genocide

Realities


POST 1215

Some Things Just Have To Lede

Brace yourselves, flat-earthers.

Tomorrow at 1:19PM the reliable, count-on-it solar system will deliver this year’s autumnal equinox even for the flat earthers. It will be the very moment when the forces of summer and the forces of winter will hold hands, balance on tip-toe and suspend for just a moment their individual certainties. They will set aside their differences and their wobbling convictions. One side will even return, if only fleetingly, to once again recognize laws and the eternal nature of reality. The other will cheer them with welcome, asking, “Where’ve ya been?”

Many thanks to AT for this most valuable question.

For just that moment.

Then we will be returned to a world of lies, grift and cruelty, led by the Monster Liar In Chief (see the valuable question to the right).

Now Something Quite Serious

The lying done by Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and the rest of the extremist Palestinian mouthpieces is well known and has been paraded prominently before the world at least since the leadership of Yassir Arafat. They excel at making themselves appear to be victims in order to garner the sympathy of the world and thereby gain support. It is a self-defeating, suicidal strategy, but those leaders don’t seem to care about the suffering of their own people.

For the past two years Gazans, most of whom are not Hamas, have suffered starvation, injury and death. Hamas is the only reporting entity there and they report tens of thousands dead, among whom is a high percentage of children. We do not know whether their claims are accurate, but regardless of the actual numbers of dead, there are obviously many. That’s great victim PR for them.

That is horrendous for the people of Gaza for obvious reasons. And it is horrendous for Israel, too, which is well on its way to becoming a pariah state. The problem isn’t the majority of the people of Israel. It is Benjamin Netanyahu and his murderous government. Read Sen. Bernie Sanders’ message of September 18 in The Nation, It Is Genocide.

Almost as bad as the genocide, the Trump administration is complicit in these deaths by sending Netanyahu offensive weapons that he is using to incrementally destroy what is left of Gaza. Perhaps that is so that Trump can have his “Riviera of the Middle East.” If he gets that it will be paid for by children buried in the rubble or dying of starvation.

Jimmy Kimmel, Deployed National Guard, Public Health, ICE Thuggery  .  .  .

You know about all those and more, so rather than detailing them in this post, here is your Sunday reading list.

§ In Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s post Be Loud — For America he lays out the obvious truth that Trump’s deranged verbal attacks on Chicago and his threats of sending in the military aren’t about stopping crime. They are about sowing chaos and destabilizing our democracy and our country so that he can establish his dictatorial power.

§ Dan Rather offers insight into our escalating violence in How Did We Get Here? Where the president is a proponent of political violence. He explains,

A political leader’s reaction to political violence is a test of character. It is a test that Donald Trump has failed. He exploits others’ violent acts to further his own vengeful agenda. At a time when our leadership should be seeking unity, Trump is using Kirk’s killing as a call to arms for his supporters. “We have radical left lunatics out there and we just have to beat the hell out of them,” the president said at the White House last week.

Trump said that even before we had a clue who the alleged perpetrator was or what his motivations might have been. Nevertheless, he pointedly has called for violence against fellow citizens.

§ Read the transcript of Rep. Jason Crow’s address to the House, Concerning State of US Politics & the Path Forward to Unite Our Country or watch it via the embedded video. And share it with others.

Ahoy, Maties!

Friday was National Talk Like A Pirate Day.

What? You forgot?
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(Read the following aloud and with proper pirate-ness.)

Shiver me timbers, ye scalawags. Arrrr!

De tieves ha’ been a-tievin’ and a-takin’ what be ours, workin’ dere treason wi dere lies.

Me proud beauties, ’tis time we be a-weigin’ anchor and puttin’ our bow to de waves to make good trouble. Fie on Davey Jones hisself if he dare be gettin’ in our way. Dis be de hour we ‘cede to set tings aright.

Raise full sails, me hearties, an’ make ar headin’ to where de treasure waits fer such as us. We parlay wi de traitor, de scurvy bloated orange poxy hisself, if we must. But eider way, we be takin’ back de rule what be rightly ars.

So stand ready, ye sea dogs. Ar Jolly Roger flies and de battle be wid us!

The Deconstructing Trump Corner
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  • Reality is that which when you stop believing in it,
  • it doesn’t go away.
  • Philip K. Dick, 1981
  • Nothing doth more hurt in a state
  • than that cunning men must pass for wise.
  • Francis Bacon, 1625
  • Mid-Term Election
    Goes fast, doesn’t it?
    .

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    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not necessarily mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine, but I do wish that I could blame someone else. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    5. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.
    6. Comments offered by readers, whether in agreement with my opinions or opposing, are encouraged and greatly appreciated. All are reviewed prior to going live. I reserve the right to edit for length, readability, punctuation, typos and voluntary idiocy and to exclude those I deem inappropriate or intentionally cruel. If you must post something cruel, stop reading these posts immediately and instead invest your time with a good therapist.
    7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally and unavoidably mine.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2025 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

There Is A Way


Post 1,018

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Last Sunday I brought you a celebration of our press at last speaking the truth out loud, that Donald Trump and his extremist angry/cowardly/sightless followers are bringing despotism to and killing democracy in America. It’s right there in plain sight for all to see, yet the alarm bells are only beginning to sound. The problem with the writings to which I directed you is that they offer very little hope or direction to staunch the bleeding of our democracy. That’s beginning to change, too.

