Bob Gardner

I like WV, Appalachia, history, statues, historic preservation, christian universalism, democracy, & distributism. Degrees in none of these.

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

On April 11, 1960, John F Kennedy’s work in the democratic primary election in WV began.

That race awakened the country to a moral crisis that set the war on poverty reforms of the ‘60s in motion.

This thread traces the steps of his campaign from April 21-May 10 of that year.

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

I am high on life right now. It looks like I finally secured a copy of the infamous Jim Comstock newspaper titled “pa won’t sell his vote to no Catholic”!!! I have more than enough to display in this hypothetical 1960 Kennedy primary museum

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

@logicbylink I noticed you were not at the Hazel Dickens festival. Where is my canopy that you stole last time!?

[Maj. (Ret.) Richard Ojeda @Ojeda4America]

Here’s something most Americans don’t realize:

In 2008, before Citizens United, outside money in federal elections was about $574 million.

By 2024?

It exploded to roughly $4.5 BILLION.

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

@dccommonsense Thank you for the episode today. I started it and heard all the throat clearing about it being incomplete… then it began and you said things I think I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

God you are way too smart to be so insecure lol.

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

@logicbylink Did you win lol

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

⭕️ The Day After NYT’s Kristof Documented Systematic Israeli Rape of Detained Palestinians, CNN, AP, BBC, and NYT Gave Largely Uncritical Coverage to an Unverifiable Israeli Report

One day after New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof published a meticulously sourced investigation—drawing on 14 survivors, the UN, and several international rights groups—documenting systematic rape and sexual torture of Palestinian prisoners, the Times, along with other major media outlets, published largely uncritical coverage of a new report by the Civil Commission, an Israeli NGO claiming Hamas committed systematic sexual violence on October 7.

The underlying archive behind the Israeli report—which was covered by a wide range of outlets including the AP, CNN, BBC, and NYT—is entirely sealed. Only AP disclosed that its findings “could not be independently verified.” CNN acknowledged that it “has not been able to verify all of the contents of the archive”—though it claimed it has “seen many of the visual materials included in it.”  The NYT noted the archive was closed “to protect the privacy of victims” without clarifying what that means for verification. The BBC likewise made no disclosure about whether it had reviewed or verified the sealed archive, writing only that “its evidence, which is being kept in a secure archive, may aid future prosecutions.”

Not one of the NYT, CNN, or BBC reports stated whether they had independently verified any of the report’s findings that they published in their own articles.

The report was led by Cochav Elkayam-Levy, who is both the founder and chair of the Civil Commission. She has faced serious challenges to her credibility over her previous investigations into claims of systemic sexual violence by Hamas on October 7. In 2024, Israel’s largest newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth published a damning exposé in which Israeli government officials said her “methodology was neither good nor accurate” and that “people have disassociated themselves from her because her research is inaccurate.”

Officials were particularly incensed that she spread the debunked claim—originating with Yossi Landau of ZAKA—that a pregnant woman was found with her womb cut open. “Slowly, professionals began distancing themselves from her because she was not reliable,” one Israeli official said. Elkayam-Levy even presented an old image of dead female Kurdish fighters as women sexually assaulted at the Nova music festival during a Harvard talk, in an online video shared by The Grayzone. When confronted with the error, she did not correct the record.

All four outlets also cited the 2023 UN report by Pramila Patten. The BBC described Patten’s visit to Israel, where she met with ZAKA’s Landau and other Israeli groups and officials to “receive information,” as an “investigation”—despite Patten herself explicitly rejecting that characterization and stating her mission was “neither intended nor mandated to be investigative in nature.” Patten also acknowledged her mission did not include gathering or examining “evidence.” At the same time, the outlets ignored the findings of the more authoritative UN Commission of Inquiry — the UN’s highest investigative body — as well as subsequent findings by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, all of which stated they were unable to verify any individual instance of rape on October 7. 

🎥 VIDEO: The New York Times on the rape and sexual violence of Palestinians. Full video and source references in the reply.

[Ryan Grim @ryangrim]

Kind of surreal to watch AIPAC flail around in the U.S. trying to deny the systemic sexual assault of Palestinian detainees while Israeli society acknowledges it, defends it, and celebrates it

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

@jonkentcomrade @appodlachia Harris was liberal on social issues. You’re wrong there.

I think the difference is that leftwing populists reach out to centrists by appealing to their economic needs

While liberal anti-populists reach out to centrists by resisting addressing normal people’s economic needs.

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

My 21 month old daughter sings Jolene now but has changed the words to “I’m beggin of you please don’t take my… daddy!”

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

On May 11 JFK gave the following thank you speech. He thanked 3 people in particular:
(1) Jackie Kennedy his wife,
(2) Robert Kennedy his brother and campaign manager, and
(3) Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. who he credited as an essential surrogate due to his extreme popularity in WV.
https://t.co/0YMVRMYTuM

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

https://t.co/LsUM2fgkFp

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

On May 11 JFK gave the following thank you speech. He thanked 3 people in particular:
(1) Jackie Kennedy his wife,
(2) Robert Kennedy his brother and campaign manager, and
(3) Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. who he credited as an essential surrogate due to his extreme popularity in WV.
https://t.co/0YMVRMYTuM

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

On April 11, 1960, John F Kennedy’s work in the democratic primary election in WV began.

That race awakened the country to a moral crisis that set the war on poverty reforms of the ‘60s in motion.

This thread traces the steps of his campaign from April 21-May 10 of that year.

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

https://t.co/pvurAwTdSm

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

We're finally here! May 10th. Election Day in 1960.

The day Kennedy would credit for making him our 35th President!

On this day of course there wasn't too much campaign travelling that Kennedy did. It was a dreary rainy day. Kennedy was seen in Charleston in a rain jacket.

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

To start from the beginning of my month long multithread series tracing JFK's steps during the 1960 WV Democratic primary, click the link below!

https://t.co/JpukiZlvsF

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

On April 11, 1960, John F Kennedy’s work in the democratic primary election in WV began.

That race awakened the country to a moral crisis that set the war on poverty reforms of the ‘60s in motion.

This thread traces the steps of his campaign from April 21-May 10 of that year.

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

Then of course his assassination happened. Jackie framed that doodle and gave it to his little brother Robert, in part knowing he would continue to take up the cause of poverty in America.

And Lyndon Baines Johnson took that trip to East Kentucky in Kennedy's place.

[Bob Gardner @RGardnerWV]

With this over, I end my final thread in this series!

Thank you for indulging me in this month. I got interested in JFK & the 1960 primary after my grandfather died, because he had such incredible stories from that time... I started collecting some Kennedy items over time in his memory, and I have it in my head that I will one day make a museum dedicated to Kennedy's time in WV, the state's impact on him, and his impact on the state.

It's been a privilege to share these pictures and my Kennedy collection with you!