#i have tuesday off for election day and i plan to write up a storm when im not voting

[madwriting]

I didn't do anything really extra today. My goal was the usual 1,667 I'm supposed to do each day and I did just a little over that.

Today I mostly wrote about the love interest who is also a main characters life and family. I wanted to make him a goofy dude who works hard and loves his family. I also wanted him to think math is witchcraft and be illiterate. Because it's fantasy world loosely based on medieval Europe and he's a laborer in the city. So only a step above a peasant.

Now it's time for me to take a quiz and write an essay for a class 🙃 And then make a presentation for work.

[retrievablememories]

like you | jungwoo

title: like you pairing: jungwoo x black!reader genre: fluff, college!au request: “Hi. I’m requesting a fluffy imagine where Y/N is a senior in college and Jungwoo is a freshman in college. Y/N gets upset because people keep picking on him because he is asian and she defends him. This causes Jungwoo to get extremely clingy/flirty and develop a crush on Y/N. Y/N is not used to recieving affection so she feels skeptical” word count: 3.8k warnings: cursing, instances of racism a/n: this one was pretty fun to write, i love writing college-inspired stuff for some reason lol. tumblr fucked the image quality but whatever. the title comes from the song off story op 1. stan kim jonghyun girlies!

“Who’s that guy in your Medieval History class?” Your roommate, Mira, randomly asks you one day. She’s hanging off the edge of your bed, her textbook on the ground in front of her as she fists her hands in her hair and tries to comprehend the words swimming on the page in front of her.

You turn away from your desk to look at her. “That’s a random ass question. Have the words finally fried your brain? I don’t even know what guy you’re talking about.”

She looks up at you, crossing her arms in front of her and resting her chin on them. “Fuck this homework man, I’ve had enough. I wanna know who’s the guy in your History class, the black-haired one? The Asian dude?”

You think for a moment. You do remember who she’s talking about; he sits closer to the front of the class, though you’re not sure how she knows him. She’s not even in the same class. He has cute features, though you haven’t paid him much mind—you know from the first day’s icebreaker that he’s a freshman exchange student, but any other details have escaped your mind.

“I don’t remember his name at the moment...what about him?”

“He seems kind of awkward, like...I’ve only really seen him with one other boy. It’s kinda sad...he could use a friend or two.”

“You’re assuming he’s awkward? Maybe he’s just shy, or doesn’t want 800 different friends,” you say, turning to another page in your notebook. There are only a couple of reasons why she’d ask you about a guy, and you can guess what her plans are. “If you want to be his friend, you can. Ain’t nobody stopping you.”

“Well, shit, can’t you like...introduce me? I don’t wanna be a weirdo going up to a total stranger!”

You laugh incredulously. “Girl, he’s a total stranger to me too. If you really want to be friends, just say so...or say you’re with that Freshman Committee who pairs upperclassmen mentors with the new students. I’m sure that’ll work well.” In actuality, you’re not entirely serious or sure about that, but it’s better than listening to your friend complain.

Mira sighs, going back to her textbook. “Ugh, you never wanna help me get guys. Fine...I could try it, but if I end up looking like a fool I’m blaming you.”

You only have Medieval History on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so you have to wait another day before returning to class again. After keeping your ears open for the roll call, you figure out that the guy’s name is Jungwoo.

He appears to be really into the subject and participates often, asking and answering questions whenever the professor engages with the students. You’re only taking Medieval History to fill out the last credit for your Social Studies electives, so you never expected to be all into the subject; but the teacher does a decent enough job of making the class not totally boring. 

Jungwoo has a pretty proficient grasp of English, which makes you wonder if he did a lot of studying before he got here. He mispronounces a word when asking the teacher about a certain concept in the reading material, though, and a couple of girls who sit behind him laugh. You furrow your eyebrows at that, wondering what their problem is.

Later, when you’re leaving class, they pass by you and you hear a bit of their conversation.

“Shit, if you’re gonna move over here you should at least know English first,” one says, screwing up her nose.

“Seriously, it’s so embarrassing. I thought Asians were supposed to be geniuses or something?” Both girls laugh at that, and you roll your eyes at the ignorance. They’re gone only seconds later, although your mind keeps drifting back to their comments for the rest of the day.

Over the next week, you notice that those same two girls seem to spend more of their class time giggling over Jungwoo’s mannerisms and speech than actually participating in the class. It quickly begins wearing your nerves thin; you’ve never gotten along well with people who are assholes just for the sake of being mean.

If Jungwoo notices—which you figure he must, because their cackling is too obvious not to pick up on—he doesn’t acknowledge it. This only makes you more irritated, knowing that he probably isn’t interested in picking a fight with these girls; but that doesn’t mean he should continue being disrespected.

You reach a point where you can no longer stay silent during a lecture on Medieval cuisine, where the girls keep whispering silly jokes about Asian food. You clear your throat loud enough to make a few heads turn, including the girls doing the laughing. “Excuse you, I can’t hear the teacher over the noise,” you say pointedly, crossing your arms. They both give you salty looks at that comment, and you have to stifle the urge to throw something at the backs of their heads when they turn around.

This is going to be a long semester.

Things come to head one day when you’re all waiting outside the classroom for the professor’s last class to leave. Jungwoo is standing beside the classroom’s door, while you’re seated on a nearby bench, trying to stay awake after studying until 2 a.m. last night.

The two girls walk into the hallway, including a boy you don’t recognize; you figure he’s probably a friend or boyfriend. You kiss your teeth at their entrance and try to return to your thoughts, but you’re quickly taken out of them again when you see the trio stop in front of Jungwoo.

The first girl, who seems to be the ringleader, speaks. “Hey, what’s your name again—Ching? Jing?”

“We need some homework help! And since you seem to be the teacher’s pet…” Both girls look at each other and laugh at that. Jungwoo furrows his eyebrows, an unimpressed expression on his face.

“I don’t think that’s—” Jungwoo starts, but the other guy cuts him off, putting his hand to his ear in an exaggerated gesture.

“What was that? We need you to enunicate, no one knows what the fuck you’re saying.” This time, all three of them break into laughter. 

The tiredness drains from your body faster than any caffeine could achieve as you watch the scene unfold. Some of your other classmates look on, shifting uncomfortably, but no one moves to say or do anything. Before you can really think about it, you’re already up on your feet and walking towards the group.

“Maybe if your miserable asses spent more time studying the lectures instead of shitting on a fellow student, you wouldn’t have to beg for help.”

All three of them, plus Jungwoo, turn their heads in your direction with varying expressions on their faces. The main girl speaks up, putting her hands on her hips. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?”

“You, bitch! Who else? Y’all love picking on someone you know is too nice to say anything back. That’s weak as hell and says more about you than it ever could about him.”

Your voices start getting louder as the girl gets up in your face, and before anything can pop off, the professor comes storming through the classroom door.

“What the hell is going on here?” he shouts over the arguing.

The girl backs down after the professor makes his appearance and turns to look at her two partners in crime. “Girl—got the damn teacher out here, come on, we ain’t got time for this shit.” They both walk away in a huff, their male friend trailing behind them, and some other students give them sideways glances as they pass. The guy throws you a dirty look before he leaves, and you don’t hesitate to flip him off.

“That’s an unexcused absence on your record!” The professor calls after them, shaking his head. Meanwhile, Jungwoo has been watching the whole scene with shocked eyes, and he keeps looking at you as you shrug and head into the classroom.

The next time you have your Medieval History class, the two girls don’t show up. Maybe they’re too embarrassed to come back to class, but whatever it is, it’s above you now.

After the professor finishes his main lecture, he flips through his copy of the class textbook for the day’s assignment. “Everyone, turn to page 273 in your books. I want you all to read and analyze this text on Romanesque architecture, then answer the 3 discussion questions on page 275. You can get into groups of no more than 3 if you wish, but everyone needs to turn in their own individual answer sheet.”

Sighing, you open your notebook and rifle through your backpack for a writing utensil. When you look up, you jump a little from shock; Jungwoo is standing near your desk with his things in his arms.

“Hi...could we work together?” He gives you a gentle smile.

“Oh, sure, that’s fine with me!” Jungwoo takes the empty seat beside you and you push your desks to be closer together.

“I never got to say,” he starts, “but thank you for doing that last week...you didn’t have to.”

“Well, I would hope any decent person would...I didn’t want to just sit there and watch you be insulted. It’s so unnecessary...” You quickly flip through your textbook, completely overshooting the assignment page and having to go back. You feel a little flustered at this kind of attention, because you weren’t really doing it to be noticed or heroic.

Jungwoo smiles at your modesty, though he doesn’t try to push the matter.

At the end of class, after you’ve both turned in your assignments, you and Jungwoo leave together.

“Thanks for partnering with me today,” you tell him, and he nods in acknowledgement. “I guess I’ll see you next class?”

“Actually, do you want to eat lunch with me? I mean, at the cafeteria today?” he asks. His eyes seem to literally sparkle in anticipation of your answer, and you find it hard to turn that face down. Plus, he seems nice enough; this could be a good way to introduce him to Mira.

“Sure,” you say, grinning.

You and Jungwoo head to the dining hall for lunch, talking about anything that comes to mind along the way. You find out that him and his roommate, Jaehyun, have been best friends for awhile before deciding to go overseas for college; his roommate has been to the U.S. before, but this is his first time. He talks a lot more than you expected him to, but you figure some people just need time to warm up before they get comfortable.

It doesn’t take you long to find Mira after you get to the cafe, and you plan to let her take the reins with the conversation, but Jungwoo continually does his best to keep you roped into the dialogue. You realize you don’t mind that, though—it’s nice to have someone who actively engages you rather than lets you fade into the background.

Jungwoo quickly makes the desk beside yours his new spot in class. He sticks close to your side during lectures and even when you walk to the cafeteria or back to your dorm, always thinking of something new to tell you about. With any other person you’d quickly get tired of this borderline clingy behavior, but something about him keeps you interested, even when you’re talking about stuff that would be boring to others—like Medieval History.

The two girls eventually make their return, glowering silently at you and Jungwoo but not saying a word. Their object of laughter and mockery is no longer available for harassment; who knows who they’ll try to terrorize next, though you hope the answer is no one.

“You don’t mind that Jungwoo always wants to hang out with me, do you? Since I know you kinda liked him and all.” You ask Mira at lunch one day, when Jungwoo leaves the table to get the straw he forgot. You feel a bit sheepish. You didn’t mean to “steal” her prospective man away from her, but you and Jungwoo have taken a liking to each other, and you enjoy being in his presence.

“Jungwoo? No! I actually have my eye on another guy in my Nursing class now, he’s really funny and he owns a collection of vintage records…” You snort, unsurprised that her attention has drifted already. Mira launches into a whole spiel about this new dude, even detailing how the color of his irises is just shy of being “true hazel green.” She pauses in her speech to bat her eyelashes at you. “Besides, it seems like you two have something going on already. I wouldn’t dare get in between that.”

You almost drop your food in your lap. “Uh, what?”

“Don’t be shy. You two are practically tied at the hip, and Jungwoo already talks to you like you’re his girlfriend. It’s only a matter of time at this point.”

“I seriously doubt that,” you say, suddenly feeling very put on the spot. You don’t think Jungwoo sees you like that at all, and you’re a little irritated that your roommate would suggest it, jokingly or not.

She sighs and shakes her head. When she spots Jungwoo walking back to the table, she tries to act casual and wrap the subject up. “Suit yourself, but I’m always right about this kinda stuff. Watch.”

Every year, your college throws a Welcome Back party on the last Friday of the first month in the semester. You initially didn’t have plans to go, much preferring your friends’ kickbacks where you don’t have to avoid sweaty and horny stranger dudes all night. However, Jungwoo turns to you one day after class ends and brings it up.

“Y/N, there’s gonna be a party on campus at the end of the week...are you going?”

“Hmm, probably not...Welcome Back parties are always lowkey messy and filled with freshmen who don’t know how to act…” You momentarily forget that Jungwoo is a freshman, and you have to walk your comment back a bit. “Not saying you’ll be like that, though!”

He waves it off. “It’s fine. It’s just, me and Jaehyun are going and thought it’d be fun if you came too.”

“Well…”

Jungwoo rests his head on your shoulder and hugs your arm. “Please? I want the prettiest girl in school to be my date.”

You pat his hand and laugh off his comment, unsure how to accept his compliment. “Since you asked so nicely…I’ll go. But I’m bringing Mira with me. It’s been awhile since I’ve gone to a campus party.”

“Yes!! That’s fine, Jaehyun will probably like her,” Jungwoo says, smirking. You still don’t get how they haven’t formally met yet with how your friend circles overlap, but you know it’s coming soon. Obviously, Jungwoo knows something you don’t, judging by the look on his face, but you don’t inquire about it.

You and Mira spend the night of the party getting ready with Megan Thee Stallion and City Girls blasting through your dorm room. She was a little resistant to the idea at first, insisting that campus parties were too corny for her taste, but you eventually convinced her to go. 

As the hour approaches, there’s a knock on your door. You’re still putting the finishing touches on your makeup, so you tell Mira to answer it. When she does, Jungwoo and Jaehyun are standing there.

“You guys are here already? Who let you in?” she says jokingly, though you wonder the same thing; you can’t get into a dorm you don’t live in without a key card.

“Some guy downstairs. Maybe your dorm needs better security.” Jaehyun laughs. “I tried to tell Jungwoo it’s still early, but he was ready to leave.”

“Walking in on two girls getting ready, how presumptuous of you,” Mira giggles, pretending to shove Jungwoo’s shoulder. You roll your eyes hard and try not to laugh in the mirror. “But you’re here now, so might as well come in.”

Jungwoo makes a beeline straight to you, placing his hands on your shoulders like he wants to give you a massage. “Hi pretty girl.” He smiles at your reflection, and you almost drop your lip gloss on the floor.

“Oh, h-hey, Jungwoo! The party tonight better be fun...if not, you owe me,” you say, trying to play off your nervousness.

Jungwoo acts reluctant about it, placing his hand in his chin and thinking deeply. “I owe you? Well, okay...anything you want.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You can have my heart first, if you want.”

This time you really do drop your lip gloss, and Mira and Jaehyun watch with amused fascination as you mourn your lost makeup. But right now, you just want to avoid thinking about what Jungwoo has just said, and how it makes you feel.

The gymnasium where the party is being held is just as packed as you expected it to be, even at your group’s early arrival. It’s only going to get more crowded from here, but you don’t think about that as Jungwoo all but drags you to go dance.

You genuinely enjoy yourself for the first time in a while, and you’re surprised at just how much fun you can still have even with drunken dudes bumping into you every few minutes.

You’re too caught up in dancing with Jungwoo to notice, but Mira and Jaehyun are nowhere to be found. You only realize this after you two take a break during a slower song and you can’t spot her anywhere on the gym floor. You send her a text message, but you don’t expect to receive an answer anytime soon.

“Shit, they didn’t waste any time,” you laugh, and for some reason you can’t stop laughing at the situation. Jungwoo joins you until you’re both outright cackling, and some of the other party-goers give you odd glances.

You and Jungwoo spend most of the night dancing and partying with some of your other classmates. You both leave the gym one hour before the party ends, wanting to avoid getting caught in the huge rush of people who’ll be looking for fast food places to hit up. Instead of heading back to your dorms, you two decide to walk around the campus for a while, enjoying the still night air and the sounds of crickets all around you. You’re glad for the open air, because you were burning up in the gym with so many bodies around you.

Neither of you speak for a while, simply taking in the scenery and retracing your footsteps on paths you walk everyday to get to class. Jungwoo finally breaks the silence when you pass through a long path flanked on both sides by rows of flowery trees; this part of campus is so picturesque that it almost seems out of place.

“Tonight is really pretty,” he says, glancing at the starry sky.

“I know, right,” you agree. “It’s so nice outside. I’m glad you convinced me to go to the party.”

“I’m glad too. I really like being next to you...” Jungwoo’s eyes linger on your face for longer than you expect them to, and you look away nervously, unsure what that could mean. “But, there’s something I have to tell you.”

“Oh? What’s that?” The sudden change in tone makes you a bit anxious, and you half expect him to tell you he has to return home after this semester ends. That thought makes you more disappointed than you anticipated. Your stomach curls into a knot.

“Y/N, I like you.” Jungwoo’s face is earnest, but your brain has a hard time catching up to the meaning of his words. You feel like you’ve been kicked in the chest—or maybe that’s your heart trying to knock its way out of your ribcage. You stop walking and simply look at him, unsure how to approach his confession. He stops too, turning to face you with gentle eyes.

“I-is...this a joke?” You finally blurt out. Jungwoo’s face draws into a confused expression. He shakes his head, his hair waving as he does.

“It’s not a joke at all. You are funny, nice, cool, brave, pretty…”

“A...are you sure this isn’t just because I defended you? Like, maybe you just feel really grateful about it—a-and we’ve only known each other a month—”

“Y/N, I know how I feel,” Jungwoo argues, grabbing your hands. He pauses for a moment as if he’s trying to come up with the accurate words to express himself. “I just...I don’t need a reason or excuse. I just like you.”

This is all far more than what you’re used to. You pull your hands away from Jungwoo’s for a moment, embarrassed and overwhelmed. You tentatively reach for his hand again after seeing the hurt look on his face, but you hesitate.

“I’m...sorry, it’s just…” You don’t really want to admit something so personal to him, but you don’t know how else to avoid completely hurting his feelings tonight. “I’m, uh, not really used to this kind of stuff…” Jungwoo raises his eyebrows at that.

“Used to...what? Someone liking you?”

“Well damn, when you put it like that…” You try to laugh it off, but you feel corny and sheltered at best. What must Jungwoo think of you, as a senior who’s never had a genuine love interest? You’ve had more than one college boy’s lust directed at you one time or another, but true affection is another thing entirely. That has been a much rarer find.

“Then...you can get used to it now. It’s never too late to experience love.”

“You really believe that?” you say softly, allowing yourself to feel a little relieved that he’s not laughing you out of town. But of course he wouldn’t. He’s not that kind of person, anyway.

“Don’t you?” You let him take your hand this time as he steps closer. “You deserve someone who will treat you nicely, tell you funny stories, carry your books for you..”

“Someone...like you,” you finish for him, thinking back to all the times he’s done those exact same things for you. You’re unsure how to approach the intense newness of this situation, and you’re a little afraid of him holding your sweaty palm, but you decide none of that matters when Jungwoo’s lips meet yours, his hand carefully holding your face.

Right now, the only thing that matters is this moment under the stars.

[newstfionline]

Friday, June 4, 2021

America’s Biggest Companies (Fortune) Fortune magazine released its annual ranking of America’s largest companies, with Walmart topping the list for the ninth straight year. Boosted by the pandemic-driven consumer shift to online and bulk purchasing, the retail behemoth brought in nearly $560B in revenue. The company was followed by Amazon ($386B in revenue), Apple ($275B), CVS Health ($269B), and UnitedHealth Group ($257B). The combined list generated almost $14T in revenue last year—about two-thirds of the US economy.

Drought ravages California’s reservoirs ahead of hot summer (AP) Each year Lake Oroville helps water a quarter of the nation’s crops, sustain endangered salmon beneath its massive earthen dam and anchor the tourism economy of a Northern California county that must rebuild seemingly every year after unrelenting wildfires. But now the mighty lake—a linchpin in a system of aqueducts and reservoirs in the arid U.S. West that makes California possible—is shrinking with surprising speed amid a severe drought, with state officials predicting it will reach a record low later this summer. While droughts are common in California, this year’s is much hotter and drier than others, evaporating water more quickly from the reservoirs and the sparse Sierra Nevada snowpack that feeds them. The state’s more than 1,500 reservoirs are 50% lower than they should be this time of year, according to Jay Lund, co-director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California-Davis. If Lake Oroville falls below 640 feet (195 meters)—which it could do by late August—state officials would shut down a major power plant for just the second time ever because of low water levels, straining the electrical grid during the peak demand of the hottest part of the summer.

Miami Faces the Hard Choices of Climate Change (NYT) Three years ago, not long after Hurricane Irma left parts of Miami underwater, the federal government embarked on a study to find a way to protect the vulnerable South Florida coast from deadly and destructive storm surge. Already, no one likes the answer. Build a wall, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed in its first draft of the study, now under review. Six miles of it, in fact, mostly inland, running parallel to the coast through neighborhoods—except for a one-mile stretch right on Biscayne Bay, past the gleaming sky-rises of Brickell, the city’s financial district. The dramatic $6 billion proposal remains tentative and at least five years off. But the startling suggestion of a massive sea wall up to 20 feet high cutting across beautiful Biscayne Bay was enough to jolt some Miamians to attention: The hard choices that will be necessary to deal with the city’s many environmental challenges are here, and few people want to face them. The trouble is that the magnitude of the interconnected obstacles the region faces can feel overwhelming, and none of the possible solutions are cheap, easy or pretty.

A deadly vote (Washington Post) TAXCO, Mexico—Mario Figueroa sat in his armored SUV, surrounded by bodyguards clutching semiautomatic rifles. The bulletproof vest was stashed behind the back seat. These days, Figueroa rarely travels without his security team. As a candidate for mayor of this Spanish colonial city—once popular with American tourists, now lashed by drug violence—the 53-year-old businessman has already taken a bullet in the chest. Mexico is in the final days of one of its most violent electoral campaigns in modern times. Eighty-nine politicians have been killed since September, according to the security consulting firm Etellekt. Scores more have been wounded or threatened. The campaign has become a stark illustration of crime organizations’ quest to expand their control of Mexico’s territory. The violence has focused largely on races for mayor and other local government posts. “They want control of the police, control of public works projects, the budget, and illicit activities,” said Marcial Rodríguez Saldaña, the state leader of Morena, the party of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “We’ve reached an extreme,” Figueroa said.

US troops storm sunflower oil factory in Bulgaria (Foreign Policy) The owner of a sunflower oil factory in Bulgaria has taken legal action after U.S. soldiers accidentally stormed his business during a NATO training exercise. The mix-up occurred while soldiers were simulating the clearing of an airfield in southern Bulgaria, and continued on to Marin Dimitrov’s factory, where workers watched on as gun-wielding soldiers stalked through the premises. The incident has led to a rebuke from the highest levels with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev calling it “absolutely unacceptable.” “We always learn from these exercises and are fully investigating the cause of this mistake,” the U.S. embassy in Sofia said in a statement.

Beijing Introduces Three-Child Policy (Foreign Policy) On Monday, China announced that married couples would be allowed to have up to three children, raising the official two-child limit in a widely anticipated move. Despite government hopes, the introduction of the two-child policy in 2016 failed to produce a baby boom. It’s unlikely the latest policy change will affect China’s fertility rate, either. The public has responded with mocking contempt toward the idea that government restraints have held parents back from having more children, rather than the exorbitant costs of child rearing in China—from migrant families forced to pay fees for local public schools to upper-class parents who fear their children will fall behind without flute or calligraphy lessons. So why keep a limit on the number of children a couple can have at all? One reason is to provide cover for the ongoing forced sterilization of the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang, whose birthrate fell by nearly 50 percent between 2017 and 2020. Another is that China now has an enormous family planning bureaucracy that supports many jobs. Party leaders may also be concerned that the rich flaunting large families—such as late Macao casino tycoon Stanley Ho, known for his four wives and 17 children—would spark resentment.

Lebanese leaders exchange barbs as country sinks into crisis (AP) Lebanon’s president and prime minister-designate traded barbs Wednesday, accusing one another of obstruction, negligence and insolence in a war or words that has for months obstructed the formation of a new government as the country sinks deeper into economic and financial crisis. The power struggle between the premier-designate, Saad Hariri, on one side and President Michel Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil on the other, has worsened despite warnings from world leaders and economic experts of the dire economic conditions tiny Lebanon is facing. The World Bank on Tuesday said Lebanon’s crisis is one of the worst the world has seen in the past 150 years. In a late night burst of anger, protesters blocked main roads in Beirut and north of the capital. A young activist told a local TV station the protest was against the constant humiliation of Lebanese who line up to fill their cars with fuel, increasing power cuts, search for medicine and deal with confused banking decisions that are robbing thousands of their savings. The Lebanese pound, pegged to the dollar for 30 years at 1,507, has been in a free fall since late 2019. It is now trading at nearly 13,000 to the dollar at the black market.

Netanyahu opponents reach coalition deal to oust Israeli PM (AP) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents announced Wednesday that they have reached a deal to form a new governing coalition, paving the way for the ouster of the longtime Israeli leader. The dramatic announcement by opposition leader Yair Lapid and his main coalition partner, Naftali Bennett, came shortly before a midnight deadline and prevented what could have been Israel’s fifth consecutive election in just over two years. The agreement still needs to be approved by the Knesset, or parliament, in a vote that is expected to take place early next week. If it goes through, Lapid and a diverse array of partners that span the Israeli political spectrum will end Netanyahu’s record-setting but divisive 12-year rule. Netanyahu, desperate to remain in office while he fights corruption charges, is expected to do everything possible in the coming days to prevent the new coalition from taking power. If he fails, he will be pushed into the opposition. (Foreign Policy) While a new government is not yet set in stone, normal business carries on: Benny Gantz arrives in Washington today to request $1 billion in emergency military aid in order to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome defenses and help restock its bomb supply following the bombardment of Gaza. “I would imagine that the administration would say yes to this request and it will sail through Congress,” Senator Lindsey Graham said on Tuesday.

In Syria camp, forgotten children are molded by IS ideology (AP) At the sprawling al-Hol camp in northeast Syria, children pass their days roaming the dirt roads, playing with mock swords and black banners in imitation of Islamic State group militants. Few can read or write. For some, the only education is from mothers giving them IS propaganda. It has been more than two years since the Islamic State group’s self-declared “caliphate” was brought down. And it has been more than two years that some 27,000 children have been left to languish in al-Hol camp, which houses families of IS members. Most of them not yet teenagers, they are spending their childhood in a limbo of miserable conditions with no schools, no place to play or develop, and seemingly no international interest in resolving their situation. Only one institution is left to mold them: remnants of the Islamic State group. Kurdish authorities and aid groups fear the camp will create a new generation of militants. They are pleading with home countries to take the women and children back. The problem is that home governments often see the children as posing a danger rather than as needing rescue.

‘Come On In, Boys’: A Wave of the Hand Sets Off Spain-Morocco Migrant Fight (NYT) Daouda Faye, a 25-year-old migrant from Senegal, was elated when he heard that Moroccan border guards had suddenly started waving in undocumented migrants across the border to Ceuta, a fenced-off Spanish enclave on the North African coast. “‘Come on in, boys,’” the guards told him and others as they reached the border on May 17, Mr. Faye said. Normally, Morocco tightly controls the fenced borders around Ceuta, a six-mile-long peninsula on Morocco’s northern coast that Spain has governed since the 1600s. But now its military was allowing migrants into this toehold of Europe. Over the next two days, as many as 12,000 people flowed over the border to Ceuta in hopes of reaching mainland Spain, engulfing the city of 80,000. The crisis has laid bare the unique pressure point Morocco has over Spain on migration. Spanish government officials and other experts say Morocco increasingly sees the migrants as a kind of currency and is leveraging its control over them to extract financial and political prizes from Spain. Hours after the migrants began pouring into Ceuta, Spain approved 30 million euros, about $37 million, in aid to Morocco for border policing.

A Military Drone With A Mind Of Its Own Was Used In Combat, U.N. Says (NPR) Military-grade autonomous drones can fly themselves to a specific location, pick their own targets and kill without the assistance of a remote human operator. Such weapons are known to be in development, but until recently there were no reported cases of autonomous drones killing fighters on the battlefield. Now, a United Nations report about a March 2020 skirmish in the military conflict in Libya says such a drone, known as a lethal autonomous weapons system—or LAWS—has made its wartime debut. But the report does not say explicitly that the LAWS killed anyone. The assault came during fighting between the U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord and forces aligned with Gen. Khalifa Haftar, according to the report by the U.N. Panel of Experts on Libya. “Logistics convoys and retreating [Haftar-affiliated forces] were subsequently hunted down and remotely engaged by the unmanned combat aerial vehicles or the lethal autonomous weapons systems such as the STM Kargu-2 ... and other loitering munitions,” the panel wrote. The Kargu-2 is an attack drone made by the Turkish company STM that can be operated both autonomously and manually and that purports to use “machine learning” and “real-time image processing” against its targets.

[patriotsnet]

Why Do Republicans Still Back Trump

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/why-do-republicans-still-back-trump/

Why Do Republicans Still Back Trump

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Importantly, Trump is increasingly fixating on the Republican-backed audits as he pushes the lie that he won the election. He needs to keep talking about this lie because he faces an existential political threat: His brand is based on winning, but he lost. Winners don’t lose, particularly winners who promise their fans that “we will have so much winning if I get elected that you may get bored with winning.”

Since When Do Republicans Care More About Criminals In Jail Than The Cops Who Put Them There Since Donald Trump

U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell pauses during his testimony at the first hearing of the select committee investigating the deadly storming of the Capitol, in Washington on Tuesday, July 27, 2021. “The GOP overwhelmingly stuck with Trump, perpetuating his sick mythology about a day we all saw with our own eyes,” writes The New York Times opinion columnist Maureen Dowd.

  | Aug. 3, 2021, 1:00 p.m.

Washington • It was, I must admit, a virtuoso performance by Sean Hannity.

Not since the sheriff in “Blazing Saddles” put a gun to his own head and took himself hostage has anyone executed such a nutty loop de loop.

Opening his show Tuesday night, Hannity gave a monologue defending the police . “Attacks on law enforcement are never and should never be acceptable ever, not at the Capitol and not anywhere,” he declaimed.

Yet Mr. Pro Police had nary a word for the four police officers who had appeared before Congress that morning to describe going to “hell and back,” as a Washington police officer, Michael Fanone, put it, as they relived the scarring, desperate hours of Jan. 6 when they were attacked by Trump’s mob .

When it came down to it, the question of whether Republican lawmakers in the House would side with Donald Trump or the police who risked their lives defending them, it wasn’t even a close call for the law-and-order party.

Since when do Republicans care more about criminals in jail than the cops who put them there? Since when do they coddle domestic terrorists?

We Looked At Which Gop Primary Voters Are Most Likely To Vote Based On Support For His False Election Claims

Many Republican senators, watching the harrowing footage of the Jan. 6Capitol insurrection played at Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, were moved to tears, presumably remembering their own experiences that day. Yet it did not persuade many of them to vote to convict the former president on the charge of inciting the insurrection. Even though many prominent Republicans, including Sen. Mitch McConnell , appeared to want a clean break with the president after the insurrection, those who turned on Trump have been rebuked by the party’s grass roots. And Trump has threatened to recruit and support primary challengers against Republicans who do not line up behind him.

