Des Moines Defender

Working Class News, Opinion & Media Critique Covering the Des Moines Metro

[Des Moines Defender @dsmdefender]

Rob Sand is bankrolled by the most prominent conservative donor in Iowa and he's here to lecture you about the dangers of political insiders.

[Des Moines Register @DMRegister]

Rob Sand raises big; Lahn surpasses Feenstra in GOP fundraising https://t.co/Qv9g41avy4

[Des Moines Defender @dsmdefender]

@DMRegister https://t.co/ohIYJURv7E

[Shabana Mir @ShabanaMir1]

Elissa Slotkin in 2004, helping the CIA kill and kidnap Iraqis.

[Caitlin Johnstone @caitoz]

The actual, official 2024 Democratic Party platform accused Trump of "fecklessness and weakness" for failing to go to war with Iran during his first term.

Kamala Harris labeled Iran the #1 enemy of the United States.

In their 2024 debate, Harris repeatedly slammed Trump for being too soft on America's enemies and announced that she "will always give Israel the ability to defend itself, in particular as it relates to Iran and any threat that Iran and its proxies pose to Israel."

There was no "plan" for avoiding this. Your people wanted this war as much as Trump and his handlers did. That's why they're doing nothing right now.

[Caitlin Johnstone @caitoz]

Jesus fucking Christ

[Adam Johnson @adamjohnsonCHI]

Wow it’s almost like there was a deeply engaged protest movement by college students 2yrs ago that was the largest in 50yrs and the publication you work for—along with every other major outlet—smeared them as antisemites, then they were all systematically kicked out of school.

[Adam Johnson @adamjohnsonCHI]

a new YouGov poll shows 25% of Americans falsely believe Iran possesses nuclear weapons and 45% believe the also false claim Iran has an active nuclear weapons program. So I examined why this misinformation is so widespread––namely sleazy, innuendo-laden Iran coverage by US media

[Adam Johnson @adamjohnsonCHI]

Because they like the Iran bombing and agree with it but need plausible deniability in the event it happens and is politically unpopular

[B L A K E L E Y™℠©® LLC @_iamblakeley]

So the “opposition party’s” position is “sure, go to war with Iran but make sure you file the necessary paperwork first!”

The Democratic Party, ladies and gentlemen.

[Adam Johnson @adamjohnsonCHI]

NYT editorial board, WaPo editorial board, Schumer and Jeffries, official Dem Party media organs are entirely silent on Trump building up the largest armada in 23 years and threatening to attack Iran because They Agree With It And Think It's Good but must maintain pretenses.

[Adam Johnson @adamjohnsonCHI]

I wrote about Dems’ proposed “reforms,” which range from superficial to likely unenforceable to actively harmful; the grip billionaire-backed anti-“abolish” Groups have over Washington and the conspicuous absence of any attempt to touch DHS’ obscene budget https://t.co/kgFlp8JbIW

[Caitlin Johnstone @caitoz]

Sure is a crazy coincidence that all this totally organic unrest in Iran is happening at the exact same time the US empire is waging a campaign of unprecedented scale to rapidly crush disobedient governments and populations throughout Latin America and west Asia.

[Gavin Aronsen @garonsen]

Rob Sand hasn't said a word about the murder of a woman by ICE in a neighboring state but two days later is sucking off cops

[Caitlin Johnstone @caitoz]

Dick Cheney died far too old and far too free. The fact that such monsters get to pass away in their eighties surrounded by loved ones instead of alone in a cage is an indictment of our entire civilization.

In a sane society, Richard Bruce Cheney would have lived out his life in relative obscurity, working as a gardener or something. In a fairly sane society, people would have realized what a monster Cheney was before he could do any harm, and he would have been driven out of any town he tried to enter. In a slightly sane society, he would have been punished for the rape of Iraq and lived out the rest of his life in a cell in The Hague.

But we do not live in a sane society, or in a fairly sane society, or even in a slightly sane society. We live in the sort of society that lets a man unleash a chain of events which kills millions and displaces tens of millions causing more human suffering than the mind can possibly comprehend, and then live out the rest of his life in comfort and privilege, with zero consequences of any kind.

Dick Cheney is dead now, but his legacy lives on. The damage he did is still unfolding. The hegemonic, hypermilitaristic ideology he promoted has become the baseline norm. New swamp monsters have stepped in to fill his shoes and advance the same murderous and tyrannical agendas he advanced, confident that they too will suffer no consequences and live long and comfortable lives in reward for their loyal service to the US empire.

Dick Cheney left a stain upon our species that we will spend the rest of our lives trying to scrub out. All decent people want our world to move in the exact opposite direction he spent his entire blood-spattered career working to steer us toward. All decent people want to undo everything that Dick Cheney was.

[Brian Becker @BrianBeckerDC]

I demand that ADL, and you personally, immediately correct the outrageously false and defamatory inference about my speech on Saturday, August 16, at a protest against the forced starvation of the people of Gaza. In my speech, I condemned US imperialism and identified its centers of power in Wall Street and the White House. You deliberately misrepresented the context of what I said to advance the false claim that I was referring to Jewish people and label my speech as antisemitic.

Your claim is obviously a smear designed to label critics of the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza as ‘antisemitic.’ This is the go-to propaganda technique of the Israeli regime and its apologists like you and the so-called Anti-Defamation League. I demand an immediate correction as well as the publication of my response.

[Adam Johnson @adamjohnsonCHI]

amazing the horrifically racist and dehumanizing shit you can say about Palestinians and it disqualifies you from zero mainstream outlets or institutions. Just a whole different set of rules, which is to say basically anything goes

[Des Moines Defender @dsmdefender]

Angry, swearing uncivil Democrats who refuse to take a position on the genocide in Occupied Palestine.

[Nathan Sage for U.S. Senate @sageforiowa]

You’re damn right we are.

No more buttoned-up politicians in blue ties. No more talking points handed down from Washington. We are tired of the same kind of candidates who lose year after year.

It’s time for a new Democratic Party - one that cares about Iowans' struggles and fights for the working people who built this state.

[Caitlin Johnstone @caitoz]

https://t.co/oDFFoaEF7y

[Des Moines Defender @dsmdefender]

Our media and liberal blogoshpere doing a fantastic job not asking Democratic candidates for Senate their position on the US backed genocide & forced starvation in Occupied Palestine.

[Bleeding Heartland @LauraRBelin]

#IASen candidate @MsJackieNorris told me she's "laser-focused on winning the primary" and will connect with voters on issues that matter to kids & families: youth mental health, affordability, child care, and keeping young people in state. Full interview:
https://t.co/U8LR53AiEP

[Des Moines Defender @dsmdefender]

Clairfy how your policies differ from Miller Meeks on the starvation campaign in Occupied Palestine. Take a position.

[Christina Bohannan @BohannanIowa]

What is she afraid of?