The following was posted back in 2022. Nothing has changed, except that there are probably even more reasons not to vote for Trump today. Please send this list out to all of your friends and family and distant relatives and acquaintances and whoever you can get it to. Since then, he’s been indicted 34 times and found guilty on innumerable charges. The man is a dictator, a danger to democracy, and the biggest danger is the number of people who believe him. They do not understand that Hitler was elected by the people of Germany, and ultimately, WWII was fought to destroy Hitler and to keep him from destroying all of Europe and America. Today, we have the same enemy within our country. Every vote matters. Please make sure that you and everyone you know votes against Trump.

Can you help get this information out to the 85 million people who are still supporting Trump?

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It is beyond understanding that Americans who claim to believe in America Democracy could ever have supported Trump as president of the USA. 

One can only come to the conclusion that the people who have supported him and continue to support him are bent on the destruction of the Democracy under which we as nation have flourished for the past 200+ years.

These people are either utterly ignorant or total fascists. 

For those people who think that Trump was not so bad and who still support his return to twitter and to power, despite the fact that he committed insurrection against the government of the USA and continuous to hide documents of national security, here is a list of some of his offenses. 

1. he incited an insurrection against the government.
2. mismanaged a pandemic that killed a million Americans,
3. separated children from their families, lost those children in the bureaucracy,
4. tear-gassed peaceful protesters on Lafayette Square so he could hold a photo op holding a Bible in front of a church,
5. tried to block all Muslims from entering the country,
6. got impeached,
7. got impeached again,
8. had the worst jobs record of any president in modern history,
9. pressured Ukraine to dig dirt on Joe Biden,
10. fired the FBI director for investigating his ties to Russia,
11. bragged about firing the FBI director on TV,
12. took Vladimir Putin’s word over the US intelligence community,
13. diverted military funding to build his wall,
14. caused the longest government shutdown in US history,
15. called Black Lives Matter a “symbol of hate,”
16. lied nearly 30,000 times,
17. banned transgender people from serving in the military,
18. ejected reporters from the White House briefing room who asked tough questions,
19. vetoed the defense funding bill because it renamed military bases named for Confederate soldiers,
20. refused to release his tax returns,
21. increased the national debt by nearly $8 TRILLION,
22. had three of the highest annual trade deficits in U.S. history,
23. called veterans and soldiers who died in combat losers and suckers,
24. coddled the leader of Saudi Arabia after he ordered the execution and dismembering of a US-based journalist,
25. refused to concede the 2020 election,
26. hired his unqualified daughter and son-in-law to work in the White House,
27. walked out of an interview with Lesley Stahl,
28. called neo-Nazis “very fine people,”
29. suggested that people should inject bleach into their bodies to fight COVID,
30. abandoned our allies the Kurds to Turkey,
31. pushed through massive tax cuts for the wealthiest but balked at helping working Americans,
32. incited anti-lockdown protestors in several states at the height of the pandemic,
33. withdrew the US from the Paris climate accords,
34. withdrew the US from the Iranian nuclear deal,
35. withdrew the US from the Trans Pacific Partnership which was designed to block China’s advances,
36. insulted his own Cabinet members on Twitter,
37. pushed the leader of Montenegro out of the way during a photo op,
38. failed to reiterate US commitment to defending NATO allies,
39. called Haiti and African nations “shithole” countries,
40. called the city of Baltimore the “worst in the nation,”
41. claimed that he single handedly brought back the phrase “Merry Christmas” even though it hadn’t gone anywhere,
42. forced his Cabinet members to praise him publicly like some cult leader,
43. believed he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize,
44. berated and belittled his hand-picked Attorney General when he recused himself from the Russia probe,
45. suggested the US should buy Greenland,
46. colluded with Mitch McConnell to push through federal judges and two Supreme Court justices after supporting efforts to prevent his predecessor from appointing judges,
47. repeatedly called the media “enemies of the people,”
48. claimed that if we tested fewer people for COVID we’d have fewer cases,
49. violated the emoluments clause,
50. thought that Nambia was a country,
51. told Bob Woodward in private that the coronavirus was a big deal but then downplayed it in public,
52. called his exceedingly faithful vice president a “p—y” for following the Constitution,
53. nearly got us into a war with Iran after threatening them by tweet,
54. nominated a corrupt head of the EPA,
55. nominated a corrupt head of HHS,
56. nominated a corrupt head of the Interior Department,
57. nominated a corrupt head of the USDA,
58. praised dictators and authoritarians around the world while criticizing allies,
59. refused to allow the presidential transition to begin,
60. insulted war hero John McCain – even after his death,
61. spent an obscene amount of time playing golf after criticizing Barack Obama for playing (far less) golf while president,
62. falsely claimed that he won the 2016 popular vote,
63. called the Muslim mayor of London a “stone cold loser,”
64. falsely claimed that he turned down being Time’s Man of the Year,
65. considered firing special counsel Robert Mueller on several occasions,
66. mocked wearing face masks to guard against transmitting COVID,
67. locked Congress out of its constitutional duty to confirm Cabinet officials by hiring acting ones,
68. used a racist dog whistle by calling COVID the “China virus,”
69. hired and associated with numerous shady figures that were eventually convicted of federal offenses including his campaign manager and national security adviser,
70. pardoned several of his shady associates,
71. gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two congressmen who amplified his batshit crazy conspiracy theories,
