sydney

@politicalmath The sad part is that a politician with the same platform and the letter D next to their name would probably win in a landslide and wouldn’t need to create a permission structure for voters to support them.

Spencer Pratt is going to lose so hard but it's nice to see someone who actually seems to enjoy the chase

@carlsson808 @AlexThomp @CurtisHouck @FreeBeacon A parent providing a little help with a down payment is not the same thing as daddy buying the house outright for you.

@AlexThomp @CurtisHouck @FreeBeacon Ok. Roughly half of 1st time home buyers get assistance from their parents/family.🤷‍♂️

The New Yorker corrects its Graham Platner profile which originally stated he bought his home w/ "the aid of a Department of Veterans Affairs low-interest mortgage." Actually, Platner received a $200,000 loan his Dad. @FreeBeacon got the mortgage docs. freebeacon.com/democrats/free…

@HistoryBoomer @dahliasc I don’t have a stake in this fight but if I did, I would hate to be on the Israeli side of this proxy culture war where there are clearly more social consequences for expressing one’s opinion and lower standards for what constitutes credible accusations of atrocities against you

@HistoryBoomer @dahliasc My issue with pieces like this one is the double standard. The culture & discourse class seems intent on portraying Israel as uniquely evil even as they downplay, deflect on, or seem willing to tolerate the horrors committed by Hamas. Worse —they elevate those who celebrated it

I can't know how accurate Kristof's piece on sexual violence is, but American-Israeli journalist @dahliasc calls it "heavily researched" and says we can't ignore it based on the idea that "my side" wouldn't commit horrors. Every side commits horrors. Just read up on American troops at My Lai (300-500 dead, many rapes, including of a 10-year-old) or Abu Ghraib (torture, including sexual assault, photographed by the participants). And, of course, there were the nightmarish horrors of October 7, 2023, inflicted on Israeli civilians by Hamas. I find the allegations of using dogs hard to believe, but it has precedents. Americans at Abu Ghraib used dogs to threaten naked prisoners' genitals. Nazi Klaus Barbie was alleged to have used dogs in sexual assaults (described in "One by One" by Judith Miller), as were Chilean General Pinochet's torturers (Ingrid Olderock, who carried out the torture, is described in Nancy Guzmán's "Ingrid Olderock: La mujer de los perros"), so I withhold final judgment. Critics are right to question Kristof's sources. Euro-Med, for example, seems to have questionable reliability. But the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem is not a fringe source, and they describe "a grave pattern of sexual violence." Likewise, there is the testimony IDF soldiers gathered by the well-regarded Breaking the Silence. Israel's prisons are overseen by far-right Itamar Ben-Gvir, a past supporter of Meir Kahane, who wants the West Bank absorbed by Israel and Palestinians encouraged to emigrate elsewhere. Ben-Gvir condemned the 2024 arrest of Israeli soldiers accused of raping a Palestinian prisoner at Sde Teiman detention camp, calling it "shameful." That kind of leadership does not inspire confidence that the human rights of Palestinian detainees are being protected. Important to note, a key part of Scheindlin's piece is making it clear that these kinds of accusations are not unique to Israel or Hamas. Sexual assault is common in war zones around the world. "Tigray. Sudan. Indonesia. Kosovo. Bosnia. I could go on; Kristof has covered these issues for a lifetime, and reading his work over the years has contributed to my own understanding of conflict atrocities. If any of the detractors today had done so, they might not have conjured the notion that he woke up one day and decided to slander Israel. Sexual violence that includes physical mutilation, desecration, torture, family assault, humiliation, infection and destruction mean that any assertion that Israeli- or Palestinian-perpetrated crimes are especially brutal simply dismisses or denies the horrors suffered by multitudes of victims around the world." A friend asked me what I thought of the Kristof piece, and I said I didn't know. I found the allegations disturbing, but some seemed too over-the-top to be believed. On the other hand, I know unimaginable evil has been committed by humans throughout recorded history. Under the leadership of Netanyahu, supported by men like Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, my confidence in Israel's ability to root out wrongdoing has been sinking. And I've never had any faith in the murderers of Hamas. These days, I'm with Israeli novelist Amos Oz, who called the story of Israel and Palestine "a tragedy," and a tragedy which is growing even darker. I generally avoid posting on Israel because the issues are so messy and impossible to parse in a few tweets. I expect some people to be angry at this post, seeing it as an attack on Israel. It's not. I believe Israel has the right to exist, and that Hamas's call of "from the river to the sea" is a call for genocide. But war can lead people down terrible paths. I hope Israelis like Dahlia Scheindlin and Yair Lapid can lead their country to a more peaceful destination.

@JohnBirke32 @Isikoff You can make idiots support anything as long as their only requirement is putting the letter D next to your name. Congrats on outsourcing your critical thinking. Embarrassing you admit it publicly.

@Isikoff On the other hand, I personally have never understood the obsession with a candidate's origin story. Who cares? My criteria are: (1) Is this person a Democrat; (2) Can he/she beat the Repug?

If you’re the scion of a wealthy Maine family, get sent to fancy private schools, your Dad finances your home, pays for you and your wife to fly to Norway and picks up the tab for your fertility treatments AND your Mom is the main customer of your oyster farm, it does undermine the idea you are uniquely attuned to the experiences of the working class.

@pggraber @Isikoff When people talk about working class, they are talking about a socioeconomic group that tends to be economically and socially vulnerable, not downwardly mobile trust fund babies. The real working class dont have family wealth to fall back on in tough times.

