Israel-Hamas war: What happened during the October 7 attack? [Part 4/8]

"Hamas used an unprecedented intelligence tactic to mislead Israel over the last months, by giving a public impression that it was not willing to go into a fight or confrontation with Israel while preparing for this massive operation," the source said." Were the rapes planned and ordered or did the Arabs just do what they do?

How Israel Was Duped as Hamas Planned Devastating Assault  (Reuters) - A careful campaign of deception ensured Israel was caught off guard when the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched its devastating attack, enabling a force using bulldozers, hang gliders and motorbikes to take on the Middle East's most powerful army.

"Saturday's assault, the worst breach in Israel's defences since Arab armies waged war in 1973, followed two years of subterfuge by Hamas that involved keeping its military plans under wraps and convincing Israel it did not want a fight.

"While Israel was led to believe it was containing a war-weary Hamas by providing economic incentives to Gazan workers, the group's fighters were being trained and drilled, often in plain sight, a source close to Hamas said" . . .

And, as Douglas Murray put it, "They did it with glee".

Opinion: Israel could defeat Hamas in Gaza more quickly if the US didn’t hold it back, this military expert says | CNN

Spencer tells CNN Opinion that he sees a military with the capability to rapidly eviscerate Hamas’ army being held back by the international community. He feels that the US bears some of the responsibility for the devastation in Gaza because of how it’s slowed down and limited Israel’s ability to win the war. It’s a restraint that he says the US hasn’t imposed on its own military campaigns, and it has the effect of increasing Palestinian casualties and suffering by dragging out the fighting.

"If Hamas survives in Rafah, they win. It doesn’t matter if they’ve been pushed into the smallest corner of Gaza. If the Hamas leadership survives, they’ve won the war, because they can say they attacked Israel and survived, and then they can rebuild, continue to fight off any other future governing force that would come in to Gaza and launch future attacks against Israel. Iran and its proxies would also have validated their strategy to attack Israel, weaken Israel’s position with its allies and then repeat." . . .

Spencer: Because the world said to Israel at the beginning of the ground invasion, that what you’re doing, I don’t care if it’s legal or not, cannot continue. You got to find another way. The United States with its influence said, look, I know what you’re doing is achieving results, but you have to find a different way.

So the IDF shifted their tactics, they reduced the number of forces, they reduced the number of strikes on military targets, and they went more methodically and slowed down. They did more tactical pauses, they avoided more areas if they had any civilian population in them, and it became a very house-to-house, block-by-block, tunnel-by-tunnel fight, which has prolonged the war.

That has increased the humanitarian suffering and the strain on humanitarian supplies in Gaza. It has increased the duration of the violence and the continued existence of Hamas. So we are at fault for some of the destruction in Gaza because of that. We own some of the responsibility."

DOUGLAS MURRAY describes the horrors and heroes he found in Israel right after the October 7th Hamas massacre   "After receiving the Alexander Hamilton Award for his ‘unwavering defense of Western values.’ Murray talks about being in Israel after October 7th and witnessing what Israel has been up against: a cult of death, a cult that wishes to annihilate an entire race, and which, after dealing with that race, has made very clear what it wants to do with Christians, and everyone in Britain, everyone in America, and everyone else next. They don’t hide it at all. We are merely stupid in not believing them. "

US Administration Abandons Israel, Empowers Enemies :: Gatestone Institute

• Worse, abandoning Israel sends a troubling message to U.S. allies worldwide: in times of crisis, do not rely on American support.

• The Biden administration has eroded trust and damaged U.S. credibility on the global stage even further than it already had done after surrendering Afghanistan and allowing China to kill more than a million Americans with Covid-19, or poisoning to death more than 80,000 Americans each year with fentanyl, or permitting China to commit massive espionage and intellectual property theft with no consequences at all.

• Biden's decision has projected an image of weakness rather than leadership, further tarnishing America's reputation as a steadfast defender of the free world. Instead, the Biden administration is seen globally as siding with terrorists -- the Taliban in Afghanistan, the terror-funding Qataris, the genocidal Communist government of China, and the annual winner of the world's top, largest, leading "state sponsor of terrorism," Iran.

