This is a great story. And good perspective. To call someone a mayor who represents such a large city is almost lacking in description of what the job entails. But nice recovery on the part of Mayer Bass after the fires.
She's right again - "I think that women are much more collaborative; men are much more competitive.....It's so much easier to throw rocks than it is to govern." -Mayor Karen Bass
Dear Jenn, thank you for giving us a positive story about a real American leader Mayor Karen Bass. Her courage, decisiveness and defense of immigrants and all citizens of LA is impressive. She’s representing her constituents, whether documented or undocumented. We need more leaders like her. Keep up the good work, Jenn.I will share your story.
She rose to the occasion and became more than she was before... unlike our Orange Enfant Terrible whose first response to any tragedy is to declare "Nobody has ever seen such a thing" and then gone about applying his infinite supply of grievances and spite.
Trump is a hollow shell of a man, completely devoid of love, compassion, understanding or empathy. He only "cares" for those who serve his corruption, prurient, or vengeful purposes. He is sad, weak, and very confused in his cruel belief that instilling fear and initiating violence show strength. He is, in sum, a man terrified of humanity, and of his own mortality.
Thank you Mayor Karen Bass! And thank you Jen for posting such a wonderful story. It is so nice to hear about the hardworking and dedicated good leaders in our country. Hope to see more stories like this, especially about Democrats running for upcoming elections!
Since Jennifer Rubin and The Contrarian have blacklisted any news about the ongoing US support for and direct involvement in Israel's genocidal onslaught in Gaza, here is some recent news you won't find here:
From Drop SIte News:
On Wednesday morning, at a 'distribution site' run by the US/Israeli 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation': "The site was closed, though sacks of food could be seen through a narrow and fenced in entrance. Starving and desperate, the crowd squeezed into the area. People were pushed up against the fencing, chest to back, hardly able to breathe. Some fell on the ground and were unable to get up. Then, according to eyewitnesses, (American and Israeli) GHF guards stationed nearby threw stun grenades and used pepper spray on the crowd, causing mayhem....At least 21 people were killed in the incident, according to the Gaza health ministry, and 15 of them died from suffocation due to the gas and the stampede at the site—what the ministry now calls “death traps”—while six others were shot on the road leading to it....
Over 870 Palestinians have been killed in near daily aid massacres since the GHF began operating in Gaza in late May, with Israeli troops and American contractors opening fire on men, women, and children desperately seeking food."
From Democracy Now!:
Israeli American renowned historian Omer Bartov commenting on his recent essay for The New York Times, headlined “I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It.”: "It is now clear that Israel is trying to concentrate the population of Gaza in the southernmost parts of the strip, to enclose them and to enforce, eventually, either that they would just die out there or that they would be removed from the Gaza Strip altogether....
“Genocide” is well defined in a U.N. convention from 1948...The intent is to destroy the group itself. And it doesn’t mean that you have to kill everyone. It means that the group will be destroyed and that it will not be able to reconstitute itself as a group. And to my mind, this is precisely what Israel is trying to do."
From Zeteo:
"A week ago, the US sanctioned UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, a key actor in the fight for accountability in Gaza. ...A UN special rapporteur, an ICC prosecutor, and four ICC judges sanctioned by the US, followed by the suspicious resignation of an entire UN Commission of Inquiry, while the ICC prosecutor is being threatened, is without a doubt the most systematic assault on international accountability mechanisms in UN history.
Of course, these actions are all illegal..Under the UN Convention on Privileges and Immunities, UN experts, such as Albanese and the Commission of Inquiry, enjoy immunity from any kind of legal process...Similarly, Article 70 of the Rome Statute makes it an international crime to intimidate an official of the Court to force them not to perform their duties."
The Contrarian's claim to be 'unflinching, unapologetic, and unwavering in its commitment to truth-telling', while completely and totally ignoring the daily horrors the US and Israel are jointly perpetrating on the Palestinian people, is a sick joke. There has not been a single word about these constant atrocities in this outlet that claims to ' deliver the unvarnished truth'.
All three of the sources I list above are good sources (Drop Site News, Zeteo, Democracy Now!) - two are Substacks.
But every news outlet focused on US politics should be covering this. It's one of the most, if not the single most, important foreign policy issue in the US today, with many facets both internationally and domestically.
And of course, it's an absolutely sickening horror for which the US bears direct responsibility.
The Contrarian is one of the most widely read Substack pages, and claims to be 'unflinching, unapologetic, and unwavering in its commitment to truth-telling'. It has an obligation to shed light on the US's crucial and decisive role in one of the most ghastly human catastrophes in recent decades.
Re-reading this comment, I actually find this take really off-putting.
