Nick Robertson (THE HILL) reports, "Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville went after the Biden campaign Sunday, saying its focus on the Israel-Hamas war has pushed away key demographics of voters; he called for a readjustment toward economic issues." It's not just that Carville is out of touch or that he'll turn 80 this year, it's that he's never been in touch. He is overly praised and credited for Bill Clinton's victory in 1992. Betsy Wright, among others, was pivotal to the campaign message that Bill put across. More to the point, Bill's race is not being re-run. That especially means that there is no H Ross Perot in this race -- a right-winger who will pull from the GOP. Carville has no experience in a race like the 2024 race and, more to the point, after 1996, Carville has been repeatedly wrong and provided very poor advice. Look at Hillary's failed campaign for the 2008 Democratic Party's presidential nomination. Do we need to also note John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign?
James Carville knows nothing and really need to sit his tired ass down. He's as in touch as Bob Shrum. He's never been able to inspire or deliver a candidate with a message of inspiration. He wants to play "It's The Economy Stupid." Again, this isn't Clinton-Perot-Bush. This is Donald Trump or Joe Biden. And Donald's devoted will show up.
Joe has an enthusiasm gap. He had one in 2020. But there, we had a pandemic and he had a ton of surrogates he hid behind -- including after March of 2020, Senator Bernie Sanders.
Joe is losing the youth vote. And James Carville never understood the youth vote. (In 1992, we clashed over that. I can go into that and how I was right and he was wrong but let's try to focus instead on 2024.) Carville knows how to speak to the centrist seniors so maybe he can craft a message on that? And maybe shut the f**k up with his useless advice on how Joe needs a generic message and not an inspiring one. Hillary was 2016 generic. How did that work out?
Carville doesn't understand the electorate or the world.
Again, it's not that he's out of touch. He was never in touch.
Joe needs to find a way to inspire. That's the only thing that will provide him with the turnout he needs. He is losing African-Americans, Arab-Americans and college students in large numbers because he's unable to stand up to the Israeli government.
Joe Biden is not going to win enough votes by avoiding these realities and just talking the economy. It's his job to inspire and if he and a paid campaign can't do that? He loses the election.
What's going on in Gaza is disgusting. And I'm not going to tell anyone how to vote and I'm certainly not going to tell anyone offended by the genocide to "suck it up and vote for Joe!"
MINT notes, "An Israeli airstrike on Sunday hit a refugee camp for displaced people in Gaza killing at least 35 people, mostly women and children, and injuring dozens more, CNN reported citing Palestinian Ministry of Health." That's disgusting. Neri Zilber (FINANCIAL TIMES OF LONDON) observes that the Israeli government is attempting to insist they struck a terrorist camp. Doha Madani (NBC NEWS) quotes the Red Crescent Society stating, "It is important to note that this location was designated by the Israeli occupation as a humanitarian area, and citizens were coerced into evacuating to it." Citing the UK's Action Aid, ABC NEWS reveals, "The death toll in the IDF airstrike that hit western Rafa Sunday night has risen to at least 50 individuals, including civilians." CNN adds:
Gaza's Health Ministry said those killed and wounded in the strike were mostly women and children. Video obtained by CNN shows tent-like structures on fire. The Palestinian Authority presidency urged the international community to intervene immediately. Hamas described the attack as a "massacre" and said it holds the US administration and President Joe Biden personally accountable. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) expressed horror following the airstrike, saying it "shows once again that nowhere is safe."
Australia's ABC NEWS reminds, "The strike came two days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to end its military offensive in Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's population had sought shelter before Israel's recent incursion. Tens of thousands of people remain in the area while many others have fled." And it comes as Amnesty International is asking for probes of other recent strikes. THE NATIONAL reports:
Amnesty International has urged the International Criminal Court to investigate as war crimes three recent Israeli strikes that killed 44 Palestinian civilians, including 32 children.
Last week, the prosecutor of the ICC, Karim Khan, applied for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top Hamas leaders on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Amnesty said three Israeli strikes – one on Al Maghazi refugee camp, in central Gaza, on April 16 and two on Rafah, in southern Gaza, on April 19 and 20 – are "further evidence of a broader pattern of war crimes" committed by the Israeli military in Gaza.
"The cases documented here illustrate a clear pattern of attacks over the past seven months in which the Israeli military has flouted international law, killing Palestinian civilians with total impunity and displaying a callous disregard for human lives," said Erika Guevara-Rosas, senior director at Amnesty.
Gaza remains under assault. Day 232 of the assault in the wave that began in October. Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion. The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction. But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets: How to justify it? Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence." CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund." ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them." NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza." The slaughter continues. It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service. Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide." The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher. United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse." THE NATIONAL notes, "Gaza death toll reaches 35,984, with 80,643 wounded." Months ago, AP noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing." February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home." February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted:
We’re talking about a three-storey building that housed not only residents but also dozens of other displaced Palestinians in Rafah that made it to Nuseirat three days ago.
I met the neighbours. I met the family. I met one of the relatives of people still trapped under the rubble earlier today. They were telling me heartbreaking things.
Imagine escaping the air strikes in Rafah, looking for a safe space but being killed after three days of evacuating – not only being killed but being trapped where the Civil Defence teams do not have any equipment to remove or pull these people from under the rubble.
I saw Civil Defence teams doing their best to pull people from under the rubble. They were digging with their bare hands, with very basic tools. This was not the first time we have seen this scene. We have been seeing this for more than seven months now.
Unfortunately, it may come to a point where the Civil Defence teams will give up on this house because there are more people being targeted every single hour across the Gaza Strip.
I plan to sleep in tomorrow. We'll have stuff up and I'll write at least on entry tomorrow but probably not a 'snapshot' because that would mean the other community sites would feel that they had to ignore the holiday and post as well. Ideally, things at THIRD will go up sometime tomorrow.
The following sites updated:
