The 2024 Election, Part XXV. The GOP yells "get off my lawn" edition.

 

The Harris/Trump debate took place last night.  I missed the first 45 or so minutes.

I don't know what happened in that time frame, but in the part I saw, watching Donald Trump was like watching a racoon on crack.

Even Fox News declared Harris the "clear" winner, while whining about ABC moderators fact checking "everything" Trump said. Given that Trump is a massive liar, the fact that they did fact check was a public service.

One newscaster, post debate, stated that it was like watching "an old man yelling at clouds", which apparently is a reference to an episode of the Simpsons.  Apparently Simpson meme's went wild after Trump repeated the J. D. Vance bizarre canard about immigrants stealing pets for food (completely untrue).  Trump specifically stated:

In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating – they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.

The claim was immediately debunked by moderator David Muir, but people were quick to pick up on it.

 

And even as the newscaster made the yelling at clouds comment (and also mocked "get off my law") the memes were flying.

A rational party, which the GOP no longer is, would sideline this candidate.  The problem now is, however, that as J. D. Vance went out on a limb and admitted he would have acted illegally in regard to the bogus election claims, he's unfit for office and there's nobody to go to.

Whether it really matters or not is another matter, but post debate Taylor Swift endorsed Harris.

Wyoming's Congressional delegation declared Trump the winner of the debate, which was predictable.  Seriously, however,. if even Fox News states that Harris was clearly the winner . . . 

September 12, 2024

Trump found Taylor Swift coming out against him, citing herself as a "childless cat lady", two days ago.  Now Linda Ronstadt has:

Stevie Nicks (whose music I can't stand) has also done so, citing herself as a "childless dog lady".

J. D. Vance has proven to be the gift that just keeps giving to the Harris campaign, given the numerous and provocative statements he's made.  He also has been due to philosophical stances he's taken, which is another topic.  At any rate, trends in regard to Trump aren't favorable to him, even if he should be successful in the election.

September 13, 2024

Trump on the leader of the Taliban in a press conference this week: 

He called me 'Your Excellency.' I wonder if he calls that to Biden. I doubt it.

There's something really bizarre about Trump.  Being called "your excellency" apparently really matters to him, so much that he thinks being called that by the Taliban is nifty.

That's weird.

Something to consider on his odd behavior:

Trump's speech and cognitive concerns.

In psychiatry, the tendency to conspicuously and rigidly repeat a thought beyond the point of relevance, called “perseverance,” is known to be correlated with a variety of clinical disorders, including those involving a loss of cognitive reserve. People tend to stick to familiar topics over and over when they experience an impairment in cognitive functioning—for instance, in short-term memory. Short-term memory is essentially your mental sketch pad: how many different thoughts you can juggle in your mind, keep track of, and use at the same time. Given the complexity of being president, short-term memory is a vital skill.

If a patient presented to me with the verbal incoherence, tangential thinking, and repetitive speech that Trump now regularly demonstrates, I would almost certainly refer them for a rigorous neuropsychiatric evaluation to rule out a cognitive illness. A condition such as vascular dementia or Alzheimer’s disease would not be out of the ordinary for a 78-year-old. Only careful medical examination can establish whether someone indeed has a diagnosable illness—simply observing Trump, or anyone else, from afar is not enough. For those who do have such diseases or conditions, several treatments and services exist to help them and their loved ones cope with their decline. But that does not mean any of them would be qualified to serve as commander in chief.

 Richard A. Friedman, a psychiatrist, in The Atlantic.

September 14, 2024

Both are against life, be it the one who kicks out migrants or the one who (supports) killing babies Both are against life.

Pope Francis on Harris and Trump. 

The Pope counselled to "choose the lesser evil".  If you live in a state, however, that's going overwhelmingly for one candidate or another, you don't actually have to, and can vote for a third party like The American Solidarity Party.

Laura Loomer, about whom I know nothing, but who is apparently an extreme right wing personality, has been traveling around with Trump.  He's now criticizing her but she's been seen a lot with her including some photos in which they are uncomfortably close.  Trump has a knack for appearing with embarrassing people.

In a campaign speech over the last couple of days Trump promised the largest mass deportation in history, starting in Springfield Ohio and Colorado.

September 15, 2024

Penultimate conservative George F. Will endorsed Kamala Harris.