The point is not 'where might one find out about the daily ongoing atrocity that the US is involved in and actively supporting?' The point is "why is this media source, which is focused on US policy, so clearly ignoring not only the most important US foreign policy issue of the past many months, but is clearly ignoring a genocidal onslaught of unbelievable horror, that can only continue because it is being supported in the US and does not receive the attention it warrants?'
It is telling that your suggestion is not even an American media outlet.
Besides, the reason why The Contrarian ignores this is obvious: Jennifer Rubin has long been a strong supporter of Israel, and has never had anything to say about Israel's apartheid in the West Bank or its illegal strangling blockade of Gaza, since long before October 2023. She referred to people protesting Israeli actions as "Hamas apologists" more than once in her last year at The Post.
Well, this comment and news hasn't been censored, so at least it will be seen. I reckon that you can put what YOU want to put on your own Substack, and that is what the editor and publisher of Contrarian have done. Yes, it is hideous news about Gaza, and it is genocide.
It's obvious that The Contrarian refuses to report on the US"s involvement in Israel's genocide and apartheid is because Jennifer Rubin has long been a strong supporter of Israel.
As i said a couple times here, any media outlet that claims to be 'unflinching, unapologetic, and unwavering in its commitment to truth-telling' and is focused on US policy cannot credibly ignore the most pressing US foreign policy issue of the day, not to mention that it's a horrible atrocity happening with US support and direct US involvement.
The Contrarian regularly reports on the US's policies and actions regarding the Ukraine and Russia. The Contrarian will even discuss green card residents and others in the US that have been persecuted for their views on Palestinian rights, but the writers are very careful to avoid any discussion of what those people are actually protesting. The omission is obvious and glaring.
I would bet that Jen Rubin doesn't hold this omission high in her priorities. At least she isn't kvelling about Palestinians suffering and dying, and I don't think that she has been expressing joy in what Israel is doing.
Her opinion on Israel over 20+ years of editorial pieces is very clear. She wrote many pieces about the current 'conflict' for the Washington Post, although maybe that was at the behest of the Editorial Board. Her pieces there were very clear too, and notably tapered off (as did all the Post's opinion pieces) when it became too difficult to defend Israel and lean into the usual excuses for Israel's violence and oppression.
None of that excuses the complete lack of coverage here.
There were a couple of weak, pro-Israel pieces about the so-called 'ceasefire' last winter by an ex-Biden term official that skimmed over all of Israel's crimes and the US bipartisan support for those crimes, while often using the passive tense as so many US pundits do (as in 'the ceasefire is over" not "Israel unilaterally ended the ceasefire").
Since then, nothing, not a single dedicated piece about any of the many US actions directly related to Israel. Americans are now actively participating in the massacres, as US contractors are joining the IDF in mowing down starving Palestinians at "aid" sites.
Does the importance of this really need to be explained? Just today, at least 73 more Palestinians were killed whole 150_ were injured murdered by IDF soldiers and American contractors.
Jen, I am so glad that you chose to spotlight LA mayor Karen Bass today. I cannot begin to imagine the stamina it must take to be the leader of America's second city. On top of all of her primary responsibilities, she has had to deal with the distraction of invading hordes of ICE goons and their lawless marauding as well as Drumpf federalizing the CA National Guard (half have been released as of this writing). She has shown grace under intense pressure and is deserving of this recognition.
Mayor Bass has shown her courage and tenacity throughout this renegade regime’s rein of terror on her city and residence. I have nothing but praise for what she and her city has endured these past few months. Please stay strong Mayor Bass, and know that you have support from many of us throughout our country! God bless you and your city!
Thank you Jen for honoring Major Karen Bass. She truly is doing a remarkable job in this difficult position as mayor of such a large, diverse city encountering so many different challenges. She is so deserving of the attention you gave her here. I am proud to say that she is my mayor and we are so incredibly fortunate to have her. She definitely is one of my heroes.
This is a great story. And good perspective. To call someone a mayor who represents such a large city is almost lacking in description of what the job entails. But nice recovery on the part of Mayer Bass after the fires.
You're right. It's more like being the Governor of a small State.
Amen to that. I am not as disheartened as I was right after the fires. And being mayor of L.A. is huge.
Los Angeles is 15+ times larger in population than some states.
She's right again - "I think that women are much more collaborative; men are much more competitive.....It's so much easier to throw rocks than it is to govern." -Mayor Karen Bass
We honor you, Honorable Karen Bass
She deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.
Thank you, Mayor Bass. You are my hero for standing up to the cruel, miserable, lawbreaking, unqualified excuse for a president.
