Mamdani: There is a term so often used to describe our nation and those who have shaped it: American exceptionalism.
American exceptionalism, the conventional wisdom tells us, makes our freedom a little more free, is how we dug the Erie Canal and irrigated the West, is why children in far away lands grow up dreaming of one day moving here.
And yet the irony is that the story of America has so often been written by those who were told by others with power and influence and wealth that they were anything but exceptional.
For generation after generation, we have been told that when the world has sent its people to our shores, it has not sent its best. It sent Puritans and Sikhs and Quakers and Muslims and Jewish people who were banished for praying the wrong way, worshipping the wrong Gods, angering the wrong people. It sent peasants and serfs from who were treated as less because they hardly owned clothes, let alone land. It sent immigrants for whom power was something someone else had.
We are told that America is exceptional because we are richer, stronger, more powerful than everyone else.
The truth, my friends, is that America is exceptional because here, nothing is fixed into place. The frontier may be closed, we may have walked on the moon, but the work of fulfilling the values first enshrined in the Declaration of Independence-that work endures, my friends, and it belongs to us all.
It belongs too to our newest Americans, those standing here with me today, all of whom were recently naturalized. Nearly a decade ago, I too felt what you feel— the joy of no longer being just a New Yorker, but an American too.
If you only watch one thing today, watch this exchange between @jonfavs & @grahamformaine.
It doesn’t just show Platner destroying the Pod Save guys, it explains the divide in the Dem Party & shows how the party elite still doesn't understand what happened in this country.
Frost: For so long, the right wing has held up patriotism as a vibe, as an aesthetic. But patriotism is more than bald eagles and flags and beer. Patriotism is about loving the people who live in the damn country — every single one of them.
And if, after an American citizen is murdered in the middle of a neighborhood, after dropping off her kid at school, if you can’t come to the mic — no matter your political party, no matter what you came for — and express just a shred of humanity, you are not a patriot. You do not love this country, and you do not love its people.
When I was 22 years old, I commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy and swore an oath to the Constitution. I upheld that oath through flight school, multiple deployments on the USS Midway, 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm, test pilot school, four space shuttle flights at NASA, and every day since I retired – which I did after my wife Gabby was shot in the head while serving her constituents.
In combat, I had a missile blow up next to my jet and flew through anti-aircraft fire to drop bombs on enemy targets. At NASA, I launched on a rocket, commanded the space shuttle, and was part of the recovery mission that brought home the bodies of my astronaut classmates who died on Columbia. I did all of this in service to this country that I love and has given me so much.
Secretary Hegseth’s tweet is the first I heard of this. I also saw the President’s posts saying I should be arrested, hanged, and put to death.
If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work. I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.
DONNIE J. AND KaroLYIN’ LEAVITT WILL HAVE THEIR (LITTLE) HANDS “FULL” TODAY. WHOOPS. I, GAVIN CHRISTOPHER NEWSOM, AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR (MANY SAY), WILL HOST THE GREATEST PRESS CONFERENCE OF ALL TIME. AFTER THAT — “THE MAPS” WILL SOON BE RELEASED. VERY MUCH ANTICIPATED. HISTORY MADE. THE GOP’S RIGGED GAME IS OVER!!!! THE PEOPLE RETAKE CONGRESS. YOU'RE WELCOME, AMERICA! LIBERATION DAY!!! THAT IS WHAT MANY ARE CALLING IT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN
I'm Eileen Laubacher. A retired Rear Admiral and the Democrat running against Lauren Boebert.
I know what sacrifice means and service looks like. Boebert doesn’t have a clue.
Can you help me get to 20k followers to show her we can do this?!
An undocumented man from Honduras, who has lived on Tucson’s south side for more than a decade, narrowly avoided being picked up by immigration agents who initially claimed to be https://t.co/TZAk9QFcr3
The Justice Dept and the court system failed to uphold the principle that no one is above the law.
DOJ by neglecting to promptly investigate the events of Jan 6, and the courts by willfully delaying progress of the case and providing immunity.
The public deserved better.
That was a cataclysm. Electoral map wipeout. Senate D practical ceiling is now 52 seats. R's is 62.
Time to rebuild the left.
We are out of touch with the crisis of meaning/purpose fueling MAGA. We refuse to pick big fights. Our tent is too small.
1/ Some early thoughts: