Michael Goldfarb

1 week ago | frdhfirstroughdraftofhistory.substack.com | Michael Goldfarb

Bibi finally got his war. For three decades, more than half of which he has been Israel’s Prime Minister, Netanyahu has relentlessly AND successfully demonized and proselytized for war against the Islamic Republic of Iran. And now he finally has what he wished for. As usual with Netanyahu, starting a fight with one of Israel’s enemies comes at a time when he is politically weak.

2 weeks ago | frdhfirstroughdraftofhistory.substack.com | Michael Goldfarb

Elon Musk vs Donald Trump is not why you read FRDH, First Rough Draft of History. You come for serious comment, not titillation and gossip, right? I only mention Musk vs. Trump in the title for SEO purposes. Two stories of the past week have occupied my mind and this week’s newsletter is about trying to connect them up.

4 weeks ago | frdhfirstroughdraftofhistory.substack.com | Michael Goldfarb

After 600+ days of war and the utter destruction of Gaza, Israel’s military aims are not close to being achieved. There are still a few living hostages in Hamas captivity hoping to be freed and the corpses of many more to be returned. The population of the Strip still hovers around 2 million despite the deaths of 55,000 Palestinians and the departure of perhaps 100,000 more. The only reasonable way to describe the Netanyahu government’s military and diplomatic operation is: utter failure.

1 month ago | frdhfirstroughdraftofhistory.substack.com | Michael Goldfarb

Do you vote FOR a candidate or party or do you vote to PREVENT a candidate or party from taking power? You can dice and splice the results of the 2024 presidential election anyway you choose: Did Kamala/Donald gain or lose: Male, Female, college-educated, White, Black, Latino (what happened to Latinx, did they all die?), rural, urban, regular, irregular, high, low information but in the end, in a society as hopelessly split as the United States the essential question is the one I pose above.

1 month ago | frdhfirstroughdraftofhistory.substack.com | Michael Goldfarb

The last two weeks have seen reality come to the rescue of the slowly swelling ranks of beleaguered, anti-MAGA Americans. First, right-wing parties which had been favored to win national elections lost to incumbent liberal-left parties in Canada and Australia because of the global right’s association with Trump. Then the Vatican Conclave elected an ant-MAGA Cardinal as the first Pope born in the United States.