Fugelsang correctly decries the Florida governor for putting quote marks around the word "identifies." Such an individual- whom I'll call "Chris"- really does identify as a woman and is entitled to do so.
Nonetheless, immediately after the statement quoted by Fugelsang, DeSantis remarks "part of this is are we going to have a society that's rooted in truth?" Leaving aside the observation that DeSantis and "the truth" are generally not close acquaintances, the governor asks an excellent question.
And the truth is that while "Chris" can identify as a woman and one can call oneself a woman, a man, or a creature from the sea, that does not in and of itself make Chris (or a similarly situated individual) a woman, a man, or a creature from the sea. Note that we recently had a President who, looking skyward, stated "I am the Chosen One." He never was, and claiming that as his identity, no matter how many of his followers think of him in that way, did not make him the Chosen One.
"Chris" can transition surgically to a woman, which often comes with considerable costs, be they physical, emotional, economic or any combination of the three. "Chris" then would be a woman and deserving the rights and responsibilities of being female.
If government, acting upon the consent of the governed, chooses to extend sans surgery to "Chris" the privileges- not right- of a woman, it obviously can do so. But just as a free populace can do so, that same free populace owes itself the responsibility of acknowledging the truth. And the truth is that a man is as biology defines him and a woman is as biology defines her.
News quiz: Which best describes the outcome for Fox News yesterday in the lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems?
a) a victory
b) a huge victory
c) a phenomenal victory
A usually sober congressman, evidently not sober at the moment he hit send or "tweet":
I don’t think much about Tucker Carlson. But I guess he spends a lot of time thinking about me. So it’s pretty goddamn sweet that the day Tucker’s employer confessed that Tucker is a 24 karat liar Tucker goes on to spend his first post-confession show lying about me.
We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute
with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the court’s rulings finding
certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects Fox’s
continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that
our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the
acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these
issues.
Fox News therein did not specify any particular host or which
claims they were talking about. It did not admit that either the network and/or any particular host was responsible for the claims. They did not concede that any claim was knowingly inaccurate and merely acknowledged the court's rulings- not that they were accurate. Other
than that, it was a true confession.
Jeremy Peters and Katie
Robertson of The New York Times reported
Fox News abruptly agreed on Tuesday to pay $787.5 million to
resolve a defamation suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems over the network’s
promotion of misinformation about the 2020 election, averting a lengthy and
embarrassing trial just as a packed courtroom was seated in anticipation of
hearing opening statements.
Particularly important to the American people
Fox News’s last-minute settlement with Dominion Voting
Systems on Tuesday earned banner coverage on every television news network but
one: Fox News.
The $787.5 million settlement was covered only three times
by Fox News in about four hours after the settlement became public, amounting
to about six minutes of coverage. For most of the day, including during the
network’s prime-time shows, hosts appeared to be focusing on other issues, like
illegal immigration and Covid-19’s possible origins.
And the figurative bottom line is
Under the terms of the settlement, Fox News will not have to
apologize or admit to spreading false claims on network programming, according
to a person familiar with the details of the agreement.
The question thus arises as to why Dominion would have
agreed to a settlement which allows Fox News to continue to do what it does
best, manipulate its viewers.
CNN and MSNBC punditry, though inclusive of lawyers,
journalists, and others, is dominated by lawyers, especially on matters related
to the law.
Few of them will tell the
truth. In some cases they are not lying but really, truly believe in their
profession. In this case, several have said that the deal has now revealed that Fox News was lying. This is intentionally misleading because they are aware that consumers of MSNBC, CNN, or a national newspaper already knew the network was fabricating. Most viewers of Fox News, whose coverage of the matter was virtually nonexistent, didn't know and still don't.
A welcome exception, Elie Mystal gets close to divulging the bias of civil litigators.
They had Fox by the absolute neck and let them go for 787.5 million dollars. WHICH IS A LOT OF MONEY for a corporation. But also not a lot of money when weighed against Fox's damage to American democracy.
I get it. And it's bullcrap. Two things can be true at the same time.
If I were their lawyers, I probably would have told them to take the money. The preference of most civil litigators is to take the money and run. In some cases- not this one- there is a significant chance that the jury would rule against them if the case were taken to trial.
But even in this case, in which there was little chance that the defendant would win at trial or that the decision would be overturned on appeal, there is serious pressure for the plaintiff to settle. Their attorneys get their cut and they get it relatively promptly. The plaintiff usually believes there is a principle involved, in this case that their business should not be irrepairably harmed but that motivation can be overcome because a media company lies about it in order to promote a myth about a presidential election.
