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Joshua Cypess Profile picture
@JoshuaCypess
Jul 20, 2020 • 483 tweets • >60 min read • Read on X
Sure, "polls aren't votes", but 15 pts down means Trump's (ym"sh) vulnerable, dries up fundraising, allows GOP electeds to contradict him publicly, allows reporters to treat him normally & not as the magician of 2016 who commands a cult of violent kooks.
See:
To combat the complacency that the polling imbalance could bring, I suggest telling fellow anti-Trumpites that no matter how much DJT is down in November, when you vote, it will feel as good as punching him in the face with all of your strength

#VoteBlueToSaveAmerica
#RandomThoughts

We talk about the power of Big Corn but nothing shows that, to me, more than how we've become completely apathetic to the sheer number of unpopped kernels of popcorn in any standard batch. It's egregious.
When I was 9 yrs old, I was living in Haifa. The 1982 War started & one task I had was helping clean the bomb shelter. We were told to look out for scorpions which would hide in the dark corners.

All I'm saying is that my kids now have comparable stories from their childhood.
Rosh Chodesh Av, at least for Ashkenazim, has got to be the weirdest day of the year
Spam phone calls are a scourge on US society, but we also still have people who 'reply all' to WhatsApp groups with "thank you" or "emoji of person crying while laughing [which looks really weird, y'all]"... so, I see this as a systemic problem
I explained to my son this morning that I'm hoping that much as the Medici popes caused Protestantism though their misrule, so Trump (ym'sh) & the sordid GOP may create the true Reconstruction that America has desp. needed

Uproot & replant a US based on real liberty & equality
Hearing ppl talk abt the difficulty in getting people to wear masks and thinking of being 18 and living through the 1st Gulf War in Israel & families wondering how to protect babies in sealed rooms from the expected poison gas missiles (which thank God weren't used)

Me in 1991: Image
In order to avoid using overt non-kosher religious terms, my family has these substitutes:

Hail Mary (NFL Pass) = Yehi Ratzon
Easter Egg (in a game) = Afikoman (gift)
Tooth Fairy = Eliyahu ha-Navi (he shows up everywhere, why not also give pocket change?)
Two #Mets thoughts. First, last night's newly acquired free agent pitcher, Michael Wacha, did a decent job. But there has been hitherto no power on earth that has been capable of restraining me from thinking - and saying aloud - the following whenever his name is mentioned:
The 2nd #Mets thought, about the losses in our starting pitching. My 13yo (a sports maven) insists that we shouldn't move Lugo back to being a starter b/c he's our best reliever/closer

We compared it to, in NFL, moving a guy who's a great LT to a decent LG.
#RandomThoughts
I just realized that the reason why movies show computer wizards mashing away at their keyboards (see simulation below) while 'hacking' is because that is what it looks/sounds like when writers are typing up a storm.
One area of stress in any person's life is when the ratio of Power/Responsibility is less than 1. E.g. I've had jobs where my responsibility - I would get blamed for things going wrong - was level 5 but my corresponding power to get it done was 2. 2/5 is less than 1. Heavy Stress
But often my boss would have Power/Responsibility ratio greater than 1. He'd get credit for my success but I'd get blame for failure; he was 5/2.

Justice - in all areas of life - is a Godly ethic. 2/5 & 5/2 is unjust

But most of us know what this feels like. It's very common
#Barr's lugubrious demeanor makes it look like he's confident of victory in November. Good crooks, and he's a pro, never let others see them bleed. He could be panicking and he wouldn't let it on w/his tone. Just look at his actions over these months. He's panicking
Speaking as a Jewish studies scholar & rabbi, I'm planning to add anything that happens tonight & tomorrow to the historical "Happened on #TishaBav" list we accumulate
Liberals are surprised that Evangelicals still support Trump (ym'sh) but we who know conservative religious movements aren't.

What's overlooked is that the surprise is a sign liberals are actually *respectful* of religious beliefs & they consider them synonymous w/ morality!
Every story abt Trump (ym'sh) supporters still loyal to him despite all the death, depression & chaos should replace the word 'Trump' with 'heroin' & you'll find that these people are addicts & cultists. It's a sickness

"Yeah I still [abuse heroin] despite losing all my money!"
I was thinking, BTW, that if your 1st name is Donald or Jared or last name Trump or Barr, you may want to change it now to avoid the rush
In case it's not clear, this is a thread of #RandomThoughts. I've seen advice that suggests making one shot, stand-alone type, tweets into a thread for ease of printing AND for increasing impact.
We're onto plague number 50 of 2020, and it's strangely appropriate, on the 12th of Av, that the tropical storm about to batter the East Coast from Charleston to Boston is named #Isaias.

Isa. 49:14 "But Zion said: 'The LORD hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me.'" Image
Until this year I never understood the power of denial. The self-wounding psychological anxiety-driven need to ignore reality.

The pandemic showed us all that, but I saw it yesterday about #HurricaneIsaias

"Oh it'll be fine" (said ppl I know who then got damaged by the storm)
This is sad; I didn't know Ren&Stimpy guy was a monster. Even though I loved aspects of the show, it had so many disturbing undercurrents, I should have guessed

But this is an ex. of an 'industry open secret' & I hate that abusers get away w/it so often

I'm listening to the Bulwark podcasts b/c it's invigorating to hear Baalei Teshuva talk about their path to repentence. One person said "the GOP can't find a replacement for the ACA"

Ya know why? Because it was a Republican design! It's not what *we* wanted. It's a compromise
Yesterday, @TheRickWilson explained to the anti-anti-Trumpers that TLP isn't the cause of their pain, Trump (ym'sh) is.

Basically, RW is implicitly exposing how his targets lack the principles of personal responsibility & 'behavior has consequences' of so-called conservatism
@TimothyDSnyder's lectures are an important backdrop to the 'burn it all down' thesis of TLP. Snyder is very clear that Trump (ym'sh) is a full blown fascist & the US is in grave danger. TLP is acting like it. Burning it down is utterly crucial.

Total War, as Churchill pledged
BTW, I do believe that there are many Republicans like TLP who decry the open embrace of fascism. These are the 'suburban' voters. It could be 10-15% of the electorate. That's substantial, esp. in the electoral college system
Great line from Mordechai Schmutter (@MSchmutter) my son just read aloud:

"Back pain is one of the only injuries that you can get made fun of for having" (_For This I Had To Grow Up?_ p.333)
The same son just announced that today is our Move-versary. Eight years! I've lived in "But I Could Be Wrong, NJ" longer than I've ever lived in one domicile.

My modal length of residence is 1 yr (6x) then 4 yr (5x) for you statisticians
Doin' my periodic jaunt into McSweeney's and for some reason this is the first time I've noticed their incredible list of horrors from Trump (ym'sh). It's an impressive and thoroughly important project:

mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-c…
The GOP is fighting so hard, so viciously, to cling to power - to the point of killing hundreds of thousands & bankrupting the country - b/c they know how badly they've treated so many people & are rightfully afraid of what will happen to them when we shake free of the chokehold
#MetaphorAlert
I say often that the GOP acts w/impunity b/c their cult only watches FoxNews

News/truth basically act as an immune system against fascism (see @TimothyDSnyder)

Thus, the toxicity of the GOP is like the havoc of COVID thru the USA's lack of social safety net.
I see many attacks on 'capitalism' & 'socialism' but those terms group together many aspects. Right now, the US is rife w/2 of the worst aspects of capitalism: Crony C & Laissez-faire C. Those 2 need to be opposed by anyone who believes in justice (vs CC) or compassion (vs LFC)
Living a principled life and accepting the consequences of lack of power, money, prestige that comes with not selling out actually doesn't make it easier to sleep at night. Because the problems of the world still haunt us. But you can look at yourself in the mirror & that's a lot
An insight into #Literalism: it's possible that conspiracy theories are one of the only versions of systematic thinking that's available to literal thinkers. Instead of understanding invisible cultural/social causes, it makes everything literal causes of a powerful cabal
It's weird to me that more Talmud-learning-rich rabbis are not better at public health

I'm able to answer COVID questions (e.g. abt shuls/schools) by using the 'gezeira' blueprints found thru Shas

Fences around the Torah are needed for am-haratzim & that fits most ppl re:COVID
Another point I've made for a while. #MoscowMitch is an accomplished nihilist, but a terrible builder. And when you compare him to Pelosi? Psssssssh

In honor of #Mets infielder @lguillorme13's stellar pitching job last night, I present probably the coolest action I've ever seen in my life, his heroic 2017 debut as a bat-man
mlb.com/cut4/mets-pros…
1/ Finally saw #KnivesOut on Prime last night and it's really good. A few observations:

(a) the Anti-Trump (ym'sh) metaphor was, for me, overt but done *very* well. I should've expected as much from the guy who made #TheLastJedi
2/ (b) With that in mind, the casting of Captain America as one the main bad guys must have been purposeful

(c) The movie has a clear antecedent with Peter Falk's Columbo, a personal favorite. That TV show was largely about the rich underestimating & bullying the poor
Back to that Guillorme bat-catching coolness. It reminded me, subconsciously, of one my favorite parts of the intro to Police Squad, that for Alan North:
Great list for the upcoming convention. I wonder if Al Gore gets invited to these things. Nobel laureate for his environmental work? Anyone?
Me, right now gearing up #BidenHarris2020

I was a Harris supporter very early on. Wanted her as POTUS with either Castro or Inslee as VP. See receipt:
#BidenHarris2020
This is a more obvious statement:
And then of course there's this thread I wrote a few days ago. One reason I'm especially happy for this choice - besides Harris being my #1 candidate & that she'll be amazing - is that it shows Biden is making excellent decisions. #BidenHarris2020

Thank you, Pres. Trump (ym'sh) for the #BidenHarris2020 bumper sticker slogan: "Kamala Harris: She was extraordinarily nasty to Kavanaugh"

Great speeches by Biden & Harris right now. Her experience on the national stage is evident; she looked natural standing in front of a field of US flags.

And the choice of one of all time favorite songs as the campaign music? [chef's kiss]
1/ At breakfast, we're talking abt how Alexander Hamilton was likely Jewish (see: yu.edu/straus/hamilto…). I explained to my 13yo that Hamilton went to Hebrew school in the Caribbean as a kid. He asked "there's a yeshiva in the Bahamas? I want to go there"
2/ When I explained that in American history the Caribbean had a more solid Jewish community than the US for a while (first rabbi in the US in 1840, rabbis in the Caribbean before that), the 13yo then said (he's on a roll) that it should be a movie: "Rabbis of the Caribbean"
#RandomThoughts: an alumni letter from Gush described the IDF units the guys were entering & most are in the Kfir brigade (which I'd never heard of).

In honor of parshat hashavua, I'm happy to say the brigade includes this proud unit: Dukifat:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchifat_…
Idea for future #TruthandReconciliationCommission - to investigate & prosecute the #TrumpCrisis crimes: honorary chairs are Al Gore & George W Bush, the rest are retired federal judges & academics (history, law etc)

Needs to be above partisanship but also needs power to indict
Per above, the #RabbisOfTheCaribbean movie, here's a rough mock-up of the movie poster. I'm not sure if I can get the cast suggested by the image, though: Image
A point abt representation. Back in 2000, the Jewish community was bursting w/surprise & pride that for the 1st time a major party had a Jewish-American (Orthodox, nukh) on the (winning) ticket.

This used to be unimaginable, but finally "we made it!" That feeling doesn't go away
See here for a quick thread I just wrote about Biden's pro-Israel bona-fides & my observations about how the issue of Israel is used in the frum community

Well, there ya go. This poll shows why the GOP is stuck to Trump (ym'sh) like toxic on waste:

Biden (47) v Trump (39), +8 Biden
Biden (46) v Pence (29), +17 Biden

Ah, the 538 election forecast, or "Hello Darkness, my old friend"

projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-election-…
BTW, now that Harris has been chosen as Biden's VP, I feel more confident in my premonition - at the time! - that she basically got the job when she went after him in the debate. Those who criticized her (even last week) for the zetz have shown me they lack acumen
I'm now seeing some increasing goofishness that's trying to say Sen. Harris - and of course Pres. Obama - aren't GenX but Boomers. The Boomers are the most self-centered gen. & that seems to have been passed onto their kid gen (Millennials). Cut it out, it's pathetic
Friday update to the #RandomThoughts thread: I'm going to initiate a @threadreaderapp unroll weekly, or whatever, but still continually add to the thread.
This is a placeholder for some topics I want to revisit this week: (1) Talmud-Supremacy (how yeshivas portray learning Shas as equivalent to all of knowledge & thus only thing a guy needs to do) (2) The GenX/Boomer issue (& oddly how I connect it to my Shoah academic work)
I guess another topic, which I've written a LOT about is how any-postmortem of "how did the GOP get so bad" or even "how did America elect Trump (ym'sh)" that doesn't mention anti-African racism as first category is immediately discredited
Back to politics: I see many red-rose types excoriating Biden/Harris for racism & cop-ism. This is healthy, to me, if you also show how they've responded to pressure & changed for the better so to give advice on how to keep that pressure up during the campaign. If not, go away.
Over Shabbas I imagined what it would have looked like if Abrams, Gillum & Beto had not been robbed and were given their rightful offices. Beto & Abrams would likely be the 2020 ticket, or Biden/Abrams to keep Beto in the Senate, and of course 10,000s fewer casulties in FL/GA
#Mets related safety message: if you were to take a shot every time they left a runner in scoring position, you'd be dead
I believe it was this moment that Sen. Harris earned her spot on the ticket, when she made the evil Keebler Elf cry:
The first night of the #DNC2020convention was amazing b/c after 3.5 yrs of amateur night, incompetent evil spewing noise & cruelty, it was invigorating to hear actual patriots speak about true American values.