• Such a milestone shift in U.S. foreign policy displays a concerning departure from longstanding principles of backing the Free World. Overall, the development is deeply detrimental to U.S. interests. It threatens the stability of international relations, and for the perception of America's role as a leading global power, it is nothing short of devastating.

Is the Pope Catholic? A joke question becomes a serious one *UPDATED*

  Andrea Widburg - American Thinker

Marxism corrupts everything it touches. Pope Francis reflects that fact and he’s exposing the rot with his statements and sophistry on 60 Minutes. Once, the Catholic church stood for something unique, intangible, and permanent. Under Pope Francis’s aegis, it's beginning to stand for nothing at all. 

"Pope Francis represents the Catholic Church, its doctrine, and its storied almost two-thousand-year history. However, Pope Francis has consistently derided Catholic teachings on climate change and sexuality. In both cases, he speaks like a social Marxist, not the head of the Catholic Church—and he’s apparently at it again with his upcoming interview on 60 Minutes.

"The Church’s strength, always, has been two-fold: Its fealty to its core religious doctrines and the glacial slowness with which it changes. Its teachings are meant to be primary and eternal, rather than to move with the fads of the moment. Changing those teachings is an enormously consequential act because each change raises doubts about the church’s prior infallibility. You’re not a spiritual or cultural bulwark if you change policies according to the polls and the whims of the crowd.

"However, there’s long been a movement within the church itself to force a fundamental change upon it. That movement is “Liberation Theology,” which tacks Marxism onto Catholicism. Liberation Theology was profoundly influential in Latin America beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, just when Pope Francis was coming of age religiously in Argentina.

"Reading how leftist Wikipedia describes the doctrine will help you understand that it’s the fulfillment of Marxism, as you can see through the terms I emphasized (hyperlinks and footnotes omitted):" . . .

. . ."Pope Francis represents the culmination of both these trends—economic and social Marxism. He’s also tossed in Gaia worship—the antithesis of Biblical monotheism—via the vehicle of climate change madness.

"You can see all this in his tirades against the free market, against the imaginary horror of climate change and, above all, in his constant efforts to normalize homosexuality and transgenderism, both of which fly in the face of the church’s support for the Bible’s narrative about God’s creation of man and woman...and only man and woman. (And isn't baptizing someone as the opposite of their biological sex a lie before God?) There is also the little problem of the myriad Biblical strictures against homosexuality." . . .

Bill Maher's New Message To Anti-Israel Students

J-TV: Jewish Ideas. Global Relevance.(youtube.com) 

Israel Prime Minister Golda Meir has said: if the Arabs will put down their weapon there will be peace. If Israel will put down their weapons there will be no more Israel.

Anti-Israel Students' Can’t Answer BASIC Questions About The Conflict

Buried facts about the Gaza war; Connect the dots: It’s America and Iran against Israel

  Melanie Phillips (substack.com) 

"Biden’s betrayal of Israel is widely attributed to his need to buy off the hard-left in the Democratic Party. But his administration was rotten from the start, widely seeded with Obama-retread officials who are viscerally hostile to Israel and some of whom even have histories of supporting Palestinian terrorist groups."

Below: Israeli comedians make a mockery out of the embarrassingly ignorant Hamas terrorist supporters at colleges around the United States.

The extent to which the political class and media are burying facts that undermine their poisonous narrative to defame and undermine Israel’s war of survival has become simply jaw-dropping. 

"The Biden administration has gone to great lengths to appease the genocidal and terrorist Iranian regime. The US has funnelled billions into Tehran’s coffers through sanctions relief. It has refused to respond effectively to repeated Iranian-backed attacks on US interests. And it is doing everything it can to prevent Israel from taking action that would damage America’s relationship with the Iranian regime — including the destruction of Hamas, a vital force in Tehran’s proxy army against Israel and the west. 

"The American appeasement of Iran has left many people mystified. They should have been paying more attention.

