In one of the worst bursts of violence that this tense refugee summer has seen, Hungarian riot police responded on Wednesday to rocks, taunts and small fires set by agitated migrants at the border crossing here with water cannons, head-cracking batons and both tear gas and pepper spray.
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Migrants Clash With Police in Hungary, as Others Enter Croatia - The New York Times - 0 views
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But Hungary did not change its mind — prompting a grim demonstration of what can happen when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.
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Tension had been building through the afternoon. About 2,500 migrants had set up camp along the narrow, two-lane road leading to the small crossing here — nothing more than a cluster of battered buildings and two lines of fence, topped with razor wire.
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But having gotten this far from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and other desperate countries, they grasped at hopes that the Hungarians would relent — just as they did when a huge migrant encampment sprouted outside the main train station in Budapest this month.
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“Open! Open!” the crowd chanted. Excited young men clambered on top of that first gate, which had been broken open, and began bouncing up and down on it, trying to knock it off its hinges.All of a sudden, an invisible, noxious gas began to pour into the crowd from the Hungarian side. In a panic, the people nearest the gate began to scramble backward, pushing people aside as they flailed, tears streaming from their eyes. Children grabbed for their parents. Some tossed oranges and apples they had been carrying back at the riot police, ineffectually. People ran into one another, tripped, fell.
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The crowd collapsed into chaos and ran back into Serbia. Then, the crowd re-formed and slowly moved forward again. And again, there was a gas attack.
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How Arabs view the anti-mosque movement | Marc Lynch - 0 views
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arabs moslem radicals mosque 'clash of civilizations moderates
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Where the anti-mosque movement and escalating anti-Islam rhetoric is really resonating is with the Arab mainstream --- that vast middle ground which had hoped that the election of Barack Obama would mark a real change from the Bush administration but have grown increasingly disappointed. The mosque issue has been covered heavily on Arab satellite TV stations such as al-Jazeera, and the images of angry Americans chanting slogans and waving signs against Islam have resonated much like the images of angry Arabs burning American flags and denouncing U.S. policy did with American viewers after 9/11. The recent public opinion surveys showing widespread hostility towards Islam among Americans have also gotten a lot of attention.
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It's confirming the worst fears of too many mainstream Arabs and Muslims, and thus providing fodder for the extremists who hope to exploit that atmosphere. It's become a cliche to say so, but it's true: by fueling the narrative of a clash of civilizations and an inevitable war between Islam and the West, this unfortunate trend is empowering extremists on all sides and weakening moderates. That's exactly the dynamic which I warned about here and in my recent Foreign Affairs article, and it's one which counter-terrorism professionals and public diplomacy specialists alike understand needs to be broken before it's too late.
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No Aid Seen in Syrian Town Despite a Deal to Lift Barriers - NYTimes.com - 0 views
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According to antigovernment activists in the town and others familiar with the deal, government security officials had promised in return to bring cooked meals into the town, where doctors and activists say at least half a dozen people have died of malnutrition.
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But in an indication of the difficulty of striking and keeping such pacts in an atmosphere of deep mistrust, by Thursday evening no food had been delivered, rebels in the town were being accused by comrades elsewhere of striking a deal for money, and the planned 48-hour cease-fire appeared to be threatened by clashes between government and rebel fighters.
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The government in recent months has stepped up a strategy of pursuing small-scale local cease-fires even as it continues to bombard rebel-held areas and as prospects for a comprehensive peace settlement appear remote.
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The government says the civilians are being held hostage by the fighters, while activists there say the government is using starvation as a weapon of war against the town, which is just outside the city limits of Damascus, the government-held capital.
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There appeared to be disagreements over the terms. The spokesman for Moadhamiya’s rebel council said initially that the rebels had not agreed to disarm. But later, he and other activists involved in the negotiations said the government would not bring food until rebels gave up their heavy weapons and ejected anyone from the town who was not a legal resident, which would reduce the ranks of rebel fighters.
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residents would establish armed groups whose job would be to protect the town, an arrangement that sounds much like the pro-government militias operating elsewhere. He said the army would not enter the area but instead would guard it from outside. “The army will protect Moadhamiya, but inside the town the residents will protect it,” he said. “They will carry weapons and set up checkpoints to prevent the entrance of strangers who came from around the world to destroy our country.” Another activist who gave only his first name, Ahmed, said clashes had erupted as government forces tried to approach the town, and rebels had fired back. He said they were trying to keep the response low-key to avoid breaking the truce before food arrives.
