It's Ugly Out There

From the halls of Congress to Gaza and Western capitals, there's not a lot of great news to report.

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.

The House Is In Order (ish)

So we finally have a House Speaker, Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

Yesterday, Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota won the Speaker nod from the House GOP caucus around noon … and by 4:00 PM, he was toast and, in large measure, because Donald Trump accused him of being a RINO. Not surprisingly, the real reason is that Trump thinks Emmer has not been supportive enough of him and even dared to criticize Trump after he incited an insurrection that put Emmer's life at risk.  As always, everything in Trump’s world is about Trump.

Once Emmer had lost his support, there was no hope for him. It's not that Trump's an unquestioned king-maker. After all, he supported Jim Jordan's bid for Speaker and that didn’t work out. But losing Trump meant that at least 5 House Republicans would abandon Emmer. By the evening, Mike Johnson had replaced Emmer as the new Speaker-designate, and on Wednesday, our long national nightmare had ended.

And a new one began. From a small "d" democratic standpoint, Johnson is a trainwreck. He voted against certifying the 2020 election. In fact, according to the New York Times, he "was an architect of Republicans' objections to certifying the victory of Joseph R. Biden Jr. on January 6, 2021." Johnson even defended his and Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election as the January 6 insurrection was happening. He supports a federal abortion ban, is the author of a nationwide "Don't Say Gay" bill, and is a climate denier. In short, he's an even more extreme Republican than Kevin McCarthy and, arguably, Jim Jordan.

Nonetheless, "moderate" Republicans threw their support behind him. I assume the reason is that they and their colleagues simply got tired of the situation and just wanted to move on. But Johnson is so extreme he will do no favors politically for the 18 Republicans in districts won by Biden. Moreover, he is not a fan of aid to Ukraine, and he supported a government shutdown last month, which will set up some ugly legislative debates over the next few weeks on keeping the government open and maintaining the US commitment to Kyiv.

But at the very least, we have a Speaker and a semi-functional federal government, and in this day and age, that's a significant accomplishment.

Angry Jews

For MSNBC, I wrote about the raw feelings anger that so many American Jews feel after the murder of 1400 Israelis — and the lack of solidarity from our supposed progressive allies.

After a week of furiously texting with my Jewish and Israeli friends, doomscrolling on social media and reading one heartbreaking and horrific story after another about the lives lost in the Oct. 7 massacre, I felt, as a Jew, alone.

But like many American Jews, I also felt betrayed. Rather than a full-throated condemnation of the slaughter in Israel, far too many supposedly progressive allies held their powder. They provided “context” or argued both sides were to blame and offered a host of “yes, but” responses …. Others placed all the “responsibility” on Israel, while some particularly depraved souls actually celebrated the massacre, posting pictures of paragliders with Palestinian flags as if Hamas’ barbarism was not only justified but a cause for celebration.

But my palpable feelings of abandonment and isolation are hardly unique these days. American Jews are angry. They feel abandoned and discarded, their suffering again ignored. But many are now finding their voice and demanding that the political left (where most Jews feel at home) finally start taking antisemitism seriously.

These are challenging times for American Jews.

Not only have we been traumatized by the events in Israel, but many of us are dealing with palpable feelings of abandonment from our progressive allies. To be clear, antisemitism definitely plays a role, but it’s also a bit more complicated. The left is overwhelmingly pro-peace and anti-war — and so any use of military force that will lead to civilian casualties will be viewed skeptically. In addition, there is strong and long-standing opposition on the left to Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians (and enormous hostility toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu). It is difficult for people to turn that off, even in the face of Hamas’s barbarism.

Still, that doesn’t justify this.

“Free Palestine From the River To Sea" is a call to eliminate Israel and its Jewish population. It's a rallying call for Hamas.

It also doesn't justify ripping down photos of kidnapped Israeli hostages, which has seemingly become an international movement over the past week.

Antisemitism is a real thing, and over the past two weeks, it's been shocking to watch anti-Jewish hatred unfold in such an ugly and obvious way. But beyond the loudmouths and Jew haters, there are lots of people who find this situation not just unbearable but also unresolvable.

For example, it is more than reasonable to express fears about the effects on civilians of an Israeli military offensive in Gaza. But we must balance those concerns with a recognition that Israel has a duty and a responsibility to protect its citizens from Hamas terrorism. Calling Israel's actions genocidal or ethnic cleansing is not only historically ignorant, but it also obviates Hamas's agency in precipitating the current crisis and ignores the trauma created by their actions.

At the same time, supporters of Israel cannot simply wave away the loss of innocent life that will take place in Gaza or the role that Israel has played — and continues to play — in promulgating the conflict. I can, for example, argue that Israel has a right to self-defense and that its 17-year siege of Gaza is justified by Hamas's murderous intentions while at the same time pointing out that its settlement policy (and the significant increase in Palestinian deaths at the hands of settlers over the past few months) is not just unacceptable but also a moral abomination. It is, quite simply, indefensible, and no defender of Israel can and should argue otherwise.

I've long argued that if someone blames one side and one side only for the Israel/Palestine conflict, ignore them. There is plenty of blame on both sides, and recognizing the culpability that exists in Israel and Palestine is essential. So, too, is having empathy for the trauma that exists among Israelis and Palestinians.

Et Tu, Meadows?