holy shit -- one of Trump's toadies just passed out and the White House event is brought to an abrupt end
Alex גדעון בן װעלװל
@jewishwonk.bsky.social
Columnist for the Forward. U.S. Foreign Policy and Jewish communal concerns. Bylines in The Atlantic, Washington Post, & Tablet Mag. All bad takes are mine alone.
Now that the dust is settling and a broader war looks increasingly unlikely, it’s worth discussing how decades of bipartisan consensus on the consequences of striking Iran’s nuclear program were upended by an orange fool. Why did so many get it so wrong?
A ceasefire is good, but the long-term struggle with Iran will continue until their foreign policy changes. Israel and the U.S. have likely set its nuclear program back by years, maybe decades. Iran’s “ring of fire” has been degraded, and Middle East geopolitics has changed.
After Iran chose ro de-escalate, Trump followed suit and announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Good development. Risk of a wider regional war and American mission creep is going down precipitously. www.axios.com/2025/06/23/t...
Trump announces Iran-Israel ceasefire
Trump said that during each 12-hour ceasefire, the other side "will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL."
axios.com
Iran chose to save face and deescalate. Trump accepted the deescalation. This is a good outcome. Iran's nuclear program was destroyed without a wider war that many feared would come with such an endeavor.
Anyway the war, or at least American involvement in it, is probably over also
NY Times Pitchbot@nytpitchbot.bsky.social · last yr.
Per the NYT, Iran gave the U.S. a heads up about the strike in Qatar. No casualties are being reported. Iran chose to save face rather than escalate. So much for all the obnoxious WW3 shrieks on this site, but good choice by Iran.
So to recap some of the politics around the Iran strikes: -Germany and France supported Israel, many elected Democrats don't -Trump is currently feuding with Russia and pro-Russia MAGA -Iran is reportedly bombing an American base in Qatar, the country which funds Hamas & is friendly w Iran
My only real NYC mayor's race take is that it seems very unwise to treat it as primarily a vehicle for factional fights -- a lot of people live in that city and deserve a good mayor, and it is famously easy to be bad at the job.
Kids too young to speak are being forced to navigate our immigration system alone—often in a language they don’t understand. Trump’s attempt to stop funding legal aid for unaccompanied minors has put thousands at risk. I led 77 colleagues demanding transparency on these proceedings.
House Democrats Urge Oversight of Immigration Court Proceedings for Unaccompanied Children - Documented
A recent policy rollback impacting unaccompanied minors could erode protections and strain immigration courts, lawmakers say.
documentedny.com
Exactly. This is literally EXACTLY what we told you would happen. You screamed “they are the same and it couldnt be worse”. Well welcome to reality 🤷🏻♀️
Alex גדעון בן װעלװל@jewishwonk.bsky.social · last yr.A lot of people who supported the Uncommitted activists or stayed silent about them when many of us warned that Trump and Harris are in fact different on foreign policy are now big mad at Trump. What are you mad about? You got the outcome you wanted. Harris lost and Trump is doing what we expected.
I love that leftists can't pick their narrative about what they did in the election. For the record, if you behave this way, I'm going to argue Dems are better off getting centrist votes than work with you.
Uncommitted spent the *general election* protesting Harris. You pricks are the ones retconning history instead of admitting you got played to help elect the orange fascist.
This site is unbearable today. Every pathology on the left on full display. There is no nuance, no shades of grey, only sloganeering by people who are too educated to be this dumb.
A lot of people who supported the Uncommitted activists or stayed silent about them when many of us warned that Trump and Harris are in fact different on foreign policy are now big mad at Trump. What are you mad about? You got the outcome you wanted. Harris lost and Trump is doing what we expected.
Smart early assessment from @ghoshworld.bsky.social
@ghoshworld@ghoshworld.bsky.social · last yr.🧵Some analysts suggest the lesson other regimes will learn from the U.S./Israel-Iran war is that a nuclear arsenal is the best protection: Nobody messes with North Korea, after all. But if regimes look closely, they might draw other conclusions. 1/7
Breaking: The Trevor Project received a stop-work order last night on its contract with the national 988 suicide prevention hotline. The Trump administration is eliminating the option for LGBTQ callers to the hotline to press 3 and connect with someone who specializes in LGBTQ mental health.
Helps explain why the candidates in the Democratic gubernatorial primary who built their campaigns around opposing congestion pricing ,,, stalled out
Sandy Johnston@sandypsj.bsky.social · last yr.!!!
The U.S. Holocaust Museum pushes back: “Exploiting the Museum and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising to sanitize ‘globalize the intifada’ is outrageous and especially offensive to survivors... All leaders must condemn its use and the abuse of history.”
Jacob Kornbluh@jacobkornbluh.bsky.social · last yr.Mamdani under fire for remarks he made justifying the phrase ‘Globalize the Intifada’ as a call for Palestinian human rights. Mamdani also pointed out: “The word has been used by the Holocaust Museum when translating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising into Arabic — because it’s a word that means struggle.”
The Trump Organization’s newly announced smartphone will most likely be made in China, experts say, despite claims that the device will be manufactured in the U.S.
Trump's $499 smartphone will likely be made in China
“There is no way the phone was designed from scratch and there is no way it is going to be assembled in the U.S. or completely manufactured in the U.S.,” one expert said.
nbcnews.to
There are people who are loath to acknowledge the death toll from USAID and PEPFAR cuts, because it would mean acknowledging that the US government can be a source of good in the world.
"When the IDF presented its plan to the Israeli Security Cabinet a year ago, Hanegbi said, it was for the operation against Iran to be carried out by Israel alone." jewishinsider.com/2025/06/isra...
Israeli national security advisor: Iran operation will not end without strike on Fordow nuclear facility
Israel has not asked U.S. to join offensive against Iran’s nuclear facilities, Hanegbi says
jewishinsider.com
ICE's arrest of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is a shocking abuse of power. No one should face fear and intimidation in a courthouse, and this administration’s continued rampant targeting of New Yorkers makes our communities less safe.
Brad Lander, NYC comptroller and mayoral candidate, is arrested outside immigration court
New York City comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander has been arrested at a federal building in Manhattan after he linked arms with a person that authorities were attempting to detai...
apnews.com
US strikes on targets inside Iran, including nuclear sites, are “on the table” at a National Security Council meeting now underway in the Situation Room, officials tell Fox News.
