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lees1975
lees1975's Journal
lees1975's Journal
May 22, 2025
The war in Gaza is tarnishing our reputation, too.
https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-war-in-gaza-is-tarnishing-our.htmlFor those who have paid little attention to the violent history of the region known as Palestine, since World War II, this attack by Israel on Gaza is not the first time. The Gaza Strip, which occupies a narrow piece of land slightly southwest of the central part of the state of Israel, was territory set aside in the original partition of the land when the Jewish state of Israel was created in 1948 by British and American support. Along with the West Bank, the Gaza Strip was part of the land set aside for the displaced Arabic Palestinian population to make room for sovereign Israel.
It has been frequently invaded, bombed and attacked by Israeli forces on the premise that it was a hotbed of terrorist resistance to the establishment of independent Israel. That's true, as far as it goes, though when a foreign power comes in, takes over the political and economic control of an area, and then uses that control to set aside territory already occupied and home to people whose ancestors have lived there for centuries in order to make room for a largely refugee population of a completely different religious, ethnic and cultural background, some resistance to being ousted from homes and property might be expected to become violent.
Actually, it was the Ottoman ruler Suleiman who first opened up Palestine to Jewish immigration fourteen centuries or so after the Romans had banished the Jewish population and destroyed the Temple in 70 A.D. They allowed Jews to return on a limited basis, in relative peace, without upsetting the political or religious balance, a small but significant gesture of religious tolerance that was unusual for the time and place. The Christian Byzantines, who occupied Jerusalem after the Roman era, weren't keen on any kind of Jewish repopulation of the province or city, nor were the Muslims of Mohammed's empire, who murdered the Christians when they took over Jerusalem.
It has been frequently invaded, bombed and attacked by Israeli forces on the premise that it was a hotbed of terrorist resistance to the establishment of independent Israel. That's true, as far as it goes, though when a foreign power comes in, takes over the political and economic control of an area, and then uses that control to set aside territory already occupied and home to people whose ancestors have lived there for centuries in order to make room for a largely refugee population of a completely different religious, ethnic and cultural background, some resistance to being ousted from homes and property might be expected to become violent.
Actually, it was the Ottoman ruler Suleiman who first opened up Palestine to Jewish immigration fourteen centuries or so after the Romans had banished the Jewish population and destroyed the Temple in 70 A.D. They allowed Jews to return on a limited basis, in relative peace, without upsetting the political or religious balance, a small but significant gesture of religious tolerance that was unusual for the time and place. The Christian Byzantines, who occupied Jerusalem after the Roman era, weren't keen on any kind of Jewish repopulation of the province or city, nor were the Muslims of Mohammed's empire, who murdered the Christians when they took over Jerusalem.
So far, the version of the so-called "two state solution" that has existed has not worked at all, since the economic inequities are not considered. Appeals to the fact that two million Palestinian Arabs enjoy Israeli citizenship do not resolve issues any more than claiming that the oil-wealthy Arab nations bear responsibility for resolving the problem. The economics must be equalized and the amount of sovereign territory must be adequate to support the population.
And let's be clear. The Christian nationalist and Christian dispensationalist theology that pushes itself into the position the United States takes on Israel is based on bad theology and a poor doctrinal interpretation of what they call "Eschatology," or "end-times" teaching. They are flat wrong, and should be ignored.
Realistically, I do not see any kind of momentum in any direction that would lead to this issue being resolved in my lifetime. And that is far more unfortunate for the Palestinian people than it is for any of those government bureaucrats who have the power to make a difference, and won't do it.
And let's be clear. The Christian nationalist and Christian dispensationalist theology that pushes itself into the position the United States takes on Israel is based on bad theology and a poor doctrinal interpretation of what they call "Eschatology," or "end-times" teaching. They are flat wrong, and should be ignored.
Realistically, I do not see any kind of momentum in any direction that would lead to this issue being resolved in my lifetime. And that is far more unfortunate for the Palestinian people than it is for any of those government bureaucrats who have the power to make a difference, and won't do it.
May 21, 2025
Trump did a lot of political damage to himself
with all his nasty talk about Biden's cancer diagnosis.
Yes, he should have just kept his fat mouth shut, but since he can't do that, he might as well pay the political price for it.
