Blood on his hands.

Good Saturday on this Labor Day weekend, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Coffee was good.

Waking up to bad news is not what I wished for, especially having slept in on a lazy Saturday. There was a lot on my mind already. I had planned an open letter to the president of the University of Maryland, reproducing my email to him. But the world keeps on turning…

By now you probably heard that the president of the University of Maryland, Darryl Pines, approved the Students for Justice in Palestine “celebration” of October 7. They didn’t call it exactly that but what else is there to celebrate by a Hamas and Iranian sponsored organization on that date? It’s pretty clear to me that had the same SJP requested permission for a “celebration of 9/11” on campus on September 11 they would have been denied. But I guess it’s “just the Jews” so it’s okay.

If you haven’t signed the protest letter to Univ. of Maryland about this please do so using this link. (Click here.)

I know this will break my string but do try to go on reading past 3 of 16 by returning here and moving down the thread. Hope you make it. So…

There’s that. And the real bad news came to me this morning as @lisaaronowatelier posted about the IDF discovery of an undetermined number of hostage bodies in Gaza. Nearly a year since October 7, just as the anti-Israel simps prepare to “celebrate” the occasion, so many families still live in despair and so many others live with the confirmation of a loss that can never be made whole. We’re bracing for just how bad these news are…

At the same time, the army being accused of genocide is pausing its operations in Gaza so that tens of thousands of children can be given the first dose of a Polio vaccine. For those still accusing the IDF of inhumane behavior make it make sense. Responding to a truly genocidal attack by a terrorist organization that controls a small enclave where there’s no telling who is who among a population that mostly supports it and actively participated in the same attack is tragic.

I wrote extensively about this war, how hard it is to conduct urban warfare in such an environment and how this isn’t your “traditional” hostage situation where you can deal with it using law enforcement or special forces, etc. It’s kind of exhausting going over this again and again so I will leave it at that and if you are so inclined you can search my past threads for it. What I want to address today is how the strategy of war has been wrong from the start and is causing so much pain.

Israel has been at war since her independence in 1948. Pain is no stranger to Israelis. The Arabs in the region are no stranger to it either. When we talk about pain, as Jon Polin made us remember, there are no winners. When we talk of pain we don’t talk of soldiers who are trained for combat and are expected to endure its consequences. We talk about the innocent. For me it’s always been about families. Those who endure the pain war causes by extension. Those without guilt.

I know most Palestinian Arabs have been radicalized since they were children. I know that for that reason most of them, in Gaza and the West Bank, support Hamas and wish for the destruction of Israel. I also know the Hamas propaganda machine is good at making shit up but when they hide among civilians and a bomb gets them that doesn’t make me feel any better about the children caught in it. Not at all. Which brings me to Netanyahu.

From day one it was very clear the hostages were an afterthought in the response strategy laid out by Netanyahu’s government where a majority of right wing religious Zionists rule. As the war progressed that became even more clear. The IDF is not the extension of those policies many think it is. Sure, like in any army, there are elements who commit war crimes - look no further than our own military - but those are a small group.

To prove it, even in a radical Jewish government, the disagreement between the Defense minister, Yoav Gallant, and the rest of the Cabinet has always been public and just reached new heights. The most recent face off between him and Bibi is about the hostages again. It seems like the main obstacle to reach a consensus on the return of the hostages and the adjacent ceasefire is now the occupation of the South Gaza area known as the Philadelphi Corridor, the 14 Km borderline with Egypt.

We all know it’s important to keep Hamas from being resupplied using that area but we also know that since the IDF took control of it a large number of tunnels between Gaza and Egypt were destroyed and that capability severely affected. Everyone understands that a ceasefire will enable Hamas to regroup and certainly cause harm to Israel but that should have NEVER been the priority with hostages in play. Netanyahu has been denying ceasefires for personal reasons.

No one, except the people who wish for the destruction of Israel, denies her right to self defense and whenever Hamas breaks a truth or ceasefire there will be consequences. Withdrawal from a fucking 9 mile strip means nothing compared to getting the hostages back. If shit happens after that the IDF will get it again. It’s not fucking rocket science! Of course it’s hard to let go of ground gained with blood. Of course it will take more sacrifices to get it back if needed.

That’s why soldiers die. To prevent civilians from dying. This is not about saving the IDF more casualties, as painful as that is; it’s about saving civilian lives. From the start that has been a problem for the Israeli strategy because a less aggressive intervention would have caused more IDF casualties. We all know this but what most don’t know is the IDF is fine with it and every day suffer casualties trying to save innocent lives, Jewish AND Muslim lives, Israeli AND Palestinian.

