“Recently, online society was outraged over the unnecessary death of a pet squirrel and raccoon. Intelligent people were angry over the absurdity of ‘saving’ animals by killing them. Others said the uproar showed how far society had fallen — why would anyone care about a squirrel? … It’s not about the squirrel and raccoon. It’s about those who would steal happy, healthy pets and kill them because an arbitrary rule had been broken. It’s about those who will do anything they are told to do, no matter how obviously wrong it is, because they follow orders. It’s about the poor judgment of every government employee involved, and about the poor character of the person who ratted them out to the state.” (11/10/24)
Source: Orange County Register
by Veronique de Rugy
“Supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris are surely experiencing disappointment, but one of the Biden-Harris administration’s pillars — ‘industrial policy’ — won big on Tuesday. That’s because it’s already been embraced by both parties. President-elect Donald Trump loves expensive tariffs, and Harris loves big subsidies to big businesses, and to some degree vice versa. That, my friends, should disappoint us all. Industrial policy represents one of the most dangerous economic illusions of our time. Often presented as a populist program, it’s usually implemented in a way that makes it no different than the worst crony programs.” (11/09/24)
“As a Never Trump voter who thought January 6 was disqualifying but who respects the results of this election, I urge this from fellow Trump skeptics: Stop indulging the fantasy that outrage, social stigma, language policing, a special counsel, the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, or impeachment will disappear him. And stop talking as if normal political opposition is capitulation. Everyone should normalize Trump. If he does something good, praise him. Trump is remarkably susceptible to flattery. Don’t hesitate to criticize him when he does something bad, but avoid overstatements. They are self-discrediting. And know that new House elections are just two years away. Focus on offering a better alternative to voters, not ousting the person they chose. Meanwhile, oppose Trump’s bad ideas by drawing on the normal tools Americans use to constrain all presidents.” (11/08/24)
“‘Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?’ ‘To the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime.’ The dog did nothing in the nighttime.’ ‘That was the curious incident,’ remarked Sherlock Holmes. This exchange comes from ‘The Adventure of the Silver Blaze,’ a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Even though the story is more than 100 years old, I won’t spoil it if you haven’t read it. But I will tell you what was so curious: The dog didn’t bark at an intruder. I tell you this because Tuesday’s election had its own dog that didn’t bark. That is, abortion rights.” (11/09/24)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Israel is really struggling with how difficult its present circumstances make playing the victim. It keeps having to invent new abuses to be victimized by like the imaginary Amsterdam ‘pogrom’ and the fake mass rape narrative that surfaced months after October 7, because it can’t sit comfortably in the role of victimizer while on trial for genocide in international courts. Playing victim is too deeply ingrained in the narrative control strategies of Israel and its apologists, so they have to keep coming up with new and innovative ways for Israel to be victimized even when it is very clearly the last state on earth who has any business being viewed as such. … We keep seeing the word ‘pogrom’ used to refer to Israeli hooligans getting their asses kicked for obnoxious behavior in Amsterdam even as Israeli settlers keep committing textbook pogroms in the occupied West Bank.” (11/10/24)
“There’s no sugarcoating it: Donald Trump and his MAGA movement won a convincing victory on election night, and the liberal coalition opposing Trump suffered a setback. But what makes such a result bearable is the certainty that there will be another election in four years. The architecture of liberal democracy means that it is possible to limit the longevity of regressive movements. Trumpism need not be the U.S.’s permanent fate. It can’t be if this nation is to remain true to who it is.” (11/09/24)
“U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris lost the election, but when all the votes are tallied, she may have won the senior vote. If so, she would be the first Democrat to do so since Al Gore did in 2000. As of September 29, CNN reported that the average poll had Kamala Harris up with seniors by three points. Harris’ strong ratings continued to hold in a poll of likely voters by ABC/Ipsos, released a week later, showed Harris up 51-46%. CNN Exit polling has the two candidates tied with voters over 65, a group Trump won by 7%, and 5%, in 2016 and 2020 respectively.” [editor’s note: I love how these folks are trying to find a new demographic to exploit, especially since a chunk of that one might not be voting next time except from a gravestone – SAT] [additional editor’s note: It’s a GROWING demographic – TLK] (11/09/24)
“Most economists and commentators now agree: a big reason for Vice President Kamala Harris’s defeat in Tuesday’s presidential election was high inflation delivering higher prices. I’ve written extensively on why the public hates inflation so much. But the election result is producing disagreement about what the policy implications should be for Democrats. Three responses being pushed, in particular, would be exactly the wrong lessons for them to learn, at least from an economic perspective.” (11/08/24)
“Conventional wisdom has it that Trump 2.0 will be a disaster for Palestinians, because Trump 1.0 all but buried the Palestinian national cause. And it is indeed true that under Donald Trump’s first term as president, the U.S.. was wholly guided by the Zionist religious right — the real voice in his ear, either as donors or policymakers. Under Trump and his son-in-law adviser, Jared Kushner, Washington became a policy playground for the settler movement …. Trump upended decades of policy by recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving the U.S. embassy there; he disenfranchised the Palestinian Authority by closing down the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) office in Washington; he allowed Israel to annex the Golan Heights; he pulled out of the nuclear accords with Iran; and he assassinated Qassem Soleimani, the most powerful Iranian general and diplomat in the region.” (11/09/24)