So were the votes against conviction motivated by a desire to win primaries and, therefore, reelection? Our research shows that the situation is more complicated than that. The Republican rank and file is deeply divided over Trump and his false claims about a stolen 2020 election. This creates a minefield for Republican members of Congress.

Why Republicans haven’t abandoned Trumpism

Opiniona Republican Civil War Is Coming Rudy Giuliani’s Georgia Crusade Is Just The Beginning

After the Jan. 6 insurrection, moderate Republicans started to walk away from the party. Even some conservatives who stuck with Trump all through his presidency couldn’t stomach the insurrection. Currently, 53 percent of Republican voters believe Trump won the election. Similarly, in a national poll last month by Quinnipiac University, 66 percent of people who classified themselves as Republicans said they want Trump to run for president in 2024.

The fact that Trump still controls so many Republican voters explains the assertion by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., that the Republican Party can’t “move forward” without Trump. Speeding up the Republican Party’s hardening into a right-wing extremist party is Trump’s demand that anyone who doesn’t toe the line and repeat the lie be ousted and exiled.

Trump advisers and confidants have many reasons not to push back. For one, the former president often rebuffs advisers who tell him to drop the whole stolen election story. But those in Trump’s inner circle also need to keep voters riled up if Trump’s political future — and presumably theirs — is to continue. Dangling the possibility that Trump will be reinstated in August accomplishes this.

A Disturbing Number Of Republicans Still Believe All The Lies Donald Trump Tells Them

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One of the enduring legacies of Donald Trump’s runs for office and four years as president is the phenomenon in which a shameless politician can tell a brazen, easily fact-checkable lie and his or her supporters will buy it without question, even when evidence to the contrary is screaming in their faces. The earliest example of this was the claim Trump made when announcing his 2015 bid for office—that he was going to build a wall and Mexico was going to pay for it, an absurd lie that he was still telling in the fall of 2020. And of course an equally audacious lie was the one he started spreading last November and hasn’t stopped spewing to date—that he won the presidential election and a second term was stolen from him.

Obviously, the most chilling repercussion of Trump’s supporters believing he, and not Joe Biden, won the election, was the January 6 attack on the Capitol, an insurrection that left five people dead and which Trump, in his final tweet before being kicked off the platform, described as “the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long.” And three months after the fact, a majority of Republicans still believe the Big Lie.

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A Large Share Of Republicans Want Trump To Remain Head Of The Party Cnbc Survey Shows

A CNBC survey conducted in the days before former President Donald Trump‘s impeachment trial finds a large share of Republicans want him to remain head of their party, but a majority of Americans want him out of politics.

The CNBC All-America Economic Survey shows 54% of Americans want Trump “to remove himself from politics entirely.” That was the sentiment of 81% of Democrats and 47% of Independents, but only 26% of Republicans.

When it comes to Republicans, 74% want him to stay active in some way, including 48% who want him to remain head of the Republican Party, 11% who want him to start a third party, and 12% who say he should remain active in politics but not as head of any party.

“If we’re talking about Donald Trump’s future, at the moment, the survey shows he still has this strong core support within his own party who really want him to continue to be their leader,” said Jay Campbell, a partner with Hart Research and the Democratic pollster for the survey.

But Micah Roberts, the survey’s Republican pollster, and a partner with Public Opinion Strategies, emphasized the change from when Trump was president. Polls before the election regularly showed Trump with GOP approval ratings around 90%, meaning at least some Republicans have defected from Trump.

Squawk on the Street

Trump Mike Lindell And Why The August Election Conspiracy Should Worry Republicans

In late May, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell appeared on Steve Bannon’s podcast, “War Room,” and said: “Donald Trump, I believe, will be back in by the end of August.” He also said that eventually even liberals such as Rachel Maddow would admit that the election was stolen. Lindell’s bizarre theory is that all Team Trump needs is a shred of proof of election fraud to overturn the entire election. Trump and others are watching the Republican-backed audit in Arizona because they believe in a “domino theory” — if Arizona ballots can be proven to be fraudulent, election results in other battleground states that President Joe Biden won can also be overturned.

There is, of course, no legal or factual basis backing up any of this.

Lindell’s bizarre theory is that all Team Trump needs is a shred of proof of election fraud to overturn the entire election.

‘this Was A Scam’: In Recorded Call Trump Pushed Official To Overturn Georgia Vote

It’s worth noting that, even without Georgia, Trump won 13 states where slavery had once been legal and these states provided nearly 70% of his Electoral College votes.

The move to the right, and the focus on the South, have been the route to renewed success for Republicans again and again.

It was there Trump began his big rally strategy nearly six years ago. It was there he would emerge as the clear front-runner for the nomination in 2016 by winning South Carolina’s primary, dominating among the staunchest conservatives in that legendary bastion of Southern independence.

So it seemed more than appropriate that South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham would be the first Republican senator summoned to confer with Trump about the party’s plans after the impeachment trial ended. And appropriate that the meeting took place at Mar-a-Lago, in Florida, where Trump has relocated his legal residence and political operation.

If Trump is to rise again, it will once again be as a born-again conservative and an adopted son of the South. And if the next Republican is not Trump, nearly all the top contenders to succeed him are from states with at least one college football team in the Southeastern Conference.

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Trump Blasts Mcconnell And His Leadership In Lengthy Response To Recent Criticism

Where will the party turn in its hour of crisis? If the past is any guide, it will turn in two directions: to the right, and to the South. These have been the wellsprings of strength and support that have brought the party back from the brink in recent decades.

That was the strategy that led to Richard Nixon’s elections as president in 1968 and 1972, and it was still working for Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.

Solidifying the South and energizing conservatives were also crucial factors in the Republican tsunami of 1994, when the GOP surged to majorities in Congress and in statehouses. That hamstrung the remainder of Bill Clinton’s presidency and presaged the election of Republican George W. Bush in 2000.

It was a lesson not lost on Trump. While not even a Republican until late in life, he started his primary campaign billboarding the party’s most conservative positions on taxes, trade, immigration and abortion. And the first of his rallies to draw a crowd in the tens of thousands was in a football stadium in Mobile, Ala., two months after he declared his candidacy in the summer of 2015.

Whether the next standard-bearer for the GOP is Trump himself or someone else, there is little doubt the playbook will be the same.

Low points, then turnarounds

Perhaps the most discouraging of these for the GOP was Johnson’s tidal wave, which carried in the biggest majorities Democrats in Congress had enjoyed since the heyday of Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal.

Why Do Republicans Still Back Trump The Answer Is Simple: Attitude And Gratitude

Scott Jennings | Los Angeles Times

Why do Republicans stick with Donald Trump?

It’s a question I’m asked again and again by Democrats, “Never Trumpers”, and journalists. But the answer is simple.   Attitude and Gratitude.

For years, Republican voters wanted someone — anyone — to come along and do two things: Stick it to the Clintons and punch back against the media-Democratic Party alliance that fires on every Republican brave enough to stick a head out of the foxhole.

If you attended any GOP fundraiser or grassroots event between 2000 and 2016 — and I went to hundreds — you heard this sentiment over and over. And over. And over.

The secret sauce is Trump’s continued deliverance of an attitude for which Republicans thirsted for years.

For Republicans, it seemed like those awful Clintons got to play by a different set of rules than the rest of us. And they always seemed so smug about it. Many had tried and failed to oppose them. The first Bush and Bob Dole, decent men and dedicated public servants, were steamrolled by the Clintons in ’90s.

Sure, we had George W. Bush after Clinton was termed out, and Obama managed to knock Hillary down a peg in 2008. But she still wound up Secretary of State while Bill traveled the world, racking up speaking fees and foundation tributes that would embarrass Croesus himself. Damn those Clintons.

The natural conclusion of this pent-up anger finally boiled over in 2016!

Have Expressed Reluctance Or Misgivings But Havent Openly Dropped Their Backing

Paul Ryan and John Boehner, the former speakers of the House: Both have expressed their dislike of the president, but have not said whom they will support in November.

John Kelly, a former chief of staff to the president: Mr. Kelly has not said whom he plans to vote for, but did say he wished “we had some additional choices.”

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska: She has said that she’s grappling with whether to support Mr. Trump in November. She told reporters on Capitol Hill in June: “I am struggling with it. I have struggled with it for a long time.”

She said: “I think right now, as we are all struggling to find ways to express the words that need to be expressed appropriately, questions about who I’m going to vote for or not going to vote for, I think, are distracting at the moment. I know people might think that’s a dodge, but I think there are important conversations that we need to have as an American people among ourselves about where we are right now.”

Mark Sanford, a former congressman and governor of South Carolina: Mr. Sanford briefly challenged the president in this cycle’s Republican primary, and said last year that he would support Mr. Trump if the president won the nomination .

That has since changed.

“He’s treading on very thin ice,” Mr. Sanford said in June, worrying that the president is threatening the stability of the country.

Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.

Republicans Still Orbiting Trump Dark Star Fail To Derail Bidens First 100 Days

Trump continues to exert a massive gravitational pull on the party while the president forges ahead with ambitious agenda

Last modified on Tue 27 Apr 2021 07.01 BST

For Democrats it has been a hundred days of sweeping legislation, barrier-breaking appointments and daring to dream big. For Republicans, a hundred days in the political wilderness.

The party that just four years ago controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress now finds itself shut out of power and struggling to find its feet. As Joe Biden forges ahead with ambitions to shift the political paradigm, Republicans still have a Donald Trump problem.

The former US president remains the unofficial leader of the party and exerts a massive gravitational pull on its senators, representatives, governors and state parties. Obsessed with “culture wars” and voter fraud, the Trump distortion field has made it difficult for Republicans to move on.

“Trump is like a fire,” said Ed Rogers, a political consultant and a veteran of the Ronald Reagan and George H W Bush administrations. “Too close and you get burned. Too far away, you’re out in the cold. So the party spends a lot of time talking about the fire, managing the fire, orbiting the fire. It takes a lot of energy out of the party.”

It’s a lot easier to grift on people’s fears of other people and prey on their concerns about culture wars that really don’t exist

Trump is still sucking all of the oxygen out of the room for Republicans

‘combative Tribal Angry’: Newt Gingrich Set The Stage For Trump Journalist Says

All these factors combined to produce a windfall for Republicans all over the country in the midterms of 1994, but it was a watershed election in the South. For more than a century after Reconstruction, Democrats had held a majority of the governorships and of the Senate and House seats in the South. Even as the region became accustomed to voting Republican for president, this pattern had held at the statewide and congressional levels.

But in November 1994, in a single day, the majority of Southern governorships, Senate seats and House seats shifted to the Republicans. That majority has held ever since, with more legislative seats and local offices shifting to the GOP as well. The South is now the home base of the Republican Party.

The 2020 aftermath

No wonder that in contesting the results in six swing states he lost, Trump seems to have worked hardest on Georgia. If he had won there, he still would have lost the Electoral College decisively. But as the third most populous Southern state, and the only Southern state to change its choice from 2016, it clearly held special significance.

Arizona Election Official Reacts To ‘check Your Six’ Threat From Republican

There was an exchange Thursday between Fox News’ John Roberts and Texas Rep. Kevin Brady that is remarkably telling about just how lost the Republican Party is at the moment.

Roberts: “President Donald Trump says the ‘Big Lie’ was the results of the 2020 election. Liz Cheney says, no, the ‘Big Lie’ was suggesting that the 2020 election was stolen. Between the two of them, who is right?”Brady: “I’ll leave that dispute to them.”alreadyhe is retiring

In each episode of his weekly YouTube show, Chris Cillizza will delve a little deeper into the surreal world of politics. Click to subscribe!

The Point: Political courage is in short supply among Republican elected officials these days. Very short supply.

Why Has No Trump Ally Faced Consequences For Trying To Overturn An Election

His solution is to insist that he won. To do this, he and his allies have devised an elaborate alternate reality in which he won the election but it was stolen from him through voter fraud.

Similarly, how does a would-be authoritarian retain power after having been ousted from office? Trump figured that one out, too: remain relevant by retaining control over the Republican Party. His election lies are a big part of this strategy, as well. It becomes self-fulfilling. The more people there are who believe the election was stolen, the more real it feels to Trump and the more he hammers the point home in speeches and blog posts.

List Of Republicans Who Opposed The Donald Trump 2020 Presidential Campaign

This article is part of a series about

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This is a list of Republicans and conservatives who opposed the re-election of incumbent Donald Trump, the 2020 Republican Party nominee for President of the United States. Among them are former Republicans who left the party in 2016 or later due to their opposition to Trump, those who held office as a Republican, Republicans who endorsed a different candidate, and Republican presidential primary election candidates that announced opposition to Trump as the presumptive nominee. Over 70 former senior Republican national security officials and 61 additional senior officials have also signed onto a statement declaring, “We are profoundly concerned about our nation’s security and standing in the world under the leadership of Donald Trump. The President has demonstrated that he is dangerously unfit to serve another term.”

A group of former senior U.S. government officials and conservatives—including from the Reagan, Bush 41, Bush 43, and Trump administrations have formed The Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform to, “focus on a return to principles-based governing in the post-Trump era.”

A third group of Republicans, Republican Voters Against Trump was launched in May 2020 has collected over 500 testimonials opposing Donald Trump.

Opinionwe Want To Hear What You Think Please Submit A Letter To The Editor

Such an embrace of insanity creates a cycle in which the Republican Party sheds itself of nonbelievers, finds ways to keep the true believers angry and engaged and unhinges itself even more thoroughly from reality and becomes, arguably, increasingly dangerous. The result is that conspiracy theorists like Mike Lindell have somehow become influential, despite their very clear record of belligerent gibberish. And Trump, as he has been for five-plus years now, remains at the center of the Republican Party as it veers deeper into a made-up reality.

Related:

On Trump Approval Asking Why Reveals Differences By Education Within Gop

Many pollsters, including our team here at SurveyMonkey, track President Trump’s approval rating, which has fallen to an all-time low. We wanted to delve deeper—to ask respondents not just whether they approve or disapprove of the job Donald Trump is doing as president, but why.

We did this in the simplest way possible: by immediately following our question on presidential approval with the open-ended question “Why?” This way, we can get explanations in respondents’ own words as to how they feel about our current Commander in Chief.

Republican Approvers: “Kept Promises” —  Republican Disapprovers: “Childish”

In SurveyMonkey’s most recent Trump approval update, 59% of people said they disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president.

What’s making these Republicans frustrated enough to split with their own party? To find out, we used structural topic modeling to explore how different groups of people explained their various reasons for approving or disapproving of President Trump. Structural topic modeling is a machine learning technique that discovers themes or “topics” within a large collection of responses, then predicts the prevalence of these topics according to certain respondent characteristics .

The graph below presents the differences in prevalence of various topics mentioned in response to our “Why?” follow-up, comparing responses among Republicans by whether they approve or disapprove of Trump’s performance as president .

Most Republicans Still Believe 2020 Election Was Stolen From Trump Poll

May opinion poll finds that 53% of Republicans believe Trump is the ‘true president’ compared with 3% of Democrats

Last modified on Fri 4 Jun 2021 19.39 BST

A majority of Republicans still believe Donald Trump won the 2020 US presidential election and blame his loss to Joe Biden on baseless claims of illegal voting, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.

The 17-19 May national poll found that 53% of Republicans believe Trump, their party’s nominee, is the “true president” now, compared with 3% of Democrats and 25% of all Americans.

About one-quarter of adults falsely believe the 3 November election was tainted by illegal voting, including 56% of Republicans, according to the poll. The figures were roughly the same in a poll that ran from 13-17 November which found that 28% of all Americans and 59% of Republicans felt that way.

