The good:
Turkey's main opposition party has claimed big election victories in the main cities of Istanbul and Ankara.
The
results are a significant blow for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had hoped
to regain control of the cities less than a year after he claimed a
third term as president.
He led the campaign to win in Istanbul, where he grew up and became mayor.
But Ekrem Imamoglu, who first won the city in 2019, scored a second victory for the secular opposition CHP.
Mr
Erdogan had vowed a new era in Turkey's megacity of almost 16 million
people, but the incumbent mayor of Istanbul secured more than 50% of the
vote, defeating the president's AK Party candidate by more than 11
points and almost one million votes.
This
was also the first time since Mr Erdogan came to power 21 years ago
that his party was defeated across the country at the ballot box.
In
the capital Ankara, opposition mayor Mansur Yavas was so far ahead of
his rival on 60% that he declared victory when less than half the votes
were in. Supporters blocked all the main roads in the city, waving flags
and sounding their car horns.
Significantly,
the CHP - the Republican People's Party - also seized control of
Turkey's fourth-biggest city Bursa and Balikesir in the north-west, and
retained control of Izmir, Adana and the resort of Antalya.
President
Erdogan, 70, acknowledged the election had not gone as he had hoped,
but he told supporters in Ankara it would mark "not an end for us but
rather a turning point"... (our emphasis)
The only "turning point" we want to see is turning authoritarian Erdogan out of office (his term ends in 2028, and this defeat means he's less likely to try and stay in power like another authoritarian we loathe).
The bad:
Michigan U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg suggested that nuclear weapons should
be dropped on Gaza, which his office said was a metaphor to “support
Israel’s swift elimination of Hamas.”
“It should be like Nagasaki
and Hiroshima. Get it over quick,” Walberg says in a video circulating
on social media, referencing the Japanese cities that the U.S. dropped
atomic bombs on at the end of World War II.
Walberg, a Republican
from Lenawee County, also is heard in the video speaking out against
humanitarian aid for those in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory
on the brink of famine after more than five months of Israel's war
against Hamas, militant group that set off the conflict with its Oct. 7
attack on Israeli citizens, killing 1,200 and taking 240 hostages.
“We shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid," Walberg said.
Walberg
spokesman Mike Rorke said Saturday the eight-term congressman’s answer
was in direct response to a question about American troops being
deployed into Gaza to build a port to send aid to Palestinians...
Walberg is one of the worst of the worst; in other words, he falls right into the mainstream of his rotted out party. In addition to his reckless talk and Islamophobia, he's an election denier, a climate change denier, a forced- birther, anti- same sex marriage, and an Obama birther conspiracist. To the folks in Michigan's 5th Congressional District: you are who you vote for.
The ugly:
On Monday, thousands of children and their families will gather on the White House South Lawn for the annual Egg Roll, an Easter tradition that dates back to the nineteenth century.
But this year’s celebrations have been marred as Republican politicians and commentators falsely accused President Joe Biden’s administration
of banning religious themes and symbols from the celebration’s art
contest — failing to note that the policy has been in place during every
administration for almost 50 years.
Much of the backlash began after Fox News published
an article with the headline, “Religious-themed designs banned from
White House Easter egg art contest,” citing a poster about the event
that said religious symbols and themes are banned from submissions. Mr
Trump shared the article on his social media platform, Truth Social — however, he did not comment on the article in his post.
The rule, however, began in 1978 under former president Jimmy Carter — and has remained in place ever since, including during Donald Trump’s administration.
The
Fox News article and subsequent reaction prompted Elizabeth Alexander,
Communications Director for First Lady Jill Biden, to explain
the rule had been in place for 45 years. Then, the American Egg Board —
an organisation that helps facilitate the event — had to make their own
statement clarifying the rule had been enforced by previous presidents.
“The
American Egg Board has been a supporter of the White House Easter Egg
Roll for over 45 years and the guideline language referenced in recent
news reports has consistently applied to the board since its founding,
across administrations,” the organisation said... (our emphasis)
The article goes on to quote some of the high-minded Christofascist supporters of the Orange Calf, eager to get another phony culture war started over ... the Easter Egg Roll. What a bunch of small- bore cretins. (More on the "stupid-dangerous" effort to rile up the rubes here.)
