Why are Democratic leaders still ignoring voters on Israel? | Norman Solomon Decisions at the latest Democratic National Committee meeting emphasized the disconnect between the party’s leadership and its base

Party leaders are stuck in an anachronistic time warp, severely out of touch w/ or contemptuous of what most Demos currently believe about Israel.

Whether clueless or disingenuous, top Demos keep insisting that the reality is not reality.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

go figure...

How Weak Federal Ethics Laws Enable Presidential Profiteering Lackluster laws and barriers to enforcement clear many paths for the wealthy to get money to the president.

The president is exempt from many of the basic ethics rules that apply to other federal officials, leaving him free to use the power of the presidency in ways that directly benefit him & his family.

www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

Negotiating With Bombs Ophir Falk, foreign policy adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu, put the matter succinctly when answering a question from National Public Radio about whether the Israeli prime minister supported Trump’s peac...

The tRump administration has touted a series of peace deals that, examined more carefully, are premature, non-existent, or largely a function of snake oil showmanship.

www.counterpunch.org/2026/04/13/n...

Trump’s war has emboldened Iran. Diplomacy is the only solution | Kenneth Roth The military approach has backfired, with Iran’s position only strengthened. But the door is still open to a deal

When it turned out that Iran wanted to negotiate rather than capitulate, Vance, who led the US diplomatic team, packed his bags & went home.

The predictable failure is evidence of how disastrous tRump’s war has been.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Trump says 4,500-seat arena will be built for UFC fight at White House President Trump detailed new plans for a UFC fight the league is planning on the White House grounds in June. “I’ve been involved in a lot of big events, I have never had an event that …

tRump detailed new plans for a UFC fight the league is planning on the White House grounds in June.

UFC, headed by tRump ally Dana White, announced its full card of bouts for “UFC Freedom 250,” an event timed to coincide w/ tRump’s 80th birthday on June 14.

thehill.com/policy/keepi...

Did Israel attack Lebanon to spoil Iran war ceasefire as soon as it began? Israel claims attacks on densely populated residential areas that killed more than 200 people were aimed at Hezbollah members

What is clear is that in the half-baked ceasefire negotiations conducted by tRump & his coterie of amateur diplomats, the question of Israel’s war in Lebanon against a proxy of Tehran has, deliberately or not, been left ticking like a time bomb.

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

Electricity increased 4.8% in February nationwide & piped natural gas prices rose 10.9%, both compared w/ a year earlier.

That surpassed inflation even before the attacks on Iran by the U.S. & Israel sent energy costs ballooning.

wchstv.com/news/local/t...

When America Becomes Its President Since the latest tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, Richard Shirreff, NATO’s former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, has pointed out that US military planners had long considered conflict scenarios with Iran—and that in each, disruption to the Strait of Hormuz was a central risk. UK press reports suggest those concerns were deliberately downplayed at senior levels by the Americans—raising difficult questions about how avoidable risks are being handled by one of our closest allies.

It has become harder to separate the image of tRump from the US itself. The 2 have begun to blur in ways that feel new & unsettling.

www.counterpunch.org/2026/04/08/w...

Under Israel’s military court system, Palestinian children as young as 12 are prosecuted.

In practice, they are often treated as adults w/in a system that offers few safeguards & operates w/ an extremely high conviction rate.

www.counterpunch.org/2026/04/09/i...

Americans quit streaming services as cost of living continues to climb, report finds About 40 percent of Americans have cut back on streaming services in the last three months because of financial concerns, according to a recent report

About 40 percent of Americans have cut back on streaming services in the last 3 months because of financial concerns.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...