Gallant is telling Netanyahu to take the deal by accepting to withdraw from the fucking corridor. Get the hostages home! But Bibi says no. He just wants the war to go on. This is real. The hostage families are calling for major demonstrations in Israel to demand Netanyahu accepts the deal in the wake of today’s tragic news. Some of those families are about to be told their loved ones are coming home dead. Their suffering is unimaginable. Yet they fight.

While millions of Israelis rise against this inhumane strategy, and the IDF stands ready to sacrifice anything to save lives, here at home some pretend this isn’t happening and couldn’t care less how many more people die in this war as long as it ends with all Jews thrown into the Mediterranean. These people are as despicable as Netanyahu and are getting ready to celebrate the death of 1200 Jews and glorify rape, torture and murder as legitimate resistance on 10/7/24.

That’s not all they will be celebrating. They will also celebrate thousands of Palestinian deaths, glorifying them while ordering vegetarian pizzas. They are the scum of the scum in this death cult, because, while part of it, they are sure their lives are not threatened, their faces hidden by keffiyehs they don’t even know the meaning of. They’re deplorable. I am waiting for news. My thoughts are with the hostages and their families tonight. Shalom Aleichem.

Release the hostages.

The suckers.

Well good afternoon, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Late coffee still good.

As we return to life without the DNC and continue on our hard path to Roevember, having lost any real “scandal” or “debacle” they can pin on the Harris campaign, the MSM is pissed the so called “uncommitted” failed to deliver the 1968 style convention they so wished for. The frustration and disappointment are real.

A few inescapable aspects of our day to day were on my mind yesterday as I was reminded of what the “uncommitted” movement really is, of how “the sucker” is essential for the success of any kind of authoritarian rule, of how propaganda went from a subversive art form to blatant brainwashing and, this morning, of how antisemitism has been normalized and integrated in our social activism.

We have a real long way to go, way past November 5, to resolve all these questions that pop up in our lives like insidious mushrooms resistant to all herbicides known to man. The long term bets by both Christian Nationalists and fundamentalist Islamists to infiltrate our society have become apparent the last year in ways they haven’t before. The former we are going to defeat at the ballot box and, although endemic, it has an external quality to it.

Regardless of how rooted in our society its host of choice was the GOP and as such it feels like a familiar fight against a threat from outside our democratic body, since it has all the familiar characteristics of the dichotomy our political system became. The latter, however, is much more veiled and its host was the liberal body politics. We failed to diagnose it in its early stages and it has now metastasized. That is, believe it or not, a much greater threat.

Many watch the “uncommitted” as this alien aspect of our lives and correctly say it has long been funded by foreign interests, such as the Chinese, the Russians and, in particular, the Iranians. The incorrect analysis is how that funding is applied. Here is the point where our understanding of both threats colide and obfuscate the nature of the fundamentalist Islamic one.

This happens because the Christian Nationalists are based on a diminishing faith while the Islamic radicals are rooted in an expanding one. The first does require “paid actors”, the second not so much if at all. When we see pro-Hamas protests you can bet 9 out of 10 times the elements who stand out as chaos agents are true believers, not paid actors. The radical Islamic level of indoctrination puts its Christian counterpart to shame. Global Intifada is a mantra born in the late 1960s.

In the 1970s, as “Palestine” was made into the “official” designation of what was called “the Arab state” by the 1947 UN partition resolution, a concerted effort was made by Islamic fundamentalists to insert their ideals into Western Societies by indoctrination of their most vulnerable sectors: left leaning organizations and universities. Their success with the liberals was reduced to a few fringe radical factions where it persists to this day.

On that portion of our society their success was limited to communists, “environmental warriors”, anarchists and similar small movements but in the Universities they were much more successful as we can see for ourselves today. The Palestinians who still long for peaceful coexistence in the Middle East are appalled by the actions of these suckers who allowed themselves to be brainwashed into thinking the main obstacle to peace in the region is Israel.

Of course religious Zionism and the radical elements of Jewish society that feed on war itself to prevail are part of the problem, as illustrated by the current Israeli government opposed by most Israelis, but they never talk about a much worse element in the destabilization of the region: radical Islam. When the DNC allowed time for Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin to speak they knew exactly what their politics were: NONE.

They were advocating for the release of their beloved son Hersh and all the other hostages in Gaza and in their humanity they also advocated for the end of the war and the despair among the innocent Palestinians, for there may be outnumbered but they do exist, especially in the form of children too young to be anything else but children. This is the way. And because of their humanity Rachel and Jon were greeted with love and compassion at the DNC. “Unexpected”, as Rachel later said.

