“Congressman Goldman, his wife, and three youngest children were in Israel for a family Bar Mitzvah when Hamas brutally attacked Israel on Shabbat and Simchat Torah, one of the holiest Jewish holidays. Congressman Goldman and his family sheltered from Hamas rocket fire in their hotel’s interior stairwell until early Sunday morning, when they were able to safely depart for New York. Congressman Goldman is grateful for the assistance of the State Department and Israeli authorities, and he hopes all Americans can come together to support Israel’s right to defend herself from terrorism and war crimes,” says New York Dem Congressman Dan Goldman’s office in a statement.

With Americans reportedly among the dead and missing after strikes in Israel and Gaza, President Joe Biden has ensured his Israeli counterpart that US aid is on the way, according to ABC News.  Biden’s assurances to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu come as reports circulate that the Pentagon is sending the Gerald R. Ford carrier group, already in the Mediterranean, further east to assist with Israeli defense.

Former Florida state House member Anthony Sabatini, a fucking far-right nutcase whose name was well known to longtime National Zero readers until he lost a 2022 primary to now-7th District MAGA Congressman Cory Mills, has been retained as defense counsel by a Villages-area man facing charges of forgery and voter fraud for having signed his then-recently-deceased father’s name on a mail-in ballot for fat former President Trump in October 2020, Villages-News.com reports.

Former Florida State Representative Anthony Sabatini and Trump-loving accused 2020 ballot forger Robert Rivernider Jr.

Robert Rivernider Jr, who Villages-News describes as having “served as a Villagers for Trump board member,” was himself ineligible to vote for the Orange Allah in the 2020 election due to his 2013 federal felony conviction in a $20 million real estate scam, for which he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Rivernider Jr was released seven years into the bid in mid-2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and moved in with his father in The Villages, only for the old man to fall victim to the virus on October 19, 2020. The Sumter County elections office smelled a rat when the signature on a ballot for Robert Rivernider Sr didn’t match the one on his registration and was signed and dated October 16 but postmarked October 23, 2020, so they set it aside for review. Eventually they determined the ballot had likely actually been signed by Rivernider Jr, banned by the DeSantis Regime from voting until he pays restitution to the victims of the decade-old real estate fraud rap.

Senate Democrats are pushing for Republicans to put their normal partisan obstinance aside to speed through the nomination of Jack Lew to be ambassador to Israel, an administration selection that had been submitted in early September, Politico reports.

Besides the appointment of the ambassador, a number of Democrats are pointing to the delays in approving the promotions of military officers caused by Alabama Republican Senator and challenger for stupidest person in Congress Tommy Tuberville, who has blocked nominations of hundreds of military flag and executive officers because he disagrees with a Pentagon policy providing access to reproductive health care to those in uniform.

Hawaii Democratic Senator Brian Schatz, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said the committee should immediately approve Lew and “we should do this instantaneously and we also need to confirm a chief of Naval Operations,” adding “This is serious business. If he wants to change healthcare policy at DOD, he can introduce a bill. But he cannot undermine our ability to help our allies and partners.”

Something is creeping up the Mississippi River that could cause as much devastation as an oversized monster in a 1960s Japanese movie, but much more stealthily.  As the Washington Post reports, a salt (or saltwater) wedge devastates communities on its journey north.

A salt wedge is a type of estuary, a waterway where saltwater from the ocean mixes with the freshwater draining from landmasses.  Salt wedges are typically found in river systems where ocean waters creep up the riverbed during droughts.  Because the upper Mississippi watershed experienced low rainfall this season, the Mississippi salt wedge is currently located about five miles north of Carlisle, Louisiana and is expected to reach Belle Chasse, a community of 10,000, within a week.  It could reach New Orleans around Thanksgiving.

At least 300 Israelis and 252 Palestinians are dead Saturday after the cross-border terrorist assault on military and civilian targets in Israel and the IDF’s retaliatory strikes on Gaza, CNN reports.

More than 1,500 Israelis are injured and an unknown number of civilians and soldiers, likely over 100, have been abducted and are being held hostage in Gaza. Injuries on the Gaza side are over 1,700.

Really nothing we can add here that Ronna didn’t already say about how the Republicans see the slaughter of innocent people in their homes. This was after Fox News’s Jennifer Griffin thoroughly debunked the bullshit story that the Biden Administration was somehow complicit in it.

Two Osceola County, Florida women were charged with armed robbery Thursday in the theft of food from a Taco Bell location on West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway near Kissimee, Fox 35 reports.