September 16, 2024

A second assassination attempt on Donald Trump occurred yesterday.  In this instance, the Secret Service spotted the would be assailant before he staged his attempt and opened fire first.

The assailant was Ryan Wesley Routh, who had been convicted in 2002 for possessing a machine gun. He used that weapon in a stand off with the police.  How he had a AK47 type rifle in this instance is an obvious question.  Based on news reports of his social media, he at one time claimed he was going to go to Ukraine and fight (he clearly didn't), and he had pro Palestinian and anti Chinese posts as well.

cont:

Trump and Canada's big water faucet:  Canada Has A Big Water Faucet.

What the crap?

September 17, 2024

Scientific American endorsed Kamala Harris.

September 20, 2024

Lummis Co-Authors Book On Why People Should Vote For Trump

cont:

Pro-Trump Georgia election board votes to require hand counts of ballots

This is, quite frankly, stupid.

cont:

Absentee ballots for uniformed and overseas Wyomingites go out starting Sept. 20

September 24, 2024

Governor Gordon’s Executive Order Directs State Agencies to Prevent, Report Non-Citizen Voting Efforts

September 19, 2024

---

Recognizing voter concerns over non-citizens attempting to vote nationwide, Governor Mark Gordon issued an Executive Order (EO) directing state agencies to take further steps to ensure Wyoming’s elections continue to be safe and secure.

“Recognizing the Biden/Harris Administration’s disastrous border policies compel us to do all we can to protect the integrity of our elections, I, alongside fellow Republican Governors, have taken the action afforded to me by the Constitution and the Laws of Wyoming to confirm the security of Wyoming’s elections,” Governor Gordon said.

“I remain confident Wyoming’s elections are the most secure in the nation,” the Governor added. “As required by the laws enacted by the legislature, our county clerks are thorough and diligent when determining, investigating and verifying voter citizenship. With this Executive Order, I reaffirm my commitment to that ideal.

Residents can be confident that this order removes any confusion and clarifies for our agencies – should there be any doubt – that they will not enable or facilitate any noncitizen to register to vote or help them to vote.”  

Executive Order 2024-11 directs State agencies to take a variety of actions to ensure that non-citizens do not vote or register to vote. State agencies may not provide voter registration materials to non-citizens and must confirm that they are not required to provide those materials to non-citizens when contracting with federal programs or agencies.

In addition, the EO encourages the Secretary of State and the County Clerks to continue to effectively and efficiently use the tools provided to each of them by Wyoming’s election code to investigate and verify voter registration. The Wyoming Constitution requires every person to be a citizen of the United States before they can legally register and vote in Wyoming. 

As he did earlier this year, the Governor continues to urge the legislature to provide clarity on the definition of the term “bona fide resident.” Wyoming’s county clerks have indicated to the Legislature  that this clarification is needed, and the Governor agrees.

A poll places incumbent Senator Ted Cruz in a dead heat with his Democratic challenger, Colin Allred.

Cruz going down in defeat would be a major blow to Republican efforts to secure the Senate.

September 27, 2024

First shoes, then Bibles, now watches.

October 1, 2024.

You just can't make this stuff up.

I will shut down all entries through Kamala’s migrant phone app. She’s got a phone app. It’s meant for the cartel heads. The cartel heads call the app, and they tell them where to drop the illegal migrants… It’s not even believable.

Donald Trump.  Indeed, for the rational, that is not believable.

They come from the Congo in the Africa. Many people from the Congo. I don't know what that is, but they come out of jails in the Congo.

Many people, from the Congo, which he doesn't know what it is?

October 2, 2024

Debate Recap: JD Vance, Tim Walz talk foreign policy, climate change and immigration

October 4, 2024

Melania Trump has cut a Trump/Vance ad in which she notes that she's pro infanticide, one more step in the GOP abandoning its formerly pro life plank.  Vance has already boarded the IVF ship fully, in spite of that involving the death of fertilized eggs.  Melania was baptized a Catholic, although there's no real evidence that she's practiced in any recent period, and Vance is a convert who is now demonstrating again that politics will prevail over conviction for him.

The American Solidarity Party is the only real pro life party in the race that I"m aware of.

For at least those who are not in a swing state, this is one more reason that the American Solidarity Party candidates should be voted for, and are perhaps the only moral vote in such states.

Related threads:

The Christian, and more particularly the Catholic, vote. 2024

Does a "Freedom" Caucus victory in the primaries mean the Democrats have a chance in the general?

