Hopeful news: Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire agreement. This includes the release of a number of hostages held by Hamas. It is expected to go into effect Sunday. Bret Stevens in the NY Times has an opinion piece, “The Israeli Right May Soon Be Disenchanted by Trump.” Trump is trying to get credit for the deal. I am so happy for my Israeli family and friends and my Palestinian friends.
There was another contentious hearing for Trump’s nominees, and today the questions were directed at Pam Bondi. One of Trump’s lawyers who was a part of his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, she has been selected to be Attorney General. She refuses to say Trump lost the 2020 election. Senator Adam Schiff of California gave her a warning today,
“Our concern comes when that loyalty to the president conflicts with your duty,” said Schiff, insisting such a moment will arise because it happened to her predecessors. “It came to everyone, it will come to you, and what you do in that moment will define your attorney generalship.”
Here are a few exchanges from yesterday’s hearing for Pete Hegseth yesterday. Click on the photo to hear the exchange.
Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), above, was terrific. As was Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), below.
This last one above is typical of the macho attitude towards the position of Secretary of Defense. Senator Tim Sheehy (R-Montana) asks Hegseth how many push-ups he does in a day and other macho like questions about combat. Hegseth is known to not want women to serve in combat roles, he doesn’t think moms should be in the military because moms give kids training wheels and dads push them to take risks! He refers to military personnel as “warriors.” I personally hate that- our military should be peacekeepers. The position he is nominated for, Secretary of Defense, is about leadership, negotiation and management at an extremely high level; it’s not about bravado. This is Trump world, it’s all about image. Trump’s cabinet will be populated by a type of male - and gender identity- from the past. With Trump, we have taken a step backwards in this realm about 40 years. Not to mention women’s rights.
How did we get here?
Today I ran across this drawing I did years ago, maybe in 1968, but it could have been 1972. I had been drawing cartoons for years, but I distinctly recall that this was my first attempt at writing a caption: I remember because I was scared! It’s political, and I was nervous about sharing my opinion.
“Hey guess what—apathy’s out and voting’s in!”
Thanks for being here, see you tomorrow.
Ha! Your cartoon continues to be relevant—well done!!
I couldn’t watch.
Thank you taking one for the team xx