Using them as an excuse, the “uncommitted” demanded time for a “Palestinian” to speak “for Palestine”. That alone reveals they are not serious people. Nobody spoke “for Israel” at the DNC. Those who think that’s what Rachel and Jon did are not serious people. At all. So the request started on the wrong foot but let’s look at their background. For the last year these people have been violently advocating for the destruction of Israel and Jews around the world.

They burn US and Israeli flags, call for the death of America, for global intifada and, of course, accused Biden of genocide and Harris of killing babies. They were doing it on the streets of Chicago at the same time they sniffled on SM, and the MSM that would give them air, about how unfairly they were being treated. They are comparing their plight to the one Fannie Lou Hamer spearheaded for Black people representation at the DNC, back in the 1960s, and the MSM nods and agrees.

In contrast, the Bring Them Home movement has never shown any signs of violence or claimed for the destruction of anything as they march for the release of the hostages. With the exception of very few voices, mainly in the fringes of SM, the implementation of a single Jewish state is NOT part of their movement. Period. While the “poor uncommitted” were playing victim inside the DNC, outside their minions were smashing car windows at their “checkpoints”. Free Palestine, baby.

When humanity is selective it’s not humanity. In the case of those picking and choosing which causes to advocate for or which victims to cry for when it comes to the Middle East it’s not just inhumane but antisemitic. Even one of our most prestigious social activist institutions has been infiltrated by these chaos agents: Planned Parenthood. I shit you not.

In a shameful press release PPH declared they will no longer include in their investment portfolio “companies that profit from violence and war”. And they added: “such as the devastating loss of life and sexual & gender-based violence happening in Gaza.” Why they didn’t pick the Ukraine or Saudi Arabia or Turkey and picked Israel to define who exactly they are keeping out says everything. There are plenty more companies making more millions from war in the Ukraine.

In their eyes, defending the Ukraine is justified, defending Israel is not. The “weapons exclusion” they talk about HAD to explicitly mention “the Jews”. All other weapons are good or at least not worth mentioning. That, my thriends, is pure antisemitism. In Planned Parenthood. How’s that for embedded? And then you wonder about our Universities. Open your eyes. Don’t be a sucker.

We’re not going back!

* “Don’t be a sucker” - 1947 US War Department reel.

The disenchanted.

Good morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Saturday coffee is the best.

The disenchanted.

Yesterday, as I closed the DNC 2024 series of morning posts, I mentioned how the last day of the convention focused on what’s wrong with this country and reminded us it didn’t start in 2016. Many, dare I say most, of us are more hopeful and confident after 4 days of joy. But not all.

There are some who still find it hard to believe in democracy and feel like the DNC is marketing. To them the fact it was a flawless exercise means it must be the product of the same old forces that work in the shadows to provide the masses with the illusion of democracy. I call these people the disenchanted. Because their life expectations have been denied time and time again under both parties they just can’t bring themselves to believe things can change.

I am not talking about the hard core pro-Hamas bunch who mix their disenchantment with their privileged revolutionary chique beliefs. I am talking about those whose lives made them skeptical of any kind of power by default. Even the kind that would make their lives better. They don’t understand that by remaining skeptical they are denying themselves the change they seek. And they keep looking to the top.

They have this dream of a better world where peace and kindness rule and we look out for each other without fear or prejudice. They are looking for “something” that would make it come true and can’t see it. The world itself seems to deny it. So they stop believing in change and are consumed by a permanent feeling of powerlessness. The more I think about this the more I realize what the only way to restore their trust in our democracy is. And also reinforce our own.

We need to get money out of politics. Period. No matter how good we feel about the DNC this year the truth is that four day celebration cost millions of dollars. To someone who can barely make a living watching those moments may seem like more of the same. A bunch of politicians with millions at their disposal telling them it will be just fine. Again. I can see their point. Just as I can see their mistrust at the chants of “USA” and the thousands of flags waving.

What they don’t realize is that they allowed our country to be stolen from them. They can’t feel proud to be Americans yet. They don’t know how. This is our challenge. Reclaiming our country is not easy and it will take a lot more than words, no matter how well spoken and well chosen. To those of us who trust we can change, enthusiasm comes easier but we also know belief requires action to gain roots or it becomes an illusion.

I believe in Harris and Walz. I honestly think they can start the work that needs done to achieve the realization of our dreams. I also know they need a Congress strong enough to enact that change. That is up to us. It’s up to us to not go home after November 5 and expect the people we elected to do the work for us. For too long we did just that. We believe in someone and expect them to go and do our work. Democracy doesn’t work that way.

To begin with, we need to understand change doesn’t happen overnight and is as fast as we make it to be. If we don’t get a clear majority in the House and at least 60 senators it will not be easy to get things done. If the filibuster is still a problem, in case we get just a few more senators than the GOP, I think it will be really hard to convince the democrats in Congress to get rid of it. Then two things may happen.

The most likely is we have to wait for 2026 to try and get 60 senators. The less likely is that we manage through our engagement and pressure to convince the less than 60 senators to get rid of the filibuster. Both require OUR work. Both are only possible if we stay in the fight. Democracy is only achieved through constant engagement and very hard labor. This is what the disenchanted fail to see in their frustration.

There are only two ways to move on from a two party system that many dislike: work to create new alternatives from scratch or go straight to a dictatorship without passing “Go” and collecting $200. The disenchanted are easy prey for those who propose the latter. Real change is needed. I believe we can do it now but ONLY if we put ourselves into it with body and soul. We have to keep dreaming and for sure keep demanding the impossible but we must be pragmatic.

Dreams don’t really come true and the impossible will never happen. Being a revolutionary with the goal of achieving those objectives is not progress but regress. Democracy makes it possible to get closer to those ideals but in the game of life the goal posts are always moving. All we can do is keep moving too because if we stop those posts will keep on going and the more time we spend doing nothing the farther away from us they’ll be.

I wish I could lend some of my optimism and hope to the disenchanted. I can’t. Only the fulfillment of the promise of America can. And right now Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are the embodiment of that promise. It’s time to reclaim our country in all its possibility and opportunity without fear. Now is the time to believe but also the time to realize it’s also the time to wake up to what democracy really is. And make it better.

Stay in the fight. Be the change. These are no longer abstracts, they are real possibilities in a world we took for granted for far too long only to be disappointed by it precisely because we took it that way. Do NOT take anything for granted. Fight for it and never stop. Demand the impossible and never stop believing. I believe. The promise is real. It’s time to make it happen, one decisive step after another.

We’re not going back!

And I feel fine.

Good Sunday morning and Shavua tov, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Must have more coffee. Black as usual.

The enthusiasm will endure.

The crowds keep showing up in big numbers to Harris-Walz rallies around the country and we feel fine. It may just be the end of the world as we know it and it’s about time.

We’ve been sick of this world for years now, even before 2016. And yes, that includes Obama’s two terms in office when we witnessed the same old stone walling that kept him from going farther in his achievements, among which a more far reaching ACA and SCOTUS nominations. We’re sick of that world. We need a new world. A world where hope is realized into action and promise is kept alive. What worries me right now is down ballot game in two vectors.

The first one is about discipline and we talked about this before. We need a blue Congress. We need to vote blue up and down the ballot once the choices are made in primaries. Remember: vote blue after we chose who. Of course it matters “who” but the time to pick the people representing us is the primary they run in. After that it’s blue, baby blue; all the way down the ballot to the last democratic dog catcher on it.

The second vector is the lack of ambition. I am still to witness the Harris-Walz energy transposed to an ambitious expansion of the democratic representation in Congress: House and Senate. Kamala and Tim are awesome and they truly put every single state in play but they can NOT do it alone. I watch the pundits and “experts” moderately confident in the “restoring” of the “blue wall”. Pardon my French but FUCK the blue wall. We need a blue tsunami.

I wish we could all understand just how important it is to stay both disciplined and ambitious. The momentum we are seeing is historic and will for sure elect the first woman president of the United States. We must take it up a big notch. Feel disillusioned with a current representative or senator? Replace them in primaries like we did with Bowman and Bush. Hey, Omar is on a contested primary this Tuesday. Don’t want her to represent you? Vote for her challenger.

But if Don Samuels fails to replace her on the November ballot you better damn sure vote for Ilhan Omar. That’s how it’s done. You can challenge her next primary. We need to wise up, Thriends. There’s too much on the line. The democrats who we see as past the expire date will vote for reproductive rights, voting rights and new Supreme Court justices. If we allow Republican fascists to replace them we lose those votes. That’s on vector one.

On the ambition vector we need to be bold and get out to vote in places where the usual suspects tell you there’s no chance, like Ohio, Florida, Texas. Hell yeah there’s a chance! But we can’t just turn those states blue for the Presidency. We MUST turn them blue all the way to Congress. There’s just no justification for someone in Texas to vote for Harris and then choose “R” down ballot. Do NOT fuck this up.

We need a blue tsunami. The kind they never saw coming.

