Friday, January 5, 2024

David Soul and Glynis Johns have passed

I'm covering two deaths in this post.  First, David Soul.


David Soul was a huge disappointment.  I was a kid when Starsky and Hutch aired on ABC.  I watched the show, all the kids did.  It had a great Ford Gran Torino red car with a white stripe.  It had a great theme song.  The Guardian gets it wrong:


Trying to explain the appeal of Starsky and Hutch to the younger generations, one often falls back on: well, we only had three channels then. With the death of David Soul, aged 80, it’s tempting to repurpose that to explain his popularity, which at times was so intense as to cause a Beatlemania-style moral panic, the New York Times worrying in 1977 that his audiences emitted a “continual squealing”. It was the 70s, and we only had four types of men then: classically handsome, ruggedly handsome, special-interest handsome and funny.


No, it had nothing to do with only having three channels.  American Girls was a 1978 show I loved.  It starred Priscilla Barnes and Debra Clinger.  I also loved Flying High that same year.  There were only three channels -- there were more than three -- and that didn't keep those shows from being cancelled after only one season.

There were four channels -- ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS.  Four.  There were also independent channels -- they aired live programming -- including sports -- syndicated TV shows, old movies and some 'event' TV from time to time -- like the mini-series.  From Wikipedia, here are first-run mini-series created to be broadcast on the independent stations around the US:


I'm just using the 70s due to Starsky and Hutch's program run but these mini-series continued in the 80s and the most famous would be The Jesse Owens Story which actually won an Emmy despite not being a product of ABC, CBS, NBC or PBS.


Starsky & Hutch was a popular TV show.  Briefly.  It was because of the theme song, because of the car, because of characters like Huggy Bear (played by Antoni Fargas) and because of the chemistry between David and Paul.  The show as a minor hit during season one (it was in the second half of the top twenty).  That was when the show aired during the week on Wednesdays on ABC with Lindsay Wagner kicking things off with the hit show The Bionic Woman (the fifth highest rated show of the year).  Season two saw it moved to Saturday nights and losing the audience -- no hit show pulling in viewers for ABC that night the way Lindsay did on Wednesday nights. Season three, it fell further to number 33 for the year and that would have been even lower if they hadn't moved it mid-season back to Wednesday nights where it now had the top five hit show Charlie's Angels as a lead-in.  (The Love Boat replaced it on Saturday nights and it didn't struggle for ratings the way Starsky and Hutch did.)  What happened?  The actors were seen as pricks.  Paul wanted out of the show and made that public during season three -- he said he'd be leaving at the end of the season.  David had all these rumors about him.  And I defended David, I loved the show.

Season four, everything comes crashing down.  They could -- and did -- force Paul to do a season four but he made it clear that this was the end.  Afraid they couldn't force him to film all of season four, they brought on Roz Kelley (Happy Day's Pinky Tuscadero) as a new character (she only lasted three episodes).  It fell further in the ratings despite moving to Tuesday nights and having Three's Company (TV's number two most watched series that year) and Taxi (TV's ninth most watched program of that year) as a lead in.  It was barely in the top thirty for its final season (number 36).  

The show got the axe.  Then in 1982?  Turns out the rumors were true: David Soul was a wife beater. 

That was it for him.


Glynis Johns has also passed away. 



CNN notes:

       Glynis Johns, the British actress known for her role as feminist icon Mrs. Banks in 1964’s “Mary Poppins,” has died. She was 100.

Johns’ longtime manager Mitch Clem told CNN on Thursday that she died “peacefully” Thursday morning in Los Angeles at an assisted living home, where she’s lived for the past several years. She is survived by her grandson Thomas and her three great-grandchildren, Clem said.

A cause of death has not yet been determined.

“Glynis powered her way through life with intelligence, wit, and a love for performance, affecting millions of lives,” Clem said in a statement on Thursday. “She entered my life early in my career and set a very high bar on how to navigate this industry with grace, class, and truth.”

Johns’ career as a film, TV and stage actor spans nearly nine decades.   


