Jimmy Carter, 39^th president of the United States, celebrates his 100^th birthday Tuesday.

MONDAY 10/1/24

It's War -- Iran launched missiles toward Israel about 7:30 pm local time Tuesday, Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari confirmed, according to The Hill. Iran's attack came just after the US warned that one was imminent.

•••

Israel’s Incursion – It’s not all-out war in Southern Lebanon yet, as the Israeli military pushed its ground incursion there to target Hezbollah militants that it says pose an immediate threat to Northern Israeli communities, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. 

Meanwhile … The US has expressed support for Israel’s “limited operation” and continued to push for a diplomatic resolution, Haaretz reports. At the same time, Russia has strengthened ties with Hamas, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

While Blinken and the US are determined to prevent all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, some analysts believe it is too late for that, especially because of the positive effect last Friday’s airstrike killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has had on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s popularity among Israelis.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 9/30/24

Friends, Enemies, Interests

By Todd Lassa

America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.  – Henry Kissinger

If Israel is not a permanent “friend” of the United States, it has been a close interest for a very long time, 76 years, and in turn it has been dealing with the same enemies in its region for much of that time.

Last Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United Nations he had intended on staying home where he had a war to fight rather than attend the annual General Assembly, but “after I heard the lies and slanders leveled at my country by many of the speakers at this podium, I decided to come here and set the record straight. I have decided to come here to speak for my people. …

“The truth is, Israel seeks peace. Israel yearns for peace. Israel has made peace and will make peace again,” he continued. Shortly after, the Israeli Defense Force began dropping bombs on Lebanon. The next day one of those bombs killed Hassan Nasrallah, feared and much-hated leader since 1992 of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia group backed by Israel’s greatest enemy, Iran.

Nasrallah’s death will not be lamented by anyone who shared that UN podium with Netanyahu. A terrorist in the eyes of Israelis, and not just the hardliners to Netanyahu’s right, Nasrallah wanted every Muslim to join in the struggle to destroy Israel as a nation, according to his obituary in The New York Times. Already, his death at the hand of Israel has boosted Netanyahu’s standing and popularity there, according to NPR’s Morning Edition, which points out that two weeks ago, Hezbollah had a stronger army than Lebanon’s.

Escalation of Israel’s attacks on Southern Lebanon to all-out war is, explicitly, what the Biden administration does not want, as these bombings distract from Israel’s relentless bombing of Gaza. Although Iran is said to prefer to avoid direct conflict with Israel, its leaders have pledged revenge on Nasrallah’s death.

Realpolitik dictates it is not in the Biden administration’s interests to sanction its friend/interest Israel with any meaningful withholding of arms deliveries. Netanyahu knows he will not see change whether the next administration is led by Donald J. Trump or Kamala Harris.

Elsewhere in New York last Friday … Ukraine does not enjoy such a luxury. At Trump Tower Friday, the ex-president, with an uncomfortable-looking President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his side, said if he wins the November 5 election, repeated the campaign pledge that he will quickly negotiate a solution that is “good for both sides.”

Trump spoke to the press at his tower before the two entered a private meeting where the Ukrainian president outlined his plan for ending the war with Russia.

“We have a very good relationship,” Trump continued. “I also have a very good relationship with President Putin, and you know, I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly.”

Zelenskyy tried to assert that Trump’s relationship with Ukraine is better than Trump’s relationship with Russia, but the Republican president let it be known where his interests — his friendships? — lie: “Ah, I see. But it takes two to tango.”

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MONDAY 9/30/24
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

MONDAY 9/30/24

It’s All About Iran, Again – When he speaks before the United Nations General Assembly Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will emphasize more than ever that Iran is the international community’s primary antagonist, Haaretzpredicts, even as Israel proceeds toward all-out war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Netanyahu’s speech comes after he dismissed the international community’s insistent – futile – proposal of a three-week ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

•••

On Zelenskyy, Harris and Trump – The White House’s short readout of Vice President Harris’ meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Thursday indicates no movement on Zelenskyy’s request to be able to launch US missiles into Russia. Instead, it reiterates “the importance of continued, strong US support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression, President Zelenskyy’s plans for victory, and efforts to secure a just and lasting peace based on the will of the people of Ukraine and the UN Charter.”

Biden’s announcement … Harris’ meeting with Zelenskyy followed President Biden announcing additional aid of nearly $8 billion to Ukraine for long-range strike weapons, air defense and additional F-16 pilot training, according to TheWarZone, which adds that $5.5 billion will come from Presidential Drawdown Authority and $2.4 billion from the Ukrainian Security Assistance Initiative.

