1/ With Iran in the news, I'm going to do a brief educational thread on their history since the 1979 "Revolution" where they moved from a flawed monarchy with democratic principles to a theocracy under Ayatollah Khomeini.

Here's a picture of life in Iran before the revolution. She's cutting a piece of cake and showing her legs.

Religious clerics were put in charge of the government, and women's rights were severely curtailed. This included enforced wearing of a hijab in public, destroying women's rights to divorce, custody and inheritance, limiting women's ability to work in many fields and designing society where they were forced to be homemakers.

After the revolution, women were segregated from public spaces like theaters and sports arenas. It's difficult to advocate for your human rights when you are not allowed access to the public commons in the way men are. 2/ The Iran-Iraq war of 1980 had devastating effects on the country. Saddam Hussein tried to take advantage of the chaos and invade. Civilians on both sides were displaced, and Iraq used chemical weapons leading to long-term health impacts on the civilian population.

This fear solidified the control of the theocratic government and expanded the role of the Revolutionary Guard Core (IRGC) in public life, allowing fine religious control over aspects of public life.

The eight-year war also led to a culture where political dissent was quashed, often violently.

1/ Why should Israel exist? It’s a “settler-colonialist” atrocity, right? Didn’t they just steal the Palestinians' land in 1948?

No. The truth is, no one knows more about getting genocided and kicked out of their homes than the Jews. I’m not a historian, but with all the heated Twitter conversation, I thought I’d read a book or two to have an informed opinion about Israel/Palestine and whose home the region is. Is Twitter’s portrayal of Jews as warmongers who stole the Palestinian’s land accurate? Or is this a selective, one-sided history?

It is wildly one-sided and ahistoric.

If you truly care about people living in peace and safety and not getting “settler-colonized” you should STRONGLY support the existence of Israel. This thread will educate you on the 2,500 years of history BEFORE 1948. It will explain how the land of Israel is the historic home of Jews, how they were slaughtered and evicted repeatedly in an event called the Jewish Diaspora. And as long as this thread is, it’s going to be a FRACTION of a FRACTION of the atrocities. The original Jewish presence in the region dates to around 2000 BCE with the 12 tribes. About 700 years later, Egypt saw them as a threat, then came in and enslaved them. Moses led a slave revolt (based) with the help of divine intervention, escaped, and after 40 years of exile they eventually conquered what we call Israel today. Pretty traumatic, right? Lol, we are just getting started.

So, after the Exodus, the Assyrians came in and conquered Israel. This is around the 8th century, who wanted the land for economic control and part of a wider effort of expansion and control. In 722, they seized a city called Samaria and exiled massive amounts of the Jewish population. (Important to note this is Biblical history, and modern historians do not have clear documentation)

By 538, the Babylonians let the Jews return to their homeland and try to rebuild their society. And after about 500 years of difficult work, the Romans set their sights on Jerusalem. Over a million Jews are slaughtered, a staggering number for this time period when the world population was so much lower. Jews are enslaved. Jews are raped. Their homes are pillaged, and 1,878 years of horror start. This is called the fall of the second temple.

I want to show everyone the face of antisemitism on Twitter.

The Times has a deeply reported story this morning on the sexual atrocities committed by Hamas.

Here is a 🧵 of my mentions, with the names attached, of the people justifying, cheerleading and denying it. “It’s all made up.”

Long 🧵: Worried about Biden’s poll numbers? Here are some concrete things Biden can do to improve them.

A. Invest less in television ads and more in field. There are a lot of financial incentives to invest heavily in TV. And they do work with a certain subset of voters. 2/ But, I have been worried for a REALLY LONG TIME about the limits of our data and technology in the Democratic Party. The way it approaches field 1. Assumes elections are won like they were won in 1990, and 2. Makes new strategies like relational organizing difficult.

RANT INCOMING:

One of my jobs this cycle is to get the Democratic party to take the streaming space seriously.

Data shows younger people won midterms, and if we can’t get them to show up in 2024 we are just fucked. They don’t watch cable, but they do watch Destiny and Hasan. 2/ And let’s be really clear, the right does not give a shit about edgy statements anyone has made. Trump went on Alex Jones for God’s sakes.

What makes my job SO MUCH HARDER is the endless efforts by our own side to tear down our strongest voices by controversialing them.

There’s a huge schism growing on the left I’ve struggled to understand.

And, I think I’ve figured out how to put words to it, please tell me if this rings true to you.

There are Policy Leftists and Infinite Leftists. 2/ I am a Policy Leftist. There are specific policies I want with a beginning and end. I can argue them from a rational basis without calling you names if you disagree.

Single payer healthcare. Lowering housing costs. Civil rights for LGBT people.

1/ I’m sorry to keep hammering on this story about @ElonMusk, but there are so many things to criticize. This is not up to @nytimes quality.

First of all, there is issue that they take Musk’s statements at face value. This is journalistic malpractice.

nytimes.com/2023/07/01/bus… 2/ Any reporter covering the tech beat should have enough background to understand Musk’s history of misleading the public about problems. This is a lifelong pattern.

The Times should respect its readers enough to give us that context. We are PAYING for news that investigates.

1/ Sorry. This is going to get super aggressive. If you are sensitive to foul language, you’re gonna want to sit this thread out. 2/ I have a friend who lives in Ukraine, @UkrainianAna. Just in case your IQ is less than 50, Putin is trying to start WW3 by annexing their country and they are fighting back.

