Eight years of insults, incitement and affronts to the rule of law have proved that Donald Trump won’t be tamed.
Yet some of his supporters are still pleading for the criminally convicted and twice-impeached ex-president to rein in his wildest impulses or risk losing the 2024 election.
Hoping to sharpen Trump’s focus, his campaign is setting him up with a new menu of policy speeches, town halls and rallies in battleground states as he struggles to find traction in the transformed race against Kamala Harris, CNN has reported.
This week, Trump will swing through Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the critical “blue wall” states that hold the key to November’s election. The adjusted strategy follows the success of the Democratic National Convention last week and Harris’ disciplined start to her optimistic campaign, which threatens Trump’s White House comeback bid more than the one President Joe Biden shelved amid concerns about his age. Trump’s stepped-up pace reflects the new urgency of the compressed sprint until November’s election and is designed to reposition the ex-president before his debate showdown with Harris on September 10.
Trump repeatedly broke away from the prepared speech about economics to make rambling claims that Harris was both a fascist and a communist, to attack her laugh as that of “a crazy person” and a “lunatic”, and to claim he was more beautiful than the vice-president. He also spent time debating aloud with himself how to pronounce the name of the CNN anchor Dana Bash.
By the time he stopped speaking 100 minutes later, a large number of the arena’s 8,000 seats had emptied.
A hard core of local supporters, some wearing T-shirts proclaiming “I’m voting for a convicted felon”, remained alongside traveling groupies who follow Trump from rally to rally. But in rural cities such as Wilkes-Barre, there is also a contingent who go along to political rallies for the entertainment value, to see a former president on a Saturday afternoon when there is not much else going on, or to help weigh up how to vote. Some of them were not impressed.
“He reminded me why I’m not going to vote for him this time,” said Jenny, a local businesswoman who did not want to give her full name because she didn’t want to alienate customers.
Trump tore into the network after 10pm on Sunday night in a post on Truth Social, where he gave bad reviews to the network's weekend programming before raising the threat.
'I watched ABC FAKE NEWS this morning, both lightweight reporter Jonathan Carl’s (K?) ridiculous and biased interview of Tom Cotton (who was fantastic!), and their so-called Panel of Trump Haters, and I ask, why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?' he wrote.
He was referencing the network's Jonathan Karl, who questioned Trump at the White House during his presidency.
Then he went on to go after members of the network's 'This Week' panel, including Donna Brazil, a member of the DNC who parted ways with CNN after hacked emails posted on WikiLeaks in 2016 revealed her shipping debate questions to the Hillary Clinton camp.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for today:
Monday, August 26, 2024. The Israeli government bombs another school, Marianne Williamson can't stop faking and shaking, the DNC convention, what lead up to the nomination and much more.
The DNC held their convention in Chicago last week. It wrapped up Thursday night with presidential nominee Kamala Harris delivering her acceptance speech. Arab American Institute's James Zogby wrote a column for THE NATIONAL about the convention:
Reviewing the convention itself, it was moving to see hundreds of delegates, including hundreds of Harris supporters, wearing keffiyehs or “Democrats for Palestine” buttons, including Ms Harris’s niece. It was also important to note that when Palestine was mentioned by speakers, it was greeted by rousing applause.
And while in her speech, Ms Harris included the usual commitments to Israel’s security, her words about Palestinian suffering were passionate and punctuated by her commitment to their “freedom, security, dignity and self-determination”. That’s more than any other presidential nominee has ever said. And so, despite the hurt, the entire saga represented a win – one we must recognise and embrace, and on which we must now build.
Thirty-six years ago, I was the last Arab American to speak about Palestinian rights at a national party convention when, in 1988, I presented the Jesse Jackson campaign’s minority plank on Palestinian rights from the podium in Atlanta. I knew it was a historic moment, and in the days that followed, I experienced the backlash from pro-Israel forces within the party. They pressured me to resign from my post as a member of the Democratic National Committee. It was then that Rev Jackson taught me two important lessons I’ve not forgotten.
The first was: “When you win a victory, embrace it but never turn your back, because the knives will be out to get you.” The other was: “Never quit, because that’s exactly what your enemies want you to do. What they fear most is that you’ll stick around to fight.”
