A Bit of the World, Attempted GOP Revenge

India chose conservative Norendra Modi as Prime Minister for the third time, but his party, which some people called fascist, didn’t have a landslide victory. In 640 million ballots, his margin of victory dropped from 500,000 in 2019 to 145,000. Modi leads in 290 seats, short of their 400 target while opposition parties are expected to take over 230. His setback came from growing economic differences with unemployment at 8.1 percent.

In Israel, the government, for the first time, targeted U.S. lawmakers with fake social media accounts to influence them to fund the country’s military, focusing on over a dozen Democrats and Blacks. Hundreds of fake accounts posing on Americans on X, Facebook, and Instagram posted pro-Israel comments, many of them with artificial intelligence.

In the U.S., Deposed Donald Trump (DDT) isn’t the only Republican to become more unhinged after his conviction on 34 felony charges. The far-right House members, running on a platform of helping the nation’s families, now campaigns for DDT’s November election. Their revenge approach is reminiscent of the GOP chant, “Lock them up,” created by animosity to Hillary Clinton, DDT’s 2016 opponent. The philosophy now applies to all Democrats.

House Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) new spin on DDT’s conviction claims that those prosecuting the convicted felon are “eroding the people’s faith in the system of justice itself.” To Johnson, the justice system can restore confidence in the institution by ignoring felonies and exonerating GOP politicians’ wrongdoing. Asked if people should accept November’s election results, Johnson said, “Well, I hope so,” before he concluded that part of the questioning with “Look, we’re the rule of law team.” It’s the new meme: on Fox, he said, “We are the rule of law party.” Instead, the GOP is the party of revenge fantasy. [Note: the banner states, “I am innocent.”

An icon of the “rule of law party,” Johnson followed DDT’s choice for his two new appointment for the House Intelligence Committee that has access to the country’s more important and highly sensitive secrets.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), now on the committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection, was one of the leaders in trying to overturn the government after the 2020 presidential election and pushed such conspiracy theories as votes being changed by “Italian satellites.” He is currently suing the DOJ for the FBI seizing his cellphone in an investigation regarding his insurrection involvement.

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) was fired as White House doctor after he personally abused and permitted others to abuse drugs. His public announcements of DDT’s health reports showed several “inconsistencies,” and he failed to achieve secretary of Veterans Affairs for allegations of harassing women and creating a “toxic” work environment. These issues are just the tip of the iceberg regarding Johnson’s choices, such as Jackson’s lying about his military rank.

The day after Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) failed to prove his inquisition of DOJ AG Merrick Garland in a Judiciary Committee hearing, James Comer (R-KY), Oversight Committee chair, referred President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and brother, James Biden, to the DOJ for criminal prosecution, for allegedly lying “to hide Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s schemes.” Another witness made the same claim as Hunter Biden but wasn’t charged. The referral letter was also signed by Jordan and Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-MO). Committees had no customary votes or hearings for the referral.

The day before the referral, a report revealed Comer used his office as then-Kentucky Secretary of Agriculture to import, as a favor for a campaign donor, hemp seed from China ultimately testing as marijuana with illegally high levels of THC. He had hoped to tout the deal as a win for Kentucky but quickly buried the information after the bust. Part of Comer’s persecution of the Bidens is the unfounded claims of China and business ventures. Comer claimed that “accountability … looks like criminal referrals.” He may be searching for another chapter in his anti-Joe Biden book. 

Comer also wants a felony charge against Dr. Anthony Fauci for recommending a six-feet separation during the pandemic and accuses Fauci of lying during the Monday hearing. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) false accusation of Fauci’s abuse of beagles during the hearing, complete with photo, comes from Tunisia’s sand flea experiment with beagles incorrectly listing the NIAID as a financial sponsor in 2021 and since corrected. About the GOP support of DDT during the hearing, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) pointed out that they are supporting a felon who couldn’t get a security clearance and would be banned for entering 37 countries. He concluded, “You might be in a cult.”   

