George Chidi, Evil Reporter
@neonflag.bsky.social
9K followers 560 following 1.3K posts
Journalist for The Guardian (and occasionally Rolling Stone) in Atlanta, covering politics and the odd Young Thug tidbit. Massive D&D nerd. Veteran. #AddToBlackSky Signal: George_Chidi.80
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neonflag.bsky.social
I think that's my fucking beat at this point. George, what do you cover?

"Evil, motherfucker. I cover evil."
neonflag.bsky.social
Some perennial candidates here maintain themselves in this fashion. They won't (or can't) really pursue traditional employment. They show up once every two years to announce a campaign, do as little as possible to run, conduct call time fundraising like a Manila boiler room, lose, and disappear.
neonflag.bsky.social
By paying themselves, I mean spending money on "consulting" or "advertising" or "operations" expenses that ultimately benefit close political allies who then redirect that revenue back to the candidate. It means hiring your husband or wife and children as operatives.

The scandal is what's legal.
neonflag.bsky.social
As we consider some candidates for high office in Georgia, it is healthy to remember that a small number of high-profile former elected officials are perfectly capable of paying themselves millions of dollars in campaign donations for a race that they know they have almost no chance of winning.
neonflag.bsky.social
"And meaning it" is the operative term, I suppose. Biden arming Israel doesn't count then.
neonflag.bsky.social
They make a desert, and call it peace.
neonflag.bsky.social
Deeds, not words. The hostages have been returned, from both sides. That's a sign that this is more than paper.
neonflag.bsky.social
Protecting a war criminal from the International Court and his own citizens is the height of political corruption and immoral governance. And if it were anyone else, it would be enough to swing elections and prompt talk of impeachment. But, alas, Trump grinds conventional political morality to dust.
neonflag.bsky.social
Or the State Department may simply declare that Netanyahu's renunciation was invalid and dare someone to find standing to sue to reverse the decision.

Or Congress might make a special grant of citizenship and protection. In the name of ending the Gaza War, even some Democrats might swallow it.
neonflag.bsky.social
And there are many mechanisms for his to get it, and perhaps to have his American citizenship restored. Immigration law is arcane, but I believe a provision usually applied to foreign spies and defectors allows the CIA or USCIS to *instantly* grant citizenship to something like 100 people a year
neonflag.bsky.social
Netanyahu has - twice - given up his American citizenship. Though he was born in Tel Aviv, his mother was an American citizen. He split his time between Jerusalem and West Philly growing up.

It is conceivable that in a case of asylum - the irony - Netanyahu might simply ask for a green card.
neonflag.bsky.social
And as soon as the government collapses and Netanyahu is no longer prime minister, he is subject to prosecution on the long-standing corruption charges. His government is quite unpopular. Israel's standing in the world has been irreparably damaged.

I expect that he's looking for an out, too.
neonflag.bsky.social
If the peace sticks, Hamas leaders will likely be defenestrated in clan and tribal in-fighting. The combat has already begun. They're going to need an out. Probably Qatar.

So will Netanyahu. His cabinet will never accept peace, and it only takes two ministers defecting to bring down the government.
neonflag.bsky.social
As we watch the Gaza peace with Israel hold, or not, I have been pulling at the threads of a stray thought.

Donald Trump might actually be the only person who was able to broker this peace, because only Trump is immoral enough to offer the one thing Netanyahu needed to end the war: safe exile here.
neonflag.bsky.social
In case there are any lingering questions about what Trump's attack on "DEI" actually means. 98 percent of his appointees are white. We can just the relative merit of those appointees plainly.

Racism is real and measurable, which is why the first priority is to remove the structures measuring it.
Trump Fires Black Officials From an Overwhelmingly White Administration
www.nytimes.com
neonflag.bsky.social
Why the fuck do people like this end up in fucking charge all the time?
neonflag.bsky.social
All copyeditors go to heaven.

Even the Chicago style ones.
neonflag.bsky.social
My non-lawyer ass has spent a lot of time listening to court cases this week. And month. And couple of years.

They keep telling me not to go to law school.
neonflag.bsky.social
Plenary power: a complete and absolute power to take action on a particular issue, with no limitations.

Get used to seeing this term in the media for a while, after Stephen Miller accidentally used it in public with reference to the military.

harvardpolitics.com/national-sec...
Where the Law is Silent: Plenary Power & the “National Security” Constitution - Harvard Political Review
The unspoken truth is that the Constitution can be ignored in the name of “protecting” it, and thus the nation, from minorities.
harvardpolitics.com
neonflag.bsky.social
Donald Trump, who has ordered the U.S. Navy to sink unarmed boats from Venezuela which he *suspects* of carrying drugs - an order that clearly violates international law and is arguably a war crime - and is also sending soldiers into American cities against civilians ... wants a Nobel Peace Prize.
neonflag.bsky.social
They're not even trying to be a citywide publication.
neonflag.bsky.social
Sushi is only good when its inside the perimeter and an omokase table at $300 a seating, according to the AJC.

Almost all of Buford Highway's best restaurants are ITP, and there's still almost no representation.

The list was written by rich white people, for rich white people.