Thank you for laying the situation out so clearly in contrast to the mainstream press. I am frightened thinking about what this all means. I am sitting in Germany where the anti-immigrant feelings are increasing as the elections in Bayern and Hesse yesterday showed. Yet, I assume there will be a new wave of immigrants from Palestine here. Hamas does not speak for all Palestinians and Netanyahu does not speak for all Israeli's yet they have just elevated the misery of lives of people in their regions. I see Nagorno-Karabakh wiped out of Armenians and Ukrainians suffering from the war started by Putin. It seems we are moving more in the direction of "strong men" waging war to further their hold on their people, and increase their personal fortunes. Is our planet imploding from wars or the environment or both at the same time?
I agree with much of this article. The Republicans are indeed lying shamelessly and irresponsibly. Alas that’s hardly news. But I think it’s serious over-reach to say the horrific body count on both sides represents “ a devastating failure of US policy in the region”. There is only so much that a foreign government – even a superpower like the US can do in a place like the Middle East. In this disaster both sides clearly hate each other and are utterly determined not to make concessions and indeed to continue doing things they know will infuriate the other side.
Trump continued to show his grandiose sense of his importance by saying this wouldn’t have happened if he had been President. (Ditto the Russian invasion of Ukraine and just about anything else bad that has happened). Let’s not follow him in the delusion that we can largely get the world to act in the way that we want.
This. I'm a ten-year member of Al-anon, and one of the first things we have to learn in order to cope with a loved one's addiction is that we can't control anyone but ourselves. Maybe I'm crazy to think that the principles of inspirational relationships sometimes apply to intentional relationships, but I don't think anyone except the Israelis and Palestinians can make peace. I think a principle from interpersonal relationships that I think of as "loving neutrality" might apply. In this case, help Israelis protect themselves, and help Palestinians build a thriving economy and society that will give them a future to look forward to. (Which, incidentally, can only lessen the incentives they have to attack Israel, so everyone wins.)
In the past it could be expected something like the $6B for Hostages lie would be quickly fact checked on Twitter but that is no longer the case with Elon's X. The fact that the MAGA GOP flooded the posts with the blatant misinformation unopposed by any X scrutiny was sad. I am not trying to say Twitter was this ideal place of fact but it felt you could trust the verified accounts more and you could get some fact checking when such blatant misinformation was posted. Those days are gone.
I think everyone who opposes the misinformation should leave Twitter and go someplace else. (I particularly like Post.) Musk is not going to change his policies. We need to take away the power he wields with Twitter.
Nobody posted the “liberal conspiracy theory”: that Trump passed Israeli defense information to Russia. Who passed it to its ally Iran, who funds Hamas. While I sarcastically call it a conspiracy theory, in light of what’s been revealed about Trump, it seems entirely plausible, maybe likely.
:: that Trump passed Israeli defense information to Russia.::
Hell, Trump didn't even have to do it intentionally! Given as many times as we're finding out he blabbed about vital TOP SECRET information to big himself up in front of his wealthy and powerful cronies, the odds are fifty-fifty he might've included secrets he knew about Israel's defensive capabilities just to make a(n alleged) point or win a bar bet.
OTOH, if we find out it was INTENTIONAL? I think Gen. Mark Milley (ret.) should be given the honor of heading up the firing squad Donald Trump put himself in front of.
The US seems to have had considerable success in specifically targeting terrorist leaders. Perhaps our aid to Israel should not be "unconditional" but aimed at improving such targeting by the Israelis, along with condemnation of the ultra-right nationalist policies that inflame the whole unstable region.
Hamas unleashed unthinkable horrors on innocent Israeli citizens. That is NOT an excuse for doing the same to innocent Palestinian civilians. Bombing apartment buildings is sheer revenge based on assuming EVERYONE in Gaza is a terrorist. It doesn't matter that there may be some Hamas members in those buildings. There are other ways to get them.
I am horrified by the resurgence of the idea of acceptable "collateral damage" which was a term invented during Vietnam to justify the more horrific of US actions there. It is as repugnant now as it was then.
Our aid to Israel should not be unconditional but must include stopping the extremist settlers and moving back the settlements. Also, Israel must allow the Palestinians to build their own economies and societies.
yep. Behind every act of terror there is a reason; psychopaths may be drawn to terrorist organizations but they didn't build them on sheer psychopathy. We ignore the reasons at our peril.
There is a slight distinction to be made: it's a lie if you know what you're saying is false. If you believe what you're saying, you are simply wrong. Since it's hard to know what someone actually believes, journalists just say, "stated falsely," because that is accurate regardless. And when you're pointing out false statements, you need to be extra careful of your own facts.
If heard folks make that distinction before. To me it always sounds like an excuse being offered to get the liar off the hook. “Oh, it’s not a lie if they believe it.”
Things is, some lies are so obvious that protestations of “but he believes it” just don’t work. The evidence that Trump lost fair and square is overwhelming that his “The election was stolen” is an obvious lie and should be called one every time he makes that claim.
Doesn’t matter if Trump claims he truly believes it. To do so is such an act of willful blindness that he shouldn’t be given any credit for it. That level of willful blindness only occurs when the person KNOWS they are wrong (knows they are lying) and are is working, really, really hard to avoid having to admit it.