"Twelve days before the October 7 pogrom, Jay Solomon reported on the Semafor site that Ariane Tabatabai, chief of staff to the Assistant Secretary of Defence for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict, was part of an “Iran Experts Initiative” created by senior Iranian foreign ministry officials to bolster Tehran’s position on global security issues, particularly its nuclear programme. 

"In other words, Tabatabai was an agent of influence for Iran, at the heart of the US government and with the highest level of security clearance.

"Semafor and the Iranian opposition group Iran International had obtained a large cache of Iranian government correspondence and emails. These revealed that in 2021 Robert Malley, who was the point man on Iran under both the Obama and Biden administrations until he was removed in June 2023 following a still unexplained “mishandling of classified materials,” had infiltrated Tabatabai into the US State Department to assist him in his negotiations with Iran. "

The debate: "I smell a rat"

  Pete Colan - American Thinker

spitting image tv

"Joe Biden suddenly anxious to debate Donald J. Trump seemingly out of the clear blue doesn’t smell right. His Fraudulency (H/T John Nolte) can’t put two sentences together much less navigate an intelligent debate with a seven-year old.

"Clearly we know ol’ Joe didn’t call for this. He’s happy sitting in his basement or on the beach, eating ice cream and falling off his bike at every opportunity. We all know he doesn’t want this. Who set him up and why?

"I preface the following suggestions on the fact that the Left has already demonstrated how elaborately sinister they can be with the election theft of 2020, the staging of January 6 with pipe bombs as “plan B,” and the endless lawfare attempts to incarcerate the former (and hopefully future) President with made-up crimes they’re not even attempting to hide anymore behind a veil of legitimacy. No conspiracy theory is off the table any more, therefore we must all proceed ever so cautiously. We cannot assume everything is as it seems.

"One theory is that, failing the first debate miserably and in front of the public, offering a Full Monty view of how badly he would lead the country during the next four years gives the Democrats reason to replace him before or during the convention, not only with the consent of Biden’s former adoring followers but instead with their insistence.

"Another theory is the (il)legal warfare being played against Donald Trump might just time itself ever so fortuitously so that he won’t be able to make it to the debate(s). In fact, he might just be in jail or somehow otherwise confined. Darn the luck, right? This would save Biden from the embarrassment of actually debating Pres. Trump while at the same time proclaiming his heroism by putting up the challenge in the first place, and if Trump weren’t such a criminal, he’d be free to come to the venue, but instead, lookie here at Trump in the jump suit." . . .

Nearly 100 Retired General Officers Urge America to Maintain Support for Israel

  HotAir

"It's big news when a single General takes a shot at a Republican, but I haven't seen massive coverage of this letter that features scores of top-level military leaders challenging Biden's drift away from supporting Israel." 

"It's not quite a rebuke of President Biden--most former General Officers try to refrain from attacking the Commander in Chief--but these former high-ranking military officers are clearly pushing back from the administration's pulling back from supporting Israel. 

How high ranking? How about the former Commander of the US Central Command? Or the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe? Or Commander of the US Strategic Command? 

Actually, forget it. Just think commanders and deputy commanders of just about every military branch and unit of note we have in every theater around the world. They all urge that America remain steadfast in its support for Israel and its war effort against Hamas. 

They make a moral case, of course, but the primary focus of their argument is that Israel is a vital strategic partner in military, intelligence, economic, and technological domains. 

Since it is an open letter I can quote it in full:

Given our experience as retired American military leaders, we are very concerned about the security impacts of increasingly strained U.S.-Israel ties as Israel becomes a growing source of domestic division. We therefore feel compelled to declare that a strong Israel is vital to the United States national security, and it is imperative that America unequivocally stand by this indispensable ally.

Amid surging antisemitism in America and the world, following the largest one-day loss of innocent Jewish life since the Holocaust, U.S. support for the only Jewish state should be clear, unwavering, and not conditioned. The benefits of this partnership for the American people and this important region are many, and too valuable, to forsake.

 Full article here.

