Retired child and adolescent psychiatrist and American expatriate in New Zealand. In 2002, I made the difficult decision to close my 25-year Seattle practice after 15 years of covert FBI harassment. I describe the unrelenting phone harassment, illegal break-ins and six attempts on my life in my 2010 book The Most Revolutionary Act: Memoir of an American Refugee.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) renewed his call to break up agricultural monopolies after Cal-Maine Foods last week announced huge increases in revenues and profits. The egg giant previously blamed soaring egg prices on the avian flu outbreak.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) renewed his call to break up agricultural monopolies after the nation’s largest egg producer reported that its quarterly profits soared more than 700%.
Cal-Maine Foods, which controls about 20% of the U.S. egg market, announced last week that its revenue for the quarter ending Feb. 25 rose 109% to $997.5 million, while profit for the same period skyrocketed 718% to $323.2 million.
In a statement, Cal-Maine president and CEO Sherman Miller attributed the company’s soaring profits to “the ongoing epidemic of highly pathogenic avian influenza which has significantly reduced the nation’s egg-laying capacity.”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “U.S. egg inventories were 29% lower in the final week of December 2022 than at the beginning of the year,” while “more than 43 million egg-laying hens were lost to the disease itself or to depopulation since the outbreak began in February 2022.”
Sanders — who took on agricultural monopolies while campaigning for president in 2016 and 2020 — questioned Cal-Maine’s narrative in a tweet arguing that “we must break up Big Ag and enact a windfall profits tax.”
Why are the American people angry? Maybe it has something to do with the largest producer of eggs in America increasing its profits by 718% last quarter after doubling the price of eggs and reporting ZERO cases of avian flu. We must break up big Ag & enact a windfall profits tax.
Sanders wasn’t the only congressional critic of Cal-Maine’s latest profits.
“While working families paid record prices for eggs, Cal-Maine raked over 700% more in profits — without reporting a single case of avian flu,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted on Thursday. “We need to crack down on corporate price gouging to provide Americans with relief at the grocery store.”
“We need more competition to drive down prices,” she added. “In the meantime, I’m demanding answers from Cal-Maine directly.”
In February, Warren and Porter wrote letters to the heads of the five biggest U.S. egg producers expressing their concern over the “massive spike” in prices and “the extent to which egg producers may be using fears about avian flu and supply shocks as a cover to pad their own profits at the expense of American families.”
The advocacy group Farm Action earlier this year implored the Federal Trade Commission to investigate “apparent price gouging, price coordination, and other unfair or deceptive acts or practices by dominant producers of eggs such as Cal-Maine Foods.”
Psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in certain species of mushrooms, has been studied for its potential medicinal benefits on cognitive function. The use of psilocybin in medicine has gained significant attention in recent years, with promising results showing its ability to enhance cognitive abilities and treat various mental health conditions.
Studies have shown that psilocybin can promote neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to reorganize and create new neural connections. This process is essential for cognitive function, including learning, memory, and decision-making. Psilocybin has been found to increase the number of new neurons in the brain and promote the growth of dendrites, which are extensions of neurons that receive and transmit signals. These findings suggest that psilocybin may have potential as a cognitive enhancer.
Moreover, psilocybin has shown promising results in treating mental health conditions that impact cognitive function, such as depression, anxiety, and addiction. A study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology found that psilocybin-assisted therapy improved depressive symptoms and increased emotional well-being in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Another study found that psilocybin treatment significantly reduced anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer.
Additionally, psilocybin has been studied for its potential in treating addiction. A study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology found that psilocybin-assisted therapy helped smokers quit smoking, with a smoking cessation rate of 80% at the six-month follow-up. Another study found that psilocybin-assisted therapy reduced alcohol consumption in individuals with alcohol dependence.
While the potential medicinal benefits of psilocybin are promising, it is important to note that it should only be used under medical supervision. Psilocybin can cause hallucinations and altered perception, and its use can be dangerous in certain individuals, such as those with a history of psychosis or certain medical conditions.
