DemocracyFirst

Jewish-Ukraine-American opposed to authoritarianism and fascism the world over. Currently focusing on the Russian fascist invasion of Ukraine.

[Seth Abramson @SethAbramson]

Stop this, CNN.

Elon Musk is the *American co-president*.

Do not spend the next 4, 8, 16, or however many years before we’re allowed to have an election again pretending that the role Musk has is unclear. He paid for a co-presidency and he was given one. https://t.co/gDUcBaw5mI

[Gregg Nunziata @greggnunziata]

This is not a good take. Neither the Senate nor its Majority Leader work for the President, and senators who think they do fail to understand their job, their oath, and our Constitution.

[Zarina Zabrisky 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @ZarinaZabrisky]

🧵🚨Trump’s new Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, worked for a firm lobbying for Kremlin-linked oligarchs.

Her boss, who recommended Wiles for Trump’s campaign, lobbied for a Russian oligarch with deep ties to Putin and Rosneft.

Part 2: here.

Part 1: ⬇️
https://t.co/JlzDxfI2PO

[George Takei @GeorgeTakei]

Another reason to turn away from those who voted for Trump is because of the people of Ukraine. Trump voters sentenced so many of them to be ground beneath Putin’s boot. It’s unforgivable.

[Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 @IAPonomarenko]

Oh look, a rich daddy’s useless spoiled son is trying to ridicule a wartime national leader who has been in a position that the rich kid would immediately run the hell away from in tears and cries.

Nothing really to see here.

[Bill Kristol @BillKristol]

May I say a word for the Democratic Party for all its faults?

It is the Republican Party that nominated Trump three times, that gave way to Trump, that supports and enables Trump.

The Democratic Party in opposition could have done better. But at least they were in opposition.

[Wajahat Ali @WajahatAli]

As the collective freak out continues, Harris will lose by about 2 points. Trump will get about 50.3% of the vote. Across the Rust Belt swing states Harris would have lost by less than 150K votes it seems.

So... Trump isn't some wizard or genius. It seems 3 factors determined this election.

1) Post pandemic reality where nearly every incumbent party lost.

2) Racism and misogyny that many white colleagues still refuse to acknowledge as a major factor.

3) Right-wing media domination and disinformation.

[Tom Santos @tommysantos14]

💵 Baselined: The Biden Economy
We are taking a snapshot of Joe Biden's economy before he leaves office so we have a point of comparison when Donald Trump begins to take credit for it, like he did the economy he inherited form Barack Obama.

[Rachel Bitecofer 🗽🦆 @RachelBitecofer]

Here is the timeline for how it went down in Germany

Jan 30 1933- Hitler sworn in

2/28- Reichstag Fire Decree kills civil liberties and leads to initial arrests of political opponents

3/8- Ministry of Propaganda created

3/15- Dachau opens for 👆

3/23- The Enabling Act gives Hitler power to legislate without the Reichstag

4/4- The Jewish Boycott

4/7- Civil service purged of Jews and opponents, Jews banned from most professions

4/25- Jews kicked out of schools

5/2- Unions ended

5/10- The famous book burnings

6/1- Germany's Law for the Encouragement of Marriage & Law for the Reduction of Unemployment: goodbye women's lib!

7/14- all opposition parties outlawed

10/4- The Editor's Law kills off the free press. Need Nazi approval to publish. That will soon be extended to books, movies, art, etc.

[Matthew Sheffield @mattsheffield]

In 2012, I was a Republican consultant frustrated that our candidate's preferred message about the economy didn't get through to the public.

With a friend, I wrote an essay calling on Republicans to start up many new media platforms.

They did it. 1/2

[Adam Parkhomenko @AdamParkhomenko]

Rand Paul, who hand delivered a note from Trump to Putin with unknown contents, wanted to get rid of the espionage act. Here is a reminder from Senator John McCain that Rand Paul and Donald Trump work for Vladimir Putin.

[Republicans against Trump @RpsAgainstTrump]

This is not the Republican-controlled Senate of 2017. There will be no Mitt Romney, Jeff Flake, or Mitch McConnell (as leader). The new Republican leader of the Senate will be totally controlled by Trump.

There will be no checks and balances. AT ALL.