As a kid, I didn't see Mary Poppins.  We saw movies at the theater and on TV.  And there was no VCR, no DVD player, no streaming.  Disney had Sunday nights on ABC but they didn't usually show their big movies.  I knew all the songs and a lot of the dialogue but only because I had the vinyl record -- which came with a book of illustrations that you could turn as you listened along.  

When I finally saw Mary Poppins, I was an adult but it was more than worth the wait.  It's one of my favorite films.

Glynis is someone I discovered because of TV.  Independent stations.  Remember, we were talking about those earlier.  I had three independent channels. Two of them showed the same movies.  Not on the same nights.  Not even the same week.  But about a month after one aired the movies, they ended up airing on the second channel.


George Cukor directed The Chapman Report.  I don't know how the 1962 film did at the box office but a lot of us watched it on TV in the seventies.  It was 'naughty' to us school kids.  One of the people in my grade caught it on the channel that aired it first.  So when it came to the second channel a month later we were all geared up to see this film about a sex study of four women: Jane Fonda, Shelley Winters, Claire Bloom and Glynis John.  

Glynis is married and wants to sleep around (and is treated horribly by Ty Hardin).  Shelley's married and having an affair.  Claire's a drunk, divorced nympho.  Jane's a young widow.

Glynis had a one of kind voice and you could always recognize her by it.  Like when I was watching Dear Brigitte starring Jimmy Stewart and recognized her as his wife.  And later on in While You Were Sleeping and Superstar.

 

People magazine notes:


 Glynis Johns, the Academy Award-nominated actor who costarred with Julie Andrews in the classic 1964 film Mary Poppins as Winifred Banks, has died. She was 100.

Her manager, Mitch Clem, told Variety Johns died Thursday at an assisted living facility in Los Angeles of natural causes.

“Glynis powered her way through life with intelligence, wit, and a love for performance, affecting millions of lives,” Clem said in a statement. “She entered my life early in my career and set a very high bar on how to navigate this industry with grace, class, and truth. Your own truth. Her light shined very brightly for 100 years."

"She had a wit that could stop you in your tracks powered by a heart that loved deeply and purely," he added. "Today is a somber day for Hollywood. Not only do we mourn the passing of our dear Glynis, but we mourn the end of the golden age of Hollywood.”


Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Friday, January 5, 2024.  A sad nation-state looks to a voice from the last century to defend them in this century, slaughter on Gaza continues, we go over slowly for the Donald fans how he broke his oath to the Constitution and we even find a moment to praise THE NEW YORK TIMES,

Malcolm Shaw.  That's the name to make the world laugh.  Give us a minute, we'll get to him.  On Tuesday's DEMOCRACY NOW!, Amy Goodman noted, "South Africa has filed a case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. In its filing, South Africa said Israel’s war on Gaza is “genocidal in character” and that Israel is intending to “destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group.” South Africa accused Israel of violating the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which Israel has signed on to. We will have more on this story after headlines."  At POLITICO today, Jamie Dettmer explains that the right-wing butcher Benjamin Netanyahu "urged the far-right and religious nationalists in his coalition government to pipe down" publicly:
 

“Every word has meaning when it comes to diplomacy,” he said at a Cabinet meeting, warning that speaking out of turn harms Israel’s international legitimacy.

Netanyahu’s plea for circumspection was triggered by a series of contentious public remarks made by hard-liners in his government, hinting at the possible annexation of the Gaza Strip and the expulsion of Palestinians from the coastal enclave.

And these off-the-cuff, ill-judged comments will now complicate Israel’s defense before the International Court of Justice at The Hague (ICJ), which has scheduled a hearing next week on the genocide accusations South Africa has lodged against Israel.


They didn't pay attention back in November and they continue to make remarks that will harm them in a court of law.  Ishaan Tharoor (WASHINGTON POST) explains:


The human misery unfurling across Gaza finds little sympathy in the Israeli public discourse, where the priority remains the vanquishing of Hamas — perpetrators of the single bloodiest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust — and the freeing of hostages held in Hamas’s Gazan redoubts. Indeed, a steady drumbeat of sound bites from Israeli lawmakers and other politicos has urged an even more devastating fate for the territory.

Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition have called for the dropping of a nuclear bomb on densely-populated Gaza, the total annihilation of the territory as a mark of retribution, and the immiseration of its people to the point that they have no choice but to abandon their homeland.

This week alone, a parliamentarian from Netanyahu’s Likud party went on television and said it was clear to most Israelis that “all the Gazans need to be destroyed.” Then, Israel’s ambassador in Britain told local radio that there was no other solution for her country than to level “every school, every mosque, every second house” in Gaza to degrade Hamas’s military infrastructure.

This accumulating rhetoric forms part of the 84-page application filed by the government of South Africa at the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of actions that amount to genocide or failure to prevent genocide. Though it condemns Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, the South African case argues “no armed attack on a State’s territory no matter how serious — even an attack involving atrocity crimes — can … provide any possible justification for, or defense to, breaches” of the Genocide Convention. Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, it explains, has already “laid waste to vast areas of Gaza, including entire neighborhoods, and has damaged or destroyed in excess of 355,000 Palestinian homes,” rendering swaths of the territory uninhabitable for a long period of time to come. Israeli authorities, claimed the South African complaint, have failed to suppress “direct and public incitement to commit genocide” from a host of Israeli politicians, journalists and public officials.



FRANCE 24 notes, "UN human rights chief Volker Turk said Thursday he was 'very disturbed' after comments by senior Israeli officials calling for Palestinians to leave Gaza. Two far-right Israeli ministers have called for Palestinians to "emigrate" from the enclave, and for Israeli settlers to return." Kelsey Ables (WASHINGTON POST) also reports on the Volker Turk:


There is rising concern about the fate of displaced individuals in Gaza, now an estimated 85 percent of the population, as more people are pushed from their homes amid fighting. Many Gazans continue to face bombardment, even after seeking refuge in places they thought would be safe, humanitarian groups say. Meanwhile, right-wing figures in Israel’s government have advocated for the resettlement of Palestinians outside Gaza.

On Thursday, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said he was “very disturbed” by such remarks. The U.S. State Department this week rejected the Israeli statements advocating resettlement, calling them “inflammatory and irresponsible.”

Thousands of displaced people found themselves under bombardment again Thursday morning, when the area of al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis was struck for the third day in a row, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society, which has a building in the hospital complex, said on social media that seven displaced people have been killed, including an infant, and 11 injured over the course of the attacks. The organization wrote that the strikes compromise “the safety of the humanitarian space, which threatens the lives of thousands of displaced people and medical staff.” The displaced are now “living in an atmosphere of horror and panic,” it said.



Julia Conley (COMMON DREAMS) zooms in on one example of public remarks from this week:

A member of British Parliament demanded the foreign secretary "take the strongest possible action against" Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli ambassador to the U.K., after she appeared on a radio broadcast of LBC and told host Iain Dale in no uncertain terms that Israel's military must target civilian infrastructure in Gaza—a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.

Hotovely told Dale that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have found that "every school, every mosque, every second house, has an access to tunnel," referring to the tunnels used by Hamas—which were first built when Gaza was under Israeli control in 1980.

"That's an argument for destroying the whole of Gaza, every single building," Dale said, prompting Hotovely to ask, "Do you have another solution, how to destroy the underground tunnel city?"

Journalist Hamza Ali Shah said the ambassador's statement amounted to "a clear call for genocide."



South African government lawyers are preparing for the case to be heard on 11 and 12 January, Clayson Monyela, a spokesperson for South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said on X.

The ICJ, which is based in the Hague in the Netherlands, is the UN's highest court. It settles disputes between states and gives advisory opinions on international legal issues. It does not have the power to bring prosecutions. However, its opinions carry weight with the UN and other international legal bodies.


And now we get to the laughter: Malcolm Shaw.

That's who the Israeli government has selected to argue their case.  It's not often that someone is taken out of mothballs for a case as important as this.  Israel was created in 1948 -- imposed on Palestinian land.  How often does an attorney get to defend a country that's younger than they are?  Malcolm is one year older.  This is the year he turns 77.  He wrote the text book for international law . . . back in 1977.  The world's changed since then.  In fact, we're no longer in the 20th century.  But here comes feeble minded Malcolm.  They couldn't get any legitimate scholars from the present day, you understand.  Legitimate scholars don't endorse stolen land.  But, back in his ancient day they crafted 'international law' with far fewer concerns about autonomy and democracy and human rights.  