Despite its potential, psilocybin remains a Schedule I drug in the United States, meaning that it is illegal and has no accepted medical use. However, recent efforts have been made to legalize psilocybin for medical use, with some states allowing the use of psilocybin-assisted therapy in clinical trials and some cities decriminalizing the possession and use of psilocybin.
In conclusion, psilocybin has shown promising results in its ability to enhance cognitive abilities and treat various mental health conditions. Its ability to promote neuroplasticity and create new neural connections in the brain suggests that it may have potential as a cognitive enhancer. However, it is important to note that psilocybin should only be used under medical supervision and that further research is needed to fully understand its medicinal benefits and potential risks. As more research is conducted and the legal status of psilocybin changes, it may become an important tool in the treatment of cognitive dysfunction and mental health conditions.
The Treasury Department says it received the $7 billion in “estate and gift” taxes on Feb. 28, 2023, from a contributor who would have been one of the 100 richest people in the world – so who was it?
We do not know the identity of the individual who died, other than the fact that this kind of thing has been happening a lot ever since the launch of Operation Warp Speed. Estate and gift taxes collected remained relatively stable until the advent of covid jabs, after which IRS collections of this type began to skyrocket.
In the fiscal year that began in October, the IRS has already collected more than $9 billion in estate and gift taxes. This amount is more than the amount the IRS received in all of 2022 – that is how sizable this sudden influx of payments is.
Will more fully vaccinated billionaires die, providing even more cash to the IRS?
According to John Ricco, an economist and the associate director of budget analysis at Penn Wharton Budget Model, this surge in estate and gift tax payments to the IRS is “likely due to a large number of deaths during the covid pandemic,” to quote the Daily Mail Online.
The hidden truth, though, is that people are dying from covid vaccines, which the establishment still refuses to admit despite prolific evidence to suggest that Operation Warp Speed is one of the biggest, somewhat-covert genocide operations to ever be perpetrated on the world.
Calculations by the Tax Policy Center, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., suggest that whoever made the big $7 billion payment probably had an estate worth at least $35 billion. Since nobody can figure out who this might be, Gabriel Zucman, an economist at the University of California Berkeley says that perhaps Forbes simply “missed” a billionaire in its list of those who died recently.
It is also possible that the money may have been “a large gift [or] a delayed payment by some billionaire who died several years [ago],” and that the IRS simply found it through a crackdown on missing payments.
Another possibility is that the $7 billion payment was triggered by a divorce involving a spouse who is not an American citizen, though payments that occur within a year of divorce are generally excluded.
The Italian government is taking action against the globalist push to transform the human food supply away from meat and into bugs and insects.
In an announcement this week, Italy’s leaders indicated that crickets, mealworms, and the rest of Klaus Schwab’s menu for the world will not be allowed as an ingredient in any bread or pizza products manufactured and / or sold in the country – period.
Other food products made and put on the market in Italy can contain bugs just so long as they are clearly and noticeably labeled as such. The Italian government is also requiring that all bug-containing foods other than pizza and bread bear a warning label about the dangers of consuming Schwab’s menu.
“What the decrees provide for is a label with the origin of the product, the risks associated with consumption and the quantity of insect meal present, but we have also provided special shelves where they can be displayed inside the shops,” said Francesco Lollobrigida, Italy’s minister of agriculture, about the move.
“Those who want to choose crickets, larvae and locusts can go there, and those who don’t want to, as I imagine includes most Italians, can keep away.”
(Related: The Italian bakery Tellia is going to have to rethink its business plan following this decision.)
Tell your legislators to ban bugs in food
This is really great news, and the kind that we hope spreads to other countries, including the United States, so perhaps similar rulings can be issued there and here as well.
The reports add “confirmation that the symptoms reported by East Palestine residents are real and are associated with environmental exposures from the derailment and chemical fire,” said one scientist.