Biden, a Democrat, won by more than 7m votes. Dozens of courts rejected Trump’s challenges to the results, but Trump and his supporters have persisted in pushing baseless conspiracy theories on conservative news outlets.

US federal and state officials have said repeatedly they have no evidence that votes were compromised or altered during the presidential election, rejecting the unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud advanced by Trump and many of his supporters. Voter fraud is extremely rare in the US.

Reuters contributed to this report

Why Does Donald Trump Still Seem To Hold Sway Over The Republican Party

Why — after leading the Republican Party during a period when it lost its majority in the US House of Representatives and the Senate and its power in the White House — does former president Donald Trump still seem to hold the Grand Old Party of Lincoln and Reagan in his thrall?

For US politics watchers, who on the weekend watched on as 43 Republican senators voted to acquit Trump of an act of reckless incitement played out in front of the cameras, that is the $64,000 question.

Or rather, it’s the 74,222,593-vote question.

That is the record number of Americans who voted for Donald Trump last November — more than has been cast for any previous president. Unfortunately for them, an even greater number — 81,281,502 — voted for his rival, now-President Joe Biden.

As much as anything else, those numbers sum up the quandary Republicans find themselves in.

They have lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections, and only remain competitive because older white voters, who tend to be more likely to support conservative candidates, also tend to vote in greater numbers in a non-compulsory electoral system.

Those same voters are also the most likely to cast a ballot in next year’s house and senate primaries, and the next midterm elections in November 2022 — which will again determine who holds power in congress. They are the voters who initially flocked to Donald Trump.

The Night In 1968 When A Nation Watched An American Presidency Crumble

When this fistful of five states defected, it was a stunner. They had resisted Republicans even when the Democrats nominated Northern liberals like Illinois’ Adlai Stevenson and Kennedy , who was not only a New Englander but a Catholic.

Before that they had stuck with the Democrats even in the party’s worst drubbings of the century, although some had left the fold for third-party attractions such as segregationist Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who left the Democrats for a time to form the States Rights Party in 1948.

This shift in Southern sensibilities in the 1960s was linked to the national Democrats’ embrace of the civil rights movement, the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts and then to the creation of Medicare and other “Great Society” programs in 1965.

To be sure, there were other factors buoying what had been the “party of Lincoln” in Dixie, including the arrival of affluent Northern retirees and of industries lured by the lower cost of labor.

But the salient issue was race. As Republican strategist Kevin Phillips expressed it to New York Times reporter James Boyd in 1970: “The more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans. That’s where the votes are.”

“The Southern Strategy”

Why Do Republicans Continue To Support Trump Despite Years Of Scandal

773.834.9123

It was late September last year when a whistleblower complaint revealed that President Trump had tried to force the Ukrainian government to investigate Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Within moments the scandal captured headlines. What followed was months of back and forth as Republicans supported the president while the Democrats used their political capital to get him impeached.

But this was not the first time  – or the last time – the president was caught in the middle of a scandal. Since the impeachment trial that followed the Ukraine incident, episodes from The New York Times uncovering unsavory details from President Trump’s tax returns, to his questionable dismissal of multiple Inspectors General, to his refusal to clearly condemn white supremacists have all sparked widespread media attention and partisan fighting in 2020. 

Although with his polls dropping, some Republicans may finally be distancing themselves from the President, the question has been regularly asked the past four years: why do the Republicans continue to support the President despite these troubling charges being leveled at him? And, what is it that the Democrats stand to gain from repeated allegations?

 In addition to demonstrating how polarization accelerates scandals, the paper also found that: 

Republicans Fear That Trump Has Set The Party Back By A Generation

Republican leaders and operatives have been expressing concerns recently about the fact that Donald Trump has drive away plenty of talented lawmakers and would-be Republicans because of his behavior. They now fear that his antics have set the Party back a generation, and this has now become a “generation of lost talent” for Republicans. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains why they feel this way and why its a scary thought, even for those who despise the GOP.

Transcript:

*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

Politico in recent weeks has spoken to more than 20 lawmakers, ex-lawmakers, top advisors, aids, and all sorts of other members of the Republican party, where they have all said the same thing. And that thing is that they’re terrified that Donald Trump has chased away what they call a generation of talent from the Republican Party. Here’s what they’re talking about. During the Trump years, we saw a record number of Republicans, including plenty of younger Republicans who could have had, you know, 10, 20, maybe even more years to keep running for office. Right. They were, they were in their prime. To be honest, Paul Ryan is one of those people, and I’m not saying we want any of those people in office, trust me. But these were people who had no reason to resign other than they understood the toxicity of Donald Trump, didn’t want any part of it. So there’s a lot of lost talent right there.

Republicans Fear Trump Will Lead To A Lost Generation Of Talent

The 45th president has brought new voices and voters to the party, but he’s driven them out too. Insiders fear the repercussions.

06/01/2021 04:30 AM EDT

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As Donald Trump ponders another presidential bid, top Republicans have grown fearful about what they’re calling the party’s “lost generation.”

In conversations with more than 20 lawmakers, ex-lawmakers, top advisers and aides, a common concern has emerged — that a host of national and statewide Republicans are either leaving office or may not choose to pursue it for fear that they can’t survive politically in the current GOP. The worry, these Republicans say, is that the party is embracing personality over policy, and that it is short sighted to align with Trump, who lost the general election and continues to alienate a large swath of the voting public with his grievances and false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Trump has driven sitting GOP lawmakers and political aspirants into early retirements ever since he burst onto the scene. But there was hope that things would change after his election loss. Instead, his influence on the GOP appears to be as solid as ever and the impact of those early shockwaves remain visible. When asked, for instance, if he feared the 45th president was causing a talent drain from the GOP ranks, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — perhaps inadvertently — offered a personal demonstration of the case.

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[keywestlou]

HOAX COMES HOME TO ROOST

I have been up since 1 this morning watching the news. The President and Melania have tested positive for coronavirus.

As much as I dislike Trump, no one wants another person to suffer and/or die. Trump who has had no empathy will receive tons of it from people like myself who oppose him. Because we have empathy!

The news has already filled everyone in on what transpired. I am not going to get into those details. However, I do have thoughts to express.

There is an old saying…..”The chickens have come home to roost.” In Donald’s case, the hoax has come home to roost.

Another applicable saying comes to mind. Concerns something coming round and biting a person on the ass….Coronavirus came around and bit Trump on the ass.

Finally…..”What goes around, comes around.” The President was a sitting duck for that one.

I am sure I will have more to say in the coming days.

The debate! The disgraceful one tuesday night. Trump made a mockery out of it.

Spencer Bokat-Lindell is a staff editor for the New York Times Opinion page. Appears to be relatively young. Deep in experience, however. Before his editorial position with the New York Times, he was an editor at the Paris Review and AXIOS.

He penned an article which appeared in the New York Times yesterday. Titled “Debatable.”

He described the debate as “an acutely cursed spectacle, the logical descent of political pornography intercourse snuff files.”

Interesting language. Is this the way today’s young describe things? Is this the new English? The language of this generation?

At 85, I have to wonder.

It is obvious I do not consider Amy Coney Barrett worthy of a Supreme Court seat. Little things keep popping up about her. Like her religion which she conveniently failed to disclose when she was going through the Senate approval process in 2017. In addition, her anti Roe v. Wade thinking concerns me.

More items not previously disclosed by her have come to light.

In 2006, she permitted her name, together with many others, to appear in an ad. The ad called for the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

When Barrett filed her Senate disclosure form for 2017 when she was a nominee for the Circuit Court, she failed to disclose her participation in the ad.

At some point also before her 2017 Senate review, she failed to report her reference to Roe v. Wade being a “barbaric legacy.”

The ad and language required disclosures . She failed to disclose. Hid her positions.

As she did her religious involvement with People of Praise. A charismatic group. Not affiliated with the Catholic Church. Its tenets make me wonder how she can render “blind justice” when sitting on the Supreme Court bench.

Politely said, the woman is a sneak.

Watched Joe Biden on one of his train stops yesterday in Ohio. Alliance, Ohio.

A sloppy performance. Where were the advance men? The people who go into a community and make sure there is a large turnout. They also know down to the minute how a speech is to be set up.

None existed in Alliance. Makes me question if he even has advance men for his two days of train stops.

I know that of which I speak. I helped the Democratic advance man who came to Utica in the 1960’s for 2 different campaigns. Rockefeller’s race against Frank O’Connor for Governor and Hubert Humphrey’s race for President.

Got to know the advance man well. The same person each time. He was our house guest each time he was in Utica.

My criticisms of Biden’s train stop are not intended to be derogatory. Hopefully someone will advise him of wrong planning as I am herein.

Biden stood on the side of a railway car. Trimmed to reflect America and his candidacy. Biden had a microphone in hand. The podium only faced one end of the crowd. All to his right. Not sure how many heard him. Also the set-up indicated someone did not know what they were doing.

Another group of Biden supporters were on the other side of the railway car. They could hear nothing.

Biden was wearing baseball cap. Take it off! It covered his eyes, he had to look up to be seen.

Trump’s people attended also. Provided music and singing to interrupt Biden’s talk. Songs like “God Bless the USA.” The group also provided via microphone clips of Biden’s gaffs.

Biden’s appearance totally lacking in political professionalism.

Permit me to share how Harry Truman did it.

It was 1948. I was 12 and in the 8th grade. Me and two of my buddies rode our bikes to the railroad station to hear Truman speak. We arrived a bit late. He was already talking when we arrived.

He too was doing a train stop campaign. From the small deck on the rear of the last car. Most important. A huge crowd was in front of him. Everyone could see Truman and he could see them.

My buddies and I were upset. We did not want to stand all the way back.

We did something only kids could get away with. We rode our bikes to the front of the crowd. There was a 5-6 feet area between Truman on the back of the train and the crowd. We moved our bikes in front and had the best seats in the house!

I mentioned this happening in 1948 to Truman when I was a senior at the Syracuse Law School. Truman was spending 2 days at the University giving talks. A luncheon had been arranged involving allegedly top University students. The University’s top 12 and Truman.

I was selected to represent the Law School.

Two round tables. Six students at one. Six students plus Truman at the other.

Seating was determined by the University. I sat to the immediate right of the President. I told him the story of my bike friends and I in 1948 at the railroad station in Utica.

Truman was excellent company. He spent 2 hours with us. Recalled vividly the 1948 election itself. He was predicted to be the loser. New York’s Governor Tom Dewey an easy winner.

Election night, some big town newspaper (I believe a Chicago one) had an extra on the streets before midnight. Headline: Dewey Wins.

H.V. Kaltenborn was a noted radio commentator. That same evening he went on national radio and said Truman had lost.

As we all know, Truman won.

Truman was obviously happy recalling the evening for us. He mimicked Kaltenborn to everyone’s delight.

Several people called this morning asking if I had watched Rachel Maddow last night. I did not. Apparently it was the best show ever from all that called. The 11 o’clock news also described Rachel’s show in glowing terms.

I understand it is being streamed on MSNBC this saturday.

Just as I was ready to write today’s blog, I received a telephone call from KONK Life’s Guy DeBoer. He has a morning talk show. Always a guest. His guest for today had called in and said she could not make it. He asked me. The show was to start in 3 minutes.

Since I could do it by telephone, I agreed.

Guy may never invite me back again. The topic was Trump and everything involving him. I consider Trump to be worthless. He has done much damage to the U.S. nationally and internationally.

One topic involved Trump leaving the White House on January 20. I said the people would storm the White House if Trump did not leave.

Guy was of the opinion getting Trump out could be done peacefully. The people and the Constitution would prevent such an occurrence on January 20.

I disagreed. Trump would stay. ICE, the Border Patrol and certain terrorist groups would protect him. A civil war in the making.

I was a bit verbose this morning. My apologies.

Enjoy your day!

  HOAX COMES HOME TO ROOST was originally published on Key West Lou

[paulbenedictblog]

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New Post has been published on %http://paulbenedictsgeneralstore.com%

Usa today Iowa caucuses results delay, State of the Union, winter weather: 5 things you need to know Tuesday

Usa today

Editors, USA TODAY Revealed 4: 56 a.m. ET Feb. 4, 2020 | Updated 8: 28 a.m. ET Feb. 4, 2020

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Usa today Iowa Democratic Birthday party says delayed caucus results expected 'later this day'

After a lengthy and wild day, the results of the Iowa Democratic caucuses have been delayed Monday evening, with the notify celebration citing "inconsistencies" in the results being reported from precincts. It furthermore blamed the extend on the celebration reporting three devices of recordsdata for the first time. Iowa Democratic Birthday party (IDP) Chair Troy Label told newshounds early Tuesday that the IDP became once manually verifying all precinct results and that, "We rely on to have numbers to file later this day." Label repeated the celebration's early assertion that the technical glitch with the design "is a reporting enviornment no longer a hack or an intrusion." However, the glitch ended in a irregular evening which included candidates giving behind speeches earlier than jetting off to Unusual Hampshire, in doubt the assign they accomplished in the notify's bustle. President Donald Trump weighed in, calling it the "sloppiest educate atomize in ancient past." Label's comments followed criticism from some campaigns, significantly frail Vice President Joe Biden's who called the reporting considerations "acute screw ups."

From the Des Moines Register:  Reporting delays, app system defects ward off Democratic ends in Iowa

Recent election ancient past: When have past Iowa caucus results attain out?

Too discontinuance to name: Coin toss offers Klobuchar the brink over Warren at one caucus residence

Extra from Iowa:  The caucus residence the assign a burger costs lower than a tin of chewing tobacco

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Without a winner declared on the evening of the Democratic Iowa caucuses amid delays, the candidates silent gave speeches. USA TODAY

Pick to concentrate? Take a look at out the 5 things podcast below and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts: 

Usa today President Trump's Disclose of the Union: An agenda for 2020

Trudge, the Senate is conserving an impeachment trial, but White Residence officials relate President Donald Trump will explore to strike an upbeat tone when he delivers his Disclose of the Union earlier than a joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening (9 p.m. EST). Trump has dubbed the annual address speech, "the Big American Comeback."  "We’re going to chat in regards to the achievements that we’ve made," he told Fox Recordsdata host Sean Hannity in a Big Bowl Sunday interview. Trump plans to renew a name for tax breaks designed to present extra scholarships for school students to support non-public faculties, two sources familiar with the address told USA TODAY. The president's emphasis on college quite a couple of – a favored enviornment alongside with his core supporters – would perhaps be piece of a speech by which the president is furthermore seemingly to debate the financial system and trade, working families, well being care, immigration and national security. 

Impeachment trial updates: GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she 'cannot vote to convict' Trump

Unusual ballot: Voters who 'strongly' approve of Trump at new excessive as impeachment nears conclude

The president talks to Hannity: In Big Bowl interview, the president predicts re-election

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Residence impeachment manager Jason Crow makes an attraction to fogeys in the Senate by quoting Prof. Dumbledore and reading mask in younger of us' structure. USA TODAY

Usa today Chilly climate climate returns: Storm wallops West, heads to Central, Jap US

A potent iciness storm that dumped heavy snow on the Rockies Monday will trail in opposition to the central and eastern U.S. the leisure of the week, forecasters relate. After transferring away from the Rockies on Tuesday, the storm will construct a band of snow and ice from the southern Plains to the internal Northeast over the next few days, the Nationwide Climate Provider said. Within the South, heavy rainfall, localized flooding and severe thunderstorms are forecast Tuesday by Thursday. "Rainfall portions of 1 to 3 inches are forecast in a swath by Arkansas, the boot heel of Missouri, and into Kentucky and the Tennessee Valley by Wednesday evening," the climate provider said. "There is some seemingly for flash flooding the assign heavy rainfall happens in these areas." Additionally, attributable to 2020's moist initiate, rainfall rates won't need to be exceptionally excessive to construct a flash flood threat, AccuWeather warned.

