Hours ago, the United States and Ukraine came to a 30-day ceasefire agreement. Although Russia has yet to agree to the deal, the U.S. announced a lift of its restrictions on military aid and intelligence sharing. Jen Rubin and Ilan Goldenberg discuss the implications.
It seems rather odd that the news media this afternoon is saying that Zelensky accepted "Trump's" ceasefire deal.
Last I remembered, this was a plan actually proposed by Zelensky, after the White House Trump and Vance tantrum blowup, but Zelensky agreed to allow the minerals deal to stay in this proposal in order bring the USA back to the table.
Am I incorrect?
Zelensky also got the restoration of US support as well as the ceasefire he proposed, and that is a big deal.
Regarding the green card protester scooped up...
Yes, next they could begin to come for us, anyone, who protests in a way that Trump does not like.
What concerns me about the fellow detained was that he was picked up due to violating a newly signed executive order by Trump, as law, correct? and was not afforded due process when scooped up or notified. What is to keep Trump from simply signing something similar for other protests like regarding Ukraine, as you suggest, and to say it is not supporting our nation's position, etc.
What is to stop Trump from eventually declaring peaceful protesters who protest the current US government as being declared, by executive order, as assisting our enemies by being critical, and scooping them up, as well?
Eventually, it could include citizens, I fear as this could grow and spread if not stopped.
Detention facilities here, in private prisons, as well as abroad are being set up quickly and so what keeps someone from being "disappeared" if this is allowed to continue and snowball?
Immigration judges were let go, so it is not like Trump is eager for hearings to occur to let people out of wherever they have ended up if there is some issue to resolve.
I wrote about this earlier today on Krugman even though it was a bit off topic and not about the economy, but this whole thing sends a chill down my spine and it is on my mind.
He always takes credit for everything. This declaration is no different from any other triumph (some mighty dubious) he has falsely claimed as his own, beginning with the Obama economic stats he took credit for during his first regime.
Thank you for posting this as I read today about the 'Palestine/Gaza protestor' (actually he organized peaceful protests at Columbia U and was thought of highly by University professors) being taken away to a facility in Louisiana even though his wife showed ICE the legal documentation for him to live in the US. It is terribly disturbing!
I don’t believe Cheeto cares one whit about this war. He wants a Nobel Peace prize because President Obama has one. I doubt the Swedes will ever permit that. At least I hope not
It's important to remember that on top of having the attention span of a gnat, Donald Trump has the moral attributes of a spitting cobra. He gets off on scaring people, communities, alliances, nations --- the more isolated and vulnerable (such as immigrants who clean our toilets, process our chickens, cut our yards, like the very small transgender community), the better. He enjoys watching people grovel -- which explains both his shitty behavior to Zelenskyy and the slithering worm tongues in his Cabinet who are there only because of their loyalty to him. But he often doubles back and retreats when faced with real resistance. in their phone call together today, I'm betting the Premier of Ontario showed him an elbow or two.
Personally, I doubt Putin will be able to resist the temptation to attack Ukraine again in the next 30 days, so we'll get to see just how "committed" to this latest act of hokey-pokey Trump and Rubio are engaged in.
Jen Rubin and Contrarians, what would we do without you? Your truth media keeps me informed and hopeful, even in the face of attacks on our democracy by the current regime. Thank you!
I have a question for Jennifer and Ilan. As a Canadian atheist, I have no US political or religious axe to grind. The Hamas attack on Israel was horrifying and genocidal. The Israeli response has been horrifying and genocidal and disproportionate. It has always seemed to me that people confuse protests against the actions of the Israeli state with antisemitism. To the extent that radical Israeli Jews want to eradicate the Palestinians (shades of the Holocaust), I guess you could say that opposing their blood lust is anti-Jewish simply because they claim it as a historic right to Jewish homelands. But the immediate concern was the unrelenting destruction of Gaza by the state of Israel. If my country did that and people protested, would we be accused of antisemitism? I think not. Maybe I answered my own question.
There is a big difference between supporting Hamas which is a terrorist organization who’s main aim is to do away with Israel and supporting Palestinians who were just living their lives when the international community (ok, The US and UK) knocked on their doors and told them their land was being given to the Jewish people. Supporting Hamas would absolutely be antisemitic. Supporting innocent Palestinians is not. You can have sympathy for both sides of a conflict and see the point in both positions. The bottom line is to respect our fellow humans, isn’t it? As an American I use the example of someone knocking on my door and telling me my land is being given back to the native Americans. While the land is certainly the ancestral homeland of the native peoples, where am I supposed to go? Add to that the horrendous treatment the Palestinians receive at the hands of a conservative Israeli government (limiting resources such as water and electricity for instance) it’s not surprising some of them have been radicalized.
