As I have mentioned regularly since the Hamas attack on October 7, the Israeli response was eventually going to be problematic for the U.S as the death toll mounted in Gaza, the damage to infrastructure prevented the distribution of water and electricity, and the humanitarian crisis continued to expand. I have also pointed out that the U.S. is in a tough diplomatic position as it balances Israel’s right to defend itself but is concerned how far they have taken the fight within Gaza. The U.S. was in a similar position to Israel when the U.S. decided to attack Afghanistan and Iraq following 9/11. The U.S. felt compelled to defend itself, but only a few countries supported the U.S. attacks into the two countries.
Today, The Guardian reported divisions within the US administration have been growing, with some officials saying the US is misunderstanding the scale of disillusionment in the global south over US perceived hypocrisy in calling out Russian war crimes in Ukraine, but finding a multitude of reasons to justify the large scale killings of Palestinians in Gaza.
A range of US diplomats have visited Jerusalem to urge the Israeli government to adopt different military tactics, but with only limited success, and a US support for a suspension of hostilities at the UN, if it happened, would be a clear signal of US frustration with the Israeli government.
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This war is going to continue to divide this country in so many ways.
It is hard to judge congress by how many bills were passed and signed into law, however, I find the following very interesting.
- In 2023, the Republican-led House has passed only 26 bills that became law, despite holding a total of 724 votes.
- In 2022, when the Democrats controlled, the House, the Senate and the Presidency, the House held 549 votes in 2022, according to the House clerk, and passed 248 bills that were signed into law.
- In 2013, for example, when Republicans controlled the House and Democrats controlled the Senate, just as they do today, the House passed 72 bills that were signed into law.
If nothing else, this points out the dysfunction of the current leadership in the House.
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Colorado’s top court ruled on Tuesday that the former president is disqualified from holding office again because he engaged in insurrection leading up to the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol, an explosive ruling that injected more legal uncertainty into the 2024 presidential race and could put the basic contours of the election in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The 4-3 decision in the Colorado Supreme Court found that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment — which disqualifies from office those who engage in insurrection against the Constitution after taking an oath to support it — applies to Mr. Trump, making him ineligible to be listed on the state’s presidential primary ballot. Trump plans on appealing.
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Per NY Times. The founder of the electric truck company Nikola was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday in a fraud case that highlights the financial carnage left behind by a crop of electric vehicle start-ups and their promoters.
A federal judge in Manhattan, Edgardo Ramos, sentenced Trevor Milton, Nikola’s founder, and former chief executive, after a jury found him guilty last year of one count of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Mr. Milton was accused of pumping up the value of Nikola stock by making extravagant claims about the company.
Mr. Milton told investors that Nikola had working prototypes of emission-free long-haul trucks, had billions of dollars’ worth of binding orders and was producing low-cost hydrogen fuel. All those statements were false, said prosecutors, who had asked Judge Ramos to hand down an 11-year prison term and a $5 million fine. Lawyers for Mr. Milton, who denied the charges, had sought probation. Milton gets my Onion of the Day.
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As I was tracking the Eagles game against the Seahawks last night, I was hoping the Eagles would win so the Lions were guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. However, the Seahawks scored in the last minute to beat the Eagles.
After my initial disappointment, I realized that with the Eagles loss, the Lions now have a legitimate shot at securing the number 2 seed in the playoffs, which would give them a first round bye and the home field in their first game. This would be significant. All they need to do is win their last three games. Is that too much to ask?
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Despite Cade Cunningham’s career high 43 points, it is now a 24-game losing streak for the Pistons with no end in sight. They are two losses from tying the NBA record for futility. In the calendar year 2023 combining Jan-April (7-36) of last season and October-December (2-25) the Piston have a record in 2023 of 9-61. In a way this is feeling much worse than the Lions 0-16 season.
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Quote of the Day: “He’s just growing. As much as he had the ball tonight, he only had three turnovers… I thought he did a good job of stretching their double-teams and it allowed for him to find guys. We just missed a bunch of shots to start the game, and then they got out of their blitz and he started getting downhill, making a number of shots for himself and for the team.” Piston head coach Monty Williams on Cade Cunningham’s performance last night for the Pistons in another loss.
Orchid of the Day: Mitchel Street and Lake Street in Petoskey. I just love driving down the streets when the gaslights are decorated for Christmas.
Onion of the Day: See above story.
Questions of the Day: Did the Colorado do the right thing by banning the former president for the presidential ballot in Colorado?
Video of the Day: