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A nor’easter came through our area today, so I thought I’d post a rain cartoon of mine from The New Yorker.
The news is busting with stories about the release of all the Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian detainees and prisoners.
This is such wonderful news.
Trump is in Egypt for discussions on the future of Gaza. He met with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whom Trump credited for helping with the releases. Sisi in turn met with presidents of France and Turkey, and Qatar’s emir and others to help coordinate the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire. I hope the war is over. I have lived many years watching many a Middle East peace deal on the news; I will believe it when I see it. Trump is using this event as a platform to make pronouncements about the “end of the war,” as he also takes the time to publicly belittle and berate his predicessors President Biden and President Obama.
Trump declared peace had arrived; Bibi never did. From the NY Times: Bibi refused…
“…to discuss whether Israel would resume hostilities if Hamas does not disarm or leave the territory. Hamas never agreed to that part of Mr. Trump’s 20-point plan, and its militias were already moving into neighborhoods from which Israel had withdrawn in recent days.” It goes on, “Except for brief references, Mr. Trump did not talk about what it would take to rebuild Gaza, or the future of the Palestinian people, or the trade-offs between creating a Palestinian state and its alternatives.
It’s frankly difficult to understand how the release of the hostages and prisoners happened; I wonder what kind of deals were made behind closed doors. There are always deals, I understand that. But I don’t trust Trump to have democracy in mind, I think he only operates with the mind of a real estate dealer, and what will benefit him and his family most. I saw this post below from CNN’s Erin Burnett earlier today on social media, from two days ago:
I don’t like to be pessimistic, but I am suspicious of Trump and his tendancy to throw together media opportunities with pronouncements, which this sort of seems like it is. This administration does not operate from a place of morality.
To reiterate: the release of Israelies and Palestinians held in captivity is so wonderful.
Another video that I find illuminating, and ultimately optimistic. From Jamelle Bouie of the NY times. At the end, Bouie says, “You can’t turn off tolerance, you can’t turn off a desire for a better world.”
Everything that Trump has done in his time in office, and as a real-estate developer in NYC and as a reality show host, has never been about a desire for a better world. It was for a desire for more money and status. That’s why any expressed desire from him for peace seems disingenous and makes one wonder what is behind it.
Perhaps the world I have known my whole adult life is changing in terms of how countries interact. I know it’s always been about economics, that cannot be ignored; but my world view has assumed—perhaps naively— that diplomacy was about caring for people. Yes, hostages were released, and if nothing else happens, it was worth it. But we have yet to see what will happen with Palestinians and Gaza.
I always believed that diplomacy was about humanity, what we all have in common and how we can make more lives better for more people. With Trump at the helm of the US right now (and arguably because we are such a wealthy country, at the helm of the world), this humanitarian motivation seems less. Or at least under Trump’s tenure, it is openly okay to admit diplomacy is about money. He has given so many the permission to say and do things once thought unthinkable.
Still no Epstein files. The government is still shut down, Speaker Johnson refuses to bring Congress back in session. Layoffs are happening. It’s a stalemate. Vance said more layoffs will happen the longer this goes. Neither side is budging.
Finally, a cat drawing for you.
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Thanks for being here! You guys are the best, see you tomorrow.