1. #28801
    Invincible Member numberthirty's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    24,858

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tami View Post
    Another important question, is this considered an attack on Journalists?
    Quote Originally Posted by Ragged Maw View Post
    True. It wouldn't be a good look for Israel if that was the intent.
    Actually divining "Intent..." in this scenario is kind of a tough one.

    One guy's guess?

    They are well aware of just how unacceptable some of the things that they are about to do are, and took steps to take some of the ways that those things might get out off of the board.

  2. #28802
    Astonishing Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Posts
    3,411

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Ragged Maw View Post
    Well, the claim is that Hamas was setting up shop there in the hopes of AP being a "meat/PR shield". Even if true, I'll admit, this "passive" strategy to present Palestine as the "poor bullied lamb" seems to be working on hearts & minds abroad, judging by all the "free Palestine" hashtags. Not helped by the whole martyr romanticism Hamas fostered among the populace.
    It's a shitty situation. The UN recognizes Palestine yet only Hamas is helping them out against a western backed Israeli government. I can't blame Palestinians for siding with Hamas.

  3. #28803
    BANNED
    Join Date
    Dec 2018
    Posts
    9,358

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Ragged Maw View Post
    Well, the claim is that Hamas was setting up shop there in the hopes of AP being a "meat/PR shield". Even if true, I'll admit, this "passive" strategy to present Palestine as the "poor bullied lamb"
    All people are saying is that Palestine are poor and bullied.

    That's not the same as calling them lambs.

    Hamas is a radical militant organization and obviously they should be tried for their crimes in the same way Saddam should have been tried for his crimes at Halabja among other places (not that I am saying Hamas is the same as Saddam, their ledger's not quite as red mostly for their fewer resources and being out of power). But that doesn't mean Abu Ghraib isn't a war crime, that doesn't mean the actions of USA in Iraq and the entire war in question wasn't illegal and disproportionate and a violation of international law.

    Two or three or more things can be true at once. The actions of Hamas are obviously selfish and provocative and done in the hope of building up collateral damage for them to wave bloody shirts with, but that doesn't mean that Israel shouldn't have taken the bait that they shouldn't have kicked the hornet's nest or that they aren't the powerful actor in this self-created drama.

    Not helped by the whole martyr romanticism Hamas fostered among the populace.
    There's nothing romantic about people in East Jerusalem being evicted from their homes, or the fact that one of the holiest sites in Islam (and the other Abrhamic faiths), on land that has been volatile hot potato since the 1000s CE was subject to a police raid (seriously one of the all-time dumbest police actions in the 2 decade easily).
    Last edited by Revolutionary_Jack; 05-15-2021 at 02:44 PM.

  4. #28804
    Ultimate Member Robotman's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    California
    Posts
    12,030

    Default

    Elise Stefanik cites "bizarre and ominous" pledge to Trump at press conference


    Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) used the occasion of her elevation to a Republican Party leadership position -- in place of the ousted Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) -- to announce her intention to work with "President Trump," which set off a flurry of criticism reminding the GOP lawmaker that the one-term Trump is out of office and no longer part of the government.

    Stefanik's comment, made at a press conference, was noted by historian Michael Beschloss who tweeted, "Bizarre and ominous for Stefanik to feel compelled to announce, referring to House Republicans, "We are unified in working with President Trump." Congress is co-equal branch and Trump no longer President, having been thrown out by US voters (as it should not need to be said)."

  5. #28805
    BANNED
    Join Date
    Dec 2018
    Posts
    9,358

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Robotman View Post
    Elise Stefanik cites "bizarre and ominous" pledge to Trump at press conference


    Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) used the occasion of her elevation to a Republican Party leadership position -- in place of the ousted Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) -- to announce her intention to work with "President Trump," which set off a flurry of criticism reminding the GOP lawmaker that the one-term Trump is out of office and no longer part of the government.

    Stefanik's comment, made at a press conference, was noted by historian Michael Beschloss who tweeted, "Bizarre and ominous for Stefanik to feel compelled to announce, referring to House Republicans, "We are unified in working with President Trump." Congress is co-equal branch and Trump no longer President, having been thrown out by US voters (as it should not need to be said)."
    Stefanik's rise to the top is one of the most cynical gambles I've seen, something worthy of a rejected script of a bad Aaron Sorkin show.