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) has threatened former White House press secretary Jen Psaki with a subpoena after she didn’t respond to a request to testify in a debate about whether Biden looked at his watch during the transfer ceremony for U.S. soldiers killed in Kabul in 2021.

Another GOP strategy to protect DDT is a bill allowing current or former presidents to move any state case brought against them to federal court, giving them the right of pardons for themselves. Some senators don’t support the concept.

On Wednesday, a majority of GOP senators blocked the Right to Contraception Act. It passed by a slim majority but lacked the necessary 60 votes for survive the filibuster. The vote of 51-39 had unanimous Democratic support, along with Republicans Susan Collins (ME) and Lisa Murkowski (AK); 39 Republicans, including seven women, opposed it. Nine Republicans didn’t vote along with Democratic Robert Menendez (NJ) who is likely in court for a bribery charge. The bill gives people access to contraceptives and a doctor’s right to provide information and access to them. GOP women voting against federal right to contraction: Marsha Blackburn, Katie Britt, Shelley Capito, Joni Ernst, Deb Fischer, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Cynthia Lummis (?)

Sen. Josh Hawley (D-MO) said that “nobody is going to overturn Griswold,” the 1965 Supreme Court decision legalizing contraception, like conservatives said “nobody is going to overturn Roe v. Wade”until the current Supreme Court did that two years ago. Hawley’s wife is an attorney arguing to make the abortion medication mifepristone illegal. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, however, wants Griswold overturned, and Justice Clarence Thomas set his sites on dropping rights for contraception. He might get a majority of conservative support on the high court. Even DDT stated he is open to restrictions on contraception before he decided that wasn’t a good campaign argument and backed down. Then he said that he would issue a policy “very shortly.” That was two weeks ago, but he’s busy swearing revenge on his political opponents.   

Republicans, especially those who believe that personhood begins when the egg is released, follow the unscientific theory that contraception produces abortion, and some states are trying to block its access, especially IUDs, emergency contraception, and birth-control pills, classifying them as “abortifacients” which terminate pregnancies. Missouri, Louisiana, and Idaho have blocked contraceptive access for that reasons, and Republicans in at least 17 states have prevented laws assuring the right to birth control since 2022. (Demonstrators with a 20-foot-tall inflatable intrauterine device outside the Union Station in Washington, D.C. set up by the group Americans for Drew Angerer/AFP)

Eight in ten people in the U.S. support the Right to Contraception Act, and 60 percent worry about the Supreme Court overturning a constitutional right to contraception. Yet, GOP politicians lie about the proposed law providing “condoms to little kids.”

Witnesses in the Hunter Biden trial about his allegedly lying on an application to purchase a gun included ex-wife Kathleen Buhle and ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan testifying about his drug use and the man who sold Hunter the firearm. The prosecution may rest their case on Thursday. Because it has a weak case with only the lying issue, the persecution may try to claim that he purchased the gun for drug deals.

Wednesday is Environment Day, first declared by the UN in 1972. The theme “Our Land, Our Future. We are #Generation Restoration.” focuses on restoring degraded lands, combatting desertification, and building drought resilience with 3,657 events.

Thursday is the 80^th anniversary of D-Day, the landing of 150,000 Allied troops at Normandy which turned World War II away from Germany’s victory. Several GOP macho congressional members plan to participate in the paratroopers’ parachute drop. President Joe Biden plans to speak at the event, highlighting the men who scaled those cliffs, democracy, and the dangers of isolationism.

And for the finish, a feel-good story. And after wandering Vermont State University’s Castleton campus for the past four years, Max the cat received an honorary doctorate in “litter-ature.” He greeted the 4,000 students, catching rides on students’ backpacks, sharing campus tours, and sometimes attending psychology lectures. Max lives near the campus, and students would take him home at night.

