Trump is doing two things at once: pushing the narrative that his enemies must be defeated while dissolving the natural inhibitions most human beings have against hating and harming others.

Trump is unequivocally saying that if he gets a second term, he will rule as a fascist.

Trump was in office for four years. No liberals were falsely placed in jail. No left-leaning cable shows, social media platforms, or newspapers had their speech quashed.

If only we could say that was the case for Biden’s critics.

I agree with the title “Reaffirming the State of Israel’s Right to Exist” and much of the language, but I’m voting No on the resolution because it equates anti-Zionism with antisemitism. Antisemitism is deplorable, but expanding it to include criticism of Israel is not helpful.

My resolution H. Res 888 is simple and straightforward – Israel has a right to exist. I was pleased to see this resolution pass the House tonight with broad bipartisan support.

Tonight the House voted to reaffirm our unwavering support for Israel.

H.Res. 888 supports Israel’s right to exist, recognizes denying Israel’s right to exist is a form of antisemitism, rejects calls for Israel’s destruction, condemns the Hamas-led attack on Israel.

Jonathan Schanzer, FDD’s senior vice president of research, wrote this month, “UNRWA employees have promoted antisemitism online, including praise of Hitler. This is not a case of a few rotten apples but rather an agency that openly promotes hatred and violence while masquerading as a humanitarian body…”

UNRWA has effectively masked its political activities under the guise of humanitarian efforts, which hampers Israel’s ability to expose the Palestinians’ unwavering commitment to a complete “return” to Palestine and the elimination of Jewish sovereignty over the land.

UNRWA is the main source for education and health care as well as food relief for 1.4 million refugees in Gaza. Blocking UNRWA’s funds will only add to the misery of the population already suffering from high levels of poverty and unemployment and a 17-year siege by Israel.

…conspicuously missing from Biden’s public remarks on the conflict has been any meaningful discussion of Iran’s complicity in the atrocities that occurred on Oct. 7 in Israel or the 73 rocket and drone attacks against American forces in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17.

By obfuscating Iran’s role, the Biden administration is validating Tehran’s regional strategy, thereby shielding it and its key assets against retaliation. Hence, Washington has publicized its opposition to any Israeli “preemptive strike” against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

To be sure, the Biden administration must be careful about feeding a cycle of escalation that could lead to a wider conflict. But that fear of escalation risks paralyzing policy. U.S. forces have responded to Iranian-backed militia attacks in Syria while Biden was president.

…together with the military steps, it must reach an agreement with the United States and its other friends about the entry of an international intervention force to Gaza, based on soldiers from NATO countries, which would replace the Israeli army.

“We learned the hard way in Lebanon,” said Amidror. “We cannot be the kingmakers. You cannot come from outside and determine who will be the Palestinian government. They have to make decisions. They have to make the choice.”

If Hamas and similar groups are destroyed in Gaza, as Israel vows, perhaps UNTSO could help keep the peace inside Gaza too as a kind of supplementary police force while the status and credibility of the Palestinian Authority are somehow resurrected there.

This is uncut schadenfreude that activates my worst instincts, a version of Squid Game with nothing but contempt for our fellow man. When you remove the pathos and introspection—when there is no moral investigation into why these real-life men and women are undercutting each other in pursuit of a life-changing sum of money—the result is an intoxicating spectacle for your id.

It’s possible that a different version of The Challenge, one sufficiently abstracted from the grim themes of Squid Game, could have been fun to watch. The version we have, however, remains fixated on the themes of subjugation, humiliation, and inequity that defined the fictional version of the game.

So are we all sadists, revelling in human suffering while watching from the safety of our sofa? Not necessarily, says Dr Sandra Wheatley, a social psychologist for Potent, and a chartered member of the British Psychological Society, who believes that we’re sucked into watching a show like Squid Game: The Challenge for less obviously malign reasons – because of a desire to be part of the cultural conversation.