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Will Michigan Voters Doom Biden? - The Tuesday AM Quickie 2/27/24

By Jacob Silverman —

To build the border wall, DHS is destroying plants that are older than the border itself. -Jacob

ON THE SHOW TODAY

2/27: It's News Day Tuesday!

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Today you'll read about the political dangers Biden faces in Michigan, Boeing's scarily lax safety culture, and a Fox News host telling Trump that he's lying about the 2020 election.

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THE BIG NEWS

Does Biden Understand the Political Danger He Faces in Michigan?

For months, voters, activists, and poll watchers have warned that President Joe Biden's unfettered support for Israel's deadly military campaign in Gaza will cost him support with Michigan's sizeable Muslim and Arab American populations. Administration officials and Biden surrogates have met with state politicos, Muslim leaders, and other interest groups but have had little to offer in the way of policy. The Biden administration has provided unwavering military and political support for Israel, and Michigan's Muslim voters are keenly aware. More than that, they're outraged.

Today, Michigan will hold its Democratic presidential primary, and while there's no obvious threat to the incumbent on the ballot, the vote will be both an inflection point in Biden's troubled political relationship with Michigan voters and an opportunity for them to voice their discontent. Activists and politicians like Rep. Rashida Tlaib have encouraged disaffected Biden supporters to vote "uncommitted" or to leave that spot blank.

Some mainline Democrats have chided Muslim voters that anything but a vote for Biden is a vote for Trump. Don't they know that Trump wants to pass a Muslim ban?! These are cheap appeals when the existing president is helping facilitate a savage war that may have killed some of these voters' friends or family members. And they are cynical and lazy, continuing a lesser-of-two-evils tradition that has exhausted voters' patience.

"When I run for office, I don’t tell people vote for me because the other guy is worse," said Abraham Aiyash, a Democratic leader in the Michigan House of Representatives.

The problem is bigger than Michigan. Polls show that a majority of Americans think Israel has "gone too far" and want a ceasefire. "It’s not a Muslim issue," said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud at a recent rally. "He’s got a humanitarian issue on his hands."

Aaron Bushnell Passes Away After Self-Immolation Gaza Protest

A 25-year-old member of the US Air Force named Aaron Bushnell has emerged as a hero and martyr for the Palestinian cause after self-immolating in an act of protest outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. on Sunday. Bushnell can be seen on a video now circulating saying, "I will no longer be complicit in genocide." After igniting himself, he shouts "Free Palestine" a number of times before collapsing.

Earlier that day, Bushnell had posted a call to action on Facebook:

Many of us like to ask ourselves, “What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?”
The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.

Another Threat of a Government Shutdown

Continuing a rich tradition of incompetent governance and destructive obstructionism, the government may shut down again! Right now, Congress faces a Friday deadline to pass something and keep this messy excuse for a nation running. In the Senate, leaders from both sides have pledged that they're not going to shut down the government. But it gets far messier in the Republican-controlled House, where the far-right faction of an already pretty right-wing Republican party refuses to support a spending deal that Sen. Chuck Schumer and Republican Speaker Mike Johnson agreed to in October.

Top Democrats are fed up, but right now their anger is mostly producing some entertaining rhetoric and little action. "We’re doing this every six months," Sen. Jon Tester told CNN. "This is bullshit. It’s just bullshit. And so we need to do what we were elected to do, fund the government, not shut it down."

It would be nice!

QUICKEST QUICKIES

  • Biden and Trump Will Both Tour the Border Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump both have plans to visit the US-Mexico border on Thursday. While each will be visiting a city in Texas, they're unlikely to cross paths in what would be an awkward meet-cute set against the backdrop of our increasingly fascist immigration system. via Washington Post.
  • Macron and Other EU Leaders See a Broader Threat in Russia With American military support for Ukraine wavering and Donald Trump possibly on his way back to the White House, some EU leaders have formed a coalition of countries to send Ukraine more armaments – and perhaps, one day, soldiers. via Financial Times.
  • Report Knocks Boeing's Safety Culture A report commissioned by the FAA in the wake of the Boeing 737 MAX crashes claims that Boeing still does not maintain a proper commitment to safety and that employees face retaliation for potential whistleblowing. via Seattle Times.
  • SpaceX Is Officially a Major Military Contractor Elon Musk's SpaceX has developed close ties – and lucrative contracts – with US intelligence, defense, and space agencies. Members of the House of Representatives now want SpaceX to expand its military communications network to US forces in Taiwan. via WSJ and NBC News.

SOME NUMBER

57

That's how many aid trucks entered Gaza each day, on average, during a 12-day period this month. Palestinian and United Nations officials have said that's far less than what's needed. Before the most recent war, about 500 aid trucks entered Gaza daily. Right-wing Israeli protesters have blocked aid trucks from driving into Gaza while Israeli forces have bombed Palestinian border police who would normally guard and help distribute the much-needed food relief.

DON'T MISS MR CLIPS‌

GOP's Embarrassing Biden Impeachment Fiasco Keeps Getting Worse for Republicans

Yes, they're bad faith obstructionists, but they're also quite bad at it.

Fox Host Fed Up With Trump's Lies

Brett Baier gently reminded Trump that he lost the 2020 election.

PARTING WORDS

"I don't think billionaires should exist. No one needs that much money. I think it's inhumane. Pick any city, walk around, you know, you see people starving, people without basic necessities. There's no excuse for that. And it's not because people are lazy or don't want to work. The billionaires that keep amassing more and more wealth, so they can build rocket ships and do whatever the hell they want to do, that does nothing for humanity."

-- UAW President Shawn Fain, speaking to CBS News. Fain, who has become perhaps the most visible and successful leader in the resurgent American labor movement, is almost a generational throwback: a tough-talking frontline labor agitator proudly leading a counter-offensive in the class war originally launched by the ultra-rich.

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