Today, I sent her a tweet in two seconds of support.

Decent thing to do, right?

I’ve been thinking about that huge conflict I had with trans Twitter last week. (I said trans advocacy messaging was too unfocused and academic and that it would be smarter to get back to basics.)

It did not go well. And I’ve been asking myself what I should learn from it. 2/ I got added to a group chat with a lot of younger trans people who don’t work in politics. It’s overwhelmingly memes, jokes and silliness. They are kids who are scared and mostly just want to feel like someone is listening to them.

It was a real wake up call.

1/ Something I’ve been thinking a lot about - even though we’ve lost abortion in the last year, feminism as a political force feels like it has less cultural impact that at any point in my lifetime.

After Trump. After #metoo. It’s just not a central part of the conversation. 2/ If we’re serious about making this a better world for women, I think it’s worth asking why?

I think somewhere in the last 10 years, feminism became more about having the right public opinions instead of trying to pass policy to meaningfully impact women’s lives.

1/ I see some people are trying to twist a recent appearance of mine on a panel on trans issues fit their own TERFy narrative. So, I’m just going to state my position here.

Some fraction of children who are exhibiting gender non-congruent behavior are not going to transition. 2/ That’s why gender affirming care is so important! Get these kids to an expert. Depoliticize it. Let parents make decisions with their child and doctor.

One problem.

We do not have enough gender affirming care practitioners. In fact, there’s not even enough to help adults.

1/ Did you read “She Said?” The book by the NYT reporters that started the #metoo movement?

The women specifically kept their stories private until there was a credible reporter looking into what happened. Because they knew alone the stories would do nothing. 2/ I’ve worked with literally hundreds of journalists in my career. I’ve almost never had a bad experience. I think it’s because they know me as measured, credible and appreciative of the role of the fourth estate.

Unfortunately, there is one individual who really cut corners.

Your taste in cars offends me so much more than anything you’ve ever said politically.

You can’t even do donuts in a parking lot well.

https://twitter.com/sneako/status/1630611429626724367

2/ Christ, if you’re gonna go with the most poorly handling, family sedan of teenage boys too uncultured to know better, at least Stanceboy that shit.

SOMEONE NEEDS TO GO TO PRISON

https://twitter.com/guydealership/status/1629928806868811777

2/ $24,276 For a 25 year old ford escort?!?!?!!!

1/ This will upset some, but it needs to be said.

People keep asking when the right will wake up and denounce their worst reactionaries.

It’s not same scale, but progressives have a similar challenge. When will we stop letting our most reactive, anonymous people define us? 2/ I am a progressive. I’m so much of a progressive, I ran for congress on universal health care, working class economics, addressing structural racism, and completely legalized marijuana and sex work.

The difference isn’t in our ideals, it’s in our behavior.

1/ Just going to put a few things on the public record.

There a deeply unpopular woman representing herself as a feminist on Twitch and YouTube whose behavior is so deranged, I feel an ethical responsibility to publicly say, “This is not feminism. This is narcissism.” 2/ Generally, I don’t go after other women.

But this behavior has included falsely accusing a high profile man of child rape, transphobic tirades, and whole litany of deeply dishonest behavior.

And I told her this on YouTube to her face last night.

1/ A tiny, sad man made a conspiracy theory about my friend @notsoErudite’s graduate education and professional background. The claims were utterly baseless. She claps back hard in this video.

But I want to talk about why this was so wrong.

2/ Was talking to a speech therapist friend of mine. Like @notsoErudite she has an undergrad, a masters and professional expertise to work in a clinic.

And she told me there’s no lie that someone could tell about her that would hurt her more than questioning her education.

When a tactic fails, if you’re serious about winning - you regroup, consider what needs to change and implement it.

I was one of the more vocal people supporting the Hogwarts boycott. I still believe it’s the right thing to do. But I’m increasingly doubtful it helped. 2/ Trans people deserve a world where gamers support the community and the media supported trans dignity. I wish we had that world. We clearly don’t.

We can take time to mourn that, but then we need to figure out what’s next.

Here’s the silver lining.

I think the cohort of Porsche people that love those cars is much smaller, and the engineering quality is also much worse - making them more expensive to keep running compared to a 911.

So you have an asset more expensive AND less valuable. Not a great investment.

https://twitter.com/joeangersiii/status/1623732240436830208

2/ If you love those cars, more power to you. I have an insane amount of love for the 986 Boxster, and much of the Porsche community does not.

But, as an investment? The downside is higher. And the upside is much more limited.

🧵 Want to engage with you in good faith on this because I agree. Trans-rights legislation should be the primary focus. Let’s think through that argument.

The problem is, there is no real organization in the United States advocating for that.

https://twitter.com/hasanthehun/status/1623342525632360448

2/ @HRC has a horrific history on trans issues. I know people that work there, and I’m not trying to insult them. But they are always going to be institution that puts gay men first.

Democratic Party will do lip service on trans issues, but there’s no serious legislative push.

Superficially, Luke Skywalker and Harry Potter have a lot in common. Both are born special. Both are thrust into generational conflict. Both have abusive families. Both are self-inserts.

But, Star Wars and Harry Potter have very different messages. To my mind, Star Wars is ultimately a story about duty and sacrifice at the expense of the self. Leia, Han, Obi-wan and even Luke are all forced to make choices that require a deep cost.

This is far less true with Harry Potter. Those characters are mostly presented as victims.