Understandably, however, their attorneys, who themselves were not slandered, don't care about viewers being intentionally misled. Given the common approach for litigants, it wouldn't be surprising if Dominion's attorneys convinced their client that the only real principle involved is that the offending party be penalized severely for damaging the company- and that the better part of a billion dollars would go a long way toward that.
So you can call it a "huge" or a "phenomenal" victory. But unless you're Representative Swalwell (not coincidentally, a lawyer) or take at their word some of the shills for the legal profession on cable news, you'll know it as a very good day indeed for Fox News and its parent company.
I suppose it was fairly predictable. After Governor Ron DeSantis signed his
signature "Stop Woke Act," he blasted the "myth" that
"Florida schools have been directed to 'empty libraries' and 'cover
classroom books.'"
However, as Judd Legum has pointed out, a regulation issued
by the state's Department of Education has created sufficient confusion and
fear that a few districts such as Manatee County School District have
instructed teachers to "remove or cover all classroom
libraries until all materials can be reviewed." In addition, a librarian
must "vet every classroom library book" and
In Escambia County for example, there have been challenges
filed to remove 175 books from school libraries. 148 of those books have been
removed from library shelves during the challenge process, which includes
multiple reviews and appeals. But thus far, the Escambia County school board
has considered and made a final decision on just four books. It voted to remove
all four. The other 170 challenges are still pending. But, in DeSantis'
intepretation of the data, Escambia would have only removed four books.
Large numbers of books have been removed pending appeal in
Clay County and other school districts as well.
These challenges of individual books is entirely separate
from the reviews of classroom libraries, which must be performed by librarians,
mandated by the DeSantis administration. That process is why, according to data
released by Duval County, more than 1.5 million books remain inaccessible to
students.
Confused? I am, and I'm writing about it, although Legum is thorough. Confusion probably is the intent, ambiguity the means for the governor. Far less
ambiguous is the six-week ban on abortion approved by the legislature in
Florida and signed by DeSantis which
will take effect only if the state’s current 15-week ban is
upheld in an ongoing legal challenge that is before the state Supreme Court,
which is controlled by conservatives.
The policy would have wider implications for abortion access
throughout the South in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year
overturning Roe v. Wade and leaving decisions about abortion access to states.
Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have banned abortion at all stages of
pregnancy, while Georgia forbids the procedure after cardiac activity can be
detected, which is around six weeks.
A woman often does not know prior to six weeks that she is
pregnant but the punitive ban, as the cliche goes, is "a feature rather
than a bug," which more properly would be phrased "a benefit rather
than a bug."
Supporters of DeSantis' expected candidacy for the GOP nomination for President have supported his legislative initiatives, however cruel or authoritarian, or both (here again, benefit rather than bug). However, so have his critics, whether supporters or skeptics of Donald Trump's bid for the nomination.
In the latter category would be former New Jersey governor Chris Christie. The Guardian reports
DeSantis accused Disney of perpetrating a legally unsound “sham”, which he said he would dismantle. He also threatened to build on state-owned land next to Disney World.
“What should we do with this land?” DeSantis said. “Maybe create a state park. Maybe try to do more amusement parks. Someone even said, like, maybe you need another state prison. Who knows? I just think that the possibilities are endless.”
Christie said: “I don’t think Ron DeSantis is a conservative, based on his actions towards Disney.
“Where are we headed here now, that if you express disagreement in this country, the government is allowed to punish you? To me, that’s what I always thought liberals did. And now all of a sudden here we are participating in this with a Republican governor.”
As well as questioning why DeSantis attacked Disney, Christie blasted how he did it.
“For him … to not have foreseen that Disney was going to do what they did in response, which was to completely take over the millions and millions of acres and the zoning decisions on that … well, I’ll tell you this much: that’s not the guy I want sitting across from President Xi.”
BREAKING: Former Republican Governor, Chris Christie has just spoken out against Ron DeSantis and his attacks on Disney World:
“I don’t think Ron DeSantis is a conservative, based on his actions towards Disney. I mean, where are we headed now, that if you express disagreement… pic.twitter.com/tig5dz3ysw
Christie is not alone in his criticism, for former Vice President Mike Pence is doubling down on attacks
against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis:
The latest salvo came during a Yahoo! News interview
Tuesday, when the potential Presidential candidate likened “government
activism” from DeSantis to that of California’s Gavin Newsom, comparing
Florida’s handling of Disney to how California dealt with abortion pills.
