SkepticalButOpenMinded

Sim is so petty. Of course he hires a bully and thinks it’ll work out. I can’t believe we have such an incompetent mayor.

I dunno, I believe it. McCarthy fell on his sword to avoid a shut down. I bet the polling (not to mention history) shows that they would be the ones to pay the political price because they have the majority. It’s not even clear what they would gain from a shut down at this point.

I don’t really feel great about making fun of the skill needed for low paid jobs. I’m sure it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Edit: there is a left leaning argument that the label of “low skill labor” is used as a cudgel to justify low wages. If you think it’s so easy, try picking fruit for a season. An experienced fruit picker with years of experience will be many times more productive than a newbie.

These are astonishing numbers. Do you have a source for this?

I am not against holding “my own team” accountable if there is some valid reason to think there is something worth investigating. If there isn’t, it is a witch hunt, and witch hunts are harmful. They can be used to harass, waste time, and slander by vague insinuation. More to the point, the public has finite attention. News of pointless investigations can be used strategically to drown out real ones, which is a threat to democracy. That is, I believe, what Republicans are presently doing.

I’m not convinced it is a good thing that both are being investigated if the investigation into Buttigieg is just political smearing. HRC’s emails show the cost of abusive investigations. Investigations aren’t cost free, either monetarily or in terms of public trust in institutions. It implies he did something worth investigating, and devalues the seriousness of real investigations, like those against Trump.

When the review was announced, Buttigieg had flown on FAA planes 18 times out of 138 flights for official trips since becoming secretary early in 2021, according to The Washington Post. He takes commercial flights most of the time, and when he uses FAA aircraft, it’s usually because it’s cheaper than commercial flights, a Department of Transportation spokeswoman said.

This does not seem to be something worth investigating.

Biden is, unfortunately, uniquely disliked compared to other Dems. He was buoyed by young voters, who are especially fickle and the most likely to stay home. I remain both worried and uncertain.

That’s not what I’m seeing. Most world leaders are expending political capital supporting Israel, and losing young, progressive, and middle eastern voters in the process. I think this scorched earth strategy is stupid even from the perspective of Israel’s self interest.

I think 9/11 is a great analogy. The lesson I draw from that period, however, is that we cannot let bloodlust win. Hundreds of thousands dead, $8 trillion spent, for nothing.

The editor of the Jewish Current makes the same analogy in his article Have We Learned Nothing?

That America overreacted to 9/11 and compounded the scale of the tragedy is now a standard position among progressives, and even some conservatives; these days it takes little courage to denounce “the forever wars” and to condemn the shortsightedness of liberal intellectuals who aligned themselves with George W. Bush and his neoconservative advisers to champion the invasion of Iraq. But at the time, it was far more common for conscientious progressives to equivocate and prevaricate. To foreground the suffering of the Americans in the Twin Towers was obligatory; to acknowledge the past, present, or future victims of American violence abroad was at best awkward; to imply these things might be related was something almost no one wanted to hear when it might have made any difference.

Now is not the time to abandon nuance, but neither is it the time to be too “understanding” of Israel’s bloodlust, because their overwhelming advantage in power and resources over Palestinians means an alarming potential for abuse.

I think you’re right that Hamas benefits from having civilians around. They’re extremist assholes who do not benefit from peace or stability. A peaceful Palestine is one where Hamas loses its purpose.

But to be honest, I haven’t seen much concern from the IDF for preventing civilian casualties. Compared with civilian deaths in the dense cities of Ukraine or any other recent conflict, the utter disregard for innocent life is staggering. And the rhetoric coming out of Israel from both military and politicians — including calling Palestinians vermin and animals, claiming unarmed children are valid targets, threatening to nuke them, eradicate them completely or expel them — does not inspire confidence in their best efforts or good intentions.

Moreover, it is also 100% in the IDF’s best strategic interest to claim that civilian deaths are unavoidable. I also suspect there are some hot heads who actively want to kill civilians as vengeance or a terror tactic, to make Palestinians lose hope.

I think neither will work in his favor politically. But honestly, given what I know about the American electorate, I unfortunately suspect that "pro-genocide" may be politically safer.

I would fight so that one doesn't arbitrarily lose access to housing, food, or a drivers license, because wrongfully taking those away are life ruining. But what difference would it make to be temporarily deprived of guns? What the hell are you using it for that you can’t be parted from your guns for even a short time as a life saving precaution?

Meanwhile, demanding a high standard of evidence for threat of spousal abuse means people die. That’s an insane trade off.