https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/16/adam-kinzinger-trump-qanon-396414
Rep. Adam Kinzinger on Sunday emphasized the importance of President Donald Trump and other leaders calling out QAnon — a set of far-right conspiracy theories that allege the existence of a “deep state” against Trump.
https://www.bbc.com/news/53498434
Studies indicate that most Americans haven't heard of QAnon. But for many believers, it forms the foundation of their support for President Trump.
The president has, unwittingly or not, retweeted QAnon supporters, and last month his son Eric Trump posted a QAnon meme on Instagram.
Dozens of QAnon supporters are running for Congress in November. Many have little hope but some, such as Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia - appear to have a good chance of winning a seat.
It's quite likely that a QAnon supporter - or someone sympathetic to the conspiracy theory - will sit in the next US Congress.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/15/the-uae-israel-agreement-isnt-all-its-cracked-up-to-be/
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/285415
Jared Kushner, adviser and son-in-law to US President Donald Trump addressed the peace agreement he helped broker between Israel and the United Arab Emirates Monday.
Addressing Israeli reporters, Kushner said that "Israel has made a very generous proposal for the establishment of a Palestinian state, including an exchange of territories. The understanding that this is the situation has enabled the breakthrough that led to the current agreement."
When asked how the US would make certain that Israel does not unilaterally annex any territory, Kushner said, “We built a very trusting relationship with Israel. President Trump is committed to holding them accountable to it, and Israel has agreed with us that they will not move forward without our consent. We do not plan to give our consent for some time, as right now the focus has to be on getting this new peace agreement implemented. We really want to get as much interchange between Israel and the United Arab Emirates as possible, and we really want Israel to focus on creating new relationships and new alliances."
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/israel-and-the-uae-a-reality-check/
The Israeli agreement with the United Arab Emirates is being touted as everything from “huge,” “stunning,” and “historical” to a “betrayal,” “diversion,” or “sellout.” In truth, it is not any one of these, but contains something of all of the above. Given the plethora of reports, commentaries, analyses, and reactions, it is especially important to put the Israel-UAE rapprochement in perspective — to try to understand how it contributes to Israel’s integration into the region through the achievement of a comprehensive peace with its neighbors. In order to do so, it is necessary to specify what it is, what it is not, and where it could lead.
A normalization agreement, not a peace treaty. The impending formalization of the more than two-decade informal relationship between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is an important breakthrough in Israel’s ties with the Arab world. Motives aside, it constitutes a major achievement for Mohammed bin Zayed, Benjamin Netanyahu and for its broker, Donald Trump. It is yet another step in Israel’s continual quest for workable accords with Arab countries, following its successful treaties with Egypt and Jordan. It follows the same logic as its predecessors, forging long-term understandings with surrounding states — often on its periphery — but studiously bypassing the much knottier Palestinian core of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/17/trump-scott-atlas-coronavirus-doctor-396741
Dr. Scott Atlas warns against coronavirus overreaction and hysteria, pushes for the reopening of schools and sports leagues and downplays the need for broader testing to root out the virus.
Unlike bigger-name, more circumspect public health officials, who’ve watched their luster dim at the White House, Atlas has become a star adviser in President Donald Trump’s inner circle at a crucial moment during the pandemic.
Atlas, upbeat and relentlessly on message that Americans should resume life as much as they can, is the live embodiment of the president’s Covid-is-not-that-big-of-a-deal approach. Where school superintendents and football conference officials see a risk of the virus’s spread this fall, he cautions against too-strict measures. During Fox News appearances, he has downplayed the need for students to wear face coverings or practice social distancing if schools do reopen.
“It is proven children have no significant risk,” he said during a July 15 TV appearance. It’s a line that Trump has parroted but that hasn’t been borne out in districts where in-person learning has resumed: Schools in Georgia, North Carolina and Indiana have had to shut down shortly after starting the year because of positive cases.
Atlas first came to the attention of the Trump administration the way it finds so many top officials: through his appearances on Fox News. His comments on the coronavirus lockdown and the need to reopen the economy and schools caught the attention of the president and several top aides, including Jared Kushner, according to a second senior administration official.
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/512004-broken-promises-in-a-time-of-plague
“Promises and pie-crust,” Jonathan Swift once wrote, “are made to be broken.”
For Donald Trump, Swift’s ironic aphorism is a philosophy to live by. A candidate who fashioned an electoral majority out of a pledge to build a wall across the 2,000 mile southern border of the United States and make Mexico pay for it, President Trump meets or exceeds the stereotypes of the promise-making and breaking professional politicians he denigrates.
To
be sure, Trump has kept some of his promises. The United States has
withdrawn from the Paris Climate Accord, renegotiated NAFTA, and
withdrawn from the Iran Nuclear Agreement. The Trump administration has
reduced government regulations, capital gains and income taxes. The
president has appointed conservative judges.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/285348
No doubt making new friends is a good thing, and so it is good that Israel and the United Arab Emirates…UAE…have shaken hands toward an official peace deal.
The two were not at war, but that’s beside the point, for the moment… but at present, kudos to the Trump Administration for helping to pull this off.
So why am I not thrilled? (Neither is this or this writer, and for excellent reasons.}
The United Arab Emirates and Israel have agreed to work toward establishing full diplomatic ties as part of a deal to halt, for now, Israel’s controversial plans to annex occupied West Bank land sought by Palestinians for their future state.
If the UAE establishes formal ties with Israel, it would be only the third Arab country — after Jordan and Egypt — to recognize Israel, and the first Gulf nation to do so.
Thursday’s declaration, the officials involved said, was a prelude to delegations from Israel and the UAE meeting in the coming weeks to forge bilateral agreements in an array of sectors, including tourism, security, telecommunications, technology, energy and healthcare.
Direct flights would be established as well as reciprocal embassies — although it was likely the UAE would go to Tel Aviv and not the disputed holy city of Jerusalem, claimed by both Israel and the Palestinians and controversially recognized as Israeli by Trump, the only world leader to do so.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SkKHL0GzP
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the day-to-day ruler of the UAE, confirmed Thursday that the Gulf state had reached an agreement that would end Israel's annexation plans.