Meanwhile … At gilded, American flag-bedecked Trump Tower, Donald J. Trump announced he would meet with Zelenskyy in New York Friday morning. 

“America is paying only a small fraction of the money the United States of America is paying,” Trump told reporters, “and we have an ocean between Russia and ourselves. They don’t.”

The Republican presidential nominee reiterated his administration’s success in forcing European members of NATO to “pay up” on their dues, and repeated that he knows Vladimir Putin “very well” and will make a peace deal with Russia and Ukraine “very quickly.”

Poland’s view … NPR’s Steve Inskeep interviewed Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in New York for Morning EditionFriday.

“We will continue to support Ukraine irrespective to anything anybody does. Europe has contributed to Ukraine even more than the US,” Sikorski asserted. “Your assistance is crucial because it’s weighted towards military assistance, which is what Ukraine needs most.”

The European Union “transfers roughly 1.5 billion euros per month” to Ukraine to pay officials wages and pensions, he said. “On this one, we’re really not a free ride. We’ve really rallied around.”

Sikorski said Poland believes continued support for Ukraine eventually will result in victory against Russia, as Putin does not have infinite resources, including troops. 

“This is a colonial war. Hopefully Europe’s last. It’s been going on for too long, two-and-a-half years, but most colonial wars take about a decade. Anything shorter than that will be a bonus. Personally, I think that Russia will start running out of resources in about 18 months to two years,” he said.

Sikorski further asserted that like Poland and the rest of Europe, Ukraine’s defense has widespread, bipartisan grassroots support in the US. 

“When people hear about Putin’s war crimes, stealing children to be Russified? I mean, how sicko do you have to be to do that?”

Presumably, Trump, who knows Putin “very well,” understands.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

FRIDAY Sep. 27, 2024

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with President Biden at the White House Thursday after Biden announced a new slate of military weapons and $8 billion in additional aid (NYT).

FRIDAY 9/26/24

NYC Mayor Charged – Federal prosecutors have charged New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) with bribery, fraud and campaign finance offenses in what they say was a scheme to solicit illegal contributions from foreign donors, The Wall Street Journal reports.

•••

Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets, separately in Washington with President Biden and with Vice President Kamala Harris  Thursday, following his address to the United Nations General Assembly. His “Peace Formula” presented to the General Assembly Wednesday calls for upholding the UN Charter guaranteeing Ukraine’s right to sovereignty, for the withdrawal of Russian occupiers and to hold those responsible for war crimes accountable, prevent “ecocide” and prevent a second and third phase of the Russian invasion.

“If someone in the world seeks alternatives to any of these points or tries to ignore any of them,” Zelenskyy said, “it likely means they themselves want to do a part of what Putin is doing – the point they ignore reveals the desire they are hiding.”

•••

Federal Funding Extended – The House, then the Senate, Wednesday passed a mostly clean extension of current spending levels to December 20, sending the federal budget to President Biden’s desk for spending and sending Congress members home to their campaigns. Roll Call described it as “rapid-fire votes in both chambers” and it extends the budget until after the winner of the November 5 presidential campaign presumably, hopefully, is named.

The House passed the extension, 341-82 under suspension of rules, then the Senate passed it 78-18. Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) called the bill a “straight-forward, bipartisan compromise.”

--TL

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Biden's Final UN Address

WEDNESDAY 9/25/24

‘There is so much more I want to get done,’ President Biden told the United Nations in his final address to its General Assembly, Tuesday.

Biden Out – In his ultimate address to the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, President Biden said the world is better off now than four years ago with a more engaged United States (per Politico). He called on Israel and Hamas to reach a long-negotiated ceasefire agreement. 

But that prospect continues to dim as Israel continues its bombing campaign on Hezbollah in Lebanon, where the death toll has topped 560, according to The Associated Press. Israeli forces Wednesday shot down a Hezbollah missile launched over Tel Aviv, NPR reports.

Meanwhile, back in New York … “Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than those pulling us apart, that the principles of partnership that we come here each year to uphold can withstand the challenges, that the center holds once again,” Biden said. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the UN General Assembly Wednesday.

•••

Haitian Group Files Charges Against Trump/Vance – The Haitian Bridge Alliance has filed charges against Donald J. Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) for repeatedly claiming without evidence that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were capturing and eating their neighbors’ pets, The Columbus Dispatch reports. Ohio law allows private citizens seeking an arrest of prosecution to file an affidavit with a prosecutor or judge for their review. 

“Trump and Vance falsely claim Haitians are a danger to Springfield,” Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridges Alliance said in court documents, the Dispatch reports. “Now, many in Springfield face actual harm from threats that have even resulted in closures and lockdowns of government buildings, hospitals, schools and colleges. Trump and Vance caused a massive disruption to a community and city that deserved better.”

