Faraz Qureshi

[Hayden @the_transit_guy]

We pave vast oceans of parking around featureless commercial boxes, stringing them together with roads too hostile to cross on foot. We design our shared spaces to purposefully make human interaction minimal and wonder why we are lonelier than ever.

[Faraz Qureshi @farazq]

@Alan_Couzens Is there an ideal breakdown of C/P/F? I’m assuming med C/high P/low F?

[Brian Allen @allenanalysis]

Mayor Zohran Mamdani just did something his critics swore a socialist would never do: cut fines, fees, permits, and red tape for small businesses.

More than 50 reforms will make it easier for restaurants, bodegas, barbershops, retailers, and drivers to operate—including killing the absurd second permit restaurants need just to serve ice cream.

Less bureaucracy. Lower costs. More time running the business.

That is what competent government looks like.

[Joe Kent @joekent16jan19]

We need to end the war now.

Get our troops out of the region, restrain Israel, and focus on economic negotiations to open the SOH—and now the Bab Al Mandeb—or we will face a major energy crisis.

Keep in mind that we could not militarily defeat the Houthis in 2025. We know we can’t militarily defeat Iran now.

We will certainly not be able to defeat both of them simultaneously.

The reality is that we will end up cutting deals at some point. We always do—remember how we exited Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria.

At this point, we know how this plays out. Let’s skip the decades of carnage & cut the deals now.

Tune out the neocons & the Israeli lobby’s tired talking points about WMD—that was bait to get us into this mess. It worked, and look where we’re at: disastrous quagmire, no military solution, our troops in harm’s way all across the region.

Iran currently controls two key energy chokepoints—SOH & BAM. We are better off accepting this and adapting strategically than we are fighting it and losing more. Pulling our troops out tips the scales of leverage in our favor.

Withdraw and reengage diplomatically to resolve the issue in the region that directly impacts Americans: restoring the flow of oil.

President Trump can still declare victory and restore trust with the American people if he has the courage to leave now, before a mass casualty event happens or an economic crisis hits.

That’s why now is the best time to leave & quietly negotiate.

[Thomas Massie @RepThomasMassie]

When’s the speech about Israeli interference in U.S. elections? 🍿

[Hayden @the_transit_guy]

Every single Northeast Regional train has been sold out all summer. I’m currently on a weekend train to Boston with 550 other passengers, but sure, tell me again how there’s “no demand” for better rail service in the U.S.

[Sen. Bernie Sanders @SenSanders]

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya ran one of Gaza's last hospitals. He refused to leave his patients even after Israel killed his own son in a drone strike.

Israel kidnapped him for it. 18 months in detention, tortured and beaten, for the crime of running a hospital.

He must be released.

[Joe Kent @joekent16jan19]

Have any of the neocons cheering for the war to resume taken the time to explain exactly how we defeat Iran militarily, what that would cost us in terms of blood & treasure, what we gain from doing so, & what Iran looks like with no government?

Please, enlighten us as to how the Bush-era war propaganda will totally work this time.

[Joe Kent @joekent16jan19]

For the MOU to hold and result in a lasting peace, we must restrict aid to Israel immediately & make it clear that we will not defend them should Iran opt to strike in response to Israel’s attacks in Lebanon.

Israel has not responded to our verbal & written demands—that is not going to change, unless we change it by taking action.

Israel claims sovereignty & continues to threaten our peace deal, yet they rely on us to bail them out. This is calculated.

We have to respond accordingly and stop this cycle once and for all.

Lead with action: remove their leverage, otherwise they will not take us seriously.

An open SOH & peace in the region have to be our focus. Israel is playing spoiler—we must limit their ability to do so.

[Assal Rad @AssalRad]

A doctor kidnapped from a besieged hospital, tortured and held without charge for over 500 days, would surely be called a HOSTAGE.

Unless he’s Palestinian.

[Ron Paul @RonPaul]

The NDAA Bill for merging the U.S. & Israeli militaries is insane!

[Thomas Massie @RepThomasMassie]

It’s all talk. Just withhold foreign aid to Israel for a month and they’ll stop bombing their neighbors - instant peace, the Strait of Hormuz can be opened, and gas drops $2 a gallon. Israel has been, and continues to be, the biggest welfare recipient from American tax payers.

[Joe Kent @joekent16jan19]

Dubowitz isn’t just any neocon pundit, he is the CEO of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD). FDD is very pro Israel & is closely advising the admin on Iran policy.