72. got into telephone fight with the leader of Australia(!),
73. had a Secretary of State who called him a moron,
74. forced his press secretary to claim without merit that his was the largest inauguration crowd in history,
75. botched the COVID vaccine rollout,
76. tweeted so much dangerous propaganda that Twitter eventually banned him,
77. charged the Secret Service jacked-up rates at his properties,
78. constantly interrupted Joe Biden in their first presidential debate,
79. claimed that COVID would “magically” disappear,
80. called a U.S. Senator “Pocahontas,”
81. used his Twitter account to blast Nordstrom when it stopped selling Ivanka’s merchandise,
82. opened up millions of pristine federal lands to development and drilling,
83. got into a losing tariff war with China that forced US taxpayers to bail out farmers,
84. claimed that his losing tariff war was a win for the US,
85. ignored or didn’t even take part in daily intelligence briefings,
86. blew off honoring American war dead in France because it was raining,
87. redesigned Air Force One to look like the Trump Shuttle,
88. got played by Kim Jung Un and his “love letters,”
89. threatened to go after social media companies in clear violation of the Constitution,
90. botched the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico,
91. threw paper towels at Puerto Ricans when he finally visited them,
92. pressured the governor and secretary of state of Georgia to “find” him votes,
93. thought that the Virgin islands had a President,
94. drew on a map with a Sharpie to justify his inaccurate tweet that Alabama was threatened by a hurricane,
95. allowed White House staff to use personal email accounts for official businesses after blasting Hillary Clinton for doing the same thing,
96. rolled back regulations that protected the public from mercury and asbestos,
97. pushed regulators to waste time studying snake-oil remedies for COVID,
98. rolled back regulations that stopped coal companies from dumping waste into rivers,
99. held blatant campaign rallies at the White House,
100. tried to take away millions of Americans’ health insurance because the law was named for a Black man,
101. refused to attend his successors’ inauguration,
102. nominated the worst Education Secretary in history,
103. threatened judges who didn’t do what he wanted,
104. attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci,
105. promised that Mexico would pay for the wall (it didn’t),
106. allowed political hacks to overrule government scientists on major reports on climate change and other issues,
107. struggled navigating a ramp after claiming his opponent was feeble,
108. called an African-American Congresswoman “low IQ,”
109. threatened to withhold federal aid from states and cities with Democratic leaders,
110. went ahead with rallies filled with maskless supporters in the middle of a pandemic,
111. claimed that legitimate investigations of his wrongdoing were “witch hunts,”
112. seemed to demonstrate a belief that there were airports during the American Revolution,
113. demanded “total loyalty” from the FBI director,
114. praised a conspiracy theory that Democrats are Satanic pedophiles,
115. completely gutted the Voice of America,
116. placed a political hack in charge of the Postal Service,
117. claimed without evidence that the Obama administration bugged Trump Tower,
118. suggested that the US should allow more people from places like Norway into the country,
119. suggested that COVID wasn’t that bad because he recovered with the help of top government doctors and treatments not available to the public,
120. overturned energy conservation standards that even industry supported,
121. reduced the number of refugees the US accepts,
122. insulted various members of Congress and the media with infantile nicknames,
123. gave Rush Limbaugh a Presidential medal of Freedom at the State of the Union address,
124. named as head of federal personnel a 29-year old who’d previously been fired from the White House for allegations of financial improprieties,
125. eliminated the White House office of pandemic response,
126. used soldiers as campaign props,
127. fired any advisor who made the mistake of disagreeing with him,
128. demanded the Pentagon throw him a Soviet-style military parade,
129. hired a shit ton of white nationalists,
130. politicized the civil service,
131. did absolutely nothing after Russia hacked the U.S. government,
132. falsely said the Boy Scouts called him to say his bizarre Jamboree speech was the best speech ever given to the Scouts,
133. claimed that Black people would overrun the suburbs if Biden won,
134. insulted reporters of color,
135. insulted women reporters,
136. insulted women reporters of color,
137. suggested he was fine with China’s oppression of the Uighurs,
138. attacked the Supreme Court when it ruled against him,
139. summoned Pennsylvania state legislative leaders to the White House to pressure them to overturn the election,
140. spent countless hours every day watching Fox News,
141. refused to allow his administration to comply with Congressional subpoenas,
142. hired Rudy Giuliani as his lawyer,
143. tried to punish Amazon because the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post wrote negative stories about him,
144. acted as if the Attorney General of the United States was his personal attorney,
145. attempted to get the federal government to defend him in a libel lawsuit from a prominent lady who accused him of sexual assault,
146. held private meetings with Vladimir Putin without staff present,
147. didn’t disclose his private meetings with Vladimir Putin so that the US had to find out via Russian media,
148. stopped holding press briefings for months at a time,
149. “ordered” US companies to leave China even though he has no such power,
150. led a political party that couldn’t even be bothered to draft a policy platform,
151. claimed preposterously that Article II of the Constitution gave him absolute powers,
152. tried to pressure the U.K. to hold the British Open at his golf course,
153. suggested that the government nuke hurricanes,
154. suggested that wind turbines cause cancer,
155. said that he had a special aptitude for science,
156. fired the head of election cyber security after he said that the 2020 election was secure,
157. blurted out classified information to Russian officials,
158. tried to force the G7 to hold their meeting at his failing golf resort in Florida,
159. fired the acting attorney general when she refused to go along with his unconstitutional Muslim travel ban,