Trump pressures Ukraine to agree to a cease fire deal that Russia hasn't agreed to. What kind of idiotic negotiations are those? This completely advantages Russia against Ukraine. Russia can now ask for terms that favor it and the US has locked Ukraine into terms already favorable to Russia.
There so many things that bother me about this proposed cease fire, and I agree with everyone who has reminded us that 1) Trump can’t be trusted, 2) Putin can’t be trusted, and 3) Trump sees a business deal for his personal self and his cronies. I read the NYT story and saw the picture of the meeting in Jeddah and thought, WTF? We had Saudis mediating a “negotiation?” Pure theater. Do we really think Rubio had anything to say about this? Now, if the U.S. is doing its usual dance as intermediary between opposing forces, something was missing from the picture: Russia. Oh, unless Trump really is acting as an agent of Putin to make a deal that benefits both. But Russia should NEVER have veto power over NATO’s decision to invite a nation to join. This is the most ludicrous notion of all.
I am shocked about the way they treated the topic of the green card protester. As much as they defend his freedom to express his views - and in my opinion they showed total lack of passion when defending this basic human right - they used it immediately to push their agenda on the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Ms. Rubin calls this total destruction of land and people as Hamas-Israel war, amazingly enough. This is both mind boggling and shameful - a war requires two armies to fight their battles, while here we have unilateral ethnical cleansing and and a well planned effort by the nazi-like government of Israel run by a Trump-like criminal to expel and/or eliminate the Palestinians. And this is happening after almost 80 years of the state of apartheid, which slowly but surely turned Gaza into the world's largest concentration camp.
I cannot for the life of me comprehend how people who claim to fight for democracy can manage not to feel empathy for the unimaginable suffering of Palestinians. Almost 50000 people have been killed in less than a year and a half, basically all civilians and great many children and women. Gaza is in rubbles, for heaven's sake. I know that the US supports this genocide in every possible way, but I was sure that at this platform, where we join forces to fight the rise of fascism, one would show solidarity with the Palestinians. After all, we have been witnessing this tragedy on almost daily basis.
Whatever else it may be, democracy is first and foremost about justice and solidarity. Even silence on the Palestinian plight is unacceptable, for it implies complicity. I am heartbroken by what I heard tonight.
Zelenskyy was smart to take the deal, considering Trump obviously doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to things like rare earth elements (REEs). Take a look at the periodic table of elements. Trump’s claim of $500 billion is something like 50 times the global market, which the US once dominated, until the Gingrich Congress decided support of mining and production smacked of “industrial policy.” Trump apparently was told to utter the words “rare earth” when it must be about other minerals and metals. What else doesn’t he know? The REEs in Ukraine have never been mapped or mined, which will take a minimum of 5 years. For a good overview, see Camilla Hodgson’s article in the Financial Times over the weekend.
I have a problem with what is being labeled anti-Semitism. Anti-Israel is not anti-Semitism, nor is anti-Zionism. But it has been labeled as such and perhaps laws passed which limit free speech to cater to this notion, by now taken as truth. Anti Jews IS Anti-Semitism. The rest is *political*. Most Jews, dare I say, support Israel. Many Jews like myself, are vehemently against this right wing government, ruling for years, and the Jewish fanatic right wing. We increasingly distance from Israel.
When people demonstrate either for the oppressed Palestinians or against the current political form of Zionism or Israel's current policies, this has been an opening to arrest and persecute people... shut down opposition. Khalil is the current example.
Israel has been treated as an exception because of the Holocaust and perennial anti-Semitism over the centuries. The exception is also because of Christian Zionist visions, etc.
Jews have always been scapegoated, and still are. But it is important to separate out real anti-Semitism from political prosecution. This is difficult. There is legitimate and rightful opposition to Israel's behavior towards the Palestinians amongst Jews and non-Jews. But too often when non-Jews do it, it's persecuted/prosecuted as antiSemitic. This conveniently shuts down opposition. Trump is on this train now to curry favor with Jews supporting Israel unconditionally
As well, labeling Hamas as a terrorist group does not work. They use terrorism yes. But Israel on the other hand uses terrorism *incredibly* massively. This is state terrorism, but you cannot say that. And that is okay? The scene in Gaza is an example. Israeli leaders should be punished for doing that... and then made to pay for it. Protesting what has happened and our policies in support of that is now being punished and suppressed worse than ever... and for political gain.
I don't know why any in the Jewish community would believe Trump is actually going to go against his white Christian nationalist supporters, the ultra-right wing supporters, and especially Musk's blatant racist and anti-semitic actions and thinking. Next it will be an outspoken naturalized citizen.
You are so right. Mr. Khalil's rights need to be respected and upheld. Freedom of speech, the right to express an opinion and to protest is foundational to America. His arrest seems like a tactic that will be expanded upon for many other groups of Americans that DJT & Co may disagree with.
