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So, the story that was run yesterday is a bit different than what happened in reality, it seems. It’s a developing story.
Unfortunately, it does appear that many people have died from what happened. But, what exactly happened and how it happened seems to be in contention. As first reported, Palestine blames Israel, and Israel blames Palestine, but what both seemed to have missed is that the hospital was actually **not** destroyed.
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So, it turns out that the hospital is still standing. But the parking lot was struck by a missile/explosive and it’s reported that a lot of people have been affected. The Hamas controlled health ministry of Gaza reports 471 people have died. According to first responders and aid groups, “.. the parking lot and nearby courtyard were filled with hundreds of families sheltering near the hospital”, according to the Washington Post. "Because of the airstrikes everywhere else in Gaza, people left to take shelter in this hospital. Children, women, elders, patients, a huge number of people went to the hospital for refuge, following calls of evacuation and constant bombardment," said Mahmoud Bassal, civil defense spokesperson in Gaza.
It’s a safe assumption that many innocent people died. Very sad news nonetheless.
Though, a lot of controversy surrounds how it happened and who did it. Both sides rush to assert their narrative of the situation, as the implications on public opinion are far too great to concede.
Per a report from the AP: In a briefing with reporters, the chief army spokesman of the IDF, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the army determined there were no air force, ground or naval attacks in the area at the time of the blast. He said radar detected outgoing rocket fire at the same moment, and intercepted communications between militant groups indicated that Islamic Jihad fired the rockets. Hagari also shared aerial footage collected by a military drone that showed a blast that he said was inconsistent with Israeli weaponry. He said the explosion occurred in the building’s parking lot, and he noted that the death toll could not be confirmed.
Islamic Jihad dismissed those claims, accusing Israel of “trying hard to evade responsibility for the brutal massacre it committed.” The group pointed to Israel’s order that Al-Ahli be evacuated and its previous bombing of the hospital complex as proof that the hospital was an Israeli target. It also said the scale of the explosion, the angle of the bomb’s fall and the extent of the destruction all pointed to Israel.
President Biden weighs in, citing the Pentagon:
ABC News reports that President Joe Biden was asked by a reporter in Israel on Wednesday what made him confident that the Israelis weren't behind the explosion that killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday. Biden responded that it was "the data I was shown by my Defense Department." Two U.S. officials told ABC News the Pentagon independently concluded the Gaza hospital blast was likely caused by an errant Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket that fell short of its target.
So. Who did it for sure? No one really knows, but the western consensus seems to think Hamas did it, through a missile misfiring. One can look at the arguments put forward and come their own conclusion.
Sadly, it almost doesn't even matter. As articulated in the previous story, the consequences are already here. The Middle East and affiliates have already made their mind and emotions have already flared. Muslims across the world have already taken to the streets, embassies, and consulates to vent their rage.
One thing to take away from this story is to be critical of every piece of information, as the war is not only just fought with weapons and artillery, but also through information. Nazi Germany knew this well, notoriously spreading propaganda during Hitler's reign to incentivize the people of Germany to be complicit in the evil things that Nazi Germany committed. We can't make the same mistake. History should not be repeated. We should learn from the past, and not fall into the same pitfalls those people did.
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REPORT: GOP Is Facing Implosion...
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Well, this is awkward.
The GOP is facing some difficulties lately. They passed a spending bill that required the assistance of Democrats to move forward; however, it did essentially nothing for Republicans but keep the lights on. Following this, the speaker got ousted for the first time in history. The subsequent nominees for Speaker of the House would then fail to get elected, showcasing to the entire country that the GOP is floundering.
But, it's good for American interests that this is happening. A cleaning of the swamp, if you will, is necessary given the fruit that Kevin McCarthy bore. Or, the lack of it. Kevin McCarthy has shown that he has no backbone and will cave to pressure and appeal to Democrats at the first sign of trouble. Take, for example, the dreaded spending bill that was passed earlier this month to avert a government shut down. Instead of taking advantage of the situation to assert Republican interests, he caves to the Democrats and gives them the bill for free. For free. All but one Democrat voted to support the legislation while 90 Republicans voted against it, resulting in a vote of 335-91. “Every single Democrat in the House, except for one, voted for Kevin McCarthy’s ploy to continue Nancy Pelosi’s budget and Joe Biden’s policies,” Rep. Matthew M. Rosendale (R-Mont.) wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Are we sure Hakeem Jeffries is not the Speaker?”