160. hired notorious racist Stephen Miller,
161. openly discussed national security issues in the dining room at Mar-a-Lago where everyone could hear them,
162. interfered with plans to relocate the FBI because a new development there might compete with his hotel,
163. abandoned Iraqi refugees who’d helped the U.S. during the war,
164. tried to get Russia back into the G7,
165. held a COVID super spreader event in the Rose Garden,
166. seemed to believe that Frederick Douglass is still alive,
167. lost 60 election fraud cases in court including before judges he had nominated,
168. falsely claimed that factories were reopening when they weren’t,
169. shamelessly exploited terror attacks in Europe to justify his anti-immigrant policies,
170. still hasn’t come up with a healthcare plan,
171. still hasn’t come up with an infrastructure plan despite repeated “Infrastructure Weeks,”
172. forced Secret Service agents to drive him around Walter Reed while contagious with COVID,
173. told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by,”
174. fucked up the Census,
175. withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization in the middle of a pandemic,
176. did so few of his duties that his press staff were forced to state on his daily schedule “President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings,”
177. allowed his staff to repeatedly violate the Hatch Act,
178. seemed not to know that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican,
179. stood before sacred CIA wall of heroes and bragged about his election win,
180. constantly claimed he was treated worse than any president which presumably includes four that were assassinated and his predecessor whose legitimacy and birthplace were challenged by a racist reality TV show star named Donald Trump,
181. claimed Andrew Jackson could’ve stopped the Civil War even though he died 16 years before it happened,
182. said that any opinion poll showing him behind was fake,
183. claimed that other countries laughed at us before he became president when several world leaders were literally laughing at him,
184. claimed that the military was out of ammunition before he became President,
185. created a commission to whitewash American history,
186. retweeted anti-Islam videos from one of the most racist people in Britain,
187. claimed ludicrously that the Pulse nightclub shooting wouldn’t have happened if someone there had a gun even though there was an armed security guard there,
188. hired a senior staffer who cited the non-existent Bowling Green Massacre as a reason to ban Muslims,
189. had a press secretary who claimed that Nazi Germany never used chemical weapons even though every sane human being knows they used gas to kill millions of Jews and others,
190. bilked the Secret Service for higher than market rates when they had to stay at Trump properties,
191. apparently sold pardons on his way out of the White House,
192. stripped protective status from 59,000 Haitians,
193. falsely claimed Biden wanted to defund the police,
194. said that the head of the CDC didn’t know what he was talking about,
195. tried to rescind protection from DREAMers,
196. gave himself an A+ for his handling of the pandemic,
197. tried to start a boycott of Goodyear tires due to an Internet hoax,
198. said U.S. rates of COVID would be lower if you didn’t count blue states,
199. deported U.S. veterans who served their country but were undocumented,
200. claimed he did more for African Americans than any president since Lincoln,
201. touted a “super-duper” secret “hydrosonic” missile which may or may not be a new “hypersonic” missile or may not exist at all,
202. retweeted a gif calling Biden a pedophile,
203. forced through security clearances for his family,
204. suggested that police officers should rough up suspects,
205. suggested that Biden was on performance-enhancing drugs,
206. tried to stop transgender students from being able to use school bathrooms in line with their gender,
207. suggested the US not accept COVID patients from a cruise ship because it would make US numbers look higher,
208. nominated a climate change sceptic to chair the committee advising the White House on environmental policy,
209. retweeted a video doctored to look like Biden
210. had played a song called “Fuck tha Police” at a campaign event,
211. hugged a disturbingly large number of U.S. flags,
212. accused Democrats of “treason” for not applauding his State of the Union address,
213. claimed that the FBI failed to capture the Parkland school shooter because they were “spending too much time” on Russia,
214. mocked the testimony of Dr Christine Blasey Ford when she accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault,
215. obsessed over low-flow toilets,
216. ordered the rerelease of more COVID vaccines when there weren’t any to release,
217. called for the construction of a bizarre garden of heroes with statutes of famous dead Americans as well as at least one Canadian (Alex Trebek),
218. hijacked Washington’s July 4th celebrations to give a partisan speech,
219. took advice from the MyPillow guy,
220. claimed that migrants seeking a better life in the US were dangerous caravans of drug dealers and rapists,
221. said nothing when Vladimir Putin poisoned a leading opposition figure,
222. never seemed to heed the advice of his wife’s “Be Best” campaign,
223. falsely claimed that mail-in voting is fraudulent,
224. announced a precipitous withdrawal of troops from Syria which not only handed Russia and ISIS a win but also prompted his defense secretary to resign in protest,
225. insulted the leader of Canada,
226. insulted the leader of France,
227. insulted the leader of Britain,
228. insulted the leader of Germany,
229. insulted the leader of Sweden (Sweden!!),
230. falsely claimed credit for getting NATO members to increase their share of dues,
231. blew off two Asia summits even though they were held virtually,
232. continued lying about spending lots of time at Ground Zero with 9/11 responders,
233. said that the Japanese would sit back and watch their “Sony televisions” if the US were ever attacked,
234. left a NATO summit early in a huff,
235. stared directly into an eclipse even though everyone over the age of 5 knows not to do that,
236. called himself a very stable genius despite significant evidence to the contrary,
237. refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power and kept his promise.
238. Don’t forget that he took many classified & top-secret documents with him when he left the White 