And Michelle Obama? WOW.

(fav line abt her:
Many theories as to why the GOP is trying to destroy the #USPS. We can't ignore that Trump's (ym'sh) boss, Putin, is able to manipulate the voting machines (esp. those w/modems) & mail voting creates a paper trail. It just makes it harder to do crimes
When the #TrumpCrisis ends, all the frum Trump (ym'sh) supporters I know will need to do teshuva. I recommend that part of that process will be to watch every single @atrupar clip to see what & who they were slavishly supporting

#RandomThoughts

In the honor of random, I bring you a Duck Fashion Show (or are they rabbits?)
I've been attending many city council meetings as part of my new advocacy for racial justice and equity and I think it's the government equivalent of being 'scared straight' i.e. I can't imagine running for office given how incredibly boring these meetings are. Holy macaroni
I'm not a historian of Susan B. Anthony, but to condemn her as a racist is a weird form of purity given that she was part of the Underground Railroad with Harriet Tubman: archive.org/stream/lifeand…

Actions not words matter, no?
In the US, the 2 major parties have their moderate & radical wings. The GOP was overtaken by the fascist Right while the Dems held off the radical Left. But the Center Left & Center Right generally don't hate each other, while the radical ends hate everyone not them
I say there's 'hatred' b/c my feed is filled with far-leftists who overtly distrust the Democratic party & describe them w/ the same feverish hyperbole used by the current GOP. It's just weird.
I'm trying to find a good short phrase/word to describe the Americans who are simultaneously filled with white supremacy, toxic masculinity & religious bigotry

I may call them 'red-hats' b/c even the women who support Trump (ym'sh) believe in these 3 & support the toxicity
Barchi Nafshi is like having a hill on the last mile of a marathon. You run & run, thru normal davening, remembering Ya'ale v-Yaavo (whew), Hallel, Torah Reading, Musaf, then "oh, um, here's an enormous chapter of Tehillim. Crazy huge. But God frolicking with Leviathan is in it!"
Hey, it's my apartment from year 4 in grad school!
In the deck of cards for the Trump (ym'sh) Administration, is #Bannon a Jack or Queen? Image
An amazing datum from the #BannonIndictment is that evidence was collected by the "United States Postal Inspection Service"!

The freakin' Post Office is arresting Trump folk? Is that why they're being defunded?! Who knows with that depraved crook

justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/l…
BTW, add this: "...the Senate Intelligence Committee made criminal referrals of Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon, Erik Prince and Sam Clovis to federal prosecutors in 2019"

There's criminal cases possibly pending for the whole crew.

nbcnews.com/politics/justi…
Back in HS I believed there was no way 'real life' would test me as constantly as I was being tested in school.

Except 2020 is a constant set of basic knowledge, ethics, character & stamina checks

And so many people in charge are failing, but so many unsung heroes are passing
As far as I can tell, this is just the leader of the House supporting a member of her caucus against an 'outsider'

I think we need to set aside liberal/leftist infighting b/c we should always expect a smart leader to support her current constituents

Biden's speech was a 10/10. The convention was very high quality as well, especially given the massive difficulty of the pandemic. In a way, the success just continues the quality I've seen so far in his campaign: professional, smart & thorough. A class act, from top to bottom
The problem is that the wonderful convention & amazing speech makes it hard to sleep; it's like watching my team win on SNF or a west coast MLB game.
The closing benediction of the #DNCConvention was given by my old friend Rabbi Lauren Eichler Berkun! Wow. What a great honor. Proud to be her friend and colleague (P94 WGF08) & an inspiring end to an amazing convention

Chodesh Tov Everyone! #Elul sameach. 30 days to a new year & 40 days to a new you
I said this last night and it's getting some attention so I'm putting it in this thread:
Another point I made from the perspective as a professional orator; Biden's speechwriters - Vinay Reddy and Carlyn Reichel according to the NYT - did an incredible job with so many layers messages and beats.

Earlier in the day, I emphasized the way the GOP party leaders are making the same horrible mistake with Qanqn as they made with Trump (ym'sh)
This joke was stunning because of (a) the speed (the fly thing buzzing around Bloomberg had just happened), (b) the classical reference, (c) the modern ref. to how Warren destroyed Bloomy in the debates. @petridishes is a national treasure
This is also getting traction. It was a silly pun based on how the cognoscenti mocks, accurately, that the Trump (ym'sh) campaign emphasizes how much support he gets from goofuses in boat parades, while Biden ignores the issue
The weekly #RandomThoughts @threadreaderapp unroll request.
6.1/ This is week 6 of the RandomThoughts thread. I'm now realizing I should have tried to number things better (this is a window into my writing process)

On the plus side, they may be able to start (and then of course stop after 2 weeks) the NFL season soon
6.2/ Oh, for Ki Teitze divrei Torah, just say the words "Shiluach Ha-Ken" and get it out of your system early so we don't need to hear another drasha on this goofy subject. Thanks
6.3/ It blows my mind that the author of an article in the mainstream media doesn't also write the headline. Bad headlines will undermine - basically destroy - an article b/c headlines set the context. How can this be standard policy?!
6.4/ We've seen this week a collection of 'October Surprises' being trotted out by the Anti-Trump coalition. The stuff from Michael Cohen, the DHS guys, etc. Palmer Report mentions another: a tell-all book based on secret recordings of Melania coming 9/1: palmerreport.com/analysis/melan…
6.5/ This is a clip of the upcoming Michael Cohen "oppo hit" (as they say in the biz):
6.6/ This is a link to the former DHS COS Myles Taylor being interviewed by Jake Tapper. Taylor's stuff, as I heard on the New Abnormal (rss.acast.com/the-new-abnorm…) is truly shocking. Multiple witnesses to DJT demanding crimes against humanity.
cnn.com/2020/08/18/pol…
6.7/ I wrote 2 wks ago abt '4 Comforts': reasons for optimism abt. Trump (ym'sh) losing. They were (a) DJT incompetence, (b) Dem's Oct Surprises, (c) DJT Health, (d) DJT deeply despised by majority of Americans

Above I gave 2 Bs, the following fits A & C:
6.8/ 2 mo. ago I mused about the parallels between the era of the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the crack-up of the GOP/US Conservative movement. Given that the GOP has gone full Q supports the analogy even more

6.9/ Trump (ym'sh) consistently has been stealing money from campaign donations to line his own pockets. It's my theory for why he ran in the first place & why he's cutting back on TV ad buys right now nytimes.com/live/2020/08/2… & businessinsider.com/trump-campaign…
6.10/ Looking at more police brutality, the RNC convention cheering on a fascist apocalypse, and now #HurricaneLaura bearing down on LA. This feels Biblical in a bad way. It's #Elul, do teshuva y'all
6.11/ While religious hypocrites are infuriating (to insiders & out) I also decry the simplistically devout (in Heb. "chasid shoteh") who don't even realize they're violating basic ethical principles & delusionally persist in damaging behavior
etzion.org.il/en/shiur-15cha…
6.12/ The MSM has enabled GOP narratives all these years b/c the owners are Republicans and they make the decisions. Trump (ym'sh) OTOH is purely good for business as clickbait.

I'd add, though, that many in MSM are ripe for bullying & DJT is a bully

6.13/ Trolls: "Where's Joe Biden? Where's Joe Biden?!"

Us: "Here he is."

And Biden is condemning violence & accurately accusing Trump (ym'sh) of seeking out & encouraging the violence b/c he thinks it'll help him in Nov!
6.14/ For #KiTeitzei, here's a comment I made a year ago about the religious conservatives who decry LBGTQ as 'abominations' yet are perfectly OK with business fraud. Both are called 'abominations' yet the latter is almost synonymous w/these Bible thumpers
6.15/ New Batman movie coming out; they've made Gordon & Catwoman African-American - which I'm good with, more the merrier - but a Black Batman makes SO MUCH SENSE, esp. for needing to be outside the law & losing faith w/ the police
6.16/ I wish I could be as poised and articulate as Rex Chapman in explaining how to deal with the Anti-Mask Goobers. But listen to his 2 minutes & 22 seconds of wisdom:
6.17a/ I'm cramming so much in my head about the upcoming election that it's hard to keep up with writing down what I've read.

One point: the only thing keeping Trump (ym'sh) within 10pts in Nov. is the propped up economy. If the GOP lets another month go w/o relief? OMG!
6.17b/ It's baffling, really, how the GOP is letting the economy implode in an election year. Sadopopulism could explain it, or they may believe that the FoxNews bubble will protect them from repercussions. But most of the time, their cruelty blinds them from decent strategy
6.18/ I support the #Mets players in whatever they decide in respect of this terrible moment when Black Americans are subjected to dehumanization, deadly violence, and disenfranchisement

#BlackLivesMatter

6.19/ Video of the #Mets & #Marlins solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter
6.20/ Trump (ym'sh) is so transparent it's pathetic. Here he broadcasts why he's been sending in paramilitaries to terrorize cities. Except he's telling sane people that if he wins (God forbid) then being a Democrat will be a death-mark
6.21/ A 9/11s worth of American souls perished over the days of the RNC from COVID. Stunning to hear.
6.22/ Wow, this is cool. My friend Rabbi Aharon Frazer's brother, Rabbi Ezra Frazer, is an Air Force Reserve chaplain:
jewishlink.news/features/39302…
6.23a/ The RNC confirms that the GOP is now openly fascist: the Party is synonymous with the Leader.

Anyone still supporting DJT is either (1) happy to be fascist or (2) has been duped & thus, when it was most needed, shown to be incapable of being a responsible & ethical adult
6.23b/ The RNC's main messages were pure falsehood - denying the pandemic, the hundreds of thousands dead & wounded. The GOP rejects the rule of law, placing their Leader above restraint.

The fascism is incontrovertible fact. All the philosophy class scenarios are now real life.
6.24/ BTW, I see ppl worried that since the GOP acts like they are triumphant & successful, that means they've gamed it to win in Nov... NOPE. False positive.

They always act like this. It's all they've ever had. They fake it til they make it. It's bluster & theft & cruelty
6.25/ I hear anxious ppl say publicly that DJT - panic & neurosis in their voices WILL - win.

Please stop doing this.

I ask 2 things:

1. Don't act out your therapy in public, panicking others

2. Say the sentence if you need, but whisper it, like we used to do for "cancer"
6.26/ My weekly @threadreaderapp unroll and, why not, maybe the @threader_app can compile as well
7.1/ The coverage of the RNC meant that all of us who read the news were slathered with what amounted to a weeklong FoxNews spew. That's why we feel terrible. I'm expecting the feeling to subside soon. But it gives me some insight into what the cult sees & believes
7.2a/ Know: 2016 was decided on the margins by those who hated both candidates & broke against the incumbent: HRC

Same guys in 2020 (those who dislike both Biden/Trump (ym'sh) are breaking for Biden (vs. the incumbent)

fivethirtyeight.com/features/is-tr…
7.2b/
I'm expecting that these voters just vote against the incumbent & they aren't persuaded by "it's Biden's Fault" - they blame their rotten lives on whoever is in charge

To me, this means that the worse DJT behaves, the more these voters will vote against him. Silver lining
7.3/ I think its pretty clear that the rubes who say "the Democrat Party" don't know what small-R "republican" means.

Likely they're the same gimbuses who squawk that "the US is a Republic not a Democracy"... it's just words they've been taught to signal blind allegiance
7.4/ The eviction crisis coming - because the GOP refused to provide another rescue package in order to sabotage the elections - will cause enormous human damage. Why? The GOP knows it can't win on votes via public support rather they NEED suppression

7.5a/ In my pinned thread about the 4 Comforts, #3 was Trump's (ym'sh) cratering health. I specifically alluded to the Nov 2019 trip to Walter Reed and brought up the possibility - probability - of a stroke:

7.5b/ The reporting coming out today, based on some skeevie reporter's new book where he suppressed the information so as to sell a few more copies, is that this seemed to be precisely what happened:

7.6/ Hundreds of hours of work by many people, including my wife (the chair) to open our school safely. This is an amazing achievement of keeping Torah alive in a time of plague. Thank you to the whole leadership committee!

