January 2, 2024

Tuesday, January 2, 2023. Annette’s News Roundup.

I think the Roundup makes people feel not so alone.

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Joe is always busy.

Touch to watch the President greet the nation in the New Year. 👇

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Kamala is always busy.

Even if the Press won’t cover her.

Touch to see the leaders our Vice President met with. 👇

In the wake of the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s HealthSupreme Court decision overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that recognized the constitutional right to abortion, Harris became the administration’s most vocal advocate for abortion rights. “How dare they?” she demanded. “How dare they tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her own body?... How dare they try to stop her from determining her own future? How dare they try to deny women their rights and their freedoms?” She brought together civil rights leaders and reproductive rights advocates to work together to defend Americans’ civil and human rights. 

In fall 2023, Harris traveled around the nation’s colleges to urge students to unite behind issues that disproportionately affect younger Americans: “reproductive freedom, common sense gun safety laws, climate action, voting rights, LGBTQ+ equality, and teaching America’s full history.”  (Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American, Dec. 30, 2023).

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Israel’s highest court rejected Netanyahu’s attempt to curb its power.

Netanyahu suffered a catastrophic loss yesterday. Democracy won!

The ruling by Israel’s top court sets up a possible constitutional crisis. Here’s what to know.

In a momentous ruling that could ignite a constitutional crisis, Israel’s Supreme Court on Monday struck down a law passed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government that was meant to limit the court’s own powers, by a majority of eight judges to seven.

The decision is likely to rekindle the grave domestic situation that began a year ago over the government’s judicial overhaul plan — which sparked mass protests that brought the country to a near standstill at times — even as Israel is at war in Gaza.

The court, sitting with a full panel of all 15 of its justices for the first time in its history, rejected a law passed by Parliament in July. The law barred judges from using a particular legal standard to overrule decisions made by government ministers.

The court’s decision heralds a potential showdown between the top judicial authority and the ruling coalition, and could fundamentally reshape Israeli democracy, pitting the power of the government against that of the court.

In a country that has one house of Parliament, no formal written constitution and a largely ceremonial president, many defenders of Israel’s liberal democracy view the Supreme Court as the only bulwark against government power.

Here is what else to know:

• Mr. Netanyahu’s governing coalition, the most right-wing and religiously conservative in Israel’s history, has argued that the Supreme Court has overreached its authority and subverted the will of the voters and the function of the elected government. They argue that the legal concept of “reasonableness” — which the court used a year ago to strike down Mr. Netanyahu’s appointment as finance minister of a political ally who had been convicted of tax fraud — is ill defined and subjective.

• Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party called the Supreme Court’s decision on Monday “in opposition to the nation’s desire for unity, especially in a time of war.” They slammed the court for ruling on the issue when Israeli soldiers are “fighting and endangering themselves in battle.”

• Kaplan Force, one of the activist groups that organized protests against the judicial reform, praised the Supreme Court’s decision and called on all parties to obey the ruling. “Today, one chapter ended in the battle to protect democracy — in a victory for the citizens of Israel,” the group said in a statement. (New York Times).

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Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI) is a frequent Trump target.

She answered back and urges us all to do the same.

Debbie Dingell: How to Stand Up to Trump.

“Rot in hell.”

Those words were part of Donald Trump’s Christmas Day message, spewed at his political enemies. The next day, when I was asked during a CNN interview about the increased violence in this country, I responded honestly that I thought the former president’s message was wrong and divisive. I’m not afraid to say what I think, even when that means there may be unpleasant repercussions and threats from the former president and his supporters. A lot of us may face this type of conflict in the year ahead. I am particularly familiar with this, as Mr. Trump has targeted me in the past in ways that have been very difficult.

I was married to a great and wise man with whom I shared an incredible love for decades. I miss John every day. On the day that he died, in 2019, he dictated an op-ed to me that would be titled “My Last Words for America.” He observed, “In our modern political age, the presidential bully pulpit seems dedicated to sowing division and denigrating, often in the most irrelevant and infantile personal terms, the political opposition.” Months after his death, when I voted for the first articles of impeachment against President Trump, he launched into a brutal attack saying that John was “looking up” at me (implying he was in hell). That’s the Trump way — the cruelty is the point, yet that awareness doesn’t make it any less painful. We’re human. He knows that, and he thrives on it.