If you feel that this list is incomplete, please feel free to make any additions of your choice.

Biden has been going through some horrible personal tragedies with his son, Hunter. Hopefully the courts will cut Hunter some slack in support of his effort to successfully give up drugs. He is an unfortunate drag for Biden. It’s not just that Biden is 81 years old, it’s that he has these personal family tragedies to deal with, which would weigh heavily on anyone.

It is always important to remember that despite the criticism from the know-nothing, Trump-following right, he has still done more for this country during his Presidency than he is given credit for. After all, he did not just become President to take over the reigns of government, he had the great burden of trying to bring this country back from the disastrous path upon which Mr. Trump’s Presidency had taken it.

Below are some of the highlights from Biden’s Presidency, written by my colleague, David Caleb:

• Best economic recovery from COVID in the G7, WSJ calls the US economy right now “the envy of the world.” 
• GDP growth has averaged over 3% in Biden’s Presidency, 3 times higher than Trump averaged per year
• Lowest unemployment rate in a peacetime economy since WWII, jobs more plentiful today than at any time since the 1960s. 8 times as many Biden jobs in 40 months as last 3 GOP Presidents combined over 16 years. Overwhelming majority of Americans have never experienced a job market this robust and strong
• Inflation has fallen, dramatically, and prices of many goods, including many food items, continue to fall
• Very elevated wage gains, new business starts and prime-age worker participation rates
• Lowest uninsured rate in history, ACA signups this past year highest ever
• The annual deficit is trillions of dollars lower today than it was when Trump was in the White House
• Median wealth up 37% from 2020-2022; median wealth for 18-34 year olds in this period more than doubled
• The Biden Administration has erased more than $130b in student debt
• Homeownership rates for Gen Z were above both Millennials and Gen X at this point in their lives 
• Many cities and states have raised the minimum wage in recent years, creating a much higher income floor for young and low-wage workers
• Domestic oil production set records in 2023, and we are setting records with renewable energy production too. America is more energy-independent than it has been in decades
• Biden’s ambitious investment agenda will create growth, innovation, and opportunities for American workers for decades to come, and is already dramatically accelerating our energy transition from carbon-based fuels

Let’s operate with facts not feelings. Work hard. Worry less. Don’t allow Republicans to suppress your vote. Show up and vote on Nov 5 and bring 3 friends with you. 

There are many things affecting the quality of life in Manhattan. Aside from the lack of affordable housing, aside from the fact that the cost of living is so high that almost no one who works in the city can afford to live here, aside from the fact that there is still unnecessary piles of garbage on the streets, and on top of all of this, it is absolutely deafening to walk on the uneven pavements of the streets of Manhattan.

The constant tooting of horns, which once was illegal in the city of New York, the noises made by unnecessary racing of motors, and over acceleration by cars and trucks, the ridiculous sirens made by fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances, all contribute to the noise pollution that is deafening the city.

Any small distinctive tinkling sound made by a fire engine or ambulance should force traffic to pull aside and make space for these special vehicles. This is just common decency and is observed by every other city in the world.

Why do New Yorkers have to be hit with a sledge hammer in order to make way for an ambulance or fire engine? Cars revving their motors and drivers with their hands on the horns of their vehicles, trucks screeching along down the streets taking up half the space, all contributing to the noise pollution of the city.

In every other city of the world, trucks makes their deliveries in the off hours. In France and Paris it is illegal to toot your horn on any constant basis. People are respectful to the sound of an ambulance or fire engine and immediately move to the side to enable these vehicles to pass. 

There is something about the constant construction in Manhattan that makes no sense. Beautiful old buildings are constantly being torn down to be replaced by ugly modern glass construction or left like garbage dumps for years on end. Meanwhile, the city has not concentrated on solving the affordable housing problem, so this endless construction is creating a double problem. Constantly obliterating light, intensifying traffic, and not doing anything to make it possible for people to be able to afford to live in Manhattan.

Manhattan is becoming an island of very wealthy people with no services as it becomes increasingly expensive for people to commute into New york for work.

Some consideration needs to be given to preserve life in the city, and once again to make it possible for young people, artists, and workers to live in the city. Otherwise, we will increasingly see an unlivable noisy city with fewer amenities, fewer workers, and many empty buildings only benefiting the contractors who build them.  

While on the subject of Trump, let it be known, that no bank in the world would lend him money expect the Deutche Bank. This bank, was completely funded by Putin.

So here you have Donald Trump totally beholden to Putin for the rest of his life. Putin’s one and single aim in life ultimately is the destruction of the American Democracy, and of America.

Putin has done everything he can to control our cyber space, to disseminate misinformation, and in many ways he has been successful. Americans who get their misinformation from certain channels and media influencers on TikTok are being manipulated to undermine our Democracy by Putin, and Donald Trump, the would be President of The United States.

The importance of this is to get the word out to his supporters, who probably do not have the information about Trump’s relationship to Putin.

Everyone in America needs to be aware that our democracy is in danger of being destroyed. If you have lived through World War 2, you would know and remember that Hitler was elected by the people and his aim was not only to annihilate the Jews, of whom he killed 6 million, but also to conquer all of Europe and ultimately America as well.

Although Trump does not pretend to be conquerer, he would on the other hand destroy NATO, turn America over to Putin, and totally destroy the country as we have known it.

There is nothing more to say about Trump. He is a destroyer.