When Dubowitz says “for the next two & a half years” he is basically admitting that the initial goal of the pro Israel lobby was to get us into this war knowing that once we were in, it would be very difficult for us to get out.

Dubowitz & the Israelis alway knew this would be a very long war, but lied to Trump & the admin with tales of a decapitation strike leading to a popular uprising, resulting in a quick victory.

They knew this was a lie. They will continue to lie to get us to do their bidding, regardless of what it costs our nation.

Rooting out foreign influence starts with cutting off access to Israeli surrogates like FDD.

[Ron Paul @RonPaul]

Israel's Destruction of Lebanon Mirrors Gaza

Once again, courtesy of American taxpayers.

[Sense Receptor @SenseReceptor]

TIM DILLON on the Thomas Massie election:

"I don't know how you run a country where people can just dump $32 million into a race"

"What it's showing you is that if you spend enough money, you can just create any reality you want"

"No one knows who the hell the other guy is"

"This guy [Massie] who's like, 'Release the Epstein Files. Hold people accountable. Prosecute pedophiles. Get out of foreign wars,' that guy loses to a guy who's like, 'Let's cover up the Epstein Files, let's not prosecute pedophiles, let's go to war, with your kids'"

"You would think just platform to platform that's a tough sell"

"[Gallrein] was just handpicked. Came out of nowhere"

"[He] was like, we gotta get kids back into the military. We gotta get them to Iran. Now. Now, you would think that's probably not a super popular idea—let's bring back the draft"

"However, if you spend enough money in American politics, you can create any reality you want"

[Ro Khanna @RoKhanna]

There is not a single mention of Gaza in the 192 page DNC autopsy report. As someone who campaigned in Michigan and Wisconsin, let me tell you- one of the main reasons we lost was our blank check to Israel while they committed a genocide.

Our party must put human rights first.

[Joe Kent @joekent16jan19]

This is why Israel's primary goal prior to the war was to get us onboard. They simply can't fight Iran w/out U.S. combat power.
This is also why Israel will spend 100s of millions or more, buying influence in DC, it is a core pillar of their national defense.
All of this is well known in DC but not discussed freely.

[The American Conservative @amconmag]

Thomas Massie on Israel:

“They’ve drug us into wars. They’ve convinced us that Iran is just days away from a nuclear weapon, and they’re perpetually that way. This is not our war.”

[Joe Kent @joekent16jan19]

President Trump is frustrated because the Israelis sold him the pipe dream that arming the Kurds & other Iranian dissidents would quickly topple the Iranian regime, leading to a quick victory. This failed to happen because it was a plan based on wishful thinking not the realities on the ground.

Instead of being mad at the Kurds, who are our critical counter terrorism partners, he should focus his ire on the Israeli government officials who lied to him to get us entrenched in this war and whoever in his inner circle that allowed the Israelis to manipulate U.S. policy to support Israel's primary goal.

Israel's primary goal was to get us into the war, not to make sure the pipe dream they were selling would actually work.

Israel has always understood that they can't topple the Iranian regime without us doing the majority of the fighting, they needed to get us into the war.

The Israelis kept their goal in mind when feeding us "intel" about Iran. Unfortunately, President Trump's inner circle failed to keep Israel's main goal in mind when receiving Israeli "intel" and providing context to the President.

[Joe Kent @joekent16jan19]

Continuing the blockade puts far more pressure on us than on Iran. Iran has proven it can endure economic pain—it has been doing so since 1979. The blockade will not force Iran to abandon uranium enrichment, ballistic missiles, or its proxy networks.

Instead, the blockade is hurting the American people and creating serious domestic pressure on POTUS:

Gas prices will continue to rise as we head into the midterms, harming the working class voters who overwhelmingly backed Trump and Republicans—putting GOP majorities in serious jeopardy.

Staging three carrier battle groups plus a massive build up of airpower in CENTCOM to enforce the blockade is unsustainable—it hands an emboldened IRGC ample opportunities to strike U.S. forces and drag America back into war on Iran’s terms.

The global fallout only increases the pressure on us, not Iran:

Beyond the oil and gas crisis, the blockade is now triggering a global fertilizer shortage that will cause major food security crises and potential famines in vulnerable regions.

The smarter path is clear: withdraw, declare victory, and use sanctions relief as our negotiating leverage with Iran. This resets the talks on our terms, avoids war, and prevents further escalation of the energy crisis at home and abroad.