Extra extreme climate: Sturdy California winds consequence in airplane working into trash bin, blowing out two tires at LAX

Groundhog Day 2020 results: No shadow! Phil predicts early spring is coming

Heat goes on: Unusual worldwide temperature narrative is 'seemingly' all around the next 5 years, file says

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Have you ever puzzled why autos frost over all over frigid climate? Successfully, there are loads of causes. Accuweather

Usa today Weinstein accuser expected to attain to stand after sobbing in court docket 

Disgraced film rich particular person Harvey Weinstein's sex-crimes trial will proceed Tuesday as protection lawyers will resume their foul-examination of accuser Jessica Mann after she left the courtroom sobbing inconsolably Monday afternoon. Mann, 34, is a key accuser in the case as Weinstein, 67, is charged with raping her in a Unusual York Metropolis hotel room in 2013, alongside with sexually assaulting yet any other girl, Miriam "Mimi" Haleyi, in 2006. On Monday, one of Weinstein's lawyers, Donna Rotunno, many conditions requested Mann, a frail actress, why she persisted sending pleasant, seemingly loving emails to the ex-producer, even after he allegedly raped her. Her testimony took an emotional turn, when Rotunno requested Mann to be taught a spring 2014 e-mail to her boyfriend at the time. Within the e-mail, she described a "controlling" relationship with Weinstein, calling him a father make a choice to her. She furthermore wrote that Weinstein "validated me in techniques my fogeys never did." 

Extra from the trial: Roommate backs Haleyi's accusation, says 'it sounded cherish rape'

Rosie Perez testifies at Weinstein's trial: Annabella Sciorra said 'I ponder it became once rape'

The Backstory: The Harvey Weinstein memoir is ready extra than Harvey Weinstein

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Final FadeNext Fade

Usa today Jessica Simpson's life is an 'Commence E book' in new memoir

Jessica Simpson reveals she became once sexually abused as a baby and later overcame alcohol and drug addictions in "Commence E book," her new memoir out Tuesday. The pop-superstar-turned entrepreneur, 39, writes that the abuse began at a household buddy's home when she became once 6. She did not expose her fogeys except she became once 12. "I became once the sufferer but by some skill I felt in the unhealthy," she writes. The abuse coupled with stress over her occupation led her to was dependent on alcohol and medicine. She bought sober in 2017 with the support of remedy. "Giving up the alcohol became once straightforward," she wrote. "I became once inflamed at that bottle. At the best diagram it allowed me to discontinuance complacent and numb."

Simpson on 'Straight away time': 'I did not acknowledge myself'

Diane Keaton will get candid about psychological illness in memoir 'Brother & Sister'

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Jessica Simpson outlined why her marriage with Prick Lachey fell aside in her upcoming memoir, "Commence E book." USA TODAY

Read or Share this memoir: https://www.usatoday.com/memoir/recordsdata/2020/02/04/iowa-caucuses-results-extend-notify-of-the-union-5-things-know-tuesday/2854847001/

[hail-to-the-republic]

REAL NEWS PRESIDENT TRUMP DOESN'T WANT YOU TO MISS'You're the Pride of Our Nation,' Donald Trump Tells Veterans on 75th D-Day Anniversary in Normandy

-USA Today

“President Donald Trump extolled U.S. veterans gathered in Normandy on the 75th anniversary of D-Day as the ‘pride of our nation’ in a reverential address Thursday,” John Fritze and David Jackson report. “Trump leaned over to embrace one of the World War II veterans who shared the stage with him at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. He heaped praise on the troops who stormed Omaha and other beaches on the French coast, battling through heavy German fire to claim a beachhead and turn the course of the war.”

In photos: President Trump honors the day that changed historyUS Makes Deal with Mexico on Tariffs, Immigration, Trump Announces

-Fox News

“The U.S. has reached an agreement with Mexico that heads off the start of tariffs on Monday,” Vandana Rambaran reports. “The deal, announced by President Trump via tweet on Friday night, is said to include plans to return migrants seeking asylum to Mexico, where they will remain until their claims can be processed.” Trump, Queen Elizabeth Toast to Historic US-UK Relationship at State Banquet

-The Hill

“President Trump attended a state banquet on Monday hosted by Queen Elizabeth II, where the two leaders hailed the historic importance of their countries' relationship,” Brett Samuels writes. “On behalf of all Americans, I offer a toast to the eternal friendship of our people, the vitality of our nations, and to the long cherished and truly remarkable reign of Her Majesty, the Queen,” the President said.

🎬 Watch: President Trump and the First Lady at Buckingham Palace  New Border Surge Prompts 10% Jump in 2019 Prediction to 1,072,000 Illegal Immigrants

-Washington Examiner

“Calling the surprising May surge in illegal immigrant arrests on the border the ‘worst case scenario,’ a top immigration analyst has boosted the expected level of crossings 10%, to over 1 million,” Paul Bedard reports. “U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Wednesday revealed that May apprehensions topped 144,000. This year has seen 676,315 apprehensions so far, up 99% over this time last year.”Trump and First Lady Host Dinner for Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla in UK

-Fox News

“President Trump and first lady Melania Trump hosted a dinner for Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles on Tuesday night at Winfield House, a mansion in London which is the official residence of the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom,” Talia Kaplan reports.

🎬 Watch: The President and First Lady on day 2 of their State Visit to the U.K.Fetal Tissue Research, an Abhorrent and Needless Use of Taxpayer Money, is Done

-Washington Examiner

“On Wednesday, the Department of Health and Human Services announced it would end the use of human fetal tissue from elective abortions for medical research,” Mary Vought writes. “For over 25 years, Congress has allowed the National Institutes of Health to dole out what now amounts to more than $100 million each year to researchers who utilize the fetal tissue of aborted babies. There is little to show for this money.”Congress Needs to Back America’s Workers and Approve Trump’s Trade Deal

-The Daily Caller

“In 1993, very few Americans had a cellphone, and no one had ever heard of buying a book on Amazon”—and yet that year marked “the last time Congress meaningfully debated trade between our two North American partners,” Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) writes. That’s why President Trump recently renegotiated NAFTA, a trade agreement that’s woefully out of date. Democrats and Republicans alike now have an opportunity to replace it with a better deal—“one that includes a minimum wage for Mexican auto workers and provisions to protect American jobs from unfairly traded Chinese products.”

Privacy Policy | Contact the White House | UnsubscribeThe White House · 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW · Washington, DC 20500 · USA · 202-456-1111

[kansascityhappenings]

Joe’s Weather Blog: Accumulating snow chances…icy Friday AM potential and nasty cold ahead (TUE-11/6)

Good Tuesday morning…it’s bright and sunny out there to start Election Day 2018. The lines are already long and probably will get longer heading towards the lunch hour. I voted last week, thanks to early voting in JOCO, it took about 5 minutes and was painless. I feel bad for folks who will be in line this afternoon. Rain is going to be streaking this way…so despite the lack of clouds as I type this…you will see that changing rapidly in the next few hours.

There will be a lot happening between today and next Wednesday. Towards mid-month we will start to see a relaxation of this pattern and that means an increasingly milder trend coming…that’s about 8-10 days away though. Until then there is going to be a lot of cold weather…some snow…some messy roads and potentially even some school cancellations Friday morning depending on how things evolve on Thursday evening especially.

Forecast:

Today: Increasing clouds with rain developing after lunch. The rain won’t be too heavy but could be a nuisance in spots. Temperatures will warm to the 50-55° range by lunch then start to drop of a few degrees in the rain…sort of a raw afternoon part parts of the area it appears. Not all will get the rain though.

Tonight: Clearing skies later tonight after some leftover evening showers in the area. Chillier by daybreak with lows 30-35°

Wednesday: Mostly sunny and breezier with chilly temperatures. Highs in the mid-upper 40s

Thursday: Wintry weather likely. Some snow…perhaps then changing to a wintry mix…then changing back to snow. Accumulations possible, especially in the evening. Not a lot BUT with the snow…wet roads and falling FRI AM temperatures the potential of icy roads will increase later Thursday evening and especially Friday AM. This may get very messy for the AM commute and schools FRI AM.

Discussion:

The blog can be tough to write sometimes…each blog is roughly 1000 words or so and I hate wasting your time if there really is nothing going on. Well lately the blog has been a pleasure to dive into. Weather geeks have a lot to talk about now and will have more to write about over the next week or so. I alluded to the ideas of rain…snow…cold…record cold…more cold etc at the beginning of the blog…so let’s get into it.

I won’t spend much time on today…suffice it to say though here is radar.

I want to put in regional radar to show you what’s happening towards the west of KC.

A pretty fast transformation is going to happen locally it appears. The satellite picture this morning shows clear weather on top of us…but it will be changing fast later this morning.

This system will create rain in the region…not a lot…and it will be fighting some dry air initially so it may take a bit of time to actually get the rain to make it down to the ground…but again some rain is likely. Odds are under 1/10″ and farther east where the rain may struggle as it moves into drier air…amounts may not be over a few hundredths of an inch.

Onwards…

Tomorrow is chilly but bright and breezy

Now Thursday…

NO changes are needed in the discussion of the events that are going to set off the wintry weather. Confidence continues to build that wintry weather in the form of mostly snow is likely during the day.

It’s complicated because while it may snow…temperatures at the surface during the day will likely be in the 34-38+° range for a good part of the day. This makes accumulations tough to get if the snow is light. Exposed surfaces, such as car tops…decks etc could see some accumulation during the day…but unless it’s a few degrees colder…it’s tough in early November with a day-time snow arrival to get accumulations UNLESS the snow is coming down hard enough. I still think this will be a mostly snow event with perhaps some chunky raindrops mixed in during the day.

The evening though poses other dilemmas. On the assumption snow is still falling (seems likely right now)…with the setting sun…and the falling to near or below freezing temperatures…snow that is falling will start sticking. Especially to the grass but potentially in time to the roads too…especially those that are untreated. The length of time that the snow falls during the 6PM>12AM timeframe will be a key to accumulations…but at this point it’s a reasonable forecast to say anywhere from a dusting to 2″ is possible from this snow event. Odds favor the lower end of this at this point in most areas. There are signs of some banding of snow area that could enhance some local amounts…but it’s impossible to pick out those bands.

While not a significant snow…it’s an important snow in terms of impacts. Remember that temperatures Friday morning may really drop down into the mid 20s. The record low is 22° and even that is attainable after daybreak Friday morning with clear skies and potential light snow cover. The issue is that the wet roads later Thursday into Thursday night…and potentially snowy roads…may freeze up overnight into Friday morning…so that is how Friday may start. It could be messy enough to create commuter headaches and also cancel some schools. Obviously road treatments will be a key in this scenario but untreated surfaces may become very slick…and it’s worth keeping that in mind if you have plans on Friday morning. Roads will rapidly improve Friday though after a few hours.

As far as the nuts and bolts go…this won’t be a big surface storm to track…as a matter of fact the surface storm (whatever it will be) will be way down into TX and then actually start to form better towards the OH Valley region Friday. So it’s not going to be something that can be readily viewed on surface weather maps.

This is going to be a mid to upper level feature that will be tugging and generating moisture above the surface. As that moisture spreads eastwards on Thursday…snow will develop above us. As that occurs there will be some dry air below the clouds that could eat away at the first falling flakes. That could be an ongoing process for awhile too. As the snow encounters the dry air the surface temperatures on Thursday will gradually come up from near 32° to the mid>upper 30s as the afternoon comes along. So IF snow makes it to the ground..with surface temperatures like that…it’s going to be tough for it to stick. Anything warmer during the day means a lingering delay in road impacts in the evening as well.

What happens after 6PM or so will dictate the overall impacts into Friday morning. The main impact snow though (not too heavy) will likely be more towards 6PM>12AM later Thursday night and that will set the stage for any issues Friday morning.

The “forcing” with this situation…the ability for snow production is certainly there BUT it’s not overwhelming at this point. Should that change…that would impact the snow potential on Thursday night. The atmospheric moisture will definitely be there, especially towards the late afternoon…so it won’t take much to create snow as the day moves along. Some may not reach the ground…but at least some snow is more likely than less likely in my opinion…at least an 75% chance.

As far as the road situation goes…most impacts I think will be towards Thursday evening and into Friday AM. This again will be dependent on many factors but I’m concerned that whatever falls and melts might try to freeze up at some point before it can dry out…so bridges and overpasses might be an issue especially. Anything more that that will need to be monitored but that would be my concern Friday morning.

Obviously things may still change and we’ll keep you up to date.

Our feature photo today comes from Cheryl Phillips Mason as she was driving along US 50 towards Warrensburg last week.

Joe

        from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2018/11/06/joes-weather-blog-accumulating-snow-chances-icy-friday-am-potential-and-nasty-cold-ahead-tue-11-6/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2018/11/06/joes-weather-blog-accumulating-snow-chancesicy-friday-am-potential-and-nasty-cold-ahead-tue-11-6/

[newstfionline]

Thursday, January 7, 2021

The coronavirus intensified a hunger crisis last year, but 2021 could be worse (Washington Post) The coronavirus pandemic unleashed cascades of suffering in 2020. People around the globe faced the threat of the virus, along with the devastating ripple effects of efforts to control its spread. For much of the world, the legacy of the pandemic will be impossible to untangle from the stark material inequities that worsened it—and that it exacerbated. Among the most dangerous of these: a mounting hunger crisis, set to grow even more dire in 2021. The World Food Program, the branch of the United Nations responsible for delivering lifesaving food assistance, expects to need to serve 138 million people this year—more than ever in its 60-year history. The rise in hunger is “due to what I call ‘the three Cs’—conflict, covid and climate,” said Steve Taravella, a WFP spokesman. “We don’t take the word ‘famine’ loosely, but with famine looming in several countries at once, we’re facing a genuine crisis.” And as the situation worsens, the agency is also facing major funding shortfalls. It expects to raise only around half of the $15.1 billion it projects it will need in 2021, Taravella said. The agency is steeling itself “for an especially heartbreaking year,” he said.

Pro-Trump mob storms US Capitol in bid to overturn election (AP) A violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday and forced lawmakers into hiding, in a stunning attempt to overturn America’s presidential election, undercut the nation’s democracy and keep Democrat Joe Biden from replacing Trump in the White House. The nation’s elected representatives scrambled to crouch under desks and donned gas marks, while police futilely tried to barricade the building, one of the most jarring scenes ever to unfold in a seat of American political power. A woman was shot and killed inside the Capitol, and Washington’s mayor instituted an evening curfew in an attempt to contain the violence. The rioters were egged on by Trump, who has spent weeks attacking the integrity of the election and had urged his supporters to descend on Washington Wednesday to protest Congress’ formal approval of Biden’s victory. Some Republican lawmakers were in the midst of raising objections to the results on his behalf when the proceedings were abruptly halted by the mob.      The president gave his supporters an added boost Wednesday morning during an appearance at a rally outside the White House, where he urged them to march to the Capitol. He spent much of the afternoon in his private dining room off the Oval Office watching scenes of the violence on television. At the urging of his staff, he reluctantly issued a pair of tweets and a taped video telling his supporters it was time to “go home in peace.” The Pentagon said about 1,100 District of Columbia National Guard members were being mobilized to help support law enforcement at the Capitol. More than a dozen people were arrested. As darkness began to set in, law enforcement officials worked their way toward the protesters, using percussion grenades to try to clear the area around the Capitol. Big clouds of tear gas were visible.