Reports that several investigators with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention became ill earlier this month when they visited East Palestine, Ohio offered the latest evidence on Friday that the air and water in the town is less safe than state officials and rail company Norfolk Southern have claimed, following the company’s train derailment in February.
As CNN reported, seven physicians and officers from the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service traveled to East Palestine in early March, a month after a train carrying toxic chemicals including vinyl chloride derailed there.
The team reported developing symptoms including headaches, sore throats, coughing, and nausea while they were conducting their door-to-door assessment of public health risks.
The symptoms were similar to those reported by many East Palestine residents since the crash, and are consistent with the physical effects of exposure to vinyl chloride when it is burned, as it was by officials who conducted a controlled release following the derailment to avoid an explosion.
Despite reports from people in the area, who were briefly evacuated and then told just days after the accident that it was safe to return to East Palestine, state officials and Norfolk Southern representatives have insisted that no dangerous levels of contamination have been detected in air or water.
“We must stop playing Russian Roulette with our health and the environment,” said environmental justice advocate Erin Brockovich Friday.
It just ain't worth it people. We must stop playing Russian Roulette with our health and the environment. https://t.co/Pxx2vpnodp
Reports that several investigators with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention became ill earlier this month when they visited East Palestine, Ohio offered the latest evidence on Friday that the air and water in the town is less safe than state officials and rail company Norfolk Southern have claimed, following the company’s train derailment in February.
As CNN reported, seven physicians and officers from the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service traveled to East Palestine in early March, a month after a train carrying toxic chemicals including vinyl chloride derailed there.
The team reported developing symptoms including headaches, sore throats, coughing, and nausea while they were conducting their door-to-door assessment of public health risks.
The symptoms were similar to those reported by many East Palestine residents since the crash, and are consistent with the physical effects of exposure to vinyl chloride when it is burned, as it was by officials who conducted a controlled release following the derailment to avoid an explosion.
Despite reports from people in the area, who were briefly evacuated and then told just days after the accident that it was safe to return to East Palestine, state officials and Norfolk Southern representatives have insisted that no dangerous levels of contamination have been detected in air or water.
“We must stop playing Russian Roulette with our health and the environment,” said environmental justice advocate Erin Brockovich Friday.
It just ain't worth it people. We must stop playing Russian Roulette with our health and the environment. https://t.co/Pxx2vpnodp
The report from CDC experts “adds confirmation that the symptoms reported by East Palestine residents are real and are associated with environmental exposures from the derailment and chemical fire,” David Michaels, an epidemiologist and professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health and former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, told CNN.
Norfolk Southern has removed roughly nine million gallons of contaminated wastewater from the site of the derailment so far. Chemicals spilled into local creeks and rivers after the derailment and eventually flowed into the Ohio River.
Residents have expressed frustration over officials’ assurances as many have reported symptoms similar to those experienced by the CDC experts.
“They’re all scientists,” one East Palestine woman named Jami Cozza told a panel of state and federal experts at a town hall on March 2. “They’re sitting up here telling us nothing’s wrong. I want you to tell me why everybody in my community is getting sick.”
The CDC told CNN that the Epidemic Intelligence Service team’s symptoms have not persisted since they left East Palestine.
Purdue University engineering professor Andrew Whelton, who has conducted independent studies in East Palestine since the derailment, said on social media this week that he submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the CDC, asking for documents regarding the investigators’ illnesses.
This weekend, I submitted a #FOIA to the CDC requesting docs related to their team's chemical exposure illnesses and being pulled out of #EastPalestine#Ohio on March 7.
