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Dumb, Shameful, Dangerous, and Un-American: Biden on Trump's Threat to Europe - The Wednesday AM Quickie 2/14/24

By Corey Pein —

It's Valentine's Day! Time to OD on chocolate and let the advertising industry make us feel anxious about our lives. - Corey

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THE BIG NEWS

World Tour: Germany Targets Fascist Funding Networks

  • South Africa Makes 'Urgent Request' for ICJ to Rule That Israel's Assault on Rafah Violates Preliminary Ruling in Genocide Case "If they attack Rafah, where can we go? The Egyptian border? The sea?" asks a single mother taking care of relatives' and friends' kids plus five of her own. "If we leave, whom do I choose to carry? The month-old infant, or the 2-year-old? It's no choice. Better to be killed with my family than suffer displacement." via the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times.
  • After Favorable Senate Vote, Zelenskyy Expects U.S. House to Make 'Strong Moral Choice' to Continue Aiding Ukraine's Defense Meanwhile, President Joe Biden responded to Sick F*ck Donald Trump's invitation for Russia to invade Europe, telling reporters that "No other president in our history has ever bowed down to a Russian dictator. Let me say this as clearly as I can — I never will. For God's sake, it's dumb, it's shameful, it's dangerous, it's un-American." via Politico and the New York Times.
  • Russia Puts Estonian Prime Minister on 'Wanted' List Over Removal of Soviet WWII Memorials Since Russia invaded Ukraine, "numerous monuments to Red Army soldiers also have been taken down in Poland and the Czech Republic," but "Moscow has denounced those moves as desecrating the memory of Soviet soldiers who fell while fighting Nazi Germany." via the Associated Press.
  • 'Awfully Bleak' Forecast as Indonesia Votes for President Today; Lead Candidate Was Formerly Barred from U.S. Over Human Rights Abuses "Prabowo [Subianto], 72, commonly known by his first name, comes from a wealthy and prominent family in Indonesia and was a lieutenant general in the military under Suharto. International human rights organizations say Prabowo carried out rights abuses as a military leader, including ordering the kidnapping of democracy activists and directing the massacre of independence fighters in East Timor and elsewhere. Prabowo was dishonorably discharged from the military in 1998 but never faced criminal prosecution." via the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Intercept.
  • Opposition to Modi Falters as Police Fortify New Delhi, Drop Tear Gas on Protesting Farmers from Drone "A third term for [Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra] Modi will finish off whatever semblance of democracy is left in India," says opposition parliamentarian Saket Gokhale. "These [upcoming spring] elections are existential — not only for opposition parties, but also for Indian democracy itself." via the Financial Times and the AP.
  • Police Probe of Bolsonaro Over Coup Attempt Weakens Brazil's Right Ahead of Local Elections Some conservative allies of the fascist former president have made a show of their "warming ties" with leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, even posing for handshakes. via Reuters.
  • With Ice Sheets Melting Fast, Wetland Areas in Greenland Quadruple Over Three Decades The author of a new study on the greening of Greeland warns that not only does the altered landscape threaten the traditional Indigenous way of life, the encroaching vegetation is itself accelerating climate change and sea level rise. via NBC News.
  • Greek Parliament Expected to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage Tomorrow Assuming the vote is favorable, Greece will be the first historically Christian Orthodox country with equal marriage; church leaders are the principal opponents, with one saying "if we baptize the children of gay couples, the children will become gay too." via BBC News and the Daily Beast.

House Republicans Impeach Mayorkas By 1 Vote

After their first attempt to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over nothing last week was a flop, House Republicans yesterday tried again and succeeded by a single vote. The Washington Post reports:

The unprecedented and partisan resolution — which cleared the House over opposition from Democrats and three GOP members — may not go very far in the Senate, as some Republicans in the upper chamber do not believe that Mayorkas's actions [in office] clear the bar as the 'high crimes and misdemeanors' necessary for conviction. But Mayorkas is the first sitting Cabinet secretary to be impeached, and some bipartisan and legal observers worry that the most serious tool the U.S. Constitution provides to rein in a public official is being misused as partisan weapon.