Chazak v'Amatz #RPRY
7.7/ Random NFL thing: My son & I are discussing the Hall of Great Backup QBs. To qualify, they need to be career backups. For discussion, we're debating:

1. Earl Morrall
2. Nick Foles
3. Frank Reich
4. Ryan Fitzpatrick
5. Jeff Hostetler
7.8/ Just heard that #TomSeaver passed away. BD"E.
7.9/ WW2 metaphors for our battle against fascism in the 21st Century.

Nov 2016 = Dunkirk
If the Dems win big in Nov 2020 = D-Day
Everything until Jan 20, 2021 = The Bulge
Exposing the GOP crimes & perfidy, resulting in arrests & punishment = Taking Berlin
7.10/ This is from earlier this week, in response to a great concept by @deathbybadger about D&D gnomes as amok tech bros. I admit I was inspired by @RichBurlew's OOTS world to come up w/the idea

7.11/ I've heard Trump (ym'sh) supporters say they love his policies but don't like his 'tweets' except if you hear him talk, that's precisely what's in his twitter feed. The man is loathsome & at this point just plain loco.

He's got the crazy eyes.

7.12/ Not a true posek but I can give my opinion on psak halakha (and I am a theologian & moral philosopher, with degrees!, so add that to the kaf-chova): it's a mitzva to vote, an aveira to knowingly support someone who commits crimes against humanity

7.13/ I just finished a thread about the WW2 metaphor above. My key point: if we beat the GOP in November, that's only one battle in the rest of this struggle against White Supremacy, oligarchy, and anti-democracy

7.14a/ Re: Kanye West on the ballot. I said a month ago that I assumed any 3rd party would hurt the incumbent (see 1992, 1980, 2000, 2016) meaning that "Ye" would hurt his buddy Trump/Kushner and not Biden
7.14b/ So now there's more data to support my theory, at least for Kanye's third party gambit

7.15/ Trump (ym'sh) is the worst person I've ever witnessed. As @djrothkopf said, he's not just the worst President, he's the worst American

I mean, how can a guy be that bad? But he is. So much evidence is out there. My goodness

7.16/ Also, for those keeping score, this story from the Atlantic of Trump (ym'sh) insulting Kelly to his face about his own son's heroic sacrifice, is #2 of the 4 Comforts, the Democrats have their own "October Surprises"

7.17/ There's a fun tweet & replies. Q by @underthenettle was:

"what's the stupidest, most trivial thing you would do, if you had the ability to time travel without affecting history? personally, I would make T. S. Eliot watch Cats"

& this is a fave
7.18/ Evidently I've been part of this virtual-reality distortion information chamber for seven years. This is one way of realizing that I'm not actually a bot in the Wachowski sisters' post-apocalyptic cryo-chambers

7.19/ Two project/threads I need to write eventually. (1) Which people I find "must-reads" on twitter & why.

(2) Life of Torah U-Madda & how the pandemic revealed that many of my frum rabbi colleagues don't actually understand halakhic reasoning.
7.20/ Just wrote a thread about the RedHats who embrace Q but deny the stories of Trump (ym'sh) mocking our troops. I'm trying to manage my disgust & even hatred.

Hate the sin, not the sinner... but it's hard. Lord, it's hard.

7.21/ I will say that there are certain stories about Trump (ym'sh) that are so sordid, so depraved, that I can't discuss them with my family. Normally they look to me to fill them in on the latest stuff. But he's so disgusting that it sullies me, and my listeners, to hear it.
7.22/ Ever since I finished Shas via dafyomi, I've been organizing all of my parsha shiurim (& trying to update eparsha.com). As such I'm trying to rescue & catalog online divrei Torah.

So... right now, I'm getting pre-grumpy over the 5781/2020 date confusion.
7.23/ One of the only positives of 2020 has been how many organizations are finally endorsing and out-of-the-box tech solutions that are basically accessibility accommodations.

e.g. my wife just had a seminar for 3 students who are each in different Asian counties. So cool!
7.24/ I'll pause here for the week to ask for an unroll/compilation (@threadreaderapp & @threader_app)

Good Shabbas everyone.
7.24b/ @threader_app please compile. Don't bot kill my account, please? I can give you some juicy zeros and ones if you'd like.
8.1/ One weird silver lining to fighting a group as stupid & evil as the current GOP is that they will telegraph their punches.

It'll be like "GOP warns if Biden wins he'll enslave your kids" which means: the GOP is planning to enslave our children if they win. Got it.
8.2/ This is cool. I wonder if he's going to get a BHL at Ner Yisroel in the off-season ;)
8.3/ #DeGrom days have been real sunshine over the past few years. It's one of the best aspects of baseball: even when the team stinks, it's a player focused game. So a transcendent player - when the focus is on him - turns those moments into everything we love about sports #LGM
8.4/ To expand on this (a topic I may be the only person on earth to care about): for archiving, a double parsha is a pain, switching years is a pain, Nitzavim-Vayelekh is maddening b/c some years Vayelekh is in a different year from Nitzavim
8.5/ I wrote up 2 connected #divreiTorah I gave over Shabbos on #KiTavo and the #Tochecha.
8.6/ Oh no! MLB Hall of Famer Lou Brock passed away! BD"E.

8.7/ This is a pretty obvious case of mental deterioration. And why the GOP accused Biden of "meandering" when they accosted him in the cemetery this morning, visiting the graves of his wife, daughter & son (no joke)

It's ALWAYS projection
8.8/ Welcome to the 7th plague fellas.

8.9/ The joys of being married to an artist-historian:

A picture sent to me by my wife (who got it from a friend on Facebook) Monkey wearing glasses, Medieval illuminated manuscript w/caption:

"Legere et non intelligere est negligere" = To read but not understand is to neglect. Image
8.10/ Alert! Oct 1, my wife's group, The Raritan Players, are having a free concert, playing the works of:

Ignatius Sancho, a formerly enslaved Bl​ack African composer

& salon hostess Anne-Louise Boyvin d'Hardancourt Brillon de Jouy

(cw: Kol Isha)
gemsny.org/current-season…
8.11/ OK, now I know what a major part of Biden/Harris' stump speech will be
8.12/ This is anti-American and corrupt. Outrageous for anyone who isn't committed to fascism ("the Leader is the State"):
8.13/ Evidently there was an #earthquake in NJ early this morning. Sure. Why not.
earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ma…
8.14/ Cohen trashing Trump (ym'sh) is fun and all but both men are owned by Putin & notice how MC never says a bad word - or more importantly *implicates* - Putin in anything

MC says DJT wanted to be like Putin; MC says DJT didn't expect to win. Bull.
8.14b/ The main reason Mueller sent Cohen to jail is b/c MC didn't give info on the Russian mob activities. And, as documented by @LincolnsBible & others, DJT has long been a CI of the FBI's org. crime unit. Cohen acts the same way: turn on DJT but keep his real boss, Putin, safe
8.14c/ Just like Whitey Bulger would turn over rivals to the FBI to ensure his dominance, DJT would turn over the Ital. mob to preserve the russian mob. Cohen is doing the same thing!

His story that DJT idolizes Putin is daft; DJT is Putin's *property* in a mob sense.
8.15a/ We've seen so many people publicly fail the #TrumpCrisis test; people like Comey, Mattis, Mueller, men at the top of their profession, who couldn't handle the moral crisis, and shrunk.

Also know: what happened in public shows us what they must have been in private.
8.15b/ Behavior in public can be seen as a salient sample for what's going on constantly in private. These 'great men' were inadequate. As opposed to, e.g. Sally Yates, who passed the test

A resume can cloak a lifetime of just following set rules & not realizing the higher task
8.15c/ This must be applied to famous cheaters too: eg we caught Barry Bonds/Tom Brady a few times, but that meant they were *constantly* cheating

And, yeah, the GOP has openly failed. But they're happy to jump on the evil wagon. My point is abt guys who still act 'above it all'
8.16/ Really imp. piece from @AdamSerwer in the @TheAtlantic (which has been hitting it out of the PARK in the #TrumpCrisis)

I've said this often: 2016 was the GOP recog that they were dangerously outnumbered. Change is happening NOW b/c of the numbers.

theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
8.17/ The GOP has embraced Q & which the piece below shows is basically a N*zi cult. All the 'storm' imagery should be a giveaway, even for the most stolid #Literalist's inability to see patterns out of data

(note: White supremacy is functionally N*zism)

justsecurity.org/72339/qanon-is…
8.18/ Grist for more commercials, Trump (ym'sh) in his own words saying "I wanted to always play it down, I still like playing it down, because I don't want to cause a [emphasis] Panic"
8.19/ Big, if true
8.20/ BTW, I said the stuff above about Mattis BEFORE the Woodward book was leaked. The idea that Jim, the sanctimonious crud, would get on his knees & pray but not come before Congress is nauseating (as is almost everything in the WP excerpt of the book)

8.21/ This Woodward recording is even worse than the one I posted above. On Feb 7, Trump (ym'sh) is telling "Bob" that the virus is 5x more deadly than the flu etc. He had the accurate information, he just didn't act on it (likely out of depraved neglect)
8.22/ The Biden team is on it. I don't wanna hear cranks say that their messaging is bad... it's the MSM that seems to refuse to give Biden any air
8.23/ Ah, so it's going to be one of *those* news days. It's not even 3pm!
washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
8.24/ Biden is saying the absolute right things. He's using his stature & authority to just destroy Trump's (ym'sh) criminal negligence.
8.25/ Another difference b/w 1968 & 2020:

1968: cities on fire
2020: states on fire

1968: fires b/c of police riots against racial justice in favor of white supremacy

2020: fires b/c of climate change, denied by same people in favor of white supremacy

8.26/ Q for Bob Woodward: are you the "darkness" in your paper's motto "Democracy Dies in Darkness"?

Seems so, Bob. Because of journalists like you, Trump (ym'sh) is aided, abetted, and normalized... until you can profit from it

8.27/ Fact based people like me are mystified that anyone could slavishly support Trump (ym'sh) who's literally the worst person I've ever experienced

They do so b/c they live in a world of myth, which he's an expert in

DJT embodies white male supremacy. His cult worships that.
8.28/ A billion is a big number, we reduce it's impact by making it a simple (even silly sounding) word. That said, a system which creates unaccountable billionaires who pay no taxes is clearly broken

8.29/ Diana Rigg passed away. We just watched her last night in The Great Muppet Caper, and I fondly remember her as the only leading lady who overmatched James Bond (yes, even Sean). BD"E

8.30/ This is beautiful, both for journalistic practice & journalistic ethics. Hey, White House press: be more like Daniel Dale!

8.31/ Trump (ym'sh) blames Woodward for not stopping his depraved indifference for human life. BTW, DJT has an unerring instinct built over a lifetime of crime to go for the weak spots, the ethical lapses, of his opponents.

8.32/ Also, this is a point often highlighted by the unparalleled @AlexandraErin: that Trump's (ym'sh) entire worldview is to take, bully, steal, violate & when caught to say 'You should have stopped me'

alexandraerin.substack.com/p/when-donald-…
8.33/ #NFL is starting soon. I'm happy. #HereWeGo

I'm attaching photos of what my kids & I do every season. The chart has every game & we fill it in every week; win/loss, score, season record.

This record is fun to do & allows a retrospective (now going back til 2014!) ImageImage
8.34/ I'd like to think all of my neighbors are anti-fascist. That's what antifa means.

8.35/ Our power went out just right before #NFL kickoff. Been waiting 7 months for this.That was hilarious in an #Elul, man plans God laughs, sorta way
8.36/ It weird that Sukkot is in 3 weeks and the last time I did anything in a crowd was Purim.
8.37/ Missed this the first time around. Listen to him rattle off the statistics while showing empathy & a focus on the real problems. Biden's the right guy for the right time for POTUS

8.38/ 9/11 is hard for me. Both for the attacks & the aftermath, when the US turned even uglier (helped by the religious fanatics who stole the '00 election). Now I see ppl are venerating our 'unity' while downplaying the rampant bigotry of the time. Oy.

8.39/ Some people have a gay-dar (I don't), others have a 19thCenturyFrenchLiterature-dar (I definitely don't); but I rely on my 'crazy-dar.' It has saved me on many occasions.

Trump (ym'sh) is utterly banana-pants. And some people just can't see it?!