Robert Kagan’s essay, A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending, Is a seminal work of laying out the threat that we face. This week he posts a follow up, explaining that, “Some readers were unhappy that I did not offer a solution.” He does so now in, The Trump dictatorship: How to stop it. In case you don’t have access to the Washington Post, here’s the bottom line: Republicans have to speak out against Trump and his awful promises of doom and dystopia. Clearly, loudly and constantly.

Voters to the right of center have little to no interest in what Democrats have to say, so while Democrats must speak up loudly and often, they won’t change minds or votes of people on the right. What they can hope for is to motivate those center and left of center voters to show up and vote, this because if Trump wins, it will be our last opportunity to vote.

The far right voters are welded to Trump and against Biden and Democrats, so their votes to save democracy aren’t available. The people who are “persuadable” are those in the center right and some on the right. They haven’t confidence or trust in Democrats, which is why the message to save democracy has to come from Republicans.

It appears that most Republican elected officials who disapprove of Trump and extremism favor silence and cowardice. Then they quit. Ref: Bob Corker (R-TN) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ), two generally centrist and reasonable Republicans who quit the senate when they saw the obvious, that legislatively violent extremists had taken over what used to be called the GOP. Flake was replaced by the undependable and enigmatic obstructionist, Kyrsten Sinema. She was a Democrat who, after repeated in-your-face smashings of President Biden’s plans to solve our vexing problems and advance our freedoms and our democracy, at last switched to Independent. She can’t be counted on for much of anything to stop the authoritarian avalanche.

When Corker left he was replaced by Republican drone Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). She was just another spine-of-a-jellyfish, dead weight to our national progress in the Senate, an obstruction to everything to make things better.

We’ve just had a spate of otherwise reasonable congressmen announce their upcoming retirements. It’s what Republicans in Congress do, instead of standing up for what they know is right and against what they know is wrong.

It seems to me that Kagan is right, that we need people like Mitt Romney and Mitch McConnell to broadcast the truth and to urge voters to vote against the impending doom of Trumpism. Some, perhaps many legislators, might lose their jobs to extremists, but is their job more important than our country?

Some will get death threats to themselves or their families for having the temerity to speak the truth. That seems to go with the territory, now that Trump and other big mouths have normalized hatred, violence and “retribution”. Whether they are willing to face an important test of their integrity is the question.

Here’s a link to Heather Cox Richardson’s essay on Friday about some people who were up to the challenge and saved our democracy for us. We need far more like them right now.

It isn’t just elected officials whom we need to stand up and tell the truth. We need ordinary Americans to speak up, people who care whether their children will be free or if they will just be powerless, lackeys to the despot. We need them – us – to be brave at the school board meetings, at Starbucks, making phone calls, canvassing, stuffing envelopes, talking with neighbors and even with crazy Uncle Bob.

Looks like influence is all we have. We better use it. Many thanks to SL for the graphic.

We need to feel the spirit of the heroes who kept faith with our democracy and give ourselves over to something so much greater than ourselves.

We all know it’s easier to click the remote and watch a football game, the opiate of the masses in these times, than to get up and do something to make things better. Far more important is for us to stop things from crashing and devastating our lives and our future. That’s what your influence is for.

If you’re not seeing it, click here to last Sunday’s post and then on the links to the essays by people who are laying out the truth for you, in living color – while they still can.

The trailer below accompanies all of my posts. It exhorts us in magenta font to rid ourselves of the democracy murderers:

  • Fire the bastards!
  • It’s in our power to do that. We’ll need help from Republicans, those with both integrity and a spine, so contact your representative and your senators, be they an R or a D. They know the difference between right and wrong. They speak the truth in the cloakrooms. Tell them you demand that they say it out loud and in public. Tell them to do so often and loudly.
  • Okay For Genocide on Campus
  • Since capturing the #3 slot in the House Republican Caucus, Rep. Elise Stefanic (R-NY) has distinguished herself with some impressively stupid, hateful and divisive comments. Many are the times that I have wondered if there is anything going on inside her head. Indeed, in the words of Rabbi David Wolpe, formerly of the Harvard University antisemitism advisory committee, “We are at a moment when the toxicity of intellectual slovenliness has been laid bare for all to see.” I like that phrase: “toxicity of intellectual slovenliness.” That’s the cadre of We the People who dismiss science, critical thinking and who lazily and brainlessly accept what some know-nothing loudmouth says. Including lawmakers.
  • But kudos are in order to Elise Stefanik for her questioning of university presidents from MIT, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. She asked them simply if students calling for genocide would be acting in violation of the schools’ codes of conduct. She slammed them for their mealy-mouthed “It depends on context” replies. Elise finally got one right.
  • I’m just wondering when the context would be such that it would be okay to call for genocide and harassment based on religion, race or anything else. When would such spewing of hatred be considered within a university’s code of conduct? I’m sure the presidents of these elite universities can explain it to me.
Today is a good day to be the light

_____________________________

  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2025 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

There’s No Way To Be Subtle About This


Post 1,007

—————————————

Millions were horrified by the October 7 massacre in Israel. And millions have reveled in blaming the victims.