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No 'clash of civilizations' in Paris attacks - CNN.com - 0 views
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Far from precluding rational understanding, such anger should cause us to demand sensible, productive analysis and to brush aside comments from politicians or pundits that do not live up to the seriousness of the moment. The "clash of civilizations" has become a popularized frame that is wheeled out whenever an attack by Islamic extremists is carried out against a Western target.
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BBC News - Armenia clashes over Russian soldier - 0 views
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At least 12 people have been wounded in clashes in Armenia between police and protesters demanding the handover of a Russian soldier accused of killing six members of a local famil
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The violence erupted when thousands of protesters in Gyumri tried to march on the Russian consulate in Armenia's second-largest city
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Protests demanding that a russian soldier, who killed 6 members of a local family, be handed over.
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Their 1996 clash shaped the gun debate for years. Now they want to reshape it. - The Wa... - 0 views
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The CDC has never returned to funding firearm studies. The agency held firm even when President Obama ordered it to get back to researching “the causes of gun violence” in early 2013, shortly after a gunman killed 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Private funding has not absorbed the slack, either, scientists say. No one, it seems, wants to pick a fight over guns.
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“There’s been so little science on this topic in the last 20 years that there’s no new information to keep the public engaged,” he said. People seem to have forgotten why the research is important. “This isn’t about guns,” he said. “This is about preventing tragedies.”
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Pro-gun groups push for more firearms in more places, such as arming teachers to prevent school shootings. But no one knows whether that will make students safer. The research hasn’t been done.
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The rallying cry on the other side is for “common-sense gun control.” Obama offered his support for this after the mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., early this month. But Rosenberg dismisses these solutions, too. “I don’t think common sense can answer these really tough issues,” he said. Medical literature is littered with solutions that research later proved to be wrong or even harmful, such as gastric freezing to treat stomach ulcers.
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Clash of the Populists - The New York Times - 0 views
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they nonetheless share a common enemy: Not just specific guardians of business as usual, whether Catholic or Republican, but the wider Western ruling class
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the pope and the mogul are now leading critics of the neoliberalism that has governed the West for a generation or more.
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what both Trump and Francis promise — deliverance “from inconvenient and unresponsive institutions, with all their strictures and corruptions” — downplays the value of rules, customs, and traditions in protecting people from the rule of novelty and whim.
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This is always populism’s peril: That it relies too much on the power of charisma, and tears down too much in the quest
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the last thing they have in common in this: Everything that makes them interesting makes them dangerous as well.
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Clash of Republican Con Artists - The New York Times - 0 views
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Republicans are going to nominate a candidate who talks complete nonsense on domestic policy; who believes that foreign policy can be conducted via bullying and belligerence; who cynically exploits racial and ethnic hatred for political gain.
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But that was always going to happen, however the primary season turned out. The only news is that the candidate in question is probably going to be Donald Trump
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is he more fraudulent than the establishment trying to stop him? Not really.
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Donald Trump is a “con artist,” says Marco Rubio — who has promised to enact giant tax cuts, undertake a huge military buildup and balance the budget without any cuts in benefits to Americans over 55.
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“There can be no evasion and no games,” thunders Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House — whose much-hyped budgets are completely reliant on “mystery meat,” that is, it claims trillions of dollars in revenue can be collected by closing unspecified tax loopholes and trillions more saved through unspecified spending cuts.
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Oh, and it’s Ted Cruz, not Mr. Trump, who seems eager to “carpet bomb” people, without appearing to know what that means
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Yes, he’s a con man, but they all are. So why is this con job different from any other? The answer, I’d suggest, is that the establishment’s problem with Mr. Trump isn’t the con he brings; it’s the cons he disrupts.
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First, there’s the con Republicans usually manage to pull off in national elections — the one where they pose as a serious, grown-up party honestly trying to grapple with America’s problems. The truth is that that party died a long time ago, that these days it’s voodoo economics and neocon fantasies all the way down.