Thanks for discussing these important topics.
It seems rather odd that the news media this afternoon is saying that Zelensky accepted "Trump's" ceasefire deal.
Last I remembered, this was a plan actually proposed by Zelensky, after the White House Trump and Vance tantrum blowup, but Zelensky agreed to allow the minerals deal to stay in this proposal in order bring the USA back to the table.
Am I incorrect?
Zelensky also got the restoration of US support as well as the ceasefire he proposed, and that is a big deal.
Regarding the green card protester scooped up...
Yes, next they could begin to come for us, anyone, who protests in a way that Trump does not like.
What concerns me about the fellow detained was that he was picked up due to violating a newly signed executive order by Trump, as law, correct? and was not afforded due process when scooped up or notified. What is to keep Trump from simply signing something similar for other protests like regarding Ukraine, as you suggest, and to say it is not supporting our nation's position, etc.
What is to stop Trump from eventually declaring peaceful protesters who protest the current US government as being declared, by executive order, as assisting our enemies by being critical, and scooping them up, as well?
Eventually, it could include citizens, I fear as this could grow and spread if not stopped.
Detention facilities here, in private prisons, as well as abroad are being set up quickly and so what keeps someone from being "disappeared" if this is allowed to continue and snowball?
Immigration judges were let go, so it is not like Trump is eager for hearings to occur to let people out of wherever they have ended up if there is some issue to resolve.
I wrote about this earlier today on Krugman even though it was a bit off topic and not about the economy, but this whole thing sends a chill down my spine and it is on my mind.
He always takes credit for everything. This declaration is no different from any other triumph (some mighty dubious) he has falsely claimed as his own, beginning with the Obama economic stats he took credit for during his first regime.
Thank you for posting this as I read today about the 'Palestine/Gaza protestor' (actually he organized peaceful protests at Columbia U and was thought of highly by University professors) being taken away to a facility in Louisiana even though his wife showed ICE the legal documentation for him to live in the US. It is terribly disturbing!
I don’t believe Cheeto cares one whit about this war. He wants a Nobel Peace prize because President Obama has one. I doubt the Swedes will ever permit that. At least I hope not
Exactly! He really is a sick bastard
If the Trump actions (deporting a green card holder) are based on the content of someones speech, it violates the First Amendment, period.
It's important to remember that on top of having the attention span of a gnat, Donald Trump has the moral attributes of a spitting cobra. He gets off on scaring people, communities, alliances, nations --- the more isolated and vulnerable (such as immigrants who clean our toilets, process our chickens, cut our yards, like the very small transgender community), the better. He enjoys watching people grovel -- which explains both his shitty behavior to Zelenskyy and the slithering worm tongues in his Cabinet who are there only because of their loyalty to him. But he often doubles back and retreats when faced with real resistance. in their phone call together today, I'm betting the Premier of Ontario showed him an elbow or two.
Personally, I doubt Putin will be able to resist the temptation to attack Ukraine again in the next 30 days, so we'll get to see just how "committed" to this latest act of hokey-pokey Trump and Rubio are engaged in.
Jen Rubin and Contrarians, what would we do without you? Your truth media keeps me informed and hopeful, even in the face of attacks on our democracy by the current regime. Thank you!
I have a question for Jennifer and Ilan. As a Canadian atheist, I have no US political or religious axe to grind. The Hamas attack on Israel was horrifying and genocidal. The Israeli response has been horrifying and genocidal and disproportionate. It has always seemed to me that people confuse protests against the actions of the Israeli state with antisemitism. To the extent that radical Israeli Jews want to eradicate the Palestinians (shades of the Holocaust), I guess you could say that opposing their blood lust is anti-Jewish simply because they claim it as a historic right to Jewish homelands. But the immediate concern was the unrelenting destruction of Gaza by the state of Israel. If my country did that and people protested, would we be accused of antisemitism? I think not. Maybe I answered my own question.
There is a big difference between supporting Hamas which is a terrorist organization who’s main aim is to do away with Israel and supporting Palestinians who were just living their lives when the international community (ok, The US and UK) knocked on their doors and told them their land was being given to the Jewish people. Supporting Hamas would absolutely be antisemitic. Supporting innocent Palestinians is not. You can have sympathy for both sides of a conflict and see the point in both positions. The bottom line is to respect our fellow humans, isn’t it? As an American I use the example of someone knocking on my door and telling me my land is being given back to the native Americans. While the land is certainly the ancestral homeland of the native peoples, where am I supposed to go? Add to that the horrendous treatment the Palestinians receive at the hands of a conservative Israeli government (limiting resources such as water and electricity for instance) it’s not surprising some of them have been radicalized.
