Illiberalism
Gilead
Speaker of the House of Representatives, 2023
Fig. 1. Photograph credited to Office of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, date inconsistent with title but given as November 9, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
I guess I have to give Steve Scalisse credit for one thing: He isn’t humiliating himself the way Kevin McCarthy did.
Tina Nguyen, “War & Scalise,” Puck, October 11, 2023, https://puck.news/war-scalise/
Kristina Peterson and Siobhan Hughes, “Republicans Nominate Steve Scalise for House Speaker Over Jim Jordan,” Wall Street Journal, October 11, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/politics/republican-speaker-vote-jim-jordan-stevescalise-2419cbf6
Marianna Sotomayor, Leigh Ann Caldwell, and Jacqueline Alemany, “Republicans fail to coalesce around speaker choice, leaving House in limbo,” Washington Post, October 11, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/11/steve-scalise-jim-jordan-house-speaker/
Lauren Fedor, “Steve Scalise withdraws from US House Speaker race,” Financial Times, October 12, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/b3bca5a5-789e-4afb-ad75-684b7cba8a79
Theodoric Meyer and Leigh Ann Caldwell with Tobi Raji, “Scalise’s potentially fatal mistake,” Washington Post, October 12, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/12/scalises-potentially-fatal-mistake/
Donald Trump
Coup attempt
Fig. 1. Donald Trump booking photograph by Fulton County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office, August 24, 2023, via New York, August 25, 2023,[1] public domain.
Nick Coltrain, “Denver judge rules 14th Amendment lawsuit seeking to bar Trump from ballot can proceed,” Denver Post, October 13, 2023, https://www.denverpost.com/2023/10/13/trump-14th-amendment-lawsuit-anti-slapp-ruling/
Imperialism
Israel
Palestine
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,[2] fair use.
Raya Jalabi, Najmeh Bozorgmehr, and Felicia Schwartz, “Border clashes prompt fears of Hizbollah joining Israel-Hamas war,” Financial Times, October 11, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/213ce971-b93e-4756-8dd0-6ff163b21577
Joseph Krauss and Wafaa Shurafa, “As strikes devastate Gaza, Israel forms unity government to oversee war sparked by Hamas attack,” Associated Press, October 11, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-airstrikes-hostages-e4ae51a640a3fc04b23ea9561703f874
Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, “A Majority of Israelis Think Netanyahu Should Resign,” New Republic, October 12, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/post/176200/majority-israelis-think-netanyahu-resign
Noga Tarnopolsky, “Netanyahu Is Losing the War at Home,” New York, October 12, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/10/in-the-israel-hamas-war-netanyahu-is-losing-at-home.html
Ishaan Tharoor, “As Israel ramps up war with Hamas, backers cheer destruction of Gaza,” Washington Post, October 13, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/13/israel-rhetoric-gaza-response-retribution-punishment/
Neoliberalism
Academic repression
Student loans
Fig. 1. Unattributed and undated image via James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal,[3] fair use.
Looking for another excuse to withhold student loan relief? Here it is:
Andrew Duehren and Alana Pipe, “The Federal Deficit Is Even Bigger Than It Looks,” Wall Street Journal, October 12, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/economy/the-federal-deficit-is-even-bigger-than-it-looks-6bc8a070
Pennsylvania and surrounding areas
Pittsburgh, the Ohio Valley, and surrounding areas
Pollution
Fig. 1. Photographer unknown, circa 1940-1950, from Smoke Control Lantern Slide Collection, ca. 1940-1950, AIS.1978.22, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh, via Bloomberg,[4] fair use.
Jacob Fischler, “Biden administration to send $7 billion for clean hydrogen hubs in 16 states,” Pennsylvania Capital-Star, October 13, 2023, https://www.penncapital-star.com/energy-environment/biden-administration-to-send-7-billion-for-clean-hydrogen-hubs-in-16-states/
- [1]Margaret Hartmann and Nia Prater, “All the Mug Shots of Donald Trump and His Alleged Co-Conspirators,” New York, August 25, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-mug-shot-gallery.html↩
- [2]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
- [3]Richard K. Vedder, “Eliminate or Radically Restructure Federal Student Loans,” James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, September 16, 2020, https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2020/09/eliminate-or-radically-restructure-federal-student-loans/↩
- [4]Mark Byrnes, “What Pittsburgh Looked Like When It Decided It Had a Pollution Problem,” Bloomberg, June 5, 2012, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-06-05/what-pittsburgh-looked-like-when-it-decided-it-had-a-pollution-problem↩