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Equally important, the Trump phenomenon threatens the con the G.O.P. establishment has been playing on its own base. I’m talking about the bait and switch in which white voters are induced to hate big government by dog whistles about Those People, but actual policies are all about rewarding the donor class.
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I find the prospect of a Trump administration terrifying, and so should you. But you should also be terrified by the prospect of a President Rubio, sitting in the White House with his circle of warmongers, or a President Cruz, whom one suspects would love to bring back the Spanish Inquisition.
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we should actually welcome Mr. Trump’s ascent. Yes, he’s a con man, but he is also effectively acting as a whistle-blower on other people’s cons. That is, believe it or not, a step forward in these weird, troubled times.
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Trump, Cruz clash over eligibility, 'New York values' at GOP debate | Fox News - 0 views
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The exchanges, at times, seemed to relegate the other five candidates to a debate among themselves, though most on stage put on an energetic performance.
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Iraqi force enters southern oil city to disarm tribal fighters | Reuters - 0 views
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Iraq has sent an armored army division and a police strike force into the southern oil city of Basra to disarm residents amid in
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Iraq has sent an armored army division and a police strike force into the southern oil city of Basra to disarm residents amid intensified feuding among rival Shi'ite Muslim tribes, local officials and security sources said on Friday. The tribal fighting and military response are a sign of the growing problems that could face foreign oil companies, even though they operate far from areas of conflict with Islamic State. "This security operation targets areas north of Basra that have an abundance of tribal clashes and will also include neighborhoods inside Basra city in the future," said Jabar al-Saadi, head of the security committee at the Basra provincial council.
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The GOP's Problems Are Bigger Than Trump - The Atlantic - 0 views
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if Trump starts to seem like he’s hurting the GOP’s popularity more than he is helping it, he has no reserve of personal goodwill or substantive support for his ideas on which to fall back
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Trump’s unpopularity was illustrated most colorfully by an unnamed GOP representative quoted by conservative commentator Erick Erickson. “I say a lot of shit on TV defending him,” the legislator said. “But honestly, I wish the motherfucker would just go away. We’re going to lose the House, lose the Senate, and lose a bunch of states because of him. All his supporters will blame us for what we have or have not done, but he hasn’t led. He wakes up in the morning, shits all over Twitter, shits all over us, shits all over his staff, then hits golf balls. Fuck him. Of course, I can’t say that in public or I’d get run out of town.” The unnamed congressman even declared of the president he has defended on television, “If we’re going to lose because of him, we might as well impeach the motherfucker.”
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The populist right of 1994 to 2014 might have seemed rudderless, insofar as it appeared to drift from the Contract with America to late 1990s anti-interventionism to panicked anti-jihadism to Iraq War boosterism to the Tea Party to Donald Trump-style white nationalism.
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But all the while, its captains were going full-throttle toward a consistent sort of destination that the populist right cared about more than any policy agenda: culture-war clashes with liberal elites.
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Those clashes were like whales: Populist entertainers like Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and Andrew Breitbart could be relied upon to spot the biggest one, take aim, and attempt a ramming maneuver.
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That isn’t to say that various iterations of right-wing populism were without earnest adherents of substance
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But anti-leftist ressentiment was always the lodestar of right-wing populism, so much so that successive iterations could be substantively different or even contradictory, yet still be led by the same entertainers and backed by similar coalitions.
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Who could champion George W. Bush and Donald J. Trump as if there were no contradiction in doing so? Rush Limbaugh, for one. And much of his audience.
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“Paradoxically, the right’s ideological diversity is often what breeds intellectual conformity,” Douthat wrote in 2010. “It’s precisely because American conservatism represents a motley assortment of political tendencies united primarily by their opposition to liberalism that conservatives are often too quick to put their (legitimate, important and worth-debating) differences aside in the quest to slay the liberal dragon. After all, slaying liberalism is why they got together in the first place!”
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that brings us to the bad news for the Republican Party: Dumping Trump won’t actually get rid of the pathologies that made his rise to president possible. Republicans will remain vulnerable to takeover by charismatic hucksters without a substantively constructive policy agenda, an ability to successfully govern, or a vision for a coalition that transcends ressentiment
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And the populist entertainers will keep getting filthy rich in the process.It is they who’ve come closer to taking over the GOP.
