Photo Complicity? ✡️🌻✡️🌻✡️🌻

Fight Night:  The third Republican presidential debate has come and gone and even though it was aired on free TV relatively few bothered watching mostly because what’s the point since absent a Mar a Lago shattering meteor Trump will be the Republican’s 2024 candidate.  Those who did watch saw Nikki Haley, who according to those who rate these things, come out on top, Ron DeSantis continue to tread water, Chris Christie imply that women in New Jersey have abortions through the ninth month of pregnancy, the flailing proud pro-lifer Tim Scott prove he really has a girlfriend and Vivek Ramaswamy, who almost everyone semi-normal finds repulsive, get called scum by Haley, something to do with him criticizing her for her adult daughter being a Tik Tokker.  Trump who did not participate and who also confirmed that he’s not planning to participate in the next planned debate held a counter-programming event in Florida where Roseanne Barr, yup that Roseanne, was his warm-up act.  That’s Trump who continues to insist that Hungary borders Russia, surprising news to Hungarians as well as to their neighboring Slovakians, Romanians, Croatians, Austrians, Serbians, Ukrainians, and Slovenians.  As to the next debate, Vivek who attacked NBC’s Kristen Welker and Lester Holt, calling them perpetrators of misinformation and RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel for Tuesday’s elections losses, questioned why someone more appropriate like Tucker Carlson wasn’t moderating. Carlson won’t be moderating the next pointless debate but maybe Vivek be a wee bit happier since one of the moderators of the News Nation hosted event will be Megyn Kelly who has moved further to the dark side since Trump said she had blood coming out of her eyes.    

2024 Beckons:  Tuesday’s Democratic wins provided a moment of respite but, a few more polls indicate that Biden has a lot of work to do if he hopes to stay in the White House, very concerning to those of us who think that Trump’s plans to impose martial law and prosecute everyone who ever criticized him, especially his former cabinet members and staff including Generals Milley, Mattis, and Kelly.  Presidential politics aside, yesterday Democrats’ hope of holding the Senate took a hit, although not an unexpected one, after West Virginia’s Democratic Senator Joe Manchin announced that he will not be seeking reelection.  His decision isn’t all that surprising since he trailed the popular Republican Governor Jim Justice who is widely expected to be the Republican’s Senate candidate by 13 points in an Emerson poll taken last week and no one least of all Manchin questions the validity of that poll.  Manchin who decried the partisan nature of politics during his “retirement” announcement may or may not be considering a no-labels run for president. Should he decide to run, he won’t win but he could help Trump which would be an odd move for a guy who loves coal but hates partisanship. My gut says Manchin won’t run but Trump broke my crystal ball and cracked my Ouija board.  Manchin’s departure puts added pressure on the Democrat’s other vulnerable Senators including Montana’s Jon Tester, Ohio’s Sherrod Brown, Pennsylvania’s Bob Casey, and Nevada’s Jackie Rosen, not to mention the mess in Arizona where the specter of a Kari Lake victory is truly frightening.  The Democrats also need to hold the seat being vacated by Michigan’s Debbie Stabenow.  Assuming she makes it through the primary and doesn’t fall victim to fallout of the Gaza-Israel war, a real possibility especially in Rashida Tlaib’s home state, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin will likely be the Democratic candidate. Assuming Biden’s poll numbers don’t drag her down she’ll be a competitive candidate.  It’s too soon to know who she’ll be running against. The relatively large Republican field which already included former Congressman Mike Rogers now also includes former Congressman Peter Meijer who lost his House seat after he voted for Trump’s impeachment but now says he’d support him in 2024. No one should ever think that politics or politicians are either honorable or logical. By the way, Texas’ Ted Cruz and Florida’s Rick Scott are also up for reelection.  Neither is particularly popular, so Democratic pick-ups are possible, BUT how many times have Dems been burned by those two states?

Fog of War:  The war between Hamas and Israel continues though there may or may not be an agreement for some “pauses” in bombing to facilitate the movement of the wounded and key supplies.  The anti-Semitic attacks across the US also continue, some of them very close to home.  Last night’s Upper East Side news reported on a band of preppy looking youth painting swastikas on buildings in the East 80s neighborhood. One of the most disturbing stories published yesterday concerned the presence of photojournalists during Hamas’ October 7 attacks.  Honest Reporting, a media watchdog organization that focuses on anti-Israel bias noted that a few freelance photojournalists were too conveniently at the October 7 attack site on or about the same time that the Hamas murder, torture, and kidnapping spree was taking place, raising suspicions that they had advance notice and may even have been embedded with the terrorists. It doesn’t help that a picture of one of the photographers in question being kissed on the cheek by a Hamas leader has also resurfaced. The AP, CNN, NY Times, and Reuters, publishers of the pictures taken that day, all deny prior knowledge of the attacks, great but their prior knowledge isn’t being questioned.  The question is whether the photos they published were the “fruit” of someone else’s complicity. Despite their “don’t look at us” denials CNN and the AP have now cut off their relationship with Hassan Eslaiah, one of the freelancers.  He’s the one who previously posed with and was kissed by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

And:  Ivanka Trump was picture perfect, really perfect, during her appearance in NY court on Wednesday.  Despite her flawed memory, she had a difficult time hiding how she took her job seriously and that she was proud of her ability to obtain the best possible financing for the Trump Org projects she worked on, sometimes even reaching out to hubby Jared for negotiating pointers. Of course, she had nothing to do with the Trump company’s financial reports or valuations because why would she and why is anyone even allowed to ask?  And, while the November 17 government funding deadline continues to loom, Speaker for the moment Johnson has made no progress.  Not surprising, but of concern.   

#BringThemHomeNow