Trump pressures Ukraine to agree to a cease fire deal that Russia hasn't agreed to. What kind of idiotic negotiations are those? This completely advantages Russia against Ukraine. Russia can now ask for terms that favor it and the US has locked Ukraine into terms already favorable to Russia.
There so many things that bother me about this proposed cease fire, and I agree with everyone who has reminded us that 1) Trump can’t be trusted, 2) Putin can’t be trusted, and 3) Trump sees a business deal for his personal self and his cronies. I read the NYT story and saw the picture of the meeting in Jeddah and thought, WTF? We had Saudis mediating a “negotiation?” Pure theater. Do we really think Rubio had anything to say about this? Now, if the U.S. is doing its usual dance as intermediary between opposing forces, something was missing from the picture: Russia. Oh, unless Trump really is acting as an agent of Putin to make a deal that benefits both. But Russia should NEVER have veto power over NATO’s decision to invite a nation to join. This is the most ludicrous notion of all.
I am shocked about the way they treated the topic of the green card protester. As much as they defend his freedom to express his views - and in my opinion they showed total lack of passion when defending this basic human right - they used it immediately to push their agenda on the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Ms. Rubin calls this total destruction of land and people as Hamas-Israel war, amazingly enough. This is both mind boggling and shameful - a war requires two armies to fight their battles, while here we have unilateral ethnical cleansing and and a well planned effort by the nazi-like government of Israel run by a Trump-like criminal to expel and/or eliminate the Palestinians. And this is happening after almost 80 years of the state of apartheid, which slowly but surely turned Gaza into the world's largest concentration camp.
I cannot for the life of me comprehend how people who claim to fight for democracy can manage not to feel empathy for the unimaginable suffering of Palestinians. Almost 50000 people have been killed in less than a year and a half, basically all civilians and great many children and women. Gaza is in rubbles, for heaven's sake. I know that the US supports this genocide in every possible way, but I was sure that at this platform, where we join forces to fight the rise of fascism, one would show solidarity with the Palestinians. After all, we have been witnessing this tragedy on almost daily basis.
Whatever else it may be, democracy is first and foremost about justice and solidarity. Even silence on the Palestinian plight is unacceptable, for it implies complicity. I am heartbroken by what I heard tonight.
Zelenskyy was smart to take the deal, considering Trump obviously doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to things like rare earth elements (REEs). Take a look at the periodic table of elements. Trump’s claim of $500 billion is something like 50 times the global market, which the US once dominated, until the Gingrich Congress decided support of mining and production smacked of “industrial policy.” Trump apparently was told to utter the words “rare earth” when it must be about other minerals and metals. What else doesn’t he know? The REEs in Ukraine have never been mapped or mined, which will take a minimum of 5 years. For a good overview, see Camilla Hodgson’s article in the Financial Times over the weekend.
Thank you Jen Rubin and Ilan Goldenberg!
I have a problem with what is being labeled anti-Semitism. Anti-Israel is not anti-Semitism, nor is anti-Zionism. But it has been labeled as such and perhaps laws passed which limit free speech to cater to this notion, by now taken as truth. Anti Jews IS Anti-Semitism. The rest is *political*. Most Jews, dare I say, support Israel. Many Jews like myself, are vehemently against this right wing government, ruling for years, and the Jewish fanatic right wing. We increasingly distance from Israel.
When people demonstrate either for the oppressed Palestinians or against the current political form of Zionism or Israel's current policies, this has been an opening to arrest and persecute people... shut down opposition. Khalil is the current example.
Israel has been treated as an exception because of the Holocaust and perennial anti-Semitism over the centuries. The exception is also because of Christian Zionist visions, etc.
Jews have always been scapegoated, and still are. But it is important to separate out real anti-Semitism from political prosecution. This is difficult. There is legitimate and rightful opposition to Israel's behavior towards the Palestinians amongst Jews and non-Jews. But too often when non-Jews do it, it's persecuted/prosecuted as antiSemitic. This conveniently shuts down opposition. Trump is on this train now to curry favor with Jews supporting Israel unconditionally
As well, labeling Hamas as a terrorist group does not work. They use terrorism yes. But Israel on the other hand uses terrorism *incredibly* massively. This is state terrorism, but you cannot say that. And that is okay? The scene in Gaza is an example. Israeli leaders should be punished for doing that... and then made to pay for it. Protesting what has happened and our policies in support of that is now being punished and suppressed worse than ever... and for political gain.
I don't know why any in the Jewish community would believe Trump is actually going to go against his white Christian nationalist supporters, the ultra-right wing supporters, and especially Musk's blatant racist and anti-semitic actions and thinking. Next it will be an outspoken naturalized citizen.
You are so right. Mr. Khalil's rights need to be respected and upheld. Freedom of speech, the right to express an opinion and to protest is foundational to America. His arrest seems like a tactic that will be expanded upon for many other groups of Americans that DJT & Co may disagree with.