Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is poised to remain prime minister as a result of Sunday’s inconclusive national elections in which the center-right Popular Party won the most votes but was left with no clear path to form a government.
As expected, none of Spain’s major parties secured a governing majority. With 99 percent of the votes tallied, the Popular Party had 136 seats, the Socialists 122, the far-right Vox 33, and the left-wing Sumar 31.
Prior to the vote, conservative leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo indicated that he would be willing to form a coalition government with Vox, but both parties fell short of the 176 seats needed to control the Spanish parliament.
There is no scenario in which Spanish MPs would back a minority government composed of the Popular Party and Vox, and Feijóo does not appear to have enough support among the country’s smaller, regional parties to cobble together the support he would need for minority rule on his own.
The outcome opens the door to Sánchez remaining in power...
Associated good news: the far-right Vox party absolutely cratered, going from 55 seats to 33.
... Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul bill, which had been shelved in the spring after massive protests brought Israel to a standstill, is now moving rapidly through the Knesset, despite mass protests and threats from Israeli military reservists (including elite fighter pilots and commandos) to refuse to report for duty if it passes. If the bill is approved, which might happen as soon as this week, Israel will lose one of its few checks on majoritarian tyranny, because the Israeli Supreme Court will no longer be able to override legislation on the (admittedly amorphous) grounds that it is not “reasonable.” The court has incurred the wrath of the right by overruling mass exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox from compulsory military service, limiting the expansion of illegal West Bank settlements and blocking Netanyahu from appointing to his cabinet the leader of an ultra-Orthodox party who was convicted of tax evasion, fraud and bribery.
Soon Bibi and his far-right cabinet are likely to have a free hand to enact even more of their ultranationalist agenda despite their ultrathin electoral majority — with dire consequences not only for Israeli democracy but also for Israel’s security...
We agree with the author: Netanyahu is Israel's number 1 security threat.
The DeSantis campaign deleted a video that flashed a number of concerning images. Just a few weeks ago, another video surfaced using photos of shirtless men previously mocked by Secretary Pete Buttigieg. In the latest video, however, a Nazi symbol flashes on the screen with a row of marching soldiers on either side of it and Gov. Ron DeSantis' face fading in.
Podcast host Luke Thompson of "Constitutionally Speaking" spotted the symbol and explained it is a sonnenrad. The symbol is an ancient European symbol used by Nazis while idealizing "Aryan/Norse" cultures, explained the Anti-Defamation League.
"In Nazi Germany, the Nazi Party, the SA and the SS all used sonnenrad symbology at times, which has led neo-Nazis and other modern white supremacists to adopt such images," the group explained.
In DeSantis' version, the outer part of the circle says "Make America Florida," which has been his slogan.
While the campaign deleted the video, Thompson reposted it, ensuring the campaign couldn't deny it existed.
DeSantis has had troubles with Nazis over the past few years that he's been in office. In 2023, he hired a speechwriter with ties to neo-Nazis. After DeSantis waged war with Disney, neo-Nazis began protesting outside the park south of Orlando. The move came after a number of neo-Nazi groups started popping up around the state.
At least one columnist has warned that no one should ever expect DeSantis to denounce neo-Nazis or white supremacists.
Ironically, one neo-Nazi told a reporter that their groups use "woke grievances" to recruit angry white men to their cause. DeSantis has adopted a similar campaign effort...
When they tell you who they are...