Did they decide on Shaw only after learning that Henry Hugh Tudor was dead?

We can't close out this topic without noting the below.


 

Q I’ve got a quick one on Israel too. South Africa has filed this 84-page lawsuit against Israel, accusing them of genocide. Israel says that this is blood libel. Does Washington agree? And where does this put Washington and Pretoria in terms of their relations?

MR. KIRBY: We find this submission meritless, counterproductive, and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever.


Wow.  John Kirby speaking for the US government at a White House press briefing.

I guess, John, that Cyril Ramaphosa is just an idiot, right?  Not worthy of respect?

Why is that?

Because of his skin color?

Because, as someone who opposed apartheid long before the US government got on board with opposing it, I remember my government excusing what was taking place in South Africa -- excusing it for decades, I remember them minimizing it.  And I really think you look like an ass and a racist when you stand up a podium and impart your half-assed 'wisdom'  -- and do so in a manner that is insulting and pompous.  


Not only does it go beyond your role in the Biden administration but the US government is the last nation that should be passing judgement on the government of South Africa.  The only time they've been pleased, as I remember, was back when White people imposed the apartheid system.  All the belated (to put it mildly) support of and praise of Nelson Mandela did not wipe away the past.

Kirby should know his role and he should also know the history.  Someone needs to curb Kirby and keep him on a short leash.




Opposition leader Yair Lapid has called for the Israeli government to be replaced in a post on X today, following reports in the Israeli media of a contentious meeting of the security cabinet.

"The State of Israel must replace the government and its leader," he said.

Yesterday, in comments aired on Channel 12, he said, "We cannot allow ourselves to conduct a prolonged campaign with a prime minister in whom we do not trust," referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.


CNN's Tim Lister and Amir Tal note this morning, "The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck more than 100 targets across Gaza overnight into Friday, while the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported shelling close to its headquarters in Khan Younis."  Yes, Gaza remains under assault.  Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion.  The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction.  But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets:  How to justify it?  Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence."   CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund."  ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them."  NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza."  The slaughter continues.  It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service.  Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide."   The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is now well over  20,000. NBC NEWS notes, "The vast majority of its 2.2 million people are displaced, and an estimated half face starvation amid an unfolding humanitarian crisis."    FRANCE 24 notes,  "At least 22,438 people have been killed and 57,614 injured in Israel's ensuing assault on the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. In addition to the dead and the injured, there are the missing.  AP notes, "About 4,000 people are reported missing."  And the area itself?  Isabele Debre (AP) reveals, "Israel’s military offensive has turned much of northern Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape. Whole neighborhoods have been erased. Homes, schools and hospitals have been blasted by airstrikes and scorched by tank fire. Some buildings are still standing, but most are battered shells."  Kieron Monks (I NEWS) reports, "More than 40 per cent of the buildings in northern Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, according to a new study of satellite imagery by US researchers Jamon Van Den Hoek from Oregon State University and Corey Scher at the City University of New York. The UN gave a figure of 45 per cent of housing destroyed or damaged across the strip in less than six weeks. The rate of destruction is among the highest of any conflict since the Second World War."  Max Butterworth (NBC NEWS) adds, "Satellite images captured by Maxar Technologies on Sunday reveal three of the main hospitals in Gaza from above, surrounded by the rubble of destroyed buildings after weeks of intense bombing in the region by Israeli forces."




Israel continued its relentless bombing of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, striking several overcrowded areas in the center and south.

Journalist Maha Hussaini recorded audio of constant Israeli shelling in the central area at around 1:00 am local time Friday morning.

Earlier in the day Thursday, Hussaini reported that at least five Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, at the very southern part of Gaza, where Israel has ordered Palestinians to flee.
Israel also bombed Rafah on Wednesday.
The Rafah governorate “is now the main refuge for those displaced,” according to the United Nations.

