Mark

I hate being right sometimes.

@lite_thespark I have a lot of problems with the sequels—but Rey wasn’t one of them. Daisy Ridley was incredible in that role. The best new live-action character in the Star Wars universe.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - 99% of the hate for Rey is rooted in misogyny. Not just because these people hate women (they do) but because they’re unable to even consider a woman *could* have a compelling story - and willingly ignore all evidence that proves so

@Megankstack @mehdirhasan Hezbollah would be much weaker if Iran cut off funding and weapons. And Hezbollah lost credibility in the wider Arab world when it helped slaughter civilians in Syria on behalf of Assad.

As Lebanese & Israeli governments move toward talks, let's recall: Israel & the US are now pushing the Lebanese army to disarm Hezbollah. But Israel has been successfully lobbying for years to prevent the Lebanese army from becoming too strong or well-armed.

@anthonyzenkus @ryangrim @dgendvil So, the lesson they took away from the Civil Rights Movement is…stop protesting when things get difficult? This Global Intifada thing isn’t very impressive.

One of my former students at Columbia is serving a 3 (yes three!) year suspension for protesting the genocide on our campus. She's one of many. Others have been expelled. And many of the students who organized and participated in those protests had to deal with the trucks being paid to drive slowly by campus with their images and names on them calling them antisemites and being compared to the KKK by the likes of Josh Shapiro.

The crackdown at universities included expulsions, criminal charges, the actual jailing of students for as little as an oped, new campus rules that made criticizing Israel a punishable offense, the banning even of megaphones at demonstrations…and then Neera “wonders” where the protests went. Such a mystery!

Also: Protesters chanted “Go back to Poland” at Jewish students, held signs with the Hamas logo reading “I’m with them,” and chanted calling for Hamas attacks on Tel Aviv. Mezuzahs and religious symbols were torn down. Jewish insignia were pulled off students’ bodies. Some Jewish students moved off campus or stopped wearing items identifying their faith after being spit on, shoved, and harassed.  Other Jewish students carefully mapped routes to class to avoid being yelled at, spit on, or threatened. In February 2024, a student named Lederman said that while wearing an Israeli flag shirt during a pro-Israel demonstration, he was shoved, pinned against a wall, and told to “keep f—ing running.” Student Chaya Droznik said a demonstrator told her “Oct. 7 is about to be every day for you guys.” Sounds like a very inclusive environment!

@KeriLeighMerrit @briimii So, the lesson they took away from the Civil Rights Movement is…stop protesting when things get difficult?

This is such disingenuous bullshit. I had elderly friends (professors) beaten up trying to protect students from even worse violence. We watched nearly daily as they beat and sprayed students with chemical agents. Under BIDEN.

Obama unfroze some Iranian assets when they signed the nuclear deal. Republicans went ballistic. For the past 15 years I’ve heard them rant about giving the Ayatollahs “pallets of cash” to fund terrorism. Here’s a list of quotes by Republican who, until yesterday, screamed about unfreezing Iranian assets: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) — Called the payment “an outrage,” framing it as a ransom deal tied to the prisoner release. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) — Argued that by flooding the Ayatollahs with over $100 billion (including the $1.7 billion in cash on pallets), the Obama administration effectively helped fund the missiles Iran used to attack American service members.  Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), House Foreign Affairs Chairman — Said the administration went to “extraordinary lengths” to accommodate Iran while hiding the facts from Congress, and that putting hundreds of millions in the hands of a terrorist regime made the region more dangerous.  Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) — Wrote that the administration transferred nearly $2 billion to a regime that actively supports terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, and that by paying ransom it signaled to the world that America “can be bought,” putting service members and civilians at greater risk.  Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) — Argued that sending cash made it nearly impossible to verify the funds weren’t being used to finance terror, and that the payment emboldened Iran to seize more Americans as bargaining chips.  Karen Handel (R-GA, congressional candidate) — Claimed the Obama administration had admitted the money was being used for terrorists, though PolitiFact rated this “Half True” — noting that Secretary Kerry acknowledged some funds would likely reach the IRGC but didn’t confirm the specifics Handel asserted.  Former AG Michael Mukasey (Senate testimony) — Testified that cash in that amount served only one purpose given Iran’s track record as a state sponsor of terrorism, and that the administration’s claim it couldn’t wire the money was directly rebutted by evidence of prior wire payments to Iran.  Donald Trump has also repeatedly invoked this episode. As recently as his April 1, 2026, address on military operations in Iran, he said Obama “gave $1.7 billion in cash” flown by airplane “in an attempt to buy their respect and loyalty.” 