Data Clashes With Emotion As CPAC Immigration Panel Goes Off The Rails - Talking Points... - 0 views
talkingpointsmemo.com/...ation-panel-goes-off-the-rails
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The Roots of Muslim Rage - The Atlantic - 0 views
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Islam is one of the world's great religions. Let me be explicit about what I, as a historian of Islam who is not a Muslim, mean by that
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Islam has brought comfort and peace of mind to countless millions of men and women. It has given dignity and meaning to drab and impoverished lives. It has taught people of different races to live in brotherhood and people of different creeds to live side by side in reasonable tolerance
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It inspired a great civilization in which others besides Muslims lived creative and useful lives and which, by its achievement, enriched the whole world
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But Islam, like other religions, has also known periods when it inspired in some of its followers a mood of hatred and violence. It is our misfortune that part, though by no means all or even most, of the Muslim world is now going through such a period
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At times this hatred goes beyond hostility to specific interests or actions or policies or even countries and becomes a rejection of Western civilization as such, not only what it does but what it is, and the principles and values that it practices and professes. These are indeed seen as innately evil, and those who promote or accept them as the "enemies of God.
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It must surely be clear that what won support for such totally diverse doctrines was not Nazi race theory, which can have had little appeal for Arabs, or Soviet atheistic communism, which can have had little appeal for Muslims, but rather their common anti-Westernism
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In the classical Islamic view, to which many Muslims are beginning to return, the world and all mankind are divided into two: the House of Islam, where the Muslim law and faith prevail, and the rest, known as the House of Unbelief or the House of War, which it is the duty of Muslims ultimately to bring to Islam
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But the greater part of the world is still outside Islam, and even inside the Islamic lands, according to the view of the Muslim radicals, the faith of Islam has been undermined and the law of Islam has been abrogated. The obligation of holy war therefore begins at home and continues abroad, against the same infidel enemy.
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Like every other civilization known to human history, the Muslim world in its heyday saw itself as the center of truth and enlightenment, surrounded by infidel barbarians whom it would in due course enlighten and civilize.
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Among the components in the mood of anti-Westernism, and more especially of anti-Americanism, were certain intellectual influences coming from Europe
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One of these was from Germany, where a negative view of America formed part of a school of thought by no means limited to the Nazis but including writers as diverse as Rainer Maria Rilke, Ernst Junger, and Martin Heidegger. In this perception, America was the ultimate example of civilization without culture
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German philosophy, and particularly the philosophy of education, enjoyed a considerable vogue among Arab and some other Muslim intellectuals in the thirties and early forties, and this philosophic anti-Americanism was part of the message.
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sophy, even more anti-American, took its place—the Soviet version of Marxism, with a denunciation of Western capitalism
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Not all the ideas imported from the West by Western intruders or native Westernizers have been rejected. Some have been accepted by even the most radical Islamic fundamentalists, usually without acknowledgment of source, and suffering a sea change into something rarely rich but often strange
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The cause most frequently adduced for anti-American feeling among Muslims today is American support for Israel. This support is certainly a factor of importance
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Despite this monotheism, Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, was at various stages influenced, especially in Iran, by the dualist idea of a cosmic clash of good and evil, light and darkness, order and chaos, truth and falsehood, God and the Adversary, variously known as devil, Iblis, Satan, and by other names.
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More than ever before it is Western capitalism and democracy that provide an authentic and attractive alternative to traditional ways of thought and life. Fundamentalist leaders are not mistaken in seeing in Western civilization the greatest challenge to the way of life that they wish to retain or restore for their people.
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Ultimately, the struggle of the fundamentalists is against two enemies, secularism and modernism. The war against secularism is conscious and explicit, and there is by now a whole literature denouncing secularism as an evil neo-pagan force in the modern world and attributing it variously to the Jews, the West, and the United States.
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The war against modernity is for the most part neither conscious nor explicit, and is directed against the whole process of change that has taken place in the Islamic world in the past century or more and has transformed the political, economic, social, and even cultural structures of Muslim countries.
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Islamic fundamentalism has given an aim and a form to the otherwise aimless and formless resentment and anger of the Muslim masses at the forces that have devalued their traditional values and loyalties and, in the final analysis, robbed them of their beliefs, their aspirations, their dignity, and to an increasing extent even their livelihood.