    Let's see where it lands her.

  6. #28806
    Old school comic book fan WestPhillyPunisher's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Philadelphia, PA
    Posts
    31,192

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by shooshoomanjoe View Post
    I'm sure the US would still support the Israeli government whether it was or wasn't a war crime.
    I worry the US might have no choice. To express even mild criticism of Israel is political suicide.
    Avatar: Here's to the late, great Steve Dillon. Best. Punisher. Artist. EVER!

  7. #28807
    Ultimate Member Robotman's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    California
    Posts
    12,030

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by WestPhillyPunisher View Post
    I worry the US might have no choice. To express even mild criticism of Israel is political suicide.
    Well there’s still a huge population of Americans who believe Jesus will only return to earth when Israel is totally secured. The death cult anxiously awaiting the End Times when all the wicked people will be punished and all the true believers and red blooded Americans will ascend into heaven. So Israel can do whatever they want and we aren’t allowed to question them.

  8. #28808
    BANNED
    Join Date
    Dec 2018
    Posts
    9,358

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by WestPhillyPunisher View Post
    I worry the US might have no choice. To express even mild criticism of Israel is political suicide.
    To be honest, I'm not sure if that's true. The Overton Window for criticism of Israel has really widened. The mainstream media's portrayal of the Israel-Palestine conflict is the most critical of Israel I've seen yet.

    And even then I don't think criticism of Israel was ever that big a dealbreaker. It was more a way to prove one was smart about geopolitics and American interests and a way to sound "realistic" about things.

    The thing is that Americans in general don't know anything about Israel-Palestine aside from the fact that it's really really complex. Most are uninformed and emotionally unengaged. Netanyahu himself is deeply unpopular in America because of his bad relationship with the super-popular Barack Obama and he's been PM way too long for people to remember or know any other aspect of Israeli politics (like Yitzhak Rabin who was widely respected).

  9. #28809
    Astonishing Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Posts
    3,411

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Revolutionary_Jack View Post
    To be honest, I'm not sure if that's true. The Overton Window for criticism of Israel has really widened. The mainstream media's portrayal of the Israel-Palestine conflict is the most critical of Israel I've seen yet.

    And even then I don't think criticism of Israel was ever that big a dealbreaker. It was more a way to prove one was smart about geopolitics and American interests and a way to sound "realistic" about things.

    The thing is that Americans in general don't know anything about Israel-Palestine aside from the fact that it's really really complex. Most are uninformed and emotionally unengaged. Netanyahu himself is deeply unpopular in America because of his bad relationship with the super-popular Barack Obama and he's been PM way too long for people to remember or know any other aspect of Israeli politics (like Yitzhak Rabin who was widely respected).
    I don't know about that. The Israeli government deliberately killed 30+ sailors on the USS liberty and the US remained allies with them.

  10. #28810
    Invincible Jersey Ninja Tami's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    32,107

    Default

    The Israeli Government and Hamas are two street gangs fighting over territory and other things, meanwhile, civilians on both sides are the casualties. I think that the Israeli Government bears much of the blame considering that there is much they could have done to ease tensions and help the Palestinians. The only way to stop Hamas would be to remove the cause that they are supposedly fighting for, which means stop treating the Palestinians like, well, whatever term best describes how the Israeli Govt treats them. I have heard it described much like Apartheid or something worse.
    Original join date: 11/23/2004
    Eclectic Connoisseur of all things written, drawn, or imaginatively created.

  11. #28811
    The Nature Boy AnakinFlair's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Saint Ann, MO
    Posts
    5,492

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Ragged Maw View Post
    True. It wouldn't be a good look for Israel if that was the intent.
    I don't think the Israeli government cares about what looks good anymore. They know they could do anything and the United States would still support them.


    Quote Originally Posted by Hellion View Post
    I appreciate getting to hear these takes on the latest violence in the Israel-Palestine conflict. If anyone's interested in learning more about the roots of the conflict, and roughly 3,000 years of bloodshed over Jerusalem, I recommend historian Simon Montefiore's book Jerusalem: The Biography. Vigorously researched but written in an accessible manner, the book opened my eyes and turned my stomach at the same time. The adherents of the Abrahamic religions have been fighting over this city forever. It's as fascinating as it is baffling. I almost wonder if the best solution isn't to just utterly demolish the sandbox and force the children to finally grow up.