Last edition

The 2024 Election, Part XXVI. Touching Down

Labels: 2020s, 2024, 2024 Election, Alaska, Bill Clinton, Conscription, Democratic Party, Donald Trump, J. D. Vance, Kamala Harris, Populism, Republican Party, Theodore Roosevelt, Tim Walz, Vietnam War, Weird, Wyoming

Churches of the West: The Bishop of Rome.

Churches of the West: The Bishop of Rome.: 

The Bishop of Rome.

By this time, most observant conservative Catholics are either so fatigued from Papal issuances that they either disregard them, or cringe when they come out. They seem to come out with a high degree of regularity.

And, while we don't technically have a new one, a "study document" issued by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity has put out something that has the Pope's approval to be issued, that being something that looks at the role of the Papacy itself:

Now, it's a very large document, so I'm not going to attempt to put it all out here, and I haven't read all of it either.  So, we're going to turn to  The Pillar to find out what it holds.  The Pillar states:

What does it say? 

Helpfully, the text has a section summarizing the four sections (beginning on p106).

1) Regarding responses to Ut unum sint, the document says that the question of papal primacy is being discussed in “a new and positive ecumenical spirit.” 

“This new climate is indicative of the good relations established between Christian communions, and especially between their leaders,” it says. 

2) Concerning disputed theological questions, the text welcomes what it calls “a renewed reading” of the classic “Petrine texts,” which set out the Apostle Peter’s role in the Church.

“On the basis of contemporary exegesis and patristic research, new insights and mutual enrichment have been achieved, challenging some traditional confessional interpretations,” it notes. 

One particularly controversial issue, it says, is the Catholic conviction that the primacy of the Bishop of Rome was established de iure divino (by divine law), “while most other Christians understand it as being instituted merely de iure humano” (by human law). 

But the document says that new interpretations are helping to overcome “this traditional dichotomy, by considering primacy as both de iure divino and de iure humano, that is, being part of God’s will for the Church and mediated through human history.” 

Another enduring obstacle is the First Vatican Council. But the document says that here too there has been “promising progress,” thanks to ecumenical dialogues that seek “a ‘rereading’ or ‘re-reception’” of the Council’s decrees. 

This approach, it says, “emphasizes the importance of interpreting the dogmatic statements of Vatican I not in isolation, but in the light of their historical context, of their intention and of their reception — especially through the teaching of Vatican II.” 

Addressing this point in a June 13 Vatican News interview, Cardinal Koch said that since Vatican I’s “dogmatic definitions were profoundly conditioned by historical circumstances,” ecumenical partners were encouraging the Catholic Church to “seek new expressions and vocabulary faithful to the original intention, integrating them into an ecclesiology of communion and adapting them to the current cultural and ecumenical context.”  

“There is therefore talk of a ‘re-reception,’ or even ‘reformulation,’ of the teachings of Vatican I,” the Swiss cardinal explained. 

3) Summarizing the document’s third section, the text says that fresh approaches to disputed questions have “opened new perspectives for a ministry of unity in a reconciled Church.” 

Crucially, the document suggests there is a common understanding that although the first millennium of Christian history is “decisive,” it “should not be idealized nor simply re-created since the developments of the second millennium cannot be ignored and also because a primacy at the universal level should respond to contemporary challenges.”

From the ecumenical dialogues, it’s possible to deduce “principles for the exercise of primacy in the 21st century,” the text says. 

One is that there must be an interplay between primacy and synodality at every level of the Church. In other words, there is a need for “a synodal exercise of primacy.”

Synodality is notoriously difficult to define, but the document describes it at one point as “the renewed practice of the Synod of Bishops, including a broader consultation of the whole People of God.” 

4) Among the practical suggestions for a renewed exercise of the ministry of unity, the document highlights the possibility of “a Catholic ‘re-reception’, ‘re-interpretation’, ‘official interpretation’, ‘updated commentary’ or even ‘rewording’ of the teachings of Vatican I.” 

It also stresses appeals for “a clearer distinction between the different responsibilities of the Bishop of Rome, especially between his patriarchal ministry in the Church of the West and his primatial ministry of unity in the communion of Churches, both West and East.”  

“There is also a need to distinguish the patriarchal and primatial roles of the Bishop of Rome from his political function as head of state,” the text says, adding: “A greater accent on the exercise of the ministry of the pope in his own particular Church, the Diocese of Rome, would highlight the episcopal ministry he shares with his brother bishops, and renew the image of the papacy.” 

The new document appears months after Pope Francis restored the title “Patriarch of the West” among the list of papal titles in the Vatican’s annual yearbook, after it was dropped by his predecessor Benedict XVI. 

Commenting on that development at the June 13 Vatican press conference, Cardinal Koch said that neither Francis nor Benedict XVI offered detailed explanations for the change. 

“But I am convinced they did not want to do something against anyone, but both wanted to do something ecumenically respectful,” he commented. 

Another suggestion is for the Catholic Church to further develop its practice of synodality, particularly through “further reflection on the authority of national and regional Catholic bishops’ conferences, their relationship with the Synod of Bishops and with the Roman Curia.” 

Finally, the text mentions a request for regular meetings among Church leaders at a worldwide level, in a spirit of “conciliar fellowship.”

What does that mean?

Well, frankly, I don't grasp it.

Without having read it, I sort of vaguely grasp that the Pope, who recently revived using the title Patriarch of the West, is sort of modeling this view of the Papacy on the Churches of the East, sort of.  In the East, each Church is autocephalous, with the Patriarch of Constantinople holding a "first among equals" position.  I don't think the Pope intends to fully go in that direction, but vaguely suggest that the synodal model of the East should apply more in the West, and that as Patriarch of the West, perhaps the entire Apostolic Church could be reunited, and perhaps even sort of vaguely include the "mainline" Protestant Churches, by which we'd mean the Lutheran and Anglican Churches.

It sort of interestingly brings up the Zoghby Initiative of the 1970s, in which Melkite Greek Catholic Church bishop Elias Zoghby sought to allow for inter-communion between the Melkites and the Antiochian Orthodox Church after a short period of dialogue.  His position was, basically, that this reunion could occur with a two point profession of faith, those being a statement of belief in the teaching gof the Eastern Orthodox churches and being in communion with the Bishop of Rome as the first among the bishops "according to the limits recognized by the Holy Fathers of the East during the first millennium, before the separation."

Thing was, there really were no limits.  In the first thousand years before the separation it's pretty clear that the Pope was head of the Church.  Indeed, from the earliest days that was recognized.

Bishop Zoghby's initiative went nowhere and he's since passed on, but this sort of interestingly recalls it.  His effort received criticism from figures within Orthodoxy and the Roman Catholic Church, although a few Eastern Catholics admired it.  Here, I'd predict that conservative Catholics are not going to be too impressed.

Additionally, a recent problem barely noticed in the West is that the recent focus of Pope Francis on blessings for people in irregular unions, which is widely interpreted to mean homosexuals, has not only upset conservative Catholics, but Eastern Churches in some cases have backed away from the Catholic Church.  One Eastern Bishop who was getting quite close to Rome came out and stated that Fiducia Supplicans basically prevented any chance of reunion with his church.

This gets back to some things we've noted here before.  One is that this Papacy seems very focused on Europe, although the fact that this also looks towards the East cuts against that statement a bit.  Having said that, a good deal of the early focus of this Papacy was on European conditions, which have continued to be a problem as the German Church is outright ignoring Pope Francis to a large degree.  Loosening the role of the Papacy may stand to make those conditions worse, and probably won't bring the mainstream of the Lutherans and Anglicans in.  Which gets to the next point.  The Reformation is dying.

Seemingly hardly noticed is that the real story in Christianity, to a large degree, is the rapid decline in the old Reformation Protestant churches.  People like to note "well Catholic numbers are declining too", but frankly real statistical data shows that while there may be a decline, it's slight.  Indeed, what appears to be occurring in the Western World is that conversions to Catholicism offset departures. That's not growth, but what that sort of shows is the decline in cultural affiliation with a certain religion and, at least in the US, the end of the byproduct of the Kennedy Era Americanization of the Church.  Indeed, at the same time this is going on, the growth in Catholic conservatism and traditionalism in younger generations has grown too big to ignore.¹ At the same time, Eastern Catholic Churches are gaining members from outside their ethnic communities, and the Easter Orthodox are gaining adherents from conservative Protestants who are leaving their liberalizing denominations.

