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jonathanbernstein.bsky.social
Good Politics/Bad Politics - Subscribe! https://goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com/ Also I root for the Giants. The Making of the Presidential Candidates 2024.
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Less interested in electoral effects (minimal) than how Bacon votes now with no primary or general election to worry about.

Shabbat Shalom to everyone who recognizes that the safety, freedom & thriving of Jews and Muslims are bound up together — in Israel & Palestine, across the five boroughs, and in many other beloved places.

IT WAS NOT ONLY ABOUT "THE BABIES OF SLAVES". The citizenship of free Black people was a big issue. Un-gated short article here:

Favorite version of This Land is Your Land: Bruce? Mojo? Sharon Jones & the Dap-KIngs?

Challenge: Accepted! Patriotic songs: Janelle Monae, Americans Rickie Lee Jones, Tell Somebody Prince, Dear Mr. Man Johnny Cash, Man in Black Charles Mingus, Fables of Faubus and close it out upbeat: Los Lobos, Good Morning Aztlan

Damn. Damn damn damn.

My strong rule of thumb is to be give a huge benefit of the doubt to anyone sounding stupid in public; people screw up stuff they actually know all the time. Trump has forfeited that. He almost never says anything that would suggest he actually understands the things that he gets wrong.

I'm no expert but my impression has been that the Trump opponents in the best position to fight through the courts - individual lawyers, interest groups, state AGs - have done an absolutely first-rate job throughout.

During WWII, the internment camp in Crystal City, Texas included a pool to showcase the camp as “family-friendly” in a propaganda video made by the U.S. youtu.be/1UjCG142i8I?...

this is the aid scheme the US is backing and funding.

2 weeks ago it was possible to imagine containing Iran's nuclear program through diplomacy Now that's less likely while we have greater uncertainty, diminished visibility, and the possibility of Iran reconstituting its capabilities If the objective was just the nuclear threat how is this a win?

Understatement of the year

In the US, historically, progress toward racial justice is ALWAYS followed by white backlash. The only way forward is through. Keep demanding justice and calling out racism. It’s the only way.

And, for a little "tell": Trump was ranting yesterday about "genius pilots" that media orgs were defaming. I've been around more pilots than Trump has. They'd be complimented by "steady," "steely," "prepared," "composed," "unflappable," "deft" etc "Genius pilots" is like "greetings fellow kids!"

Thermostatic opinion... thermostatic opinion everywhere

I am seeing so many scurrilous slurs against the next Mayor of New York here today that I had to double check I had not by mistake somehow logged onto Twitter

Shorter me today on the megabill and the GOP: They can't agree on the bill. They don't want to vote for the bill. They have to pass the bill - or at least pass something. goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com/p/megabill-p...

The opposite of BREAKING: In a time of unified party government, the House majority is unhappy about how the Senate works. (OK, really, Members of the House are more or less always unhappy about how the Senate works. But particularly in this situation, I suppose).

Plausible!

Despite losing 2/3 of a season to the pandemic. (And then there's Mays, who lost 2 years to military service and is still high on this list. Insane.)

I'm pretty pissed that our clown president just gave the world a free public demonstration of how deep you have to dig to defeat bunker busters

Ideology doesn’t mean anything to anyone. Voters don’t really care about it. Unless Mamdani starts fucking up. Then they’ll curse him as a commie bastard.

The prez’s tweet doesn’t in fact have much to do with the pilots or their feelings. Rather, it aims to use the public’s regard for the military as a cudgel to silence his critics. Criticizing the mission does not dishonor the pilots who carried it out.

In the political literature this is known as donating for access. It’s very common. Campaign donations should be interpreted as strategic manifestations of political goals, not expressions of true preference.