Thank you, Jen, for highlighting Mayor Bass. Running a large city such as LA is akin to running most countries as well as our own!
Dear Jenn, thank you for giving us a positive story about a real American leader Mayor Karen Bass. Her courage, decisiveness and defense of immigrants and all citizens of LA is impressive. She’s representing her constituents, whether documented or undocumented. We need more leaders like her. Keep up the good work, Jenn.I will share your story.
She rose to the occasion and became more than she was before... unlike our Orange Enfant Terrible whose first response to any tragedy is to declare "Nobody has ever seen such a thing" and then gone about applying his infinite supply of grievances and spite.
Trump is a hollow shell of a man, completely devoid of love, compassion, understanding or empathy. He only "cares" for those who serve his corruption, prurient, or vengeful purposes. He is sad, weak, and very confused in his cruel belief that instilling fear and initiating violence show strength. He is, in sum, a man terrified of humanity, and of his own mortality.
Wonderful appreciation of Mayor Bass.
Thank you Mayor Karen Bass! And thank you Jen for posting such a wonderful story. It is so nice to hear about the hardworking and dedicated good leaders in our country. Hope to see more stories like this, especially about Democrats running for upcoming elections!
I honer the Mayor Bass and Gaven Newsom and California and I live in New City.
Thanks for this, a hopeful note. A brave woman.
Two brave women - Mayor Bass, and Jen for tirelessly speaking out.
Uplifting news to read about a leader who is courageously resisting the malevolent destruction of the administration
Since Jennifer Rubin and The Contrarian have blacklisted any news about the ongoing US support for and direct involvement in Israel's genocidal onslaught in Gaza, here is some recent news you won't find here:
From Drop SIte News:
On Wednesday morning, at a 'distribution site' run by the US/Israeli 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation': "The site was closed, though sacks of food could be seen through a narrow and fenced in entrance. Starving and desperate, the crowd squeezed into the area. People were pushed up against the fencing, chest to back, hardly able to breathe. Some fell on the ground and were unable to get up. Then, according to eyewitnesses, (American and Israeli) GHF guards stationed nearby threw stun grenades and used pepper spray on the crowd, causing mayhem....At least 21 people were killed in the incident, according to the Gaza health ministry, and 15 of them died from suffocation due to the gas and the stampede at the site—what the ministry now calls “death traps”—while six others were shot on the road leading to it....
Over 870 Palestinians have been killed in near daily aid massacres since the GHF began operating in Gaza in late May, with Israeli troops and American contractors opening fire on men, women, and children desperately seeking food."
From Democracy Now!:
Israeli American renowned historian Omer Bartov commenting on his recent essay for The New York Times, headlined “I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It.”: "It is now clear that Israel is trying to concentrate the population of Gaza in the southernmost parts of the strip, to enclose them and to enforce, eventually, either that they would just die out there or that they would be removed from the Gaza Strip altogether....
“Genocide” is well defined in a U.N. convention from 1948...The intent is to destroy the group itself. And it doesn’t mean that you have to kill everyone. It means that the group will be destroyed and that it will not be able to reconstitute itself as a group. And to my mind, this is precisely what Israel is trying to do."
From Zeteo:
"A week ago, the US sanctioned UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, a key actor in the fight for accountability in Gaza. ...A UN special rapporteur, an ICC prosecutor, and four ICC judges sanctioned by the US, followed by the suspicious resignation of an entire UN Commission of Inquiry, while the ICC prosecutor is being threatened, is without a doubt the most systematic assault on international accountability mechanisms in UN history.
Of course, these actions are all illegal..Under the UN Convention on Privileges and Immunities, UN experts, such as Albanese and the Commission of Inquiry, enjoy immunity from any kind of legal process...Similarly, Article 70 of the Rome Statute makes it an international crime to intimidate an official of the Court to force them not to perform their duties."
The Contrarian's claim to be 'unflinching, unapologetic, and unwavering in its commitment to truth-telling', while completely and totally ignoring the daily horrors the US and Israel are jointly perpetrating on the Palestinian people, is a sick joke. There has not been a single word about these constant atrocities in this outlet that claims to ' deliver the unvarnished truth'.
I recommend that readers subscribe to The Guardian for good coverage of Gaza.
All three of the sources I list above are good sources (Drop Site News, Zeteo, Democracy Now!) - two are Substacks.
But every news outlet focused on US politics should be covering this. It's one of the most, if not the single most, important foreign policy issue in the US today, with many facets both internationally and domestically.
And of course, it's an absolutely sickening horror for which the US bears direct responsibility.