Democrats have for far too long been afraid of governing with super majorities. We’re sick of the old world “balance” crap that made so many vote “D” for one thing and “R” for another. Fuck that! When we vote for EVERY single democrat we will be ending the world as we know it. And trust me: we will feel just fucking fine.

Let’s go win this fucking thing.

ALL OF IT!

We’re not going back!

First Saturday, then Sunday.

Well then… Happy Shabbos to all, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. This coffee is much needed this Saturday.

The insidious snake in the room.

Close to 20,000 people. Ari-fucking-zona couldn’t leave it alone, as Walz said. It’s a record. And among them a few snakes. Yes, make sure your coffee is strong today. We’re going for a ride.

In an expected repeat of Michigan, a few pro-Hamas simp hecklers were in the crowd at Glendale’s Desert Diamond Arena yesterday. Harris paused her speech and addressed them checking her written notes on the podium, proving this time she was prepared for a more diplomatic, prepared response. Instead of telling them to STFU, she told them what her position is. Twice.

And twice she said the time is now to get the ceasefire deal done and BRING THE HOSTAGES HOME. Twice. Loud and clear. No ambiguity. But leave it to the pro-Hamas simps to take care of that. In SM, again and again, ONLY the ceasefire part is mentioned. Some go as far as playing a sound edited clip of her answer where you can only hear Harris mentioning the ceasefire, editing the hostages part OUT by turning the sound off when she says it. Wow! Go Hamas!

I was raised a Catholic in Portugal, one of the most religious countries in Europe. Roman Catholic. I have lived in it during fascism and democracy, I witnessed the transition. I also witnessed the way religion worked in both systems. How the state promoted it during fascism, pushing hard on religious fanaticism as they capitalized on “the miracle of Fátima”, to this day one of Christianity’s largest pilgrimage locations. Religion can be perverse. It almost always is.

I used to spend a small part of Summer in Fátima with family when I was a child. Long ago it was a peaceful little town with beautiful woods surrounding the huge basilica erected at the site where it is said the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in 1917. I watched the faithful crawl around the preserved olive tree where the mother of Christ stood on. I saw their knees bleeding as they recited the rosary. Penance for their sins. A practice reminiscent of self flogging.

In Fátima, a religious center, as in cities, towns and villages around the country, including where I lived, the church bells would ring at mass time to call on the faithful. In selected places the carillon played familiar melodies, evocative of the faith. Where I live now, in Oakwood, Ohio, a nearby church does just that at times, although it’s not the real carillon I was used to but a recording. It never bothered me, it’s actually kind of comforting in a nostalgic way.

I have been an agnostic for many years, so all the religious paraphernalia is but an echo from my childhood and it’s attached to good memories. No one told me to hate anyone at Sunday school, let alone at school itself. My mother never hoped one day I would become a martyr and the crusades lived in History books, not used to invoke the fervor of a new holy war. I know far too many Muslim children have a much different experience. The actual opposite of mine.

They are taught to hate in their religious schools. They have no others. Religion and state are one and the same in most Muslim countries, the Arab ones in particular (and in Iran). The children are taught to hate; their mothers do wish they will one day become martyrs, and the Crusades are very much alive as they dream of the lost gardens of Cordoba and Jihad; their new holy war. This is the reality of most Arab countries today, if not all.

Secular people are the equivalent of Satanic worshipers and those of a different faith, in particular Jewish and Christian faith, are also to be converted or destroyed. This is what many of their children are being taught, in some cases with proper funding from the United Nations. It’s been this way for decades, which means many, many adults today are radicalized by these ideas. All of them? No. Does Islam have a peace loving following base? Yes. Most certainly a very large one.

But among the billions of Muslims there are many millions who know nothing of peace but the one derived from ultimate victory in Jihad. No matter the cost. This tragedy is of our making. We turned the Arabs into what they are today because we thought they would be more malleable if they didn’t outgrow their Jihad the way we outgrew our Crusades. We were wrong. And this isn’t just a post World War One phenomenon.

Even the more sophisticated and educated Persians, who managed to sideline the Western conjuring of the Arab world for obvious reasons, were pushed back into religious fundamentalism by us. We just couldn’t leave it alone. As Persia turned into modern day Iran and their democracy flourished we decided to put it down and install a dictator in its place. That worked real well. But we cannot allow our colonial world building guilt keep us from facing reality.

And reality is fundamentalist Islam is growing and it’s coming to a town near you. One look at Europe tells you their objectives are achieved by either inserting themselves into society or making society ostracize them. It works both ways. The first turns a secular, tolerant society into a fundamentalist intolerant one. The second causes the rise of authoritarian nationalist movements that lead to fascist governments. Win, win. To them, chaos precedes victory.