8.40/ Periodic reminder that the richest nation on Earth must provide universal health-care as a basic ethical & human right

That includes dental & mental/emotional care (b/c it's all HEALTH, gevalt).

So many problems on even an individual level would be solved w/psych care.
8.41/ Getting ready for Shabbos now; cooking awaits. @threadreaderapp please unroll.

@threader_app please compile.
9.1/ There are many downsides to getting a PhD, in years & tears, but an upside is the ability to sift through huge piles of info & distinguish b/w signal/noise.

If my PhD prepped me to (a) resist Trump (ym'sh) & (b) protect society in a pandemic, then it's a net win
9.2/ Oh my, "Cast a Giant Shadow" is on Prime!

1966: when Hollywood could be Zionist. Watch: John Wayne liberate N*zi death camps! Watch: Frank Sinatra defend Israel as a US pilot
watch.amazon.com/detail?gti=amz…
9.3/ Before the week really gets going with the Fin de siècle-ish of 5780's annus horribilis, here's a classic message of spoons being too big & banana ontology from "Rejected" By Don Hertzfeldt
9.4/ Oh my, somebody has been able to put into video what I've felt watching both The Crown & Victoria. There's a "West Wing" feel to both shows where everyone is in a tizzy about something kinda trivial & cheers with triumph when they, like, make a stamp

9.5/ I have no intention to canvass to change Trumpers' minds. I ask "are you better off now than 4 years ago." If they answer 'yes,' they are cult members (or billionaires) & can be ignored forever.

Everyone who answers 'no' can be persuaded to vote for Biden. Just show 'em how
9.6/ For years I've said that I treat fashion the way most people treat halakhah: that somewhere, someone says it's OK to do this thing.

That said, some things stretch credulity
9.7/ Just to bring together a few of my posts today. Because that's how I think it's best to get through the day Image
9.8/ Tom Brady is finding out - after getting a rough sack & now a clear uncalled DPI - what it feels like to *not* get the Patriot-discount on every play.
9.9/ We don't say #shehecheyanu as much as previous centuries, but I really feel it's necessity more often in 5780/2020, and probably for the same reason: staying alive to another season feels very significant this year, like it did in bygone eras of war, plague, antisemitism.
9.10/ My son just said that in a close game b/w the Chargers & Bungles, the team who has the ball last... loses

It's a philosophical question finally answered a few minutes ago. Whoa nelly
9.11/ What I teach my kids abt. online interactions: (1) we get through life by 'reading the room' & (2) reading body-language & other non-verbals (3) but online there's no room & no non-verbals (4) so, IRL, in that situation, be as wary & charitable as possible w/words & interp.
9.12/ Fortunately, I'd been wary of GG from the beginning, so I cannot understand how ppl still give him the time of day, but burning Reality Winner should make him a persona-non-grata in journalism & in all Left circles, no?

nytimes.com/2020/09/13/bus…
9.13/ Imagine you got a tool for free, and it's unique & great, but every time you used it, you would lose 10 minutes off of your lifespan... also years off your friends' lives & everyone else who uses the tool. With every usage.

That's how I feel about Facebook.
9.14a/ The 2 most important job skills I needed to learn to be a pulpit rabbi were (1) active listening - which I had to be trained in, but improved every aspect of my life enormously, & (2) how not to absorb gossip/slander, a subset of confidentiality - which I taught myself
9.14b/ Confidentiality meant I needed to compartmentalize my memory, to know what was private & public info. I expanded that technique to add a 3rd category: Big Maybe

If I heard gossip, it's be "Big Maybe" & not entered into the fact database. My later PhD work refined this.
9.15/ Listening to NFL commentary & how ppl think there'll be fans in the stands after a few weeks if things keep going well... um, the summer is always the lull in epidemics. I don't think reg. people are prepared for what the fall & winter will be like
vox.com/2020/5/14/2125…
9.16/ Humility is necessary in both religion & science:

(a) Science was born b/c we recognized humans are terrible at determining facts w/o rigor, system, records & overview

(b) Religion = humanity is flawed compared to the Divine (which is also why we need mutual & Godly help)
9.17/ If a religious practice doesn't require restraint or self-sacrifice, then it's unlikely that this religion is also an ethical system

Religion is more than ritual; it's definitely more than making demands of OTHERS while absolving yourself.
9.18/ Nothing like 2020 to define "unprecedented." But it's not surprising that science itself would oppose Trump (ym'sh).

The entirety of the Enlightenment enterprise is at stake here. It's as much a clear right/wrong, up/down moment ever. Choose life

9.19/ Just wrote a thread about how I'm looking at the 2020 US society's ills & how our country's addiction to the ideology of white supremacy must be fixed if we want any progress

9.20/ When I used the term #TrumpConcentrationCamps, colleagues told me I was wrong, shocked I would say such a thing.

I did so b/c they were designed to be outside legal systems & their clear intent was to punish.

"I told you so" is ashen in my mouth
9.21/ This is sorta how I expect the debates to go, if Trump (ym"sh) doesn't cancel
9.22/ I know bigots who happen to be nice to me, and probably even like me. But I've learned that 'nice' to a bigot is always conditional & thus temporary. They can turn on me, on everyone, in a heartbeat

It's the underlying wisdom of the 'waiter rule'
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiter_Ru…
9.23/ The Reagan ideology that the government is your enemy has probably been the most destructive idea in the US in the past 50 years.

It's esp. funny b/c they say: "hate the gov., except for police & the military!" or "You can't trust the gov, but you can trust Big Oil!"
9.24/ Observing the deluded Trumpista Cult has given me a trove of data abt human behavior.

e.g.: the cult seems to *love* him. So now I get, in a way, how certain loathsome people can get married.

To me, this guy is horrible, to her: love. How? Dunno... but, remember 2020?
9.25/ [Lamb unzips suit to reveal senior Sheepdog]: OK, Jenkins, what have we learned here?

9.26/ I see we're at the "sharks with laser-beams strapped to their heads" stage of super-villainy with Trump (ym'sh).

Recall that The Big Dummy openly asked his generals why we have nukes if we're not going to use them. He's a vicious cartoon.

washingtonpost.com/local/dc-prote…
9.27/ Just wrote this thread on the potted-lunatic William "Bill the Butcher" Barr, Trump's (ym'sh) de-facto personal attorney, Interior Minister and all around public enemy number one.

9.28/ I just wrote a thread about the five books I think every educated Jew needs to read, just in time for #RoshHashanah
9.29/ Trump (ym'sh) is bigoted against American Jews, exhibit billion:

From a call w/American Jewish leaders, after saying: "We really appreciate you" he adds "We love your country also" referring to Israel

Altho, maybe DJT thinks his country is Russia?

jta.org/2020/09/16/pol…
9.30/ @magi_jay wrote about how the cranky un-self-aware ex-GOP never-Trumpers have inadequately reckoned w/their former party's criminality and above all racism.

She put it together so much better than I've been able to do & I'm glad she did:

9.31/ Listen/watch this. He sounds like he's about to collapse.

Generally, I think he's hepped up on goofballs like Mr. Burns in the X-Files episode, but it's frightening to see anyone slouching, slurring, sleeping through a hate-filled rant

9.32/ I've said this for years when a Trumpista attacked me for presuming they would ever be shown wrong. I changed my strategy at that point: I wouldn't engage so they could see me as a friendly face were they ever to want to escape the cult

9.33/ Here's a quick thread about the underlying ideas that bubble up in the fear that The Big Dummy won't concede if he loses.

I believe it's real enough to be wary, but not enough to be paralyzed (see, everything else above)

9.34/ These brave people risk a lot to come forward.

Cynics ask tho: they won't change die-hards minds! (1) Who cares? A mitzvah is its own reward (2) There's good research that these confessions give emotional cover for partisans to leave the cult.

9.34b/ Re: RVAT, see this great @anneapplebaum piece from the nearly indispensable Atlantic: theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

These testimonials are abt creating the "permission structure" for people who's identity is bound up with the GOP to consider opposing DJT as an act of *loyalty*
9.35/ My wife braved the stores this morning to get our new fruits for #RoshHashanah

1. Starfruit (my favorite, for the symbolism not so much the taste)
2. Mangoes (a fave of my wife)
3. And, for the first RH ever: coconuts! Because it's one of the funniest fruits
9.36/ Maybe someone should unplug Lugo and plug him back in?

1st inning he gives up 3 straight homers and then a triple, and now in the 2nd... hoo man #LGM
9.37/ I saw a message from a mystical group that guaranteed a place out of gehenom if you do the right rituals (and give a little tzedaka). The tzedaka is an extremely good idea, but the weirdo mystical ooga-booga... sigh

I call it "Easy Bake Heaven": add ingredients & no effort
9.38/ Sept 19 2018 - #TalkLikeAPirateDay - was Yom Kippur. Sept 19 2020 is #RoshHashanah ... I don't know what this means, but 2020 has made stronger people than I look for mysterious signs of God's favor or displeasure. Matey.
9.39/ Many Americans: "I can't believe they add pumpkin-spice to everything the moment September starts!"

#RoshHashanah cuisine [staring in honey]: "Oh, do tell"
9.40/ Here's a Dvar Torah I wrote this morning for #RoshHashanah

Have a good sweet new year everyone. May I see all of you next Tishrei

9.41/ Will start the weekly unroll. Stay safe everyone, #RoshHashanah Sameach & please God I'll see y'all on the other side

@threadreaderapp please unroll
@threader_app please compile
10.1/ A thread I wrote this morning about the passing of Justice Ginsburg, #RoshHashanah , #TzomGedalyah, & a number of other sad, grim thoughts. I never knew I could have so many strong emotions at once, sadness, anger, fear & a determined need for hope

10.2/ Thread about why the Democrats have such an uphill battle in the media environment. I wish I had more links or proof for this. I'll try to find 'em.

10.3/ I really like this line of attack by Biden against Trump (ym'sh):
10.4/ RedHats whom I know don't think they're bad people but I'm sure they think liberals like me are terrible, sneaky hypocrites who lie about our intentions.

They're telling on themselves, of course, b/c they model their view of me only by what they know about themselves
10.5/ There have been many red-lines crossed, but when #MoscowMitch refused to call witnesses at the impeachment, he effectively dissolved the Senate and abdicated democracy, placing DJT as virtual dictator.

That's all we need to know. They want fascism, we don't.
10.6/ Sounds like Schiff isn't fooling around.
10.7/ Just wrote a long thread on my view of our moment, how the GOP has declared civil war, and that we cannot shrink from our duty to fix our republic when we win in November.

When, not if (see the end of the thread)

10.8/ It's a time of testing; maybe Mitt will use a floor vote/debate to openly oppose the candidate, much like McCain allowed the vote to repeal ACA in order to destroy the repeal once and for all.

I'll believe it when I see it, though.

10.9/ Quick follow-up thread about why I think we can reverse the damage of the GOP if we successfully identify the sources of societal sickness (which is what I've been trying to do over the past few days & threads)

10.10/ Internet commentary & proliferation of video, audio & transcript recordings are a great benefit for finding out the true character of many people.

I say this b/c some "NeverTrumpers" say Kavanaugh was treated unfairly

Yeah? Whoa. OK. Thanks for telling on yourself!
10.11/ See here for one angle on the Kavanaugh thing.

Justice Bret Date-Rape McBeerlover defenders defend patriarchy, abuse, rape-culture, and have no concept of the rule of law (see: the suppressed FBI investigation)

It's so wrong that it's laughable.

10.12/ "Oh Josh, you silly-billy, you've been calling the GOP actions fascistic for a long time"

Um: 1) even so, I said they would lead to fascism. Right now, it is fascism (e.g. no rule of law)

2) The entire GOP is super duper fine with said fascism in 2020. Where's the lie?
10.13/ Going through my "saved tweets to talk about later" folder and this mini-thread from last week makes a great point about how little an East-Coast-Bias helped the country.

(Much of this, of course, comes from the FoxNews/Facebook bubble)

10.14/ Another thread (hey, it's before #YomKippur and the forces of evil weren't scared enough of the shofar blowing) about ethics, bravery & why it's necessary to know when you're wrong & when your leaders are wrong

10.15/ Word to the wise: fascists may make trains run on time but for themselves & friends only

Cowards toady up to the Leader so they can get on the working trains & this is most of the system

Everyone else, incl. ex-friends of the leader, don't get trains

Or are under them
10.6/ I agree 100% with the first essay here: the GOP SCOTUS grab is a sign they expect they'll lose & are sacrificing their majority for a perceived long-term gain

They underestimate the backlash they're unleashing, which is typical for banal evil.

thetriad.thebulwark.com/p/the-scotus-v…
10.7/ I underestimate just how cruel many people are but I do see how it affects them cognitively, b/c w/o empathy, they can't understand other people

Ironically, my empathy motivates me to understand them, as people.

