Weekend Quotables
Israeli actions in Lebanon remain the biggest roadblock to an agreement.
On the U.S./Iran peace deal
The peace deal has been agreed on but not signed. It exists as a finalized text, not a binding treaty. The signing on June 19 is the goal, and Israeli actions in Lebanon remain the biggest variable. Israel is refusing to remove its IDF troops from Lebanon, even after the U.S. and Iran announced a memorandum of understanding that hinges on the withdrawal. The move could once again jeopardize any chance of a peace deal, as one of Iran’s primary demands is the end of Israel’s bombardment and occupation of Lebanon.
Ben-Gvir
Israel is not subordinate to the United States, and we are an independent and sovereign state,” said Israel’s right-wing National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has called for the flattening of Beirut and the kidnapping of Lebanese women and children. “We must not withdraw from any territory that our fighters have occupied and cleared of terrorist infrastructure.” — Middle East Eye
On Trump’s cage matches last night
Trump hosted a cage match at the White House on Sunday, turning the historic South Lawn into a sporting arena where fighters pummeled each other, surrounded by paid advertisements and thousands of fans.
The unprecedented event used some of the most iconic symbols of American power—the U.S. military, the White House and the Lincoln Memorial—to promote the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a company that stands to profit from the fight’s far-reaching exposure. — Wall Street Journal
Columnist Monica Hesse
The Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Sunday night was not a celebration of the sport; it was a celebration of slop. It was a pseudo-patriotic grift that tried to convince us that fighters wheel-kicking each other for the chance of $1 million in crypto deserved the same level of hero admiration as the boys who launched onto the beach at Normandy; it was an infomercial that paused every seven seconds to advertise Starlink internet or Starry soda or Ram trucks or flavors of Monster energy drink that God forgot. — Washington Post
Laurent Dogrel
What happened tonight isn’t sports—it’s a national humiliation. — X
Tim Miller, host of The Bulwark
“Michelle Obama is a man,” shouted on the White House lawn in a ring sponsored by Bud Light, only available on Larry Ellison’s Paramount Plus. What a way to celebrate America 250 and the twilight of liberal democracy. — The Bulwark
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More Weekend Quotables
Julia Roberts
“Renée Nicole Good was not a symbol. She was an American woman, a queer woman, who was doing the very best she could do to be good in an unjust world. I am honored to celebrate her life and legacy, because the life she gave is our responsibility to carry.”
Robert De Niro (A poem?)
“If Trump said, ‘I don’t think about the economic situation of Americans at all,’ I would say this.
Shut the fuck up.
If Trump said, ‘I love inflation,’ I would say this.
Shut the fuck up.
If Trump said, ‘I won the 2020 election,’ I would say it again.
Shut the fuck up. — Rise Up, Sing Out event
Bette Midler (A song)
“We’re coming for his ass.” — The Guardian
Ms. Rachel
Explicitly called for shutting down the Dilley Immigration Processing Center and ending family detention.
As the American Academy of Pediatrics says, there is no safe amount of time for a child to be in detention. The Dilley immigration detention center must be shut down. We need to end the cruel policies of family detention and family separation. — AOL
