"Instead of running the country and dealing with the world he
has set on fire, the president is focused on settling petty squabbles and a web
of corruption in his incompetent — and dangerous — court."- Maureen Dowd, ‘Trump’s Bubble Is About To
Burst’, NY Times, Oct. 17
"If President Trump does not understand what will happen to him if he proceeds with his plan to trade away support for Ukraine’s democracy for Russian diesel, let me spell it out: He will enter the history books in the chapter on leaders who sold out their country’s democratic values to appease a dictator. Donald Trump, meet Neville Chamberlain. When future students search online for “sellout,” “appeaser” or “traitor to his country’s core values,” - Thomas L. Friedman, 'Trump's Democracy for Diesel Deal Shames Us All', NY Times, Oct. 15
George Cassidy's recent smirkngchimp.com piece (Trump Crosses New Thresholds of American Shame) sheds much needed light on Traitor Trump and the reactionary press (e.g. FOX, WSJ editorials) going after the international criminal court. As Mr. Cassidy writes:
"Consider the International Criminal Court (ICC). Navi Pillay,
the South African jurist whose career challenged apartheid and advanced the
prosecution of sexual violence as a weapon of genocide, was recently awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize for her human rights work. She also led a United Nations
commission that concluded Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, a finding
Israel rejects.
Trump responded by resharing a social media post claiming he
deserved the prize. His administration imposed sanctions on the ICC, accusing
the court of unfairly targeting Americans.
The timing does not establish that the Nobel decision caused
the sanctions. The underlying issue is more consequential than presidential
resentment. International courts exist to investigate grave crimes, including
those committed by people with political power. Their decisions can be
challenged, their jurisdiction disputed, and their procedures scrutinized. None
of this gives governments a blank check to punish institutions for examining
their conduct.
From which we can conclude, that only gangster rogue state, or gangster authoritarians who believe they're above the law, would object in any way to a court that holds renegades responsible for their crimes (including genocide) and launching wars of choice.
And only doltish, reactionary editors would react savagely to a well-justified Nobel Peace Prize, in this case to Navi Pillay. But the trollish nabobs of The Wall Street Journal did just that - screeching in their Oct. 9 editorial ('A Nobel Prize For Hating Israel'):
"It’s possible that the Nobel Committee will someday bestow its
peace prize on a less worthy recipient than Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, but we
doubt it. The Oslo worthies this year have honored an 85-year-old South African
whose career has been marked above all by hatred for Israel and
the Jews who support it.
Ms. Pillay began her life’s work as an attorney defending opponents of apartheid, but that cruelty was defeated two generations ago. The Nobel committee is honoring her career since then devoted to attacking the Jewish state and twisting international law to distort the meaning of “genocide” toward that end."
Maybe the benighted scribes ensconced at the Journal do not care that a constellation of global institutes and agencies have indisputably tagged what Netanyahu and Israel did to Gaza, genocide. These include:
- Amnesty
International: Formally declared in December 2024 that
Israel is committing the crime of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,
citing systematic attacks, forced displacement, and restrictions on
life-sustaining necessities.
- International
Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS): The world's largest
professional organization of genocide scholars adopted a resolution in
September 2025 stating that Israel's policies and actions in Gaza meet the
legal definition of genocide.
- B’Tselem
and Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI):
Prominent Israeli human rights organizations released landmark reports in
July 2025 concluding that Israel is carrying out genocide in Gaza through
mass displacement, infrastructure destruction, and the deliberate creation
of starvation conditions.
- United Nations Special Rapporteurs & Experts: Various UN human rights experts and independent rapporteurs have published evaluations—such as the UN report "Gaza Genocide: a collective crime"—accusing Israel of acts constituting genocide and highlighting the complicity of enabling third states.
- Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières / MSF) is also among the international humanitarian groups that have formally accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
· While the medical charity initially focused its
messaging on calling for immediate ceasefires and condemning the destruction of
healthcare infrastructure, the organization has explicitly adopted the term "genocide"
to describe Israel's military campaign in Gaza.
It should not really take a Mensa level IQ to see that slaughtering 70,000 (including women, children and health care workers) and reducing their land to rubble while trashing all resources is genocide. Maybe not on the scale of the Third Reich but a genocide nonetheless. Minimizing it as the WSJ editorial does enables the terror and slaughter to continue.
So it should not be a surprise when millions across the globe beheld scenes like this, with dead infants in the rubble:
They rightly held Israel and the autocratic Israeli Trump clone, Bibi Netanyahu responsible for committing genocide. "Twisting the meaning of genocide to distort international law"? NO! Not when the International Criminal Court (ICC) itself concurs. But let us pick up on that, because that's where the derelict WSJ nabobs venture next in their editorial 'The ICC Is A Threat To America' (Oct. 10-11, p. A12).