In reverse, cruel people just can't & won't understand me
10.8/ Research shows that RedHats are motivated by fear of losing their (inherited & illegitimate) status. Their fake 'supremacy'

Honor, not money, anxiety

This is why they're descending into a suicide cult. Their status fear also forces them to never admit they were ever wrong
10.9/ I think Elie is right. And this fits with many of the threads I've written recently

10.10/ One silver lining for the pandemic & the need to treat objects in public as if they're covered in COVID & people as if they could be filled w/contagion requiring sequestering & cleaning... all this should train us for tumah & tahara when Mashiach comes (any time now)
10.11/ Here's to hoping this will help carry Arizona. Every bit helps!
10.12/ I'm trying! But I agree, more people need to accept this and believe/behave accordingly

10.13/ Big mood
10.14/ The GOP seems to ignore the backlashes they've already suffered: (1) they're hemorrhaging women (2) GOP's support for police brutality led to massive support for #BLM & the rallies through the summer.

The backlash over COVID & SCOTUS? I imagine equally large.
10.15/ I should be explicit: abortion is a health-care issue, & I believe health-care is a human right on the level of food & shelter. Abortion must be legal in a free society like the US.

To ban abortion is to impose religious rules on US law, which is anathema to me.
10.16/ If you don't think Trump (ym'sh) is marching to a N*zi playbook, you're either in deep denial, lying or have consumed only Fox propaganda

But his frum fans are often the same who would parse every Obama speech for coded antiSem messages...

10.17/ This is likely faked or from 10 yrs ago or whatever, but I was sent this picture of a triple rainbow in Israel reportedly on the second day of #RoshHashanah

If all is true... that's not a really good sign x3 (maybe the RH liturgy abt. God remembering Noah reverses it?) Triple rainbow in Israel, S...
10.18/ We all agree that the iconic picture of the W administration is "Mission Accomplished" and for Trump (ym'sh) it'll be the Bible at the Lafayette Square Crackdown?

While I've long preferred the Charlottesville torches, the other is with the man himself in soiled splendor
10.19/ This is a useful thread for coping with the 6 month mark of our shutdown's new normal. In short, there's a typical cycle & process for adjusting to a crisis atmosphere. She bases this on her work in disaster zones.

10.20a/ The RedHat GOP acts like they don't expect to lose, that there won't be any consequences, b/c they're greedy & terrible and those type of people never anticipate consequences. They're addicted to the feeling of power, and so they act like long-term blinded addicts
10.20b/ Another ex. of this garish consequence-blindness is the brazen lying (e.g. see Lindsey below)

They've habituated into shameless lying b/c FoxNews has protected them by insulating their marks. What happens when that unsustainable bubble bursts?

10.21/ "Allegations of" are an odd way of spelling "Constant unremitting"

Also: "After phone calls with Jewish lawmakers Trump has muttered that Jews 'are only in it for themselves' & 'stick together' in an ethnic allegiance that exceeds other loyalties"
washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
10.22/ Watching Dr. Fauci (rhetorically) drop-kick Rand Paul through a plate-glass window is the lunchtime entertainment I didn't know I needed.

10.23/ Just followed @MenshevikM because of a clever Stalin quip - & a passive endorsement from @JewishWonk - and I see his last post is basically what I said this morning. That's some good coincidental-kismet

(reposting to warn about profanity. Sorry)
10.24/ A helpful reminder, to help cut through the fog of terror spewed by the RedHats.

To paraphrase my favorite Twitter Scholar @Teri_Kanefield, the fascists want to make you feel hopeless & helpless.

So, look: we're not doomed, we can win.

10.25/ In '16 Putin launched a cyber/espionage war vs UK (Brexit) & USA (Trump), severely harming the 2 nations who led the post-WW2 & post-Soviet order

Putin's US allies included the entire GOP & assoc. propaganda networks

So IMO the guilt for this Civil War is all on them now
10.26/ Earlier I mentioned how the Dems won enormously in 2018: we flipped the House & governorships in red states, but I forgot to mention we got a Senator in flippin' Alabama!

Maybe, just maybe, in 2020 we can get one in MS too (& flip TX, GA, OH etc):

10.27/ BTW, I'm so cognitively opposed to replacing #RBG before 1/20/21, that I hadn't let my brain evaluate whatever craven hack accepts Trump's (ym'sh) nomination

But let's be clear: that nom will 100% be picked BECAUSE of her religious beliefs. It's bad faith to ignore this!
10.28/ This is enraging. I was taught that miscarriage of justice is the equivalent of "shfichat damim" (murder), one of the three cardinal sins (as it were) in Jewish law

The #BreonnaTaylor case is a perfect example why.

10.29/ As a hostage-to-my-life-history #Mets fan, I must admit that this is just brilliant:

10.30/ Periodic reminder that...

ignoring a pandemic, encouraging racist violence & lawless police, ignoring the rule of law, packing SCOTUS with brutes while laughing at women in distress

...all leads to -20 deficit for the GOP

10.31/ This is getting a lot of traffic as a response to this Ben Wittes comment:

"Remember when you could just assume, without even asking, that a given stranger you met did not favor locking kids in cages?..."

10.32/ Small convo. by me in response to @AdamSerwer:

"The judicial wars actually started with [Fortas], not [Bork], but liberals have accepted Fortas was corrupt while Republicans continue to pretend Bork was not an extremist [b/c] they agree with him."

10.33/ 100% right. This is the paradigm to accept, Trump (ym'sh) is trying to seize power, he's abandoned liberal democracy & the full GOP is totally on board

10.34/ Ya know when someone tweets about something they hate & you have the urge to respond with your 'solution' ("I use this app!" "I merely rewired my attic!")?

Don't

Instead remember how bad you felt before you 'solved' it & reply with that empathy, b/c that's what they want
10.35/ Basically Weissman describes Mueller acting exactly like Comey. That's what makes this plausible.

Both are Lawful Neutral institutionalists who protected the trees rather than the forest, the body & not the soul.

theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
10.36/ Needing to spend over 12 hours outdoors on #YomKippur because of the pandemic safety measures is giving me a strong "Cohen Gadol incentivized to lie about the calendar so he won't be freezing" sympathy vibes

#NicheCulturalComment
10.37/ This is an extraordinary statement by a public figure trying to explain to fellow white people how to be empathetic about the plight their Black neighbors suffer through every day in America

(2min clip below, 6min here )

10.38/ @C_Stroop does amazing work and all power to her to continue. Her 2015 piece below made me think of my response to missionaries who said I could never be saved under Jewish law: I have #YomKippur, I feel confident that God accepts my imperfection

salon.com/2015/07/09/thi…
10.39/ So, uh, @SpeakerPelosi can you unleash the quiver? Please?

10.40/ We're at the point where I'd feel a little better hearing from governors how they'll handle an attempted coup by Trump (ym'sh). While strong pushback by the GOP Senate would be nice, we can't trust them (see SCOTUS), so Strong Federalism is needed

10.41/ Wrote this to my governor (will do so on email tomorrow as well as call) & I encourage everyone to do so as well. This is the second most fraught moment right after the attempted junta June 1st at Lafayette Square

Push back: DJT always crumbles

10.42/ Very good thread here by @AshaRangappa_ where she calmly explains that Trump's (ym'sh) refusal to transfer power peacefully is a sign of (a) weakness & (b) basically a mental breakdown. His fear of exposure & failure is towering.

10.43/ Quick thread about why I still have hope for getting Trump (yimach shemo) out of power. There's more of us than there are of him.

10.44/ From everything I know in social science I must emphasize: power is people. Meaning comes from people. Laws work or not because of people. There are more of us than there are of the bad guys.

They want us to despair. They are abusers. But power is people.
10.45/ OK, here's one of the sources I read about CNN tacitly supporting Trump (ym'sh) that puts them in Group 3 (non RedHat gatekeepers who are DJT's natural constituency, from this thread: )

nytimes.com/2020/09/20/bus…
10.46/ Just bringing up this ninja stuff from Bloomberg down in Florida. I won't forget that he broke his promise to his staff & he hasn't used enough of his bizarre billions to shore up Democracy (yet?) but this is just funny & righteously mean

10.47a/ What I suspect based on the facts that (1) Congress can expand SCOTUS & federal judicial circuits but (2) McConnell hasn't tried doing it, isn't that it's a bad idea, but more proof that Mitch is a terrible legislator.

He's a terrorist with no interest in governing
10.47b/ #MoscowMitch lacks imagination b/c all of his destruction is reversible & always has been. Democrats haven't been able to fight back b/c the majority of unsuppressed votes backed the GOP's terror

But now we have the numbers. Happy learned to putt.
10.47c/ So Mitch has stolen judicial seats with the expectation that since the Dems couldn't fight back that meant they didn't want to.

It's like thinking that women couldn't be doctors b/c they were 'unfit' rather than seeing it's b/c medical schools refused to enroll them.
10.47d/ Maybe Mitch realizes this now, in the darkest hour, that his plan depended on a bigoted view of his enemies (typical for a descendent of enslavers). He thought Dems were weaklings when in fact the system kept the foot on our necks (RIP #RBG)

nbcnews.com/politics/congr…
10.48a/ QT below re: halakhic abortion in America

Sadly, a 'charedi' mentality (found frequently in Shas) is to use the community's coercive power to prevent people from sinning with their free-will, which often curtails healthy & positive religious acts

10.48b/ In brief (I promise I'll say more, later) see the charedi reaction to Rav Dr. Natan Slifkin

Their gedolim banned his books b/c their culture depends on maintaining a bubble of limited information. But not everyone is satisfied by #Literalist dogma & those people languish
10.49/ You love to see it. Love. It.

Remember when he was booed at the World Series. Heaven.

10.50/ This is a signal by the Democrat's lead prosecutor (which I mean in a good way) that everyone who doesn't resign soon will be considered complicit in the investigations to come

I'm all in favor.

10.51/ Ah yes, the patented TX GOP technique they used against Beto: "Look how totally cool Beto is! Isn't that bad!" but now with extra gender stigma

Go get 'em Major!

10.52/ @ElieNYC has been writing top notch stuff about the need to expand SCOTUS (esp. over the past week). For example, I give the thread below 9 thumbs up

10.51/ This is from 2018 (h/t @sarahcpr) & @TonyAtamanuik is 100% correct back then & esp. now that it's been proven. Stelter, OTOH, is such a classic stolid pundit/journalist/talking-head that if this weren't documented, I'd think this was scripted

10.52/ I was a student of Roger Mudd in college in a class about journalism and that experience shaped my skepticism about the news & gatekeeping. So when I see a story like this - as if this is *news* - my immediate, dry reaction is: "Wow. What a scoop."

10.53/ Oh, just in case you wanted to listen in, here's the upcoming topic from @MuppetRabbi
10.54/ As a Jew, I feel a fellowship with everyone who's lived in a place where their equality and/or humanity is subject to debate

Intersectionality teaches that the powerful will remove humanity with a single identifier

Male/white = human
Jew = maybe!
Result: Watch yourself!
10.55/ On one hand, I'm told the NR headline is misleading

OTOH, I don't want to reward clickbait or let NR have my IP to check

OTOOH, nearly everything in NR is in such bad faith that this is just a convenient example of the whole phenom.

10.56/ An important primer about a common phrase by the Trumpist RedHats, why they love that man & love their cult

10.57/ Why are the GOP so obvious in their evil? You could say it's from confidence in their success, but more likely they are desperate & 3.5 yrs of acting out their worst impulses in public have atrophied their ability to self-censor

Oh, & they're dumb

10.58/ Going through my trove of #YomKippur sermons/shiurim and I'm struck how even those from last year are just as quaint and antiquated as I USED to think about the stuff from 150 yrs ago talking about plagues, starvation & surrounded by enemies.
10.59/ This now popular mini-thread reflects 10.58 pretty well: we're living through year so bad that people will reference it with awe. It's incredibly stressful right now. Show compassion to yourself AND to others

We're all in this together

10.60/ Follow-up to the follow-up. I agree with @TylerDinucci. I see many posts that basically say "I'm scared & I can't contain myself"

So please, step back, show the compassion of 10.59: we're really all trying to just hold on here. Don't be the gif.

10.61/ Ah yes, see 10.57 () above

10.62/ Good thread recognizing our peril & showing agents who aren't treating last night like an emergency.

One silver lining of 2020: the same tech that's been hurting us also allows us to record the state's crimes & keep tally for later reckoning

10.63/ Re: #RBG lying in state:

When I was at Gush, we went to the viewing of Yitzhak Rabin hy"d after he was assassinated

Thus Rabin was honored

It also magnified the chillul Hashem of his assassin, who was a religious Zionist

That shameful crime convinced me to leave Mafdal
10.64/ The incomparable @RVAwonk says it so well, better than I could, take a read:

10.65/ This is a solid, reassuring explanation by @glennkirschner2 about the FBI's vigilance about Trump's (ym'sh) attack on our election & why we can have confidence that we can prevail.

