Jonah Blank

Who am I? What am I doing here? Intro thread with links to some of my work. My first book was "Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God: Retracing the Ramayana Through India" goodreads.com/book/show/17... [🧵 of publications]

The judiciary does not face an impossible situation in dealing with Trump's clear lawlessness: ♦️Courts can impose significant penalties for contempt on every DOJ attorney who merits it-- including imprisonment. The fact that judges don't do this is purely a matter of judicial cowardice.

Among things Meta did in Brazil was have their AI bot within WhatsApp allow users to generate election poster for Flavio but deny requests to do so for Lula. When folks asked for posters for invented candidates, AI tagged them with #22 - Flavio's # - in a country where folks vote by #.

All 2028 Dem candidates will be asked (starting in about a week) whether they support impeachment of Trump. There is only one correct answer: ♦️Yes. Win or lose, Dems must fight. Any Dem who advocates surrendering in advance is not qualified to be the next president.

Kamala is 100% wrong: ♦️One thing we all should have learned by now: NEVER surrender in advance. ♦️There is no "get stuff done" agenda: Trump will veto all Dem legislation. ♦️Impeachment, regardless of removal, is vital for OUR character: If Trump is just "business as usual," our democracy is finished.

Every Democratic senator voted to confirm Marco Rubio.

If you had the choice between being identified as "Star on last Knicks championship team for half a century" or "Former New Jersey politician," which would you pick?

Suck ass, The Economist

Both questions assume that there will be future historians. ...Depending on the 2028 elections: That may be an optimistic assumption.

To recap: ♦️Enter the US without proper documentation: Thrown in a prison, deported to a gulag. ♦️Enter the US without proper documentation, IF you're a right-wing would-be dictator: Welcomed with open arms. (Bolsonaro's passport was confiscated by Brazil. To prevent him from staging a coup).

Raskin: "When historians look back on this miserable period of our history, they might say that the first problem was disregarding all those women who told us back in 2016 that they had been sexually harassed or assaulted by Donald Trump."

1. True. 2. And yet, the NYT, WSJ, WaPo & rest of the Establishment Media treats this as if it didn't happen. Why? 1. Professional pettiness: If we got scooped, it wasn't really news. 2. Cowardice: Can't risk a lawsuit, or corporate blowback. 3. More cowardice: Reporting true facts = partisanship!

there are people serving life sentences right now on thinner evidence than we have for "donald trump was jeffrey epstein's partner in serial rape" democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center...

Great. Now we're taking in fascists who aren't wanted in Brazil.

Any dude who is offended by this statement... ...is revealing more than he might realize.

Exactly. Most rapists don't commit their crimes on video, or submit notarized confessions of guilt. It's usually one person's word against that of another. Or, in Trump's case: ♦️One person's word against that of two dozen others. Question for MSM: -What number would signify "corroboration"?

Israeli opposition projected to have 52 seats to Netanyahu's 50. Big story: Arab Parties projected to win unprecedented 18 seats. Image

I emailed Patrick Healy, assistant managing editor for standards and trust at NYT, to ask why their story about a House report with new details of rape allegations against the President of the United States included neither those details, nor a single use of the word "rape." archive.is/1s9AM

Question for all the Wise Centrist Dem Pundits: ♦️How could you NOT want the Democratic party to run more candidates like this?

Start with DC.

Fortunately, there's no historical precedent for fascists, after a defeat in their home country, relocating to South America...

theonion.com/fans-worry-a...

% of women who want an unsolicited pic of male genitalia: ♦️~0. % of women who want an unsolicited pic of Republican male genitalia on which the earth's gravity has been doing its thing for 53 years: ♦️<0.

Lowering the Medicare age to 50 would cost $180 billion a year. That's $70 billion less than the budget increase the House passed for the Department of War. We could have healthcare over warfare. I'm proud to cosponsor Rep. Jayapal's bill to lower the age from 65 to 50.

