Neoliberalism
Banking
Commercial real estate
Fig. 1. The confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, with the “Golden Triangle” and downtown Pittsburgh. Photograph by author, October 15, 2023.
Peter Grant, “Office-Loan Defaults Near Historic Levels With Billions on the Line,” Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2024, https://apple.news/ArniRU2EtRNqiDE7-cAgVuw
Illiberalism
Gilead
Speaker of the House of Representatives, 2023-2024
Fig. 2. Photograph credited to Office of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, date inconsistent with title but given as November 9, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Democrats are playing a curious game here:
Democrats have pledged to support an effort to “table” [Marjorie Taylor] Greene’s motion, effectively killing the measure.. The House GOP leadership would schedule a vote on Greene’s action, but a move to table it would come first. If that isn’t successful, only then would a final vote occur to oust Johnson — and Democrats have said they won’t intervene to save the speaker in that case.[1]
I don’t know what the point of that is. If you want Mike Johnson to hold on to his speakership, you support Johnson at both steps. If you don’t, you oppose him at both steps. To do one thing at one step and the opposite at the next makes no sense to me.
Marianna Sotomayor, “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene launches her plan to oust Speaker Johnson,” Washington Post, May 1, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/01/marjorie-taylor-greene-motion-to-vacate-house-speaker-mike-johnson/
Imperialism
Israel
Fig. 3. John Bolton and Binyamin Netanyahu at a press conference. Office of U.S. National Security Advisor, August 20, 2018, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Just absolutely fucking perfect. The Republicans (and a lot of Democrats) are playing the hate card.
[Michael] Lawler’s bill — with 61 co-sponsors, including 15 Democrats — would create “a clear definition of antisemitism” in U.S. law that the Education Department could then use to cut off funding to academic institutions found to tolerate such behaviors. The definition, however, has drawn fierce opposition from First Amendment advocates such as the American Civil Liberties Union and liberal Democrats, who say it veers sharply into the realm of restricting political views. . . .
If it does become law, the federal definition of antisemitism, adopted from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, would include such speech as “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor”; “applying double standards” to Israel that are “not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation”; and “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”[2]
Of course anything progressives say about this will be used in Donald Trump’s defense.
Many liberals have called for police restraint and for university administrators to respect a long-standing tradition of campus activism, including antiwar movements. Democrats who oppose Lawler’s bill also called the Republican effort to crack down on antisemitism disingenuous and hypocritical, pointing to Republicans’ frequent defense of free speech — and condemnation of liberals’ “cancel culture” — in other contexts.[3]
So what does this definition of anti-Semitism do?
Several Republicans said opposing Zionism — the political movement to create, and now to preserve, a state for Jews in their biblical homeland — would qualify as antisemitism under the law. Some suggested that even holding a prolonged protest would constitute antisemitism. “The erection of encampments on college campuses isn’t an expression of speech,” Rep. Marcus J. Molinaro (R-N.Y.) said on the House floor Wednesday. “It is a direct threat to Jewish students on college campuses.”[4]
Even some Israelis have recognized that the term ‘anti-Semitism’ has become much too broad,[5] encompassing any opposition to Israel or its policies.[6]
But Joe Biden seems likely to sign it, assuming it passes the Senate (why wouldn’t it?):
But what remains clear is that the president, while expressing empathy for Palestinians, has long been dismissive of the steps being taken by protesters in their name, as the New York Times’ PETER BAKER noted Wednesday morning.
“President [Joe] Biden respects the right to free expression, but protests must be peaceful and lawful,” deputy press secretary ANDREW BATES said on Wednesday as police crackdowns dominated the news. “Forcibly taking over buildings is not peaceful — it is wrong. And hate speech and hate symbols have no place in America.”[7]
Abigail Hauslohner, “House passes antisemitism bill over complaints from First Amendment advocates,” Washington Post, May 1, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/01/antisemitism-awarness-act-campus-protests/
Palestine
Fig. 4. 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,[8] fair use.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday that he would not accept an end to the war in Gaza as part of a potential hostage deal, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel. . . .
Netanyahu also told Blinken during their meeting in Jerusalem that a hostage deal with Hamas does not mean an invasion of Rafah would be avoided, the Prime Minister’s Office told The Times of Israel.[9]
They all, both the Israeli and U.S. governments, just blame Hamas for everything,[10] including, clearly, Israel’s own crimes.
Deutsche Welle, “UN court rules German military aid to Israel can continue,” April 30, 2024, https://www.dw.com/en/un-court-rules-german-military-aid-to-israel-can-continue/a-68956989
Stephen Collinson, “Student unrest ratchets up an already tense election year,” CNN, May 1, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/30/politics/student-protests-election-year-analysis
Lazar Berman, “Netanyahu tells Blinken he will not agree to end war on Hamas as part of hostage deal,” Times of Israel, May 1, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-israel-blinken-blames-hamas-for-hostage-deal-holdup-gaza-humanitarian-crisis/
Ishaan Tharoor, “The delusions behind Biden’s plan for Middle East peace,” Washington Post, May 1, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/05/01/middle-east-peace-biden-plan-delusions/
Abigail Hauslohner, “House passes antisemitism bill over complaints from First Amendment advocates,” Washington Post, May 1, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/01/antisemitism-awarness-act-campus-protests/
- [1]Marianna Sotomayor, “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene launches her plan to oust Speaker Johnson,” Washington Post, May 1, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/01/marjorie-taylor-greene-motion-to-vacate-house-speaker-mike-johnson/↩
- [2]Abigail Hauslohner, “House passes antisemitism bill over complaints from First Amendment advocates,” Washington Post, May 1, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/01/antisemitism-awarness-act-campus-protests/↩
- [3]Abigail Hauslohner, “House passes antisemitism bill over complaints from First Amendment advocates,” Washington Post, May 1, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/01/antisemitism-awarness-act-campus-protests/↩
- [4]Abigail Hauslohner, “House passes antisemitism bill over complaints from First Amendment advocates,” Washington Post, May 1, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/01/antisemitism-awarness-act-campus-protests/↩
- [5]Matt Lebovic, “Has the term ‘antisemitism’ been overused – or overblown – beyond usefulness?” Times of Israel, April 10, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/has-the-term-antisemitism-been-overused-or-overblown-beyond-usefulness/↩
- [6]Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani, “ADL Officially Admits It Counts Pro-Palestine Activism as Antisemitic,” New Republic, January 10, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/177993/adl-abandons-pretense-tracking-antisemitism-honestly-palestine-rallies↩
- [7]Sam Stein et al., “Joe Biden, not a protest guy,” Politico, May 1, 2024, https://www.politico.com/newsletters/west-wing-playbook/2024/05/01/look-at-those-assholes-00155438↩
- [8]Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
- [9]Lazar Berman, “Netanyahu tells Blinken he will not agree to end war on Hamas as part of hostage deal,” Times of Israel, May 1, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-israel-blinken-blames-hamas-for-hostage-deal-holdup-gaza-humanitarian-crisis/↩
- [10]Lazar Berman, “Netanyahu tells Blinken he will not agree to end war on Hamas as part of hostage deal,” Times of Israel, May 1, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-israel-blinken-blames-hamas-for-hostage-deal-holdup-gaza-humanitarian-crisis/↩