We can't sit back & watch, but we can win if we fight.

10.66/ In preparation for #YomKippur, here's an excerpt from Dr. Erica Brown's book on teshuva (repentance). @DrEricaBrown is always a worthwhile read & I recommend learning from her whenever you/I/we can.

oupress.org/excerpts/retur…
10.67/ The more I think about #MoscowMitch, I realize what he & Trump (ym'sh) have in common: abuse of power

Also, both *inherited* power & resources which means they don't know how to earn it

They don't understand what created that power in the first place. Abuse isn't "savvy"
10.68/ 'Horse-race' journalism reminds me of the house flipping craze pre-2008-bubble-burst. Both treat their subject as a commodity & their activity as playing with a valueless object

But it isn't. A house is shelter, a human right

SCOTUS isn't a game, our lives aren't a game!
10.69/ @Lollardfish is a great follow/read & his article from 2019 (semi-paywall) is spot-on. As he says "[America is] a left-wing nation with a voter-suppression problem."

Outside the tagline, he id's the 2nd major rot: the propaganda problem.

thenation.com/article/archiv…
10.70a/ Seeing the country I love teetering on multiple catastrophes, and depending on the mass of disengaged 'undecided' voters to make the critical difference to save us all, is maddening.

But I'm trained to endure this moment b/c I'm a parent.
10.70b/ I love my kids but, esp. as they get older, I can't control them or stop them from hurting themselves if they're determined to do so.

I love my country yet I need to depend on the will of ignorant others who don't understand their power to stop our dire fate.
10.71a/ I've often compared living in the #TrumpCrisis as being in WW2 vs. the Axis. See my thread from 2017 below for more details.

This allegory aids me to contextualize my anger at my curtailed mourning following #RBG's death

10.71b/ See the piece below: the GOP didn't even let us grieve her death!

They launched into yet another fight for liberty amidst a swirling hail of their biological warfare.

It reminds me of losing a buddy in war. We grieve but we still need to fight.

thedailybeast.com/the-republican…
10.72/ I really enjoy @The_Lehrhaus & print out their Shabbat digest every week, but given the #TrumpCrisis, it's starting to play the same role in my life as The New Yorker

"Oh wow, everything is really good in here!" [immediately put on towering stack]

thelehrhaus.com/scholarship/wh…
10.73/ She's right, #RBG's death is being honored in a culturally Christian manner. Even though I'm at peace with her "lying in state", it's *because* I recog. that honor as a non-Jewish manner of showing esteem.

10.74/ This has been a particularly rough week, as 'bein kesah l'asor' usually is & the cackling glee of the RedHats following #RBG's death made it one of the worst

Yes, I am a liberal & you guys really "pwned" me, but I don't think you know what that will mean for you in return
10.75/ I think it's time to call a "lid" on this thread for the week. #ShabbatShalom & stay hydrated for #YomKippur Sunday night. Please God may this coming week (and year) be better for all of us

@threadreaderapp please unroll
@threader_app please compile
11.01/ #ShavuaTov everyone. I see the #Mets were eliminated from the playoffs, inexplicably in a DeGrom game. BE"H this is just the ignominious end to the Wilpon era. Not that I have much hope w/some rapacious billionaire crook, but hey... ya gotta believe!
11.02/ Every Friday I play "Thank God It's Friday" at breakfast in honor of being Erev Shabbat.

So the cultural-halakhic question is, do I play it #ErevYomKippur

11.03/ Until the above question (is Erev Yom Kippur a Friday for the purpose of playing TGIF?) is resolved, I've paskened to play "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter (appropriate for every day in the #TrumpCrisis)

11.04/ For those who're worried about whether Biden will be able to throw sharp elbows at Trump (ym'sh) given his reputation as a compassionate, nice fella: I was reminded last night that Biden is the one who said "a noun and a verb and 9/11" abt Giuliani

politico.com/blogs/ben-smit…
11.05/ Here's more proof that the GOP 'base only' strategy is backfiring b/c

(a) it drives up DJT's negatives in everyone not the base
(b) IMO it wasn't even a strategy but an ego-soothing drug for the catastrophically insecure POTUS

cnn.com/2020/09/27/pol…
11.06a/ Here's a video of the Biden vs Giuliani line. BTW, the context is in the 2008 pres. debate where Biden was asked to attack Sec. Clinton and he turned it to an attack on Rudy!

11.06b/ That clip illustrates what I read on Shabbat about Biden's demeanor: "The key difference that Biden’s aides are counting on: He doesn’t like taking shots at his fellow Democrats, but he enjoys whaling on Republicans."

theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
11.07/ A good sign of "elite media bias" is they keep pushing 'Shy Trump Voters' b/c of the presumed stigma

Um, RedHats I know are not shy

It's WAY more likely for there to be Shy Biden Supporters b/c while I'll side-eye RedHats, RedHats will maim/kill liberals in their midst
11.08a/ Look: to be anti-Trump means, ethically, undoing everything that happened in his administration b/c it came about via an cyber-war/illegitimate election & DJT is a depraved traitor.

#Literalists don't get this. Unsurprisingly, many 'conservatives' are literal thinkers.
11.08b/ It's intuitively correct, halakhically correct, and as far as I know in US law.

Stolen money is "fruit of poisoned tree." Bribing a judge is an abomination even if they rule 'correctly'

Keeping stolen goods makes you a thief!
11.09c/ E.g: While I've long supported moving the US embassy to J'slem, I believe it must be moved back b/c everything done by Trump (ym'sh) is irretrievably tainted

My guide is halakha: I can't use a Torah written by a Zeus worshipper b/c it isn't a "Torah," it's like an idol!
11.10/ Fasting is the most important mitzvah of #YomKippur & I allow taking pain-killers for those who need it to maintain the fast

I personally take tylenol w/#caffeine. Without water if possible, a little drip (under 2 oz.) if absolutely necessary.

amazon.com/Tension-Headac…
11.11/ Thread from this morning about why the frum community acts like other conservative religious groups in rejecting COVID protections. Bonus content for how to act on #YomKippur surrounded with those type of people

11.12/ Just to say that given the facts on the grounds - the polls widely in favor of Biden & the overt acts of suppression & unlawful activity by the GOP - there's no way Trump (ym'sh) can win reelection. He can only "retain power" and if he does, it's a clear fascist coup
11.13a/ OK, I feel slightly vindicated by this. In my pinned-tweet about the 4 Comforts, I said that I wasn't worried about the 'October Surprises' by the GOP and in turn DJT should worry about it more. I specifically said the taxes.

11.13b/ So on the same day they announced no Durham drop before Nov 3 (), the Times gets a copy of Trump's (ym'sh) tax returns.

nytimes.com/interactive/20…
11.14/ It was a stressful #YomKippur, given that we all felt the weight on our shoulders to preserve our lives & the lives of the world. Later, IY"H, I'll write up how I handled Ne'ilah as a sanegor (defense attorney) for everyone

balashon.com/2007/02/sanego…
11.15/ When people opine that I shouldn't live in a bubble & shun people who 'have different views than I do' they're telling on themselves

1) Shunning people who deny my/others humanity is a mitzvah

2) The pleaders are trying to avoid social stigma for being horrible. No dice
11.16/ BTW, I had a "meaningful" fast & a "meaningful" #YomKippur, and like the proverbial "interesting times" it was utterly terrifying

I don't offer the "meaningful" blessing for many reasons (I prefer the classic "easy fast" b/c fasting is hard) but this just adds more proof
11.17/ Me, MO rabbi: "Wow tumah & tahara are a great way of thinking about the risks of viral plagues like COVID. What practical wisdom!"

Many other rabbis apparently: "Tumah & Tahara is Torah l'shma! No forest, only trees & COVID is a mystery. Also rov nose/mouth masked k'kulo"
11.18/ True or not, this hot take (DJT was a better debater than we remember!) is proof enough that we need to scrap the entire enterprise of 'debates'

"Yes, the serial liar fascist sociopath was good at this thing we claim helps people determine truth!"

11.19/ Dems best play is to show how #MoscowMitch's 6-3 SCOTUS is a scandalous breach of trust. B/c the GOP lust to destroy the ACA can be met w/legit public outrage that can fuel passage of universal health-care

The ACA was a flaccid compromise of a GOP plan. We can do better
11.20a/ Candidates that claim they should be elected b/c they're 'not politicians' are telling me:

1) they have no experience in the actual job
2) are unserious about the need to learn the skill-set that the job requires
3) thus don't *understand* the job they're seeking
11.20b/ [Candidates who say they aren't politicians, cont.]

4) demean the very job that they want
5) will become what they demean the moment they win

I know I'm the wrong audience for this appeal, but it's common in the US, valorizes an attack on expertise & is a red-flag to me
11.21/ See below for a thread about a paradox I've observed in how the normalization of the attempted fascist takeover is actually something that will help prevent it. It makes sense... I hope.

11.22/ Normal politician debate expectation setting: "My opponent has many years of excellent debates"

GOP method of expectation setting: "My opponent is on drugs & controlled by messages in a hidden earpiece!"

[PSA: the GOP has descended into desperate, crackpot madness]
11.23/ It's hilarious hearing people say The Founding Fathers were geniuses who created an Immaculate Government Idea in 1789.

Even ignoring all the amendments, the FF crafted a gov that couldn't handle political parties... which they themselves then formed IMMEDIATELY.
11.24a/ Wallace did say to DJT that "your campaign agreed to the rules will you please abide by them" and DJT didn't. That's important because, again, this is for the people who are on the fence or who don't like either of them. #Debate2020
11.24b/ Trump (ym'sh) acted so horribly that it's hard to believe he won any supporters. That was the goal of both of them and it's unfathomable that Biden didn't do his job and clearly DJT acted so horribly that whoever were attracted to that were ungettable.
11.24c/ Lastly, of course, was when Trump (ym'sh) was given the chance to condemn the Pr*ud B*ys and instead he said they should “stand back and stand by.” That's all you need to know.

He stepped on every rake given to him while Biden spoke directly to the American people.
11.24d/ And, follow up, the white supremacist terror group he refused to condemn now have proudly accepted his call to "stand back and stand by"

The image of 45's admin is Charlottesville as re-emphasized tonight.

11.25/ I think my favorite moment was when Biden - after being goaded by a uncontrollable rage monster Trump (ym'sh) - talked about Hunter Biden & said "My son had a drug problem but he's overcome it & I'm proud of him"

That was very powerful. As a father, I'm glad he said that.
11.26/ I think Biden should still do these debates because his best argument for election is Trump (ym'sh) acting as horribly as he did tonight

Trump Unbound is a nightmare for everyone but the slavish RedHats. Expose him more & more.
11.27/ As the terrible feeling of being in Trump's (ym'sh) noxious presence fades all that will be left are the clips from the debate &, from what I've seen, they are both accurate & show DJT's fragile meltdown while Biden's able to endure it far better than anyone could hope
11.28/ In regard to any external evaluation of a debate performance for someone who rejected the very concept of debate, democracy and decency:

11.29/ In D&D I can only play lawful good (mayyybe NG) as those are ideologies I can understand. As such, I know that to LG, neutrality appears to be a shade of evil, because how can anyone be indifferent or bothsides good & evil?!

And that's how I see 'undecided' voters.
11.30/ For the future, Twitter doesn't have a gif of Vinko Bogataj's spectacular ski-jump crash that became the icon of "agony of defeat" for the Wide World of Sports, and that's a darn shame. So here ya go.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinko_Bog…
11.31/ Called for this Sept 23. The governors (alert: @GovMurphy) need to be ready & protect the vote

11.32/ By the by, the thread below blows my mind. If the Romans *knew* about dinosaur bones then their myths of 'dragons' & other monsters wasn't ignorance but speculated FACT. I can also assume other cultures possibly knew of these bones as well.

11.33a/ Biden wasn't my first choice but I'm kinda glad he's the candidate right now. As @Yair_Rosenberg points out, the GOP desperately wants to run against someone else (Hillary, Bernie, Warren) & tries to warp Biden into them but it doesn't work b/c of Joe's solid geniality
11.33b/ That said, I can daydream about what a talented orator like Barack Obama would have done to Trump (ym'sh) last night.

Can you imagine? All the times The Big Dummy stuck his chin out, BHO would have dissected him like a laboratory frog
11.34/ Yeah, this is the moment (attacking Biden for going to state school) when Trump (ym'sh) channeled his inner 80s movie bad-guy and effectively said "do you know who my father is?!"

