Category Archives: Foreign Policy

October 7

Posted on by Leave a comment
Embed from Getty Images

There are about one hundred hostages still being held in Gaza.

I shouldn’t have to remind anyone of that fact. It should be the first thought for anyone commenting on the conflagration burning though the Middle East. But I do have to remind people because it is often not the first thought. It is often not a thought at all.

There are about one hundred hostages still being held in Gaza.

They were captured one year ago today, October 7, 2023, when a horde of Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel, coming over, under and through the barrier separating Israel from the Gaza Strip. They marauded across Israel, murdering, maiming, kidnapping and sexually abusing any Israeli they could get their hands on. They slaughtered 1,200. They dragged 250 back into Gaza. They had no goal, other than to destroy the Jewish state. More than 300 victims murdered by Hamas terrorists were teenagers attending a music festival.

Read more

Execution, Gaza Style

Posted on by Leave a comment

Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, and Almog Sarusi.

Say their names. Say them out loud. Think of them as individuals, not simply as six hostages, abducted during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by terrorists from Gaza.

Read more

Form and Substance

Posted on by Leave a comment

There is no sugar-coating it. President Joe Biden had a train wreck in his first 2024 debate with Former President Donald Trump. Fifty-one million watched. I wrote that I had concerns because Biden had seemed physically feeble during some appearances in the last year. Right as he walked out on the debate stage, I saw those signs, Biden walking slowly and speaking slowly and in a soft scratchy voice. I did not expect to see him ramble and become incoherent, but he did that more than once. At other times he was clear, combative, and effective, defending his administration and listing his accomplishments. But you could not fail to notice the other moments.

Read more

TicTok Turmoil

Posted on by 2 comments

As of February 2023, the social video app TikTok said it had approximately 150 active monthly million users in the United States. This number is projected to increase by over five percent year-over-year, reaching 170 million users in 2024. Extremely popular with younger digital audiences, TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social media apps in the United States. The United States has the largest TikTok audience of any country. And that scares the hell out of many, including the members of Congress.

Read more

A Proportional Response

Posted on by One comment

Photo: Iranian missiles over Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, courtesy of Mehr News Service under a Creative Commons 4.0 license.

There was significant activity on the military front in the Mideast last week. The events changed the calculus for diplomacy in the region and could lead to new opportunities for peace, if the principals are willing to consider them.

Read more

Let the Games Begin

Posted on by Leave a comment

Let there be no doubt. The 2024 State of the Union address kicked off the 2024 campaign for president. And it promises to be a raucous race.

I’ve watched many a state of the union in my day. But I’ve never seen one like the third state of the union of President Joe Biden. This was without a doubt a campaign speech. An in-your-face speech directed at the Republicans in Congress, the Republicans at home, and the Republican’s all-but-anointed candidate for president, Donnie Trump. Yes, my friends, it’s deja vu all over again.

Read more

Mike the Misinformed

Posted on by Leave a comment

Republicans scraped the bottom of the barrel last October when they elected the little-known Mike Johnson of Louisiana Speaker of the House of Representatives and second in line to the Presidency of the United States. Johnson emerged as the fourth Republican nominee in what had become a clown show of political infighting after the Republican caucus threw out Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Johnson’s election required fifteen votes.

McCarthy was voted out of the job in an extraordinary showdown, a first in U.S. history, forced by a gang of hard-right conservative Republicans. The vote threw the House and its Republican leadership into chaos. McCarthy’s crime was to have reached a bipartisan agreement with Democrats to fund the government for a brief period to prevent a shutdown.

Read more
« Older Entries Recent Entries »