These lessons apply today, with a difference.
In 1988, we were able to raise the issue because it was a powerful Jackson-led movement. Today’s movement for justice for Palestinians isn’t riding on the back of a leader. It is a people-powered movement, from the bottom up. This effort has mobilised to pass ceasefire resolutions in more than 350 cities and won the support of major unions, black, Latino and Asian organisations.
It is responsible for demonstrations rallying millions of Americans and camps on more than 100 college campuses, and attracting over 750,000 votes in Democratic primaries. Polls show that most Democrats want a ceasefire, conditions attached to arms sent to Israel, and securing rights for Palestinians.
Now isn’t the time to withdraw in defeatist anger. Instead, it’s imperative to recognise the victories won and continue to engage with allies in the political process, because change will come – but only if this work continues.
Canada's Angus Reid Institute notes, "New data taken during the Democratic National Convention from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds Kamala Harris extending her national lead over Donald Trump among registered voters. The current vice president has a base built of support from 18- to 34-year-olds (59% Harris to 30% Trump), Blacks (67% to 16%) and Hispanics (57% to 33%). Trump, meanwhile, is the preferred choice among those older than 54 (49% to 40%) and whites (51% to 39%)." The data for that poll was compiled prior to Kamala's speech. It'll be interesting to see what sort of bump she received (or didn't). But for those of you seeing that basic polling for the first time, that's why I noted that we had added the elderly to the groups we were speaking to. Many are hostage to FOX "NEWS," many are experiencing troubles that they never did before in their life -- losing a partner, losing a partner to an illness, dealing with a partner with Alzheimer's that influences the fear response. And someone like Donald will always appeal to the fearful and the scared.
Let's go to Marianne Williamson and what she did.
Nothing.
She ran in 2020 and we covered the run here. And she accomplished nothing. She ran in 2024 and we covered the run here -- actually both runs -- and she accomplished nothing.
Please note that first run for the 2024 ticket -- she had Krystal and she had Kyle and she had this and she had that -- so many on YOUTUBE pulling for her. Yet she never managed to poll in the double digits.
All she did was waste everyone's time. Then, when the uncommitted movement started forming, she tried to surf that to popularity. But couldn't. People in uncommitted would rather have anyone than Joe Biden on the ticket which is why they formed -- well there was one other person that they didn't want: Marianne Williamson. And as she went around to FOX "NEWS" and STATUS QUO and the other garbage dwellers last week (including a laughable ABC affiliate), she whined and whined some more.
For a motivation speaker, she's bit down on a lot of sour grapes.
Marianne wants to tell us all something. She calls it the truth.
Really, Marianne?
You can only tease people so long before they're walking out on your stripper act. And it was the fall of 2020, on RISING, then co-hosted by Krystal Ball, that you told viewers awful things were done in that year's Democratic Party and you weren't going to talk about them or go into the details because we were in a general election, but when it was over, you were going to talk the hard truths about what went down.
It's four years later, Marianne, and you still haven't said s**t.
So stop wondering why no one takes you seriously.
You failed to deliver in the polls in all your runs. You failed to deliver in the promised truth you'd be offering just around the corner.
I've known Marianne for years. Dean Phillips? He ran for the 2024 nomination. We're not calling him out. Of the two, I prefer Marianne. But Dean Phillips isn't all over the news trying to sew division.
It's so unfair!!!!
And no one wanted Kamala!!!!!
If Kamala were the drag on the Democratic Party that JD Skidmarks Vance is, she wouldn't be the nominee. As it is, Americans had decided in the primaries to back Biden-Harris. I know this is hard for idiots to understand. But that's why Kamala could keep the money donated for the ticket whereas if someone else -- say Elizabeth Warren -- were the nominee right now, they wouldn't have had access to the money donated.
Joe stepped down for health reasons. If Donald did the same tomorrow, JD would be the GOP's top of the ticket nominee.
Except for the dumb and the s**t disturbers, it's not that hard to understand.
Marianne pretends it is and, in doing so, she's working to elect Donald Trump.
She's telling truth!