I am not seeking a fight with Mr. Trump. It’s not easy to tangle with him, especially after that experience involving John. But I do know that hateful rhetoric cannot be ignored or become normalized. We have to stand up to bullies in this country, and we have to call out indignities. My bluntness about “rot in hell” being unacceptable was my unfiltered reaction and I stand by it. In my view, the only way you can deal with bullies is to consistently call out their inexcusable behavior and stand in defense of those they choose to target. Trust me, I know it can wear you down — but we can’t grow tired, and we must push back on the hatred when we see it, calling it out, using language everyone understands and in ways that prevent it from seeping into our everyday lives and routines.

Being in Mr. Trump’s tunnel of hate is not enjoyable. Frankly, it’s often frightening. Like many of my colleagues, I have received hostile calls, antagonistic mail and death threats, and I have had people outside my home with weapons. And it reflects the vitriol, bullying, rage and threats we are witnessing across the country today — from our exchanges on social media to dialogue with each other and with those in our workplaces, schools, gathering places, families and communities. It’s a real danger to our democracy and our safety.

When I expressed my thoughts about his Christmas message, Mr. Trump took to Truth Social to go after me once again as a “loser.” Unfortunately, he also brought John into his rant. I can deal with being called names and subjected to the standard venom that we’ve all become familiar with in Mr. Trump’s social media attacks. But when he brings up John, it’s one of the things that hit me hardest. It would be easy to say his words don’t hurt, but they do. And I am sure he knows it.

When my husband died, Mr. Trump called me. At the time, I was touched by the president’s sympathy, his taking the time to reach out, and having the flags flown at half-staff. I did not ask Mr. Trump for anything during that call; it was Representative Nancy Pelosi, who was then speaker of the House, who helped with funeral arrangements. John earned the tributes he received. But President Trump cared enough to call, and he lowered the flags. Though we recall it differently, to this day I remember his act of kindness. But that private moment of empathy wasn’t and is not some kind of pass when my duty was to consider articles of impeachment against him, or a permission slip to allow for the public words he chose four years ago or those he used this week.

People don’t know how much I still miss John, especially this time of year, and how easily the tears come. Loneliness is something that is affecting many these days, and the loss of someone who was your total partner, and accepting the painful reality he is gone, does not happen quickly or easily. It is a hard, exhausting process.

But I cannot and will not be bullied or intimidated by anyone. Sometimes tyrants think women will cower. We cannot. We have the strength and courage to do what is right and fight for the betterment of our communities.

Mr. Trump’s style of politics — the disrespect, prejudice, name-calling and malice that too often get swept aside as his just calling it as he sees it — makes healthy debate and discussion virtually impossible. The word “congress” by definition means coming together. Government shouldn’t be about who can make the most noise; it’s about working together to find solutions. Take it from me: What Mr. Trump is doing isn’t honesty or candor, it’s ruthless and deliberate viciousness.

We can be sure Mr. Trump’s rhetoric will get only more fiery, discordant and divisive over the next year leading up to the election. We’ve already seen the dangerous and deadly consequences his words can have, and we cannot become complacent. This isn’t just about one man. We all face a choice in how we react to bullies, and we all have a responsibility to choose civility in the face of cruelty.

What I would encourage people to do, if attacked by Mr. Trump or his supporters, is to not be afraid to challenge the attack. Try to de-escalate the situation by presenting an alternative point of view calmly. Don’t let them bait you to descend to their level. Because that animosity is exacerbating the problem: We are watching very premeditated and carefully chosen words and actions by Mr. Trump that are stoking anger, further fueling a lack of trust in many institutions and creating a climate that is threatening democracy. Beware, the dangers are real.

I’m concerned by Mr. Trump’s pledges to rip health care away from Americans and to rule as a dictator, and by his applause of political violence. We need to hold people accountable for their words. I know that if John were here, he would tell me to do exactly what I’m doing now — to stand up and make my voice heard, and not back down. That’s what I’m going to continue to do, and I hope that as we look toward 2024, all our leaders, elected and aspiring, will join me. (Guest opinion. New York Times).

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It’s a new day coming.

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