“I’m a limited government conservative, and I believe in
private property, free enterprise. My concern more broadly was just simply
about taking action against a company in the wake of a political dispute, where
the company had taken a different position than the state,” Pence contended.
“I have concerns about that in Florida. I had the exact same
concerns about California, pulling a $54 million contract from Walgreens
because Walgreens announced that they’ll not be distributing the abortion pill
in 20 states where it would be illegal to do so. To me, it’s the same kind of
government activism — one on the right, one on the left, and both are wrong.”
Ronald Reagan said the 11th Commandment is "Thou shall not speak ill of another Republican." He first said that, though, well over a half century ago. No, it is more like "Thou Must Not Antagonize Corporations."
I was very pleased that Cook County Commissioner Brandon
Johnson defeated school "reformer" Paul Vallas to succeed Lori Lightfoot
as the next mayor Chicago. Johnson A
former teacher, Johnson supports neighborhood public schools while Vallas has been (in)famous for being hired by major cities and others to implement "school
choice" programs, which undermine the traditional public school. Not coincidentally, it appears Johnson, who will be sworn in on May 15, is
going to be a pro-labor mayor.
However, this past weekend was a violent one as
Chicago police responded to massive crowds of teenagers
Saturday night at Millennium Park, one day after a similar gathering took place
at 31st Street Beach, prompting police to heighten their presence along the
lakefront.
Video taken Saturday night showed a massive presence at the
park, along with large groups of people in the area. A similar gathering took
place Friday night near 31st Street Beach and eventually came to an end after a
teenager was shot.
One witness, who asked not to be identified, said he saw a
chaotic scene unfold.
"It’s heartbreaking, kids fighting, chasing each other,
some of them got guns," he said. "It's really heartbreaking when one
of them actually gets hurt, and that’s unfortunate, happened last night."
Hundreds of teenagers, possibly even thousands, gathered at
the beach after seeing flyers posted on social media for a meetup of teens.....
"It was a car, they were standing on multiple cars,
standing on cars, and one of the cars just kept driving in circles, which I
believe that’s the one that caught on fire, they set on fire," the witness
said.
Police didn't release additional specifics on the incident,
but did say it "continually monitors and adjusts resources as necessary so
residents and visitors can safely enjoy the city, including our beaches and
lakefront area."
"Last night, CPD monitored activity happening across
the city and officers were in place to quickly respond to active incidents and
large gatherings," the statement added. "We will continue to have
sufficient resources in place as we work to strengthen safety in every
neighborhood."
Police say a squad car was also damaged, but no officers
were injured. Police did arrest one person Friday night, a 17-year-old boy, who
has been accused of multiple gun crimes.
Demonstrating how not to respond to a riot, Mayor-elect
Johnson tweeted
In no way do I condone the destructive activity we saw in
the Loop and lakefront this weekend, It is unacceptable and has no place in our
city. However, it is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been
starved of opportunities in their own communities.
Our city must work together to create spaces for youth to
gather safely and responsibly, under adult guidance and supervision, to ensure
that every part of our city remains welcome for both residents and visitors.
This is one aspect of my comprehensive approach to improve public safety and
make Chicago livable for everyone.
This was not the time to consider carefully the root causes
of crime and the systemic changes needed to curb it. Johnson's statement was a
triumph of bad timing. When a riot breaks out in your city, the response "I
don't like it, but...." is an empty gesture. Claiming you're not
condoning criminal behavior, and then offering an excuse for it fools no one.
And an excuse it was.
Johnson attributed the violent mayhem to "youth who have otherwise
been starved of opportunities in their own neighborhoods."
These were not young people rioting because they were
hungry, ill-housed, or unemployed. They were not stealing a loaf of bread to
feed their family or exaggerating their work experience to get a job, nor
because they have nowhere to gather safely and responsibly. They were not looking for "adult
guidance and supervision." Though the mayhem featured property damage
Two boys—aged 16 and 17—who were standing in a crowd the 100
block of East Washington Street were wounded when shots were fired at around 9
p.m., Chicago police said. The 16-year was shot in the right arm, while the
17-year was shot in the left leg.
Both were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in a fair
condition, police said. No one is in custody in connection with that shooting,
and an investigation is ongoing.
