Donald J. Trump & Sidney Powell.

"Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) slams former President Trump after his former lawyer Sidney Powell pled guilty." 

From Forbes Magazine

Just a little refresher course on former Donald J. Trump attorney Sidney Powell: 

she was the Trump lawyer behind the 2020 Georgia presidential election interference scheme and trying to get Georgia officials there to throw out Democratic votes and get that election overturned. And now she's pleading guilty to misdemeanors that she committed (unless she's pleading guilty to things that she believes she's innocent of) in exchange for her cooperation against Donald Trump, Rudolph Giuliani, and Mark Meadows. 

Sidney Powell knows exactly what this whole crew (if you want to call Trump Campaign version of the Keystone Cops a crew. They're really just a bunch of amateur burglars, who got caught shoplifting at a convenient store because they dropped what they were tying to steal on the floor, as well as their drivers licenses) was up to and how they would try to get the 2020 Georgia presidential election results thrown out and just automatically declare President Donald J. Trump the winner, even though he lost by 12,000 votes.  

If you are Mark Meadows and you know you were in contact about this whole marihuana or red bull high scheme, that was cooked up to just automatically declare Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 Georgia election, with Sidney Powell, you can't be sleeping very well right now. Even though you are not in jail, yet. 

Mark Meadows needs to be thinking about his own future as a man who turns 65 next year. And needs to be thinking about what Powell knows about him and his role in this whole un-democratic attempt to throw out the 2020 presidential election and just automatically declare President Donald Trump the winner of it. 

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Harry Litman: Jennifer Rodgers: 'Senator Menendez in HOT WATER With MORE CRIMINAL CHARGES'

Source:Harry Litman- U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (Democrat, New Jersey)

"On Thursday, prosecutors revealed an updated indictment for Sen. Robert Menendez in which they charged Menendez with conspiracy. Federal prosecutors accused him of using his power as a senator to act as a foreign agent to the government of Egypt without registering as such. Menendez was initially charged with accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes, including gold bars, in exchange for increasing U.S. aid in Egypt. A huge thank you to Jennifer Rodgers for her thoughtful analysis." 

From Harry Litman

As I wrote on The New Democrat back in September: 

"We're just starting to see the evidence and the case that the DOJ Southern District of New York has on Senator Menendez. Next could be the documents, phone calls, text's, email, banking records,  that link his co-defendants with Senator Menendez." 

Harry Litman and Jennifer Rodgers aren't MAGA, partisan, political activists. They're both Democrats and former U.S. Attorney's. Senator Menendez can't claim political bias here from them, or the Democratic appointed U.S. Attorney in New York City and New Jersey. They now have text messages from Senator Menendez, to Egyptian officials, to what information these Egyptians could get, in exchange for Egyptians financially compensating Senator Menendez and his wife. And as Jennifer Rodgers said, this looks like a clear case of bribery. 

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C-SPAN: Representative Earl Blumenauer: 'It's Not Our Fault Republicans Can't Even Agree With Themselves'

Source:Twitter- U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer (Democrat, Oregon)

"Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR): "It's not our fault Republicans can't even agree with themselves. And ultimately, they will have to work with us on a bipartisan solution. You can write that script now, just fill in the numbers later." 

From C-SPAN

Representative Earl Blumenauer was talking to Congressional reporters on Capitol Hill about what the final appropriations bills and perhaps even a budget for 2024 would look like when everything is done and this latest version of the MAGA reality TV show MAGA Goes To Washington is over and House Republicans finally nominate a Speaker. 

But and even though Representative Blumenauer wasn't talking about the latest MAGA crisis and the vacant House Speaker's office, his quote: "It's not our fault Republicans can't even agree with Themselves." could be applied to that story as well. 

House Democrats are not responsible for the fact that House Republicans who are supposed to be in charge of the House of Representatives and supposed to govern the House of Representatives, since they won back the majority in the House last year, can't run the lower chamber of Congress. (And thank God it's just the lower chamber of Congress and they don't have more power at the Federal level)  

Some Congressional reporters are suggesting or at least asking House Democrats led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, to vote for whoever House Republicans finally nominate for Speaker, so the House can finally have a Speaker. But the fact is House Republicans can't even nominate their own Speaker's candidate. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise dropped out of the Speaker's race and the only Republican candidate left, is House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, who only has 99 out of 222 House Republicans behind him. 

Even though House Democrats are in the minority in the House, they're actually in a very strong position there. They now only have 212 seats out of 435, which is a very strong position for a minority party, but they're united behind their Leader Hakeem Jeffries and they're united against House MAGA on everything. Which means that if House Republicans want the cooperation of House Democrats to nominate a Speaker, they need to work with House Democrats and give them something substantial for that cooperation first. 

All of these things are things that Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries needs to be thinking about and what that bipartisan agreement on electing a new Speaker would look like and I'm sure he's already doing that. 

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CNN: ‘Israeli Troops Have Carried Out Local Raids in Gaza, IDF Says’

Source:CNN reporter Richard Greene.

Source:The New Democrat

“Israeli troops have carried out local raids over the past day in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces said Friday.

The raids involved “infantry and armored forces,” the IDF said.

Troops searched for hostages and collected evidence that would help them find the captives, according to the IDF statement. The military also said it “thwarted terrorist cells and infrastructure located in the area, including a Hamas cell that fired anti-tank missiles toward Israeli territory.”

The IDF said it has also continued strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza.” 

From CNN 

“Israeli troops have carried out local raids in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces said. The raids involved “infantry and armored forces,” the IDF said, and troops searched for hostages.” 

Source:CNN- welcome to Gaza in 2023.

From CNN 

I’m sure that this has been said before, but this is Israel’s Pearl Harbor and 9/11, 2001. Imagine if Cuban terrorists who were sent not just from from Cuba, but the Cuban Communist State there, to bomb innocent Floridians, perhaps ex-Cuban nationals who fled Cuba, to escape the Communist State there and then successfully executed that bombing, of course America would respond not just with a full attack against the Communist State there, but perhaps even to take out the Communist State and then occupy Cuba, till a responsible government could be formed there. 

The old cliche that war is hell, but sometimes it’s also a necessary evil to prevent further murders and to protect your own people. I don’t think Israel, regardless of what you think of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist government there, has no choice but to knock out the Hamas Government in Gaza, not just for the good of his own people in Israel, but for the good the Palestinians who are living in Gaza. (If you want to call that living)

After the Hamas regime is eliminated in Gaza, then Israel should set up a temporary, responsible, hopefully Palestinian led government in Gaza, that could govern Gaza, until the Palestinians are ready to set up their own government there, that is accountable and responsible to their own people, that’s friendly to Israel and the Jewish people there, that can all govern and defend Gaza, in a responsible way. 

At risk of sounding like a Neoconservative: I don’t make these arguments as a Neoconservative, but as as an actual Liberal Democrat (meaning someone who believes in liberal democracy and the protection of innocent lives) who believes people shouldn’t be murdered simply because of their ethnicity. And while Israel is taking down Hamas in Gaza, they need to see that as many Palestinian innocent civilians as possible in Gaza, are allowed to leave Gaza temporarily to a safe place where they could stay, until Gaza is safe for them to return and live.