The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights stated on Thursday that there are now 1.3 million Palestinians in Rafah – one million more than typically live there, and half of the entire population of the Gaza Strip.

“With a population density of 20,000 [persons per square kilometer], one single Israeli attack can kill hundreds of Palestinians at once,” the human rights group warned. 


Let's note this from yesterday's DEMOCRACY NOW!





NERMEEN SHAIKH: Iran is observing a national day of mourning as the death toll from twin explosions Wednesday has reached 84, with many others injured. The blasts in south-central Kerman province killed attendees to a memorial for top Revolutionary Guards General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in a U.S. drone strike four years ago in Iraq. This is a survivor who was being treated in a nearby hospital.

SURVIVOR: [translated] I suddenly felt a burn in my back. And then, when I tried to move, I couldn’t.

REPORTER: [translated] What happened?

SURVIVOR: [translated] I just remember hearing the sound of an explosion.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Iran has placed blame on Israel and the U.S. The White House said the Islamic State could be behind the bloody bombings, and rejected claims Israel or the U.S. was involved.

The tragedy comes amid mounting fears that Israel’s war on Gaza could lead to a wider regional conflict. One day before the blasts, a senior Hamas leader and Iran ally, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed in a strike in southern Beirut, which Lebanese officials blamed on Israel. And earlier today, a drone strike killed four members of an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia in Baghdad. Iraqi authorities have blamed the U.S.-led international coalition for the attack.

AMY GOODMAN: For more, we’re joined by Arash Azizi, Iranian historian and writer. His book is titled The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, the U.S., and Iran’s Global Ambitions. His recent piece in The National is headlined “Who are the likely suspects in the Kerman blasts, and what does this mean for Iran?” His forthcoming book, out next, is titled What Iranians Want: Women, Life, Freedom.

Thanks so much for joining as, Arash Azizi. Can you start off by talking about the significance of these two attacks in Iran? No one has yet claimed responsibility, but what you think this looks like?

ARASH AZIZI: These are really terrible attacks if you look at the death toll, although the death toll is actually being readjusted, with lower now. Now it’s between eighties and nineties, but it still makes it one of the deadliest — if not the deadliest — attack of its kind in recent history, perhaps even in sort of modern Iranian history. So they’re truly terrible.

And, of course, they do come at a time when the region is very tense. There’s been a shadow war between Iran and Israel and the United States for many years now, but especially in the last few months. And the anniversary of Soleimani’s killing four years ago is already a very tense day, because, you know, it involves a lot of groups in Iraq, in Lebanon, in Iran and Israel, Syria. A lot of them are linked to Soleimani in one way or the other. So it’s a very tense time, and the attack comes at that time.

Now, it is true that we don’t really know who did the attack yet. No one has really claimed it yet. A lot of experts that I’ve spoken to, and myself looking at the existing evidence, believe that it’s sort of — the likely culprit, in my opinion, is to be the Islamic State, particularly its group, its regional group, based in Afghanistan, known as ISIS-Khorasan, in Khorasan province. And this is a group that because of the kind of attacks that it did, kind of a mass civilian killing, because of the — you know, putting the bombs in briefcases, and some of the more — you know, some of the more specific methods used and the targets that they’ve picked, this makes them to be the most likely culprit that have committed the attacks.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: So, Arash, can you explain — I mean, you’ve written this book on Qassem Soleimani — the significance of this attack taking place on the day, the fourth anniversary of his death, as people were gathering in his burial place, where his body is? But why would the Islamic State, as you said, Islamic State-Khorasan — why would they — what would be the incentive for them to carry out an attack now in the midst, as you say, of the — what’s going on in Gaza, just — the attack now in Kerman taking place just a day after al-Arouri was assassinated in Beirut? Why Islamic State?

ARASH AZIZI: You know, it’s likely that they might have planned this attack long ago. It might have also been more recent, but certainly longer than al-Arouri’s assassination. So it might not be directly sort of related to that, so they probably planned it a while ago.