If you agree with the content of this blog, please forward it to your list, and ask them to forward it to theirs. This is the only way to reach a larger public.

How is it possible to even think of this man, Donald Trump, to represent the United States of America to the world.

A man who’s been indicted 3 times amounting to 88 felony charges, a man who is responsible for an attempted coup against the U.S. Government, a man who has told everyone in the world that if he were president of the United States, he would remove every benefit that’s been painfully won over the years to help every American rise on the socioeconomic latter.

He will destroy the base of our democracy.

It is very simple to be a dictator, which is exactly what Trump wants to be. It is very easy to tell people what to do and to force them to do it.

It is not simple and easy to govern a democracy. A democracy allows everyone the right to speak out and make demands of their government.

This is not a question of right or left or of the democratic party or republican party. This is purely a question of decency in government.

Trump who can barely read and write can be a dictator. He does not have either the knowledge or the ability to be a President. Even beyond his illiteracy, he is a known crook and a criminal.

Is this how America wants to be seen by the world? It should be totally inconceivable that this man could ever be considered for the Presidency of the United States of America.

Every American of voting age stand up, vote, and fight to preserve our democracy.

Recent letter sent to both Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul:

Dear Mayor Adams/Governor Hochul,

New buildings are being built in New York City every day, and none of them have public parking spaces required. The city and the state have got to do something about this. The streets can no longer be properly cleaned because there are cars parked on the streets all the time; buses cannot stay in their lanes because of these same cars that are parked. The city obviously requires and receives a certain amount of revenue from legal parking. If a consistent effort was made to create several floors of public parking in every building that’s built in the city, with the same charge as on-street parking, a dent could be made in areas of heavy traffic. Obviously, people living in certain parts of New York City and certain people who come to work every day need and have the right to have parking available to them at some reasonable cost. Public transportation does not solve all the transportation problems for everyone. 

These tall buildings have already destroyed the light and the view. They have obliterated the view of the Empire State Building and the beautiful Chrysler Building. Some renovation of the lower floors of these buildings should be made. At least if the cars are off the streets it would at least make up for a little bit of the destruction created.

The point is, these new tall buildings are being created, destroying the view of the city, destroying the light, and parking isn’t even included in the buildings. Taxes increase for the citizens of New York and the quality of life goes down. If these buildings are to be put up, the least they should have to do is include parking to make up for a small part of the damage that they are causing.

The other thing that makes New York increasingly difficult are the ridiculous, oversized public transport buses. There is no reason in this world to run these huge buses more than half empty from morning until night. They block traffic, they don’t stay in their lanes because of the cars parked in the streets, they serve no worthwhile purpose. It would be far better to have small buses and simply send more of them out at rush hour. Perhaps the drivers could be paid more like taxi drivers so that there would be no additional salary cost to the city of having extra buses. If they ran more frequently and were more reliable, that would also cut down on the need for private cars. In order to get parking off of the streets to clear traffic, parking must be provided elsewhere at the same cost. 

The problem in New York is that they allow new problems to be created on top of old ones instead of solving old ones first. 

I hope that you can focus some attention on this problem so that you can improve the quality of life in this great city of ours. 

Sincerely, 

Rita Fredricks Salzman

The origins of the present conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis go back for centuries. This article from History.com may shed some light on the background of this never-ending territorial conflict. All credit for the following information is given to History.com, and you can find the full article at this link: https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/history-of-israel#section_1

Early History of Israel 

Much of what scholars know about Israel’s ancient history comes from the Hebrew Bible. According to the text, Israel’s origins can be traced back to Abraham, who is considered the father of Judaism (through his son Isaac) and Islam (through his son Ishmael) and Christianity (through Isaac).

Abraham’s descendants were thought to be enslaved by the Egyptians for hundreds of years before settling in Canaan, which is approximately the region of modern-day Israel.

The word Israel comes from Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, who was renamed “Israel” by the Hebrew God in the Bible.

King David and King Solomon 

King David ruled the region around 1000 B.C. His son, who became King Solomon, is credited with building the first holy temple in ancient Jerusalem. In about 931 B.C., the area was divided into two kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south.

Around 722 B.C., the Assyrians invaded and destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel. In 568 B.C., the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the first temple, which was replaced by a second temple in about 516 B.C.

For the next several centuries, the land of modern-day Israel was conquered and ruled by various groups, including the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Fatimids, Seljuk Turks, Crusaders, Egyptians, Mamelukes, Islamists and others.

The Balfour Declaration 

From 1517 to 1917, what is today Israel, along with much of the Middle East, was ruled by the Ottoman Empire.

But World War I dramatically altered the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East. In 1917, at the height of the war, British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour submitted a letter of intent supporting the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The British government hoped that the formal declaration—known thereafter as the Balfour Declaration—would encourage support for the Allies in World War I.

When World War I ended in 1918 with an Allied victory, the 400-year Ottoman Empire rule ended, and Great Britain took control over what became known as Palestine (modern-day Israel, Palestine and Jordan).

The Balfour Declaration and the British mandate over Palestine were approved by the League of Nations in 1922. Arabs vehemently opposed the Balfour Declaration, concerned that a Jewish homeland would mean the subjugation of Arab Palestinians.

The British controlled Palestine until Israel, in the years following the end of World War II, became an independent state in 1947.

Conflict Between Jews and Arabs 

Throughout Israel’s long history, tensions between Jews and Arab Muslims have existed. The complex hostility between the two groups dates all the way back to ancient times when they both populated the area and deemed it holy.

