Trump Offers Up Californians as Sacrifice to Iran – The Wednesday AM Quickie 10/7/26
Kittens at an aquarium, here you go. Don't never say I did nothin' for ya. - Corey
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THE BIG NEWS
'A Very Small Price to Pay': Trump Suggests Iran Should 'Take Out' a US City or Two
Look, if we made a point of documenting every batshit crazy thing Donald Trump says, there wouldn't be space for any actually important news in this daily newsletter. But sometimes the batshittery is so extreme that Trump's craziness cannot be pushed to the side and simply must be the morning's top story. So it is today. Because it is a rare thing that, in the middle of a hot war, the commander-in-chief calls on an enemy country to attack his own country's people.
At a rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, yesterday, while speaking about his Iran war and its effect on energy prices, Trump delivered remarks that the New York Times generously calls "confusing." His meaning, alas, was all too clear.
"They can take out a city," Trump suggested. "Let them take, let them take out Los Angeles; let them take out San Diego. That's — this is a very small price to pay, and it's going to be over with very soon." Let the record note that the Nebraska MAGA crowd cheered when the president of the Confederacy 2.0 proposed the sacrifice of two major cities in California.
Hence why some, like the Los Angeles Times, observed that Trump loves to attack liberal California and was, in his deranged and demented way, playing the hits. But this was on another level. "His statement was so irrational, it's hard to explain exactly what he was saying, but it sounded like he was willing to give us up," Gil Field, communications director for San Diego Veterans for Peace, tells the Guardian. "It's horrible and we're horrified."
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom called Trump's comments "dangerous – if not treasonous." LA Mayor Karen Bass said that "the role of a president is to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives." Her mayoral challenger, Nithya Raman, called Trump's comments "reckless, dangerous, and unhinged," adding that "4 million Angelesnos are not bargaining chips."
Regular folk were less diplomatic. "What the fuck is wrong with him?" one Angeleno asks. When we find out, we'll let you know.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that only one family member of the six US soldiers killed in an Iranian drone strike on March 1 elected to attend a White House reception for gold star families yesterday. "I have no interest in supporting an administration that has been so reckless with the lives of our service members," says Libby Klinner, who lost her spouse, Maj. Alex Klinner, in combat this summer. To be fair, Trump cares just as little for civilian lives.
MORE STORIES TO WATCH
Elections Roundup: Democrats Favored to Take House – and Senate!
- Susan Collins Sounds Very Defensive in First Debate with Maine Democratic Senate Nominee Troy Jackson "Sen. Collins is like an arsonist who helped set the fire, and she wants credit for bringing a cup of water to put it out," Jackson quipped, summing up her positioning as an anti-Trump Republican running with Trump's endorsement. via NBC News, the Washington Post, and The Intercept.
- Trump Celebrates as Fascist Flávio Bolsonaro Gets More Votes Than Leftist Lula in First Round of Brazilian Presidential Elections Meanwhile in the Balkans, two top Trump political advisers, James Blair and Chris LaCivita, have been helping a far-right pro-Russian government "tighten its grip on power." via the Guardian, the New York Times, Politico, and the Associated Press.
- 'Are You White?': MAGA Text Message Scare Campaign Hits Texas Senate Race Meanwhile, two Latino advocacy groups, the Voto Latino Foundation and the Hispanic Federation, are launching a six-figure get-out-the-vote operation in the Rio Grande Valley. via NBC News and USA Today.
- Bernie Sanders Stumps for Billionaire Tax in California "Never before have we seen such an unprecedented level of greed, arrogance, and irresponsibility on the part of the ruling class of this country," the Vermont independent Senator says. via the Los Angeles Times, The American Prospect, and ABC7 News Bay Area.
French Student Protests Expand
What began last week as walkouts by high school students in protest of poor educational conditions has become a leftist movement encompassing broad swathes of French society and people of all ages. Labor unions estimate more than half a million people took part in yesterday's nationwide protests, with the largest crowds converging in Paris. The police respose has been heavy-handed, with thousands arrested and hundreds injured, including a 15-year-old who lost a hand to a police grenade. "Today's high school and university students are tomorrow's workers. They should not have to pay the price for austerity policies," the French union CGT says. Student organizers vow the protests will continue until their demands are met.
QUICKEST QUICKIES
- ICE Has Detained Over 500 US Citizens Since the Start of Trump's Second Term "ICE isn't looking for criminals. They're looking for Latinos," says Willy Wender Aceituno, a two-time Trump voter and naturalized citizen who was violently arrested by Border Patrol last November. "Having papers in this country does not protect you." via ProPublica, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times.
- Senior CIA Officer Caught with Hundreds of Gold Bars Pleads Guilty to an Even Bigger Fraud David J. Rush of Ashburn, Virginia, yesterday pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in a scheme that cost the government $194 million. via the Washington Post, NBC News, and the AP.
- Germany's Former Spymaster Arrested and Charged with Treason August Hanning, who led Germany's Federal Intelligence Service for nearly a decade, allegedly passed state secrets to spies of an unnamed foreign country, apparently while working as a private consultant after leaving the government. via the AP, the Financial Times, and Politico.
- 'Christa Is a Survivor:' Tennessee Woman Who Survived Botched Execution Is Awake "Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking and continues to receive critical medical care. Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery," Pike's lawyers say. via the New York Times, the Guardian, and the AP.
SOME NUMBER
76 percent
That's the share of Americans in a new poll who support guaranteeing health insurance as a right. Two-thirds specifically favor Medicare for All, up from 53 percent in Oct. 2020; only one third oppose the proposal for universal care. "People are sick of a broken healthcare system driven by the greed of the insurance industry and Big Pharma," Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders says. "The time to pass Medicare for All is NOW."
ON THE SHOW TODAY
10/7: Sam is hosting solo today. His guests will be Guillaume Long, senior research fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, discussing the elections in Brazil; and Mai Vang, Sacremento city council member running to represent California's 7th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives.
DON'T MISS MR CLIPS
Fox News Guest Lusts for Bad Boy Jesus
I think Art Bell would've hung up on this guy.
Is This the Most Powerful Political Moment of the Year?
You can't fake that.
PARTING WORDS
"Looking at the Ellisons' takeover of CNN (as part of many other media assets), there are striking comparisons with what has happened to the media in illiberal countries like Orbán's Hungary, and even in Putin's Russia. This is known in Russia as the Sistema strategy—using loyal allies as proxies who take over media assets and then give the government effective editorial control, while maintaining a semblance of autonomy."
-- Martin Moore, the director of the Centre for the Study of Media, Communication, and Power at King’s College London, speaking to Columbia Journalism Review about the takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery and CNN by Donald Trump's billionaire friends, Larry and son David Ellison. The sale closed yesterday. The Ellisons are promising "complete" editorial independence for CNN, but journalists are skeptical, especially given how the Ellisons set about turning another recent acquisition, CBS News, into a pro-Trump organ.
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