It’s only marginally less stupid than the headline and lede would imply. What Olivia Okolowitcz, 30, and Mikailyn Butcher, 21, actually did was steal bags of food from the rack meant for DoorDash, Uber Eats, etc drivers to pick up the orders. When an employee followed them out into the parking lot is when one of the dumbasses pulled a gun and got misdemeanor larceny bumped up to armed robbery. Cops later found the vehicle parked at a nearby hotel and promptly arrested the banditas.

President Joe Biden will deliver remarks about the horrific Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians and the Netanyahu Regime’s already bloody retaliation against Gaza at 2:30 PM EDT on Saturday.

“This morning, I spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu about the horrific and ongoing attacks in Israel. The United States unequivocally condemns this appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, and I made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the Government and people of Israel. Terrorism is never justified.”

“Israel has a right to defend itself and its people. The United States warns against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation. My Administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering. Jill and I are keeping in our prayers all of the families who have been hurt by this violence. We are heartbroken by the lives that have been tragically cut short and hope for a swift recovery for all those who have been wounded. My team and I are tracking this situation closely, and I will remain in close touch with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” says a Saturday White House statement on Biden’s call with Israeli dictator Netanyahu after “Bibi” either deliberately or incompetently allowed Hamas animals from the Gaza Strip into his country to slaughter civilians.

In case you were thinking this might be a little relief from the horrific news coming from Israel and the utterly abased MAGA reaction to it, we’re sorry to report that on Saturday morning the fat fuck’s stay-out-of-prison 2024 campaign weighed in with a statement saying “These Hamas attacks are a disgrace and Israel has every right to defend itself with overwhelming force. Sadly, American taxpayer dollars helped fund these attacks, which many reports are saying came from the Biden Administration. We brought so much peace to the Middle East through the Abraham Accords, only to see Biden whittle it away at a far more rapid pace than anyone thought possible. Here we go again.”

Here we go again indeed. What a cunt. The “many reports are saying it came from the Biden Administration” should tell you that all they have is bullshit from Twitter. The “We brought so much peace to the Middle East through the Abraham Accords” is classic MAGA too. Who needs details like that the agreements are still very much in effect and that they weren’t between Israel and Hamas?

The videos and images coming out of Israel are fucking horrific. We’re not going to be sharing them here and we ask our commenters to please use caution and be considerate of others if they feel they have to, but we’re also not going to moderate them except in the most extreme cases. Anyone sensitive may want to avoid the comments for a while – and Twitter for that matter. It is absolutely gut-wrenching to see what these sick fucking animals have done and are still doing to people.

This is exactly why so many Americans & Israelis were DISGUSTED to see @JoeBiden give the Iranian regime $6 billion last month. Every dollar given to Iran funds terrorism in the Ayatollah’s quest to destroy Israel.

Iran is behind today’s invasion & everyone must say that.

— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) October 7, 2023

Which makes this shitshow perfect for our fellow Americans to capitalize upon politically with the most tenuous connection to the Biden Administration’s foreign policy. Why let gruesome images of children shot dead in a van on a highway go to waste when they can score a few points with voters who don’t otherwise really understand any of it? Never mind that the US Treasury Department still controls the $6 billion being held in a Qatari bank account and has the final say on all the transactions, which can only be spent on humanitarian purposes. Or that the funds, proceeds from oil sales, were held in escrow by the Trump Administration starting in 2019. Or that the US Navy seized Iranian weapons bound for the Yemeni Houthis last year and sent them to Ukraine, which should tell you that they would’ve done the same if the guns had been headed to Gaza instead. Or that there haven’t been any reports so far of drones being used against Israel, which you might have expected to see if the Iranians were supplying Hamas with them like they supply the Russians.

Never mind any of those facts when it just feels true that Biden has blood on his hands here.

“Horrible news from Israel. My condolences go out to everyone who lost relatives or close ones in the terrorist attack. We have faith that order will be restored and terrorists will be defeated. Terror should have no place in the world, because it is always a crime, not just against a specific country or this terror’s victims, but against humanity in general and our entire world. Anyone who resorts to terror commits a crime against the world. Whoever finances terror is committing a crime against the world. The world must stand united and in solidarity so that terror does not attempt to break or subjugate life anywhere and at any moment. Israel’s right to self-defense is unquestionable.”

“All details surrounding this terrorist assault must be revealed so that the world knows and holds accountable everyone who supported and helped carry out the attack. All Ukrainian citizens in the risk zone must carefully obey all orders issued by local security services and remain vigilant. Please be cautious. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our embassy in Israel are ready to assist in any situation. To support Ukrainians in Israel, we established an operational headquarters. If you require assistance, please contact any of our diplomatic or consular offices in any convenient and accessible manner. Every life is valuable! We condemn all forms of terrorism,” writes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a statement responding to Saturday’s Hamas assault on Israel.