Biden Fundraises Off Lawfare Circus After Taunting Trump For Being Stuck In Court

 Biden Fundraises Off The 'Get Trump' Lawfare Circus (thefederalist.com)

"As my colleague Eddie Scarry aptly noted, Biden’s remarks were yet another “inadvertent admission that Democrats and Biden’s Justice Department are hoping to liquidate their opponents through endless prosecution."

"President Joe Biden taunted former President Donald Trump on Wednesday for being confined to a Manhattan courtroom while fighting a lawfare campaign being led, in part, by a former Biden Department of Justice official. But the incumbent took his indifference to the weaponization of law a step further: he is now fundraising off the lawfare circus.

Biden released a 14-second clip on Wednesday in which he finally agreed to debate Trump — after dodging the possibility for months. Biden closed out his highly-edited video by mocking Trump’s limited availability to — simply put — be a presidential candidate.

“ 'So let’s pick the dates, Donald,” Biden said. “I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.”

"Biden’s campaign doubled down by releasing a $32 T-shirt that says “Free On Wednesdays.”

"Biden’s mocking remarks are a reference to the Democrat campaign strategy of weaponizing lawfare against Trump, as Biden trails in the polls. As Democrats hold out hope the lawfare circus will boost Biden’s popularity, they’ve expressed shock that Trump is “still ahead of Biden in recent polls” and wondered why the lawfare campaigns are “not hurting” Trump. A newly released New York Times/Siena College poll finds despite Democrats’ best efforts, Trump leads Biden overall in five key swing states among registered and likely voters." . . .

The current President is in no way superior to the ignorant mobs with their Hamas scarfs, their pre-printed signs, and their mindless chants. TD

How Donald Trump can use the debates to put Joe Biden away (nypost.com)

I don’t know why Trump even agreed to show up. He has zero to gain. Why did he agree to Joe’s terms? The Trump hating moderators will feed Joe the questions ahead of time. The sound studio will cut Trump’s mic whenever he starts saying something they don’t want him to. Joe will be fitted with an earpiece. No audience to boo Joe so they’ll pretend he was a success. Joe has A LOT to gain. Especially when everything is on his terms. Why Trump agrees after he said no to the other presidential nominees debates is a big mistake. He’ll likely lose his temper at one point and that is very off putting to the female viewers he is trying to win over. I would have said yes only if it’s not in a sound tv stage with mics they control, by different moderators including a Republican one and outdoors in front of a live audience. Otherwise no no no no no. Only a fool thinks he can outsmart the snake. Joe’s handlers are so desperate for a debate to improve his ratings that they would have likely caved on some of the terms. But Trump didn’t even negotiate. Scary he was so quick without thinking through his own strategy. Is that how he makes decisions in life? Question from Reader.

Just When You Think the Trump Trial Couldn't Get More Corrupt, This Guy Shows Up

 – PJ Media  . . ."Remember the guy who worked for House Democrats to prosecute the first Trump impeachment? The case in which President Trump "made a perfect phone call" to the Ukrainian president to find out Joe and Hunter Biden were shaking down oligarchs and changing U.S. policy to fire the prosecutor investigating their shady dealings? The one where he said he'd temporarily stall Ukrainian help he'd been providing if they didn't look into this shady behavior? 

"Remember the guy who, as a federal prosecutor in New York, sat at the right hand of the most anti-Trump, anti-GOP U.S. Attorney on the planet, Preet Bharara? 

"The same guy who served as Adam Schiff's counsel at the House Intel Committee and lied, and lied, and lied about Russia! Russia! Russia! Do you recall that guy? 

"Do you remember the Nepo Baby who's heir to the Levis fortune? 

"Yeah, that guy's in Congress now. And you'll be interested to know that Dan Goldman paid Trump trial Judge Juan Merchan's daughter's firm to help him get elected. I didn't realize that one of the world's most populous cities was so small. 

"This week, we found out that Goldman has been bragging about "prepping" former Trump attorney Michael Cohen "a number of times to prepare him" for his various legal proceedings before the House Intelligence Committee. That was Schiff's committee to Get Trump and frame the president as a Russian secret agent. For years, they kept up this sham to undermine support for the president even when they knew it was a lie." . . .