UK Election, GOP Shenanigans Plus More DDT

In the third world shakeup this month, UK’s Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for a surprise general election on July 4, catching his party members off guard. Never elected, Sunak was appointed by his own party two years ago after Liz Truss left at the end of 49 days.  The country’s sixth Conservative leader since David Cameron was elected in 2010, Sunak moved the party to the right with his focus on immigration and “anti-woke” language, disturbing his centrist colleagues.

Believing they would have a better chance in autumn, Tories are furious, especially after their recent election losses. Opinion polls give the Labour party a 20-point lead, and it has an organized campaign. Parliament is now suspended at the end of the week and formally shut down in another week, leaving it only two days to pass any outstanding legislation. The first July election in UK since 1945, it is also the first general election since 2015 not requiring Parliamentary approval. This week begins general election campaigning for the 650 seats in Parliament.

Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson (R-LA) has no additional GOP votes after Vince Fong was elected to fill the seat of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) who resigned last year. Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC) will be absent for an indefinite time to undergo surgery for the removal of a tumor at the base of his skull. Johnson must also deal with the departure of four staff members, including his well-connected communications director, Raj Shah, a link to DDT loyalists.

After the discovery of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito flying the U.S. flag upside down, claiming a stolen presidential election in 2020, a second flag story appeared. In July and September of 2023, the Alitos flew the “Appeal to Heaven” flag (aka Pine Tree flag) at their New Jersey summer beach house. The flag symbolizes religious support for the “Stop the Steal” campaign and Christian nationalists’ promotion to recreate the U.S. government. Once used by George Washington, the flag appeared at the January 6 insurrection. Court authority Dahlia Lithwick commented:

“That flag is not merely another January 6 signifier but also rooted in John Locke’s ‘appeal to heaven,’ meaning ‘a responsibility to rebel, even use violence, to overthrow unjust rule.’”

Johnson flew the same flag outside his office last year. He claims that “it goes back to the founder’s era” and that he’s “always flown that flag,” that it has nothing to do with the “stop the steal” protests.”

In 2013, prominent far-right evangelical Dutch Sheets made the flag a symbol of his ambitions for Christian nationalism and wrote about it in his 2015 book, An Appeal to Heaven. He and his fellow leaders described Alito their great religious hope as an opponent to abortion and same-gender marriage.  

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced a resolution to censure Alito “for knowingly violating the federal recusal statute and binding ethics standards and calling the impartiality of the Supreme Court of the United States into question.” He stated that flying the flag upside down shows “a knowing and shameless demonstration of his political bias.” Other Democrats have called on Alito to recuse himself from cases about the 2020 election and the insurrection, including DDT’s presidential immunity case. A few Republicans mildly criticized Alito’s actions but want the court to monitor itself.

In solidarity with DDT, GOP Senators are rejecting a bill solving security on the southern border originally endorsed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). McConnell asked President Joe Biden to solve the problem with executive actions. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wants to advance the bill this week. Several Senators posturing against the bill are vying to Senate minority leader with McConnell resigning form the position this fall. (Right: Schumer holding a sign last week.)

Schumer’s bill is part of the strategy to show Republicans as obstructionists toward solving southern border issues. The DOJ will announce a rule for more resources to prosecute migrants with immigration-related offenses. Biden has already signed executive orders, one of which imposes sanctions on people profiting from moving migrants, moves the disqualification standard earlier in the asylum process, and processes recent asylum seekers before those in the line longer. Senate Democrats will hold a press conference explaining how the bipartisan bill that the GOP scuttled would have helped block down on fentanyl shipped into the U.S.

Upset because Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) described the legal problems of Deposed Donald Trump (DDT) on the House floor, Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN) demanded his words be stricken from the record. McGovern was rebuked and stopped from making any statements for the remainder of the day. During the process, House business was halted for over an hour while Republicans had McGovern’s factual remarks investigated by the House Parliamentarian:

“We have a presumptive nominee for President facing 88 felony counts, and we’re being prevented from even acknowledging it. These are not alternative facts. These are real facts. A candidate for President of the United States is on trial for sending a hush money payment to a porn star to avoid a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign, and then fraudulently disguising those payments in violation of the law. He’s also charged with conspiring to overturn the election. He’s also charged with stealing classified information and a jury has already found him liable for rape and a civil court. And yet, in this Republican controlled House, it’s okay to talk about the trial but you have to call it a sham.”