My childhood memories the tolling church bells evoke have nothing to do with the Arabic adhan recited by muezzins from mosques. It’s actually quite beautiful and soul inspiring, the adhan. Unfortunately it is also daunting in today’s world. Xenophobia is a terrible thing. It breeds in the dark until it matures and comes out to claim its pound of flesh. Just like its breeding masters: Christian nationalism and Islamic fundamentalism.

Sure, Catholics toll their bells three times a day, why shouldn’t Muslims call for adhan five times a day? Or the Jews sound the Shofar? When you think of it this way it makes sense, doesn’t it? All considerations of the role religion should play in modern secular based societies with clear separation of religion and state aside, the difference is what each religion signifies in today’s world. And unfortunately for Muslims, Islam is turning into a fundamentalist faith.

There is so much to do before we can look at Islam as “just a religion”. To excise the fanatic components from it will take decades. To figure out which kind answers the adhan is virtually impossible and if you are not fluent in Arabic the teachings disseminated in their mosques are a mystery. In all honesty, to a westerner, Islam remains an alien culture requiring deep intent to understand. That doesn’t help when it comes to acceptance and tolerance. It’s a pity.

But such is the reality we live in. On October 7, the liberal Israelis at kibbutz Kfar Aza were betrayed by Palestinians who peacefully worked among them for decades. They provided Hamas with detailed maps and instructions, details of vulnerabilities and where young people lived. They seemed friendly for years only to sell them out to be slaughtered. Once peace loving liberal Israelis who believed in coexistence will never trust an Arab again. That’s our reality.

How can we trust the Muslims around us? How can we tell them apart? Who among them are radicalized? How do we reconcile the need to help those who truly wish for a better life away from fundamentalist oppression with the certainty of the existence of sleeper cells among them? Democracies are tolerant by definition and that is their weakest point. The paradox of tolerance.

“The paradox of tolerance states that if a society's practice of tolerance is inclusive of the intolerant, intolerance will ultimately dominate, eliminating the tolerant and the practice of tolerance with them.”

In Minneapolis today you can hear adhan being called five times a day. A very tolerant measure approved by the city. Unfortunately, it applies to an extremely intolerant religion that is far from proving to us it is not.

Antisemitism is very real, especially among radicalized Muslims who are raised to hate Israel and all Jews. But that’s not all they are raised to hate. They are taught to fight the holy war that will bring about the destruction of Western societies. First they take care of Saturday, then they take care of Sunday. First the Jews, then the Catholics. It is this reality we need to accept if we are to make any progress. Ignoring it is as dangerous as denying it.

Summer is coming to an end. Colleges will soon resume classes. We will surely witness a renewed call for global intifada in campuses across America, complete with adhan and prayers turned to Mecca on university grounds. The Iranian backed organizers of these protests are very clear in their manifestos: they aim to destroy Western society. So when they bark “Free Palestine” at Kamala Harris what they are really saying is death to America. Even if they are dumb enough to not realize it.

We need to address this issue head on. We can’t run away from it. Part of the responsibility of the next administration is to pragmatically answer this question. And in doing so, remove all antisemitic elements from our society as best it can. Today is Shabbos. Let’s make sure we keep it or else we will soon lose Sunday. This is not a religious fight. It’s the fight for the survival of secularism in a world of religious hate. Either we break the tolerance paradox or it will break us.

As we feel the excitement of this campaign to save our democracy, in the joy of nearly 20,000 souls gathered to defend it, let’s not forget the snakes among them and what they’re after. Yes they are very few but ignore them at your own peril. Because they are dead serious. And so should we. We are fighting for the soul of our country once more, but remember it’s also a fight for the soul of humanity. Let’s get it right.

Shabbat Shalom.

I’m speaking.

Good Thursday morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Must have coffee. Black.

Detroit, Michigan. Home of the “uncommitted”.

What a pathetic bunch of idiotic dumbfucks. Yet they proved a point: this ain’t over yet.

50,000 RSVP sign ups for the Harris-Walz rally in an aircraft hangar at Detroit Metro Airport. A lot of them made it. And I mean A LOT. What a sight!

Remember when the old orange turd used to park Air Force One on top of half a dozen magats for his 2020 rallies? Well… Yesterday Harris pulled up a stunt. She parked Air Force Two by the hangar and walked into it with Walz. The contrast was so intense! Compared to the huge presidential aircraft filling the background at the turd’s rallies you could hardly see Harris’ plane on the tarmac past the huge crowd gathered at the airport. It looked like a toy plane.