No, she's not. Again, we've waited four years since her RISING interview where she promised to trot out the truth and she never did.
She's working to elect Donald Trump. And no Democrat should fool themselves on this issue. Various strains on the left can do whatever they want but no Democrat should be fooled. And, let's remember, before 'feminist' Naomi Wolf even flirted with endorsing Donald Trump, I saw what was happening and made clear that she needed to be out of our party and we needed to grasp that she was not to be invited back in.
Marianne's not of our party anymore.
She did a video last week to back up Robert Kennedy Jr. (we'll be getting to him in a moment) and she spent forever telling everyone how right he was. "It's true, I'm sorry, it's absolutely true." Why the hell would a Democrat post that video? Because she wants to tell the truth? I'm still waiting on the liar to tell the truth about 2020. Marianne doesn't tell the truth. That's reality.
She, Dean Phillips and Robert Kennedy Jr. were among those running opposite Joe Biden for the 2024 nomination. Americans didn't want any of them. There's the myth that Junior and Marianne continue to promote that if they'd only been able to be on the debate stage with Joe, they would have done better. I'm sorry but Marianne was on the debate stage in 2020 and it didn't help her campaign one bit. She never gained traction and she wouldn't have here. Joe was a sitting president and she was a guru. Junior was a snake oil peddler. No debate would have changed their own results. It might have helped Dean Phillips -- apparently the only grown up in the room since he's not been whining publicly or trying to elect Donald Trump.
America saw Marianne in 2020 and they didn't want her. YOUTUBERS thought they could make her in 2024 and they couldn't. No one cared. The uncommitted movement started and Marianne thought she could ride that to popularity but, turned out, the only thing more unpopular than Joe with the uncommitted was Marianne herself.
Now let's turn to Junior.
Depending on your time zone, Ava and my "Media: They don't know any better" went up Sunday night or Monday morning.
They don't know any better.
Over and over, last week, we had to keep telling ourselves that. And then we'd hum along to Mary J. Blige's "No More Drama."
But drama was all last week offered. Some of the low lights?
Well there was Friday afternoon when we watched on TV as Robert Kennedy Jr. spoke and our jaws dropped. Not over his endorsement of Donald Trump in the presidential race. We knew that was coming. What we couldn't believe was the face.
Did no one ever explain to Junior that blush is an accent, not a foundation?
Yeah, it's just for the cheeks. And it should look like it was put on with a brush, not with a brick.
There are circus clowns that wear less make up.
Transgender people sometimes wear make up. Cross dressers sometimes wear make up. The state of Tennessee has banned cross dressing. So can we take a moment to note Donald Trump, JD Vance and Robert Kennedy Junior? Three men who attack LGBTQ+ rights but they can't go out in public without their own make up. Junior had it caked on. Donald Trump's been wearing that orange make up for years now (it is not a skin condition and the press needs to stop that lie). And JD Vance owes his entire look to Donna Mills' THE EYES HAVE IT makeup video.
Let's note Nikki Swift.
Again, they want to stop transgender people, they want to end cross dressing and they're carrying out a war on women. All while sporting thick makeup.
I think it's worth a comment, a serious one.
Junior announced on Friday that he was suspending his campaign. His campaign's over. But he used the term "suspend" because the debts won't need to be immediately paid. Also by 'suspending,' he's hoping to gain legal cover for his illegal actions with regards to some state ballots. A PAC cannot coordinate with a campaign. But Junior regularly consulted with his PACs. The campaign itself is the one that collects signatures by law to get a candidate on the ballot. Junior broke the law.
He's a felon waiting to be charged.
So why is anyone surprised that he's endorsed the Convicted Felon.
Junior is useless and embarrassment. His marriage will soon be over. His political career is over.
Throughout his life, his family had to put with his drug use, his serial affairs (which go on to this day), and his whack-job crazy. The endorsement of Donald was their line in the sand.
He has spat on his father's memory and, at 70, the chances for a second act in his useless life are long gone. This is Junior's legacy.
Gaza? The Israeli government has bombed another school. THE NATIONAL reports:
A number of people have been killed and wounded in an Israeli air strike on Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the official Wafa news agency.