Presiding over the chamber, Rep. Jerry Carl (R-AL) made the decision to strike McGovern’s “offensive” remarks according to House Rule XVII, “House members are prohibited from impugning the motives of fellow House members, senators or the President. And in this case, the former President.” McGovern also said:

 “My friends over the other side of the aisle have pandered to their most extreme members over and over and over again. They let the extremists kick out their own Speaker. They let the extremists dictate the agenda on the House floor. They let the extremists take down seven rule votes since January 2023—a stunning indictment of their ability to get anything done. And speaking of indictments, Republicans are skipping their real jobs to take day trips up to New York to try to undermine Donald Trump’s criminal trial. No time to work with Democrats, but plenty of time to put on weird matching cult uniforms and stand behind President Trump with their bright red ties like pathetic props…

“Now I understand why my Republican friends want to distract from Donald Trump. They don’t want to talk about how Trump had the worst jobs record since the Great Depression, how we sold out our allies and empowered our adversaries. So they bring silly things like this to the floor to deflect blame and distract from the fact that they have no real vision, just division, and no real plans to make life better for the American people.”

DDT’s criminal trial doesn’t resume until next Tuesday, the 21^st day and seventh week, but Judge Juan Merchan gave the jury directions yesterday on the process to reach their verdict. To find DDT guilty of felony falsification of business records, they must agree that the falsification was done to cover up a separate crime, but they don’t need a unanimous agreement on any of the three possible “predicate” crimes: tax-related offenses and both state and federal campaign finance violations. Defense lawyers had unsuccessfully argued for unanimous agreement for each instance. The prosecution had said that “the importance of the case is not a basis for deviating from the standard application of the law. There’s no reason to rewrite the law for this case.” With this ruling, jurors can more easily find DDT guilty on any of the 34 felony charges.

According to a newly unsealed 87-page filing for Florida’s classified document case, DDT’s lawyers found more classified documents in his bedroom four months after the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago in August 2022. After that search, other classified documents were found at “an off-site office, a storage unit and at Mar-a-Lago,” according to U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell. She also stated that DDT intentionally obstructed the government’s investigation despite a subpoena to turn over all the classified materials. In June 2022, DDT’s lawyers had guaranteed that no classified documents were at Mar-a-Lago.

As a distraction, DDT is using a fundraising email to accuse Biden of trying to assassinate him because the DOJ used boiler-plate language authorizing the FBI to use deadly force when executing a court-approved search warrant. DDT also claims that proves Biden is “MENTALLY UNFIT TO HOLD OFFICE.” Ultra-conservative lawmakers leaped on the band wagon, echoing DDT’s statement that Biden was “locked & loaded” and “ready to take me out.” DDT has gone to the Supreme Court for permission to do this to Biden.  

In a rare announcement, the FBI responded to the unwarranted accusations by stating that “standard protocol” was followed with “no departure from the norm in this matter.” Before the search, the FBI guaranteed that DDT would not be on the premises and informed the Seret Service and local law enforcement of their plans.

In another laptop scandal, another DDT adviser connected to his Save America PAC admitted scanning classified documents in a box in 2021 that he stored on a personal laptop provided by the PAC. Last year, the media reported the aide is Chamberlain Harris, known as ROTUS, Receptionist of the United States.