This guy is now head of Policy Planning at the State Department. After being responsible for the deaths of millions, he has failed up for sure.

He's such a phony. His wife's name was Usha Chilukuri when they met. His in-laws names are Radhakrishna and Lakshmi Chilukuri. He was married in a Hindu ceremony presided over by a Hindu priest.

Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt-- yeah, they're all real tongue-twisters. JD isn't nearly as stupid as he pretends to be. But he's dumb enough to think it'll make him President.

Watch Jon Ossoff's ad. And see if you don't wish every Dem in the country were running on this message.

NEW: The DOGE operative who gutted USAID -- firing thousands of employees and canceling lifesaving programs -- never actually signed the paperwork that's legally required for him to be employed by the agency.

Perfect

America’s “worst” gerrymander is not just a state with twisting districts and squiggly lines. It is a brazen effort to alter the balance of power nationwide. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Would be nice if the Establishment Press reported the, you know, news.

Average Trump scandal: many people dead after uncontroversial government program illegally cut by doge for nonexistent savings Average mamdani scandal: he’s playing BASKETBALL with his FRIENDS

A U.N.-backed inquiry is reporting that Russia committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine by intentionally attacking energy infrastructure, which left millions of people without electricity and heat in freezing temperatures.

It's hard to understand how the Establishment Media can justify not reporting credible, new charges of rape against at sitting US president. As a former reporter and editor, my best guess: ♦️They're doing the usual MSM thing of pretending that news isn't newsworthy when they get scooped.

By the way: If you haven't read any of Naguib Mahfouz's work yet: Do. He's an absolute monster of modern literature. His "Cairo Trilogy" is a masterpiece. And if you're not up for three novels, you can start with his shorter, more accessible gem "The Harafish."

🙏🏼 to @zeteo.com for (unlike the legacy MSM, in this case) actually reporting the news.

When Naguib Mahfouz published "Bayn al-Qasrayn" (Palace Walk), RFK Jr was almost toilet-trained. When Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize for Literature, Bobby had just completed his parole following conviction for possession of heroin.

He's already got the award for Most Insane Cabinet Member. But there are several ahead of him in the battle for Most Racist. RFK Jr tries to narrow the gap:

If I were an Israeli Palestinian, I'd vote the United Arab List. But it would be a protest vote: Both Netanyahu and his main opponent have sworn not to accept the UAL into their coalitions. I'd respect the alternate approach, however: Voting for Eisenkot as lesser of two evils & rebuke to Netanyahu

Both parties that might lead Israel's next government have vowed not to partner with any Arab party. Which leaves Israeli Palestinians (1/5 of the nation) with a terrible choice: 1. Vote for one of the parties which treats them as second-class citizens; or 2. Cast an empty protest vote.

This is a rational, albeit tragic, decision by Palestinian Israelis. Rational, because Netanyahu has been the most anti-Palestinian leader in their nation's history. Tragic, because 1/5 of Israeli's populace is effectively excluded from governance. And Bibi's foe promises similar policies.

Excellent words. I'd like them far more if they ended with, "...therefore I find the DOJ attorneys in contempt, and impose the maximum penalty permitted by law." Note to Judge Reyes, and all other judges: ♦️If you have power, and refuse to use it, what's the point of all those words?

I greatly appreciate that Judge Reyes expresses the rage we're all feeling. And I greatly appreciate that she speaks in clear, non-lawyerly language But, all you lawyers out there, help me out: ♦️Has she actually imposed any penalty whatsoever? Because it sure seems like she hasn't.

Here's the thing: ♦️Good taste is absolutely free.

Even worse: Yglesias & Co. don't even want the Dems to support policies that ARE broadly popular: ♦️Halting data centers, taxing billionaires, providing decent healthcare-- solid majorities support the progressive agenda. They just hate the Dem/Liberal branding. In part, due to centrist do-nothings.

Um, sir...