Biden win confirmed (AP) Congress confirmed Democrat Joe Biden as the presidential election winner early Thursday after a violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in a stunning attempt to overturn America’s presidential election, undercut the nation’s democracy and keep Trump in the White House. Lawmakers were resolved to complete the Electoral College tally, and they pushed through the night with tensions high and the nation’s capital on alert. Before dawn Thursday, lawmakers completed their work, confirming Biden won the election. Trump, who had repeatedly refused to concede the election, said in a statement immediately after the vote that there will be a smooth transition of power on Inauguration Day.

Democrats ahead in Georgia (Foreign Policy) Democrat Raphael Warnock has been declared the winner in his race against Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler while the other race between Jon Ossoff and Sen. David Perdue remains too close to call, although the New York Times predicts Ossoff is likely to win. Warnock has a lead of more than 50,000 votes and Ossoff is ahead by more than 16,000 with most of the uncounted votes remaining in the heavily Democratic Atlanta area. If Democrats win both seats, they would take control of the Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. Foreign Policy’s Mike Hirsh argues that no matter who prevails in Georgia, the effect on President-elect Joe Biden’s foreign policy is likely to be minimal. “Over the past four years the Senate Republicans have been more willing to challenge President Donald Trump on foreign-policy issues—and thus may end up being more receptive to Biden’s plans, especially when it comes to restoring relations with U.S. allies that have been so damaged during the Trump years,” Hirsh writes.

New Year & New Economic Woes for Cubans as Prices Surge (AFP) Raisa Lemus had to return home to fetch extra money to finish her shopping, Arturo Sobrado was angered by the “abusive” bus fare hike and Norma Pousada was left bemused that shops no longer accepted her money. For Cubans, the new year has begun with a steep, painful rise in prices due to a complex economic reform launched on January 1 by the government that also included an increase in salaries. The two cohabiting currencies in circulation for a quarter of a century are being fused into one: and one is worth 24 times less than the other. To soften the blow, the government announced a bumper five-fold hike in the minimum wage. But basic goods such as food and electricity have also seen a sharp rise in prices since the Christmas holidays. Although the government has set a six-month period to phase out the convertible peso—which is pinned to the dollar and was introduced in 1994 to replace the US currency that was commonly used alongside the regular peso—many stores have put up signs saying they are not accepting it any more.

Chilean lawmakers propose making coronavirus vaccine mandatory (Reuters) Chilean lawmakers on Tuesday presented a bill before Congress that would make vaccination against the coronavirus mandatory as the country’s center-right government pushes to inosculate the majority of its population by mid-year. The bill would modify the country’s health code, which already requires vaccination against smallpox, whooping cough and other diseases, according to the opposition Christian Democracy party lawmakers who submitted the legislation. An IPSOS survey in early December found that seven out of 10 Chileans said they would be willing to get vaccinated. Health Minister Enrique Paris said earlier this week that officials would study the proposal.

British judge denies WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange bail in extradition case, citing flight risk (Washington Post) A British judge on Wednesday refused to grant bail and release WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who will remain in a prison cell on the outskirts of London while the U.S. government pursues its case against him. Assange is charged with 18 federal crimes, including conspiring to obtain and disclose classified diplomatic cables and sensitive military reports from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lawyers for the U.S. government said they will appeal to Britain’s High Court the judge’s ruling to halt the extradition, a process that could take several months. Prosecutors want Assange flown to Northern Virginia to face the charges, which could lead to a life sentence in a maximum-security prison if he were convicted. In her ruling from the bench denying Assange’s bid for freedom, the judge recited some history, noting that Assange was granted bail by a British court in 2010 as he fought extradition to Sweden, where he was wanted for sexual assault. The Swedish case was later dropped. The judge recalled how in June 2012 Assange fled from British justice and sought refuge in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, which granted him asylum. Assange spent almost seven years as a fugitive in the embassy, until Ecuador revoked his protection and British police arrested him in April 2019. Since then, he has been in Belmarsh.

India’s internet shutdowns cost its economy nearly $3 billion in 2020 (Quartz India) India’s constant internet blackouts have taken a huge toll on its economy. National shutdowns left Indian businesses without hundreds of hours of vital internet access, costing billions in lost revenue. Authorities cut Indians off from the internet for more than 1,655 hours as a result of national shutdowns, according to research by Top10VPN, a publication focused on internet privacy. And many people with internet still couldn’t use it without obstacles. Governments also deliberately reduced internet bandwidths for more than 7,200 hours, bringing speeds down to 2G—SMS and voice calls continue to function but modern websites and apps are rendered useless. It’s not too far from a complete blackout. The economic cost of these restrictions amounts to a whopping $2.88 billion in 2020, according to Top10VPN.

China reacts to storming of U.S. Capitol (Foreign Policy) Pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) commenters are gleeful at the scenes of chaos in Washington on Wednesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to overturn the November 2020 election results culminated in armed supporters breaching the U.S. Capitol. Many in China have made comparisons to so-called color revolutions in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which Beijing paints as U.S.-backed attempts to topple hostile governments. The belief that the United States would collapse like the Soviet Union has circulated among members of the Chinese elite since the mid-2000s, especially after the 2008 financial crisis. Under President Xi Jinping, Chinese officials have been encouraged to study the Soviet collapse closely as an example of what mistakes China should avoid. The scenes in Washington, so reminiscent of the Russian parliamentary violence of the 1990s, will only encourage such convictions.

China steps up curbs near Beijing (Reuters) Chinese authorities imposed travel restrictions and banned gatherings in the capital city of Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing, in the latest escalation of measures to stave off another coronavirus wave. The province, which entered a “wartime mode” on Tuesday, accounted for 20 of the 23 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases reported in mainland China on Jan. 5, more than the total of 19 cases in the province in the three previous days. The head of the World Health Organization on Tuesday said he was “very disappointed” that China still had not authorized a team of international experts tasked with examining the origins of the coronavirus into the country.

Hong Kong Police Arrest Dozens of Pro-Democracy Leaders (NYT) The Hong Kong police arrested 53 elected pro-democracy officials and activists early Wednesday for their involvement in an informal primary election, the largest roundup yet under the new national security law imposed by Beijing to quash dissent. The mass arrests—which included figures who had called for aggressive confrontation with the authorities as well as those who had supported more moderate tactics—underscored Hong Kong officials’ efforts to weaken any meaningful opposition in the city’s political institutions. The police also visited the offices of at least one law firm and three news media organizations to demand documents, broadening the burst of arrests that started before sunrise and sent a chill through Hong Kong’s already-demoralized opposition camp. The moves suggested that the authorities were casting a wide net for anyone who had played a prominent role in opposing the government.

North Korea’s Kim says economic plan failed as rare party congress begins (Reuters) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his five-year economic plan had failed to meet its goals “on almost every sector” as he kicked off the ruling Workers’ Party congress on Tuesday, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday. The rare political gathering, which Kim last hosted in 2016, has drawn international attention as he is expected to unveil a new five-year economic plan and address foreign policy, just two weeks before U.S. President-elect Joe Biden takes office. In his opening speech, Kim said the country had achieved a “miraculous victory” by bolstering its power and global prestige since the last meeting, referring to military advances that culminated in successful tests in 2017 of intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking the U.S. mainland. But the five-year economic strategy he set forth in 2016 had failed to deliver, he said, calling for a boost in North Korea’s self-reliance to tackle internal and outside challenges hindering its progress.

Netanyahu re-election hopes hinge on vaccination campaign (AP) For media-obsessed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the coronavirus vaccine has arrived just in time. With elections approaching in March, Netanyahu has placed his world-leading vaccination drive at the center of his reelection campaign—launching an aggressive media blitz portraying him as almost singlehandedly leading the country out of the pandemic. He appears to be betting that a successful vaccination effort can persuade voters to forget about his corruption trial and the economic damage caused by the coronavirus crisis. Netanyahu, like his good friend Donald Trump and other world leaders, frequently tries to use social media and tightly controlled press conferences to bypass the traditional media—and the scrutiny that has come along with it. While this strategy has often served Netanyahu well, his obsession with controlling the message also threatens to backfire. It lies at the heart of a corruption case in which he is accused of granting favors to powerful media figures in exchange for positive coverage of him and his family. An expanded indictment released this week outlined 150 incidents showing detailed control he allegedly tried to exert over the media. This included pressure on a news site to drop critical coverage about a lacy dress worn by his wife, and pushing the site to publish photos of her meeting actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

Syria says Israel strikes again, several missiles downed by air defences (Reuters) Israel struck targets in southern Syria on Wednesday in the third such attack in nearly 10 days, state TV reported as military defectors said the missiles targeted Iranian revolutionary guard bases. A military spokesman said missiles flying over the Golan Heights targeted several locations and air defences downed several missiles. Live coverage showed a multi-storey building on fire. There was no immediate comment from an Israeli military spokesman but Israel’s Defence Force Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi said last month the missile strikes had “slowed down Iran’s entrenchment in Syria”. “We have struck over 500 targets this year, on all fronts, in addition to multiple clandestine missions,” Kochavi said in comments published in Israeli media.

Saudi Arabia Leads Oil Production Cuts (Foreign Policy) The OPEC+ group of oil producing countries have agreed to cut production in February, as Saudi Arabia volunteered to take one million barrels of its oil off the market per day in order to shore up prices. The decision seems to have done the trick, at least temporarily. The U.S. oil price benchmark passed the $50 dollar mark for the first time since February in the wake of the news. The Saudi decision reflects the uncertain global economic prospects in the year ahead. Vaccine programs, heralded as the quickest route to normalcy, have sputtered in some countries and are potentially years away in others. Saudi Arabia’s decision to shoulder the production cuts seems to have kept oil producing countries together, but as Edoardo Campanella argued in November, the group needs to reimagine its role if it is to remain relevant in a changing world.

Theft leads to community giving in Miami (AP) Two days before Thanksgiving, on the eve of a turkey giveaway for dozens of jobless residents in an impoverished Miami neighborhood, Sherina Jones got word that one of the free community refrigerators she’d been stocking was stolen. Jones had been helping to feed the poor in Miami for months. About half of her clients are homeless; others are day laborers who take to-go lunches or single moms who can’t feed their kids. When one of the refrigerators was stolen just before the Thanksgiving Day turkey giveaway, it was more than a theft. It felt like an act against a community in need. Just when it seemed the Grinch-like act would ruin the holiday, something magical happened: Residents of a community where many can barely afford rent pulled together, each giving a little until they ended up collecting quite a lot. The Rev. Michael Daily heard about the stolen refrigerator on the news. He works at a community agency that helps local churches and knew that many parishioners were counting on those meals. He used agency funds to buy Jones a fancy double-door refrigerator and enlisted a construction worker to help build protective housing so it can’t be stolen. A group of artists designed T-shirts and donated the proceeds. All together, more than 330 people raised over $23,000 on a fundraising website. The community’s response to a toy drive in December allowed Jones to give away dozens of bicycles, dolls and other presents to 400 families. “People come by and stock the fridge during the evenings or buy a bulk of things and drop it off. I’m so appreciative,” Jones said. “We’ve all come together to take care of each other.”

[patriotsnet]

Why Do Republicans Still Back Trump

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/why-do-republicans-still-back-trump/

Why Do Republicans Still Back Trump

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Importantly, Trump is increasingly fixating on the Republican-backed audits as he pushes the lie that he won the election. He needs to keep talking about this lie because he faces an existential political threat: His brand is based on winning, but he lost. Winners don’t lose, particularly winners who promise their fans that “we will have so much winning if I get elected that you may get bored with winning.”

Since When Do Republicans Care More About Criminals In Jail Than The Cops Who Put Them There Since Donald Trump

U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell pauses during his testimony at the first hearing of the select committee investigating the deadly storming of the Capitol, in Washington on Tuesday, July 27, 2021. “The GOP overwhelmingly stuck with Trump, perpetuating his sick mythology about a day we all saw with our own eyes,” writes The New York Times opinion columnist Maureen Dowd.

  | Aug. 3, 2021, 1:00 p.m.

Washington • It was, I must admit, a virtuoso performance by Sean Hannity.

Not since the sheriff in “Blazing Saddles” put a gun to his own head and took himself hostage has anyone executed such a nutty loop de loop.

Opening his show Tuesday night, Hannity gave a monologue defending the police . “Attacks on law enforcement are never and should never be acceptable ever, not at the Capitol and not anywhere,” he declaimed.

Yet Mr. Pro Police had nary a word for the four police officers who had appeared before Congress that morning to describe going to “hell and back,” as a Washington police officer, Michael Fanone, put it, as they relived the scarring, desperate hours of Jan. 6 when they were attacked by Trump’s mob .

When it came down to it, the question of whether Republican lawmakers in the House would side with Donald Trump or the police who risked their lives defending them, it wasn’t even a close call for the law-and-order party.

Since when do Republicans care more about criminals in jail than the cops who put them there? Since when do they coddle domestic terrorists?

We Looked At Which Gop Primary Voters Are Most Likely To Vote Based On Support For His False Election Claims

Many Republican senators, watching the harrowing footage of the Jan. 6Capitol insurrection played at Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, were moved to tears, presumably remembering their own experiences that day. Yet it did not persuade many of them to vote to convict the former president on the charge of inciting the insurrection. Even though many prominent Republicans, including Sen. Mitch McConnell , appeared to want a clean break with the president after the insurrection, those who turned on Trump have been rebuked by the party’s grass roots. And Trump has threatened to recruit and support primary challengers against Republicans who do not line up behind him.

So were the votes against conviction motivated by a desire to win primaries and, therefore, reelection? Our research shows that the situation is more complicated than that. The Republican rank and file is deeply divided over Trump and his false claims about a stolen 2020 election. This creates a minefield for Republican members of Congress.

Why Republicans haven’t abandoned Trumpism

Opiniona Republican Civil War Is Coming Rudy Giuliani’s Georgia Crusade Is Just The Beginning

After the Jan. 6 insurrection, moderate Republicans started to walk away from the party. Even some conservatives who stuck with Trump all through his presidency couldn’t stomach the insurrection. Currently, 53 percent of Republican voters believe Trump won the election. Similarly, in a national poll last month by Quinnipiac University, 66 percent of people who classified themselves as Republicans said they want Trump to run for president in 2024.

The fact that Trump still controls so many Republican voters explains the assertion by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., that the Republican Party can’t “move forward” without Trump. Speeding up the Republican Party’s hardening into a right-wing extremist party is Trump’s demand that anyone who doesn’t toe the line and repeat the lie be ousted and exiled.

Trump advisers and confidants have many reasons not to push back. For one, the former president often rebuffs advisers who tell him to drop the whole stolen election story. But those in Trump’s inner circle also need to keep voters riled up if Trump’s political future — and presumably theirs — is to continue. Dangling the possibility that Trump will be reinstated in August accomplishes this.