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The instinct of the masses is not false in locating the ultimate source of these cataclysmic changes in the West and in attributing the disruption of their old way of life to the impact of Western domination, Western influence, or Western precept and example.
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And since the United States is the legitimate heir of European civilization and the recognized and unchallenged leader of the West, the United States has inherited the resulting grievances and become the focus for the pent-up hate and anger.
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It should by now be clear that we are facing a mood and a movement far transcending the level of issues and policies and the governments that pursue them.
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This is no less than a clash of civilizations—the perhaps irrational but surely historic reaction of an ancient rival against our Judeo-Christian heritage, our secular present, and the worldwide expansion of both
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It is crucially important that we on our side should not be provoked into an equally historic but also equally irrational reaction against that rival.
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Another explanation, more often heard from Muslim dissidents, attributes anti-American feeling to American support for hated regimes, seen as reactionary by radicals, as impious by conservatives, as corrupt and tyrannical by both. This accusation has some plausibility
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One such was political freedom, with the associated notions and practices of representation, election, and constitutional government. Even the Islamic Republic of Iran has a written constitution and an elected assembly
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Muslim states have also retained many of the cultural and social customs of the West and the symbols that express them, such as the form and style of male (and to a much lesser extent female) clothing, notably in the military.
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The movement nowadays called fundamentalism is not the only Islamic tradition. There are others, more tolerant, more open, that helped to inspire the great achievements of Islamic civilization in the past, and we may hope that these other traditions will in time prevail
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But before this issue is decided there will be a hard struggle, in which we of the West can do little or nothing
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To this end we must strive to achieve a better appreciation of other religious and political cultures, through the study of their history, their literature, and their achievements
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For Hong Kong's Youth, Protests Are 'a Matter of Life and Death' - The New York Times - 0 views
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For the many high-school and university-age students who flooded the streets, the issue is much bigger than extradition alone. As they see it, they are fighting a “final battle” for some semblance of autonomy from the Chinese government.
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young people in Hong Kong feel less affinity with mainland China and are more likely to see themselves as having a distinct Hong Kong — as opposed to Chinese — identity. Beijing’s efforts to grapple with this have backfired; when officials tried to impose a patriotic education curriculum in schools in 2012, young people led the protests against it.
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Many young protesters see the extradition bill as hurting the territory’s judicial independence — in their view, the last vestige of insulation they now have from Beijing’s influence.
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The most prominent leaders of what became known as the Umbrella Movement or Occupy Central were jailed, and their legions of young supporters were left bitterly disenchanted.
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the extradition fight, he added, is “a matter of life and death.”
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“The extradition law is a danger to our lives,” said Zack Ho, 17, a high school student who helped organize a boycott of classes. “Once this passes, our rule of law would be damaged beyond repair.”
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Who’s going to be quite so willing, openly, to take six years of jail as the prize for the protests?” said Claudia Mo, a pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmaker, referring to a sentence handed down last year to Edward Leung, a local activist, for his role in a 2016 clash between protesters and the police.
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“They came out not for personal interests but for the greater ideal of Hong Kong,” said Ms. Wong. “A good mother shall listen to her own child, and apparently Carrie Lam refuses to do so.”
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“Fear is striking in all of our hearts,” said Mr. Leung, the student union president, referring to the possibility of being prosecuted
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Analysts say that if demonstrations descend into violence, the authorities would have an easy excuse to prosecute young protesters, discredit them as radicals or attack them with a vengeance.
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“Sometimes I think to myself, is it because I have not done enough? What else could have been done?” said So Hiu-ching, a 16-year-old high schooler who attended a student strike at a park near government offices on Monday morning.“I go home and cry,” she said, “but after that, I have to get up and try to rally more people.”
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Culture Clash at a Chinese-Owned Plant in Ohio - The New York Times - 0 views
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Culture Clash at a Chinese-Owned Plant in Ohio
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But now the Chinese were suddenly creating them. More than 1,500 jobs, in fact.
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From 2000 to the first quarter of this year, the Chinese have invested almost $120 billion in the United States, according to the Rhodium Group, which tracks these flows. Nearly half of that amount has come since early 2016, making China one of this country’s largest sources of foreign direct investment during that time.