Women and children were killed in the strike on the Al Ezz Bin Abdul Salam School, which was sheltering displaced people in the north of the refugee camp.
No exact toll was immediately given.
Schools, mostly sheltering displaced civilians have been regularly attacked across Gaza, killing hundreds of people.
Israel claims the targeted schools were used by Hamas militants - a claim denied by Gaza authorities and survivors.
Shelling was reported elsewhere in Nuseirat camp on Monday morning, in addition to attacks on Bureij refugee camp, Deir Al Balah, Rafah and Gaza city.
The United Nations notes:
Posting on X, Tor Wennesland said he had met Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa following “intense exchanges” between the Israeli military – which said it had carried out large-scale pre-emptive strikes – and the militant group Hezbollah based in southern Lebanon which said it had carried out an attack which has now been “completed and accomplished.”
In a statement released later in the day the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was deeply concerned over the "significant increase in exchanges".
"These actions put both the Lebanese and Israeli populations at risk as well as threatening regional security and stability", the statement released by his Spokesperson continued, calling for "immediate de-escalation".
The United States, Egypt and Qatar have been attempting to broker a comprehensive ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and militant group Hamas in the Egyptian capital Cairo, with Hamas reportedly agreeing to send a delegation this weekend to be briefed on progress, without directly participating.
Still no cease-fire. And ALJAZEERA reports, "Patients and displaced Palestinians are fleeing Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital – the last functioning medical facility in central Gaza – after Israel issued more evacuation orders for the city of Deir el-Balah." Fleeing but to where? Freddie Clayton (NBC NEWS) reports:
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are being squeezed into ever smaller patches of land as Israeli military-designated humanitarian areas shrink to just 11% of the enclave’s territory, according to the United Nations, following a flurry of evacuation notices as Israel continues its military campaign across Gaza.
In August alone, the Israel Defense Forces issued 12 evacuation orders, according to the U.N., with an additional order Saturday afternoon, forcing as many as 250,000 people to move again in search of safety. At the beginning of the year, 33% of Gaza was an IDF-designated humanitarian zone.
Using satellite imagery analysis, the U.N. said the evacuation notices have resulted in population movements toward Muwasi, a former fishing village on Gaza's Mediterranean coast that has since turned into a crowded tent camp, as well as toward Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza.
The U.N. estimates that most of Gaza’s 2.2 million people are now confined to an area of roughly 15 square miles — about two-thirds the size of Manhattan — causing crowded conditions and a critical lack of basic services, like clean water.
Meanwhile, polio vaccines are arriving in the region but can't be dispersed properly without a cease-fire. Gaza also faces the issue of malnutrition. THE NEW ARAB notes:
Nearly 15,000 children in Gaza have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition since early this year, according to the United Nations.
The UN humanitarian office OCHA has said that 239,580 children were checked since mid-January, leading to 14,750 diagnoses of malnutrition affecting children aged between six months to just under five years, including 3,288 cases of severe acute malnutrition.
"So far, we have counted nearly 5,000 children. And symptoms of malnutrition apply in one-third of cases," said Kamal Adwan Hospital director Hossam Abu Safiya.
He added that a quarter of these cases "were not sent for intensive care" since they "were classified as malnutrition with complications".
In Iraq?
Turkey's ongoing illegal actions in the Kurdistan got attention over the weekend. RUDAW reports:
Journalists gathered in Sulaimani’s Azadi Park on Saturday to protest a
suspected Turkish drone strike that killed two colleagues the day
before.
“Our hearts are heavy and our spirits are crushed by the tragedy of the
bloody Friday and the assassination of both women journalists Gulistan
and Hero,” the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate said in a statement about
the gathering.
Gulistan Tara and Hero Bahadin from Sterk TV were killed in a suspected
Turkish drone strike near Said Sadiq, east of Sulaimani on Friday.
Since Bully Boy Bush occupied the White House, the government of turkey has repeatedly violated the rights and sovereignty of Iraq by attacking northern Iraq. And during all that time? Throughout those twenty-one years and counting? Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has either been the prime minister or the president of Turkey -- aka dictator for life.
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