by Vijaya Chandrasoma

Last week saw the continuing disintegration of the last vestiges of opposition against Trump’s Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election.

Competition

Trump’s leadership of the Republican Party seems unassailable. He is leading his rivals for the Republican nomination for 2024 by at least 30 points, with former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley edging Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for second place, the only two reaching double digits. Haley may be enjoying a moment, but she seems destined for the undercard on the 2024 Republican ticket.

Conservative politicians, including his under-performing rivals for the nomination, refuse to publicly criticize Trump’s mental and moral deterioration, his lies, his ignorance and his vulgarity, his multitude of arrests and impending and ongoing criminal trials. They go with the Party’s treasonous flow, in fear of Trump’s kindergarten taunts, social media posts of wrath, and revenge by the armed, violent, white supremacist goons that constitute his “cult”. They also fear, if they do publicly denounce Trump, they will be “primaried” and lose their jobs in the next election. Self and treason before country and democracy is the current mantra of the Party of Trump.

In a recent speech announcing the suspension of his candidacy before a Republican Jewish conference in Las Vegas, former Vice President Pence said, “The Bible tells us that there’s a time for every purpose under heaven. …. It’s become clear to me that this is not my time. So I have decided to suspend my campaign for president, effective today”.

The fact that it was not Pence’s time became clear when his support in the polls had dwindled to 4%, his campaign finances dried up and it was doubtful if he would even qualify for the third Republican debate, scheduled for November 8 in Miami, Florida.

In any event, it has been clear to most Americans that the 21st century has never been “his time”. Pence’s time was in 1620, when he should have been the leader of the Christian Pilgrims who made landfall on Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, on the Mayflower.

Snowballs would have a better chance of surviving in hell, rather than any of these losers getting the better of Trump. His nomination for the 2024 Republican presidency seems to be locked. He will contest the presidency even as a convicted felon under house arrest, pending prison sentence. The only Republican who has any chance of beating Trump is Trump himself. And, on current form, he will.

Disqualification to Run for the Presidency – The 14th Amendment

Hearings began last week on the lawsuit filed by Republican and unaffiliated lawyers in Colorado, represented by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). A case to determine whether the 14th Amendment disqualifies Trump from running for president in 2024. Several objections by Trump’s lawyers to have the case dismissed have been denied.

According to a strict interpretation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, Trump should be disqualified from ever holding public office. His guilt in the incitement of the January 6 insurrection was obvious to anyone who owns a TV receiver. However, it is likely that the case, which will ultimately be decided by the corrupt US Supreme Court with its 6/3 Republicans majority, will be Dead on Arrival.

The Israeli Holocaust

I hate to waste many words on the Israeli-Palestine War, when the logical conclusion, the illegal annexation of Palestine by Israel, is predictably foregone. A war intensified after the gruesome massacre of 1,400 Israeli civilians, men, women, and children by Hamas terrorists on October 7.

As brutal as this attack was, Netanyahu has since been waging what he terms “Israel’s War of Independence”. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) already has killed over 9,000 Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and seriously wounded another 22,000. The Israeli airstrikes have been targeting hospitals and refugee camps, on the pretext of going after Hamas terrorists. The ground invasion of Northern Gaza is also under way. To confine attacks on Hamas terrorists alone is an impossible task, as these terrorists live among nearly two million Palestinian civilians in the tiny, 140 square miles of land that is the Gaza Strip.

The Israelis produced gruesome pictures of civilians, men, women and children brutally tortured and killed by Hamas, on October 7, which sickened the world. Now the world is sickened by equally gruesome pictures of Palestinian civilians, men, women and children, being murdered, hospitals and refugee camps demolished by Israeli airstrikes. Both sides, the sovereign state of Israel and the terrorist group of Hamas continue to be guilty of violating international law and committing war crimes.

Netanyahu is totally against even considering a ceasefire, and any attempt to negotiate a political solution, is as unlikely as that may seem. But international opinion is that this ceaseless killing of innocent civilians must stop, at any cost.

The fate of the near 240 hostages, including Americans, remain in the balance. Mediation with Hamas by Qataris, at the request of the Americans, to secure the release of the hostages seems to be making some progress.

As I said, there is only one conclusion possible to this injustice perpetrated by the Europeans and Jews against the Palestinians since 1947. Netanyahu’s Israeli version of Hitler’s Final Solution will soon result in the Biblical Jewish State of Israel. The Palestine homeland would have ceased to exist, and Palestinians exterminated or displaced in the not-too-distant future.

There is ominous evidence that Hezbollah, the terrorist organization backed both by Iran and Russia, has its fingers on the trigger. The possible escalation of the conflict to another full-scale Middle-Eastern war, involving the participation of the superpowers, may precipitate the unthinkable.

Americans, Republicans and Democrats, have always stood firmly behind Israel during this genocide and illegal annexation of land belonging to Palestinians, land which has been their home for centuries. And why not? White Americans have extensive historical experience in the successful, violent and illegal occupation of land belonging to indigenous peoples.