Ukrainian Invasion after Almost 80 Weeks, More World Turmoil

Ukraine:

Ukraine is the most heavily mined country in the world, Russians kill people in their homes and in general areas, and their energy sources frequently disappear. In contrast, people in Moscow are angry because they are inconvenienced by noise from drone attacks waking them up in the night. They want to know why the “international community” doesn’t rescue them from Ukrainian “terrorists.” Russians haven’t been injured, and officials claim only “minor damage” to a building and some broken windows. A few people, however, believe the drone attacks in Moscow come from the Russian government “to justify a new mobilization.” One Russian woman said that “nobody cares” unless they are personally affected.

U.S. critics of Ukraine counteroffensive condemn the country’s “slow but steady” pushback toward success. This past week, Ukrainian forces raised hopes as they breached a Russian line of defenses on the southeastern frontand pushed toward the Sea of Azov to cut off the enemy’s supplies. This first line, the most difficult, gives possibilities of a victory. Ukraine has retaken dozens of more square miles than Russia took in this year’s costly campaign. Taking back Tokmak would allow Ukraine to move toward the city of Melitopol, a major success, yet satellite images show large Russian defenses surrounding Tokmak. Even without that victory, Ukraine’s counteroffensive threatens Russia’s supply lines running from Russia’s mainline to Crimea. Ukrainian success by winter will be catastrophic for the Russians both in the fighting and feeding the Russians in Crimea, causing an exodus and the impression that they are losing.

A Russian propagandist indicated the impression of Russia’s loss by pushing President Vladimir Putin to hit Ukraine with nuclear weapons after a huge Ukrainian drone strike on the Pskov airfield, damaging or destroying several Russian aircraft. He also urged attacks on Estonia and Latvia, both NATO nations, saying that Russia should “erase them from the face of the Earth” if the drones came from there.

 To stop a Ukrainian breakthrough, Russia risks dividing its forces, according to the UK Ministry of Defense. The purpose is to continue its offensive while fighting the Ukrainian counteroffensive. Another motive is to distract Ukraine and force it to divide its troops.

The reported death of Wagner group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, could also lead to food shortages for Russian troops. Prigozhin, who controlled over half the food suppliers for the defense ministry, faced 560 lawsuits in 2022 for supplying substandard food to the army. A Wagner representative said tens of thousands of fighters are blocked from working amid competition from Russia’s defense ministry and the National Guard.

China may have damaged its growing friendship with Russia after issuing a new map reflecting it took territory from other countries, including along its border with Russia. The map also takes all of Taiwan and parts of Indian territory as well as the island of Bolshoy Ussuriysky, split between Russia and China in 2008. China developed leverage by being Russia’s most powerful trading partner and may now use it with Russia’s weakening during China’s growth in strength. India, Taiwan, Malaysia, and the Philippines also have continuing territorial disputes with China.

Ukraine also states it has successfully designed and manufactured a long-range missile which can reach 435 miles or farther inside Russia, a weapon that NATO has not provided for Ukraine. After over a year fighting back against Russia inside Ukrainian territory, the invaded country started striking targets inside Russia and Crimea, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Ukraine’s counteroffensive is also moving into other of its areas illegally occupied by Russia.

Another Putin problem is economic although the president tries to pretend that all is well. In the last week of August, the Russian ruble’s value fell to a 16-month low against the U.S. dollars, a one-third drop since last November, from increasingly punitive Western sanctions especially on energy exports. Russia lost 47 percent of revenue in gas exports to Europe in the first half of 2023 although sales to Turkey, China, and Central Asian states brought back the income. Putin asked his Central Bank to keep Russia’s inflationary risks under control although it doubled its defense spending target for 2023 to over $100 billion, roughly equivalent to oil revenue in the year before the invasion. Russia spent $60 billion during the first half of 2023. The Central Bank in Russia raised its key interest rate to 12 percent, and one-third of Russians are reducing expenditures. Mobilization of conscripts also increased inflation from a lack of workers; Putin wishes to lift restrictions on employing teenagers as young as 14.

