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Category: Politics

First Muslim appellate nominee smeared by Islamophobic senators

First Muslim appellate nominee smeared by Islamophobic senators

Judd Legum writes: Republicans first attempted to sink the nomination of Adeel Mangi, who would be the first Muslim American to serve on a federal appellate court, on allegations that he was an anti-semitic terrorist sympathizer. During Mangi’s December 13, 2023 confirmation hearing, Republican Senators asked Mangi if he “celebrated 9/11” or “condemned the atrocities of Hamas terrorists.” The pretext for these attacks was Mangi’s role as an advisory board member for the Rutgers Center for Security, Race and Rights,…

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The Church of Trump: How he’s infusing Christianity into his movement

The Church of Trump: How he’s infusing Christianity into his movement

The New York Times reports: Long known for his improvised and volatile stage performances, former President Donald J. Trump now tends to finish his rallies on a solemn note. Soft, reflective music fills the venue as a hush falls over the crowd. Mr. Trump’s tone turns reverent and somber, prompting some supporters to bow their heads or close their eyes. Others raise open palms in the air or murmur as if in prayer. In this moment, Mr. Trump’s audience is…

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Trump allies plan to reinterpret civil rights laws so they protect white people with persecution complexes

Trump allies plan to reinterpret civil rights laws so they protect white people with persecution complexes

Rolling Stone reports: Allies of Donald Trump and powerful conservative organizations are preparing to launch an offensive against “anti-white racism” should the former president retake the White House in November. According to a report from Axios, those in Trump’s orbit are gearing up for a widespread re-interpretation of civil rights laws to combat what they perceive as reverse racism against white Americans. According to the report, this would include a mass gutting of government programs and diversity initiatives. “As President…

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The GOP’s extremism problem predates Trump and it will outlast him

The GOP’s extremism problem predates Trump and it will outlast him

David Lurie writes: There’s an old adage that politics has no tolerance for losers. But since 2016, the Republican Party has proven otherwise. Whatever the outcome of the 2024 election, Donald Trump will have realized one unprecedented achievement: Maintaining control over one of the nation’s two major political parties despite a remarkably consistent record of leading the GOP into loss after loss. The possibility that the nation’s democratic institutions could operate to send a candidate back to the White House…

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Iran alerted Russia to security threat before Moscow attack

Iran alerted Russia to security threat before Moscow attack

Reuters reports: Iran tipped off Russia about the possibility of a major “terrorist operation” on its soil ahead of the concert hall massacre near Moscow last month, three sources familiar with the matter said. In the deadliest attack inside Russia in 20 years, gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons at concertgoers on March 22 at the Crocus City Hall, killing at least 144 people in violence claimed by the Islamic State militant group. The United States had also warned Russia…

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Israeli government is misleading the public, says relative of hostage

Israeli government is misleading the public, says relative of hostage

The Observer reports: In further apparent defiance of Washington’s views, the Israeli military are carving out a buffer zone around Gaza’s borders which would take up 16% of the whole coastal strip, according to Haaretz. Israeli public opinion has to date shown itself largely impervious to US and other international pressure, and support for the Gaza war currently hovers at around 80%. Even more concerning for Washington’s hopes of containing the conflict, there is also more than 70% Israeli public…

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UK must restore UNRWA funding ‘without delay’, MPs and peers say

UK must restore UNRWA funding ‘without delay’, MPs and peers say

The Guardian reports: David Cameron has come under pressure to restore funding to the UN’s humanitarian relief agency in Palestine from a cross-party group of more than 50 MPs and peers. The UK was among a group of countries that halted funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) amid allegations from Israel that some staff members were involved in the 7 October attacks carried out by Hamas. In a letter to the foreign secretary, the MPs and peers…

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Israel lodges proposal with UN for dismantling of Palestinian relief agency

Israel lodges proposal with UN for dismantling of Palestinian relief agency

The Guardian reports: Israel has given the UN a proposal to dismantle Unrwa, its relief agency in the Palestinian territories, and transfer its staff to a replacement agency to make large-scale food deliveries into Gaza, according to UN sources. The proposal was presented late last week by the Israeli chief of the general staff, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, to UN officials in Israel, who forwarded it to the organisation’s secretary general, António Guterres, on Saturday, sources familiar with the discussions…