If true, why have other government employees, contractors, and the public have yet to be notified? pic.twitter.com/P0dkTCyvt1
— Andrew Whelton 🔥💧❄️🌪 (@TheWheltonGroup) March 28, 2023
Considering global biosecurity is one of the primary tactics chosen to usher in a totalitarian One World Government, it’s clear that more pandemics are in our future, and a weaponized bird flu seems likely
Historically, natural avian influenza (H5N1) never posed a threat to mankind, but scientists have created a hybrid with human pandemic potential
If we do end up with a lethal human bird flu, there’s every reason to suspect it was manmade. There’s also every reason to suspect a bird flu vaccine will be either ineffective, hazardous or both
H5N1 (bird flu) is now affecting mammals at a rate not previously seen, including skunks, bears, seals, foxes, minks and even dolphins. The infection is also spreading between mammals. This is a new development that has scientists worried. If the virus is mutating (or being mutated) to spread among mammals, the jump to humans may not be far behind
Already, the U.S. and other countries are stockpiling H5N1 vaccine “just in case.” While some traditional vaccines are in the lineup, mRNA shots tweaked to target H5N1 are also being planned, and they probably won’t need to undergo additional testing over and beyond what was done for the COVID jabs
Bird flu has always been a fraud, which is why I wrote my New York Times best-selling book “The Great Bird Flu Hoax,” nearly 15 years ago. President George Bush spent over $7 billion dollars and warned that more than 2 million Americans could die.1 The reality is that no one in the U.S. died from bird flu.
Fast forward 15 years, and now global biosecurity is one of the primary tactics chosen to usher in a totalitarian One World Government, so more pandemics are undoubtedly in our future. In the spring of 2022, Bill Gates warned that another pandemic will emerge, and that this yet-to-come pandemic “will get attention this time.”2
Based on the news chatter emerging right now, a weaponized bird flu seems likely. In a March 30, 2022, CenterPoint interview, former director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, more than hinted at this possibility, saying:3
“I believe the great pandemic is still in the future, and that’s going to be a bird flu pandemic for man. It’s going to have significant mortality in the 10-50% range. It’s gonna be trouble.”
Avian Flu Posed No Threat Until Scientists Weaponized It
Historically, natural avian influenza (H5N1) never posed a threat to mankind, but then scientists started tinkering with it, creating a hybrid with human pandemic potential.4 Some of that research has been undertaken in Pentagon-funded biolabs in Ukraine.5,6,7
Gates and Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have also funded gain-of-function research on H5N1.8 One scientist whose work on H5N1 has been funded by both Fauci and Gates is Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka.9
In one experiment, Kawaoka mixed bird flu virus with the Spanish flu virus, resulting in a highly lethal respiratory virus with human transmission capability. Kawaoka has also played around with mixtures of H5N1 and the 2009 H1N1 (swine flu) virus, creating an airborne hybrid10,11,12 capable of evading the human immune system, effectively rendering humans defenseless against it,13 and this extremely risky research was done at a biosafety level 2 lab!14
Fauci also funded the work of virologist Ron Fouchier, a Dutch researcher whose team created an airborne version of the bird flu using a combination of genetic engineering and serial infection of ferrets.15 So, the bird flu has been manipulated and tinkered with in a variety of different ways, making it both airborne (which it was not initially) and capable of cross-species infection.
In 2012, the work of Kawaoka and Fouchier sparked widespread concern about gain-of-function research, as it was readily recognized that it could accidentally cause a human pandemic.16,17
As a result, the U.S. government issued a temporary ban on gain-of-function research on certain viruses in 2014, which remained in place until December 2017.18 We now know this ban was circumvented by Fauci, who continued to fund gain-of-function research on coronaviruses in China during those years.
It now looks as though weaponized bird flu might eventually be released to achieve the geopolitical aims of the technocratic cabal that is trying to give the World Health Organization a monopoly on pandemic decision-making.
Bird flu is widespread among poultry and wild birds19 in the U.S.,20 but the natural virus is not very transmissible or lethal to humans. So, if we do end up with a lethal human bird flu, there’s every reason to suspect it was manmade. There’s also every reason to suspect a bird flu vaccine will be either ineffective, hazardous or both.
Bird Flu Has Spread to Mammals
According to a February 9, 2023, ABC News report,21 H5N1 (bird flu) is also affecting mammals at a rate not previously seen, including skunks, bears, seals, foxes, minks and even dolphins.