"A senior Iranian source said on Saturday the U.S. had agreed to release Iranian frozen assets held in Qatar and other foreign banks, welcoming the move as a sign of 'seriousness' in reaching a deal with Washington in talks ‌in Islamabad. The source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters that unfreezing the assets was 'directly linked to ensuring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz,' which is expected to be a key issue in the talks." reuters.com/business/finan…

@magi_jay And when Iran was murdering its citizens in the streets and people asked, “where are the protesters,” they responded: “We don’t provide military aid to the Iranian govt, so what’s the point?”

"We only protest when people within our coalition are in power" is an entirely novel theory of protest action. They're just making this up.

Good point. I mean, after Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955 the civil rights movement pretty much went home never to be heard from again.

It sounds absolutely insane if you didn't follow it closely but it was a widely accepted opinion (from the people that made ISRAEL the sole issue they cared about) that Donald Trump would be to Biden (and by extension Kamala's) left when it came to standing up to Netanyahu. It was based on......nothing really. But they were genuinely convinced of it.

Obviously, students today are going to make a risk calculus based on their own material conditions. But SNCC students in the South basically felt their cause of racial equality was so important that jail, tear gas, beatings, felony charges were totally worth it.

Iran still has thousands of ballistic missiles in its arsenal that it could use by retrieving launchers from underground storage areas, according to American officials familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments. wsj.com/world/middle-e…

@ryangrim Is it civil disobedience when the protesters stop protesting because they might actually get in trouble? 🤔

@mattyglesias Is it civil disobedience when the protesters stop protesting because they might actually get in trouble?

I completely accept “the protests stopped precisely because Trump winning was worse for their cause” as an explanation but it makes the tactical and strategic decision-making look pretty bad.

The next time the Artemis astronauts visit the Moon, they’re going to land on the surface, in the treacherous south polar region. They’re training by flying high altitude helicopters in the snowy alps. airandspace.si.edu/airandspace.si…

She was asked about donations from AIPAC and other “pro-Israel lobbies.” What other pro-Israel lobbies? Right now, there are groups and individuals who classify any donation from a Jewish constituent or a Jewish organization as a “donation from the Israel lobby.” So yeah, that’s racist AF. Jewish voters and Jewish organizations have interests and issues other than Israel. This is like saying that every Muslim who donates to a campaign is a CAIR lobbyist.

If I was someone concerned about rising anti-semitism I personally wouldn't immediately link every single question asked about Israel directly to Jews in general, but what can I say, I am not a craven psychopath.

@FernandoAmandi As Michael Kinsley once said, the actual definition of a “gaffe” is when you inadvertently tell the truth. You said out loud how Trump and his supporters view the Pope and Christian doctrine. When someone tells you who they are, believe them.

I wrote this critical comment about Pope Leo’s pronouncements on US Government policies including the border and the Iran conflict. While I disagree with the Pope on these earthly policy matters I regret the words I used. The Pope’s moral statements are grounded in Christian doctrine and I am no one to judge him. I apologize for my choice of words.

BREAKING: In a powerful moment, Pete Buttigieg just stood up to MAGA crony Joe Kernen and hammered him with the facts. Donald Trump's Iran policy has been a disaster.

Joe Kernen comes close to having a coronary on air as Pete Buttigieg dogwalks him all over the Squawk Box studio about Trump's economic mismanagement and inflation

@anthonyzenkus @HartmanAndrew There’s something eternally amusing about professors who counsel rebellion from the safety of tenure. 🧐

The schools that had the most prevalent protests - including Columbia where I work - either suspended or expelled most of the students protesting Israel's genocide of Gaza. One of my former students has a 3 year (!!!) suspension. Then, the schools enacted rules making protest nearly impossible. And the very people who pressured the schools to do this are now saying "Where are all the protests?". Idiots.

Various disingenuous idiots saying "supporters of Israel should describe what 'Israel as Jewish state means". Sure. David Ben-Gurion set it out very clearly in Israel's Declaration of Independence, which it's extremely clear none of you have ever bothered to read.