@Isikoff Does a person being helped by their parents mean they don't understand what it is like to struggle? One might suggest needing your parents help to get by and live a full life is very much the working class experience today. His parents can help him, that doesn't make him wealthy

@pggraber @ProtesterLone @Isikoff She’s not cosplaying as a member of the working class though. At issue is his inauthenticity. When people talk about working class, they are talking about a socioeconomic group that tends to be economically and socially vulnerable, not downwardly mobile trust fund babies.

@ProtesterLone @Isikoff Woo boy, I would encourage you not to Google Susan Collins or her dad then. Nothing says "fake struggle" like the millionaire daughter of a 6th generation lumber baron.

@CoreyWriting Crossed out drawing of him on a playground and, next to that, a drawing of him at a desk inside with an iPad. Broke my heart. But it perfectly captured the constant battle (that didn’t used to exist!) that iPads caused for us this year.

@CoreyWriting We resisted the siren call of the iPad for 6 yrs only for my son to be issued one on day 1 of K. Yesterday he brought home a report on “opinions”. His opinion? He like to stay inside playing on the iPad more than going outside for recess. Complete with an illustration of a…

Wealthy parents are going to start sending their kids to "low tech" private schools while working class kids are going to be handed tablets filled with ed tech and AI. Writing by hand and turning in paper assignments will become the new upper-class cultural symbol.

@ChrisCillizza These days I think the center right and center left have more in common than the center left and the far left do. And the far left and far right have more in common than the far right and the center right do. Psychological attachment has us in an unnecessary holding pattern IMO

I’ve believed for a while now that we are looking at politics all wrong. We are obsessed with the right versus the left. Republicans versus Democrats. Liberals versus MAGA. But, I think there’s mounting evidence that seeing everything through the lens of Team Red vs Team Blue misses the mark. Badly. I wrote about that today, with a nod to @Rob_Flaherty. I hope you take a few minutes to read it

@SarahLongwell25 @jonfavs It depends on what they said, how long ago they said it, & if they stand to gain something —like power— by apologizing. Platner has expressed abhorrent views, in recent years, & wants us to forgive & forget so we will give him power over people he’s shown he’s biased against

I have a litmus test for people who have said terrible things in their past: Have they apologized and said the previously-stated terrible views were terrible? Because if they have, then I’m inclined to judge them based on the views they are currently expressing.

@PramilaJayapal “Housing is a human right. That’s why we’ve made the people who build lots of housing public enemy number 1.” See how dumb it sounds?

Seattle has one of the worst housing crises in the country. I see it every time I’m home in my district. People working full-time jobs who can’t afford rent. Teachers, nurses, and transit workers who can’t live in the city they serve. Families on housing assistance waiting lists that have been frozen for years. This is a policy failure, not an inevitability. We built this crisis by choosing developers over people. We can choose differently. Housing is a human right. We fight for it like one.

@dilanesper @1ncent1ve Gender dysphoria is real. So is body dysmorphia. That doesn’t mean surgical or medical intervention is the best way to treat this mental health conditions.

@1ncent1ve Wrong. There's nothing bogus about people who actually have gender dysphoria, a condition that has been documented under different names for 100 years or more.

I have made this point before, but as someone who strongly believes in the rights of trans people, I haven't seen a shread of evidence that "nonbinary" is an actual medical condition, let alone something that can justify any sort of surgery. AFAICT it's a trendy/ideological term.

@SwannMarcus89 If Platner wins in Maine (which I think is likely given the political trends in Maine), leftists will never shut up about it and will use it as proof positive of the direction the party should head. And I dread it.

Leftists will say “this is how the Democrats win” and then post pictures of people who have never won an election outside of a D+70 House District

@legaltweetz I used to passively support the trans movement bc I knew nothing about it. A trip through the trans subreddits opened my eyes to the reality that this movement is cult adjacent. All kinds of scary groomer type behavior in those subs. Deepened my resolve to keep my kids offline

Trans is a social contagion, especially for young people. When I first started ideating as trans in 2018, I was doing so solely online & anonymously. I was disabled & not working, therefore I had a lot of time on my hands as I laid there in pain. Sites like Reddit filled my head with trans propaganda in my vulnerable state. I can’t imagine what it does for children and teens. I found a community online for being trans easier than I’ve ever found any community online. The social media algorithm loves trans. When I open up my Facebook, Reddit, or Tik Tok, I’m hit with a tsunami of trans propaganda in 2026. Something must be done to combat this. That’s why I’m out here telling my story. So that young people have another perspective and voice to hear in the trans debate.

@ArtemisConsort That would that they grow a backbone

@RichardHanania This is Ezra’s M.O. “I know the left is correct *morally* but maybe we should try this *other* thing so we can win?” It’s all very weak. It’s emblematic of how weak the Democratic Party is. And frankly, it’s wrong. The left claims a moral high ground that they do not have.

Why listening to Ezra and Derek reflecting on abundance made me pessimistic. They want a movement that builds things. But in their coalition is a huge faction that hates business, the people who build things! It's a wild contradiction.

@BenSasse I’m glad I started following you

pockets are a great invention

@RecoveryDoctor @Noahpinion I used to work at a non-profit. The language they used is specifically worded to target by race while attempting to skirt the legal issues of doing so. Which is something my nonprofit loved to do too. When you read through all of his tweets and receipts, it’s impossible to deny.

@Noahpinion You seem good at math. The second person would have priority, not the first. There is no mention of race in the scoring btw. Also, this is why people hate engagement farming.

Seems illegal Also this is why people hate progressivism

@CartoonsHateHer When I told my son he couldn’t marry me, he said “ok I’ll marry [sister] then!” 😬

lmao almost EVERY little kid wants to marry their parents. I asked my mom to marry me and she said girls marry boys (lowkey homophobic but it was 1993) so I settled for my dad who informed me he was "already married to my mom." They got divorced eventually but I lost interest.