Here’s a hypothetical, which I wonder if others have taken the time wrestle with openly: do cars built by a unionized workforce in a different country (e.g., Canada, Mexico, Japan, etc.) represent a bigger threat to the liberal project than cars built by nonunion labor in a right-to-work state in the USA? There is certainly an understandable amount of nationalism that runs through the rank-and-file UAW members, but being more internationally focused would seem to be in their interest, too.
Here is a letter from Shawn Fein, President of UAW, to Katherine Tai, USA trade ambassador, giving comment on the need for tariffs, while giving perspective on previous attempts to increase workers rights in Mexico: https://downloads.regulations.gov/USTR-2023-0013-0013/attachment_1.pdf.
Workers in a right-to-work state in the U.S. pay U.S. income taxes, raise healthier, happier children, are more likely to vote, and are included in our national bond of mutual care and reliance on one another. Obviously when jobs migrate outside our borders it is a larger loss. But tariffs are not one-sided. They are merely the opening shot in a trade war, that is at least somewhat likely to transform one day into violence.
Chris Cameron at the NYT reports that "Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running for president as an Independent, denounced Trump’s conviction in a live broadcast on social media, saying that “it’s bad for our country and bad for our democracy.” https://www.youtube.com/live/T4WgAaktgD4?si=79gykiQ2wGnkkoFf The full quote is "My belief is that it will help President Trump among a large part of the American public who believes that the judicial system and the enforcement system have been weaponized politically and that that's bad for our country". Shame on you NYT!
I heard an interview today (5/25) on CNN of a representative of "Arabs for Trump." Supposedly his reps told Arabs in Michigan he's going to do wonderful things for them, although other Arabs have said no specific policies were named. Are Arabs really going to fall for his B.S.? Even if they simply stay home in November it won't help Biden. Maybe Her can mediate peace in the Middle East?!
If I was running Biden's campaign I'd start handing out leaflets reminding American Muslims of the Trump travel ban (Executive Order 13769). I can't imagine it not having some effect.
John Mearsheimer recently said, that the Israelis have put themselves in a situation, were they basically have four options: the one-state solution, the two-state solution - neither of which are going to happen, apartheid - which hasn’t worked great so far, and ethnic cleansing - which doesn’t seem to be going great either. So it’s back to apartheid, and, in a few years, another explosion of violence. Et cetera.
That seems like a pretty accurate description.
On the ethnic cleansing part, I don’t see how the Israelis are ever going to make that work, in the real world. They have killed and killed and killed, and the Palestinians are still there. Voluntary departure? Move the people out? It’s a fascist fantasy. How is Trump, or anyone, in practice, going to make millions of Palestinians disappear? Except in a spray of bodyparts?
I mean, they can try. But can they do it without starting WW3?
Unfortunately, it may be that all that stands between the current state and large scale migration across the Gaza-Egypt border is for the border with Egypt to be breached and the Egyptian border patrol to be swamped. The fascists in the Israeli government are drooling over this for a reason. It can happen any day.
It's hard for me to imagine that the IDF is going to target civilians on purpose. That is very unlikely, in my mind. I would imagine that an order for the IDF to target civilians is going to immediately spark a civil war in Israel. The IDF will fracture on the spot.
Could be. Any way you look at it, “option four” is bound to fail. Because it is insane.
Where it goes really bad, is when the Israelis, in their hybris, go for the ethnic cleansing anyway, fail, get a very harsh response from the neighbours, and blow up half of the planet.
You're wrong to assume Israeli fascists would not count any amount of Palestinians departing as a win. They would like all Palestinians to leave, but would settle for what they can get away with.
Re: Biden’s Auto Tariffs
Here’s a hypothetical, which I wonder if others have taken the time wrestle with openly: do cars built by a unionized workforce in a different country (e.g., Canada, Mexico, Japan, etc.) represent a bigger threat to the liberal project than cars built by nonunion labor in a right-to-work state in the USA? There is certainly an understandable amount of nationalism that runs through the rank-and-file UAW members, but being more internationally focused would seem to be in their interest, too.