11.35/ Tired: chuckling at a meme sent by my teenage son

Wired: showing him the original media source of the image so he understands the context

Inspired: Watching the first 10 years of the Simpsons with him to cut out the middle-media
11.36/ I sympathize with the need to have clean data, but then again I'm more invested in carpet bombing the GOP with all their seedy scandals at once so they totter over & collapse into their own crapulence.

11.37/ IMO, Biden's "shut up" moment was crucial (& Cohn doesn't seem to get it): to be an ally against abusers, it's critical to stand up to bullies & call them out for their abuse.

Calling it "rude" is being part of the problem!

11.38/ As usual, @magi_jay puts what I'm feeling into words better than I've been able to

This is also how I've changed on Biden (I was for Harris then Warren in the primaries): he's a lot more *decent* than I knew. e.g. last night about his son Hunter

11.39/ I know nothing about Silver but this is language that coddles abusers. Because: when is Trump (ym'sh) NOT dangerous? When he's leading? When he wins?

DJT is always dangerous. He's a sociopath, he has no off-switch, no better side

11.40/ Live look in to my #etrog right now:
11.41/ In case you missed it, Trump's (ym'sh) strategy appears to have been to interrupt Biden constantly in order to trigger a stuttering episode & thus frame Biden as infirm what-have-you. Depravity on parade

11.42/ Here's the story from a month ago about the 'calculated risk' strategy of trying to, as I put it "throw poo at him so that he'll be covered in poo and people will think he's poo but not think we - who produced the poo - are the source of the poo'

politico.com/news/2020/09/0…
11.43/ This is pretty amazing. This morning the British Library is highlighting the work of Ignatius Sancho and my wife is giving a free concert today 1:15-2:00 pm featuring his music!

Click here to register: gemsny.org/current-season…

11.44/ Wrote this a week ago about one of faulty factors I find in 538's 'fundamentals' model. They use the economy as something that will help Trump (ym'sh) but for all I've seen, public perception on almost everything is driven by partisanship.
11.44b/ What I mean is: no matter how well the economy is, partisans interpret the data to support their party. Thus the only people actually affected by the economy are the 'undecideds' which, a la @RachelBitecofer, in 2020 mean 'people who hate both candidates'
11.44c/ Another factor (see 538 below) is that the economy was artificially propped up due to the stimulus (counter-intuitively supported by the Dems while the GOP tried to kill it!)

For why the GOP hates their public, see @TimothyDSnyder & sadopopulism

11.45a/ I've long said Trump's (ym'sh) entire strategy is just stuff that gives him evil jollies ("push button, get treat") & b/c of our history/culture of white supremacy, it gave 40% of voters in key states jollies as well. But he can't change the 'strategy' b/c it isn't one.
11.45b/ He says vile things, acts like a fragile toxic male, indulges all of his broken fantasies in public, because the structure of 21st Cent. America is set up to support a person like him

He had no incentive to behave differently, don't expect him to

11.46/ More of this please. As I said at the top of this log snaking thread, there's blood in the water. The worse Trump (ym'sh) is doing in the polls, the bolder the press will be in treated him & the GOP the way they should

11.47/ It's possible that the debate will shake the loose fruit off the trees, the wavering voter who dislikes both candidates, to support the challenger like in 1976 and 1980

11.48/ #Miscarriage is trending due to a tragic loss with a famous couple. My heart goes out to them

I'll add: as a pulpit rabbi, I counseled many couples who suffered this tragedy & nearly all had to suffer in solitude. Its so much more common than is known, 20% of pregnancies!
11.49/ The concept of "malitz yosher" - a recently deceased righteous elder acting as a skillful intermediary between her People and the Lord - is well known in Jewish tradition

Anthropomorphism aside, I use this notion when I comfort families

11.50/ I'll just add that I suggested - 3 years ago - that when it looks like he'll lose re-election he'll fake an illness or (in my naïve mind back then what I considered more likely) fake an assassination attempt

11.51/ For those skeptical of the news & how "this could actually be good for Trump (ym'sh)" (like everything, including being down double digits in polls), there's a lot of info saying it's real.

All I know is that #YomKippur can be a turning point.

11.52/ This is going around as another sign that the diagnosis is real. This man predicted a positive test an hour before the news broke because of the pattern of military aircraft

11.53/ BTW, the signs of the disease getting more serious are (1) difficulty breathing, (2) loss of smell, and the biggest: (3) pardoning his children of all federal crimes and them leaving the country carrying overstuffed bags with dollar signs on them
11.54/ Pence's behavior will be another signal as to how serious the disease is. We may see an invocation of the 25th yet.
11.55/ Thank God. Harris needs to be healthy & alive on Jan 20, 2021 for many reasons
11.56/ Just a reminder about my Four Comforts thread, that this carries the first three. I mean, even before he tested positive for COVID, yesterday was a carpet bomb of anti-45 news including "Melania hates Xmas" tape.

11.57/ It's so predictable to hear a bunch of RedHat ghouls tone policing their teeming victims about needing to show "respect and compassion" for POTUS. GOP platform is clearly pro-COVID from the beginning. They should be happy COVID's doing well.

See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_faith
11.58/ Soon, I'll try to write up what I davened to HKBH during Neila on YK, but a major part of my sanegor duty was to plead that people were not getting the hint, the disease wasn't changing their behavior, so please halt the plague

Now, I hear of some major local cases. Argh!
11.59/ It's been one heck of a #Tishrei:

Before RH: RBG z'l passes
Before YK: Trump's (ym'sh) taxes are published
Before Sukkot: Trump (ym'sh) tests positive for COVID
Before Simchat Torah: ???

(maybe Hoshana Rabba really is the final-final exam)
11.60/ I've tried to tell people from the beginning that 'avoid like the plague' and 'that went viral' should give you an idea how quickly diseases spread

11.61/ THANK GOD, the Bidens are negative (so far). I assume they are following the best medical advice and will self-quarantine, or not, based on that. Joe is a former 2-term VP, he knows what he's doing

11.62/ The GOP plan of making America a pariah virus state, sealing off borders all over the world because of our high infection rate, is going to play havoc with whatever plans they had to escape the country if they lose by a landslide. International waters & Dr. No fortress?
11.63/ I wrote a long thread way back when about how I see the in-fighting among the Borgia-Medici White House, with Kushner needing a graceful exit & Barr needing to retain power so he can turn the US in a theocratic monarchy

11.63b/ This is what I referenced above. Barr is the most dangerous of them all b/c - & this can just be my lack of knowledge and imagination - he doesn't have an elegant escape plan. All I can hope is that he *thinks* he can go out like Cheney

11.64/ God doesn't give us an easy way out. Free will demands equal power for truth & lies

The Midrash is pretty clear that the evil tyrant has his heart hardened in order to maximize the punishment for the nation of free-willed evil-doers. Call it the "Pharaoh Effect"
11.65/ Along with "avoid like the plague" the phrase "I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy" is getting a serious real-world road test
11.66/ I will pause this week's thread-installment here. #ShabbatShalom everyone, #ChagSukkotSameach

@threadreaderapp please unroll

@threader_app please compile
12.01/ #ShavuaTov everyone. First time since I lived in Israel during the first Gulf War that I had a radio on all yuntif (with headphones) so I could occasionally check to see if the Big Dummy was still alive. What a crazy week.
12.02/ Quick idea: instead of Wolverine having adamantium claws, how about having my #lulav when I'm sliding it out of it's plastic sheath?

#Sukkot
12.03a/ Oh boy, #Nobel week. The Nobels are like the Superbowls of the Oscars. Or, better, the Nobels are like the Nobel Prizes for nerds.

One advantage of being an academic is that I may know some of the winners. I have rooting interest too

nobelprize.org/prizes/medicin…
12.03b/ My checklist:
1) Is it a relative?
2) anyone I know personally
3) how many women
4) how many from Israel
5) How many Jewish (yes, I keep score)
6) How many from America
7) How many from family schools (last year was Binghamton!, so cool)
binghamton.edu/news/story/207…
12.04/ Here's the concert my wife, Prof. Rebecca Cypess, and Sonya Headlam gave last week

Music from two overlooked composers, Ignatius Sancho (formerly enslaved African) & Anne-Louise Brillon de Jouy (woman)

Live to tape from my home (w/real crickets!)

12.05/ Read this thread from @archer_rs to my family over Sukkot and great mirth was had by all. Alas, I may have given the kids ideas that they could perform this type of reverse-scam-prank & needed to warn them that this guy is obviously a professional

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1299973…
12.06/ My comment about the RedHats attached to POTUS getting COVID because of their callous disregard for science, health and others' safety
12.07/ It is moral to rejoice at the downfall of the wicked. You're happy that evil is being stopped. If you love justice & peace, you thrill that cruel people can no longer commit evil against innocents

And if you're one of their victims? OF COURSE YOU CAN BE HAPPY
12.07b/ I'll add that if your enemy thrilled in your victimization, laughed at your cries of pain, enjoyed innocent people being killed, maimed, impoverished, left to languish while they flex their ill-gotten power, you MUST be happy when they are stopped.
12.08/ Perfect is too often the enemy of the good. All lasting progress is incremental. We can't fix everything by electing Biden & a Dem congress in Nov, it won't be perfect, we'll then need to fix the courts, the climate, health care etc.

It will take years but it starts now.
12.09/ Whoever lets him leave today is indirectly helping kill people by abetting the lie "don't be afraid" & letting him directly endanger others

Most of all, they are letting him kill himself

We know nobody can tell him 'no' but this is knowingly murder-suicide! Image
12.10/ Everything he does is the act of a coked-up squirrel, acting for the >now<, the exact moment, because nobody has made him feel any consequences, least of all his diseased conscience

He's now going to literally risk muder-suicide to soothe his ego

12.11/ This gives me strength.
12.12/ Just like clearing out protesters for the church photo-op, just like he wants a military parade, he's living out his Kim-Jong-Un fantasy with the mask removal. Standing on the balcony like a tin-pot Duke or generalissimo, heaving for breath

12.13/ We are all gun-shy from 2016, especially since that one was likely stolen & that always messes up the data. But 2018 showed us that DJT was horrible at his job, even worse than #MoscowMitch was in his. Both destroy, that's it.

12.14/ With God's help: in ten years we'll be able to look back at all we've done & written right now, see how we resisted fascism, be proud of our action & happy it was over

It's like my letters home when I was in Israel during Gulf War 1; a record of travail, pain & endurance
12.15/ And a big Moadim L'Simcha to y'all (whole thread showing the CNN numbers; 16 pts is gargantuan, even with 3.6 margin of error. 60-39 with seniors!)

12.16/ I know RedHats and anti-anti-Trumpers (passive RedHats?) and what distinguishes that group isn't anger - because I'm way more angry - but *resentment*. Being aggrieved, jealous, resentful, spiteful. All in all, cruelty.

It's also anti-halakha, anti-Torah, IMO.
12.17/ Corruptly pushing through a stolen SCOTUS pick instead of any other legislation - COVID support, economic stimulus, voting protection - is enough for any reasonable person to realize the GOP is all bad faith & SCOTUS is illegitimate
12.18/ This from Sunday, from Jake Tapper, is a very good 4 min summary of the depraved evil of Trump's (ym'sh) behavior, and the GOP's eager compliance.

12.19/ This is a great speech from Michelle Obama. She sells the Biden-Harris ticket as well as I've heard so far

(FYI: it's 26 min & didn't start until about 2min in, for me)

12.20a/ This is important, esp. for understanding how un-replicable Trump (ym'sh) is: his whole life was spent for this moment.

He actually is 'authentic' in being a racist abuser & his fake image took decades to construct.

12.20b/ Normally, though, his goonery didn't work; he ran for Pres every time since 1988 but found purchase in 2016 due to

1. GOP eager for minority/apartheid takeover
2. Russian $
3. Internet/tech capability
4. HRC's unpopularity
5. 20 yrs of Gingrich/McConnell erosion of gov
12.20c/ There were many 'perfect storm' factors too; e.g. Ted Cruz was #2 in polling & the GOP establishment was so disgusted by that possibility that they couldn't coalesce around a non-DJT alternative (asop. to Dems in '20 being able to choose Biden over Bernie)
12.20d/ Follow up: I'm actually not worried about another Trump (ym'sh) but I'm terrified of another Bush-Cheney: pliable & stupid religious fanatic Pres & horrific fascist kleptocrat VP.

And that, folks, would be Pence-Barr '24. That can happen, happen often & must be stopped.
12.21/ As a religious man I dismiss mummy curses as idolatry. As a man of science I can dismiss the superstition. But as an anthropologist, I can say "Hey, that was on page 1 of the manual: no unleashing more plagues in the midst of other plagues"
12.22/ Kashrut 101: knowing what are reliable hashgachas

201: knowing what food categories you can use on Pesach (no green beans, WTH?)