May 20, 2025
The "One Big, Beautiful Bill" That Will Run Up the National Debt by Trillions, is the Democratic Party's Chance
to control the narrative."
https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-one-big-beautiful-bill-that-will.html
This one is simple. This bill, the one Trump labels "one big, beautiful bill," is nothing more than a tax cut for billionaires, and with the Trump tarriffs, is going to cost Americans who have to work for a living more money. And if anyone still cares about it, it will massively increase the deficit.
Trump has been stuffing his own pockets, using this second term in the White House, right out in the open. In spite of what the law says, and it's pretty clear, Trump accepted a $400 million bribe in the form of an luxury jet from Qatar. He's illegally involved in a cryptocurrency business directly connected to his Presidency and he has not relenquished control of any of his business enterprises, another violation of the law. We, the people, are represented by those laws, so he is flaunting his ability to do as he pleases in our faces. He has nothing but contempt for the American people, including the ignorant and stupid people who call themselves his MAGA supporters.
What would happen to any one of us, if we decided to blatantly flaunt the law?
So there's the message. Trump is giving tax cuts to billionaires, while the rest of us will have to pay for them while bearing the cost of his tarrifs in increased prices in the consumer goods we buy.
Trump has been stuffing his own pockets, using this second term in the White House, right out in the open. In spite of what the law says, and it's pretty clear, Trump accepted a $400 million bribe in the form of an luxury jet from Qatar. He's illegally involved in a cryptocurrency business directly connected to his Presidency and he has not relenquished control of any of his business enterprises, another violation of the law. We, the people, are represented by those laws, so he is flaunting his ability to do as he pleases in our faces. He has nothing but contempt for the American people, including the ignorant and stupid people who call themselves his MAGA supporters.
What would happen to any one of us, if we decided to blatantly flaunt the law?
So there's the message. Trump is giving tax cuts to billionaires, while the rest of us will have to pay for them while bearing the cost of his tarrifs in increased prices in the consumer goods we buy.
We are at a point, just over 100 days into Trump's second term, where his overall approval rating as President, and his favorability rating has fallen into the toilet. We expected that, it happened last time. He cannot sustain support for a long time because he is so unstable and unpredictable, and he's not a competent leader. He's incapable of the kind of stability that is required for people to trust him. His assertions are lies, which means he promises to do things about something that doesn't exist. He's laid out his entire first term list of achievements in this "big, beautiful bill," so making that as unpopular as possible will have a long term electoral effect. It's the kind of messaging Democrats have been dreaming about, and now, here it is.
What will we do with it?
What will we do with it?
May 19, 2025
Democrats in the Senate get prepared to block the big beautiful bill that may be headed your way.
Expectations, people. Tell us how serious you are about opposing the demagogue and preserving Democracy. I need to see it somewhere, and it's not coming across very well.
May 19, 2025
Uh, the "tax cut" for "all Americans" is sure not very much for most Americans.
Propaganda. Anyone here expecting a big cut?
May 19, 2025
The manufacturing of public opinion in America.
https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-manufacturing-of-public-opinion-in.htmlBut how is it possible for a man whose first term in office was, by any measure, the single worst Presidency in all of American history, and who committed waves of crime with mountains of evidence produced in two major investigations, able to get the kind of support this demagogue has been able to maintain among a base that represents about 30% of registered voters? The man is a buffoon, an image, a fraud, a phony, a grifter whose old age dementia requires much more management of his appearances than the media claims about his predecessor. How is it that he has the kind of support that he does?
It's because we have no free press left in America, and because he is a public figure who has a specific identity, and whose obsession with money, which leads him to place financial value on every aspect of life, is exactly the kind of President the billionaire class in America need to be able to run the country their way. They control the media, having turned it into a for-profit venture like everything else they touch. So with money as the bottom line of everything, they have conducted a four year media campaign to re-elect Trump as President.
It's because we have no free press left in America, and because he is a public figure who has a specific identity, and whose obsession with money, which leads him to place financial value on every aspect of life, is exactly the kind of President the billionaire class in America need to be able to run the country their way. They control the media, having turned it into a for-profit venture like everything else they touch. So with money as the bottom line of everything, they have conducted a four year media campaign to re-elect Trump as President.
A sizeable chunk of the population doesn't get its news from traditional sources that still follow some kind of journalistic ethics. They get it from a virtually unregulated media with a plethora of websites and podcasts all aimed at cornering a niche to make money. There's little regulation, as far as the standards of the FCC are concerned and ethics, integrity and honesty are no longer values of media sources, including those who claim to be "Christian." Some of them are the worst violators when it comes to truth and integrity.