The Haitian Bridge Alliance asked the court to either issue Trump and Vance arrest warrants or refer the matter to the prosecutor’s office. The alliance’s attorneys said the behavior of the GOP nominees for president and vice president meets the threshold for probable cause and that police and prosecutors would have filed charges against anyone else for such behavior by now.

•••

Tightest Race Since ’76? – Since 1876, that is. 538 said Wednesday that Vice President Kamala Harris has a 57-in-100 chance of winning the November 5 election (down from 62-in-100 last Sunday) to ex-President Donald J. Trump’s 42-in-100. Hold your celebration, Democrats – 538 calls that “essentially a toss-up,” and potentially the tightest presidential race in 148 years. In that earlier election, Democrat Samuel J. Tilden led Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in the popular vote but lost the Electoral College 185 to 184.

--TL

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TUESDAY 9/24/24

Biden’s Last Address – President Biden addresses the United Nations General Assembly at its annual meeting in Manhattan for his final time Tuesday, where he will try to “assuage” world leaders nervous about the implications of isolationist Donald J. Trump winning the November 5 election, Roll Call reports. 

What will Washington’s role be in addressing multiple world conflicts under a second Trump presidency? The former and would-be future president insists these conflicts wouldn’t have begun in the first place if he had won the 2020 presidential election he insists he actually won.

Zelenskyy’s next address … Amidst fears that a successful Trump administration would apply The Art of the Deal to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, where he will ask to use long-range missiles to strike deeper into Russia. Tuesday morning on ABC’s Good Morning America he said Russia’s war on Ukraine is “closer to an end” than many believe.

•••

War With Hezbollah in Lebanon – Whatever the Israeli government wants to call it, since pagers and two-way radios Hezbollah leaders were carrying started exploding last week, the skirmishes along the Israel-Lebanese border has become a full-blown war. The Israeli Army has begun striking Beirut, targeting a senior Hezbollah commander, Haaretz reports, while Hezbollah says it fired at several military facilities, including an explosives factory, in Northern Israel. Most of about 50 rockets fired from Lebanon into Northern Israel were intercepted, according to the report.

•••

Two Debates, or Not Two Debates – Donald J. Trump has declined a second debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, despite claiming he won the first one on September 10. Harris “gladly” accepted CNN’s invitation for a debate on October 23, which Trump says is “too late” because early voting has already begun in several states. But pundits on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins Monday said they believe Trump, whom is widely considered to have lost that September 10 debate, eventually will capitulate in part because he improved in his second debate with Joe Biden four years ago and because the vice presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance on October 1 would leave his running mate with the last word.

•••

Truth Social Watch – Stock price of the Trump Media & Technology Company, owner of the ex-president’s social media site Truth Social, dropped to $14 per share last Thursday as investors feared he would sell his shares as soon as allowed, Axios reports. The week earlier, Trump tried to assure investors he would not sell his shares, even though that could net about $3 billion to help pay $355 million in fines in his New York civil fraud case (which his attorneys are appealing) plus $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll for her successful civil defamation lawsuit.

On Monday, however, Trump Media fell another $1.40 per share, or 10.33%, to $12.15. That’s off by 30.37% year-to-date leaving a $2.432 billion market cap, of which the ex-prez holds about 60%.

--TL

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MONDAY 9/23/24

Diverting a Shutdown – Congress wants to go home for its election year break by Friday, and has until next Monday to pass a budget, or rather a budget extension, before the end of the fiscal year to avoid a federal government (partial) shutdown. We were predicting Congress would have to work through next weekend, and now that prediction appears to have been overly pessimistic. 

Which is a roundabout way of saying that House Republicans have introduced a 12-week, 49-page extension that both parties, in both chambers, like – or at least they like it enough to push it through and pass it this week, with a House vote by Wednesday and a Senate vote shortly thereafter, according to Roll Call. The House Rules Committee is to begin the process at its meeting Monday at 4 pm. 

Last week the House sunk by 220-202 vote Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) six-month continuing resolution, which had included the superfluous SAVE Act, requiring voters in federal elections to be US citizens. 

This latest, more promising CR extends the budget only to December 12, into President Biden’s full-press lame duck period, but it also includes a $231 million in new appropriations for the Secret Service, to provide additional protection for presidential candidates.

•••

Robinson Staffers Quit – Four key staffers for Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s campaign for governor of North Carolina have quit over a CNN KFile investigation that the candidate called himself a “black Nazi” on pornography website “Nude Africa,” where he also supported reinstation of slavery. CNN reported the posts were made between 2008 and 2012. 