This is a study document, so it's not a proclamation.  Twenty years ago or maybe even ten, I would have thought this a really good idea.  My instinct now is that its time has passed.  While conservative Catholics hold their breaths about the upcoming next session of the Synod on Synodality, there's sort of a general sense of marking time here as well, and indeed, an uncomfortable one.  The current Papacy has is very near its end, everyone knows this, but it puts out a lot of material that's of a highly substantive, and often controversial, nature.  Much of this is going to have to be dealt with after this Papcy concludes. Both the volume and speed at which things are occurring may reflect this, as that knowledge operates against the clock, but it might also be a reason to slow down at the Vatican level, or even put a bit of a time-out on things.

Footnotes:

1.  Indeed, I was at Confession recently on an average Saturday and noted that as I was there a  young woman with her two children were waiting in front of me, with both children saying Rosaries and the mother wearing a chapel veil. Her mother came in and also was wearing one, and a stunning young woman of maybe 20 came in also wearing one.  Every woman, and most of them were young, were attired in that fashion.

It's a minor example, but very notable.  This is becoming common.

Lex Anteinternet: "We are weary".

Lex Anteinternet: "We are weary".: That's a line from Crisis magazine's editor, Eric Sammons, about the Papacy of Pope Francis. I’m not going to carve sections out o...

And yesterday we learned that Pope Francis will appear in a prerecorded interview on 60 Minutes tomorrow night.

It shouldn't be, but this is fatiguing. 

Wars and Rumors of War, 2024. Part 5. A Wider War.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

Matthew, Chapter 24.

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse.

John Stuart Mill

April 14, 2024.

The Middle Eastern War.

This was mentioned yesterday, but in North America we're waking up to the news that Iran, the supplier of drones to Russia, used a huge number of drones in an airborne assault on Israel yesterday which was combined with missiles.

Because that's going to serve somebody's interest?

This was retaliatory in nature, of course, but it was also monumentally stupid on the part of Iran.

Almost all the Iranian munitions were shot down.  The few that got through caused minor damage. The US participated in the airborne defense.

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukraine's defense chief warned that its battlefield situation has significantly worsened in recent days.

Mike Johnson, pick up your copy of John Stuart Mill.

April 17, 2024

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukrainian forces destroy Russian air defense systems in Crimea

The Middle Eastern War

Israel has carried out a retaliatory air strke on Iran.  The details are sketchy at this time, but drones appear to be involved.

A big difference appears to be that Israel hit its targets, as opposed to Iran, which demonostrated an inability to get theirs through, although the US, UK and France helped Israel in its defense.

China v. US

A hacking campaign by China called Volt Typhoon has gained access to telecommunications, energy, water and 23 pipeline operators targeted, amongst other infrastrucure.

It should be obvious that China is preparing for war against the US, which will come over Taiwan.

April 19, 2024

Russo Ukrainian War/Middle Eastern War/China v. Taiwan.

Massively belatedly, the House of Representatives voted 316-94 to advance military aid to Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel.  A final vote will come on Saturday, as this was procedural.

Isolationist are having a fit and will now take a run at removing Speaker Johnson, the latter having found his courage this week, at long last.

April 20, 2024

Russo Ukrainian War/Middle Eastern War/China v. Taiwan.

House Approves $95 Billion Aid Bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan

After months of delay at the hands of a bloc of ultraconservative Republicans, the package drew overwhelming bipartisan support, reflecting broad consensus.

About bloody time, and better late than never, assuming it's not too late.

Finally, Mike Johnson, who apparently prayed about the matter, found his courage.

April 22, 2024

Russo Ukrainian War

In listing to This Week, I learned that a majority of GOP Congressman voted against aid to Ukraine.

Shameful.

Some of the commentary on the weekend shows suggest that Speaker Johnson may have changed his mind in part because of intelligence briefings. If that's the case, we ought to be truly fearful of Russia winning the war.

MJT tried to insert an amendment into the bill which would have required all those who voted for the bill to become Ukrainian conscripts.

Middle Eastern War

Air strikes in Razah killed 22 people.

The US is imposing sanctions on the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, a unit for ultra Orthodox Jews, most of whom do not serve in the Israeli military and who are exempted from universal male conscription that the country generally imposes.

It's difficult to see how attempting to sanction a single unit would work.

April 24, 2024

Middle Eastern War

Pro Palestinian demonstrations are causing havoc across campuses in the US as protesters.

