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Dear Progressive Reader,

The U.S. House of Representatives finally again has ([link removed]) a Speaker—although it remains unclear yet what Representative Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, will “say.” He is known to be an acolyte of Donald Trump and actively participated in the campaign to deny the results of the 2020 election. He has been called, by some ([link removed]) , “Jim Jordan with a [suit] jacket and a smile.” His tenure in office may turn out to be short-lived if he actually does what is needed—to reach across the aisle and come to some agreement to keep the government from shutting down—all in just four legislative days ([link removed]) before the November 17 deadline. A tall task for any Speaker, but, as cartoonist Mark Fiore illustrates ([link removed]) , “He seems like a nice guy, and he hasn’t
made that many enemies [yet].”

In day twenty-one of the retaliation against Gaza for the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, airstrikes are increasing ([link removed]) , with more than ([link removed]) 7,000, mostly civilians, reported killed. As in all wars, the first casualty ([link removed]) is often the truth. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden cast doubt ([link removed]) on the death toll figures issued by the Palestinian Health Ministry, an agency whose counts have been regularly used by the United Nations ([link removed]) , Doctors Without Borders
([link removed]) and other aid organizations and media outlets.

It has become common now for most media to describe the ministry with the caveat “Hamas-controlled Palestinian Health Ministry” or often simply ([link removed]) “Hamas Health Ministry.” The Palestinian Health Ministry is a government organization founded ([link removed](MoH)%20was%20established%20in%201994.) in 1994 (thirteen years before Hamas took control ([link removed]) of governance in Gaza). Its English language website /www.moh.gov.ps/portal/en/> could not be reached at the time of this writing due to massive Internet outages caused by Israeli airstrikes, but according to an entry ([link removed](Palestine)) on Wikipedia, “The ministry is one of Palestine's four major healthcare
providers, alongside the Military Medical Services, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA), NGOs, and the private sector. It operated twenty-seven of Palestine's secondary and tertiary hospitals and 61 percent of total hospital beds.” As the U.N. relief agency chief Philippe Lazzarini told reporters ([link removed]) in Jerusalem earlier this week, “In the past, [during] the five, six cycles of conflict in the Gaza Strip, these figures were considered as credible and no one ever really challenged these figures.”

Bill Lueders writes in an op-ed ([link removed]) this week about efforts here in the United States to silence those critical of sending weapons to fuel the attacks. “I, for one, do not want a single penny of my tax dollars to pay for missiles that end the lives of children, no matter how wrong a place they happen to be in at how wrong a time,” he says. (According to ([link removed]) Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, 70 percent of the 7,000 civilian deaths have been children.)

Reporting from Germany, Michael Makowski describes ([link removed]) the ways in which the German government is responding to demonstrations in solidarity with Palestinians. And Stephen Zunes looks at ([link removed]) how younger voters are souring on the Biden Administration and its hawkish rhetoric and actions. Plus, Miriam Davidson points out ([link removed]) : “There’s absolutely no truth to the Fox News claim that [Hamas] terrorists are plotting an attack across the U.S.-Mexico border.”
It is this sort of dangerous dis-information (from Fox and elsewhere) that led to ([link removed]) the tragic brutal murder of a six-year-old Palestinian Muslim boy in Illinois last Saturday.

Elsewhere on our website this week, Jeff Abbott reports on ([link removed]) the resumption of deportation flights to Venezuela; Hank Kalet gives an update ([link removed]) on a strike by New Jersey nurses for safer staffing levels; and Rick Rowden looks at ([link removed]) the continuing impact of the conservative Milton Friedman on U.S. economic policies abroad (remember last week’s article ([link removed]) by Amelia Rayno on Argentina’s economic crisis?). “Recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan documents for dozens of developing countries reveal that the majority of the loan conditions call for fiscal austerity and reductions in public spending and investment—the opposite of [President Joe]
Biden’s policies at home,” Rowden notes.

Plus, in an op-ed, political science and psychology professor Alexandra Filindra cautions ([link removed]) that the politics of January 6 are as strong as ever: “Unless political elites and leaders take these warnings seriously, the 2024 election cycle promises more excesses and, possibly, more violence.” And in a related thought, Rahna Epting of MoveOn.org says Donald Trump must be banned from running for office. “When Trump tried to overthrow the government, he disqualified himself from holding office—not only morally, but also constitutionally,” she opines ([link removed]) .

Please keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.

Sincerely,
Norman Stockwell
Publisher

P.S. - The new 2024 Hidden History of the United States calendar is now available. You can order one online ([link removed]) and have it mailed to you in time for the holidays. Plus, October is National Book Month ([link removed]'s%2015%20finalists.) , and we are excited to offer a “half-off sale” on all of the books in our Progressive online shop! We have many new selections for your fall reading list. Your donation to The Progressive will get you a choice of one of these great books provided to us by the authors. You can see all of the titles we have to offer by clicking here ([link removed]) .

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