Cohen admitted to lying on the witness stand multiple times. The judge’s daughter works for a firm raising money off these lies. These Biden trials won’t work. pic.twitter.com/JFFRq07xXA

— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) May 16, 2024 . . .

Rep Harriet Hageman Outlines Rep Dan Goldman Connection to The New York City Trial Against Candidate Donald Trump -  "Representative Harriet Hageman used the opportunity of the House Weaponization Committee hearing, on the Lawfare trial of Donald Trump in New York, to outline Rep. Dan Goldman’s (D-NY) conflict of interest.

"Goldman has hired Judge Merchan’s daughter – a clear conflict of interest. Additionally, Goldman has admitted to coaching Trump witness Michael Cohen prior to his testimony. Harriet Hageman outlined the details of the issue, while Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) claimed an immediate point of order in order to hide the information. WATCH:" 

CNN Throws in the Towel on NY Trump Case – HotAir   . . ."Only George Conway and the hosts at MSNBC still believe that Donald Trump is guilty. Perhaps even they don't believe it, although they would never admit it. 

"Anderson Cooper is no fan of Donald Trump. That is being kind. He hates Trump with the burning heat of the sun. But Cooper got on TV to say that Michael Cohen is clearly making it up as he is going along, and clearly so. He can't keep his story straight. 

"Cohen is getting trashed on the network. George Conway, Kellyanne's former husband and Trump hater, still thinks Cohen is a stand-up guy who would never lie on the stand about Trump, even though he lied to courts, congress, his attorney, and everybody else in the world, was willing to beclown himself." . . . 

New York Builds Separate Massive Courthouse Just For Prosecuting Trump | Babylon Bee Parody  "With his case against Trump beginning to crumble, DA Alvin Bragg has announced several dozen new cases against the former President, and a brand-new courthouse completely dedicated to prosecuting Trump.

"Sources confirmed the new 30-story facility in midtown Manhattan will house an army of lawyers dedicated to only bringing new cases against Trump around the clock, 7 days a week." . . .

Below: Stunned Anderson Cooper Cuts To Commercial When Trump Accuser E. Jean Carroll Calls Rape "Sexy"

The mean (and crazy) girls of the left

 John Dale Dunn - American Thinker

"One of the things we’ve seen in videos of the anti-Israel protests is a parade of young, white women with jihadi wraps on their heads, screaming and chanting for the cause of Hamas, a Muslim terrorist sect that proudly tortures, rapes, and kills women just like them.

"Looking at these images, Heather MacDonald recently wrote an essay for City Journal, in which she asks the question that is on our minds: Why are all these plump, unhappy white girls protesting for Hamas and against Israel? Ms. MacDonald offers:

One possible reason is that women constitute majorities of both student bodies and the metastasizing student-services bureaucracies that cater to them. Another is the sex skew in majors.

[snip]

In progressive movements, the default assumption now may be to elevate females ahead of males as leaders and spokesmen. But most important, the victim ideology that drives much of academia today, with its explicit enmity to objectivity and reason as white male constructs, has a female character.

"The female influence has increased inside and outside of the academy. The left is dominated by a grievance narrative founded on the idea that women are oppressed and that it’s up to the government to keep them safe. Indeed, the women involved have no tolerance at all for risk and no ability to analyze risk, which is an immature approach to life. They are instinctively censorious and intolerant of anyone who would disagree, especially when the disagreement is grounded in the Bible. (Witness the uproar about Harrison Butker’s impressive speech, which is grounded in core Catholic principles.)

"MacDonald points out that the women’s craziness has a firm basis in ignorance:

The protesters’ demands for LGBTQ justice extend only to docile Western powers. They give their Middle Eastern idols’ overt homophobia a free pass—if they even know about it.

"Thus, these women ignore that they are supporting an ideology that produced 1,400 years of violent conquest and terrorism that impacted women disproportionately because of Muslim sexual habits and misogyny. The result is soft white women cheering for the barbarians who would rape and torture them with exaltation and kill them without a scruple, while hollering Allahu Akbar.