Where in truth, it is the U.S. - under a rogue, criminal regime - which is a threat to the world. From destroying one climate accord after another, to launching extra-judicial drone killings of fishermen on the high seas, to invading Venezuela for its oil and capturing its leader without any evidence, to launching a war on Iran that is wreaking havoc on peoples and nations.
We can start here with Donald Trump - a monster, an unchecked blabbering orange oaf who thinks he rules the world - and has already been compared to Adolf Hitler by a former Holocaust survivor, e.g.
Who - like the rest of us who remain sentient, recognize his numerous, despicable acts that confirm that perception, e.g.
Trump Reigns as Unapologetic, Dark Lord of Misrule
which also makes his yearning for a Nobel Peace Prize even more of a joke. Apart from which the WSJ's editors appear to reserve more of their rhetorical fire for a Nobel Peace laureate than for the beast who is currently making deals with our mortal enemy - Putin - while he enables that fiend to relentlessly attack Ukraine.
Clearly the Journal is unable to recognize the real threat - to the nation and world - pruning and kowtowing to Putin in front of their eyes-
while they yammer on claiming attacks on Israel, ignoring how some of its barbaric settlers only recently attacked a Washington Post journalist, e.g.
Journalist hospitalized after Israeli settler attack in West Bank
Can we trust the Journal's editors then to be judicious arbiters of genuine peace or even national security? No we can't. Not when they allow an orange felon president who has no interest in democracy - far less peace- to run amuck, without holding him to account. By which I mean full-throated advocating for removal under the 25th amendment, not just the occasional editorial scolding. E.g. "If it's a Democratic rout, Mr. President, man up and take political responsibility" (WSJ, Oct.17, p. A12, 'All The President's Election Excuses')
And so we must also treat the WSJ Editors selective pearl clutching over Navi Pillay's Nobel Peace Prize and the ICC being U.S. enemies as so much baloney and bunkum. Merely performative twaddle to appease the deranged orange autocrat - showing they are still with him. (And they won't call for release of the Epstein files, including the 302 disclosing Dotard's pedophile acts.)
Back to the ICC. The editors should know, after all with Trump’s reelection, the campaign to destroy the ICC went into high gear. In February 2025, Trump imposed sanctions on the ICC prosecutor. That August, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, labeling the court “a national security threat,” added ICC judges to the sanctions list. In late 2025, a top Trump administration official told Reuters that there was “growing concern” that “the ICC will turn its attention to the president, to the vice president, to the secretary of war and others, and pursue prosecutions against them.” They already had seen the ICC use its authority to prosecute Netanyahu for war crimes on Palestinian territory - as they prosecuted Putin for his crimes in Ukraine.
But no longer. From now on all criminal regimes - whether of Netanyahu, Putin or Trump must be free of threats of any prosecution. Free to do what they like, bomb nations out of some pretense, take resources or kill civilians. This from the same punk who in 2016 warned that Trump "is the most vulgar person to ever run for president". However, an ICC court designed to go after rogue states and criminal regimes was “unacceptable, and we will not allow it to happen.”
The ICC, Rubio said, had been informed that, unless it amended its founding document to ensure that it would not investigate the Republican president and his top officials, new, very punishing US sanctions would be imposed on the court. These sanctions, according to a WSJ Weekend piece (U.S. Imposes Sanctions On the ICC, p. A8):
"Would cripple the ICC by cutting it off from the U.S. financial system prohibiting it from conducting transactions in dollars."
So in other words, let the criminal regimes and rogue states run wild.
No surprise then, Vladimir Putin, gleeful over the Trump diesel deal and retracting sanctions, also joined in and ramped up its attack. In December 2025, a Russian
court, retaliating for the ICC’s arrest warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova,
convicted the ICC prosecutor and eight ICC judges, in absentia, of “unlawful
prosecution,” sentencing them to terms of imprisonment ranging from three and a
half to 15 years.
Trump's own criminal regime has now joined the Russians as another enemy state after we learned Saturday Trump has signed an executive order waiving all sanctions against Putin, e.g.