Two more ships successfully left Ukrainian ports to cross the Black Sea, bringing the total to six since President Volodymyr Zelensky opened the temporary corridor. Putin had tried to close it since earlier this summer

Gabon:

In other parts of the world, Gabon has become the sixth former French African colony to overthrow its Western-allied leader since 2020 and the eighth West and Central Africa’s coup in that time. With the military in control of the country, General Brice Oligui Nguema has become the transitional leader, replacing deposed President Ali Bongo whose family ruled Gabon for 55 years. Albert Ondo Ossa, Bongo’s opponent in the election a week ago, claimed the election was fraudulent, and the military annulled it before closing the country’s borders for three days and put Bongo under house arrest. Recent Niger and Mali coups were also anti-French. If the new regime cuts financial ties with the U.S., lack of exports could force the U.S. to look to Russia or China for manganese, essential to iron and steel production. The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) urged partners led by the UN and African Union to support a quick return to constitutional order. Many Gabonese are calling for caution because Nguema was a close friend of the Bongo family.

Thailand:

After a strong but failed run by a progressive candidate for prime minister, Thailand has another conservative in the position. Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister who left the country to live in exile for 15 years, has returned to serve an eight-year sentence for abuse of power and conflicts of interest. Thailand’s king commuted the sentence to one year, saying he “is loyal to the monarchy” and is now old and ill. Thaksin’s political ally Srettha Thasivin, supported by pro-military and conservative parties ousting Thaksin’s governments in 2006 and 2014, is the new prime minister.

An 11-party coalition agreed to appoint Srettha, a real estate tycoon, whose party Pheu Thai allied itself with the progressive party Move Forward against the military parties. Srettha immediately broke the progressive party’s promise to not cooperate with military leaders and ignored the voters’ wish to end military rule. The new coalition includes generals from the outgoing government who violently blocked criticism. On May 14, 2023, the Move Forward party won the most votes in parliament, almost 40 percent among the 67 parties, but could not find enough supporters among the legislative party to receive a majority for prime minister.

An Ecuador election led to a run-off on October 15 after a middle-runner in the eight candidates, anti-corruption Fernando Villavicencio, was assassinated ten days before the vote on August 20. Left-wing Luisa Gonzalez, taking 33 percent of the votes in the August election, opposes center-right Daniel Noboa, the son of a banana tycoon, following with 23.4 percent. Noboa’s father, one of the richest men in the country, unsuccessfully ran for president five times. Incumbent president Guillermo Lasso called a snap election to block impeachment attempts for accusations of embezzlement in a state-owned oil transport company. Crime in the country from cartels is a primary issue in the election.

BRICS:

Fourteen years ago, five countries representing 40 percent of the global population and one-fourth of GDP—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—joined in a lose coalition, called BRICS. Meeting in Johnnesberg, South Africa, on August 22-24, they invited six more countries to join: the Middle East countries of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran, and Egypt along with Ethiopia and Argentina.  The Russian embassy in South Africa posted a map of existing and possibly invited BRICS members.

The organization established the New Development, aka the BRICS bank, with Bangladesh, Egypt, and the UAE as other shareholders. They wish to escape sanctions after those placed on Russia for its Russian invasion. Russia, China, and Brazil have shifted to non-dollar currencies for cross-border transactions and tried to change currency reserves into gold from dollars. 

With no direction, BRICS voiced dissatisfaction with the West and the U.S. It has no cohesion in foreign policy, coordinated course of conduct, or official website. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that he doesn’t want BRICS “to be a counterpoint to the G7, G20 or the United States.” India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned against expansion, concerned that it will dilute its influence. South Africa officials said that over 40 countries expressed interested in joining BRICS, two dozen of them formally asking for admission.    

Chinese Xi Jinping failed to give the opening speech, instead asking his commerce minister, Wang Wentao to read it. Putin decided not to attend because of the international warrant for his arrest.

The Bankkok (Thailand) Post opposes expansion of BRICS, calling for a third group not allied with existing ones to keep countries from falling under the influence of China and Russia as well as opposing an “anti-democratic” club.

