No religion or political ideology will protect you from bigotry. The only thing that protects you from bigotry is your own vigilance. "I can't be prejudiced against X because I believe Y" is not a real thing.
excited to announce my new personalized poll writing advice feature, where if you type the words "a 1-point shift," a digital avatar of me grabs hold of your cursor and refuses to let go until you delete it
Netanyahu is trying to use the Iran war for his own domestic political advantage, whether as an excuse to call of his corruption trial or to pass an unpopular budget. But there are good reasons to think it's not going to work, and that the war might even end up being his undoing. Gift link:
"There’s nothing wrong with being a little crunchy, but we’re well beyond the recommended dosage here." Read @adamserwer.bsky.social on the toxic mix of gullibility and conspiracism that has overtaken the country, and why it should be resisted:
"Believing that Trump was somehow a 'peace president' devoted to American restraint, as some credulous commentators claimed, required ignoring everything he’d said before he was president and everything he’d done after he became president."
"You will never stop meeting your child. That is one reason to become a parent: To have a child is to fall in love with a thousand beautiful strangers." - @dkthomp.bsky.social, "On Being a Dad"
Could be, but again, this survey like others found massive support overall from Republican voters, regardless of whether they identify as MAGA. MAGA is just higher. But the MAGA point matters b/c there are a bunch of influencers (Tucker, Bannon, Greene) pretending to represent MAGA when they don't.
Louder again for the folks in the back still doing the "MAGA is abandoning Trump" thing:
- 94% of MAGA or Trump Conservatives say they approve of Iran campaign
- 84% of Trump voters overall say they approve of the campaign
(Vandenberg Coalition/TargetPoint poll)
vandenbergcoalition.org/mar_survey/
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
I recommend reading the whole thread, not just the first post, as it addresses exactly this question!
CNN's Harry Enten: "Trump has the highest own-party approval of any 21st century prez at this point in term 2." Remember this the next time someone tries to sell you the zombie narrative that "MAGA is abandoning Trump."
"Believing that Trump was somehow a 'peace president' devoted to American restraint, as some credulous commentators claimed, required ignoring everything he’d said before he was president and everything he’d done after he became president."
ME IN JANUARY: Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon are not pro-Trump, do not represent him or his base, and are in fact seeking to supplant him and reshape the party in their own image.
TRUMP TODAY: "Tucker Carlson has lost his way" and "he's not MAGA."
Maybe now the rest of the discourse can catch up!
As I write in the piece, there is a difference between Trump's coalition and his base. What has actually been happening is that Trump (largely through the bad economy) has been alienating low propensity swing voters from his coalition, but his MAGA base and Republicans in general remain with him.
@joshuaholland.bsky.social It's a thread! bsky.app/profile/yair...
Operation Midnight Hammer. Venezuela. Now Epic Fury. Again and again, stories claim that MAGA is mad with Trump for betraying America First principles. Again and again, polls show that nope, they're not. I wrote about this myth and why it won't die here (gift link):
For those asking, the same support holds true for Republicans overall. But that number goes UP for MAGA Republicans in particular, which is the opposite of the narrative you hear about MAGA people supposedly being the ones mad at Trump for betraying America First principles.
Every single time:
1. Trump does something hawkish on foreign affairs
2. Breathless stories are written about MAGA being mad and schisming, quoting the same three people (Tucker, Bannon, Greene)
3. Polls show that MAGA Republicans support Trump's move 160%-3%
I don't think many people realize that Trump has been talking about Iran like this since 1980: www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
The Trump administration's shifting justifications for war are a smoke screen that obscures the obvious. "The real impetus for such action was Trump’s imperial approach to American power, which was decades in the making." Gift link:
Other points of note:
- Analysis of a phenomenon ≠ approval
- People and political actors who are extreme or radical can become more extreme or radical (see: American politics over the last decade, Trump I vs Trump II)
- There is a difference between covert and overt conflict in geopolitics
Was away for a bit, see that some on here decided to outrage farm about a tweet I didn't write for an article of mine they didn't read or link. Since that seems to be the preferred mode of consumption, here are a few other headlines! Always do the reading; don't let the engagement farmers con you.
“Believing that Trump was somehow a ‘peace president’ devoted to American restraint, as some credulous commentators claimed, required ignoring everything he’d said before he was president and everything he’d done after he became president.”
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
I don't think many people realize that Trump has been talking about Iran like this since 1980: www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
The Trump administration's shifting justifications for war are a smoke screen that obscures the obvious. "The real impetus for such action was Trump’s imperial approach to American power, which was decades in the making." Gift link:
If none of this makes sense to you, you have missed nothing and are doing social media right. An old related piece with some wisdom for this moment:
Other points of note:
- Analysis of a phenomenon ≠ approval
- People and political actors who are extreme or radical can become more extreme or radical (see: American politics over the last decade, Trump I vs Trump II)
- There is a difference between covert and overt conflict in geopolitics
Was away for a bit, see that some on here decided to outrage farm about a tweet I didn't write for an article of mine they didn't read or link. Since that seems to be the preferred mode of consumption, here are a few other headlines! Always do the reading; don't let the engagement farmers con you.
The Eternal Life of Goldman is one of the most beautiful games of 2026. It's also nice to finally see some video-game representation for people like me: aging Jews with back problems.
For this week's column, I spoke to the director of this stunning platformer: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
aaaaahhhhh
