'Violent resistance has failed Palestinians'
'Violence has failed Palestinians'
John Aziz in Foreign Policy
"The path to Palestinian statehood has been crushed beneath an avalanche of bombs, bullets, smoke, and fire," says John Aziz. The "slaughter of civilians" — in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack and "the subsequent war" with Israel in Gaza — has obliterated "what little hard-earned trust there was between Israelis and Palestinians." Violence "has failed Palestinians — and empowered extremists in Israel." Hardliners on both sides reject a two-state solution, but nobody has "the right to extinguish their neighbor's self-governance."
'Biden's defense budget is designed for an alternate reality'
Washington Examiner editorial board
President Joe Biden advocates strong U.S. world leadership, but his 2025 defense budget request "shows he's unwilling to put his money where his mouth is," says the Washington Examiner editorial board. He has promised to defend NATO and Taiwan, and maintain "military readiness" to confront "proxy attacks" in the Middle East as Israel remains at war. Yet Biden's $850 billion 2025 defense budget represents less than a 1% increase over 2024, less than inflation.
'Ours is the most wasteful civilization in history. Here's how to stop that'
Edward Humes in the Los Angeles Times
The root of "the looming calamities of climate change, plastic pollution, the energy crisis and our whole environmental doom-scroll" is "something we actually can fix," says Edward Humes. "The planet is fighting a single archvillain: Waste." Forty percent of our food industry's output "ends up as garbage." We squander two-thirds of our "fossil-fuel-dominated" energy. We should be able to unite on policies and personal choices to fight this. "There's no partisan divide where one side says, 'Yay waste!'"
'It's time for Kamala Harris to shine'
Julian Zelizer at CNN
Vice President Kamala Harris is pushing "to get Democrats excited about backing the president again," says Julian Zelizer. Her visit to a Minnesota abortion provider, a first for a president or vice president, showed that abortion rights will be a "pillar" of this effort to connect with "key constituencies" like young and Black voters, and suburban women "energized" by the "draconian rollback of reproductive services." The more the once-sidelined Harris can "shine," the better President Joe Biden's chances.