Two Countries Heading in Opposite Directions – Spain, Israel

An election and a Parliamentary vote have determined two separate countries’ approaches to democracy.   

Election for Spain’s Parliament Fails to Put in Far-Right Government:

In Sunday’s election, Spain’s government kept out the far right, at least temporarily. Prognosticators thought the conservative Popular Party would take the government from the left coalition and govern with the neofascist Vox party. Conservativism would then rule for the first time since the end of the Franco dictatorship almost 50 years ago. The 350-member Spanish parliament requires a majority of 176 votes to form a government; the left has about 153 votes, and the far-right has 169 votes.

Although the right wing has more numbers, the left-wing prime minister can call another election or work out a deal with other parties who are primarily Catalan or Basque separatists, more likely to support the left than the right, either in a coalition or from outside the coalition but allowing Sánchez and the left to govern. The parliament reconvenes on August 17, and King Felipe VI will meet with party leaders to determine which candidate could win enough votes to become the next prime minister. Without a majority, a second vote will be two days later with the majority winning. If that fails, members have two months to appoint a prime minister. Without that success, parliament will be dissolved and a new election called next year.

Before the ultra-rightwing Vox party failed to gain votes in parliament, the “anti-woke” group had been closing bike lanes and banning Pride flags from public buildings in Spanish towns it runs in coordination with the center-right People’s Party. Authoritarian leaders of Italy and Hungary had high hopes for Spain joining them in their goal to dominate the European Union. The backing failed: Vox lost over one-third of the seats it won in 2019. Their personal disaster may make center-right leaders such as the German opposition leader more cautious in following conspiracy theorists. Even the UK Tories have taken some policies from fringe parties and dropped its competent leaders in exchange for Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

As in the U.S., right-wing members determined to pour gasoline on flames of hatred may bring more moderate voters to oppose them.

Israel Parliament Removes Checks by the Judiciary:

Israel is the other country in crisis. The U.S. has protected the country as the last democracy in the Middle East, but Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing resumption of prime minister has allowed the parliament to strip power from the judicial branch. His actions moved Israel from a more secular, pluralist society to an extremist Jewish, religious country. With no written Constitution and a single-chamber Parliament, Israel’s courts were the only protection against unjust rule.

Netanyahu can now use the judiciary to remove the indictments of corruption against him, even replacing the attorney general. He can also accelerate illegal West Bank settlement construction on privately-owned Palestinian land, curb non-Jews’ rights, expand rabbinical leaders’ power, and permit discrimination against women and LGBTQ+ people. A two-tier society among the Jewish Israelis can be created if ultra-Orthodox Jews engaged in religious study avoid military service.

Demonstrators have been protesting the possibility of the judiciary change for months. The new law passed by 64 to 0 after the opposition in the Parliament walked out. Businesses in the country closed in protest, Israel’s biggest labor union threatened to strike, and 10,000 military reservists threatened to resign. The opposition hopes to petition the Supreme Court to strike down the law because the vote amended of Israel’s Basic Laws, which is similar to a constitution. Another idea is requesting President Isaac Herzog to not sign the bill, but his position is largely ceremonial and may not carry any legal weight. Netanyahu failed to calm demonstrators by offering to return to negotiations over further judicial changes until late November, but the street protests only grew.

Palestinians, representing over 20 percent of Israel’s population, considered themselves second-class citizens because of their treatment. The vote may make their lives even worse although the government and police aren’t fighting crime in Arab towns. Since the start of the year, gun violence has left 132 Arabs dead.  

Two New Yorkers from Queens are behind Kohelet, a once-hidden think tank in Jerusalem and principal architect of the overhaul of the conservative court system. Moshe Koppel moved to Israel in 1980 and founded Kohelet in 2012; he has 160 full- and part-time scholars to write conservative policy papers. Multimillionaire Arthur Dantchik has donated millions to Kohelet. Prior to the vote this week, the Israeli parliament passed legislation to change the composition of the committee selecting judges by giving government representatives the majority.

