News in Review: The Two Cents Take on the Trump Trial, the Cease-Fire Negotiations, and More
Plus, Goodbye May and Hello June
Okay, this is the second part of a double whammy. Without further ado, here is…the news in review.
Sadly, it is difficult to find Ukraine news stories nowadays. Nevertheless, recent New York Times reports have revealed that “under pressure,” President Biden has allowed Ukraine to U.S. weapons to strike targets inside Russia “so that Ukraine [can] protect Kharkiv, its second-largest city.” For those worried about Moscow’s potential response, remember that unprincipled Trump flip-floppers like potential Trump VP candidate Senator J.D. Vance have put us in this difficult position.
If we had given Ukraine the weapons when they had asked for them, perhaps these types of strikes would not be necessary for both Ukraine’s survival and the safety and security of the free world. Well, like J.D. Vance has said, we should not be funding “unwinnable wars.” Except when it comes to Israel’s truly unwinnable war, I guess. Because Vance is a big supporter of that one.
President Biden has just laid out the details of a new Israeli cease-fire proposal. In a clever move, he timed the announcement to this week’s Shabbat in Israel. That will prevent radical Israeli right-wing ministers and Knesset members like the infamous Ben-Gvir and Smotrich duo from responding for at least a day. In the meantime, hopefully, the hostage families can build up the pressure necessary to force the Israeli government to accept this deal.
As my brother and I could have predicted, Netanyahu is offering resistance so far. Now, that might not mean anything at this point. However, reports from Israel suggest that even Israel’s negotiators think that Netanyahu has “‘cold indifference’ to the fate of the hostages.” Like we have noted repeatedly, “Netanyahu is a politician with a fragile grip on power,” who is himself hostage to radical right-wing ministers clamoring for a massive ethnic cleansing project. In all, that may mean that President Biden will have to take his case directly and forcefully to the Israeli people: dump Netanyahu, or else we will end “unfettered military aid” to your radical right-wing pro-settler government. Netanyahu simply must go.
Further, even if the Saudis are willing to accept vague Israeli promises about Palestinian self-determination in exchange for an Israeli-Saudi normalization deal, President Biden should and must not leave it at that. The President must make a bold move of support for the Palestinian people to regain the trust of Arab-Americans and young voters highly critical of his Gaza stance. More importantly, he has a moral obligation to render justice to the Palestinian people. Especially when internationally respected human rights activist and co-founder of Human Rights Watch Aryeh Neier is now persuaded “that Israel…engaged in genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.”
Needless to say, Neier is no college age supporter of the Al-Qassam Brigades. To the contrary, he is a man who uses the word “genocide” very sparingly. In fact, “during [his] fifteen-year tenure at Human Rights Watch, [he] applied the term” only once: namely, to Saddam Hussein’s slaughter of the Iraqi Kurds in 1988 (emphasis mine). On top of that, Neier is a Jewish-American who fled Nazi Germany in 1939. Thus, he has always upheld (and still does uphold) Israel’s right to retaliate against Hamas for the murderous rampage it carried out on October 7.
As Neier observed, if the International Court of Justice (ICJ) agrees with him on the genocide charge, “that will be a resounding defeat for a state that was born in the aftermath of a genocide that many of its founders had barely survived.” Even more ironically, if the ICJ does eventually consider what happened in Gaza a genocide, isn’t protection from genocide the very reason Israel was founded in the first place?
President Biden must make a courageous move towards Palestinian recognition now. To that end, I have elsewhere suggested he adopt a framework for a new 3-state solution, culminating in the recognition of two independent states in the West Bank and Gaza. At the very least, such an arrangement could help ensure that Palestinian self-determination is not put off to another day. As a progressive Democrat concerned for the plight of the Palestinian and Israeli people, I will try to do my part to ensure this push becomes reality.
Here’s a piece of local news that someone just recently brought this to my attention. In 2021, one of the Pawtucket, Rhode Island properties of a New Hampshire real estate developer named Brian Thibeault was made subject to a civil forfeiture complaint by Attorney Gen. Peter Neronha. Per that report, Thibeault was in danger of losing that property after police discovered an illegal marijuana grow at the Pawtucket Armory Arts Center.
Arts Center? Are The Beatles smoking a blunt down there or something? Anyways, similar reports suggested that police were “still in the middle of” investigating this secret weed shop in the former Gamm Theatre space. Oddly enough, it first came to light after firefighters discovered the marijuana “after an alarm went off Sept. 20 on the property.”
More recently, this 2023 article from a local newspaper called The Valley Breeze implies that these are not the only real estate controversies Thibeault has faced in the state. In fact, former Woonsocket council members blamed Thibeault for a delay on redeveloping another Armory building there.
The Salzillo’s Two Cents Team investigates. Expect an update on all this relatively soon.
Also, in other local news, check out the just-released post on preserving Providence, Rhode Island’s public school system. More specifically, that post focuses on the situation with Carl G. Lauro Elementary School and the broader context behind it.
To paraphrase Robert Reich, everyone seems “tempted” to talk about the truly historic Trump trial. Every CNN and MSNBC pundit. Every FOX News alarmist. Every potential Trump VP pick (including Kristi Noem, puppy-killer). And now, every two-bit blogger.
Sorry dear reader, the temptation is just too great—even for me. Yet I will try my hardest to avoid beating the proverbial dead puppy—I mean, horse. To begin, the Trump trial is an amazing testament to what our jury system can do at its best. And I don’t necessarily mean because it convicted Trump on all 34 counts. Think about it. In an era where everything is so polarized, isn’t it simply amazing that we could get 12 ordinary people to agree on anything? And yet it is a modern-day miracle that happens all the time.
When faith in our institutions is lower than ever, we should remember that our jury system is perhaps one of the last places of refuge against “a post-truth America.” In the courts, the facts are what matter. There are no “alternative facts” available on the witness stand, and no amount of lies can cover up the trial evidence or the lack of it. A jury can see through it all.
That said, I am not sure how Trump’s felony conviction will impact his election chances. Granted, everyone knows it will rile up his base, and it will almost certainly cost him some Haley votes. Notwithstanding all that, one fact has not changed:
Let’s go to work people.
Yes, that includes Hollywood. This year will be the time where we can distinguish the real Hollywood activists from the performative ones. Will the stars merely try to avoid controversy? Or will they set aside the concerns of their PR team to take a brave stand and fight to preserve our democracy for future generations? Because that is what activism is really about. It is about taking a risk and sacrificing your time and even your reputation to help create a better world. It is about putting everything on the line when you know it counts. It is not about making smug, self-righteous Oscars speeches so that you can feel good about yourself.
As you can see, I have clear and deep misgivings about Hollywood and celebrity culture. Putting all that aside, many celebrities have done and continue to do the hard work when it counts. Sometimes, that means getting out publicly on the campaign trail. People like George Clooney, Julia Roberts, and even Robert De Niro are good examples of that. Other times, it means working-behind-the-scenes. I have special respect for the latter. As former Yankess owner George Steinbrenner said, “the greatest form of charity is anonymity.” Here, I am thinking of great down-to-earth celebrites like Jeff Bridges, Keanu Reeves, and many others.
So that’s the news in review. Stay tuned for more news for you.