A Disturbing Number Of Republicans Still Believe All The Lies Donald Trump Tells Them

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One of the enduring legacies of Donald Trump’s runs for office and four years as president is the phenomenon in which a shameless politician can tell a brazen, easily fact-checkable lie and his or her supporters will buy it without question, even when evidence to the contrary is screaming in their faces. The earliest example of this was the claim Trump made when announcing his 2015 bid for office—that he was going to build a wall and Mexico was going to pay for it, an absurd lie that he was still telling in the fall of 2020. And of course an equally audacious lie was the one he started spreading last November and hasn’t stopped spewing to date—that he won the presidential election and a second term was stolen from him.

Obviously, the most chilling repercussion of Trump’s supporters believing he, and not Joe Biden, won the election, was the January 6 attack on the Capitol, an insurrection that left five people dead and which Trump, in his final tweet before being kicked off the platform, described as “the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long.” And three months after the fact, a majority of Republicans still believe the Big Lie.

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A Large Share Of Republicans Want Trump To Remain Head Of The Party Cnbc Survey Shows

A CNBC survey conducted in the days before former President Donald Trump‘s impeachment trial finds a large share of Republicans want him to remain head of their party, but a majority of Americans want him out of politics.

The CNBC All-America Economic Survey shows 54% of Americans want Trump “to remove himself from politics entirely.” That was the sentiment of 81% of Democrats and 47% of Independents, but only 26% of Republicans.

When it comes to Republicans, 74% want him to stay active in some way, including 48% who want him to remain head of the Republican Party, 11% who want him to start a third party, and 12% who say he should remain active in politics but not as head of any party.

“If we’re talking about Donald Trump’s future, at the moment, the survey shows he still has this strong core support within his own party who really want him to continue to be their leader,” said Jay Campbell, a partner with Hart Research and the Democratic pollster for the survey.

But Micah Roberts, the survey’s Republican pollster, and a partner with Public Opinion Strategies, emphasized the change from when Trump was president. Polls before the election regularly showed Trump with GOP approval ratings around 90%, meaning at least some Republicans have defected from Trump.

Squawk on the Street

Trump Mike Lindell And Why The August Election Conspiracy Should Worry Republicans

In late May, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell appeared on Steve Bannon’s podcast, “War Room,” and said: “Donald Trump, I believe, will be back in by the end of August.” He also said that eventually even liberals such as Rachel Maddow would admit that the election was stolen. Lindell’s bizarre theory is that all Team Trump needs is a shred of proof of election fraud to overturn the entire election. Trump and others are watching the Republican-backed audit in Arizona because they believe in a “domino theory” — if Arizona ballots can be proven to be fraudulent, election results in other battleground states that President Joe Biden won can also be overturned.

There is, of course, no legal or factual basis backing up any of this.

Lindell’s bizarre theory is that all Team Trump needs is a shred of proof of election fraud to overturn the entire election.

‘this Was A Scam’: In Recorded Call Trump Pushed Official To Overturn Georgia Vote

It’s worth noting that, even without Georgia, Trump won 13 states where slavery had once been legal and these states provided nearly 70% of his Electoral College votes.

The move to the right, and the focus on the South, have been the route to renewed success for Republicans again and again.

It was there Trump began his big rally strategy nearly six years ago. It was there he would emerge as the clear front-runner for the nomination in 2016 by winning South Carolina’s primary, dominating among the staunchest conservatives in that legendary bastion of Southern independence.

So it seemed more than appropriate that South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham would be the first Republican senator summoned to confer with Trump about the party’s plans after the impeachment trial ended. And appropriate that the meeting took place at Mar-a-Lago, in Florida, where Trump has relocated his legal residence and political operation.

If Trump is to rise again, it will once again be as a born-again conservative and an adopted son of the South. And if the next Republican is not Trump, nearly all the top contenders to succeed him are from states with at least one college football team in the Southeastern Conference.

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Trump Blasts Mcconnell And His Leadership In Lengthy Response To Recent Criticism

Where will the party turn in its hour of crisis? If the past is any guide, it will turn in two directions: to the right, and to the South. These have been the wellsprings of strength and support that have brought the party back from the brink in recent decades.

That was the strategy that led to Richard Nixon’s elections as president in 1968 and 1972, and it was still working for Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.

Solidifying the South and energizing conservatives were also crucial factors in the Republican tsunami of 1994, when the GOP surged to majorities in Congress and in statehouses. That hamstrung the remainder of Bill Clinton’s presidency and presaged the election of Republican George W. Bush in 2000.

It was a lesson not lost on Trump. While not even a Republican until late in life, he started his primary campaign billboarding the party’s most conservative positions on taxes, trade, immigration and abortion. And the first of his rallies to draw a crowd in the tens of thousands was in a football stadium in Mobile, Ala., two months after he declared his candidacy in the summer of 2015.

Whether the next standard-bearer for the GOP is Trump himself or someone else, there is little doubt the playbook will be the same.

Low points, then turnarounds

Perhaps the most discouraging of these for the GOP was Johnson’s tidal wave, which carried in the biggest majorities Democrats in Congress had enjoyed since the heyday of Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal.

Why Do Republicans Still Back Trump The Answer Is Simple: Attitude And Gratitude

Scott Jennings | Los Angeles Times

Why do Republicans stick with Donald Trump?

It’s a question I’m asked again and again by Democrats, “Never Trumpers”, and journalists. But the answer is simple.   Attitude and Gratitude.

For years, Republican voters wanted someone — anyone — to come along and do two things: Stick it to the Clintons and punch back against the media-Democratic Party alliance that fires on every Republican brave enough to stick a head out of the foxhole.

If you attended any GOP fundraiser or grassroots event between 2000 and 2016 — and I went to hundreds — you heard this sentiment over and over. And over. And over.

The secret sauce is Trump’s continued deliverance of an attitude for which Republicans thirsted for years.

For Republicans, it seemed like those awful Clintons got to play by a different set of rules than the rest of us. And they always seemed so smug about it. Many had tried and failed to oppose them. The first Bush and Bob Dole, decent men and dedicated public servants, were steamrolled by the Clintons in ’90s.

Sure, we had George W. Bush after Clinton was termed out, and Obama managed to knock Hillary down a peg in 2008. But she still wound up Secretary of State while Bill traveled the world, racking up speaking fees and foundation tributes that would embarrass Croesus himself. Damn those Clintons.

The natural conclusion of this pent-up anger finally boiled over in 2016!

Have Expressed Reluctance Or Misgivings But Havent Openly Dropped Their Backing

Paul Ryan and John Boehner, the former speakers of the House: Both have expressed their dislike of the president, but have not said whom they will support in November.

John Kelly, a former chief of staff to the president: Mr. Kelly has not said whom he plans to vote for, but did say he wished “we had some additional choices.”

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska: She has said that she’s grappling with whether to support Mr. Trump in November. She told reporters on Capitol Hill in June: “I am struggling with it. I have struggled with it for a long time.”

She said: “I think right now, as we are all struggling to find ways to express the words that need to be expressed appropriately, questions about who I’m going to vote for or not going to vote for, I think, are distracting at the moment. I know people might think that’s a dodge, but I think there are important conversations that we need to have as an American people among ourselves about where we are right now.”

Mark Sanford, a former congressman and governor of South Carolina: Mr. Sanford briefly challenged the president in this cycle’s Republican primary, and said last year that he would support Mr. Trump if the president won the nomination .

That has since changed.

“He’s treading on very thin ice,” Mr. Sanford said in June, worrying that the president is threatening the stability of the country.

Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.

Republicans Still Orbiting Trump Dark Star Fail To Derail Bidens First 100 Days

Trump continues to exert a massive gravitational pull on the party while the president forges ahead with ambitious agenda

Last modified on Tue 27 Apr 2021 07.01 BST

For Democrats it has been a hundred days of sweeping legislation, barrier-breaking appointments and daring to dream big. For Republicans, a hundred days in the political wilderness.

The party that just four years ago controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress now finds itself shut out of power and struggling to find its feet. As Joe Biden forges ahead with ambitions to shift the political paradigm, Republicans still have a Donald Trump problem.

The former US president remains the unofficial leader of the party and exerts a massive gravitational pull on its senators, representatives, governors and state parties. Obsessed with “culture wars” and voter fraud, the Trump distortion field has made it difficult for Republicans to move on.

“Trump is like a fire,” said Ed Rogers, a political consultant and a veteran of the Ronald Reagan and George H W Bush administrations. “Too close and you get burned. Too far away, you’re out in the cold. So the party spends a lot of time talking about the fire, managing the fire, orbiting the fire. It takes a lot of energy out of the party.”

It’s a lot easier to grift on people’s fears of other people and prey on their concerns about culture wars that really don’t exist

Trump is still sucking all of the oxygen out of the room for Republicans

‘combative Tribal Angry’: Newt Gingrich Set The Stage For Trump Journalist Says

All these factors combined to produce a windfall for Republicans all over the country in the midterms of 1994, but it was a watershed election in the South. For more than a century after Reconstruction, Democrats had held a majority of the governorships and of the Senate and House seats in the South. Even as the region became accustomed to voting Republican for president, this pattern had held at the statewide and congressional levels.

But in November 1994, in a single day, the majority of Southern governorships, Senate seats and House seats shifted to the Republicans. That majority has held ever since, with more legislative seats and local offices shifting to the GOP as well. The South is now the home base of the Republican Party.

The 2020 aftermath

No wonder that in contesting the results in six swing states he lost, Trump seems to have worked hardest on Georgia. If he had won there, he still would have lost the Electoral College decisively. But as the third most populous Southern state, and the only Southern state to change its choice from 2016, it clearly held special significance.

Arizona Election Official Reacts To ‘check Your Six’ Threat From Republican

There was an exchange Thursday between Fox News’ John Roberts and Texas Rep. Kevin Brady that is remarkably telling about just how lost the Republican Party is at the moment.

Roberts: “President Donald Trump says the ‘Big Lie’ was the results of the 2020 election. Liz Cheney says, no, the ‘Big Lie’ was suggesting that the 2020 election was stolen. Between the two of them, who is right?”Brady: “I’ll leave that dispute to them.”alreadyhe is retiring

In each episode of his weekly YouTube show, Chris Cillizza will delve a little deeper into the surreal world of politics. Click to subscribe!

The Point: Political courage is in short supply among Republican elected officials these days. Very short supply.

Why Has No Trump Ally Faced Consequences For Trying To Overturn An Election

His solution is to insist that he won. To do this, he and his allies have devised an elaborate alternate reality in which he won the election but it was stolen from him through voter fraud.

Similarly, how does a would-be authoritarian retain power after having been ousted from office? Trump figured that one out, too: remain relevant by retaining control over the Republican Party. His election lies are a big part of this strategy, as well. It becomes self-fulfilling. The more people there are who believe the election was stolen, the more real it feels to Trump and the more he hammers the point home in speeches and blog posts.

List Of Republicans Who Opposed The Donald Trump 2020 Presidential Campaign

This article is part of a series about

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This is a list of Republicans and conservatives who opposed the re-election of incumbent Donald Trump, the 2020 Republican Party nominee for President of the United States. Among them are former Republicans who left the party in 2016 or later due to their opposition to Trump, those who held office as a Republican, Republicans who endorsed a different candidate, and Republican presidential primary election candidates that announced opposition to Trump as the presumptive nominee. Over 70 former senior Republican national security officials and 61 additional senior officials have also signed onto a statement declaring, “We are profoundly concerned about our nation’s security and standing in the world under the leadership of Donald Trump. The President has demonstrated that he is dangerously unfit to serve another term.”

A group of former senior U.S. government officials and conservatives—including from the Reagan, Bush 41, Bush 43, and Trump administrations have formed The Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform to, “focus on a return to principles-based governing in the post-Trump era.”

A third group of Republicans, Republican Voters Against Trump was launched in May 2020 has collected over 500 testimonials opposing Donald Trump.

Opinionwe Want To Hear What You Think Please Submit A Letter To The Editor

Such an embrace of insanity creates a cycle in which the Republican Party sheds itself of nonbelievers, finds ways to keep the true believers angry and engaged and unhinges itself even more thoroughly from reality and becomes, arguably, increasingly dangerous. The result is that conspiracy theorists like Mike Lindell have somehow become influential, despite their very clear record of belligerent gibberish. And Trump, as he has been for five-plus years now, remains at the center of the Republican Party as it veers deeper into a made-up reality.

Related:

On Trump Approval Asking Why Reveals Differences By Education Within Gop

Many pollsters, including our team here at SurveyMonkey, track President Trump’s approval rating, which has fallen to an all-time low. We wanted to delve deeper—to ask respondents not just whether they approve or disapprove of the job Donald Trump is doing as president, but why.

We did this in the simplest way possible: by immediately following our question on presidential approval with the open-ended question “Why?” This way, we can get explanations in respondents’ own words as to how they feel about our current Commander in Chief.

Republican Approvers: “Kept Promises” —  Republican Disapprovers: “Childish”

In SurveyMonkey’s most recent Trump approval update, 59% of people said they disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president.

What’s making these Republicans frustrated enough to split with their own party? To find out, we used structural topic modeling to explore how different groups of people explained their various reasons for approving or disapproving of President Trump. Structural topic modeling is a machine learning technique that discovers themes or “topics” within a large collection of responses, then predicts the prevalence of these topics according to certain respondent characteristics .

The graph below presents the differences in prevalence of various topics mentioned in response to our “Why?” follow-up, comparing responses among Republicans by whether they approve or disapprove of Trump’s performance as president .

Most Republicans Still Believe 2020 Election Was Stolen From Trump Poll

May opinion poll finds that 53% of Republicans believe Trump is the ‘true president’ compared with 3% of Democrats

Last modified on Fri 4 Jun 2021 19.39 BST

A majority of Republicans still believe Donald Trump won the 2020 US presidential election and blame his loss to Joe Biden on baseless claims of illegal voting, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.

The 17-19 May national poll found that 53% of Republicans believe Trump, their party’s nominee, is the “true president” now, compared with 3% of Democrats and 25% of all Americans.

About one-quarter of adults falsely believe the 3 November election was tainted by illegal voting, including 56% of Republicans, according to the poll. The figures were roughly the same in a poll that ran from 13-17 November which found that 28% of all Americans and 59% of Republicans felt that way.

Biden, a Democrat, won by more than 7m votes. Dozens of courts rejected Trump’s challenges to the results, but Trump and his supporters have persisted in pushing baseless conspiracy theories on conservative news outlets.

US federal and state officials have said repeatedly they have no evidence that votes were compromised or altered during the presidential election, rejecting the unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud advanced by Trump and many of his supporters. Voter fraud is extremely rare in the US.

Reuters contributed to this report

Why Does Donald Trump Still Seem To Hold Sway Over The Republican Party

Why — after leading the Republican Party during a period when it lost its majority in the US House of Representatives and the Senate and its power in the White House — does former president Donald Trump still seem to hold the Grand Old Party of Lincoln and Reagan in his thrall?

For US politics watchers, who on the weekend watched on as 43 Republican senators voted to acquit Trump of an act of reckless incitement played out in front of the cameras, that is the $64,000 question.

Or rather, it’s the 74,222,593-vote question.

That is the record number of Americans who voted for Donald Trump last November — more than has been cast for any previous president. Unfortunately for them, an even greater number — 81,281,502 — voted for his rival, now-President Joe Biden.

As much as anything else, those numbers sum up the quandary Republicans find themselves in.

They have lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections, and only remain competitive because older white voters, who tend to be more likely to support conservative candidates, also tend to vote in greater numbers in a non-compulsory electoral system.

Those same voters are also the most likely to cast a ballot in next year’s house and senate primaries, and the next midterm elections in November 2022 — which will again determine who holds power in congress. They are the voters who initially flocked to Donald Trump.

