Embed from Getty Images, David Dee Delgado.
Today, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Columbia University, reacting to the continuing protests on campus, capitulated and cancelled its main graduation ceremony. Small, school-level ceremonies will still be held. In this Columbia follows a pattern already set by USC. Other schools will be heard from in the days ahead.
Read more
There is no doubt anymore. The conservative majority on the United States Supreme Court is dedicated to electing Donald Trump to a second term.
The Trump justices made that clear last week as they considered his extraordinary claim that a president has an absolute immunity from criminal prosecution. The idea seems absurd on its face. A fundamental principal of the United States is that it is a nation of law. The framers of the Constitution, having overthrown one monarch, had no desire to create a new one. There is no evidence in the historical record that they believed a president should be immune from criminal prosecution. Two lower courts carefully considered Trump’s claim and rejected it completely.
Read more
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
(Interactive Map © 2024 Institute for the Study of War and AEI’s Critical Threats Project)
There are 133 souls still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, more than 184 days since Hamas declared war by invading Israel. I thought it necessary to point out this simple fact because most of the rhetoric discussing the six-month anniversary of that barbaric attack takes little note, if any, of the people involved.
Read more
#####
Give us a break. My California friends have been teasing me over the northeast’s breathless reaction: “Breaking News: Earthquake Shakes New Jersey and Surrounding Areas.” The lede read:
New Jersey, April 5, 2024 — A 4.8 magnitude earthquake sent boredom tremors through the New York City area and parts of New Jersey this morning. The temblor struck at approximately 10:20 a.m. and was centered about 5 miles east of Lebanon, New Jersey.
MSN/USA Today
I felt it, but I wasn’t sure what it was until I saw the bulletins. I did feel a 4.0 aftershock about 6:00 p.m. The only other earthquake I’ve ever felt occurred when I was in Palm Springs.
Read more
(Speaker Mike Johnson leads GOP Members of Congress in prayer on the House floor – CSPAN)
Critical assistance for Ukraine, which was approved by the Senate, is languishing in the House. The same is true for assistance for Israel. The impending budget crisis which threatened to shut down the government was punted down the field again with an agreement that keeps operations going until the end of the fiscal year in September but threatens to come back in full force two months before the election.
Read more
Scott Gurvey's Public Offerings 