Francesca and Nina Turner of The Damage Report discuss the push-back against the incursion into Gaza from “Bibi,” and that includes anti-war protests from American Jews...I have a feeling Biden badly misread public opinion on this; yes, I‘m not questioning Israel’s right to defend itself, but I’m only saying that I’m sure Hamas gamed this scenario out all over the place before they launched their attack on October7th – hard for me to find the words to communicate how despicable Hamas truly is, but Biden has to find a way to advocate for Palestinians here, and that means pushing for a two-state solution, right of return, Jerusalem as a shared capital, way beyond just calling for humanitarian relief – I’m basically talking about all of the stuff Netanyahu has brushed aside...as soon as you find yourself in a position where you’re indiscriminately attacking women and children, you’ve definitely lost (and I’m sure Turner is right about the cascading impact of all of this, unfortunately)...
...and I thought Joy Reid offered a pretty good summation of this horrible conflict...and again, I don’t know what the big deal is about harvesting olives or planting olive trees – I can’t imagine how that’s an excuse to shoot someone dead (I never knew of any tree that planted a bomb or murdered women and children)...I didn’t watch the follow-up segment to this, but it’s not hard to figure that what’s next unfortunately is more destruction and more military brinkmanship with this country, China, Iran, and others...
...and given the prior two clips, I think this is apropos from the New York Times, which features comments from Israelis in the wake of the Hamas attacks...I just hope that the monumental incompetence of “Bibi” doesn’t somehow get brushed aside in the quite-called-for-IMO rush to judgment against Hamas (who aren't even IN Gaza, let's not forget - last reports are that they're in Qatar)..
...and returning to this country, Leeja Miller tells us How Lobbying Is Ruining Democracy...I have to admit that I didn’t know about that 760-to-1 ratio in terms of campaign donations versus $ from tax breaks and loosened regulations, but it just about turned my stomach...also didn’t know about the $$ raked in by Chuck Schumer, but that doesn’t surprise me either...and China spent $62 million on our elections in 2022??...also, if I ruled the world, NOBODY working in our politics would be able to get a job as a lobbyist for TEN FREAKING YEARS after they left their public job...also didn’t know about the Lobbying Disclosure Act of ’95 (and what initiated it)...additionally, I didn’t know about the $34-to-$1 ratio of corporations lobbying vs. public interest groups (I always thought the term “lobbyist” in this country originated with the hangers-on around the time of the Civil War in particular who gathered at the Willard Hotel in D.C.)...lots of great ideas at the end of this clip to try and clean up our lobbying mess...
...and Sam Seder of The Majority Report informs us on how the Biden DOL came out with a ruling that reinstates an Obama-era standard for joint employers, making it easier for workers and unions to hold companies liable for labor law violations by their franchisees and contractors (so yeah, if the owner of a “Mickey D’s,” for example, is found liable for violations of, say, workers below an age standard working too many hours, the parent company can’t just wash their hands and say they have no control over what a franchisee does –the parent company is on the hook too)...and GREAT point by Sam starting at about 2:40 that, when you elect someone president, you’re also electing a “network of relationships” for that person, and IMO, the consequences of that are a hell of a lot more severe than electing a single person...
...and RIP Dwight Twilley from a couple of weeks ago – here is one of his signature hits.
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