Anti-Semitic elements in these protests have been very notable, including delusional ones such as LGBTQ supporting protesters supporting, effectively, Hamas, even though Hamas would likely put a 9mm to their heads if they were in Palestine.

Stay tuned to see if the Horst Wessel song reappears.

Russo Ukrainian War

The aid bill passed the Senate 79 to 18.  Wyoming's two Senators, who normally would have voted yes, voted no, so they can bow down to the Populist Party.

Iran v. Everyone

Four Iranians were arrested for a hacking scheme aimed at Federal agencies.

April 25, 2024

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukraine deployed M57A1 ATACMS ballistic missiles against Russian targets in Crimea.  The new missiles vastly increase Ukraine's ability to hit deep into Russian held territory.

The sudden appearance of the missiles suggest that Ukraine was supplied them prior to the recent funding bill, which was only signed into law yesterday, but withheld use of them until the bill was passed.

Russia, regarding the bill, predictably squealed like a stuck pig or like Donald Trump complaining about being on trial for his prurient interest, while it itself has used long range missiles fairly indiscriminately in Ukraine.

Pope Francis in an interview with CBS News declared that a "negotiated peace is better than a war without end", calling on warring parties in Ukraine and the Middle East to negotiate.

Of interset here, perhaps, the Vatican recently released its "Declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith “Dignitas Infinita” on Human Dignity”, the same appearing on April 8.  While I've noted it elsewhere, I suspect that Catholics in particular, or at least some Catholics, have grown so weary of documents issued by Pope Francis that they're being ignored and dreaded at this point.  Indeed, many Catholics are holding their breath on what will come out of the Synod on Snyodality.  Anyhow, Dignatas Infinita, which people were holding their breath on before it came out (it had been announced that something was coming out) didn't receive very much attention from the world at large and frankly from Catholics as well, as sure sign that just too darned much is being generated by this Papacy.

What notice it drew from Catholic circles tended to focus on the concept of "infinite dignity", and what that meant.  I haven't followed the results of that, and there wasn't that much discussion of it to start with.  The Pope, however, drew a lot of flak for his statements on transgenderism, which are perfectly in line with Catholic beliefs.  We'll deal with that elsewhere.

What surprisingly didn't receive much attention was his statements on war, which were:

War

38. Another tragedy that denies human dignity, both in the past and today, is war: “War, terrorist attacks, racial or religious persecution, and many other affronts to human dignity […] ‘have become so common as to constitute a real ‘third world war’ fought piecemeal.’”[64] With its trail of destruction and suffering, war attacks human dignity in both the short and long term: “While reaffirming the inalienable right to self-defense and the responsibility to protect those whose lives are threatened, we must acknowledge that war is always a ‘defeat of humanity.’ No war is worth the tears of a mother who has seen her child mutilated or killed; no war is worth the loss of the life of even one human being, a sacred being created in the image and likeness of the Creator; no war is worth the poisoning of our common home; and no war is worth the despair of those who are forced to leave their homeland and are deprived, from one moment to the next, of their home and all the family, friendship, social and cultural ties that have been built up, sometimes over generations.”[65] All wars, by the mere fact that they contradict human dignity, are “conflicts that will not solve problems but only increase them.”[66] This point is even more critical in our time when it has become commonplace for so many innocent civilians to perish beyond the confines of a battlefield.

39. Therefore, even today, the Church cannot but make her own the words of the Pontiffs, repeating with Pope St. Paul VI: “jamais plus la guerre, jamais plus la guerre!” [“never again war, never again war!”].[67] Moreover, together with Pope St. John Paul II, the Church pleas “in the name of God and in the name of man: Do not kill! Do not prepare destruction and extermination for people! Think of your brothers and sisters who are suffering hunger and misery! Respect each one’s dignity and freedom!”[68] As much now as ever, this is the cry of the Church and of all humanity. Pope Francis underscores this by stating, “We can no longer think of war as a solution because its risks will probably always be greater than its supposed benefits. In view of this, it is very difficult nowadays to invoke the rational criteria elaborated in earlier centuries to speak of the possibility of a ‘just war.’ Never again war!”[69] Since humanity often falls back into the same mistakes of the past, “in order to make peace a reality, we must move away from the logic of the legitimacy of war.”[70] The intimate relationship between faith and human dignity means it would be contradictory for war to be based on religious convictions: “The one who calls upon God’s name to justify terrorism, violence, and war does not follow God’s path. War in the name of religion becomes a war against religion itself.”[71]

These statements are not really novel, but they certainly call into question the concept of a just war, while not abrogating it completely.  This is interesting as well as certainly in the region itself the Ukrainian Catholic Church, if not backing the war openly, seems to be generally. 