"The protests provide a canvas for all sorts of apparent personality disorders, everything from narcissists to dependents to borderlines to histrionics. These gals are the spoiled products of bad parenting and a morally corrupt culture. Once sees no signs of maturity, temperance,  or virtue. It’s just a big tantrum." . . .

The ladies of the view

 

Image courtesy of Vicki.

This article is published as is, with no corrections. TD

All of these women are horrible   "I love to watch the view because its so unintentionally funny but I only now realized that people watch this s**t not out of a voyeuristic curiosity about what insane things these women are coming up with today, but people actually care about what these people have to say??"

1. Sarah is neurotic and insecure and has no real personality beyond that and it is uncomfortable to watch everyone at the table just wait until she finished her *insert bland, inoffensive, vague, stating the obvious* "opinion" and then move on to the real discussion. it is mean to have her on the show

2. Ana Navarro and her wannabe sassy mom-humor is so incredibly insufferable it makes me physically ill whenever she tries and fails to make a joke. why on earth would they hire her, she's just a rich neocon (with a literal fascist father) who doesn't like trump, her persepective has no value at all as it doesn't represent anyone but herself alone.

3. Alyssa Who? Ok whatever who cares she's not gonna be on the show for long. it is funny though that they wanna have a table that represents america and the best they can come up with is not a staunch conservative supporter of donald trump but an opportunistic ex employee who is politically illiterate.

4. joy behar. i know that there are people that think Joy is "the far left" or whatever but Joy is also just a boiler plate liberal at the end of the day. Also she's completely insane, but i respect that about her. Kind of glad for her that she found a steady job for the past 20 years after her comedy career never really took off. but is there really value in her repeating the same 3 lines everyday regardless of what is happening? like ok we know you don't like repubs we know you think trump is crazy but who watches this and thinks "yeah, thats some highly intellectually stimulating discourse"???

5. Whoopi. I love whoopi as a persona, even though she must be clearly one of the most difficult people that have ever lived. Whoopi makes no sense whatsoever, her politics are all over the place as is her syntax. Most of the time its just repetitive, unintelligible gibberish but thats ok because its everybodys grandma Whoopi. Also it is very obvious that she hates being there and only does it for the money. She wanted to continue her hollywood career as an actress and artist, but somehow ended up on the view and stayed because its very comfortable financially.

6. sunny ist the biggest hypocrite that american tv has ever seen. she's a total party soldier for the democrats, she does the propaganda for the democratic establishment. She's all in for the most bland identity politics and is completely intellectually dishonest. kind of a shame because she was supposed to bring some smarts to this show.

"There are million of brilliant women out there, of all different backgrounds and ideologies, and none of them are on the view. just five intellectually mediocre millionaires who know nothing about life in america. i feel bad for the state of our nation when this is "the most important political talkshow in the country".

How About a Cheap Used Car? It's Only Two Years Old, but There's a Catch...

 Stephen Green – PJ Media

  "But almost immediately, there were problems. After getting a temporary title, he found the car wasn’t reading voltage correctly. Soon, a body shop found a quarter-size hole in the undercarriage he hadn’t seen before, which led to revelations of deeper issues inside. “The high-voltage battery pack is damaged and could cause extreme safety concerns,” a Tesla technician texted him. Because the hole was “exterior damage,” it wasn’t covered by the warranty, which meant a $13,078.58 repair bill."

"Hertz is unloading 30,000 used cars on the market. The mileage might not be the lowest, but they're all 2022 or newer and lovingly maintained by the company's team of professional mechanics. While most used-car prices remain sky-high, the prices on these gently used babies is shockingly low.

"There's just one catch: they're all Teslas.

"Hertz, you might have read, came out of bankruptcy a couple of years ago and placed a big bet on electric vehicles. The rental firm had originally planned to buy no fewer than 100,000 EVs for their fleet but ended up with quite a bit fewer at 30,000 — almost all of them Teslas.