And unlike the turd, Harris left it behind and went on to the rally. Presidential tokens are NOT campaign assets. People go to the rallies to see and listen to the candidates not gaze at props. It was a great rally and one small incident stood out. The moment when Kamala Harris was interrupted by a few “uncommitted” hecklers in the audience. Probably pissed about Cori Bush, bless their little hearts. Kamala shut them down immediately. Her face said it all: Do not fuck with me.

Those pro-Hamas simps had talked to her in person before! Harris actually took the time to speak to them and listen to their words. She showed them respect and they turned around and tried to heckle her “on TV” like the scum they are. She was not amused. They were barking “We won’t vote for genocide” at her and she stared them down: "If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I'm speaking." Snap! “I’m speaking” is the new “STFU”. For real.

Behind these “uncommitted” simps we find Layla Elabed, who seems to be a relative of Rashida Tlaib, and Abbas Alawieh, who was Cori Bush’s chief of staff from 2021 to 2023. I guess they were pissed their girl was crushed in her primary and ran out of office. Their hubris is despicable and is the reason they are really more interested in voting for third party candidates who can’t even make the ballot in enough states to compete for the job. That’s who they are: chaos agents.

They understand very well one can oppose Israel’s government while supporting her right to defend herself. Israel is NOT a dictatorship. You don’t deny a democracy the weapons it needs to defend itself from genocidal terrorists and fundamentalist states like Iran. Let the Israelis sort out their internal political problems without condemning them to more suffering than they already know. I expect diplomacy and pragmatism from a Harris administration.

The “uncommitted” idiots don’t give a fuck about Palestine or they would condemn Hamas as the terrorist organization they are and would stop cheering each time Hezbollah fires a rocket into northern Israel. And they would give a shit about Iranian women too, which they don’t. They just want chaos and they’re on Tehran’s leach. Make no mistake about that. The MSM is already salivating as they anticipate an “uncommitted” shitshow at the DNC. Not happening.

Yesterday morning I wrote of hope in the renewed youth spirit of battle as they begin to understand what it is we are fighting for and how it’s done. I told you many of them have been misguided by these fanatics who exploit their romantic notions of social justice. Their eyes are opening. As we brace ourselves for an Iranian retaliation for the elimination of Hamas’ number one, they watch as Taylor Swift’s concert in Austria was cancelled due to a real terrorist threat.

They are beginning to see what the calls for a “global intifada” really mean and realize they are the targets. Let’s hope this foiled threat is enough to snap them out of their haze and they don’t have to go through another October 7 to understand what happened at the Nova festival. Hopefully they will wake up. But some will not. In the midst of this wave of joy and hope, as we watch the promise of real freedom unfold, we must remain vigilant.

There is still a lot we need to do to make sure these seemingly little things don’t turn into serious glitches and prevent us from getting the majorities we need in Congress, not to speak of a 2016 third party debacle repeat. And the only way to do it is to swarm the polls with our votes in such a way these despicable people will not matter anymore. Please don’t stop feeling good. We got this. Don’t let the joy fade away; instead amplify it a thousand fold. Be joyful.

But beware of the wolves amongst us and on our flanks as they pose themselves to harm us before AND after our victory. Some will try to weaken our thrust as we push forward to win. Some will seek to spread chaos after we beat them at the polls. They are one and the same: free radicals from every faction you can imagine across the political spectrum. Only this time they met their nemesis. We are one. We are unstoppable. We will win. We’re not going back! 

I feel like I can breathe again. We all should. And we will NOT allow them to take this feeling away from us ever again. We are well aware of the dangers ahead. We know they are still trying to divide us. We see their reinforcements gathering on our flanks to hit us after this battle is won. We will crush them. Remain confident. Remain strong and focused. Do not allow this joy to dilute our awareness of what we face today and will face tomorrow. Be resolute and bold.

Harris and Walz will be the next President and Vice President of these United States. I had a dream in which children of many colors gathered to fly a huge American flag. They had no parties or politics. They were just happy children who love life in a free country. That’s all they saw in that flag. And as it flew up high and proud they smiled. We love our country. We know what it is to be a patriot and what freedom is.

We’re not going back! ✊🇺🇸

It’s been a longtime coming…

Top of the morning on this wonderful hump day to you, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Coffee tastes exceptionally good today.

Yup. I still got a smile on my face. What a rush! Last night in Philly was fire! We are on our way to making History, Thriends. I feel it, you feel it and by God “they” feel it.

Game on.