[…]
While sporadic infections among mammals have been reported for 20 years, the virus now appears to be spreading between mammals, as opposed to being limited to individual mammals being infected from eating an infected bird.
This is a brand-new development that has scientists worried. If the virus is mutating (or being mutated) to spread among mammals, the jump to humans may not be far behind.
Are Humans Next?
In 2022, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Influenza Division tracked more than 50 human avian influenza cases in seven countries and, while extremely rare, the CDC does anticipate more infections to occur. A(H5N1) viruses in wild birds and poultry outbreaks, continued sporadic human infections are anticipated.
[…]
Canadian experts also fear the bird flu’s current momentum has the potential to become a human pandemic.
[…]
Current Bird Flu Countermeasures Are the Wrong Approach
Just as we’ve seen with the COVID pandemic, health authorities insist there’s only one solution to bird flu epidemics, and that is vaccination. Meanwhile, that strategy is making the situation worse.
By culling all chickens whenever a single case is detected basically guarantees that natural immunity will never develop. A far saner strategy would be to eliminate the chickens that die from the infection but keep those who survive it alive.
[…]
Bird Flu Solutions That Make Sense
As noted by Salatin, it’s well-recognized among farmers that cramped quarters and having too many chicken farms too close together, geographically, is the problem. “The USDA and the industry desperately want to blame wild birds, backyard flocks, and dirty shoes rather than looking in the mirror and realizing this is nature’s way of screaming ‘Enough!'” Salatin writes.
The answer is relatively simple. Save birds that survive the infection and breed them. That way, future generations will have natural immunity. “If a flock gets HPAI, let it run its course. It’ll kill the ones it’ll kill but in a few days the survivors will be obvious. Keep those and put them in a breeding program,” Salatin writes.
Secondly, chicken farmers can also ward off epidemics by focusing on optimal herd sizes. For example, wild turkeys stay in flocks of no more than a couple of hundred. Wild pigs rarely exceed groups of 100. For chickens, optimal herd size is about 1,000, according to Salatin.
[…]
As we move forward, keep an eye on the narratives we’re being fed. Again, if bird flu becomes a human epidemic or pandemic, there are plenty of reasons to suspect it’s a weaponized virus, and the “solution” offered will be the same as that for COVID-19: “Get vaccinated.”
Considering the widespread harm caused by the COVID-19 mRNA shots, can we really trust that fast-tracked bird flu shots will be any safer or more effective? Already, the U.S. and other countries are stockpiling H5N1 vaccine25 “just in case,” which is telling.
In this lecture, Paxton challenges the common fallacy that modern Celts are descended from a a great Gaulic empire (which Julius Caesar defeated in 46 BC) that extended across Europe and invaded the British Isles and Ireland during the Iron Age. There is no archeological evidence the Celts ever invaded Britain. Paxton finds it more likely that Celtic languages and culture arrived there via robust sea trade and gradual settlement.
At present, roughly seven million Celts live in Ireland and Northern Ireland, with another 13 million living in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany (in France) and Gallicia (in Spain).
Prior to the Roman conquest of Britain, the Celts dominated the British Isles. Following the withdrawal of Roman troops in the fifth century, the Celts were pushed west and north by heavy influx of Germanic Angles and Saxons.
There are four main type of evidence for our understanding of Celtic history:
1. Historical sources – Greek and Roman historians (Greece and Rome faced significant Celtic invasions) and 6th century Celtic historians.
2. Linguistic evidence – the languages spoken in Ireland, Scotland and Wales are similar to the language spoken in ancient Gaul.
3. Archeological evidence.
4. DNA evidence.
Film can be viewed free with a library card on Kanopy
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., is circulating a letter among her House colleagues that calls on the Department of Justice to drop charges against Julian Assange and end its effort to extradite him from his detention in Belmarsh prison in the United Kingdom.