Both Jews and Muslims consider the city of Jerusalem sacred. It contains the Temple Mount, which includes the holy sites al-Aqsa Mosque, the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock and more.

Much of the conflict in recent years has centered around who is occupying the following areas:

• Gaza Strip: A piece of land located between Egypt and modern-day Israel.
• Golan Heights: A rocky plateau between Syria and modern-day Israel.
• West Bank: A territory that divides part of modern-day Israel and Jordan.

The Zionism Movement 

In the late 19th and early 20th century, an organized religious and political movement known as Zionism emerged among Jews.

Zionists wanted to reestablish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Massive numbers of Jews immigrated to the ancient holy land and built settlements. Between 1882 and 1903, about 35,000 Jews relocated to Palestine. Another 40,000 settled in the area between 1904 and 1914.

Many Jews living in Europe and elsewhere, fearing persecution during the Nazi reign, found refuge in Palestine and embraced Zionism. After the Holocaust and World War II ended, members of the Zionist movement primarily focused on creating an independent Jewish state.

Arabs in Palestine resisted the Zionism movement, and tensions between the two groups continue. An Arab nationalist movement developed as a result.

Israeli Independence 

The United Nations approved a plan to partition Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state in 1947, but the Arabs rejected it.

In May 1948, Israel was officially declared an independent state with David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, as the prime minister.

While this historic event seemed to be a victory for Jews, it also marked the beginning of more violence with the Arabs.

1948 Arab-Israeli War 

Following the announcement of an independent Israel, five Arab nations—Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon—immediately invaded the region in what became known as the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Civil war broke out throughout all of Israel, but a cease-fire agreement was reached in 1949. As part of the temporary armistice agreement, the West Bank became part of Jordan, and the Gaza Strip became Egyptian territory.

Arab-Israeli Conflict 

Numerous wars and acts of violence between Arabs and Jews have ensued since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Some of these include:

• Suez Crisis: Relations between Israel and Egypt were rocky in the years following the 1948 war. In 1956, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser overtook and nationalized the Suez Canal, the important shipping waterway that connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. With the help of British and French forces, Israel attacked the Sinai Peninsula and retook the Suez Canal. 
• Six-Day War: In what started as a surprise attack, Israel in 1967 defeated Egypt, Jordan and Syria in six days. After this brief war, Israel took control of the Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, and Golan Heights. These areas were considered “occupied” by Israel.
• Yom Kippur War: Hoping to catch the Israeli army off guard, in 1973 Egypt and Syria launched air strikes against Israel on the Holy Day of Yom Kippur. The fighting went on for two weeks, until the UN adopted a resolution to stop the war. Syria hoped to recapture the Golan Heights during this battle but was unsuccessful. In 1981, Israel annexed the Golan Heights, but Syria continued to claim it as territory.
• Lebanon War: In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon and ejected the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). This group, which started in 1964 and declared all Arab citizens living in Palestine up to 1947 to be called “Palestinians,” focused on creating a Palestinian state within Israel.
• First Palestinian Intifada: Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank led to a 1987 Palestinian uprising and hundreds of deaths. A peace process, known as the Oslo Peace Accords, ended the Intifada (a Arabic word meaning “shaking off”). After this, the Palestinian Authority formed and took over some territories in Israel. In 1997, the Israeli army withdrew from parts of the West Bank.
• Second Palestinian Intifada: Palestinians launched suicide bombs and other attacks on Israelis in 2000. The resulting violence lasted for years, until a cease-fire was reached. Israel announced a plan to remove all troops and Jewish settlements from the Gaza strip by the end of 2005.

• Second Lebanon War: Israel went to war with Hezbollah—a Shiite Islamic militant group in Lebanon—in 2006. A UN-negotiated ceasefire ended the conflict a couple of months after it started.
• Hamas Wars: Israel has been involved in repeated violence with Hamas, a Sunni Islamist militant group that assumed Palestinian power in 2006. Some of the more significant conflicts took place beginning in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2021 and 2023.

Israel Today 

Clashes between Israelis and Palestinians are still commonplace. Key territories of land are divided, but some are claimed by both groups. For instance, they both cite Jerusalem as their capital.

Both groups blame each other for terror attacks that kill civilians. While Israel doesn’t officially recognize Palestine as a state, more than 135 UN member nations do.

In October 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally declared war on Hamas following a surprise deadly assault launched from Gaza by Hamas militants. 

The Two-State Solution 

Several countries have pushed for more peace agreements in recent years. Many have suggested a two-state solution but acknowledge that Israelis and Palestinians are unlikely to settle on borders.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has supported the two-state solution but has felt pressure to change his stance. Netanyahu has also been accused of encouraging Jewish settlements in Palestinian areas while still backing a two-state solution.

The United States is one of Israel’s closest allies. In a visit to Israel in May 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Netanyahu to embrace peace agreements with Palestinians. And in May 2018, the U.S. Embassy relocated from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which Palestinians perceived as signal of American support for Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Palestinians responded with protests at the Gaza-Israel border, which were met with Israeli force resulting in the deaths of dozens of protesters.

Sources:

History of Ancient Israel: Oxford Research Encyclopedias.

Creation of Israel, 1948: Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State.

The Arab-Israeli War of 1948: Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State.

History of Israel: Key events: BBC.

