Source: In These Times
by Adam Johnson & Sarah Lazare
“President Trump’s unprecedented crackdown on constitutionally-protected speech has solicited crickets from key Democratic Party leaders and self-described ’free speech’ advocates in the U.S. media. A review of public statements from influential pundits and Democratic Party leadership shows that while there has been a smattering of (heavily qualified) support for Mahmoud Khalil and other Palestine solidarity activists who are being deported or threatened with deportation, most have been muted as Trump continues his war on free speech. Particularly notable is the absence of meaningful criticism from major Democratic Party luminaries such as former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, former Secretary of State, former Democratic nominee for president — and Columbia lecturer — Hillary Clinton, none of whom have commented on the Khalil case or any of the other individuals the Trump administration is kidnapping off the streets.” (04/01/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The other day I shared a short post about a video that was going around showing a father in Gaza tearfully cradling the head of his son who was decapitated in an Israeli airstrike, and some guy responded with the comment ‘Good thing you helped get TRUMP ELECTED!!’ And I must admit I was actually, truly shocked. I mean, what exactly did this fellow think was happening under Biden that whole time? I saw a post on Twitter where a leftist responded to a liberal who was acting like ICE just suddenly transformed into a modern gestapo under Trump, saying, ‘Liberals believe in nothing and remember even less.’ And it’s just so true. They don’t believe in anything. They don’t stand for anything. It’s just a team sport for these people.” (03/31/25)
“President Donald Trump is clearly worried about the security of the Arctic. Most obviously, he has made numerous controversial statements about the need for the United States to have control over Greenland. Similar comments about Canada bespeak his underlying concern: Neither Greenland nor Canada is being vigilant enough about the threats facing them. Those threats are widely acknowledged. As a warming world makes the Arctic more navigable, Russia and China are seeking to take advantage. The Trump administration underlined its seriousness by sending Vice President JD Vance to an American air base in Greenland last week. In a different context, such demands for accountability are already driving change. In February, Mr. Vance made a similar trip to Europe, delivering rebukes. Europe has since taken dramatic steps to reimagine its security structure and free itself from dependence on the U.S.” (03/31/25)
“The news of Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest surprised me. It’s not that I doubted the former leader of the Philippines was guilty of the horrific crimes detailed in his International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. Duterte himself boasted quite openly of the mass killings he’s been accused of. But I always thought that the prospects of bringing that brutal, outspoken politician to justice were remote indeed. After all, Duterte’s daughter Sara is currently the vice president of the Philippines and that country is no longer a member of the ICC. On top of that, Duterte himself was so sure of his immunity that he was running for mayor of the city of Davao. In mid-March, after returning from campaigning in the Filipino community in Hong Kong, he suffered the indignity of being arrested in his own country.” (03/30/25)
“Before President Trump even took office in January, his personal envoy delivered an unlikely win. Since last spring, President Biden’s diplomats had been unable to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire. But Trump’s man, real estate billionaire Steve Witkoff, joined the Biden team’s effort weeks before the inauguration. Witkoff put immense pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reportedly saying that his relationship with the incoming American president depended on him accepting the deal. After a 96-hour marathon of talks in Qatar, Witkoff clinched a cease-fire and hostage exchange. In so doing, Trump appeared to make good on his robust outreach to Arab and Muslim voters, who had helped him carry swing states.” (03/31/25)
“Iran’s military has reportedly readied ballistic missiles for possible launch against U.S. bases in the Middle East after President Donald Trump renewed his threat to wage war on the country if it does not reach an agreement with his administration regarding nuclear weapons — which American intelligence agencies have repeatedly found Tehran is not building. Trump discussed Iran during a Sunday phone call with NBC News'[s] Kristen Welker, telling her that ‘if they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing, and it will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before’ …. Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran’s theocratic government, warned Monday that ‘if any hostile act is committed from outside, though the likelihood is not high, it will undoubtedly be met with a strong counterstrike.'” (03/31/25)
“Anyone who remembered Donald Trump’s first-term as president knew what to expect. So it’s no surprise to them that virtually every day brings a new outrage, another crisis and unabated turmoil. If you’re a federal employee or a private firm worker with a government contract, no matter how competent, you worry that come tomorrow you won’t have a job to support your family. If you’re on Social Security or Medicare you fret opening your emails. If you’re a farmer who invested money in a Department of Agriculture program, you may be out of luck. If you’re a parent with a child in special education or a dependent with a disability you worry about losing any government assistance. You might say that on Nov. 5, 2024, we asked for all this and now we must live with it.” (03/31/25)
“The world’s richest man is dying to figure out how lawmakers on Capitol Hill got ‘strangely wealthy’ despite their comparatively modest public salaries. Speaking at a town hall in Wisconsin Sunday night, Elon Musk suggested that his team at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will investigate how certain members of Congress have achieved generational wealth. One attendee at the town hall had asked Musk if DOGE had uncovered evidence of funds wired from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to Rep. Maxine Waters [D-CA], Sen. Adam Schiff [D-CA] and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer [D-NY]. ‘They’ll [the government] send the money overseas to one NGO [non-governmental organization], then they’ll go through a bunch of them, and then I’m highly confident that a bunch of that money then comes back to the United States and lands in the pockets of the people you just mentioned,’ Musk replied.” (03/31/25)
“When Donald Trump entered office, he faced a number of choices that had confronted the last three Republican presidents, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. They all had the choice to either shrink government and reduce deficits or slow government growth while cutting taxes. They had the choice of using American power to restore deterrence by invading belligerents (e.g., Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan) or targeting enemies without deploying ground troops to change governments. Republicans could either impose tariffs to ensure trade balances and fair trade or argue that free, even if unfair, trade was in the U.S.’s interest by lowering consumer prices, keeping domestic producers competitive, and assuming foreign subsidies were unsustainable.” [editor’s note: Hanson’s IQ seems to diminish with each op-ed he writes – TLK] (03/31/25)
“A British toddler was kicked out of a nursery school after being accused of being transphobic or homophobic, according to local media reports. The child, aged 3 or 4, was kicked out of an unnamed school nursery ‘for being transphobic,’ the Telegraph reported Monday. The name of the school and details of the case were not disclosed by the Department for Education (DfE) of the United Kingdom, the report said. A DfE spokesman told the newspaper that ‘all pupils and staff should feel safe and protected at school and should never face violence or abuse.’ Statistics revealed that 94 students at state primary schools were suspended or permanently excluded for transphobia and homophobia in 2022-23. That figure includes 10 students from year one and three from year two, where the maximum age is seven, the report states.” [editor’s note: I’m confused; did this preschool tot make some comment about the hair-color or piercings on one of the “teachers?” – SAT] (03/31/25)
