David Rothkopf

A professor at Harvard released a study that indicates that the death toll on Gaza is close to 400,000 people.

Incredible. Just insane.

And the USA enabled and sponsored every single death.

One of the most disgusting things to happen in my lifetime.

We spent a year investigating billionaires for @washingtonpost.com.

We found: the wealthiest 100 Americans gave $1.1 billion to influence the 2024 elections — 140x more than they did in 2000. And almost all of that giving boosted Republicans.

washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

Tylenol strikes again.

Also worth noting:
In 2024, Trump got less than 840,000 votes in New York City.
In 2025, Mamdani got more than a million.

For every four votes Trump got, Mamdani got five.

Hitler was a foreign leader. Trump is president of the country in which Mamdani will be a mayor. Further, the optics of the meeting clearly helped Mamdani more than Trump. They should work together where they can, not where they can't. Mamdani didn't appear to compromise himself during the mtg.

"Well, yes, Mamdani and I have our differences. He's a socialist, they say he's a socialist, and I guess he says so too. A democratic socialist, but a socialist. Meanwhile, I'm busy seizing the means of production, forcing a cultural revolution, cracking down on the intelligentsia ...."

So, as it turns out, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.

For all the Dems out there suggesting Mamdani do some kind of end zone dance after this meeting, stop. Why undo what has been achieved? Why try to interpret what is visible to all of us? This guy has a tough job ahead of him. Whatever he can do to succeed for NYers is what we should hope he does.

If the current political climate wasn’t bleak enough - Donald Trump is now calling for the executions of his political enemies. @normornstein.bsky.social and @djrothkopf.bsky.social return to discuss the alarming MAGA support for political violence:

ow.ly/5vcQ50Xw3e5

youtu.be/jt482gaWkQg

I hope Zohran is as effective a mayor as he is a campaigner, communicator and person-to-person charmer. (As anyone who follows me knows, I am optimistic on this point.)

Credit to both Mamdani & Trump for sitting together and talking. I'm sure both are approaching the relationship to come with plenty of skepticism and pragmatism. But talking is not a bad thing and making relationships human rather than filtering them through social media's freakout machine is good.

Delighted to have an essay in the latest issue of Daedalus on the limits of the civil-military relations discourse for understanding current threats to democracy: www.amacad.org/daedalus/und...

‘Classic Donald Trump!’ Fox News’ Hugh Hewitt Praises Trump for Wild Execution Rant Fox News' Hugh Hewitt praised President Donald Trump for his wild Thursday Truth Social rant in which he suggested that six Democratic lawmakers were guilty of "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH...

www.mediaite.com/media/tv/cla... every fascist has his enablers

So he did exactly what he said in his confirmation hearing that he would not do.

Perhaps it’s time to haul his ass back in there.

Also congrats to everyone, including Olivia Nuzzi, who helped normalize this man.

So many people will die of preventable diseases as a result.

Agreement on the 28-point US-Russia plan for Ukraine means that those guilty of war crimes will never be brought to justice. It will be swept under the carpet the day after. In today's info environment, this would be highly demoralising for our societies.

this man has blood on his hands and everyone who supported him and excused him has blood on their hands and I do not want to hear a single fucking Democrat with any position other than "impeach and remove him immediately"

he and his MAHA movement are child killers

It is comical that Putin would refer to the inappropriately-named "peace" proposal presented to Ukraine as a "U.S. plan." It is a Kremlin plan that might as well have been written in the original Russian.

Trump continues to betray Ukraine, our allies and US interests and advance those of Putin and Russia. If you are surprised or doubt it, you are a sucker or a Russia/MAGA bot.

Rewarding a dictator-aggressor always leads to another war. One that is usually even worse.

Tusk says Russia has crossed a critical line in Poland, urges unity and support for Ukraine
Russia has moved to a new phase of hybrid warfare aimed at destabilizing Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, calling on Warsaw to stand with Ukraine with no caveats. He made the re...

At just the moment when what is really required is a condemnation (and repudiation) of the extremist, American vulture capitalism that is destroying democracy in this country sinew by sinew.

Public servants with nearly 450 years of experience have resigned in protest - CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington In Trump's second term, about 70 government officials with nearly 450 years of experience have resigned in protest.

As of September, more than 70 gov officials across agencies like DOJ, FBI, and HHS, have resigned rather than follow Trump’s illegal orders.

It’s not if for our military, it’s when.

Trump will ask them to turn against the American people. www.citizensforethics.org/reports-inve...

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is reportedly “encouraging” a federal grand jury investigation into DOJ official Ed Martin and Federal Housing Finance Director Bill Pulte for potential misconduct in pursuing criminal charges against prominent Democrats. trib.al/6yAteiJ

On the plus side, the Saudi dictator (and bone saw afficionado) still loves Trump.

UNICEF say two children have been killed a day since the ceasefire in Gaza <article data-history-node-id="431784" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/unicef-say-two-children-have-been-killed-day-ceasefire-gaza" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/unicef-say-two-children-have-been-killed-day-ceasefire-gaza" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">UNICEF say two children have been killed a day since the ceasefire in Gaza</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>UNICEF said on Friday that two children have been killed a day since the ceasefire in Gaza.</p> <p>The UN agency said that at least 67 children had been killed since 10 October.</p> <p>“Yesterday morning, a baby girl was reportedly killed in Khan Younis by an airstrike, while the day before, seven children were killed in Gaza City and the south,”&nbsp;said Ricardo Pires, spokesperson for the UN Children’s Fund.&nbsp;</p> <p>“There's only one party to the conflict in Gaza with the firepower to do airstrikes,”&nbsp;Pires also told journalists.</p> <p>Children's lives continue to remain under threat in Gaza from inadequate healthcare and lack of food.&nbsp;</p> </div> </div> </article>

UNICEF say two children have been killed a day since the ceasefire in Gaza - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/unicef-say-two-children-have-been-killed-day-ceasefire-gaza

Idiocy. We stigmatize words to dissuade people from considering ideas that may have merit and therefore that could upset the status quo or undercut the interests of those in power.

This is absolutely extraordinary. Almost 9 million people live in Tehran. The city is built on land that is sinking in places by a foot a year.

It doesn't mean Epstein is not important. It is--especially an example of the culture of impunity the superempowered like Epstein, Trump and their associates have shaped and benefitted from at our collective expense. But...everywhere you look there are massive breaches of the public trust.

Just as a reminder: Trump's doing Putin's bidding on Russia, his attacks on science at HHS and with regard to the environment, his corruption, his ICE army attacking US cities, his gutting of the DoJ and attacks on the rule of law and democracy are all much, much, much bigger scandals than Epstein.