"Now Hertz is selling them all for the simple reason that people didn't want to rent them. The company bought those Teslas when prices were high, and now they have to sell them at fire sale prices in a market already saturated with new EVs selling at lower prices and bigger discounts than ever.

"What an ignominious way to emerge from bankruptcy, right?" . . .

Biden’s $7.5 Billion EV Charger Plan Backfires Spectacularly – Issues & Insights  "At a Rose Garden event this week, President Joe Biden bragged that “Thanks to my Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re building a network of 500,000 charging stations all across America.”

"This is about as believable as the story of his uncle’s cannibalistic demise.

"The truth is that Biden’s five-year, $7.5 billion effort to jump-start the development of electric vehicle charging stations is doing the opposite. The money has so far produced only eight new charging stations in two years. The overall growth rate in EV charging stations has slowed since he signed that bill. And earlier this month, Tesla gutted its EV charger efforts, dealing the entire scheme a huge blow.

"In other words, this is shaping up to be a massive waste of taxpayer money.

"The slow rollout of the Biden-approved EV stations is in part due to cumbersome rules and regulations required to access the money. That’s no surprise.

"But it’s actually having a broader negative impact, slowing the growth of EV stations overall." . . .  

Monasteries of the Mind - Victor Davis Hanson

  VDH’s Blade of Perseus (victorhanson.com)

"Its metaphor is California’s Oroville dam: Aging greens believe that it never should have been built; but since it was, it came in handy for the good life; but no one should spend any money on its repair; but when it nearly fails, we were all warned that it was never a good idea. And so no more dams will be built for our children."

. . ."There is now something called the “Resistance,” which by its nomenclature poses that its opposition to Trump is reminiscent of European partisan resistance to Hitler: Affluent progressives are now on the barricades to stop another Holocaust? Cities now nullify federal law in the spirit of the Old Confederacy. A federal judge doesn’t enforce federal law because he says he does not like what the president and his associates said in the past, during the campaign. Op-ed writers overseas wait eagerly for the president’s assassination. At CNN, Fareed Zakaria, wrist-slapped for past plagiarism, melts down while screaming of Trump’s “bullsh**.” Madonna says she has “thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House.” All the insanity reminds one of the old Kingston Trio ballad: . . .

"Bad filibusters are now good ones. Vowing to kill, hurt, or remove the president and first family is hip, when it used to be felonious. States’ rights and nullification are now Confederate-cool. Free speech is hate speech. Censorship is a mere trigger warning. Assimilation is cultural appropriation. The nasal voiced thirtysomethings on the news, in their retro outfits of high-water pants and horn-rimmed glasses, impart worldly wisdom as our new Eric Sevareids.

"When we all wish to be victims, there are too few oppressors to go around. Or perhaps the Boomer generation is going out in a fit of frenzied self-recognition: It enjoyed all that was given to it, did not accomplish much itself, and left a mess to its successors. Its metaphor is California’s Oroville dam: . . .

"Hardly. The new monastics were already watching less and less of the National Football League before the televised tantrums of Colin Kaepernick. After his multimillionaire stunts seemed to catch on with other players, many viewers quit entirely. The appeasement of his crudity by Kaepernick’s multimillionaire bosses and teammates might explain why NFL audiences (and revenues) are down.

"In this age of pan-politicization, sports, like everything else, is not exempt from wealthy elites’ guilt-ridden obsessions with race, class, and gender agendas — as a $20-million-per-annum, mediocre, and pampered quarterback refuses to stand for the National Anthem, or as Beyoncé does last year’s Super Bowl half-time show as an amateurish paean to Black Lives Matter and the old Black Panthers.

"It’s become more painful to watch TV sports analysts than the gladiatorial hits of the game itself: Aging veterans seek to recapture their cool by passing themselves off as political pundits who contextualize interceptions and fumbles in terms of abstract politics.. They’re oblivious that, in the court of identity politics, the NFL is itself found culpable: According to the logic of “disparate impact” and proportional representation, about 12 percent of the population is “overrepresented” through its nearly 70 percent membership on NFL teams." . . .