Dave J

[Adi @Adi13]

What changed?

I want Trump 2016 back!

[Batya Ungar-Sargon @bungarsargon]

Seems like it might have been a better idea to keep this on the DL? 🤔

[Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 @DrewPavlou]

“If you don’t give Muslims everything they want they will massacre thousands of your citizens with terrorist attacks”

Diversity is our strength!

[Amit Segal @AmitSegal]

The godfather of neoconservatism, Irving Kristol, famously defined a conservative as “a liberal who has been mugged by reality.” An Iran hawk is made the same way. According to The Wall Street Journal, Donald Trump reviewed military options for a full-scale war against Iran to “finish the job,” but has decided, for now, not to move forward.

The report says Trump is concerned that renewed military conflict could hurt the chances of a diplomatic resolution and of dismantling Iran’s nuclear program, and that he’s shown willingness to let indirect talks in Qatar run past the August 18 deadline. He is said to be fine with continuing limited strikes on Iranian targets if Tehran violates the current temporary deal—as it already has, repeatedly.

How are those negotiations going?

Not well. It seems JD Vance’s “historic” face-to-face achievement was a one-off. Washington has been quietly downgraded from talking to the Great Satan to negotiating with the Little Satan instead—a senior Qatari official confirmed that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Qatari officials in Doha, but there are currently no high-level U.S.-Iran meetings scheduled.

Faced with Iran publicly denying that peace talks even exist, Vance is denying reality right back, insisting it’s merely a “Persian negotiating tactic.” He’s not wrong that rejectionism is a tactic—he’s just wrong about what it’s negotiating for. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, confirmed the delegation will skip U.S. officials entirely, meeting only the Qataris in Doha to talk about unfreezing Iran’s own assets. The tactic isn’t stalling for a better peace. It’s stalling for a better payment: extract the MoU concessions first, discuss the nuclear file never.

Iranian officials have shown no willingness to meet U.S. nuclear demands, focusing instead on asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says it will impose its “sovereignty and new policy” there regardless of whether it reaches an agreement with Oman, calling the strait a purely internal matter. Reports differ on the nature of the proposed transit fees—Iran calls them mandatory, a regional diplomat calls them voluntary, and Oman’s foreign minister rejects fees outright but leaves room for “maritime service” mechanisms such as safety and pollution measures. Regardless of that distinction, Iran seems set on asserting authority over the waterway: it has already indicated that ships paying “security fees” and following IRGC protocols would get priority transit, while others face delays.

Iran will not make a deal the U.S. can accept. That’s the reality. The only question left is how many more “historic” handshakes, Doha detours, and denied peace talks it takes before that reality mugs Vance the way it mugged every liberal Kristol had in mind.

[AG @AGHamilton29]

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins: Democratic socialism is not Communism

DSA leader: Our goal is communism

[Open Source Intel @Osint613]

Palantir CEO Alex Karp:

Half the people criticizing Israel just don't believe it should exist.

And that's just a fact.

[Democratic Capitalists of America @demcapitalism]

Zohran just said "Socialists just solved years of Capitalist mismanagement"

The State of New York just gave his administration an $8B bailout and he deferred pension payments.

This is bold face lying.

[Dave J @MAG40444]

@Ilhan There is no genocide in gaze. There never has been one in gaza.

[Hen Mazzig @HenMazzig]

What is that saying? Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice....

How many antisemites are you "accidentally" going to platform before I get to suggest maybe you're doing it on purpose?

[Awesome Jew @Awesome_Jew_]

This didn't go as he expected.

[AG @AGHamilton29]

Everyone should be terrified that many Democrats are openly embracing a broken and economically illiterate ideology that destroyed countless countries and led to the death of over 100 million people in the 20th century.

[Canary Mission @canarymission]

IDENTIFIED: Dakota and Marisa McGee of Northlake, Texas, said “Hitler had a point” about Jews on @sircalebhammer’s podcast. They used fake names, but gave enough real details for us to find them.

Dakota called Jews “the most corrupt motherf**kers” on earth and claimed they are disrupting the government. Marisa added: “Child molesters.”

The interview was supposed to be about financial responsibility. Instead, it became open antisemitism for a mainstream audience

Sadly, this is where we are now: unapologetic antisemitism, said casually on a national platform.

[Open Source Intel @Osint613]

Vice president JD Vance:

“So I think what the president has told us to do is use this MOU to sort of refill the world’s oil economy, to refill some stocks, and then to see where the hand is.”

[Clash Report @clashreport]

JD Vance on Iran:

One of the things I find just fascinating and frustrating about the Iranians is they'll say, "No, no, there aren't peace talks ongoing," but there are technical talks between the United States and Iran about the peace deal.

It's a Persian negotiating tactic and a Persian rhetorical device that I don't understand.

Source: The Michael Knowles Show

[AP @Average_NY_Guy]

People often say that Israel is judged by a double standard.

I think that’s actually too generous.

A double standard means there are two standards. One is applied to everyone else, and a different one is applied to Israel.

But that’s not what’s happening.

The expectations placed on Israel are usually not standards that even exist anywhere else. They are demands that have never been expected of any other country, at any other time, under similar circumstances.

Imagine a teacher telling every student that they need a 70 to pass, but telling one student he has to score 110%.

That isn’t another grading standard.

A score of 110% isn’t even a real standard. It’s an impossible requirement invented for one person.

The expectations placed on Israel often work the same way.

People expect Israel to fight enemies who deliberately hide among civilians while achieving outcomes they have never expected of any other military in history.

They expect Israel to absorb rocket fire, terrorist attacks, and hostage-taking in ways they would never expect their own country to tolerate.

They expect Israel to supply electricity, water, fuel, and humanitarian aid to territory controlled by an organization dedicated to its destruction, while simultaneously condemning it for virtually every decision it makes.

They expect Israel to continually justify its very existence, even though no other established nation is routinely asked to defend its right to exist before its actions can even be discussed.

None of these are universal standards.

They are expectations created for one country and one country alone.

That is why I don’t think “double standard” is the right phrase.

A double standard assumes there is another standard being applied somewhere else.

There isn’t.

If you cannot point to another country, anywhere in the world or at any point in history, that has ever been expected to meet the same standard, then it isn’t a universal principle.

It’s a rule invented for one nation.

A standard that applies to exactly one country isn’t really a standard at all.

[Dan Burmawi @DanBurmawy]

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