The Temple University Liacouras Center was packed. With a capacity of 10,206 seated I think it’s safe to say we had close to 11,000 people attending, adding the floor, nvm outside. The atmosphere was magical and the campaign did a superb job at evoking the Eras Tour! The light bracelets, the arena lighting, perfect setup. The contrast with the fascist rally at the same location was jaw dropping. They could hardly fill the first ring and the top one was completely empty.

The crowds will get larger and pretty soon they’ll be considering a stadium for the closing rally before the election. One hopes! Philadelphia is the birthplace of freedom and perfectly matches the spirit of the Harris-Walz campaign (it feels good writing it for the first time! Harris-Walz!). Although, like most of us, I had my mind made up about going all in no matter who the VP pick turned out to be, I was skeptic of Tim. I even frowned (coughs) at his “weird” take, remember?

Now that the team is set I can tell you my fantasy picks, in order: Buttigieg, Shapiro, Gretchen. Yup. No Walz! Boy, was I in for a ride! This guy is a perfect wildcard! Yes, I know Josh is superb and his energy is off the charts; he was up for the call until the last second but he’s perfectly fine with Kamala’s choice and will help deliver Pennsylvania for sure. His introductory speech was spot on, complete with a reference to his faith. Philly loves him and he’s ready to serve.

I expected some blowback from more conservative Jewish sectors and some ball spiking from more “progressive” gentile ones but so far both are nearly invisible due to the massive wave of optimism and strengh Harris-Walz brought to the game. They said the words we have been using from the start and need to be said again and again: Promise; Hope; Freedom; and now Joy. There’s joy in this struggle to break away from a past we reject. We’re not going back! 

We’re not going back! The battle cry of our movement. The chant that over and over filled the arena like no other. The call we answer every day and will keep alive when we go on fighting for the future we want after this initial victory that will allow us for nothing but time in which to make change happen. We know this. Watching the crowd in Philly, with so many young people in it, I realized from their TikTok posts they are finally starting to understand this is how it’s done.

They find themselves in these settings filled with a familiar energy and empathy and there’s more. There’s happiness. And suddenly they realize what they’ve been missing at the same time what was missing from the struggle meets that feeling. They’re not at a concert, they’re in a campaign rally and they are happy. Their joy in battle was deeply missed and we, the old guard, welcome them with open arms and big smiles. For their eyes are open now. They know too.

It’s a beautiful thing, watching this kind of love join the battle against hate. It’s exactly what we needed to reinforce our ranks. We are now stronger than ever and we are only getting better at this. So many of them don’t know first hand what we know, we who are old enough to have lived through fascism. Yet their young voices join ours in this one decisive chant: We’re not going back! They know. They are the key. They are the hope we carry in our hearts.

I know so many of them have been misguided and turned away from the path we must travel but we can show them why it is we must choose it. And they have a coach now. Tim Walz strikes so many right chords it’s almost unbelievable. Yes, he will be a master card in rural America; yes, he will be essential to show middle America what social democracy is all about… But above all he is the “old guy” young people can trust to empower them without condescension.

He’s the teacher that, like Kamala said, we all wish we’d had. The adult who treats young people as adults and shows them the power they have. That gives them the respect they deserve and doesn’t dismiss their dreams as folies. The one who encourages them to dream. How we have been missing someone like that in politics! And where has Tim Walz been all our lives? Well… He’s been right here.

Growing up in a Nebraska farm, helping his neighbors because his parents taught him his happiness depended on the common good. Doing is duty as a guardsman because there’s joy in the service to our country. Teaching our youth because there’s no higher aspiration than to educate our children. And serving us in Congress and in local government, selflessly. His imperfections are a reminder no one is perfect, even being so close to it. He’s truly the personification of humanity.

And he’s fun! I am glad I was not drinking anything when he came up with the “get off his couch” joke. Oh my fucking God! And the look on his face as he went “See what I did there?” was almost as priceless as the one on Kamala’s face when she did see it! What a knock out punch and delivered with such joy and ease. We found ourselves laughing our asses off and suddenly realizing what it was we were doing. We were breathing. We’re breathing again.

Bring it on. Say all you want about Harris and about Walz. Try to take away the Jewish vote, the suburban vote, the youth vote, the black vote, the women’s vote. Give it your best shot, you fascist pieces of dung. It won’t work. We’re unstoppable. We understand the assignment and we’re ready.

If I expected a swelling wave before yesterday I know now it’s inevitable. No. We’re not going back! 

The sun is shining on America today as it hasn’t in a very long time. Go outside and feel it on your face. The warmth you will feel is the touch of hope. It’s a new morning. And we will make it last forever in our hearts. Know there’s a lot of work to be done and mountains to climb. We will climb them. Together.

And We’re not going back!

💙🇺🇸

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