Thank you for laying the situation out so clearly in contrast to the mainstream press. I am frightened thinking about what this all means. I am sitting in Germany where the anti-immigrant feelings are increasing as the elections in Bayern and Hesse yesterday showed. Yet, I assume there will be a new wave of immigrants from Palestine here. Hamas does not speak for all Palestinians and Netanyahu does not speak for all Israeli's yet they have just elevated the misery of lives of people in their regions. I see Nagorno-Karabakh wiped out of Armenians and Ukrainians suffering from the war started by Putin. It seems we are moving more in the direction of "strong men" waging war to further their hold on their people, and increase their personal fortunes. Is our planet imploding from wars or the environment or both at the same time?
I agree with much of this article. The Republicans are indeed lying shamelessly and irresponsibly. Alas that’s hardly news. But I think it’s serious over-reach to say the horrific body count on both sides represents “ a devastating failure of US policy in the region”. There is only so much that a foreign government – even a superpower like the US can do in a place like the Middle East. In this disaster both sides clearly hate each other and are utterly determined not to make concessions and indeed to continue doing things they know will infuriate the other side.
Trump continued to show his grandiose sense of his importance by saying this wouldn’t have happened if he had been President. (Ditto the Russian invasion of Ukraine and just about anything else bad that has happened). Let’s not follow him in the delusion that we can largely get the world to act in the way that we want.
This. I'm a ten-year member of Al-anon, and one of the first things we have to learn in order to cope with a loved one's addiction is that we can't control anyone but ourselves. Maybe I'm crazy to think that the principles of inspirational relationships sometimes apply to intentional relationships, but I don't think anyone except the Israelis and Palestinians can make peace. I think a principle from interpersonal relationships that I think of as "loving neutrality" might apply. In this case, help Israelis protect themselves, and help Palestinians build a thriving economy and society that will give them a future to look forward to. (Which, incidentally, can only lessen the incentives they have to attack Israel, so everyone wins.)
In the past it could be expected something like the $6B for Hostages lie would be quickly fact checked on Twitter but that is no longer the case with Elon's X. The fact that the MAGA GOP flooded the posts with the blatant misinformation unopposed by any X scrutiny was sad. I am not trying to say Twitter was this ideal place of fact but it felt you could trust the verified accounts more and you could get some fact checking when such blatant misinformation was posted. Those days are gone.
I think everyone who opposes the misinformation should leave Twitter and go someplace else. (I particularly like Post.) Musk is not going to change his policies. We need to take away the power he wields with Twitter.
Nobody posted the “liberal conspiracy theory”: that Trump passed Israeli defense information to Russia. Who passed it to its ally Iran, who funds Hamas. While I sarcastically call it a conspiracy theory, in light of what’s been revealed about Trump, it seems entirely plausible, maybe likely.
Perhaps absolute.
:: that Trump passed Israeli defense information to Russia.::
Hell, Trump didn't even have to do it intentionally! Given as many times as we're finding out he blabbed about vital TOP SECRET information to big himself up in front of his wealthy and powerful cronies, the odds are fifty-fifty he might've included secrets he knew about Israel's defensive capabilities just to make a(n alleged) point or win a bar bet.
OTOH, if we find out it was INTENTIONAL? I think Gen. Mark Milley (ret.) should be given the honor of heading up the firing squad Donald Trump put himself in front of.
I like your thinking.
I think I can’t be more disgusted with the caliber of what used to be the Republican Party, but nope!
The US seems to have had considerable success in specifically targeting terrorist leaders. Perhaps our aid to Israel should not be "unconditional" but aimed at improving such targeting by the Israelis, along with condemnation of the ultra-right nationalist policies that inflame the whole unstable region.
Hamas unleashed unthinkable horrors on innocent Israeli citizens. That is NOT an excuse for doing the same to innocent Palestinian civilians. Bombing apartment buildings is sheer revenge based on assuming EVERYONE in Gaza is a terrorist. It doesn't matter that there may be some Hamas members in those buildings. There are other ways to get them.
I am horrified by the resurgence of the idea of acceptable "collateral damage" which was a term invented during Vietnam to justify the more horrific of US actions there. It is as repugnant now as it was then.
Our aid to Israel should not be unconditional but must include stopping the extremist settlers and moving back the settlements. Also, Israel must allow the Palestinians to build their own economies and societies.
yep. Behind every act of terror there is a reason; psychopaths may be drawn to terrorist organizations but they didn't build them on sheer psychopathy. We ignore the reasons at our peril.
“Said falsely”
You mean “lied”. Why not jus t say so? Why the hesitation to use the correct word? Afraid of offending the liars?
There is a slight distinction to be made: it's a lie if you know what you're saying is false. If you believe what you're saying, you are simply wrong. Since it's hard to know what someone actually believes, journalists just say, "stated falsely," because that is accurate regardless. And when you're pointing out false statements, you need to be extra careful of your own facts.
If heard folks make that distinction before. To me it always sounds like an excuse being offered to get the liar off the hook. “Oh, it’s not a lie if they believe it.”
Things is, some lies are so obvious that protestations of “but he believes it” just don’t work. The evidence that Trump lost fair and square is overwhelming that his “The election was stolen” is an obvious lie and should be called one every time he makes that claim.
Doesn’t matter if Trump claims he truly believes it. To do so is such an act of willful blindness that he shouldn’t be given any credit for it. That level of willful blindness only occurs when the person KNOWS they are wrong (knows they are lying) and are is working, really, really hard to avoid having to admit it.
from the piece:
"Trump and Republican leaders lie about US aid"