As a demonstration of how much xenophobic border politics matter to Republicans this year, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise dragged himself to the Capitol from his sick bed in Louisiani to vote Mayorkas out; Scalise recently received a stem-cell transplant to treat his blood cancer. Mayorkas next faces a trial that will allow the GOP to keep its manufactured border crisis in the headlines. For what its worth, the latest numbers show arrests for illegal border crossings have declined by half.

Centrist Democrat Flips George Santos' Old Seat

Lawyer and accountant Tom Suozzi represented Long Island for three terms in Congress before giving up his seat for an unsuccessful gubernatorial bid and creating an opening for the fabulist, formerly fabulous, and federally indicted Republican George Santos. With Santos now expelled from Congress, New York's 3rd District voters yesterday decided Suozzi was a safe bet. The Associated Press reports that Republican Mazi Pilip, a former Israeli soldier born in Ethiopia, conceded last night after a tense day of voting marked by a major snowstorm:

Suozzi's win will likely reassure Democrats that they can perform well in suburban communities across the nation, which will be critical to the party's efforts to retake control of the U.S. House and reelect President Joe Biden.

According to the New York Times, the main House GOP super PAC "hired private snow plows to help clear the party's best precinct areas faster," but even that wasn't enough to bring Pilip close to victory.

QUICKEST QUICKIES

  • 'Let's Not Pretend You're Suddenly Not Contagious': Experts Slam Possible End of CDC Covid Isolation Guidelines Dr. Syra Madad, senior director of the special pathogens program at NYC Health and Hospitals, says the federal agency should "seize this opportunity to truly change how we respond to deadly epidemics and pandemics and advocate for national, guaranteed paid sick and family leave instead of caving into the easier option of eliminating the [recommended five-day] isolation period." via the New York Times.
  • The Engagement Ring 'Gold Bar' Bob Menendez' Bought for His Co-Defendant Wife Was Also Part of a Bribe Prosecutors say $35,000 of a $150,000 bribe was meant to cover the purchase of the diamond engagement ring for Nadine Menendez, but the Egyptian government's go-between, Wael Hana, spent only $12,000 on the ring and spent the rest on "two watches, a bracelet and a necklace for himself." via the Times.
  • Republicans in at Least 13 States Push a New Round of Library Censorship Bills "This is not a culture war; it's a threat to our democracy," says Deborah Caldwell-Stone of the American Library Association. via NBC News.
  • Flight Attendants Stage Picket Lines at 30-Plus Major U.S. Airports "We can't live off of these wages," explains a 44-year veteran of Air Wisconsin who makes close to what she did in 1980; two-thirds of American flight attendants are represented by unions currently negotiating new contracts. via the Guardian.

SOME NUMBER

$280 million

That's how much Amazon oligarch Jeff Bezos would have owed Washington State in taxes on the $4 billion in company stock he sold this past week if he still lived in Seattle, according to BBC News. Bezos moved to Miami recently because, he claims, he wants to be closer to his parents.

ON THE SHOW TODAY

2/14: It's Hump Day! Sam speaks with Dr. Thaer Ahmad, emergency room physician and assistant program director of the Advocate Christ Emergency Medicine Residency Program, to discuss his recent experience volunteering at the Al Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. Then, Sam speaks with Griffin Ritze, a union organizer at Amazon's largest air hub in Kentucky, Amazon KCVG, and Marcio Rodriguez, a Planeside Ramp worker and member of the Amazon Labor Union-KCVG organizing committee, to discuss their efforts to ratify their constitution and file with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a union election.

DON'T MISS MR CLIPS‌

Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro Clone Loves Child Labor

You have your whole life to go to work, so why not start a few years early?

Putin Toys With Tucker Before Humiliating Him Completely

This bootlicking could have been an email.

PARTING WORDS

"Are we really still doing this?"

-- Jared Kushner, asked yesterday at an Axios event in Miami whether he believed U.S. intelligence assessments that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom Kushner called a "visionary leader," ordered the 2018 assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Per the Associated Press, Trump's son-in-law said the $2 billion investment his companies received from the "prestigious" Saudi sovereign wealth fund was ethical and lawful, and that all the policies he influenced as a White House adviser were "in the interest of America."

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