The insanity is not just the most recent “kill the Jews” massacre, but also the enthusiasm of Hamas apologists around the world, including at elite U.S. universities where lots of very ignorant smart students (“useful idiots”) parade their ignorance and misplaced values.

Israelis were good guys when they were murdered victims. As soon as they stood up and fought back the terrorists were forgotten and Israelis somehow became the bad guys. Being a target of such blame is a regular feature of life for Jews. Reference: The past 3,500 years.

The blood of murdered Israelis wasn’t yet dry before the wailing for Palestinians as the victims of Israelis began. The true responsibility for their suffering is the cruelty and criminality of Hamas and the inept, even criminal Palestinian leadership for 75 years. That truth has, at best, been touched only tangentially, as the world blames Jews yet again.

Well, screw that.

Here is a list of resources for the world to review as it decides where to point its finger.

Read Daniel Wolf’s post, J’Accuse – An Open Letter to Hamas Apologists.

And if you have the courage for it, read Dana Horn’s Why Jews Cannot Stop Shaking Right Now.

And if you think every mad thing in the Middle East is the fault of Jews and Israel, you owe yourself the benefit of an explanation grounded in fact. Find it here, oddly, from a far right source.

And if you’d like to hear a message of truth from an Israeli who means it when she says, “Never Again!” watch this video.

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I can already hear the yeah-but chorus, so,

There is a stereotype of Jews meekly walking into Nazi gas chambers. That stereotype ignores the uprisings and rebellions done by Jews who would not be willing victims to that evil. Be assured that today not even one single Israeli is thinking anything but “Never Again!” This woman certainly isn’t. They – we – will not be meek victims.

If you think the Israeli offensive is too much, too brutal, that’s understandable – and you need to focus on this: A Hamas leader proudly declared last Thursday that, “There will be second, third, fourth Al Aqsa against Israel.” Indeed, this one isn’t over yet and Hamas continues to rain hundreds of rockets into Israel to kill civilians.

“Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas spokesperson said, ‘We are not ashamed to say this with full force. We must teach Israel a lesson and we will do this again and again.'”

He went on with yet more extermination talk. Does it still look like the Israelis are the bad guys?

Hamas is telling us as plainly as can be that either Hamas is stopped here and now or there will be another October 7, then another and another. They will never stop killing Israelis and Jews until Israel is erased from the globe and all Jews are dead.

Or until Israel stops them permanently.
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So, to the clueless judgment dispensers of the world, especially the ones demanding that Israel stand down immediately:

If you were leading Israel right now, what would you do?

You’d damned well do whatever it takes to silence Hamas because you must protect your citizens.

You’d be sad for the non-combatant Palestinian losses and mad as hell that Hamas made you do that by putting their command centers underneath hospitals, their rocket launchers next to schools, their weapons caches in apartment buildings and their preventing civilians from escaping to safety.

Various Arab countries are pulling their ambassadors and envoys from Israel, including those of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and more. Their actions are in protest of Israel going after the Hamas murderers and the unintended harm to non-combatant Palestinians. If these Arab countries care so much about Palestinians, why has not even one of those countries or any other Arab or Muslim country done anything for Palestinians for over 75 years except to stoke their anger and send them arms to kill Israelis?

Gaza is by far the world’s oldest refugee camp and the entire Arab world is dedicated to keeping it that way. Next door to Gaza in the same desert there is a thriving, modern state. The Palestinians could build such a place for themselves, but instead they suffer in misery. They do so willingly and they accomplish not much more than to harbor resentment. Some transform their resentment into terrorism. It looks like they’d rather have their resentment and their rage and do their terrorism than have a good life for themselves and build something of value for their children.

So, after reading this and reviewing the linked material, somebody please tell me what Israel should do beyond what it is already doing to protect Palestinian civilians during this war started by Palestinian Hamas genocidal terrorists.

EXTRA CREDIT POP QUIZ
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Question #1: Name a country that would not pursue and attack foreign terrorists who had murdered over 1,400 of its citizens injured over 3,300 more and took over 240 hostages.

Answer #1: There are none. Not even one.

Question 2: Name the nations, organizations and self-appointed insightful ones who would criticize any nation for taking actions to protect its citizens and to apply justice.

Answer #2: There are none. Not even one. Except when it’s Israel pursuing terrorists. Then the world bloviates its useful idiot criticisms of Israel.

Question #3: Name all the nations of the world that announce in advance where they will attack and advises civilians where to go for safety.

Answer #3: The U.S. prior to bombing Japan and Germany in WW II. Israel in Gaza. That’s it.

Today is a good day to be the light

______________________________

  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.


  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
    5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2025 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

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