    I've felt for years that the only way the fighting would stop over there is if Jerusalem were utterly destroyed, down to the bedrock.

  12. #28812
    Astonishing Member JackDaw's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    4,349

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by AnakinFlair View Post


    I've felt for years that the only way the fighting would stop over there is if Jerusalem were utterly destroyed, down to the bedrock.
    I can’t think of any way that could be done without making things even worse. Indeed several times worse.

  13. #28813

    Default


    On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, as well as 2020, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day published profiles about Daryl Metcalfe, a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives since 1998 who has, in his ten terms in office, supplied the state legislature with more controversy that perhaps any other member. Back in 2008, he refused to vote for a simple resolution to wish a convention of Muslims that would be visiting the state well, because "Muslims do not recognize Jesus as God," earning him a rebuke from many lawmakers (including Jewish ones who realize the same logic can apply to them).

    Metcalfe also opposed recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness month because "it had a homosexual agenda", has called military veterans who believe in climate change "traitors", and claims using the 14th Amendment to guarantee birthright citizenship causes people to make "anchor babies" for an "illegal alien invasion", claimed that refugee children from South America in the United States should be immediately deported because they "carry diseases", referred to President Obama's immigration policies as "treasonous", and supports immigration measures as strict as Arizona's SB 1070. (Even though Pennsylvania is pretty damned far away from Mexico, you know?)

    It should come as little surprise, then, that he has been photographed with, and is a big proponent of the anti-immigrant, anti-government militia group known as the OathKeepers. Metcalfe has been a guest on Alex Jones' InfoWars program where they discussed Israeli agents having infiltrated the Department of Homeland Security and how President Obama was supposedly enacting policies of Cold War communist nations, as well. Big surprise, he's also a Birther, having sponsored legislation to investigate presidential candidates' birth certificates, as well as bills to ban same sex marriage, create stricter Voter ID laws to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters in his state In 2016, and then still insisted that there were “thousands” of cases of voter fraud being perpetrated by people who were not American citizens in the 2016 elections, without any evidence. Metcalfe not only drew widespread criticism for not just sponsoring a bill that would be easily ruled constitutional if passed to make English the official language of the state, but he called Robert Vandevoort, a known White Nationalist leader, to serve as a witness to testify in the bill’s supposed benefits and Metcalfe felt that was okay because he was “just a White Nationalist” and not a White Supremacist.

    Metcalfe has become even more combative in recent years with Pennsylvania Democrats, who have staged walk-outs due to his insane ramblings calling for the impeachment of the state attorney general for not aggressively enforcing Pennsylvania's Defense of Marriage Act, blocked an LGBTQ anti-discrimination bill from advancing out of committee back on June 15th, 2016 because he spread the lie that transgendered people are attacking women in restrooms, and once ordered an openly gay legislator silenced during a debate about that bill because he "violates God's law".

    In December of 2017, when he was in a meeting discussing land use, and when Democratic Rep. Matt Bradford gently brushed up against Metcalfe’s forearm, he kicked his homophobia into overdrive:
    Two months later, while most of the country was compelled by the survivors of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida calling for gun control. Daryl Metcalfe instead went on social media to make several posts implying that the kids were actors by referring to them as, in quotes, “students”.

    Metcalfe’s main instability still comes from his raging homophobia. A few days after a heated exchange with Democratic legislator Leslie Acosta, who claimed he was threatened by Metcalfe, Metcalfe went on Facebook and not only called Acosta a liar, but deciding to add that Democratic legislator Bryan Sims was a “lying homosexual”.

    Even in a Blue Wave year like 2018, Metcalfe’s district is partisan enough it saw him re-elected with 58% of the vote. That victory was also not without Metcalfe exhibiting homophobia, as he sent out mailers grousing about his opponent, Daniel Smith Jr., of being in league with “liberal gay activist groups,” and posting an image of Smith with his husband, but referring to him as “the man he calls his ‘husband'”, in quotation marks, again, insinuating that he shouldn't have to regard the facts as they are.

