The One Where We Say Goodbye ✡️🌻✡️🌻✡️🌻

Trump Dump: Trump who remains the Republican’s most likely candidate for president called Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban the leader of Turkey last week either because he’s confused his favorite autocratic BFFs or because he truly wants the return of the Ottoman Empire, this time with a Hungarian Sultan.   He also doubled down on his admiration for those smart Hezbollah leaders this weekend, while asserting that if he was president there’d be no war in Gaza because he’d have forced Iran to make peace with Israel.  Bibi and the Ayatollah throwing ketchup at the wall while dining on blintzes with Diet Coke at Mar a Lago or at Camp David right after the Taliban leaders visit on September 11? Sure Don. In legal news, Federal judge Tanya Chutkan who is presiding over the Washington insurrection case has reinstated her limited gag order.  Trump is still appealing that order and though his lawyers didn’t respond to Chutkan’s ruling, Trump did posting that she was very BIASED, and that her ruling was NOT CONSTITUTIONAL!  He’s probably a little more agitated than usual assuming that’s even possible since he and his adult sons and favorite daughter Ivanka are scheduled to testify this week in the NY fraud case.  Ivanka, who was initially named as a defendant in the fraud case but was dismissed from the lawsuit because the claims against her fell outside of the statute of limitations, is being compelled to testify because presiding Judge Engoron agrees with NY AG Tish James’ assessment  that she remains “financially and professionally intertwined” and “indisputably has personal knowledge of facts relevant to the claims against the remaining defendants” as in her dad and brothers Don Jr and Eric.  Elsewhere in legal land, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a few more Fulton County co-defendants reach plea deals with DA Fani Willis this week, another one of the things probably causing ketchup to fly at one or more of the Trump abodes.  And though, the purloined documents case feels like it should be a slam dunk for Special Counsel Smith, it continues to move at a snail’s pace because Judge Eileen “loose” Cannon, the only judge that Trump never criticizes has no interest in seeing it move any faster.    

Presidential Politics: Former VP Mike Pence, who had trouble getting enough voters for a minyan at any of his Iowa meet and greets and who was running out of campaign money has dropped out of the race.  Another Republican debate is scheduled to take place on November 8, this one will be moderated by NBC’s Lester Holt and Kristen Welker and very conservative pundit Hugh Hewitt who now hosts a show on the Salem Radio Network.  It will be aired and streamed on NBC as opposed to Fox.  Thus far, excluding Trump who will not be participating because he doesn’t want to play, only Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Former South Carolina Governor/UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Tech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy and former NJ Governor Chris Christie have officially qualified to participate although South Carolina Senator Tim Scott says that he believes that he now qualifies too.  President Biden has a Democratic challenger, Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips.  Don’t be distressed if you have no idea who he is, few do although his campaign is being run by Steve Schmidt the former and maybe still Republican campaign profiteer who previously brought us Sarah Palin though he hates admitting that. Schmidt was also involved in Starbuck guy Howard Schultz’s ill-fated 2020 independent run.  On the subject of independents, RFK Jr is still out there with his campaign as is activist former Bernie Sanders guy Cornell West.  Both former Democrats are probably hoping to pick up some of the left wing/socialist voters upset about President Biden’s support for Israel and sadly they might even though voting for either one could help Trump who continues to espouse banning Muslims from entering the US, hardly a progressive position but forget about logic because that ship long ago sailed.  As to the Democrats, a group of Representatives including Rashida Tlaib, Cory Bush, Jamaal Bowman, Andre Carson, Al Green, Summer Lee, AOC, Ilhan Omar, Delia Ramirez all voted against newbie Speaker Mike Johnson’s first significant action, a resolution supporting Israel and condemning the Hamas attack.  The resolution passed 410 to 10. The naysayers were joined by one Republican, Thomas Massie who also cast a negative vote while six others including Greg Casar, Joaquin Castro, Chuy Garcia, Pramila Jayapal, Ayanna Pressley and Nydia Velazquez voted present. In the Senate, a similar vote passed 97 to 0 with two Senators not voting because they were out with COVID or for surgery and Tim Scott missing the vote altogether.

Fog Of War:  The news and casualty reports out of Israel and Gaza remains truly depressing,  The Gaza Health Ministry is also a ministry of disinformation which is why President Biden cast doubt on the accuracy of their casualty figures last week.  That said, it’s clear that many have died and with Gaza’s population skewing young, a lot of the Gazans have been children. All but four of the hostages taken by Hamas are still hostages.  Well, at least the ones still alive are.  Remember Shani Louk, the German Israeli rock concert attendee with the flowing dyed hair and tattoos, whose abduction went viral on October 7.  She’s no longer a hostage, this weekend her family was advised that she’s dead.  It’s not just the news out of Israel that’s depressing, anti-Semitism never far from the surface, has erupted all over, from college campuses to city streets to airports in Russia.  In response to threats against Jewish students, finally characterized by Cornell’s president as “horrendous” and “threatening to our Jewish community,” law enforcement authorities are now protecting the campus’ Jewish living center. The need for security and the threats shouldn’t be surprising since last week a Cornell University history professor celebrated Hamas’ October 7 attack, calling it “exhilarating and energizing.” It’s not just Cornell, last week at New York’s Cooper Union College a group of Jewish students were advised by well-intentioned library staff to hide in the attic to escape demonstrators.  Fortunately, the students weren’t hurt, but that attic hideaway thing didn’t work out all that well for someone else who liked books.  Yesterday, a mob in Dagestan, Russia stormed the local airport in search of Jewish passengers arriving on a flight from Israel.  They also “besieged a hotel in search of Jewish guests.”  Enough said, or maybe never enough said.  To quote “CNN’s Jake Tapper, anti-Semitism is not a thing to be used against people for political points.  Nor is Islamophobia, or anti-Gay behavior or misogyny or any kind of bigotry.”   
Matthew Perry RIP