Netanyahu, prime minister for 13 of the past 14 years, strongly defended his nation’s Supreme Court before he was indicted in 2019 on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. His trial started in 2021. His ruling coalition puts him in charge of both the executive and legislative branches with the judiciary branch the only check. Before the new law, courts could overturn extreme laws failing to pass a “reasonable standard,” meaning they were not made according to a basic standard of fair and just policymaking. New law removing “reasonable standard” puts Netanyahu completely in charge of all decisions.

In mid-June, Netanyahu went to the hospital, supposedly for dehydration after spending a day at the beach. A month later he was fitted with an internal cardiac monitor which indicated a transient heart block leading to his surgery for a pacemaker on July 24. He was in the hospital for the debate and then gave a speech from his office asking for unity and discussion. Opponents who found his statements insincere, promised to continue protesting.

Thousands of protesters continued to march after the law was passed, and one of the groups paid for completely black ads on the front pages at least four large Israeli newspapers—Yediot Aharonot, Calcalist, Israel Hayom, and Haaretz. The only words in the ad were the phrase “a black day for Israeli democracy.” The protest group described itself as “a group composed of hundreds of high-tech companies, entrepreneurs, and investors across Israel, guiding Israel’s advanced technology and feeling a sense of mission and responsibility for the country’s future.” Far-right Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, claimed that foreign organizations have been financing the protests which are actually grassroots efforts.

Shira Rubin, a reporter based in Tel Aviv, questions whether Netanyahu has any control over the conservative factions that returned him to being prime minister. Immediately after his election, he initiated a series of interviews in which he assured U.S. allies that “my hands are firmly on the steering wheel.” Three weeks after he took power at the beginning of January, the parliament’s far-right coalition began its radical moves, rapidly moving measures forward to take over the judiciary and quash any possibilities for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The actions were in contrast to Netanyahu’s usual deliberate style.

Analysts believe his extremist religious partners are leveraging him with promises to save him from prosecution if they can follow their own agenda unimpeded. The leader of the ultranationalist Religious Zionism bloc and his allies were appointed to the nation’s security establishment in overseeing civilian dealings in the West Bank that the bloc plans to annex.

Soon after Netanyahu was elected, Ben-Gvir, pushed against Palestinians by visiting the Temple Mount, a holy Islam site in Jerusalem where Jews also pray although it has been under control of Muslims after the 1967 Six Day War. Hamas called on Palestinian youths to “mobilize,” and Ben-Gvir’s hardline base pushed him into the visit although Netanyahu opposed it. The visit set off protests, and Israeli security forces demolished Palestinian buildings. Ben-Gvir’s goal is to take back all Palestinian land for the Jewish people. A timeline of the disasters that Ben-Gvir engendered in 2023.

The current polarization in Israel is between urban middle class including doctors, academic, and business leaders and those who are poorer and more religious, many of them living in West Bank settlements and outlying areas. Many far-right supporters are working-class Jews of Mizrahi, or Middle Eastern, descent who believe themselves marginalized by an Ashkenazi, or European, elite.

Netanyahu defied the U.S. by pushing the new law without political consensus. Israel receives $3.8 billion for annual military assistance and diplomatic backing in international forums. The vote also worsens the rift between the far-right Israel government and the mostly liberal U.S. Jewish community.

Credit rating agency Morgan Stanley has lowered Israel’s sovereign rating, and Moody’s isn’t waiting until October, the time for rating updates, to also deliver a warning. Hundreds of economists, experts, and executives in Israel and throughout the world claim the “judicial reform” will lead to a sharp decline in foreign investment because of economic instability. Sixty-eight percent of start-ups in Israel have begun to withdraw cash reserves, relocate headquarters outside Israel, move employees abroad, and conduct layoffs.

The next few months will give the direction for these two countries with more hope for Spain than Israel.