TODAY’S POLITICAL POTPOURRI

• The highly regarded British medical journal, The Lancet, estimates the death toll in Gaza is 64,260 from direct attacks and deaths from malnutrition and bodies still buried under the rubble raising the number to 180,000. (The Intercept, June 27, 2025)

• Israeli officials now confirm that they had planned to murder Ali Hosseini Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, along with a large swath of military and civil leaders during the first 24 hours of the attack on Iran. Because this major decapitation/regime change strategy failed, Israel was forced to ask for a ceasefire after only 12 days.

• The Israeli publication Haaretz (6/27/2025) reports that Israeli soldiers are “ordered to shoot deliberately at unarmed Gazans waiting for humanitarian aid even if no threat is present.” One soldier said, “It’s a killing field” or as Jamal Kanji notes, “They arrive seeking a bag of flour and leave in a body bag.” The IDF refuses to allow the public to see any footage of these sites where 410 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers.

• ADL (Anti Defamation League) chief Jonathan Greenblatt named the GRAYZONE’s Max Blumenthal a “person of concern,” and an antisemite for his criticism of Israel. Bravo Max! A badge of honor! (BTW, I encourage all of you to check out the GRAYZONE with Max and Aaron Mate.

• In a survey in June by the Forsa Institute, only 17 percent of Germans said they would defend their country if attacked. Germany is trying to expand its military or Bundeswehr from 182,000 to 203,000 but “picking up a gun is an anathema to young Germans.” Note, the NYT’s writer manages to introduce the “looming threat from Russia” twice even though average Germans never do so. The government is desperate and considering conscription but there’s virtually no public support for a draft. (NYT, July 1, 2025)

• 50,000 volunteers, mostly young people, knocked on doors and proved decisive in helping democratic socialist Zohan Mamdani to a resounding victory in the NYC Democratic mayoral primary. He defeated ruling class candidate (and ass grabber) Mario Cuomo who hasn’t decided whether to run as an independent in the Nov. 4th general election. Mamdani’s primary focus was on pocket book issues. Note: He won most Jewish neighborhoods even though Israel’s genocide in Gaza was major issue in the race. In accordance with the ICC ruling, Mamdani promised to arrest Netanyahu if ever sets foot in NYC. Cuomo joined Netanyahu’s legal defense team. Zionists and the ruling class (the upper East side of Manhattan is the richest district in the world) hate Mamdani and will pull out all the stops to delegitimize him. If he’s elected I’ll wait and see if he’s co-opted like AOC and Sanders but his win in the primary is a positive sign — even a cause for elation. Along with my friend, comrade and astute political analyst Jeff Booth, I hope that in the future Mamdani makes a clean break with the Democratic Party, the place where all progressive ideas go to die.

• In the NYC Democratic primary, 25% of the voters had never voted before, including many elderly people who registered for the first time.

• Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) labeled Mamdani a “raging antisemite Communist.” House Democratic Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries(D-NY), Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) all refused to endorse Mamdani. Jill Kerman, a Jewish writer and actor said afterward, “I feel like last night’s NYC election result is like a spiritual Kristallnacht. It proved Jew hatred is now OK.”

• Elon Musk, the country’s biggest GOP donor said that if the spending bill passes, he’ll form a new “America Party” because the “country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that people have a VOICE.” (NYT, 7/1/2025)

• Musk is not wrong as recent polls suggest that Americans favor a third political party —but not of the Musk variety. As one pundit recently put it “The billionaires have two parties. We need one of our own.”