Now, this group has tried to gain power in Afghanistan in recent years. They are also an adversary of the Taliban regime there, which they see it as some sort of a — in some sort of a tacit alliance with Iran, although the Taliban regime and the Islamic Republic of Iran have a complicated relationship, but they’ve sometimes worked together in the last couple of years, although Iran doesn’t even officially recognize it as the government of Afghanistan. But this group has tried to raise its profile. That’s one thing. And also, they regard Soleimani as the leader of this Shia force that they consider as an enemy, as sort of a symbol of Shia Islam and a symbol of the Islamic Republic and also a sort of symbol of Iran in the sense they regard it as such.

So, it would make sense for them to attack it. Although I would say the fact that they haven’t taken responsibility yet does give me a bit of pause, because if they did it, you know, why wouldn’t they already take responsibility for it? And there’s possibility that there might be other groups and smaller groups. But again, if it’s them, why haven’t they taken responsibility? So, that’s one question that a lot of us are asking right now.

I should also say that the National Security Council of Iran met this morning Iranian time, and after the meeting, they issued a statement in which they’re also very clear that they also don’t know who committed the attacks yet and that they put sort of the first priority in finding out who did the attacks, who are behind it. So, while the Iranian officials, in broad terms, condemned Israel and the U.S. as sort of enemies that are behind troubles against Iran, as they always do, they haven’t actually sort of — the bodies, like the Supreme National Security Council, haven’t pointed direct fingers as who would be the perpetrator. And they have promised, of course, to act against whoever did the attacks.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Arash, the people who were killed, as we said, about 84 — you said somewhere between 80 and 90 people — none of those people were in any way associated with the government, the Revolutionary Guard? Because as you’ve said also, I mean, when there have been attacks perpetrated by either the U.S., Israel, as you say in your piece — has carried out many operations in Iran, but they tend to be targeted against specific people, I mean, most notably the series of assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists. But in this case, who was among the dead?

ARASH AZIZI: That’s right. They usually target either IRGC officials, this militia that really rules things around, or the nuclear scientists, and do they have a specific attacks — specific targets, which in this case there doesn’t seem to have been any even sort of a mid-ranking IRGC official there. So that makes it, in my opinion, less likely that it was an attack by them, although not impossible, but much less likely.

So, in terms of who was the — who were the victims, from what we can see so far, you know, ordinary people, ordinary civilians. Yes, a lot of them might have been there to mourn Qassem Soleimani in some ways, but I should also say this is a big cemetery in Kerman. It’s my maternal city, and I’ve been to this cemetery many times. There are tons of ordinary people who are buried there. In fact, it was Mother’s Day in Iran, also Iran that day, so many people might have been just going to their mother’s grave, as is customary on such a day. We see a large number of children are among the killed and the injured, dozens, which really shows, you know, the kind of victims that this attack had, and also first responders who came, because this was a double blast, so the first responders who came to help with the victims of the first blast, unfortunately, were killed in the second blast, which is another sort of signature of ISIS and makes it more likely to be that, although, as I said, we really don’t know, and it’s a bit of a speculation at this point.

AMY GOODMAN: And, Arash Azizi, remind us how Qassem Soleimani died and his significance.

ARASH AZIZI: Soleimani was killed in a drone strike on January 3rd, 2020, ordered by President Trump at the time, which was a really shocking action. Just to give you an idea, a few years before, during the Bush administration, when the Bush administration was trying to kill a Hezbollah leader, they repeatedly — at least once — postponed the attack just to make sure they don’t hit Soleimani. And that’s why — that’s because he was easily one of the most powerful men in the Middle East. He was — you could easily say he was the most powerful military figure in Iran at the time. His official job title, he was the head of the Quds Force, or the Jerusalem Force, which is basically the external operations wings of the IRGC. What he really did was that he controlled a very large multinational army of Afghans, Syrians, Iraqis, Lebanese all around the region and had really commanded and directed Islamic Republic’s interventions in countries of the region. So he was of a big significance, and also he was a ranking official of a nation-state called the Islamic Republic of Iran. So, it was sort of highly unusual to assassinate a figure like that in a strike. Some people would say, not since the Second World War, when the United States helped killed a Japanese admiral, had such a figure of another country been targeted like that.

Of course, the official sort of explanations for it was that there were — you know, there have been tons of attacks by forces directed by Soleimani, these groups based in Iraq, on U.S. forces, and this has been going on. Even in the last few months, we’ve seen more than a hundred attacks by these forces on — by these sort of Iraqi forces aligned with Tehran on U.S. forces. So, that was — you know, that was one official reason, the other being that the IRGC was put on the terror group list by the Trump administration, so they regarded Soleimani as having a double role, as on one side being a sort of a uniformed official of Iran, but at the same time they saw it as a leading figure in what they considered a terror organization. So —

AMY GOODMAN: And let me —

ARASH AZIZI: — that’s why they did the attack here.

AMY GOODMAN: Let me ask you about Sayyed Razi Mousavi, who — right around Christmas, an Israeli airstrike outside the Syrian capital Damascus killed a senior adviser of the Iran Revolutionary Guard. The sources told Reuters the adviser was responsible for coordinating the military alliance between Syria and Iran, and apparently he was with — right? — Qassem Soleimani when Soleimani was killed. Now he has been killed.

ARASH AZIZI: That’s right. Sayyed Razi Mousavi was perhaps, I would say, easily the most important, definitely one of the top three IRGC officials, the sort of Iranian militia officials, in Syria. And he had been in Syria a very long time. You know, people would know him in Damascus. He had played an important role in the Syrian civil war. Effectively, this is when the government of Syria of Bashar al-Assad helped kill hundreds of thousands of his own civilians, and Iran and the IRGC were helping him. So, Sayyed Razi had an important role there, but really even years before. He had effectively been based in Syria since the 1990s, late 1990s, I would say, for sure. He would go back and forth. But at some point he was entirely based there. His wife taught at the Iranian school in Damascus. So he was an old-timer. When the Iranian intervention really increased in the aftermath of the Syrian revolution, followed by the civil war that’s in 2011 and ’12, Sayyed Razi became this old guy who — you know, who could help everybody else there, because he had just been there such a long time.

So, his assassination, which just happened recently, was very important, since, you know, it signaled Israel and the U.S. probably sort of targeting a really high-value Iranian target in Damascus, and which really escalates things, given the conditions that we are in. And it also possibly points out to Israel having something like what it did in the aftermath in the 1970s of the Munich attacks, which — you know, in the aftermath of that in the 1970s, Israel started an operation known as Operation Wrath of God, in which it went to Iran and then killed a lot of leaders of groups that were in some way or the other linked to the terror Munich attacks. So, the killing of al-Arouri, Sayyed Razi and others might show that Israel has a similar quest.

AMY GOODMAN: Arash Azizi, we want to thank you so much for being with us, Iranian historian and writer. His book, The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, the U.S., and Iran’s Global Ambitions. We’ll link to your piece in The National, “Who are the likely suspects in the Kerman blasts, and what does this mean for Iran?” His forthcoming book, out next month, What Iranians Want: Women, Life, Freedom. He’s speaking to us from Charlotte, North Carolina.

 






Okay, we've got some other topics to cover.  First, this Tweet from Paul Rudnick.


Yes, Paul is a humorist (a damn good one -- read his latest novel FARREL COVINGTON AND THE LIMITS OF STYLE) and like most good humorists, he's building on a real event.  David Chang (NBC PHILADELPHIA) reports:

A former GOP candidate for Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor who was also involved in a political action committee that claimed liberals were “indoctrinating” students, is accused of punching a teen boy and providing alcohol for other teens while hosting her daughter’s birthday party in Bucks County. 

Clarice Schillinger, 36, is charged with simple assault and harassment.

The investigation began on Sept. 30 shortly after 3 a.m. when police responded to a reported assault at a home that Schillinger was renting on Liz Circle in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. 

Responding officers spoke with the 911 caller and her 16-year-old son. The mother, son and other witnesses told investigators Schillinger had hosted a birthday party on Sept. 29, around 9:30 p.m. for her teen daughter at the home and approximately 15 to 20 teens attended, according to the criminal complaint. 


Don't be fooled that these busybodies give a damn about children -- whether it's Schillinger or "The Talking Pig From Dallas," they don't give a damn.  They're control freaks who refuse to let people live their own lives.  We are seeing who they are -- the Bridget Ziegler's who attacks LGBTQ+ people publicly while hopping into bed with same sex partners and making sex tapes.  They're hypocrites and liars.  They are Moms For Bigotry.


Yesterday's snapshot. Huge pushback in e-mails to the public e-mail account -- pushback from an army of Baby Cum Pants.  Don't worry, fellows, some day you'll be big boys, all grown and not dealing with your night time emissions.  Until then, I guess you'll just bother us with your uninformed e-mails.  This section especially upset some:

Since when are we too chicken to enforce the law.

This is nothing minor.  This is huge.  A loser refuses to accept the outcome of an election, he plots to install a separate set of electors to vote in the electoral college, he stirs up his supporters with massive lies about his votes not being counted and the election being stolen, he encourages a crowd to come to DC to 'stop the steal,' he stirs them up with a speech and sends them off to Congress, a riot takes place.

In what damn world is that acceptable?

It's not and it was an insurrection and is it is violation of the Constitution -- and not just the 14th Amendment.  He violated Article II Section 1 as well as The Constitution's 12th Amendment (the sections on the electors which does not have the president lobbying for an alternate slate.) 



No, the wet dreamers want to insist, he did not violate Article II Section 1 and the 12th Amendment.  They insist that's about a process -- those sections, they outline how the process works and that doesn't have anything to do with him as a president.

Yes, they do outline a process, and if you can stop playing with your little organs for a moment, I'll try to speak slow enough so that even infants like you can understand.

The process on the electoral college is outlined in the Constitution.

I think even you diapered toddlers grasp that.

Now grasp this, the President of the United States takes an oath to uphold the Constitution.

Did you not know that?

Well then you learned something this morning, good.

When he plotted, schemed and acted to circumvent the process outlined in the Constitution, he violated the Constitution, he broke the law of the land, he broke the oath he took.  The president is not a part of the electoral college process.  Those who are part of the process?  Outlined in the Constitution.  He violated the Constitution when he tried to circumvent the outlined process.


That's not minor, that's reason enough to kick him off every ballot in the United States.

We also had e-mails from The Timid Crowd who insist that this could lead to violence.

Upholding the law often leads to violence.  We have many lawless people in our society.  


If their response to legal actions is to threaten violence or carry out violence?  Arrest them.  Put them behind bars.


We're talking about democracy and that's a little more important than some crazed MAGA who clearly belongs behind bars or in an institution where they can get mental help for their various and sundry issues.

I'm sorry, I'm not going to be the Abused Wife for the United States.  I'm not going to try to appease the bully. 


There is no reason to allow thugs and their threats of violence to force the country into cowering or to force us to ignore the law.

Donald Trump broke the law and broke his oath.  That's before you even get to the issue of the 14th Amendment.  Even without applying it, he's demonstrated that he is not fit to lead the country.  


Lastly, we covered a topic yesterday, we're not going all into it again, the snapshot's already late in going up.  Short story: The US government attacked the Iraqi military.  US outlets need to stop distorting reality with their "Iran-linked militia" nonsense.  In December of 2017, the Iraqi government officially, legally made the militias part of the Iraqi military.  By not noting that reality, you are misinforming the American people.  Alissa J. Rubin and Eric Schmitt (NEW YORK TIMES) reported on the event late yesterday:


A U.S. Special Operations drone strike in Baghdad on Thursday killed a senior figure in an Iran-linked militant group that is part of Iraq’s security apparatus, drawing sharp criticism from the Iraqi government, as well as allied groups.

Would I have worded it that way?  No.  But that's much better than other US outlets have done and it does provide a reader with actual information.  They can read that sentence and they can grasp why the Iraqi government might be angered (and they are) by what happened.  And an editor at NYT noted that to me and I said I'd work in the sentence in because it is a huge improvement over what everyone else has done.  "A group that is part of Iraq's security apparatus" makes it clear to any news consumer.  So applause for THE TIMES and Rubin and Schmitt for getting it right.


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