I’m Michael A. Cohen, and this is Truth and Consequences: A no-holds-barred look at the absurdities, hypocrisies, and surreality. If you were sent this email or are a free subscriber and would like to become a paid subscriber, you can sign up here.
If money is tight or you’re already up to eyeballs in subscriptions, here’s another idea — share this article. Email it to a friend (or even an enemy). Post it on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Text or email it to your wife, husband, mother, father, brother, sister, or even your creepy second cousin in Buenos Aires. Word of mouth is often the best way to build support for a creative endeavor, so if everyone here sends it to just one person … it would be much appreciated!
Is Peace A Possibility?
For MSNBC, I wrote about why calls for a cease-fire in Gaza are deeply misguided — and strategically misdirected.
After Oct. 7, Israel cannot accept a Hamas government on its border that is capable of such barbarism. No country would. War, for all its abject cruelty, is tragically the only response to an atrocity on the scale of Oct. 7 and to an enemy so intent on committing such barbarism. Even the cruelest of conflicts sometimes are necessary.
But Hamas’ weakening or even demise has the potential to create the opportunity for a resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Pressuring Israel to lower its guns against Hamas is the wrong strategy.
Instead, pressure would be more effective if focused on issues where Israel has no good legal or moral defense — for example, its appalling and tacit support for Israeli settlers uprooting Palestinian villages in the West Bank, and its reluctance to move forward on serious negotiations over a two-state solution and Palestinian self-determination.
As I’ve written here numerous times, Israel is on solid ground in waging war against Gaza and seeking to eradicate Hamas’s presence in the enclave. Where Israel has no real defense is in its current settlement policies in the West Bank. And where it will have no good defense in the future is in dragging its feet on negotiating toward a two-state solution.
If Israel is successful in its military offensive, though, there is no good argument for refusing to negotiate in good faith with the Palestinians. This is where an international pressure campaign on Israel to resolve the conflict could be effective — and frankly, it makes more sense than attacking Israel in the one place where it’s on solid legal and moral ground: wiping out Hamas.
Obviously, this is not going to happen because Gaza has now become a cause celebre for the activist left, but this is where the focus of the US government, the EU, and others needs to shift eventually. (The US, as a trusted actor because of its support for Israel over the past few weeks, can play a crucial role here.). With Hamas out of the picture or severely weakened, it creates a political opening for a more moderate Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, which is corrupt and decrepit but, to its credit, has recognized Israel’s right to exist and long-abided by the terms of the Oslo agreement.
None of this can happen without Benjamin Netanyahu’s departure from government, but if he is forced out (and most Israelis want him gone) and there is a sea change in Israeli attitudes (for which there is some historical precedent and some green shoots of optimism that I note in the piece), then it creates a political opportunity. For years, Israel has said it can’t make peace or allow for a Palestinian state because of the threat from Hamas. But if Hamas is severely weakened, it will be far more difficult for Israel to make that argument. As October 7 showed, the status quo is not sustainable, and without a peaceful resolution to the Israel/Palestine conflict, Israel can never truly be safe.
If both sides are willing to take advantage of the opportunity created by a weakened or destroyed Hamas, it might be the best chance for a political solution in the past 25 years.
Well, This Is Scary
As I wrote on Twitter, I preferred this recent Trump statement in its original German.
The response of Trump’s spokesman to press inquiries about this post was … something else.
Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, told The Post “those who try to make that ridiculous assertion are clearly snowflakes grasping for anything because they are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome and their entire existence will be crushed when President Trump returns to the White House.”
A pledge to crush his opponents isn’t exactly the best way to reassure people that Trump is not openly embracing fascism.
To be clear, I’ve, at times, been a bit sanguine about the threat Trump represents to democracy in America. As I’ve pointed out in the past, when he tried to overturn the 2020 election, the system largely held, as precious few Republicans were willing to go along with him. And I find the unceasing media criticism that demands political reporters spend all their time decrying Trump and defending democracy to be, at times, overwrought.
But this is different. Putting aside the incoherence of calling Democrats both Communists AND Fascists, it’s generally never a good thing when a leading political figure refers to his opponents as “vermin.”
This is deeply dangerous language and less so because of what I think Trump will do in office (though that is reason to be afraid) and more because of what might unfold over the next 12 months. Trump telling his supporters (many of whom are gun owners) that Democrats are vermin is the kind of rhetoric that could get people killed. I doubt Republican elected officials will condemn it, but that doesn’t mean reporters should not push to get every single one of them on the record, asking whether they agree with their titular party leader. Trump is playing with fire here, and, as usual, his fellow Republicans are cowardly refusing to speak up.
What’s even more concerning about Trump’s language is that the 2024 election is still a year away. If Trump is using this kind of venomous language now … what will he say as we get closer to the election?
What’s Going On
Things are heating up for NYC Mayor Eric Adams … and not in a good way.
“Federal authorities are investigating whether Mayor Eric Adams, weeks before his election two years ago, pressured New York Fire Department officials to sign off on the Turkish government’s new high-rise consulate in Manhattan despite safety concerns with the building, three people with knowledge of the matter said.”
Good piece in the Times of Israel on why Israelis need to see the humanity of those getting killed in Gaza.
The details of what Hamas was planning on October 7 are increasingly unsettling.
Ohio Republicans appear to have less than stellar respect for the will of the state’s voters.
Tim Scott is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. I suppose there are things you can say about what Scott did wrong, but ultimately, no one was going to beat Trump. Maybe Scott will have better luck in 2028.
Musical Interlude
I couldn’t decide which version of this song I preferred … so I used both!
To all the Progressives deluding themselves into voting for Cornell West or nobody in 2024: don't. Vote Biden. Vote for the old guy who has trouble speaking and isn't that energetic. It's important