    Metcalfe has flexed his lizard brain in the Pennsylvania state legislature in March 2019 and not just hosting a climate change skeptic to give testimony, but during the hearing, claiming that reducing carbon dioxide emissions would “kill his vegetables”.

    Daryl Metcalfe has been in office now for OVER TWO DECADES, and has been bugs*** insane the entire time. In 2020, he faced both a GOP Primary opponent in Scott Timko (true to his s***heel form, Metcalfe straight up referred to Timko as a “clown), but Metcalfe still survived re-election again in 2020, even though he was under investigation for misuse of taxpayer funds to the tune of $21,000 over the past three years for a “satellite office” no one ever uses that runs out of a tea kitchen’s basement.

    Perhaps predictably, Daryl Metcalfe is spreading as much misinformation as he can about Covid-19 vaccines, probably because increasing the death count would be yet another example of “owning the libs”, and he was one of the Pennsylvania state legislators who took the lead on Donald Trump’s lie that the election was somehow “stolen” from him even though it was lost by over seven million votes.
    X-Books Forum Mutant Tracker/FAQ- Updated every Tuesday.

  14. #28814
    Old school comic book fan WestPhillyPunisher's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Philadelphia, PA
    Posts
    31,192

    Default

    “I Put On My Helmet. And I Ran.” How One Journalist Experienced Israel’s Destruction Of A Media Tower

    Fares Akram grew up in Gaza city. As a reporter for the Associated Press, he worked in the building that Israel destroyed with airstrikes.

    **********

    Facebook Was Right To Ban Trump For ‘Egging On’ Violent Capitol Mob, Says Board Member

    Trump “put himself in this bed, and he can sleep in it,” former federal judge Michael McConnell told Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.” And yet, Facebook might reactivate his account. Mindblowing! Meanwhile....

    **********

    Donald Trump Bashes 2020 Presidential Election As ‘Crime Of The Century’

    The former president once again claimed the election was stolen from him, and argued that political polling was rigged as well. I've said this a few times here, Trump, never willing to accept he lost ANYTHING in his life will go to his grave believing he had been cheated out of a second term.

    **********

    Jim Crow Ballot ‘Purity’ Phrase Yanked From Texas Vote Suppression Bill At Last Minute

    GOP lawmakers ultimately decided not to advertise the segregationist nature of the voting measure. I wonder why they even bothered.

    **********

    America’s Deadly Domestic Extremism Worst In 24 Years, Reveals New FBI Report

    Most extremist killings in 2019 were committed by white supremacists. And that crazy train has only started rolling, but Qpublicans whine and bleat that the REAL menace is BLM and Antifa. Yeah, right.

    **********

    Rep. Eric Swalwell Blew His Top When Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Aide Told Him To Remove Mask

    “I’ve just frankly had enough with these marauding goons in the Marjorie Taylor Greene crowd,” said the Democrat, who admitted using some “choice” language.
    At this point, I fear it's only a matter of time before someone loses his (or her) **** and decks Trashy Greene or one of her sycophants.
    Last edited by WestPhillyPunisher; 05-16-2021 at 02:45 AM.
    Avatar: Here's to the late, great Steve Dillon. Best. Punisher. Artist. EVER!

  15. #28815
    Astonishing Member JackDaw's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    4,349

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by WestPhillyPunisher View Post

    Facebook Was Right To Ban Trump For ‘Egging On’ Violent Capitol Mob, Says Board Member

    Trump “put himself in this bed, and he can sleep in it,” former federal judge Michael McConnell told Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.” And yet, Facebook might reactivate his account. Mindblowing! Meanwhile....

    **********

    Donald Trump Bashes 2020 Presidential Election As ‘Crime Of The Century’

    The former president once again claimed the election was stolen from him, and argued that political polling was rigged as well. I've said this a few times here, Trump, never willing to accept he lost ANYTHING in his life will go to his grave believing he had been cheated out of a second term.
    Is it getting to point where there’s an equitable case to commit him to a psychiatric institution?

    The poor lamb is clearly delusional in a way that’s actually profoundly damaging to wider society.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •