Ahson Wardak

@appian for Navy Vol: @compassprobono Fmr: @a3pstrategies, @sbagov, @boozallen, @ramboll Alum: @insead, @uva Interests: #lowcode #govtech #agile #dcfamily

[Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald]

It's been awhile since people bothered to pretend that the ongoing US/Israeli war is about "saving" or liberating Iranians or whatever -- that's so January and February -- but US bombs just destroyed a water desalination facility, liberating thousands from their water supply.

[Hunter Biden @HunterBiden]

Dear Joe,
I wish I could sit down with you face to face and explain why so many of us were offended by the UFC fight on the South Lawn of the White House.
For me, it had nothing to do with the UFC or who showed up for the fights. The brand you and Dana have built is a bona fide American success story. More power to you. As for the fighters, in my book, anyone brave enough to put it all on the line in the arena is remarkable to witness. Their dedication and discipline inspire me. I don’t understand anyone who can’t admire that.
And as for the people who attended, I, for one, love Shane Gillis. I think he’s hilarious and brilliant. It was a show. A once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. I can’t blame anyone for wanting to witness it firsthand.
My problem is that I believe some of our public spaces are sacred. And unlike many of the great powers that came before us, these American monuments belong to all of us. Not to whoever happens to hold power at the moment.
The White House does not belong to Donald Trump. It does not belong to any President. It belongs to the people. To treat it as Caesar treated the Colosseum is antithetical to everything our founding fathers fought for.
This is not Rome. Presidents are not emperors doling out bread and circuses for the peasants. The White House is the People’s House. This “celebration” could have happened in any stadium within a stone’s throw of the South Lawn. No one would have had an issue with it.
But that was obviously Donald Trump’s whole point. By holding the event on the South Lawn, what he was saying to the rest of us is:
“This is my house. I own it. I will do with it what I please. I’ll build a colosseum and have the gladiators fight under my gaze. I’ll tear down the East Wing. I’ll pave over the Rose Garden. I’ll cover everything in gold and marble. I’ll erase the names of all the men who came before me.”
The fights were an exhibition of imperial domination, not a celebration of our 250th anniversary as a democracy.
The White House is not Buckingham Palace. It is not the Palace of Versailles. It is not the Forbidden City of Beijing. It does not belong to an emperor, or a king, or a commissar.
The White House belongs to us. All of us. The person who sits behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office is nothing more than an honored guest. A temporary caretaker.
The President is our servant. Not our Caesar.
Respectfully, Hunter

P.S. Cage match between me and Don Jr.? Your call on the venue. Anywhere but the South Lawn.

[Jon Favreau @jonfavs]

No drugs on the boat and no crimes committed by anyone except the United States government.

Horrific.

[Tommy Vietor @TVietor08]

What a truly evil way to treat people who risked their lives for the United States

[Ballsack Sports @BallsackSports]

LeBron James says he texted Bam Adebayo before the game saying he had a feeling he could drop 81.

“I woke and told him, ‘Today’s the day.’”

[yang goi @GongR1ght]

Iranians in Los Angeles when they see their grandparents being k*lled in US/Israel airstrikes in Iran

[Jake Broe @RealJakeBroe]

Here is an explanation why American democracy has fallen.

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

Ilhan Omar came to this country legally, as a refugee, and as a child.

Elon Musk, according to his brother Kimbal, came to this country as an "illegal" immigrant.
https://t.co/8pyHpe78RX

[Fareed Zakaria @FareedZakaria]

Hamilton said the constitution limits the President’s foreign policy powers because “an avaricious man might be tempted to betray the interests of the state [for] the acquisition of wealth.” https://t.co/AZFoyb2hw0

[Blue Georgia @BlueGeorgia]

David Hogg to Scott Jennings: "People are tired of being lectured by men with Rolexes on CNN about affordability in this country."

[Chuck Todd @chucktodd]

Between the destruction of the East Wing and the pardoning of a corrupt family business partner, Trump is in the “I can shoot someone on 5th Ave” phase of his presidency.

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

They’re literally shouting it out loud! Their plan to overturn the constitution and democracy. They’re not hiding it. They’re bragging about it.

And the media are just ignoring it, or worse normalizing it; the biggest story perhaps in modern American history.

Kill. Me. Now.

[Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton]

It’s not his house.

It’s your house.

And he’s destroying it.

[Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald]

Larry Ellison can buy the entire internet, every public and private American university, and every major news outlet that's left, and that still will won't reverse this rapid trend -- not just in the US but much of the world -- of seeing Israel for what it really is.

[Jeremiah Johnson 🌐 @JeremiahDJohns]

The real reason so many tech-right people freaked out about the Luke Farritor piece is that it DOGE completely undermines their worldview.

That worldview is "cracked tech people are 10x smarter than anyone in DC, give Elon and a team of elite young techies access to the government and they could quickly fix all the problems."

The piece in question builds Farritor up as definitely a very bright kid who nonetheless was a drooling idiot when it came to understanding how the government works. His net impact has been the decimation of American medical research, killing an enormous number of people dependent on USAID, bragging about doing these things on social media like a tool, and still making absolutely zero impact on getting the debt under control.

The massive failure of DOGE repudiates that worldview entirely. It's not possible to hold it any longer without being an utter crank, which is the real source of all these hOwDaReYoU hissy fits.

[Nate Silver @NateSilver538]

Just a little casual racism from Silicon Valley's finest.

[Consulting Comedy @consultingcmdy]

BCG saw McKinsey’s opioid contribution and decided to reraise them… 🤯

Via FT: https://t.co/AqIV6nMqcA

[Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald]

Every day, major institutions impose limits on Americans' freedom or core free speech and organizational rights in order to shield one foreign country in particular. Today's latest example:

[Tom Nichols @RadioFreeTom]

One of the defining features of totalitarianism was how its leaders made war on experts, like the Soviet bureaucrats who boosted Lysenkoism. Dictatorial regimes *hate* experts, because experts reach conclusions based on evidence, not political expediency.