It was only a few weeks ago when, following mass murder at
Covenant School in Nashville, a Democratic state senator, channeling a
half-brother of Jesus and son of Mary, stated "prayers are good, but faith
without works is dead. Let's not let another preventable tragedy unfold without
this legislature taking real action." Two members were expelled from
Tennessee's other chamber for raucously demanding gun safety legislation. Just last week, the New Hampshire Democratic
Party slammed Governor Chris Sununu, headed for Indianapolis to speak at the
annual NRA convention, because Sununu "values his NRA rating more than the
safety of granite staters. His record on gun safety is abhorrent...."
So it goes, with Democrats denouncing gun violence after every mass shooting, thus exceeding whatever little concern Republicans muster. However, violence everywhere must be condemned and not excused as a spontaneous, harmless outburst by bored youth. If the residents of Chicago have any luck, Mayor Johnson will quickly come to that understanding.
It was twelve months ago but Republicans, characterized by
political ADHD (this today, that tomorrow, something else, the day after)
shouldn't be allowed to forget this. From The Washington Post at the time:
When Michigan Democratic state Sen. Mallory McMorrow stood
on the chamber floor to take on a Republican colleague who had accused her of
wanting to sexually groom children, she was denouncing not just an isolated
incident, but an onslaught of GOP attacks on the LGBTQ community....
The rapid escalation in public support for the LGBTQ
community’s rights in recent years had quieted much of the blatant homophobia
in the nation’s political discourse. But, in recent weeks, Republicans have
reverted to verbal and legal assaults on the community, sometimes employing
baseless tropes that suggest children are being groomed or recruited by
defenders of gay rights. The efforts ahead of the midterm elections are
intended to rile up the Republican base and fill the campaign coffers of its
candidates, without offering evidence that any Democrat had committed a
repugnant crime....
In Michigan, McMorrow had been one of three Democrats to
walk out of an invocation that GOP state Sen. Lana Theis gave on the Senate
floor a week ago, during which she prayed for children “under attack” from
“forces.” After the walkout, Theis accused McMorrow by name in a fundraising
email of wanting to “groom and sexualize kindergartners.”
Theis and McMorrow got into it on the Senate floor, after
which
Theis did not respond to a request for a comment. But her
characterization was in keeping with other attempts to portray Democratic
supporters of gay rights as, at minimum, aiding pedophiles.
The new thrust counters the decision by most Republican
politicians in recent years to largely avoid the subject of LGBTQ rights given
widespread support from Americans. The party in 2004 had mounted multiple state
campaigns against same-sex marriage in an effort to boost turnout for President
George W. Bush’s reelection effort, but the nation’s views have changed sharply
since that time.
Republicans recently have used language similar to Theis’s
to attack their critics who speak out against the ramped-up efforts to restrict
protections for LGBTQ youth. They have specifically referenced the notion of
“grooming,” which is used to denote adults sexualizing children.
Several weeks ago, as Florida Republicans were pushing
legislation to ban discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in
classrooms up to third grade, Gov. Ron DeSantis’s press secretary, Christina
Pushaw, made an audacious claim on Twitter about the measure Democrats referred
to as the “don’t say gay” bill.
“If you’re against the Anti-Grooming Bill, you are probably
a groomer or at least you don’t denounce the grooming of 4-8 year old children.
Silence is complicity. This is how it works, Democrats, and I didn’t make the
rules,” Pushaw said. In response to a request for comment, Pushaw said
Wednesday that she had not singled out LGBTQ people as groomers “because
groomers can be of any orientation or identity.”
Critics responded in outrage while other Republicans made
similar accusations.
“The Democrats are the party of pedophiles. The Democrats
are the party of princess predators from Disney,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
(R-Ga,) said in an interview she posted on Twitter. “The Democrats are the
party of elementary school teachers, trying to transition their
elementary-school aged children and convince them they’re a different gender.
This is the party of their identity, and their identity is the most disgusting,
evil, horrible things happening in our country.”
The language echoes that of QAnon conspiracy theorists, who
Greene regularly endorsed during her time as a conservative provocateur before
she ran for Congress. QAnon followers believed powerful Democrats were running
a secret child sex trafficking ring and that President Donald Trump would
expose it.
“We’re seeing the recycling of tropes; there are go-to
tropes that people use and this notion that somehow a child being taught in
school is “grooming” them to have a particular sexual orientation,” said Sharon
McGowan, legal director of Lambda Legal, a national LGBTQ advocacy
organization. “I do think we saw a complete disregard for some of the norms
during the Trump era, there was a brazenness packaged as, ‘I’m not afraid to
say the hard truths;' now they’re wearing the more outrageous, more offensive
as a badge of pride.”