The Contrarian is one of the most widely read Substack pages, and claims to be 'unflinching, unapologetic, and unwavering in its commitment to truth-telling'. It has an obligation to shed light on the US's crucial and decisive role in one of the most ghastly human catastrophes in recent decades.
Re-reading this comment, I actually find this take really off-putting.
The point is not 'where might one find out about the daily ongoing atrocity that the US is involved in and actively supporting?' The point is "why is this media source, which is focused on US policy, so clearly ignoring not only the most important US foreign policy issue of the past many months, but is clearly ignoring a genocidal onslaught of unbelievable horror, that can only continue because it is being supported in the US and does not receive the attention it warrants?'
It is telling that your suggestion is not even an American media outlet.
Besides, the reason why The Contrarian ignores this is obvious: Jennifer Rubin has long been a strong supporter of Israel, and has never had anything to say about Israel's apartheid in the West Bank or its illegal strangling blockade of Gaza, since long before October 2023. She referred to people protesting Israeli actions as "Hamas apologists" more than once in her last year at The Post.
Well, this comment and news hasn't been censored, so at least it will be seen. I reckon that you can put what YOU want to put on your own Substack, and that is what the editor and publisher of Contrarian have done. Yes, it is hideous news about Gaza, and it is genocide.
It's obvious that The Contrarian refuses to report on the US"s involvement in Israel's genocide and apartheid is because Jennifer Rubin has long been a strong supporter of Israel.
As i said a couple times here, any media outlet that claims to be 'unflinching, unapologetic, and unwavering in its commitment to truth-telling' and is focused on US policy cannot credibly ignore the most pressing US foreign policy issue of the day, not to mention that it's a horrible atrocity happening with US support and direct US involvement.
The Contrarian regularly reports on the US's policies and actions regarding the Ukraine and Russia. The Contrarian will even discuss green card residents and others in the US that have been persecuted for their views on Palestinian rights, but the writers are very careful to avoid any discussion of what those people are actually protesting. The omission is obvious and glaring.
I would bet that Jen Rubin doesn't hold this omission high in her priorities. At least she isn't kvelling about Palestinians suffering and dying, and I don't think that she has been expressing joy in what Israel is doing.
Her opinion on Israel over 20+ years of editorial pieces is very clear. She wrote many pieces about the current 'conflict' for the Washington Post, although maybe that was at the behest of the Editorial Board. Her pieces there were very clear too, and notably tapered off (as did all the Post's opinion pieces) when it became too difficult to defend Israel and lean into the usual excuses for Israel's violence and oppression.
None of that excuses the complete lack of coverage here.
There were a couple of weak, pro-Israel pieces about the so-called 'ceasefire' last winter by an ex-Biden term official that skimmed over all of Israel's crimes and the US bipartisan support for those crimes, while often using the passive tense as so many US pundits do (as in 'the ceasefire is over" not "Israel unilaterally ended the ceasefire").
Since then, nothing, not a single dedicated piece about any of the many US actions directly related to Israel. Americans are now actively participating in the massacres, as US contractors are joining the IDF in mowing down starving Palestinians at "aid" sites.
Does the importance of this really need to be explained? Just today, at least 73 more Palestinians were killed whole 150_ were injured murdered by IDF soldiers and American contractors.
like putting out corn for the deer to come...
Well, military and political leaders in Israel regularly call Palestinians “animals”…
the iaraelis have become animals themselves...the US must stop all aid to israel no more bombs
unfortunately orange dumbass has his sights set on a hotel in gaza
perhaps the murder of an American citizen....will be too much
Israel has killed several Americans since October 2023,, and many more before that.
and now they are engaged in genocide
need to be brought up in the Hague for war crimes
Jen, I am so glad that you chose to spotlight LA mayor Karen Bass today. I cannot begin to imagine the stamina it must take to be the leader of America's second city. On top of all of her primary responsibilities, she has had to deal with the distraction of invading hordes of ICE goons and their lawless marauding as well as Drumpf federalizing the CA National Guard (half have been released as of this writing). She has shown grace under intense pressure and is deserving of this recognition.
Mayor Bass has shown her courage and tenacity throughout this renegade regime’s rein of terror on her city and residence. I have nothing but praise for what she and her city has endured these past few months. Please stay strong Mayor Bass, and know that you have support from many of us throughout our country! God bless you and your city!
Thank you Jen for honoring Major Karen Bass. She truly is doing a remarkable job in this difficult position as mayor of such a large, diverse city encountering so many different challenges. She is so deserving of the attention you gave her here. I am proud to say that she is my mayor and we are so incredibly fortunate to have her. She definitely is one of my heroes.
We should all be a courageous as Mayor Bass.
"Nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of the people." John Adams
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and will never be." Thomas Jefferson