He doesn’t want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard . . .
For one, bright shining news cycle, America was no longer in danger of having a presidential contest that would bring us to endless “we’re back in 1992” jokes. No, we were going to have endless “we’re back in 2000” jokes.
A high-level Democratic source has poured cold water on rumors that former presidential candidate Al Gore has been considering a second run for the White House.
A BuzzFeed report on Thursday linked the 67-year-old’s name with the 2016 presidential race, saying his supporters had begun internal conversations and were “figuring out if there’s a path financially and politically.”
However, a top source within the Democratic Party told NBC News that there was nothing substantive happening in the Gore camp.
Gore’s name has been floated as a possible candidate for every primary since he lost the election to George W. Bush in 2000.
I just had this gut feeling that in a race between Jeb Bush and Al Gore, Florida would be important. Check your ballot carefully.
The good news is . . .
Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden appeared to be giving the 2016 race some thought, according to two Democratic sources.
The sources said the 72-year-old has started to reach out to close friends and allies to discuss a possible run. He would not make a decision until the end of this month, the sources said . . .
We all know how damaged Hillary is, and we know that Bernie Sanders may never get the microphone back from #BlackLivesMatter at his rallies ever again . . .
Yes, yes. If you wait patiently enough, maybe they’ll give you a turn when they’re done.
By the way, thinking about the #BlackLivesMatter objections to Sanders . . .
Insert all the standard caveats — African Americans vote heavily Democratic, they’re among the party’s most loyal and reliable bases of support, they’re unlikely to vote in significant numbers for any Republican and so on.
How stirred will African-American voters feel looking at a field of Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Jim Webb, Lincoln Chafee, and Martin O’Malley? The polling says Hillary’s the favorite in this field, but . . . do any of them really generate enthusiasm?
Nuclear, Biochemical Experts and IAEA Heading to China Blast Site
Does this sound a little unnerving to anyone?
Meanwhile, more than 200 nuclear and biochemical experts from the Chinese military and a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Beijing environmental emergency response centre are assessing the area surrounding the blasts.
Oh, it wasn’t a nuke, surely. Witnesses described a “mushroom cloud,” but you don’t need nuclear or atomic material to generate a mushroom cloud. Of course, if you were shaken out of your bed and saw this . . .
. . . you might think it was a nuclear explosion, too.
When ordinary chemicals can do epic damage like this, who needs a nuke?
It looks like something out of some apocalyptic movie. Or this:
Those are shipping containers tossed around and crushed like cardboard boxes on the left, fire trucks on the right for scale.
At this point, there’s a lot of worry about dangerous chemicals still at the disaster site in the air around it.
Not a nuke . . . but maybe close enough.
Speaking of the unthinkable . . .
Pentagon: We’re Investigating Whether ISIS Used Chemical Weapons
Pentagon officials believe ISIS used chemical weapons against Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq Wednesday. Fox News:
One official who had seen the latest intelligence reports from the region told Fox News Thursday that the victims had “blisters” that matched the symptoms of other victims of mustard gas. The intelligence community was continuing to investigate the reports, which were first made public by the German defense ministry . . .
Similar reports of chemical-weapons use by ISIS had surfaced in July. Intelligence agencies have also stated that they believe ISIS used chlorine gas as part of attacks in Iraq.
You’re probably wondering, “Where would they get this stuff?’ Right next door, it seems:
The officials said Islamic State could have obtained the mustard agent in Syria, whose government admitted to having large quantities in 2013 when it agreed to give up its chemical-weapons arsenal.
U.S. intelligence agencies thought Islamic State had at least a small supply of mustard agent even before this week’s clash with Iraqi Kurdish fighters, known as the Peshmerga, U.S. officials said. That intelligence assessment hadn’t been made public.
The attack in question took place late Wednesday, about 40 miles southwest of Erbil in northern Iraq. A German Defense Ministry spokesman said about 60 Peshmerga fighters, who help protect Kurdish areas in northern Iraq, were reported to have suffered injuries to their throats consistent with a chemical attack while fighting Islamic State.
Obama, back in May:
Assad gave up his chemical weapons. And that’s not speculation on our part. That, in fact, has been confirmed by the organization internationally that is charged with eliminating chemical weapons.
Meanwhile, back in Syria:
A Syrian civil defence group has accused the government of President Bashar al-Assad of using napalm on a town near Damascus, the latest escalation in a conflict that has seen the use of chemical weapons and indiscriminate aerial bombing campaigns.
If true, the attack would be the second serious allegation of napalm use in the Syrian war. In 2012, a BBC crew in Aleppo province witnessed what they described as a “napalm-like” attack on a school.
Napalm is a combination of gasoline or petroleum and some sort of jelling agent. Use at or near civilian targets is a violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
The chemical-weapons genie is out of the bottle.
ADDENDA: For those who think I write too much about you-know-who, notice who doesn’t appear in this edition of the Jolt.
My book with Cam has a draft cover. Editing proceeds apace.