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Intercept, is still in the signature-gathering phase and has yet to be sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The Justice Department has charged Assange, the publisher of WikiLeaks, for publishing classified information. The Obama administration had previously decided not to prosecute Assange, concerned with what was dubbed internally as the “New York Times problem.” The Times had partnered with Assange when it came to publishing classified information and itself routinely publishes classified information. Publishing classified information is a violation of the Espionage Act, though it has never been challenged in the Supreme Court, and constitutional experts broadly consider that element of the law to be unconstitutional.
“The Espionage Act, as it’s written, has always been applicable to such a broad range of discussion of important matters, many of which have been wrongly kept secret for a long time, that it should be regarded as unconstitutional,” explained Daniel Ellsberg, the famed civil liberties advocate who leaked the Pentagon Papers.
The Obama administration could not find a way to charge Assange without also implicating standard journalistic practices. The Trump administration, unburdened by such concerns around press freedom, pushed ahead with the indictment and extradition request. The Biden administration, driven by the zealous prosecutor Gordon Kromberg, has aggressively pursued Trump’s prosecution. Assange won a reprieve from extradition in a lower British court but lost at the High Court. He is appealing there as well as to the European Court of Human Rights. Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, who has been campaigning globally for his release, said that Assange’s mental and physical health have deteriorated in the face of the conditions he faces at Belmarsh.
Tlaib, in working to build support, urged her colleagues to put their differences with Assange the individual aside and defend the principle of the free press, enshrined in the Constitution. “I know many of us have very strong feelings about Mr. Assange, but what we think of him and his actions is really besides the point here,” she wrote to her colleagues in early March. “The fact of the matter is that the [way] in which Mr. Assange is being prosecuted under the notoriously undemocratic Espionage Act seriously undermines freedom of the press and the First Amendment.”
Tlaib noted that the Times, The Guardian, El País, Le Monde, and Der Spiegel had put out a joint statement condemning the charges, and alluded to the same problem that gave the Obama administration pause. “The prosecution of Mr. Assange, if successful, not only sets a legal precedent whereby journalists or publishers can be prosecuted, but a political one as well,” she wrote. “In the future, the New York Times or Washington Post could be prosecuted when they publish important stories based on classified information. Or, just as dangerous, they may refrain from publishing such stories for fear of prosecution.”
So far, the letter has collected signatures from Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman, Ilhan Omar, and Cori Bush. Rep. Ro Khanna said he had yet to see the letter but added that he has previously said Assange should not be prosecuted because the charges are over-broad and a threat to press freedom. Rep. Pramila Jayapal is not listed as a signee but told a Seattle audience recently she believes the charges should be dropped. A spokesperson for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that she intends to sign before the letter closes.
Chip Gibbons, policy director for Defending Rights & Dissent, said that the relative silence from Congress on the Assange prosecution has undermined U.S. claims to be defending democracy abroad. “In spite of the rhetoric about opposing authoritarianism and defending democracy and press freedom, we really haven’t seen a comparable outcry from Congress — until now,” said Gibbons, whose organization has launched a petition calling on the Justice Department to drop charges. “Rep. Tlaib’s letter isn’t just a breath of fresh air, it’s extremely important for members of Congress to be raising their voices on this, especially those from the same party of the current administration, at this critical juncture in a case that will determine the future of press freedom in the United States.”
A significant number of Democrats continue to hold a hostile view of Assange, accusing him of publishing material that was purloined by Russian agents from the inbox of Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta. The indictment, however, relates to his publication of government secrets leaked by Chelsea Manning more than a decade ago. “In July 2010, WikiLeaks published approximately 75,000 significant activity reports related to the war in Afghanistan, classified up to the SECRET level, illegally provided to WikiLeaks by Manning,” the indictment reads. “In November 2010, WikiLeaks started publishing redacted versions of U.S. State Department cables, classified up to the SECRET level, illegally provided to WikiLeaks by Manning.”
The U.S. government has made the general claim that Assange’s publication of classified information put sources and allies of the U.S. in harm’s way, though the government has been unable to provide any example of that. Meanwhile, the U.S. government itself has left thousands of Afghan civilians, who collaborated with the U.S., to their fates after the withdrawal from Afghanistan, raising questions about the sincerity of their lamentations over the security of those who work with the U.S.