Israel: The World Factbook: U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Immigration to Israel: The Second Aliyah (1904 – 1914): Jewish Virtual Library.

Trump Comes to Israel Citing a Palestinian Deal as Crucial: The New York Times.

Palestine: Growing Recognition: Al Jazeera.

Mandatory Palestine: What It Was and Why It Matters: TIME.

This article pretty well covers the waterfront. It was written by Heather Cox Richardson as part of her Substack, Letters from an American. I give full credit to Heather Cox Richardson and am copying her full article below. If you are interested in subscribing to her amazing Substack go to https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com. It is well worth it.

April 30, 2024 

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

MAY 01, 2024

This morning, Time magazine published a cover story by Eric Cortellessa about what Trump is planning for a second term. Based on two interviews with Trump and conversations with more than a dozen of his closest advisors, the story lays out Trump’s conviction that he was “too nice” in his first term and that he would not make such a mistake again. 

Cortellessa writes that Trump intends to establish “an imperial presidency that would reshape America and its role in the world.” 

He plans to use the military to round up, put in camps, and deport more than 11 million people. He is willing to permit Republican-dominated states to monitor pregnancies and prosecute people who violate abortion bans. He will shape the laws by refusing to release funds appropriated by Congress (as he did in 2019 to try to get Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky to smear Hunter Biden). He would like to bring the Department of Justice under his own control, pardoning those convicted of attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and ending the U.S. system of an independent judiciary. In a second Trump presidency, the U.S. might not come to the aid of a European or Asian ally that Trump thinks isn’t paying enough for its own defense. Trump would, Cortelessa wrote, “gut the U.S. civil service, deploy the National Guard to American cities as he sees fit, close the White House pandemic-preparedness office, and staff his Administration with acolytes who back his false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen.”

To that list, former political director of the AFL-CIO Michael Podhorzer added on social media that if Trump wins, “he could replace [Supreme Court justices Clarence] Thomas, [Samuel] Alito, and 40+ federal judges over 75 with young zealots.” 

“I ask him, Don’t you see why many Americans see such talk of dictatorship as contrary to our most cherished principles?” Cortellessa wrote. No, Trump said. “‘I think a lot of people like it.” 

Time included the full transcripts and a piece fact-checking Trump’s assertions. The transcripts reflect the former president’s scattershot language that makes little logical sense but conveys impressions by repeating key phrases and advancing a narrative of grievance. The fact-checking reveals that narrative is based largely on fantasy. 

Trump’s own words prove the truth of what careful observers have been saying about his plans based on their examination of MAGA Republicans’ speeches, interviews, Project 2025, and so on, often to find themselves accused of a liberal bias that makes them exaggerate the dangers of a second Trump presidency. 

The idea that truthful reporting based on verifiable evidence is a plot by “liberal media” to undermine conservative values had its start in 1951, when William F. Buckley Jr., fresh out of Yale, published God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of “Academic Freedom.” Fervently opposed to the bipartisan liberal consensus that the federal government should regulate business, provide a basic social safety net, protect civil rights, and promote infrastructure, Buckley was incensed that voters continued to support such a system. He rejected the “superstition” that fact-based public debate would enable people to choose the best option from a wide range of ideas—a tradition based in the Enlightenment—because such debate had encouraged voters to choose the liberal consensus, which he considered socialism. Instead, he called for universities to exclude “bad” ideas like the Keynesian economics on which the liberal consensus was based, and instead promote Christianity and free enterprise.

Buckley soon began to publish his own magazine, the National Review, in which he promised to tell the “violated businessman’s side of the story,” but it was a confidential memorandum written in 1971 by lawyer Lewis F. Powell Jr. for a friend who chaired the education committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that insisted the media had a liberal bias that must be balanced with a business perspective. 

Warning that “the American economic system is under broad attack,” Powell worried not about “the Communists, New Leftists and other revolutionaries who would destroy the entire system.” They were, he wrote, a small minority. What he worried about were those coming from “perfectly respectable elements of society: from the college campus, the pulpit, the media, the intellectual and literary journals, the arts and sciences, and from politicians.” 

Businessmen must “confront this problem as a primary responsibility of corporate management,” he wrote, launching a unified effort to defend American enterprise. Among the many plans Powell suggested for defending corporate America was keeping the media “under constant surveillance” to complain about “criticism of the enterprise system” and demand equal time. 

President Richard Nixon appointed Powell to the Supreme Court, and when Nixon was forced to resign for his participation in the scheme to cover up the attempt to bug the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Hotel before the 1972 election, he claimed he had to leave not because he had committed a crime, but because the “liberal” media had made it impossible for him to do his job. Six years later, Ronald Reagan, who was an early supporter of Buckley’s National Review, claimed the “liberal media” was biased against him when reporters accurately called out his exaggerations and misinformation during his 1980 campaign. 

In 1987, Reagan’s appointees to the Federal Communications Commission abandoned the Fairness Doctrine that required media with a public license to present information honestly and fairly. Within a year, talk radio had gone national, with hosts like Rush Limbaugh electrifying listeners with his attacks on “liberals” and his warning that they were forcing “socialism” on the United States. 