This "grooming" thing always had the small of
psychological projection and now the conservative New York Post unironically reports
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem raised eyebrows Friday when
she said that her granddaughter, who is just a year old, already has a shotgun
and a rifle.
Speaking at the annual National Rifle Association convention
in Indianapolis, the conservative firebrand told the crowd that her
granddaughter, “Little Miss Addie” is already “set up” for her future with the
weapons — and a pony.
“Little Miss Addie, who is almost two, and Branch who’s just
a few months old, they have brought us so much joy. They’ve brought us
purpose,” Noem told the crowd, video of her remarks shared on social media
shows.
“’Now Addie, who you know — soon will need them [guns]. I
wanna reassure you, she already has a shotgun and she already has a rifle and
she’s got a little pony named Sparkles too. So the girl is set up,” the
conservative added.
Well, isn't that just the sweetest thing, especially coming
from arguably the leading candidate to join Donald Trump on a presidential
ticket in 2024. Nor was it merely performative and/or an effort to curry favor
with the Republican Party's most deadly interest groups because
Noem, a staunch supporter of gun rights, took time during
her 24-minute speech to sign an executive order for her state to “further
protect the 2nd Amendment rights of South Dakotans.”
The order would prohibit government agencies from
contracting with businesses that discriminate against “a firearm-related entity,” according to KELThis isn't going to become the face of G.O.P. all by itself,
nor even with the legacy media's help.
“The girl is set up.” Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem reveals her one-year-old granddaughter has a shotgun and a rifle. How cute. pic.twitter.com/NgjYxuO8iV
This should become the face of the Republican Party and it
has to be Democratic officials who maintain, loudly and clearly, that
Republican politicians such as Kristi Noem are the very backbone of her Party.
Nancy Pelosi has been down this road before, such as on November 14, 2012, when NPR reported
There was a bit of laughter but also a lot of seriousness,
when NBC's Luke Russert asked Rep. Nancy Pelosi if her decision to seek the
House minority leadership again prevents a younger leadership from taking her
place.
Pelosi was flanked by the Democratic female members of House
and as soon as the question flew out of Russert's mouth, groans filled the
room. "Age discrimination," one person was heard screaming.
"Oh, you've always asked that question except to Mitch
McConnell," Pelosi said with a laugh.
Russert, 27, pressed his case, saying that she, and Reps.
Steny Hoyer and James Clyburn, who round out the House leadership, were all
older than 70.
"Let's for a moment honor it as a legitimate question,
although it's quite offensive, but you don't realize that I guess," she
said. "The fact is that everything that I have done in my decade of
leadership is to elect younger and newer people to the Congress.
Age discrimination, my posterior. If she were concerned with that, Pelosi wouldn't have said "Oh, you've always asked that question except to Mitch McConnell." Pelosi's response had nothing to do with age. It was about gender, and gender alone.
And so it shouldn't have been surprising that Representative Pelosi on Thursday (video below) remarked
Senator Feinstein has been a champion for California for twenty years. I have been the leader or the Speaker of the House fighting for California and I have seen up close and firsthand her great leadership for our country but especially for our State of California. She deserves the respect to get well and be back on duty and, uh, I just, it's interesting to me. I don't know what political agendas are at work that are going after Senator Feinstein in that way. I've never seen them go after a man who was sick in the Senate that way.
It's just a guess but it may be because we've never had an 89-year-old absent Senator whose vote on the Judiciary Committee was pivotal, a vote without which the President (one of her own party) cannot gain approval of any of his judicial appointments. Since returning to California for surgery for shingles in early March, Feinstein has missed 58 votes and the worst is yet to come.
The "political agendas" are obvious: gaining a recommendation by the committee for full Senate approval of federal judges. It has nothing to do with gender- nothing. If a man were in Feinstein's position, the pressure upon the Senator to resign would be as great; probably greater because Democrats would not then have to overcome their fear of being accused of sexism or misogyny.
Hopefully, Feinstein will recover fully from her bout with shingles, a disease striking primarily the aged. Nevertheless,, the clock can't be turned back, she will never recover from being 89 years old and is, as with many elderly people, someone who has exhibited signs of mental decline. It's deeply unfortunate, but it happens with a significant portion of the very elderly. She cannot do her job, which is more common than not for men and women of her age.