In a startling new poll result, ex-president Donald Trump has tripled his lead over Gov. Ron DeSantis following Thursday’s indictment news.
Many pundits predicted that the indictment would help Trump in the 2024 GOP primary contest. Some, including former Trump attorney general Bill Barr, claim that the boost to Trump is motive for the indictment. Sen. Ted Cruzcalled it an “enormous political gift” for Trump.
Predictions were met or exceeded in polling with the newest from Yahoo/YouGov, the first major survey taken after the indictment just days ago.
Trump is leading Desantis 57% to 31% – a huge 26-point lead that triples the previous result of this survey a mere two weeks ago. At that time, Trump was ahead of DeSantis by just 8%, at 47% to 39%.
However, as Yahoo points out, on whether Trump should get another term if convicted, the results aren’t as favorable.
The Survey asked, “If Donald Trump is convicted of a crime in this case, do you think he should be allowed to serve as president again in the future?”
Among all respondents, just 31% said yes, while 52% said no, he should not. Among Republicans the number was upside down, with 56% saying yes and 24% no, with 20% unsure. So that’s a 12% difference between “yes” and not saying “yes.”
The massive extended protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continue, even as protesters claim credit for a victory. Netanyahu has postponed consideration of a plan to severely limit the independence of the judiciary, frustrating hard right allies within his coalition and, for the moment at least, emboldening the opposition, as seen above in the streets of Tel-Aviv.
The size and number of protests matters, of course, but it’s not enough. In any kind of democratic system, protesters need allies in government willing to listen to them. Protesting Israelis had to mount a political threat to the Netanyahu government, which means signaling the capacity to disrupt the governing coalition. On the surface, this shouldn’t have been so difficult: Netanyahu’s far-right government was supported by 64 of 120 members of the Knesset–oddly, the largest majority a government had enjoyed in years. But the people protesting didn’t appear to include anyone the governing parties needed.
Netanyahu’s proposed reform would have allowed the government to appoint judges and to ignore their rulings–an essential demand for some of the far right and religious parties–and a massive provocation to their opponents, who viewed it as a threat to democratic governance altogether. The scope of this threat, coupled with longstanding antipathy to Netanyahu, helped sustain large protests.
But there was more: Military service in Israel is extremely common, if not quite universal, with exemptions for Arabs and ultra-orthodox Israelis. Broad conscription means that the Israeli Defense Force includes men and women from across the political spectrum who are prepared to participate in campaigns they might oppose as matters of policy (for example, harsh policing of Palestinians; relocating resistant religious settlers). For better and worse, democratic legitimacy makes this possible.
Netanyahu was prepared to push ahead regardless, but his Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, was not. Netanyahu fired Gallant immediately, but furtive negotiations within his coalition suggested that Gallant was not the only one prepared to leave the government to preserve an independent judiciary. Remember the narrow margins–it would take just a few defectors to bring the government down. Political unrest within the government made the street protests possible, and the prime minister announced that he would return to judicial reform later.
Stalling on judicial reform, while making additional concessions to the far right he disappointed, allowed Netanyahu to survive the moment, but he’d announced a postponement, not an end. Netanyahu plans to bring it back when, he hopes, political circumstances will be more favorable. The opposition’s victory could be short-lived. It wouldn’t be the first time. Surely, some protesters remembered that Hong Kong’s leadership suspended an unpopular law to stop a protest movement in 2019, only to institute far harsher reforms months later.
So, thus far, the protests continue, as a broad opposition evaluates broader goals, perhaps ousting Netanyahu, or adopting some kind of Constitution. It’s not over.
Meanwhile, on the outside, activists want to take inspiration from the successes of the moment. But we need to remember that the opposition didn’t succeed because they waved Israeli flags at the demonstrations, nor just because of their numbers, the tactics, or commitment. Tunnel vision on the actions in the streets leads to missing the importance of connecting protest to politics.
Ryan Grim