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The union, which began meeting with workers in 2015, escalated its public efforts in April with a fiery meeting highlighting arbitrarily enforced rules and retaliation against those who speak up.
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The company reached an agreement in March that reduced the amount to $100,000 and required corrective measures.
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In 2014, a Chinese copper tube maker called Golden Dragon opened a plant in Wilcox County, Ala., to Fuyao-esque fanfare, investing more than $100 million to create an anticipated 300 local jobs. By the end of the year, amid complaints about lax safety and low wages, workers narrowly voted to unionize.
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Mr. Vanetti said that Fuyao remained committed to its original four-to-five-year timetable for handing the plant to a predominantly American management corps, and that it recently hired two more American vice presidents.
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Protesters Across Europe Clash With Police Over COVID-19 Lockdowns : NPR - 0 views
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Anger at restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus pandemic swept into the streets of Europe on Saturday.German police used water cannons, pepper spray and clubs on protesters rallying over the coronavirus lockdown in the town of Kassel in central Germany where demonstrators numbered some 20,000. Protests against government measures to rein in the pandemic were also reported in Austria, Britain, Finland, Romania and Switzerland.
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Germany faces a surge of COVID-19 infections as a more contagious variant of the virus has spread. Experts say it highlights the need to accelerate vaccinations.But a botched vaccine rollout appears to have deepened distrust against the German government. The suspension of AstraZeneca vaccine was the latest hurdle in Germany's efforts to vaccinate its population of 83 million.
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After a three-day pause in using AstraZeneca, Germany is now trying to right the course.
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But it didn't stop thousands of people attending anti-lockdown demonstrations in London on Saturday.
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Britain's speedy vaccine rollout — it was the first in the world to administer a fully tested vaccine — has been a surprise success for the government of Boris Johnson, who has received heavy criticism for his response to the virus.
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"at the start of the pandemic Germany was a global model for how to manage it." But a year into it, the opposite appears to the case. Just 8.5% of Germans received their first shot, as of Friday, far behind other nations including the U.S. and the U.K.
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In Hyde Park, police were forced back into their vans as demonstrators lobbed bottles and cans at them. The BBC reported that few protesters appeared to be wearing masks. London Metropolitan Police said 36 people had been arrested during the rallies, most of them involving violations of COVID-19 regulations.
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The protests came the same day as 60 members of parliament urged the home secretary to ease restrictions on demonstrations. Due to coronavirus restrictions, it's currently unlawful for groups to gather for the purpose of protest. But the measures came under direct assault this week.
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The outcry over lockdowns has combined with a groundswell of rage at the abduction and death of Sarah Everard, a 33-year old woman who went missing earlier this month while walking home. Her body was found a week later, and a serving police officer has been charged with her murder. Police are under scrutiny for their alleged heavy-handed tactics in breaking up a well-attended outdoor vigil for Everard last Saturday that ignited three nights of protests.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reportedly planning to introduce a controversial new law banning protests that are noisy or cause "serious annoyance," and would carry a maximum jail term of 10 years.
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Trump's clash with GOP over using his name in fundraising ignites midterm worries - CNN... - 0 views
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Donald Trump's push to route his supporters' money through his own political apparatus, rather than traditional Republican campaign committees, has ignited fears among GOP donors and operatives that the former president could hamstring the party's efforts to win House and Senate majorities in next year's midterm elections.
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Letters in recent days from Trump's lawyers to the Republican National Committee and the party's House and Senate campaign arms have warned against using Trump's name to raise money.
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"No more money for RINOS," Trump said in a Monday evening statement. "They do nothing but hurt the Republican Party and our great voting base--they will never lead us to Greatness. Send your donation to Save America PAC at DonaldJTrump.com. We will bring it all back stronger than ever before!"
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"I fully support the Republican Party and important GOP Committees, but I do not support RINOs and fools, and it is not their right to use my likeness or image to raise funds," Trump said in the statement.
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"If you control the money, you control the party," Republican donor Dan Eberhart told CNN on Tuesday. "Trump has effectively stunted the RNC, NRCC and NRSC this cycle because they are going to have to spend an awful lot of time worrying about friendly fire from the MAGA crowd."