I would note here something that's widely misunderstood.  Wars today, while they do feature civilian death, and Russia certainly has been indiscriminate in its use of airborne munitions on Ukraine, and Israel has been leveling parts of Gaza, is actually less destructive on civilians that it was some 80 years ago and that is the overall actual trend.

April 26, 2024

Middle Eastern War

Hamas proposed to lay down its arms if an independent Palestinian state, which we have a long dormant thread in the hopper on, were to be created.

More specifically, it proposed:

“a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with the international resolutions,”

Israel is unlikely to accept that, but more than that, is such a tiny rump state even viable? 

Meanwhile, Hamas and Palestinian groups have shelled the construction area for the humanitarian pier.

May 1, 2024

Middle Eastern War

Russia and China are hosting a conference on "Palestinian reconciliation" which seeks to give Hamas a role in the West Bank.

The move is particularly cynical for China, which occupies a large landmass, Tibet, which was an actual independent nation with its own ethnicity more recently than Israel's gaining of independence and which further suppresses its Muslim population.

Further ironic are university protests across the nation effectively in support of Hamas which feature groups that, if they appeared in areas of their outright control, would be murdered.  A person can imagine that these protests are in support of Levantine independence in the region, or against Israeli actions in Gaza, but you have to jump through some uncomfortable hoops to get there.

May 2, 2024

Middle Eastern War

College campus protests in the US have grown large.

Shades of 1968, or something else?

Columbia has severed ties with Israel.

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukraine will start operating F-16s after May 5.

May 3, 2024

Niger

Niger has invited Russian troop to encamp at an airfield used by US troops.

Middle Eastern War

Campus arrests in the US continued yesterday.

All of this is helping Trump, so the irony stands a good chance of being that the protests get Trump elected who 1) is more pro Israeli than Biden, 2) will be anti-Islamic, and 3) whose views on Putin stand a good chance of getting the US into a war with Russia when Russia invades a NATO country.

But, hey, protests are fun.  You can feel like you are really doing something, even if you aren't doing anything positive.

The UN reports that it would take until 2040 to rebuild the homes in Gaza that have been destroyed.

Given that Gaza isn't economically viable and a crap hole, it shouldn't be rebuilt, which should be obvious to all, but won't be as the Arab nations don't want the Levantines to move, and the Levantines are too politically juvenile to grasp that their future is elsewhere.

May 5, 2024

Russo Ukrainian War

The Russians are in Ocheretyne and Arkhanhelske.  Ukrainian forces have been struggling with a lack of artillery ammunition due to the circus in the U.S. Congress.

May 6, 2024

Middle Eastern War

Cease fire talks have broken down.

May 7, 2024

Middle Eastern War

Israeli ground forces entered Rafah following a series of air strikes.

Russo Ukrainian War

It appears clear that the Russians are building towards a more pronounced offensive in the north.

May 9, 2024

Russo Ukrainian War

The Ukrainian government has passed a bill to conscript prisoners.

Not a good sign, really.

The President has not signed it into law as of yet, and it doesn't allow conscription of those convicted of the worst offenses or having more than three years left on their sentence.

May 10, 2024

Middle Eastern War

Israeli ground forces entered actually only went as far as the crossing into Rafah, which they now control.  President Biden has indicated that the US will scale back military support for Israel extensively if Israel enters the city.  Israel has indicated that it intends to do so none the less.

The US has withheld a shipment of 3,000 areal bombs to Israel over the potential that they'd be used in Rafah.

And this concludes this edition.

Related threads:

Iron Domes and Chutzpah

Getting into other people's fights.

Well darn.

Not a profile in courage.

The 2024 Election, Part XVII. Standing on their feet or crawling on their knees.

Last prior edition:

Wars and Rumors of War, 2024. Part 4. "Maybe I shall find them among the dead."

2020s, 2024, Aircraft, Black Sea, Byzantine Catholic, Catholic, Christianity, Gaza, Hamas, Israeli Defense Force, Israeli Hamas War, religion, Russia, Russian Navy, Russo Ukrainian War, War, Wars and rumors of wars