The Night In 1968 When A Nation Watched An American Presidency Crumble

When this fistful of five states defected, it was a stunner. They had resisted Republicans even when the Democrats nominated Northern liberals like Illinois’ Adlai Stevenson and Kennedy , who was not only a New Englander but a Catholic.

Before that they had stuck with the Democrats even in the party’s worst drubbings of the century, although some had left the fold for third-party attractions such as segregationist Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who left the Democrats for a time to form the States Rights Party in 1948.

This shift in Southern sensibilities in the 1960s was linked to the national Democrats’ embrace of the civil rights movement, the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts and then to the creation of Medicare and other “Great Society” programs in 1965.

To be sure, there were other factors buoying what had been the “party of Lincoln” in Dixie, including the arrival of affluent Northern retirees and of industries lured by the lower cost of labor.

But the salient issue was race. As Republican strategist Kevin Phillips expressed it to New York Times reporter James Boyd in 1970: “The more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans. That’s where the votes are.”

“The Southern Strategy”

Why Do Republicans Continue To Support Trump Despite Years Of Scandal

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It was late September last year when a whistleblower complaint revealed that President Trump had tried to force the Ukrainian government to investigate Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Within moments the scandal captured headlines. What followed was months of back and forth as Republicans supported the president while the Democrats used their political capital to get him impeached.

But this was not the first time  – or the last time – the president was caught in the middle of a scandal. Since the impeachment trial that followed the Ukraine incident, episodes from The New York Times uncovering unsavory details from President Trump’s tax returns, to his questionable dismissal of multiple Inspectors General, to his refusal to clearly condemn white supremacists have all sparked widespread media attention and partisan fighting in 2020. 

Although with his polls dropping, some Republicans may finally be distancing themselves from the President, the question has been regularly asked the past four years: why do the Republicans continue to support the President despite these troubling charges being leveled at him? And, what is it that the Democrats stand to gain from repeated allegations?

 In addition to demonstrating how polarization accelerates scandals, the paper also found that: 

Republicans Fear That Trump Has Set The Party Back By A Generation

Republican leaders and operatives have been expressing concerns recently about the fact that Donald Trump has drive away plenty of talented lawmakers and would-be Republicans because of his behavior. They now fear that his antics have set the Party back a generation, and this has now become a “generation of lost talent” for Republicans. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains why they feel this way and why its a scary thought, even for those who despise the GOP.

Transcript:

*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

Politico in recent weeks has spoken to more than 20 lawmakers, ex-lawmakers, top advisors, aids, and all sorts of other members of the Republican party, where they have all said the same thing. And that thing is that they’re terrified that Donald Trump has chased away what they call a generation of talent from the Republican Party. Here’s what they’re talking about. During the Trump years, we saw a record number of Republicans, including plenty of younger Republicans who could have had, you know, 10, 20, maybe even more years to keep running for office. Right. They were, they were in their prime. To be honest, Paul Ryan is one of those people, and I’m not saying we want any of those people in office, trust me. But these were people who had no reason to resign other than they understood the toxicity of Donald Trump, didn’t want any part of it. So there’s a lot of lost talent right there.

Republicans Fear Trump Will Lead To A Lost Generation Of Talent

The 45th president has brought new voices and voters to the party, but he’s driven them out too. Insiders fear the repercussions.

06/01/2021 04:30 AM EDT

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As Donald Trump ponders another presidential bid, top Republicans have grown fearful about what they’re calling the party’s “lost generation.”

In conversations with more than 20 lawmakers, ex-lawmakers, top advisers and aides, a common concern has emerged — that a host of national and statewide Republicans are either leaving office or may not choose to pursue it for fear that they can’t survive politically in the current GOP. The worry, these Republicans say, is that the party is embracing personality over policy, and that it is short sighted to align with Trump, who lost the general election and continues to alienate a large swath of the voting public with his grievances and false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Trump has driven sitting GOP lawmakers and political aspirants into early retirements ever since he burst onto the scene. But there was hope that things would change after his election loss. Instead, his influence on the GOP appears to be as solid as ever and the impact of those early shockwaves remain visible. When asked, for instance, if he feared the 45th president was causing a talent drain from the GOP ranks, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — perhaps inadvertently — offered a personal demonstration of the case.

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America’s National Debt Has Increased by $6.6 Trillion (Newsweek) Amid partisan arguments over how much federal aid should be approved to help ease the financial crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. national debt has increased by $6.6 trillion under President Donald Trump. When Trump took office in January 2017, the debt was at $19.9 trillion. As of July 27, according to the most recently available data, that number has grown to $26.5 trillion, Treasury Direct, a division of the Treasury Department, said.

With loan money gone, restaurants are at mercy of virus (AP) The check has arrived and beleaguered restaurant owners across America are looking down on their empty wallets. Government coronavirus loans in the spring helped eating establishments rehire laid-off employees and ride out the pandemic’s initial surge and wave of shutdown orders. But that Paycheck Protection Program money has now been spent at many restaurants, leaving them in the same precarious position they were in during outbreak’s early days: Thousands of restaurants are being forced to close down again on mandates from state and local officials combating the virus’s resurgence, particularly in the South and West. And even in parts of the country where the outbreak appears contained, restaurants’ revenue is far below normal because social distancing requirements—and wary diners—mean fewer tables, fewer customers and limited hours. Restaurants generally have a low profit margin, between 5% and 6%, and they achieve that only if they have a full house virtually every day, says Sean Kennedy, executive vice president for the trade group National Restaurant Association. They also tend to have only about two weeks of cash on hand, making them highly vulnerable when their sales are down.

Kids getting caught in crossfire as US gun violence surges (AP) July in Chicago ended as it began: Mourning the death of a child whose only mistake was venturing outside to play when someone armed with a gun came to the neighborhood hunting for an enemy. On Monday, two days after his department released statistics that revealed the month had been one of the deadliest in the history of the city, Police Superintendent David Brown repeated what has become a grim ritual of recounting the death of a child. This time, the story was about Janari Ricks. “Nine years old, (he) was shot and killed while doing what every child in our city should able to do without a second thought ... playing with friends on a warm summer evening just outside his front door,” said Brown. “Now, instead of planning for his future, Janari’s parents are arranging for their child’s funeral.” His death underscores a surge in gun violence in the United States that has been building all year. Just how many of the year’s victims are children is difficult to say. But every day headlines around the country tell story after story of children dying while doing nothing more than being children.

Isaias slams into the Carolinas, killing two and leaving hundreds of thousands without power (Washington Post) Tropical Storm Isaias slammed into the Carolinas Tuesday and quickly moved up the Eastern Seaboard, flooding coastal regions, spawning tornadoes and leaving at least two people dead, officials said. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) said more than 300,000 people are without power statewide. The fast-moving storm cut power to at least 400,000 people in Virginia and Maryland. Isaias is forecast to produce torrential rain, damaging winds, tornadoes and coastal flooding from Pennsylvania to Maine.

Southern California wildfire (AP) A wildfire in mountains east of Los Angeles that has forced thousands of people from their homes was sparked by a malfunctioning diesel vehicle, fire officials said Monday. The vehicle spewed burning carbon from its exhaust system, igniting several fires Friday on Oak Glen Road in Cherry Valley. The blaze in Riverside County, among several wildfires across California, had consumed more than 41 square miles (about 106 square kilometers) of dry brush and timber since it broke out Friday evening, fire officials said. As of Monday afternoon, it was just 5% contained and the fire along with coronavirus precautions made for added stress at an evacuation center, said John Medina, an American Red Cross spokesman. Volunteers used to “close contact” with evacuees have had to adjust their approach during a time of social distancing, Medina said. “I mean, that’s part of the recovery of a disaster, is that you have to show warmth and love and caring. And that’s hard when you’re standing 6 feet away. So that’s the biggest challenge,” Medina told KESQ-TV.

Irksome in Iceland, brusque in Britain? US envoys draw ire (AP) In Iceland, a nation so safe its president runs errands on a bicycle, U.S. Ambassador Jeffery Ross Gunter has left locals aghast with his request to hire armed bodyguards. Gunter has also enraged lawmakers by casually and groundlessly hitching Iceland to President Donald Trump’s controversial “China virus” label for the novel coronavirus. Not particularly diplomatic? Well, Gunter is hardly a diplomat by training. He’s a dermatologist. But he’s also a contributor to Trump’s campaign, and that landed him the post in Reykjavik. Gunter’s actions, and those of other politically connected U.S. ambassadors, highlight the risks that come with the peculiarly American institution of handing coveted diplomatic postings to campaign donors and presidential friends who have few other qualifications. “America is an extreme outlier in sending inexperienced and unqualified ambassadors,” said Barbara Stephenson, a former career foreign service officer, ambassador to Panama and ex-president of the American Foreign Service Association, the union that represents U.S. diplomats.

Retired Pope Benedict XVI ill after visit to Germany (AP) Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI has fallen ill after his return from a trip to his native Bavaria to visit his brother, who died a month ago, a German newspaper reported Monday. The daily Passauer Neue Presse quoted Peter Seewald, a biographer of the retired pontiff, as saying that the 93-year-old has been suffering from a facial infection since his return to Rome. Seewald described Benedict as being optimistic and talking about possibly writing himself if his strength picks up, though he said that Benedict is physically very frail. Benedict has lived at a monastery in the Vatican City since shortly after his retirement. Elected to the papacy in 2005 to succeed St. John Paul II, the former Joseph Ratzinger was the first pontiff in 600 years to resign the post.

Turkish Aggression Is NATO’s ‘Elephant in the Room’ (NYT) The warships were escorting a vessel suspected of smuggling weapons into Libya, violating a United Nations arms embargo. Challenged by a French naval frigate, the warships went to battle alert. Outnumbered and outgunned, the French frigate withdrew. But this mid-June naval showdown in the Mediterranean was not a confrontation of enemies. The antagonists were France and Turkey, fellow members of NATO, sworn to protect one another. A similarly hostile encounter between Turkey and a fellow NATO member happened just two weeks ago, when Turkish warplanes buzzed an area near the Greek island of Rhodes after Greek warships went on alert over Turkey’s intent to drill for undersea natural gas there. Turkey—increasingly assertive, ambitious and authoritarian—has become “the elephant in the room” for NATO, European diplomats say. But it is a matter, they say, that few want to discuss. A NATO member since 1952, Turkey is too big, powerful and strategically important—it is the crossroads of Europe and Asia—to allow an open confrontation, alliance officials suggest. A more aggressive, nationalist and religious Turkey is increasingly at odds with its Western allies over Libya, Syria, Iraq, Russia and the energy resources of the eastern Mediterranean.

China’s new digital currency (Financial Times) The People’s Bank of China is hoping its new digital currency will reduce the dominance of Alibaba and Tencent in digital payments, according to several people familiar with the thinking of the central bank. The experimental digital currency is on trial in a number of Chinese cities and the PBoC intends to use it to simplify digital payments and interbank settlements. Regulators and executives at Ant, Alibaba’s financial affiliate, said PBoC officials have Alipay and WeChat Pay, the dominant digital payments platforms, firmly in their crosshairs. The digital currency, if successful, is expected to change the financial landscape dramatically, and could be used for cross-border payments with trading partners including Hong Kong. Several observers predicted the experiment will hasten the internationalization of the renminbi and erode the status of the US dollar as the world’s only reserve currency.

Urgency to bear witness grows for last Hiroshima victims (AP) For nearly 70 years, until he turned 85, Lee Jong-keun hid his past as an atomic bomb survivor, fearful of the widespread discrimination against blast victims that has long persisted in Japan. But Lee, 92, is now part of a fast-dwindling group of survivors, known as hibakusha, that feels a growing urgency—desperation even—to tell their stories. These last witnesses to what happened 75 years ago this Thursday want to reach a younger generation that they feel is losing sight of the horror. The knowledge of their dwindling time—the average age of the survivors is more than 83 and many suffer from the long-lasting effects of radiation—is coupled with deep frustration over stalled progress in global efforts to ban nuclear weapons. According to a recent Asahi newspaper survey of 768 survivors, nearly two-thirds said their wish for a nuclear-free world is not widely shared by the rest of humanity, and more than 70% called on a reluctant Japanese government to ratify a nuclear weapons ban treaty.

Hundreds of Koreans flee as floods trigger landslides, sweep away cars (Reuters) South Korea’s longest spell of monsoon rain in seven years triggered floods that have forced more than 1,000 people to flee their homes and killed at least 13 people in landslides and swept-away cars, authorities said on Tuesday.

Manila lockdown (The Guardian) More than 27 million people have been put back into lockdown in and around the Philippines’ capital, as stricter measures are imposed in an attempt to halt the country’s spiralling coronavirus case numbers. The measures were reintroduced on Tuesday after the country’s infection tally topped 100,000 and a coalition of health groups issued a “distress signal” urging President Rodrigo Duterte to act.

Record heat, politics inflame Iraq’s electricity shortages (AP) In Iraq’s oil-rich south, the scorching summer months pose painful new choices in the age of the coronavirus: stay at home in the sweltering heat with electricity cut off for hours, or go out and risk the virus. This is Zain al-Abidin’s predicament. A resident of al-Hartha district, in Basra province, al-Abidin lost his job due to pandemic-related restrictions. During the day he listens helplessly to his four-month old daughter cry in the unbearable heat, too poor to afford private generators to offset up to eight-hour power cuts. “I have no tricks to deal with this but to pray to God for relief,” he said. As temperatures soar to record levels this summer—reaching 52 degrees Celsius (125 Fahrenheit) in Baghdad last week—Iraq’s power supply has fallen short of demand yet again, creating a spark for renewed anti-government protests. Iraq has imposed a strict lockdown and 24-hour curfew. So families have to pump fuel and money into generators or, if they can’t, suffer in stifling homes without air conditioning.

Over 100 killed, 4,000 injured in massive blast in Beirut (AP) A massive explosion rocked Beirut on Tuesday, flattening much of the port, damaging buildings across the capital and sending a giant mushroom cloud into the sky. At least 100 people were killed and 4,000 were injured, with bodies buried in the rubble, the Lebanese Red Cross said. Hours later, ambulances still carried away the wounded as army helicopters helped battle fires raging at the port. The sudden devastation overwhelmed a country already struggling with both the coronavirus pandemic and an economic crisis: Beirut hospitals quickly filled beyond capacity, pleading for blood supplies and generators to keep their lights on. The cause of the blast, which sparked fires, overturned cars and blew out windows and doors, was not immediately known. Abbas Ibrahim, chief of Lebanese General Security, said it might have been caused by highly explosive material that was confiscated from a ship some time ago and stored at the port. Local television channel LBC said the material was ammonium nitrate. The blast could be heard and felt as far away as Cyprus, more than 200 kilometers (180 miles) across the Mediterranean.

Israeli jets strike targets in Syria, nearly 24 hours after foiling attack in Golan Heights (Washington Post) Israeli military jets struck a number of targets in Syria on Monday night, nearly 24 hours after thwarting an attempt by a militant cell to plant explosive devices in the Golan Heights along the border with Syria, the Israeli army said in a statement. It said the strikes were in response to the incident that occurred around midnight Sunday, when Israeli troops spotted a squad from Syria placing explosive devices adjacent to the security fence in the Golan Heights. The Israeli military said in an earlier statement that both troops and aircraft fired on the group simultaneously, “identifying a hit.” “The Israel Defense Forces holds the Syrian government responsible for all activities originating from Syrian soil, and will continue operating with determination against any violation of Israeli sovereignty,” the military statement said.