[Kareem Rifai 🌐 @KareemRifai]

2008: Russia will stop at Georgia, we just need to negotiate
2014: Russia will stop at Crimea, we just need to negotiate
2015: Russia will stop at Syria, we just need to negotiate
2022: Russia will stop at Ukraine, we just need to negotiate
2024:
2026:
2028:

[Seth Abramson @SethAbramson]

Translation: prepare for our economy to take a dive into the sh*tter from the highest board

[GL @gldivittorio]

The primary thing to know about Rogers as a potential DoD pick is that he's a staunchly pro-Ukraine hawk, and a fun secondary thing is he's also the guy who had to be held back from clocking Matt Gaetz during the speaker vote

[Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib @afalkhatib]

It is a fact that many of the Tel Aviv Maccabi soccer fans acted in a disgusting, racist, and hateful manner in Amsterdam. Some of them spewed hateful slogans, ripped up Palestinian flags, acted in a lawless manner, and screamed racist, anti-Arab chants that certainly escalated the tensions. The narrative among many is that these fans “started it” with said behavior, and this wouldn’t have happened had it not been for the hooliganism of the Israeli fans.

The extent to which many have been justifying random acts of violence against suspected Israelis and Jewish people has been truly grotesque and disturbing, mirroring ways in which many justified and excused Hamas’s criminal and vile October 7 massacre. Many are overlooking that apparently, there were preparations, including ones that Dutch authorities were warned about, to confront the Israeli soccer fans by “pro-Palestine” protesters well before the game and the arrival of these fans.

We’ve seen numerous instances throughout the Gaza war in which Israeli and Jewish-themed events and activities are targeted before their occurrence by activists who seek to disrupt and undermine these events; as though all Jews or Israelis are responsible for the actions of the Israeli government. Some of the Maccabi fans were likely triggered and provoked before the game and going into the stadium, making many react in an equally distasteful, hostile, and racist manner.

However, this doesn’t justify a large random counterattack by local “pro-Palestine” Arab and Muslim residents, who went out looking or “hunting” for Israeli and Jewish fans. We saw horrendous footage of random people being approached, asked to prove that they were not Israeli or Jewish, and some randomly struck, punched, and chased. The level to which many have been willing to excuse violence against random Israelis and Jews is wrong for many reasons, starting with the insensitivity to Jewish history and experiences with hate, antisemitism, violence, and genocide in Europe. Secondly, there have been many forms of hateful and aggressive demonstrations and actions by “pro-Palestine” groups and individuals since the Gaza war broke out – does that mean random Arabs, Muslims, and Palestinians in Amsterdam should fear attacks because some in their communities did violent or hateful acts? Absolutely not. Jews and Israelis should be afforded the same humanity and consideration.

Any act, retribution or pre-meditated, against a group of people based on their race, ethnicity, religion, or politics is despicable, inexcusable, and harmful to whatever cause one champions. The US has done terrible things in the Muslim world, but that doesn’t justify al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks; Europe has done some awful things throughout the world, but that doesn’t justify ISIS’ attacks on France, Britain, and Germany; Israel has/is engaged in horrendous policies and actions against Palestinians, but that doesn’t justify suicide bombings, Hamas’s October 7 massacre, or random acts of antisemitism and violence against suspected Israelis or Jews anywhere.

I am tired of saying this over and over and the fact that I still have to say this: violence begets more violence; violence does not justify random counter-violence; violence weakens one’s moral, political, and social standing; violence is not an acceptable social change or advocacy strategy; random and emotionally-driven violence is not resistance; violence that is driven by and fuels antisemitism is extremely harmful to the Palestinian people’s just and urgent cause and aspirations – I’m tired of people being ready to excuse such detrimental and extraordinarily harmful behavior: when will those who actually care about the Palestinian people’s cause realize that they and the “pro-Palestine” community have a responsibility to be good custodians of the message and that actions have consequences and implications. I am tired of the Palestinian people being associated with the actions of non-Palestinians in the diaspora who act and speak on our behalf in the most unhelpful ways.

I was just in Amsterdam a few days ago and drove by one of the Palestinian flags that was ripped up by the Maccabi fans. While talking to people, this issue came up as a cause of tension within the city, which like many parts of Europe, is a source of immense divisiveness, polarization, and even instability. This cannot go on.

[Mike Walker @New_Narrative]

The quote of the day is on ‘Meet the Press’ and it comes from Zelensky:

[Will Stancil @whstancil]

If there is one single lesson of the last election, and really, the last four years, it’s that DELIVERING MATERIAL BENEFITS TO WORKERS WILL NOT HELP YOU ELECTORALLY. Which basically annihilates the left’s entire theory of politics

[Maria Drutska 🇺🇦 @maria_drutska]

So, President Trump’s son decided to mock Ukrainians who are dying for their independence and freedom, posting: ‘In 38 days, you’ll lose your funding.’

He also wrote on social media that Zelensky will have to agree to Trump’s peace deal when the ‘endless taxpayer dollars run out.’

And this guy will have a place in the future administration? Along with Tucker and Elon? Amazing…

[Jack @JackInacker]

Biden/Kamala’s policies when presented blindly to Trump supporters were favored over Trump’s own policies. I think we’re post policy.