It's up to each individual American to do the hard work of research, to determine where the truth lies without being distracted by appeals that are based more on their monetary value or commercial appeal than they are on any set of human values. Read books carefully, noting the author's perspective and background. Listen to podcasts with discernment, applying those critical thinking skills learned in school, if those are even being taught anymore, and pass these skills along to your children. Otherwise, we become victims of propaganda doing the will of someone else who has the money to purchase the means of manipulation.
Our freedom depends on it.
It's up to each individual American to do the hard work of research, to determine where the truth lies without being distracted by appeals that are based more on their monetary value or commercial appeal than they are on any set of human values. Read books carefully, noting the author's perspective and background. Listen to podcasts with discernment, applying those critical thinking skills learned in school, if those are even being taught anymore, and pass these skills along to your children. Otherwise, we become victims of propaganda doing the will of someone else who has the money to purchase the means of manipulation.
Our freedom depends on it.
May 15, 2025
Another journalist's book that capitalizes on people with minds already made up and who don't need convincing.
https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-poor-quality-of-american-journalism.htmlPassed over at ABC when George Stephanopoulous replaced Diane Sawyer at Good Morning America, losing out to Christiane Amanpour, Jake Tapper is one of those journalists who more or less blends into the crowd and really doesn't stand out. Frankly, I'd almost forgotten that he had worked at ABC News, in the shadow of some of their more well-known journalists, though ABC News isn't anywhere close to being the powerhouse journalistic media outlet that it once was. And I consider it a step down, going from there to CNN, which is at the bottom of the ratings pile in political reporting.
The idea that President Biden, because of his advanced age, had loyalists and family members who shielded him from full public view because his "dementia" was showing is a long standing right wing political narrative. It's nothing new. In fact, it's been more or less debunked, and I'm a little curious as to where Tapper got his information, which would be nothing new, that would lend some original credibility to his claims.
No, I'm not curious enough to purchase, or read, the book. There are a lot of other journalists who are also book authors on topics that are much more interesting and engaging than this tired theme. If he actually had a psychiatric evaluation and some real, factual medical data, doing a hit piece like this on a former President might make sense. But apparently, from all that's out there about it, he doesn't have anything like that.
So what's the point?
The idea that President Biden, because of his advanced age, had loyalists and family members who shielded him from full public view because his "dementia" was showing is a long standing right wing political narrative. It's nothing new. In fact, it's been more or less debunked, and I'm a little curious as to where Tapper got his information, which would be nothing new, that would lend some original credibility to his claims.
No, I'm not curious enough to purchase, or read, the book. There are a lot of other journalists who are also book authors on topics that are much more interesting and engaging than this tired theme. If he actually had a psychiatric evaluation and some real, factual medical data, doing a hit piece like this on a former President might make sense. But apparently, from all that's out there about it, he doesn't have anything like that.
So what's the point?
May 12, 2025
Instead of conceding the 2026 Senate midterms, shouldn't Democrats be gearing up to win the majority?
https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2025/05/instead-of-conceding-2026-senate.htmlSo I do realize here that citing an article from The Hill is falsely emphasizing a conservative bias and emphasis, but this one covers the spectrum of Senate elections coming up from the perspective that a Democrat deciding to step down is conceding the race to the other side. In recent days, on several talk radio programs, I've heard Democratic party strategists drag out that tired, old repetitive narrative of already counting the votes based on the last Presidential election and making plans to protect the turf at a time when being aggressive and bold is a necessary strategy.
This is one of the reasons people are frustrated, why the Democratic party is suffering from low approval ratings, and why it seems that, in the face of a destructive demagogue, it doesn't appear anyone in leadership is standing up in an aggressive and bold enough manner to indicate they believe Trump really is a threat to American democracy and to the rule of Constitutional law. When the political tools were in their hands, they wouldn't take the aggresive, bold steps necessary to put an end to this, and that's why we are here now.
They're sending out their fundraising letters and emails. My social media is loaded with appeals, including from out of state candidates looking to pick up some help from blue state Democrats. The rhetoric is pretty much the same as we've been hearing for a while.
