The GOP is Rationalizing Cruelty Toward Gaza
Plus: What it takes for Dems to be competitive in the Deep South.
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WILLIAM SALETAN: Republicans Are Rationalizing Cruelty Toward Gaza
TWENTY-TWO YEARS AGO, when terrorists massacred Americans in the name of Islam, a Republican president responded with care and clarity. George W. Bush rejected al Qaedaâs attempt to pit Muslims against the United States. He embraced Islam as a religion of peace, and he declared that Americaâs war was with terrorism, not Islam. It was a war of good people and good faiths against ruthless violence.
That Republican party is gone. On Saturday, the GOPâs eight remaining viable presidential candidatesâincluding former Vice President Mike Pence, who announced during his remarks that he was suspending his campaignâspoke in Las Vegas at a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition. Several portrayed America as a Judeo-Christian nation committed by affinity or duty to Jewish dominion in the Holy Land. Some explicitly opposed humanitarian aid to Gaza; none defended it. Some rejected all Gazan refugees as toxic and inadmissible. Almost without exception, the candidates insisted that Israel should be unconstrained in its military operations.
CATHY YOUNG: How Putin Enabled Pogroms.
THE GENERALLY GRIM NEWS FROM RUSSIA became even grimmer on Sunday with reports of Đ° wave of anti-Jewish violence and hate across the North Caucasus. In the worst of these incidents, an angry mob in Makhachkala, Dagestan converged on an airport in search of passengers from a just-arrived flight from Tel Aviv. Hundreds of rioters rampaged through the terminal, pelted buses with rocks, and rushed out onto the tarmac to surround the airplane. A chilling video filmed by a passenger after its landing shows people running toward the airplane while the pilot announces over the intercom: âLadies and gentlemen, please stay in your seats and do not try to open the doors. There is an enraged crowd outside . . . itâs entirely possible that we may get trashed. So please stay seated and follow all the instructions of the flight attendants.â
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TIM MILLER: What It Takes for a Democrat to Be Competitive in the Deep Red South.
BRANDON PRESLEY IS NOT INTERESTED in your Yankee bullshit.
Amid the stretch run of his shockingly competitive gubernatorial bid, he called me as his car headed north from the Mississippi Gulf Coast to the Tennessee line. He was quick to explain how it was that his improbable campaign has gotten this far. âIâm a Merle Haggard, cowboy bootâwearing Democrat. Iâm not a national Metropolitan Opera Democrat . . . and thereâs a big difference.â
Maintaining this essential differentness is the minimum ante for Democratic politicians who want to be successful in the deep red Deep South, and with six days to go until the off-year election, Presley is at the table.
MONA CHAREN: The Oldest Hatred Roars Back.
OCTOBER 7 WILL BE REMEMBERED AS A DATE that wrenched history in a new direction. The previous day, Israel was struggling with the deep internal divisions that had brought protesters into the streets for nine straight months. The greatest threats to Israelâs future, it seemed, were domestic. On the international front, Israel was poised to sign a landmark peace treaty with Saudi Arabia that would functionally mark the end of inter-state conflict between Israel and its near neighbors. (Iran is another matter.) The Palestinian issue was relegated to the back burner, with hopes that all Palestinians, not just the Palestinian Authority, would eventually accept Israelâs right to exist, as the Arab states had done, and accept a two-state solution. Jewish Americans felt safe and rabbis joined vigorously in condemnation of the Netanyahu government for, among other things, forming alliances with Israeli extremists.
đ¨OVERTIMEđ¨
Happy All Soulsâ Day / Dia de los Muertos⌠And thanks to all who shared some of their Halloween pics on Substack Notes. Todayâs discussion point on Notes / X is this map of dialects I found in a 1994 Oxford Dictionary.
USDA Handing Out Tricks for Consumers⌠Treats for Big Sugar.
Must. Turn on. C-SPAN. As new Speaker Mike Johnson navigates scheduling votes, which is harder than it sounds, the House is debating and may vote on the expulsion of George Santos. And in the Senate, there is a GOP-led effort (finally, guys?) to stop the Tuberville logjam.
And in Colorado, the Trump 14th Amendment case is being televised.
Senate goes to the dogs⌠Here are some pics from the annual Halloween dog parade, with last-minute emcee Mitt Romney. lastArea dogs are curious: can members of the Congressional Press Gallery enter their pets?
Chuck Grassley and James Comer brag... That 40 informants couldn't substantiate a crime against Biden.
A bonus thread⌠From my buddy and former colleague Chris Deaton on his story yesterday. Chris writes, unrolled from a thread:
Disgruntlement is kindling.
We are a gerrymandered and increasingly self-sorting country.
We are in a new, unusual, and perhaps unopposable era of yellow journalism.
We are in an era of collapsing social trust and institutional weakness.
All that's lighter fluid
In local election news⌠Virginiaâs off-year elections are less than a week away, and November surprises are popping up. Control of the Virginia legislature is tight, as Gov. Glenn Youngkin and neighboring governor Wes Moore (D-MD) campaign around the state. A blowout midterm election could propel deep-pocketed donors to push Youngkin to challenge Trump. (lol).
Juan Pablo Segura (R) vs. Russet Perry (D)⌠Perry, a former CIA officer and commonwealthâs attorney is leaning hard on abortion and Seguraâs ties to MAGA, Inc. The bombshell here is that Seguraâs father, who is wealthy, and a controversial airport business venture in The Gambia, is allegedly the source of $2 million worth of funding in his race. Full thread here.
Tara Durant (R) vs Joel Griffin (D)⌠The incumbent, Durant, has a well known campaign trail story that she likes to tell on the trail. HuffPoâs Jennifer Benderey looked into it and concluded that it doesnât add up. Story / Thread.
Jenna Ellisâs long, strange trip⌠To disgrace.
Shooting The Conversational Rapids⌠Matt Labash has a free-flowing discussion with an old friend, Jay Nordlinger.
Two video essays⌠On Israel that are worth your time, one from The Atlanticâs Yair Rosenberg and the other from Donny Deutsch.
âBootgateâ and pudding fingers⌠Max Burns on how Ron DeSantis became 2024âs presidential punchline.
Discrimination against haters⌠Is a crime in California.
10/10, no notes⌠This Walmart Black Friday ad, featuring much of the cast of internet classic movie Mean Girls is amazingly good.
Confessions⌠of a Tableside FlambÊur.
Murder, Muggers, and Rottweilers⌠Stories From Thurston Mooreâs Best, Worst Apartment.
The mysterious story⌠Behind Watches of Espionage, one of my favorite horological sites.
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