Trump signs executive order waiving sanctions against Russia - The Washington Post
And yet the Cuban miscreant transplant Rubio announced barely 3 months ago “a sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court to US sovereignty.” This would “feature a whole-of-government response to systematically disable the ICC’s ability to operate” and destroy the court “brick by brick.” So rather than supply critical logistic and satellite support to Ukraine, as well as weapons, our derelict rogue criminal state prefers to help Russia destroy Ukraine as well as the ICC - the lone international court to hold these criminals responsible for their actions. But no, they want to destroy that court "brick by brick". Is it any wonder the world is now in such a ghastly condition after democracy as well as siding with NATO and the decent nations has been upended? This has led to Washington Post comments from readers such as the following:
"Putin owns Trump, who will go down in history as the Neville Chamberlain of our time. All the orange conman felon cares about is getting richer through corruption. Trading our national interests for his personal business interests. What an evil man."
"Treason!"
"All roads lead to Putin. Remember that when you vote."
"Whatever national interest could their be in helping our sworn enemy kill more Ukrainians and more US service personnel and allies in the Middle East ? This is treachery and betrayal ... quite possibly worse."
Are these readers, and roughly 1, 550 more (in the WaPo comments section), deluded? Overreacting? Of course not! Indeed, within hours Traitor Trump doubled down on his gifts to Putin by allowing Russia to resume sales of gas to Europe - this after years of trying to wean the Europeans away from consuming Russian energy. See e.g.
U.S.
Floats Lifeline to Russia: Allowing More Gas Sales to Europe - The New York
Times
But will the WSJ editors now change their tune? Not bloody likely. These WSJ editorial trolls who so easily rage at critics of Israel and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient who sees genocide in Gaza- would rather preserve a criminal Trump regime in the U.S.
Let's also recall that August, additional sanctions were imposed on court officials, and Rubio proclaimed:
“Our unwavering mission to protect Americans from this sham of a court.”
Why isn't your mission to protect Americans from an enemy state bombing Ukraine into rubble, and now - as we learn - attacking NATO nations like Romania as well? ('Russian Attacks in Europe Put NATO In A Bind', Oct. 17-18, WSJ, page A1). How bad is it now that Trump's treachery has unleashed and emboldened Putin and Russian attacks. From the same WSJ (main section) piece:
"Attacks in the Black Sea have followed months of airborne incursions into NATO territory by Russian planes, drones and missiles. More recently Europeans have accused Moscow of staging or provoking acts of sabotage across the continent."
Clearly Rubio has his friends mixed up with historic (since the Cold war) U.S. enemies. Not surprising given the current criminal Trump regime now sides with its enemies like Russia - and of course with Israel, against the ICC. Which they all now have the absolute chutzpah to deem the enemy.
Thankfully, the European Union retains a measure of decency, dignity and courage even after betrayal by the cast of American traitors. The EU immediately expressed its backing for
the ICC, while Germany’s foreign minister declared that the court made the
world “safer and more just.” In a biting article, Kenneth Roth, a former executive director of Human
Rights Watch, argued that “the administration’s real goal is to secure impunity
for war crimes.” No argument with that take at all, given all the receipts thus far point that way.
Nevertheless, the campaign against the ICC is having a serious impact, not only in the Trump regime withdrawing financial support. In late July, thanks to US government pressure, Venezuela and Chad announced their withdrawal from the court’s Rome Statute. The number of withdrawals now stands at five, including Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.
To fix ideas the Rome Statute defines the founding treaty of the ICC and is what allows the court to prosecute non-member state nationals - like Netanyahu, Trump and Putin - if they commit war crimes or crimes against humanity in the territory of member states. The court's backers (listed earlier) regard the aforementioned provision as a fundamental principle of international criminal law, which could only be contradicted by claiming a specious 'sovereignty'. In this case equivalent to committing any crime on any other nation on Earth and claiming it's justified. Here, individual rogue nations, criminal regimes and war criminals baldly claim immunity from any other authority or court. This is exactly what the Trump, Putin and Netanyahu regimes have done to advance their crimes.
Thus, Putin has committed such crimes in Ukraine, Netanyahu in Gaza and Trump already in Venezuela and Iran. The only reason any state or state actor would wish to turn around and destroy the ICC itself, would hence be to secure impunity for its war crimes and crimes against humanity.
If these lawless renegades and rogue states succeed in their war on the ICC then what's next? Well, a world ruled by rogue states and criminal regimes. Can anyone blame young people for not wanting to bring children into such a deranged, lawless, vile world, e.g.
See also:
by Marjorie Cohn | October 18, 2026 - 4:29am | permalink
The U.S. government has long sought to incapacitate the International Criminal Court (ICC), the world’s first global court that was created to prosecute the most atrocious crimes. As the ICC seeks to provide accountability for Israeli crimes, the Trump administration has become increasingly aggressive in its attempts to hobble the court. On October 9, 2026, Team Trump imposed punitive sanctions against the court itself, which constitutes the gravest intensification of its war on the ICC. But there are several strategies available to mitigate the worst effects of these sanctions.