We’ll just leave out our editorializing on what Zelensky did not say here, even though we would completely understand if he did given the state of relations between Ukraine and Israel since Russia invaded. Yet he leaves himself and Ukraine’s situation out of it, expressing concern only for the well-being of innocent Israelis and direct instructions to the likely thousands of Ukrainians caught in the crossfire there. Says a lot about the content of his character and the kind of leader he is.

Hamas on Saturday launched thousands of rockets into southern Israel and sent an unknown number of terrorists on the ground to attack civilians in towns near Gaza in a major assault unseen in decades, with dictator Benjamin Netanyahu announcing the country was “at war,” the AP reports.

The terrorists had breached the border wall separating Israel proper with the not really “occupied” so much as simply interned territory on the Mediterranean. Some even reportedly used hang gliders to land deeper into populated areas to wreak havoc during the Simchas Torah holiday.

Now it might come across as asshole-ish and “too soon” to raise this point. We still kind of have to bring it up: Nobody deserves to get killed by a rocket fired from miles away or shot dead by some pissed off terrorist piece of shit on a Saturday morning. This is fucking awful. The people of Ukraine are having a similar experience with at least 52 of them dead this week after a Russian missile struck a cafe where a family had gathered after a memorial service for a soldier who had been killed in combat on the front lines. Yet, depending on how severe this attack on Israel is – and it seems like it could be pretty bad – the response here from the American right wing to what’s still going on in southern Israel is going to be completely different from their response to what’s going on in Ukraine.

• Republicans claim Hunter got paid so people could access Joe, but they don’t seem to care that people paid a six-figure sum to join Trump golf clubs so they could have access to him most weekends while he was in office, hoping perhaps to pick up nuclear triad secrets in the buffet line.
• Jim Jordan believes he should be the Speaker.  Jordan has been in Congress for more than two decades and has never sponsored a bill that’s become law.  If he should ascend to the role, he would do so as the personification of Republican incompetence.
• Of course Donald Trump would endorse Jordan.  In a locker room at Ohio State more than two decades ago, Jordan proved his fealty to a cause close to Trump’s heart.
• There was no way in hell the Republican Conference’s Speaker’s Forum was ever going to be broadcast live on television.  Leadership had to understand having the nation hear what Marjorie Taylor Greene envisioned as the goals for the GOP would cost the Party a decade of elections.

The group that successfully argued to have the Supreme Court bar the consideration of race as a factor in college admissions–an opinion with which the Court specifically excluded the US military academies from requirements to comply–is now suing the US Naval Academy in the expectation that the case will force the Court to remove the academies’ exemption from the rule.

The Baltimore Banner reports that Students for Fair Admissions filed the lawsuit in the Maryland District federal court to have the school in Annapolis remove any such consideration.  Since the 1960s, the service academies have been directed to have a student body that closer reflects the racial and gender make-up of the general population so that the US military reflects the diverse American populace.

Eric Trump directed a Trump Organization executive to make decisions in a way that led to the manipulation of the stated value of properties to defraud potential partners, the former controller of the company and a co-defendant in the case testified, CNN reports.

Jeff McConney stated Eric Trump directed him to consider certain factors to inflate the values of a number of Trump properties including the New York estate at Seven Springs and the Trump National Golf Club Westchester.

The day in court had a number of moments that highlighted the incompetence of Trump’s legal counsel.  At one point, Trump spokeslawyer Alina Habba objected after the prosecutor requested additional latitude in questioning McConney, describing him as a “hostile witness.”  Habba objected to the characterization, saying McConney was not particularly hostile to the prosecution.  “He’s the defendant,” Judge Engoron pointed out in overruling the objection.

Dead campaigner walking Ron DeSantis spent $1.5 million on charter jets to fly around the globe on an ersatz trade mission as he tried to bolster his foreign affairs credentials for his now-fizzling presidential run, Politico reports.

The charter costs were by far the most expensive cost of the week-long jaunt to Japan, South Korea, Israel, and England which included two plane-loads of DeSantis supporters including his wife, Florida business leaders and other state officials.  Hotels cost less than $70,000 while meals came in below $10,000.

The ability to review DeSantis’s travel costs picked up by Florida taxpayers was been impeded by new laws passed by the Republican-dominated legislature to hide excessive costs the Republican governor has run up in his failing quest for the White House.