Senator Feinstein reportedly has asked Majority Leader Schumer to replace her temporarily on the Judiciary Committee, which Schumer has agreed to pursue. However, Republicans would have to agree and the price they would exact, if they are willing at all, would be enormous. California's Ro Khanna of California was justified in tweeting
It’s time for @SenFeinstein to resign. We need to
put the country ahead of personal loyalty. While she has had a lifetime of
public service, it is obvious she can no longer fulfill her duties. Not
speaking out undermines our credibility as elected representatives of the
people.
Khanna is a Democratic member of the House but unlike Nancy Pelosi, is uninterested in making life far more difficult for the Democratic Senate. There also is an element of California politics involved because, in the race to replace Feinstein (who already had announced her retirement), Khanna supports the bid of Representative Barbara Lee while Pelosi is partial to the less progressive wing of the state party.
Still, given the former Speaker's history, there is an arguably more odious motivation. That would be good old-fashioned bias or what might be called "reverse sexism" which, of course, is simply sexism.. Whether or not he was thinking of Nancy Pelosi, this MSNBC host is right:
I’m sorry but “it’s feminist to stay in a critically important job long past when you are capable of doing it” is a ludicrous argument. I can’t tell if people are really making it or just kinda trolling.
I think the word Tucker is looking for is "unbelievable."
Tucker Carlson on his conversation with President Trump: "His understanding of world affairs is so much more nuanced and sophisticated and pro-American than the moronic neocons currently in charge. It was remarkable." pic.twitter.com/BYKfLBjUoE
At 4:24 of the video below, the former President can be seen stating
First of all, Ukraine's been obliterated. O.K., let's not even talk- nuclear. But let's say it wasn't, let's say they were doing better than anticipated, uh, if he decided to use his second form of destruction, which is nuclear, that's the end of the world. You understand?
Trump then remarked that, of course, Carlson understands, which only makes sense because both he and his interviewee are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russian.
So, let's "talk nuclear," which Trump argues here is never done, although it is. In October, CBS News explained
Tactical nuclear weapons are sometimes referred to as
"small nukes," even though they still cause devastating fatalities
and destruction. They are designed for limited strikes against relatively close
specific targets, like command posts, instead of destroying cities from afar.
The explosive yield of tactical nuclear weapons can range
from under one kiloton to about 100 kilotons, whereas strategic nuclear weapons
can have a yield up to one thousand kilotons. The bombs that destroyed
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 were between 12 and 21 kilotons. The one dropped
on Hiroshima weighed 9,700 pounds and a 10,800-pound bomb leveled
Nagasaki.
Tactical nuclear weapons can have a similar yield or greater
— up to several times as powerful as the Nagasaki bomb — but they are often
smaller and more portable. For instance, during the Cold War, the Soviet Union
developed devices small enough to fit into a suitcase-sized container....
There is a wide range. Over 70,000 people are estimated to
have died immediately when the U.S. bombed Hiroshima. Thousands of others later
died due to poisoning from the radiation.
However, that wouldn't necessarily occur if Russia were to launch a nuclear weapon against Ukraine because
Tactical nuclear weapons, by design, do not have as much
radioactive fallout, since they are used against a specific target, but there
is still some fallout.
Nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein has built a simulation
called NukeMap to estimate the effects of nuclear strikes. According to
NukeMap, if the Davy Crockett, the smallest U.S.nuke ever produced, were to be
used on a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., it would kill 3,270 people and
injure 3,620. Other tactical nuclear weapons are larger and would result in a
more devastating death toll.
Consequently, we don't know what impact a tactical nuclear weapon would have. Yet, Donald Trump says "that's the end of the world" if one is set off He's either ignorant or wants people to believe that the world will blow up unless Ukraine caves to Russia. Or both.
Carlson's claim that Trump's understanding of world affairs is more pro-American than that of neocons is possibly even more ludicrous than his characterization of it as nuanced and sophisticated. Lest we forget, Biden's immediate predecessor last Halloween tweeted on his Truth Social "our country is rigged, crooked and evil." That wasn't "Joe Biden" or "this Administration." It was "our country" which is evil.
Donald Trump obviously hates the United States of America. He wouldn't have called it "evil" otherwise. On second thought, in tweeting "our country," Trump might not have been referring to the USA. It's hard to believe, however, that he'd ever refer to Mother Russia as corrupt or evil.