“I think it is a surrender,” said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), one of multiple conservatives who warned McCarthy not to accept Democratic help to avoid a shutdown.
And all of this insanity is prefaced by four dismal days and 14 failed votes in an intraparty standoff unseen in modern times.
With Kevin McCarthy gone from speakership, so is (hopefully) this old guard of Republicans who simply don't stand up for what's right. And this is where it gets complicated. The GOP started wandering around in the darkness for a bit, leaving the legislative without a speaker. Then it stumbled upon Scalise. And with haste, Scalise resigned after a humiliating 24 hours, where he was unable to secure enough votes. Passing the baton to Jim Jordan, this is where the GOP is currently at. Jim Jordan seems to be the only candidate that the right wing hard-liners in the GOP like, leaving an uphill battle for everyone else, in the narrow Republican majority. One problem, though. Jim Jordan, like Scalise, doesn't have the votes to become the Speaker of the House.
If elected, he will be the most ideologically extreme legislator in recent memory. Because of that, it leaves some Republican lawmakers too scared to vote for him. The vote on Tuesday resulted in 20 Republicans voting against him, where he can only afford to lose 4 votes.
One example is Rep. Michael Lawler (R-N.Y.) who is in a district that Biden won by 10 points. When asked if he would vote for him, he made no comment. Voting for such a hard-liner on the right wing could jeopardize his contentious seat in the deeply blue New York county. While Jim Jordan is beloved by conservatives, he faces skepticism from senior and more establishment Republicans who are turned off by his aggressive tenure as a Freedom Caucus founder. Centrists in purple districts are uneasy that a hardcore Speaker Jim Jordan might sink their already fragile majority. But it's not his strong conservative stances that seem to be a hurdle.
Another point of conflict is Jim Jordan's support for Trump's attempt to overturn the election.
Rep. Jim Jordan asked the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out votes that gave Joe Biden a victory in a state Donald Trump had carried four years earlier, accused Pennsylvania Democrats of trying to steal the election, voted to reject the state’s certified electoral votes hours after the Capitol was overrun by pro-Trump insurrectionists, and spoke at a “Stop the Steal” rally in Harrisburg shortly after Election Day. Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) challenged Jim Jordan to say the election wasn’t stolen during a party meeting last week. He said he raised the issue again during a one-on-one meeting with Jordan on Monday evening but came away unsatisfied.
But maybe there is a way through. Jim Jordan, with an interesting strategy leveraging the power of social media, is spearheading this attempt at the speakership with a bold initiative - a pressure campaign.
This pressure campaign is designed to lean on the dissenters with the help of GOP bosses, conservative commentators, and some influencers. It is to identify all dissenters and for the organizers of this campaign to use their power and influence to make the dissenters change their mind via public pressure. It's had mixed results.
There's been some progress made with the campaign:
Missouri Rep. Ann Wagner was asked if she would back Jordan, she replied: “Absolutely not,” saying that after Jordan lost the vote to be speaker to Scalise “he gave the most disgraceful, ungracious — I can’t call it a concession speech — of all time.” Facing accusations from conservatives that she was helping elect a Democratic speaker, Wagner on Monday changed her tune, saying in a written statement that Jordan had allayed her “concerns about keeping the government open with conservative funding, the need for strong border security, our need for consistent international support in times of war and unrest, as well as the need for stronger protections against the scourge of human trafficking and child exploitation.” Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers had been resistant to Jordan’s speakership. But Rogers, the target of an aggressive social media campaign over the weekend by Jordan supporters, said he received a commitment from Jordan “to fund our government’s vital functions.”
And on the flip side, it's actually backfired.
The Washington Post reports that Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (R-Fla.), who voted for McCarthy over Jordan, told reporters that he thought McCarthy needed to “get another shot” at the speakership. “His tactics certainly didn’t work on me,” Gimenez said. “Actually, I became more cemented in my position. … He should have probably left me to my own devices to get there. Now by being threatened, by being pushed — I’m Hispanic. I’m a Cuban. You just don’t do that to us.”
So, perhaps, Jim Jordan isn't the answer. Republicans are throwing a lot of names around, but the future seems uncertain for the GOP. Perhaps with a miracle Jim Jordan will be able to persuade 16 of the current dissenters to his side, or maybe not. Either way, the GOP, and the US in general, needs a strong speaker who will stand up for their values and get things done. Too many things are happening in the world right now at a critical point in history that require things to be done. A speaker is sorely needed.
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