Executive Order 14203, Signed February 2025
In February 2025, Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14203, which authorizes the imposition of sanctions against the ICC. The sanctions amount to illegal unilateral coercive measures because only the UN Security Council has the authority to impose sanctions.
And:
by Jordan Liz | October 17, 2026 - 4:48am | permalink
The Trump administration recently announced a series of sanctions intended to “dismantle” the International Criminal Court (ICC) “brick by brick.”
Let’s be clear: These sanctions are not meant to protect U.S. citizens. The Trump administration is trying to destroy a key pillar of international justice to shield themselves and Israel from any accountability.
In December 2025, a Trump administration official claimed that the administration was pressuring the ICC to amend its founding document to ensure that it can never investigate President Trump or his top officials. It also demanded the ICC drop its investigation of Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and formally end a probe it began in 2020 (and suspended a year later) of possible crimes committed by U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
And:
Rebel Republican hits Trump with 'treason' accusation over Putin
And:
BREAKING: ZACHARIA FIRED! NETANYAHU CALLS OBAMA ANTISEMITE! TRUMP BETRAYS UKRAINE!! - YouTube
And:
And:
Aspects Connecting Practical Reason, Morality, Law and Whether Actual Human Evil Exists
And:
by Nicolas J.S. Davies | October 14, 2026 - 4:36am | permalink
On October 9th, the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize Was awarded to Navi Pillay, the South African international lawyer who defended Nelson Mandela and the anti-apartheid political prisoners on Robben Island, and went on to serve as a judge on the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court (ICC), then as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. In 2025, Navi Pillay led the UN Commission of Inquiry that confirmed that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
With the world in the grip of seemingly intractable war and chaos, the Nobel Committee clearly wanted to honor someone who has worked against the tide of militarism and violence to uphold international law. And yet, on the same day, the United States unveiled unilateral, illegal coercive measures or “sanctions” against the ICC, where Navi Pillay served as a judge from 2003 to 2008.
And:
by Robert Reich | October 16, 2026 - 5:21am | permalink
— from Robert Reich's Substack
Friends,
The Democrats’ focus on affordability seems to be a winning strategy (we’ll know for sure in a little over two weeks). But we mustn’t lose sight of the moral squalor at the core of the Trump regime.
It’s that moral squalor — the utter disregard for the opinions, norms, and ideals of the nation or, for that matter, of humanity — that uniquely marks Trump and the reprobates he has attracted to Washington. It has also poisoned much of the Republican Party, including the billionaires and tech bros who finance it.
To put this despicable era behind us, we’ll need to renounce and reverse this squalor.
And:
by Frederic H. Decker | October 17, 2026 - 4:44am | permalink
In his 1951 treatise, The True Believer, Eric Hoffer saw the fanatical leaders of communist and fascist states—Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler specifically—as fundamentally products of the same cloth, cloth different from, he quoted, the “Social-Democrat and the trade-union boss.” Stalin may have been a communist and Hitler a fascist, but similarly each a dictator.
Stalin forged a centralized, and brutal, control of the national economy under the guise of continuing the proletarian class struggle earlier led by Vladimir Lenin. Hitler led a racial struggle murdering millions of Jews and others with the goal of establishing a nation for the so-called Aryan race.
Today, with the midterm elections in November, President Donald Trump frames Democrats as the embodiment of communism, as the authoritarian threat America faces. This while Trump has also praised the communist leader, Xi Jinping, in China; Vladimir Putin in Russia; and the right-wing leadership of Viktor Orbán in Hungary, among similar leaders.
And:
On October 9, only hours after the announcement of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Navi Pillay, a former judge on the International Criminal Court, the Trump administration imposed its latest sanctions on the global judicial body. According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, “we will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate.”
When the ICC became operational in 2002, it represented a major breakthrough for the human rights groups that had campaigned for it. The new organization had the mandate to prosecute individuals for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and, after 2018, the crime of aggression. Once nations ratified the ICC’s authorizing document, the Rome Statute, they took responsibility for arresting these individuals and submitting them to the court for trial. Designed to complement, rather than to replace, national criminal justice systems, the ICC could prosecute cases only when countries were unwilling or unable to do so. A total of 125 countries―nearly two-thirds of the world’s nations―have ratified the Rome Statute.
Since its founding, the ICC (headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands) has acted to hold individual perpetrators accountable for the world’s gravest atrocities. Its actions included opening 34 cases (some with more than one suspect), holding 17 different investigations across four continents, issuing 61 arrest warrants, and, thus far, issuing 13 convictions and four acquittals.
And:
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