Another in a weekly series of posts with interesting reading / viewing material.
So, we’re bombing Iran again — in something called Operation Epic Distraction Fury. You’d think it might come as a surprise to the MAGA folks that voted for Trump as the “peace candidate” who would keep us out of “forever wars.” The situation, obviously, is fast-developing — but some informative write-ups are already available online.
Meanwhile, the Epstein files story just seems to get weirder by the day. Some recent updates:
- During Trump’s first term in the White House, his FBI directed the New York Police Department’s Special Victims Unit to “stand down” its Jeffrey Epstein investigations just days after he was arrested in 2019. But to be fair, this was preceded by decades of blundering by both the NYPD and FBI, beginning in 1996.
- Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, governments are holding people accountable for the behavior spelled out in the files — what a concept! Former ambassador Peter Mandelson is the latest to fall.
- The biggest recent news on this front, though, is the DOJ’s behavior w.r.t. Trump’s involvement in the files. Despite Pam Bondi’s protestation, there appears to be credible evidence to support criminal allegations against Trump. NPR reports that 53 pages of additional allegations were removed from the files by the DOJ. But predictably, those 53 pages are starting to leak (and they’re predictably ugly). Backing up those allegations are snippets of a 2018 BBC documentary that have recently resurfaced. The full episode video is not online (that I can find), but textual summaries are available.
Trump’s State of the Union address — it was certainly… something. At the very least, it was the longest SOTU speech in U. S. history (nearly 2 hours long), breaking the record he set last year. We didn’t watch, opting instead to wait for the Democratic response (quite good), and read online analysis of the main event.
Some good takes on the SOTU come courtesy of Tom Nichols, Azi Paybarah, Save America Movement, 50501, Paul Krugman, Moira Donegan, David Smith, The Associated Press, Greg Dobbs, Adam Kinzinger, Democracy Docket, Andrew Wilson, Rachel Maddow, AlterNet, and this handy AP fact check of the speech (spoiler alert: so many lies).
While Trump spoke, though, Democratic candidates won three state-level special elections in Maine and Pennsylvania. Particularly good news, since Democratic party leaders still appear to be prioritizing decorum over defending democracy.
At least the folks at Turner Classic Movies knew how to make a statement with their SOTU counter-programming:
Palantir — everybody’s least favorite big brother. As you may have heard, Palantir left Denver for Miami (the corporate offices moved, but they still have software developers here). Westword readers have thoughts about the news.
If you’re having trouble dealing with the feelings engendered by our current situation, a little action may help. Here’s a flyer that 50501 has been handing out:
