All posts tagged: debates

‘I think things are going to be bad, really bad’: the US military debates possible deployment on US soil under Trump

‘I think things are going to be bad, really bad’: the US military debates possible deployment on US soil under Trump

Published by Sam

he last time an American president deployed the U.S. military domestically under the Insurrection Act — during the deadly Los Angeles riots in 1992 — Douglas Ollivant was there. Ollivant, then a young Army first lieutenant, says things went fairly smoothly because it was somebody else — the cops — doing the head-cracking to restore order, not his 7th Infantry Division. He and his troops didn’t have to detain or shoot at anyone. “There was real sensitivity about keeping federal troops away from the front lines,” said Ollivant, who was ordered in by President George H.W. Bush as rioters in central-south LA set fire to buildings, assaulted police and bystanders, pelted cars with rocks and smashed store windows in the aftermath of the videotaped police beating of Rodney King, a Black motorist. “They tried to keep us in support roles, backing up the police.” By the end of six days of rioting, 63 people were dead and 2,383 injured — though reportedly none at the hands of the military. But some in the U.S. military …

Campuses are ground zero in debates about antisemitism − but that’s been true for 100 years

Campuses are ground zero in debates about antisemitism − but that’s been true for 100 years

Published by skeptic

(The Conversation) — When Eliza arrived on her West Coast college campus in the fall of 2020, building community was difficult due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic. Yet over time she forged a network of friends, anchored by her sorority. Three years later, those relationships were severely tested by events over 7,000 miles away: the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack in Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza. Due to her support for Israel, she was ostracized by people she once considered close friends, including her sorority sisters. Walking around campus, she removed her Star of David necklace. To be clear, Eliza was not concerned about her physical safety. But she sensed a social penalty for being Jewish and wanted to avoid dirty looks and political confrontations. As the civilian death toll in Gaza mounted, progressive campus activists, including some Jews, fervently adopted the Palestinian cause as an extension of their battles for racial and social justice. Opposition to the war has become a generational cause for earnest Zoomers, akin to the Vietnam War for …

Trump’s Old News | Fintan O’Toole

Trump’s Old News | Fintan O’Toole

Published by skeptic

In one seventeenth-century panoramic drawing of London, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre is mistakenly labeled “Beere-bayting.” The mistake is understandable—the arena in which live animals were tormented was cheek-by-jowl with the one in which epic history plays were staged. A few centuries from now, those looking back on the TV debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris may well slip into the same confusion. This was a consequential episode in a drama of historic import. But it felt a lot more like a bear-baiting display. Trump was the arthritic old beast, tethered to his lectern, repeatedly goaded by Harris into striking out at thin air. Objectively, the debate was rather desultory. With so much hanging in the balance, for the United States and the world, it does not seem naive to hope for something a little more elevated. Climate change got a token acknowledgment right before the closing statements, with each candidate offered (literally) a minute on the subject. Discussion of America’s place in the world after the failures of the “forever wars” never rose beyond a …

Humanist priorities raised in King’s Speech debates

Humanist priorities raised in King’s Speech debates

Published by skeptic

Over the past week MPs and Lords have been debating the proposals in the King’s speech and many have raised a range of key humanist issues. Yesterday, in a debate on modernising the House of Commons, All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group (APPHG) member Ellie Chowns MP raised the issue of parliamentary prayers and how those members who do not wish to attend Anglican prayers due to their own personal beliefs were left at a democratic disadvantage as the current Commons chamber is only able to seat 427 out of 650 MPs. The MP told the Commons that this leads to, ‘some frankly rather ridiculous behaviour’, with members, ‘queuing up at the opening of the Chamber to place a prayer card and book a seat.’ The UK Parliament is currently the only national legislature that does this. It’s time this outdated practice changed. Meanwhile in a debate on the Constitution in the Lords, peers raised the key issue of bishops in the Lords. Currently 26 Church of England bishops have the automatic right to sit, speak, and …

Editorial: This time, Trump-Biden debates need tight rules of civility

Editorial: This time, Trump-Biden debates need tight rules of civility

Published by skeptic

President Biden’s statement that he would be “happy” to debate Donald J. Trump means that voters will have at least one opportunity to see the two major-party candidates answer questions side by side. Aside from satisfying some viewers’ interest in whether the elderly candidates display mental lapses, debates offer an opportunity for voters to compare the candidates’ temperaments and glean differences on issues. This is especially useful for those who don’t follow presidential campaigns closely. That said, Biden could have declined to debate Trump on the legitimate grounds that his likely opponent is not a normal candidate but an unhinged former president who sought to overturn an election he lost — an outrageous campaign that culminated in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by his followers. In commenting on Trump’s absence from debates during the Republican primary campaign the editorial board wrote: “No one who has attempted to overturn the will of the voters deserves to be on a debate stage again.” But now that Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee — an …

