Illiberalism
Israel
Fig. 1. “Sara Netanyahu, wife of the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu signing the visitors book, at Teen Murti Chowk, in New Delhi. . . . The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi is also seen.” Photograph credited to Prime Minister's Office (GODL-India), January 14, 2018, via Wikimedia Commons, GODL-India
Ishaan Tharoor, “Israel’s Netanyahu is fighting two wars, and may not win either,” Washington Post, December 5, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/05/netanyahu-wars-win-lose-political-endgame-career/
Gilead
Gun nuttery
Fig. 1. “Rally Against Gun Control ‘Come and Take it’ flag at the Minnesota State Capitol,” photograph by Fibonacci Blue [pseud.], April 28, 2018, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
You had to know this was coming:
[Mass killings in Texas and Washington] were the 37th and 38th shootings this year in which four or more victims were killed, the highest number of mass killings in any year since at least 2006. Last year’s 36 was the previous record.[1]
Bonnie Berkowitz, “Double mass shootings over weekend set grim U.S. record,” Washington Post, December 4, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/12/04/mass-shootings-record-year/
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,[2] public domain.
Chris Christie, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination and former prosecutor, has some interesting observations about Donald Trump’s legal travails. He thinks a criminal conviction is likely inevitable and could happen sometime next year;[3] I have to think this would be during the campaign.
I’m not sure, honestly, how much a conviction will move the needle. I think most people have already formed opinions about Trump’s culpability, based of course principally on whether they love him or hate him. And of course that love or hate hasn’t really all that much to do with the charges.
So if you’ve already decided Trump is guilty because you hate him, how does a conviction change your vote? Or, it you’ve already decided Trump is your guy regardless of the charges, how does a conviction change your vote? I’m just not seeing that it does.
Peter Hamby, “Just Spoke to Christie…” Puck, December 4, 2023, https://puck.news/just-spoke-to-christie/
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,[4] fair use.
Ishaan Tharoor, “Israel’s Netanyahu is fighting two wars, and may not win either,” Washington Post, December 5, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/05/netanyahu-wars-win-lose-political-endgame-career/
- [1]Bonnie Berkowitz, “Double mass shootings over weekend set grim U.S. record,” Washington Post, December 4, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/12/04/mass-shootings-record-year/↩
- [2]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↩
- [3]Peter Hamby, “Just Spoke to Christie…” Puck, December 4, 2023, https://puck.news/just-spoke-to-christie/↩
- [4]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/↩