Here is a letter from Shawn Fein, President of UAW, to Katherine Tai, USA trade ambassador, giving comment on the need for tariffs, while giving perspective on previous attempts to increase workers rights in Mexico: https://downloads.regulations.gov/USTR-2023-0013-0013/attachment_1.pdf.
Workers in a right-to-work state in the U.S. pay U.S. income taxes, raise healthier, happier children, are more likely to vote, and are included in our national bond of mutual care and reliance on one another. Obviously when jobs migrate outside our borders it is a larger loss. But tariffs are not one-sided. They are merely the opening shot in a trade war, that is at least somewhat likely to transform one day into violence.
You don't need a subscription to read Kristof's broadside on Biden yesterday in NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/24/opinion/biden-gaza-ukraine-war.html?unlocked_article_code=1.uk0.RBxe.YzATp_vMUAwr&smid=url-share
Chris Cameron at the NYT reports that "Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running for president as an Independent, denounced Trump’s conviction in a live broadcast on social media, saying that “it’s bad for our country and bad for our democracy.” https://www.youtube.com/live/T4WgAaktgD4?si=79gykiQ2wGnkkoFf The full quote is "My belief is that it will help President Trump among a large part of the American public who believes that the judicial system and the enforcement system have been weaponized politically and that that's bad for our country". Shame on you NYT!
I heard an interview today (5/25) on CNN of a representative of "Arabs for Trump." Supposedly his reps told Arabs in Michigan he's going to do wonderful things for them, although other Arabs have said no specific policies were named. Are Arabs really going to fall for his B.S.? Even if they simply stay home in November it won't help Biden. Maybe Her can mediate peace in the Middle East?!
If I was running Biden's campaign I'd start handing out leaflets reminding American Muslims of the Trump travel ban (Executive Order 13769). I can't imagine it not having some effect.
John Mearsheimer recently said, that the Israelis have put themselves in a situation, were they basically have four options: the one-state solution, the two-state solution - neither of which are going to happen, apartheid - which hasn’t worked great so far, and ethnic cleansing - which doesn’t seem to be going great either. So it’s back to apartheid, and, in a few years, another explosion of violence. Et cetera.
That seems like a pretty accurate description.
On the ethnic cleansing part, I don’t see how the Israelis are ever going to make that work, in the real world. They have killed and killed and killed, and the Palestinians are still there. Voluntary departure? Move the people out? It’s a fascist fantasy. How is Trump, or anyone, in practice, going to make millions of Palestinians disappear? Except in a spray of bodyparts?
I mean, they can try. But can they do it without starting WW3?
Unfortunately, it may be that all that stands between the current state and large scale migration across the Gaza-Egypt border is for the border with Egypt to be breached and the Egyptian border patrol to be swamped. The fascists in the Israeli government are drooling over this for a reason. It can happen any day.
I know. The brutality is hard to comprehend.
But, some will stay, and fight. That might be a few hundred thousand people, that the IDF then has to murder.
I worry how the world will respond to that. Hezbollah, Iran, Russia, Trump?
It would be extremely bad.
It's hard for me to imagine that the IDF is going to target civilians on purpose. That is very unlikely, in my mind. I would imagine that an order for the IDF to target civilians is going to immediately spark a civil war in Israel. The IDF will fracture on the spot.
Could be. Any way you look at it, “option four” is bound to fail. Because it is insane.
Where it goes really bad, is when the Israelis, in their hybris, go for the ethnic cleansing anyway, fail, get a very harsh response from the neighbours, and blow up half of the planet.
You're wrong to assume Israeli fascists would not count any amount of Palestinians departing as a win. They would like all Palestinians to leave, but would settle for what they can get away with.
I’m sure they will. But that too, would not go unpunished. Again, very bad.
I sincerely hope that Bob is right. That Washington would, and could, stop an all out ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
Let’s hope that we don’t have to find out.
"Gazans who left oceanfront property" No oceanfront on the Mediterranean sea, just waterfront.
Awesome post today. Very informative!