At the US Supreme Court, debates over Trump’s immunity push back the prospect of a trial

At the US Supreme Court, debates over Trump’s immunity push back the prospect of a trial

Published by skeptic

Former US president Donald Trump and his lawyer, Todd Blanche, leaving Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, April 25, 2024. MARK PETERSON / VIA REUTERS The question seems fundamental but it has never been asked in these terms before the Supreme Court. Should a US president enjoy special protection, shielding him from future criminal prosecution for acts committed while in office? On Thursday, April 25, the nine justices of the country’s highest court examined Donald Trump’s arguments in favor of total immunity in the exercise of his former duties. A bold aspiration, aimed at neutralizing the charges against him in the federal investigation into the multi-faceted coup attempt that occurred between his defeat by Joe Biden in November 2020 and the assault on the Capitol by his supporters on January 6, 2021. “We’re writing a rule for the ages,” warned Judge Neil Gorsuch, underlining the unprecedented nature of the ongoing debate, the gravity of which escapes no one, less than seven months before the US presidential election. Two lines of reasoning emerged from the judges’ …

Thousands rally in Georgia as parliament debates ‘foreign influence’ law

Thousands rally in Georgia as parliament debates ‘foreign influence’ law

Published by skeptic

Tbilisi, Georgia —  Georgian lawmakers on Tuesday agreed on an early draft of a controversial “foreign influence” bill, sparking fresh street protests against the legislation criticized for mirroring a repressive Russian law. The bill has sparked outrage in Georgia and concern in the West, with many arguing it undermines Georgia’s bid for European Union membership. Lawmakers voted 78 to 25 to move the draft bill on for further debate. Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who is at loggerheads with the ruling party, condemned the move as “against the will of the population.” It “is a direct provocation — a Russian strategy of destabilization,” she said. Thousands rallied in the evening outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, blocking traffic on the main thoroughfare of the Georgian capital, whistling, and shouting, “No to the Russian law!” Riot police cordoned off entrances to the legislature, and demonstrators briefly scuffled with them, attempting to push against the police line, an AFP journalist witnessed. Police used pepper spray against the crowds, and several protestors were detained. A water cannon was also …

Georgian riot police clear protesters as parliament debates ‘foreign influence’ bill

Georgian riot police clear protesters as parliament debates ‘foreign influence’ bill

Published by Sam

Riot police in Georgia began clearing demonstrators from around the ex-Soviet state’s parliament on Tuesday as lawmakers debated a bill on “foreign agents” that the opposition denounces as authoritarian.  Issued on: 16/04/2024 – 16:32Modified: 16/04/2024 – 22:09 2 min The bill would require organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as being agents of foreign influence. It is likely to pass in a parliament controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party and its allies. Opponents say the legislation will damage Georgia’s bid to join the European Union. More than 5,000 protesters had massed by parliament for a second day to denounce the bill, approved by a parliamentary committee on Monday. Thousands of people rallied against the law “On Foreign Agents” in Tbilisi According to Georgian media, the anthems of Georgia and the European Union were played at the protest. A march of cultural workers also joined the action. Activists and representatives of the opposition… pic.twitter.com/v9LCBZe8dA — NEXTA (@nexta_tv) April 16, 2024 Officers, some carrying shotguns, ordered protesters to disperse and …

News organizations urge Biden, Trump to commit to presidential debates

News organizations urge Biden, Trump to commit to presidential debates

Published by skeptic

New York —  Twelve news organizations on Sunday urged presumptive presidential nominees Joe Biden and Donald Trump to agree to debates, saying they were a “rich tradition” that have been part of every general election campaign since 1976. While Trump, who did not participate in debates for the Republican nomination, has indicated a willingness to take on his 2020 rival, the Democratic president has not committed to debating him again. Although invitations have not been formally issued, the news organizations said it was not too early for each campaign to say publicly that it will participate in the three presidential and one vice presidential forums set by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. “If there is one thing Americans can agree on during this polarized time, it is that the stakes of this election are exceptionally high,” the organizations said in a joint statement. “Amidst that backdrop, there is simply no substitute for the candidates debating with each other, and before the American people, their visions for the future of our nation.” ABC, CBS, CNN, …