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Turkey’s resurgent opposition thumps Erdogan in pivotal local elections

Turkey’s resurgent opposition thumps Erdogan in pivotal local elections

Reuters reports: Turks dealt President Tayyip Erdogan and his party their biggest electoral blow on Sunday in a nationwide local vote that reasserted the opposition as a political force and reinforced Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as the president’s chief rival. With most of the votes counted, Imamoglu led by 10 percentage points in the mayoral race in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, while his Republican People’s Party (CHP) retained Ankara and gained 15 other mayoral seats in cities nationwide. It marked…

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UK government lawyers say Israel is breaking international law, claims top Tory in leaked recording

UK government lawyers say Israel is breaking international law, claims top Tory in leaked recording

The Observer reports: The British government has received advice from its own lawyers stating that Israel has breached international humanitarian law in Gaza but has failed to make it public, according to a leaked recording obtained by the Observer. The comments, made by the Conservative chair of the House of Commons select committee on foreign affairs, Alicia Kearns, at a Tory fundraising event on 13 March are at odds with repeated ministerial denials and evasion on the issue. On Saturday…

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Supporting genocide: U.S. signs off on more bombs, warplanes for Israel

Supporting genocide: U.S. signs off on more bombs, warplanes for Israel

The Washington Post reports: The Biden administration in recent days quietly authorized the transfer of billions of dollars in bombs and fighter jets to Israel despite Washington’s concerns about an anticipated military offensive in southern Gaza that could threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians. The new arms packages include more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, according to Pentagon and State Department officials familiar with the matter. The 2,000-pound bombs have been…

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Cracks in the U.S.-Israel relationship are beginning to show

Cracks in the U.S.-Israel relationship are beginning to show

  Six months into Israel’s devastating war on Gaza, the United Nations Security Council has finally passed a resolution demanding a ceasefire. The United States’s abstention marks a pivotal moment in Israel’s increasing international isolation. In the Israeli media, the opposition to the UN vote is near-unanimous and unsurprising. More striking is the lack of interest from American news outlets. The implications this story raises are perhaps a little uncomfortable for them – they hit too close to home.

Trump’s weaknesses with GOP voters go beyond the suburbs

Trump’s weaknesses with GOP voters go beyond the suburbs

Politico reports: The battle for Trump-skeptical Republican voters isn’t just about the suburbs. It’s true that the hundreds of thousands of GOP primary voters who voted against former President Donald Trump this year were concentrated in highly educated, suburban areas that have swung blue over the past decade. But a POLITICO analysis shows there’s also a significant bloc of voters who did not want Trump in more exurban, red-leaning counties — the kinds of places that were skeptical of Trump…

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The unhinged arguments the Supreme Court is fielding on Trump immunity

The unhinged arguments the Supreme Court is fielding on Trump immunity

The Daily Beast reports: Retired American generals vehemently say that no, Donald Trump cannot deploy SEAL Team 6 to kill a political rival. Gun groups howl that the United States is turning into Communist China. And a convicted Jan. 6 rioter warns that President Joe Biden could someday get sued over the death of a jogger in Georgia. These are among the 18 various groups that shared their wisdom with the Supreme Court earlier this month, filing amicus briefs on…

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Half of senior staffers in Congress are so fed up that they may quit

Half of senior staffers in Congress are so fed up that they may quit

The Washington Post reports: When it comes to job satisfaction, members of Congress aren’t the only ones considering calling it quits. Only about one in five senior aides on Capitol Hill believe that Congress is “functioning as a democratic legislature should,” and about the same margin believe that it is “an effective forum for debate” on key issues. Given those assessments by the people who live and breathe these issues, this particularly glum finding should not come as a surprise:…

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Gaza’s famine is underway

Gaza’s famine is underway

Jeremy Konyndyk writes: Three months ago the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) process (the official process for assessing famine risk) issued an urgent warning: the entire population of Gaza was “at risk” of famine, and over half a million people were already experiencing famine-level food shortages. Last week, the IPC upgraded that warning, projecting that famine in Gaza is now “imminent.” 1.1 million people, half the territory’s population, are in IPC Phase V, the highest level of risk. Yet…

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