Anti-Semitic and Islamophobia Attacks in the US and the World.

Since the October 7 Hamas massacre and the resultant Israeli war against Palestinians in Gaza, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has recorded a 388% spike in anti-Semitic attacks across the United States, directly linked to the war. According to ADL CEO, Johnathan Greenblatt, “When conflicts erupt in Israel, anti-Semitic incidents soon follow in the US and globally….We are witnessing a disturbing rise in anti-Semitic activity here, while the war rages overseas”.

FBI Director, Christopher Wray acknowledged that threats of violent domestic terrorism have “surged as the conflict in Israel escalates”. This is violence targeting both Jews and Muslims.

The recent war against Palestinians has resulted in an explosion of Jewish hatred throughout the world. One especially disturbing act last week was the burning of the Jewish section of Vienna’s central cemetery, with Nazi swastikas desecrating external walls.

Flipping of Co-Conspirators

Many of Trump’s co-conspirators are entering into plea deals in the state and federal cases against him. Many have agreed to testify against him on condition of immunity or milder penalties.

The most damning co-conspirator to so flip is his former Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, who was Trump’s right-hand man in all his dealings in the attempt to rig the 2020 election, before and after the date. He was also seen to be involved in the planning and attempted implementation of the January 6 insurrection and its violent aftermath. Meadows has offered to testify, in the federal trial beginning March 4, 2024, against Trump on condition of immunity. His evidence will surely and finally nail Trump.

New York $250 mn. fraud case

Trump’s children were scheduled to testify last week at the New York $250 million fraud case against the Trump Organization. Sons Donald Jr and Eric testified last Wednesday and Thursday. They both testified as expected, stating they had nothing to do with the fraudulent statements filed with the IRS and insurance companies. “The accountants worked on these documents. That is what we pay them for”, said Donald Jr. They both claimed that they just signed whatever papers put before them. This testimony contradicts other evidence, like e-mails, produced by the Court.

Ivanka has appealed the ruling ordering her to testify, on the grounds that she is no longer a resident of New York. The appeal is likely to be rejected, and she will be compelled to testify, probably next week.

Donald Trump is scheduled to testify next Wednesday. Like he did over 440 times in a previous civil case, Trump is likely to “to plead the Fifth”, the constitutional amendment which enables a witness to refuse to answer questions on grounds of self-incrimination. The difference between civil and criminal cases is that while, in criminal cases, a witness who pleads the Fifth cannot have that held against him, in civil cases the judge and/or jury can assume that a witness who pleads the Fifth does so because his answers will be damaging to the case against him.

Election of Speaker in the US House of Representatives

Kevin McCarthy was removed from his post of Speaker, House of Representatives by a handful of far-right Republican members, on October 4. The Republican majority in the House was unable to elect a Speaker till October 25, during which period the House remained rudderless, unable to govern.

Two Representatives, Steve Scalise, a known white supremacist, and Jim Jordan, a prime mover behind Trump’s January 6 insurrection, tried to win the coveted post, but failed to win the necessary majority of votes in their own Party.

After three weeks of chaos, Republicans finally settled on little-known, hard right back-bencher from Louisiana, Mike Johnson, 51, as Speaker. Johnson, an ardent Trumper, with less than seven years of political experience in Washington DC, now holds the post second in line from the presidency, after Vice President Kamala Harris.

Johnson believes the 2020 election was stolen. He also voted against certifying the election after the insurrection on January 6, 2021.

“I think he’s going to be a fantastic Speaker”, Trump said on Wednesday, from the New York courthouse where he’s on trial for business fraud.

Indeed, he’s the ideal Speaker for the Christian, white supremacist, rogue’s gallery that is today’s Republican Party. Johnson opposes reproductive rights for women, LGBTQ rights, gay marriage, and favors every item endorsed by the radical right, white, Christian agenda, including cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

In an interview last week, Johnson said, “I am a Bible-believing Christian. People wonder what Mike Johnson thinks about any issue under the sun. Well, I said, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview”.

Johnson got off to a flying, hard-right start with his first act as Speaker. He separated President Biden’s proposal of $ 105 billion to fund Israel ($14 billion) and Ukraine ($61 billion), approving funding of $14 billion to Israel, but zero to Ukraine,

The $14 billion aid to Israel also depends on cutting the funding for the tax department (IRS) for the employment of extra staff to police the super-wealthy and the corporations, who will continue to cheat on their taxes. A despicable political stunt that makes humanitarian and military aid to US allies a pawn in the radical-right agenda.

The date of the next government shut-down is just two weeks away, on November 17. The temporary extension of the budget, which kept the government functioning against the will of the Republican hard-right, caused the historic removal of Speaker McCarthy. I wonder what Biblical instructions the Almighty has up His sleeve for Speaker Johnson on this issue, the result of which will affect the lives of all Americans. God only knows.