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"The MAGA endorsement is going to loom large this cycle for everyone. When Trump puts his finger on the scales, it may prove decisive in a lot of races," said Eberhart, who said he is considering a Senate run in Arizona. "There is going to be a lot of consternation when Trump backs a different candidate than the NRSC and the NRCC in primary races. Serious people are going to get burned."
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The RNC's chief counsel, J. Justin Reimer, told Trump's lawyers the RNC has "every right to refer to public figures" in its political speech and will "continue to do so."
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Trump's lawyers also sent the same cease-and-desist request to the NRCC and the NRSC. A spokesman from the NRCC declined to comment and a spokeswoman from the NRSC did not respond to a request for comment.
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"The desire is to have it both ways, where you get the former president's voters, not his baggage," said a GOP campaign strategist who requested anonymity to speak candidly about Republican incentives.
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As a consequence, Trump's clash with party leaders "will have very little -- if any effect -- on major donors," she told CNN in an interview Tuesday.
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"They are less concerned about a former president's agenda, or frankly, making him feel good," she added.
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After losing the election last November, Trump amassed millions of dollars for his own political action committee as he promoted falsehoods about election fraud -- instead of plowing funds into twin US Senate races in Georgia. In the end, the Republicans lost the runoffs in early January, along with their majority in the chamber.
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"He's all about himself. He's not about building or supporting the party."
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He Is Israel's 'Prince of Torah.' But to Some, He Is the King of Covid. - The New York ... - 0 views
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Yet despite his seeming detachment from worldly life, Rabbi Kanievsky has become one of the most consequential and controversial people in Israel today.
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The spiritual leader of hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews, Rabbi Kanievsky has landed at the center of tensions over the coronavirus between the Israeli mainstream and its growing ultra-Orthodox minority.
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Throughout the pandemic, the authorities have clashed with the ultra-Orthodox over their resistance to antivirus protocols, particularly their early refusal to close schools or limit crowds at religious events
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Twice, during the first and second waves of the pandemic in Israel, he rejected state-imposed antivirus protocols and would not order his followers to close their yeshivas, independent religious schools where students gather in close quarters to study Jewish Scripture.
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If anything, he said, the pandemic made prayer and study even more essential.
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Both times he eventually relented, and it is unlikely that he played as big a role in spreading the virus as he was accused of, but the damage was done.
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Many public health experts say that the ultra-Orthodox — who account for about 12 percent of the population but 28 percent of the coronavirus infections, according to Israeli government statistics — have undermined the national effort against the coronavirus.
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Ultra-Orthodox society is not monolithic, and other prominent leaders were far quicker to comply with antivirus regulations. Ultra-Orthodox leaders say the majority of their followers have obeyed the rules although their typically large families, living in tight quarters under what is now the third national lockdown, have inevitably contributed to the spread of the contagion.
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But he has contributed to one of the biggest-ever showdowns between the Israeli mainstream and the ultra-Orthodox, also known as Haredim.
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In the past, he said, ultra-Orthodox leaders have tried to avoid direct confrontation with the state.
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His pedigree adds to his prestige: His father and uncle were legendary spiritual leaders. But it is his relentless Torah study that gives the rabbi his authority — his followers believe his encyclopedic knowledge of Jewish teachings endows him with a near-mystical ability to offer religious guidance.
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It is this devotion to religious study that made Rabbi Kanievsky — sometimes nicknamed the ‘Prince of Torah’ — so reluctant to tell his followers to close their yeshivas at the start of the pandemic.
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“There is now a great epidemic in the world, a disease called corona and it affects many people,” one grandson shouted in the rabbi’s ear last year, following a question from a visitor, according to a video of the conversation. “He asks what they should take upon themselves so this disease does not get to them and there are no problems.”
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Several weeks into the pandemic, the rabbi ordered his followers to obey social distancing guidelines, even equating scofflaws to murderers. In June, he said face masks were a religious obligation. In December, he gave his blessing to the vaccine, not long after recovering from the virus himself. In recent days he condemned a group of Haredi youths who clashed with police officers trying to enforce coronavirus regulations.
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It is usually Yanki who shapes the way questions are put to the rabbi, potentially influencing the way that he might answer them.
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But without speaking to the rabbi directly, it is hard to know exactly what he thinks.