This is one of the reasons people are frustrated, why the Democratic party is suffering from low approval ratings, and why it seems that, in the face of a destructive demagogue, it doesn't appear anyone in leadership is standing up in an aggressive and bold enough manner to indicate they believe Trump really is a threat to American democracy and to the rule of Constitutional law. When the political tools were in their hands, they wouldn't take the aggresive, bold steps necessary to put an end to this, and that's why we are here now.
They're sending out their fundraising letters and emails. My social media is loaded with appeals, including from out of state candidates looking to pick up some help from blue state Democrats. The rhetoric is pretty much the same as we've been hearing for a while.
The most sensible rhetoric at this point is actually coming from the DNC. David Hogg is proposing to help raise money to replace Democrats with some new, bolder leadership willing to take risks to save the country from fascism. Of course he's been attacked by the establishment, which affirms that what he wants to do is probably the right thing to do and it will work. The head of the DNC, Ken Martin, who has been a disappointment as far as I am concerned, at least is giving some lip service to a "50 state strategy," which is also a step in the right direction.
May 8, 2025
Democrats have been warned, warned, alerted, alarmed and warned again about Republican tactics being moved into place to steal elections. The Trumpers are pulling this crap everywhere, started this in 2016, and it has just become worse.
Then, it happens. And it seems like every time, Democrats are taken by suprise. A lot of these people were in place, especially in swing states they had to have in 2024, and I'd be more than willing to bet they interfered with the counts and managed to thrown out enough ballots to make the full difference in the election.
Who, on our side, is working to prevent this, or are we just going to let them do it, whine about it, claim Mark Elias has is all under control and go on about our business?
Paying attention, stopping it or just letting this happen?
https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-election-board-director-republicans-6222e773410c5edf4941ed31f3ff54caDemocrats have been warned, warned, alerted, alarmed and warned again about Republican tactics being moved into place to steal elections. The Trumpers are pulling this crap everywhere, started this in 2016, and it has just become worse.
Then, it happens. And it seems like every time, Democrats are taken by suprise. A lot of these people were in place, especially in swing states they had to have in 2024, and I'd be more than willing to bet they interfered with the counts and managed to thrown out enough ballots to make the full difference in the election.
Who, on our side, is working to prevent this, or are we just going to let them do it, whine about it, claim Mark Elias has is all under control and go on about our business?
May 8, 2025
I got a letter from Senator Schumer
The Senator explains how it is that Trump is a problem, what he's doing to destroy American Democracy. He's even underlined and put in bold print all about Trump's business partner, Elon Musk, with a special box off to the side calling attention to the fact that Musk referrred to Social Security as a "ponzi scheme." He mentions Trump's MAGA cabinent and their discussion of secret war plans via the group chat on signal, exposing classified information. He hits the high points.
Four paragraphs of crisis before the other shoe drops. This line is next:
But in the senate we cannot get anything done or make any demands that stop them. Here's why: WE DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH VOTES. ITS NOT BECAUSE WE"RE NOT TRYING WE ARE. BUT WE DO NOT HAVE THE VOTES.
Just like that.
No mention of the fact that NINE DEMOCRATIC SENATORS voted for cloture when the Republicans wanted to pass a continuing resolution with everything in it Trump wanted to avoid shutting down the government. Nine. The filibuster is powerful, and Democrats know it because Republicans have used it very effectively when Democrats have held a majority and wanted to get something done. Mitch McConnell was a master at more or less figuring out how the minority could stop the majority and control the agenda.
Maybe Schumer needs to hire him as a consultant regarding how to stop Trump.
Here's the clincher. The ask for money takes the next page and a half, along with the envelope and card inside asking for a big donation.
I have a few questions. Like where were you, Senator, when you led a Senate majority that did have the power to stop Trump, push to get his insurrection trial into court and render him ineligible to run again? What were you doing for the two years that Democrats held the White House, House and Senate and long before that declared Trump an existential threat to Democracy?
I'm a lifelong Democrat who regularly contributes and volunteers, and is active in the resistance to Trump. I'm on social security and medicare, and I am begging for Democrats to stand up for me. Why didn't you listen to us when you had the chance?
The answer on the contribution, this time, unfortunately, is no. I'll write that check to Leaders We Deserve.
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Gender: MaleHometown: Tucson, Arizona
Current location: Chicago, Illinois
Member since: Wed Dec 25, 2019, 01:02 AM
Number of posts: 6,533