The resignations were from Robinson campaign manager Chris Rodriguez, general consultant Conrad Pogorzelski III, finance director Heather Whillier and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk, according to The Washington Post.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news
MON 9/23/24

NOT a Swiftie

TUESDAY 9/17/24

Fed Watch – It’s here, finally. The Federal Open Market Committee meets Tuesday and Wednesday, with a much-anticipated – by home- and car-buyers, and the Harris/Walz campaign – interest rate cut expected at its scheduled press conference, 4:15 pm Eastern time Wednesday. Fed-watchers are expecting either an 0.25-point or an 0.5-point rate cut, based on a 2.5% Consumer Price Index and cooling jobs market.

•••

Meanwhile, on The Hill – As of Tuesday, Congress has just 14 days to pass a budget, or more likely a continuing resolution to avoid federal government shutdown at the end of the month, Punchbowl News notes. Adding to the pressure is President Biden’s call for more Secret Service funds after an apparent second assassination attempt on Donald J. Trump. 

•••

Swift v. Trump – Pop superstar Taylor Swift’s endorsement of the Harris/Walz ticket coming immediately after last Tuesday’s presidential candidates’ debate continues to grab headlines, as pundits try to figure out what effect, if any, it will have on the November 5 election.

It will, if Trump’s reaction is any indication. On Sunday, Trump posted “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT” in a post on Truth Social between his “screed” about capital gains and a video clip from a rally, according to The Atlantic.

--TL

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Trump Targeted Again -- MONDAY 9/16/24

UPDATE -- Ryan Wesley Routh, suspect in what appears to be the second assassination attempt of Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump, appeared briefly in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, in shackles and with a public defender, where he was charged with possession of a firearm despite a previous felony conviction, and of possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number, the AP reports. Meanwhile, President Biden called on Congress to provide more resources to Secret Service, which he said, "needs more help."

Golf Hazard – Conspiracy theories and misinformation ran wild Sunday, predictably, on such social media outlets as Elon Musk’s X-Twitter after the FBI arrested Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, in connection with an apparent assassination attempt at one of the former president’s golf clubs, near Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Those conspiracy theories and the misinformation seems to have been tamped down by Monday, at least when considering only respectable news outlets.

Trump issued an email via his presidential campaign (per NPR’s Morning Edition) after the incident that reads; “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I want you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL.”

Routh’s own posts on X in 2022 “revealed a penchant for violent rhetoric” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to The New York Times, whose reporter, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, interviewed the suspect for a 2023 article about foreign fighters and volunteers in Ukraine.

Routh has had “numerous” run-ins with law enforcement, and The Associated Press cites a 2002 news story in the Greensboro, North Carolina News & Record that says a man with the same name was arrested in a three-hour standoff with police after he was pulled over during a traffic stop and barricaded himself inside a roofing company he had owned at the time. 

Routh was registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012 and most recently voted in last March’s Democratic Party primary there, according to The Guardian, and he made 19 small donations totaling $140 since 2019 to the pro-Democratic political action committee ActBlue, using a Hawaii address. Routh voted for Trump in 2016 according to Morning Edition and he has indicated support for both former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Gun's serial number... The serial number of the gun found in the alleged assassination attempt, earlier identified as an AK-47, has been partially scratched off (per The Wall Street Journal).

Musk tweet… Elon Musk posted, then removed, a tweet on his X social media site wondering why Donald J. Trump has been targeted twice while the former and current Democratic candidates have not, CNN reports: “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.”

•••

About the Haitian Immigrant Falsehood – CNN’s Dana Bash pressed GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance (OH) on his promotion of fake stories of Haitian immigrants capturing and eating pet dogs and cats, and geese captured from a local pond in Springfield, Ohio, on State of the Union Sunday. Bash noted that nearly 20 Springfield institutions, including government buildings, have been searched and/or closed due to multiple bomb threats called in.

“The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes,” Vance replied. “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do, Dana, because you guys are completely letting Kamala Harris coast.”

In a separate interview with Bash, Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said of Trump/Vance, “They’re hurting our city and their words are doing it.” Rue said Springfield has the support of Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to handle the an influx of Haitian immigrants, who are legal, under temporary protected status.

•••

Austin’s Ruling – Was Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin’s decision to rescind plea deals with alleged 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other men legal? A Guantánamo judge will consider the issue beginning this week, NPR’s Morning Editionreports. Some families of victims of the attacks want to see the defendants face the death penalty, but others believe the men will never come before the court because torture of them has tainted evidence in the case.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news
MONDAY 9/16/24