By 1996, when Australian-born media mogul Rupert Murdoch started the Fox News Channel (FNC), followers had come to believe that the news that came from a mainstream reporter was likely left-wing propaganda. FNC promised to restore fairness and balance to American political news. At the same time, the complaints of increasingly radicalized Republicans about the “liberal media” pushed mainstream media to wander from fact-based reality to give more and more time to the right-wing narrative. By 2018, “bothsidesing” had entered our vocabulary to mean “the media or public figures giving credence to the other side of a cause, action, or idea to seem fair or only for the sake of argument when the credibility of that side may be unmerited.”

In 2023, FNC had to pay almost $800 million to settle defamation claims made by Dominion Voting Systems after FNC hosts pushed the lie that Dominion machines had changed the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, and it has since tried to retreat from the more egregious parts of its false narrative. 

News broke yesterday that Hunter Biden’s lawyer had threatened to sue FNC for “conspiracy and subsequent actions to defame Mr. Biden and paint him in a false light, the unlicensed commercial exploitation of his image, name, and likeness, and the unlawful publication of hacked intimate images of him.” Today, FNC quietly took down from its streaming service its six-part “mock trial” of Hunter Biden, as well as a video promoting the series. 

Also today, Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over Trump’s criminal trial for election fraud, found Trump in contempt of court for attacking witnesses and jurors. Merchan also fined Trump $1,000 per offense, required him to take down the nine social media posts at the heart of the decision, and warned him that future violations could bring jail time. This afternoon, Trump’s team deleted the social media posts. 

For the first time in history, a former U.S. president has been found in contempt of court. We know who he is, and today, Trump himself validated the truth of what observers who deal in facts have been saying about what a second Trump term would mean for the United States.

Reacting to the Time magazine piece, James Singer, the spokesperson for the Biden-Harris campaign, released a statement saying: “Not since the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault at home as they are today—because of Donald Trump. Trump is willing to throw away the very idea of America to put himself in power…. Trump is a danger to the Constitution and a threat to democracy.” 

Tomorrow, May 1, is “Law Day,” established in 1958 by Republican president Dwight D. Eisenhower as a national recognition of the importance of the rule of law. In proclaiming the holiday today, Biden said: “America can and should be a Nation that defends democracy, protects our rights and freedoms, and pioneers a future of possibilities for all Americans. History and common sense show us that this can only come to pass in a democracy, and we must be its keepers.” 

— 

Notes:

https://time.com/6972021/donald-trump-2024-election-interview

https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/just-security-clearinghouse-manhattan-da-trial-motion-for-contempt-order-april-30-2024.pdf

https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/trump-hush-money-trial/trump-removes-all-9-social-posts-cited-by-judge-109798916?id=109760957

https://time.com/6972022/donald-trump-transcript-2024-election

https://time.com/6972024/donald-trump-fact-check-2024-election-interview

https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/powellmemo

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/assets/usa-courts-secrecy-lobbyist/powell-memo.pdf

https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/bothsidesing-bothsidesism-new-words-were-watching

https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-quietly-deletes-hunter-biden-mock-trial-special-following-lawsuit-threat

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2024/04/30/a-proclamation-on-law-day-u-s-a-2024

Twitter (X):

Mike_Podhorzer/status/1785348580334501936

rgoodlaw/status/1785312635652591975

Jemsinger/status/1785345553712222272/photo/2

The unfortunate decision of the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade is totally destructive to this country. It is a decision made by a formerly highly respected group of people, and is one that has undermined and destroyed that respect. By making the right to an abortion a decision to be made by individual States, the Supreme Court has politicized an issue that should not be political: women’s rights.

The Supreme Court has deprived women of their Constitutional right to make important decisions about their bodies, what is best for their own health, the health of the child, the welfare of their families, and in some cases even their own survival. This decision has degraded the respect for the very group that should be the most highly respected in our government. American citizens can no longer trust that the decisions made by the Supreme Court benefit everyone equally. 

This action has made it obvious that members of the Supreme Court should not be eligible for a lifetime of service. Trump’s three appointments, plus Clarence Thomas, make it clear that four members of the Supreme Court are deplorable people that have no respect for the Constitution nor for the rights of women as citizens of this country. The main point that the Supreme Court has made very clear and that the American public should understand is that:

a constitutional amendment is required to change the lifetime term of a Supreme Court Justice to a limited term.

The method by which people are appointed to the Supreme Court also needs serious consideration. It should not be a political appointment. Trump totally destroyed the Supreme Court by appointing Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett under the influence of a political agenda. He stacked the Supreme Court on day one of his presidency, knowing that eventually he might be brought up before them. These people, who were appointed by Donald J. Trump, have caused national disrespect for the Supreme Court, and yet they continue to have the right to make decisions that affect women and generations to come because they’ve been appointed for life. 

It is obvious that the time has come to limit terms for everyone in this country. Limit terms for the Supreme Court, limit terms for the Congress and the Senate. Limited terms would reduce the extent of the damage that anyone, or one corrupt, evil person could do. If a despicable president is able to appoint despicable people, they should at least have limited terms.

Also, members of the Supreme Court should be appointed by a group of nonpolitical legal minds around the country, and that group should be appointed as needed but not for any specified amount of time. This group would not always be the same, and members would change through the years. The idea should be to remove any political agenda from Supreme Court appointments. 

For Heaven’s sake – why in the world should there be any discussion about the eligibility of Donald Trump to run for the Presidency of the United States?

There is something so wrong with all of our systems that would even allow a man of his background to be considered as the person to represent the United States to the world.

Let’s finita la commodia and get him out of our lives and move on.

America is better than Trump – at least we should be.