Grad school: knowing what grain based processed foods can be eaten outside of a sukkah ;)

(Crispix? yes! Cap'n Crunch has oats? why?)
12.23/ Stuff like this (1) makes me appreciate the talent & acumen of these online skirmishers & (2) shows me I don't have nearly enough 'online' skills as these experts do. But I laud the artisanship.

12.24/ #NobelPrize2020 in Physics today:
1/2 for Roger Penrose (Oxford) for black holes
&
1/4 for Andrea Ghez (UCLA) & 1/4 Reinhard Genzel (Berkely, US/Planck, Germany) for supermassive black holes

So 1 woman, 2 Americans (other tallies pending)

nobelprize.org/prizes/physics…
12.25/ And, whoa, the MacArthurs are also today! (Confidentially, I envy these more than the Nobel)

Nobody I know this year, but plenty of my & my family fields are considered (so, ya never know!)

Mazal tov to all the recipients

macfound.org/programs/fello…
12.26/ From last week

Not saying that there'll be a massive newsworthy anti-Trump (ym'sh) event on Friday - like a health crash after he ripped the tubes from his arms & escaped medical care so he could infect his family & staff - but that's the pattern

12.27/ BTW, this is a great point: Trump (ym'sh) got medical treatment from stem-cells.

A senator (Harris? Please?!) must ask Judge Theocrat Von Patriarchy whether she insists that her god-emperor patron be punished for demanding stem-cell meds.

12.28/ Yes, no debate until the GOP takes COVID seriously. Harris should cancel/postpone with the clear message: Trump-Pence is irresponsible etc. This is the exact message to win in Nov.

12.29/ Monsters. These people are monsters. Sessions we knew, now confirmation for Rosenstein. Nuremberg trials are needed

12.30/ Everything is crazy & terrible, and I forgot to post this yesterday. My wife and I, along with our three as yet unable-to-vote kids, dropped off our Biden votes. It felt gooooooood. My wife is the selfie artist, my kids behind my avatar & I'm the black hat fella

#IVoted Image
12.31/ I do like pointing out that in the Hall of Shame of presidents, John Tyler gets overlooked but he was the only living US president who actively joined a government that sought the destruction of the US

12.32a/ Oh, and to be thorough, the Crazy @MuppetRabbi posted a few things this morning

12.32b/ New drasha
12.32c/ I had this written in my machzor, I'm not sure how he found out
12.33/ Sorry, while the Lincoln Project may be overexposed, I'm in the targeted cultural demographic for this ad and it's FUN
12.34/ And not only did we get to vote, but the next day our lawn sign finally arrived!

We ordered it immediately after the Harris announcement and it took [looks at watch] 6 weeks. (The T-shirt was quicker) Picture of Josh Cypess in B...
12.35/ I really wonder if this will prompt The Big Dummy to actually criticize Putin. He's hopped up on goofballs, so maybe he'll snap and go after his sugar daddy. If DJT doesn't go after him, then that's all the proof we need that he's his toy pet

12.36/ We have a government of "laws not men" but the #TrumpCrisis has shown that weak, cowardly people can undermine great institutions in an eye-blink

We need to fortify every org, in gov & out, to resist & expose abusers.

usatoday.com/story/news/inv…
12.37/ The keyword in The Big Dummy's shrieking message is "entitled." He is entitled, in all the worst implications of the word. Aggrieved, resentful, entitled to all & charity to none

Also, spelling 'caught' as 'cough-t' is just amazing Image
12.38/ Biden's #GettysburgSpeech yesterday was really amazing. His speechwriters are incredible, putting into poetry and prose what really appears to be his intention & soul. If all goes well, our Buchanan & Coolidge can give way to a Lincoln or FDR

12.39/ Bye Eddie #VanHalen, your music was the soundtrack of my youth. For many GenXers 1984 didn't mean Orwell, or the crush of Reagan's road of ignorance & fear to our current fascism, but VH

Fitting that this was the first video I saw on MTV:
12.40/ It's now confirmed, but it was pretty obvious The Big Dummy never got tested. He's been a free-rider his whole life & expected the 'suckers' to get tested while he'd ride it out trusting his wobbly, cracker 'genes'. He's his own horrible metaphor

12.41/ Seriously, the Big Dummy gave a wacked out speech, calling COVID a blessing from God, while his face is slathered in pumpkin spice cake frosting. Look at the contrast with his bone white hands. He's a homicidal Ooma Loompa

nytimes.com/2020/10/07/us/… Screenshot of Trump's (yima...
12.42/ Nobel week continues! Chemistry. From their page: "Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna 'for the development of a method for genome editing.'"

2 of 2 women! Very nice. Charpentier is at Planck (Germany) & Doudna at Berkeley (US)

nobelprize.org/prizes/chemist…
12.43/ BTW, the more Pence interrupts and runs over her words it reminds us of what Trump (ym'sh) did last week. This is a crazy strategy to act like the guy everyone thought was horrible.
12.44/ Pence is stepping onto rake after rake about #BreonnaTaylor. Holy cow! I mean he couldn't answer the abortion question, or really any question, but he's defending the verdict?!
12.45/ I gasped when Pence brought up the Jewish grandchildren of Trump (ym'sh). The chutzpah!
12.46/ The questions were great but the moderation was abysmal: make Pence answer, don't let him get away (e.g. abortion, transfer of power)

Pence was usually creepy, diabolic self. And, clearly, #KamalaWonTheDebate
12.47/ Look, 538 has Biden at 84% to win. What are the odds that Trump (ym'sh) will die from COVID by Nov 3? Being serious here. There's possibly the same chance for Pence to be president by Nov 3 than for him to be VP on Jan 21 538 Polls as of Oct 7, 84% ...
12.48/ Ya know, Pence had what looked like pink-eye (and fly-attraction?). Just putting this out here:

webmd.com/eye-health/cov…
12.49/ Pundits telling me that VP debates don't matter. My response is they have a great effect on that politician's future. Dan Quayle's career was *killed* by Lloyd Bentsen.

I'll claim that Harris needed to act like a president tonight even more than other VPs. She did that.
12.50/ Hepped up on goofballs Trump (ym"sh) is the best window for seeing his fervid reptile mind's inability to hide his intentions

12.51/ Bingo

12.52/ Things I was taught in smicha: laws of shechita; laws of tumat ohalim in hilchot aveilut

Things they should have taught: (1) how to say no to a rich guy/family when they undermine halakha and/or you (2) being a talmid chacham doesn't automatically make you a good person
12.53/ I haven't seen a dime
12.54/ He's a sadist. He actually enjoys people getting hurt. It's crucial to understand

12.55/ So glad it's allergy, aka "is this normal reaction to evil pollen or is it COVID," season again. At least I don't need to be outdoors for any length of time surrounded by decaying vegetation. No, I don't mind your leaf-blowers spewing poisoned air either
12.56/ Sorry, I had to hear it to confirm. Yes, Trump (ym'sh) calls Senator Harris a "monster"
12.57/ IMO Buttigieg is what a sane, moral, compassionate Pence would sound like; i.e. he's got that measured, sober tone but in this video (on FoxAndFascismFriends!) he's just eviscerating Trump (ym'sh). It's a methodical massacre

12.58/ Excellent
12.59/ [Slapping Constitution on the roof] this baby can fit so many amendments

Seriously, if/when Biden wins he really is going to have a massive 1st day in office signing the legislation we'll need to fix everything the GOP has wrought
12.60/ It's slightly off-putting that me - a decidedly off-kilter, singularly interested, even (possibly) strange person - so easily falls within the Lincoln Project demographic of ads. But they do amazing work
12.61/ Peter B*ker on the NewAbnormal described his understanding of DC & US politics & I'm not surprised he's of the "Trump is an anomaly" school

NYT seems to be a broken evolutionary system where their 'top' reporters are stenographers with no insight

nationalgeographic.com/science/phenom…
12.62/ This is a great thread with previews of all "conservative" excuses for their slavish support of fascism & Trump (ym'sh). I know these people. This is 100% accurate. We can make bingo cards.

12.63/ #NobelPrize week continues. Louise Glück, Jewish American woman; former US poet laureate. Normally I'm suspicious of the Lit prize; it's been seriously tainted in past years, but this one really helps my tallies!

nobelprize.org/prizes/literat…
12.64/ Everyone knows a Mike Pence. Yup. His constant disrespect (inherent in interruptions & rudeness is disrespect) was seen by abusers & abuse-enablers as still 'civil' b/c of his radio voice. But he reminded everyone of his Leader, Trump (ym'sh)
12.65/ I lived through Pres. GHWB, I was too young to know Gerald Ford, but when I think of either of the men, I think of Dana Carvey and Chevy Chase respectively. Same thing, I believe, for future Americans with Trump (ym'sh): in our heads, he'll be a pursed lipped Alec Baldwin
12.66/ Every erev-chag, I rush around trying to finish up all preparations (esp. Sukkot) but #SheminiAtzeret needs to prep, so we make up for it by having the longest possible davening you can imagine for Hoshana Rabba. At least we get to have some "whacking day" fun
12.67/ That said, it's getting closer and closer to #CandleLighting, so I will close out this week's #RandomThoughts thread. #ShabbatShalom & #ChagSameach, have a great time dancing on #SimchatTorah by yourself... I will

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More from @JoshuaCypess

Joshua Cypess Profile picture
Nov 16
227.01/ Week two-hundred and twenty-seven, November 16-22, 2024, thread begins here.

Week 226 below.
227.02/ #ChochmatNashim for #ChayeiSara 5784 2023 (LAST YEAR) @ChochmatNashim.
Downloadable PDF with working links to Divrei Torah by Orthodox women scholars. 19 pages. #ChayaSara #ChayeiSarah

drive.google.com/file/d/1FKX-z_…
227.03/ The first time through the cruel & stupid Trump (ym'sh) circus I read the news with trepidation because I didn't know what terrible thing he'd do next. This time, I read the news with contempt & anger because the MSM helped elect him and wants him to succeed.
Read 5 tweets
Joshua Cypess Profile picture
Nov 9
226.01/ Week two-hundred and twenty-six, November 9-15, 2024, thread begins here.

Week 225 below.
226.02/ Yup. Still here on Twitter. Gonna keep the fight and keep the faith. And also... no regrets. #HarrisWalz2024 Picture of 2 items: on the right is the volunteer badge my family wore when canvassing in PA. On the left is the door-knob flier we would put on unresponsive houses.
226.03/ #MotzeiShabbatMovieNight continues. What movie? What else to start a new season, and in such a shockingly bad time? #Casablanca.
Read 22 tweets
Joshua Cypess Profile picture
Nov 3
225.01/ Week two-hundred and twenty-five, November 2-8, 2024, thread begins here.

Week 224 below.
225.02/ Finally dropped off our ballots this morning & took a selfie. A fun thing then happened: a young dad carrying a baby arrived after us & he said that it was his first time voting after becoming a citizen! So I insisted on taking a photo of him (with his camera). USA! USA!
225.03/ Yes, I'm the one who waited all Shabbas for the poll, taught my kids how polls work (social science PhD, baby) & what I hoped would happen (GOP leading by only 5). And they got to see my stunned elation in real time when I read the news.
Read 44 tweets
Joshua Cypess Profile picture
Oct 27
224.01/ Week two-hundred and twenty-four, October 26-November 1, 2024, thread begins here.

Week 223 below.
224.02/ There's sticker shock and then there's "standing on the bathroom scale after 3 three-day yuntifs and 2 major fasts over 3 weeks" sticker shock.
224.03/ BTW, Trump (ym"sh) abd the MAGA-GOP going completely mask-off with racist nativism was very much on my BINGO card.

Read 29 tweets
Joshua Cypess Profile picture
Oct 20
223.01/ Week two-hundred and twenty-three, October 19-23, 2024, thread begins here.

Week 222 below.
223.02/ Downside of "October is the Best Sports Month" - mixed blessing really - is that at 8pm tonight 3 of my teams will be on at the same time. NYMets facing elimination, #LIGHTITUPNYL in the last game of the finals, and the Steelers on SNF.
223.03/ #ChochmatNashim for #Vezot #SimchatTorah #SheminiAtzeret 2023-5784 (LAST YEAR). @ChochmatNashim
Downloadable PDF with working links with Divrei Torah by Orthodox women scholars on the topics of the week. 23 Pages
drive.google.com/file/d/1pQso-a…
Read 6 tweets
Joshua Cypess Profile picture
Oct 14
222.01/ Week two-hundred and twenty-two, October 12-16, 2024, thread begins here.

Week 221 below
222.02/ #ChochmatNashim for #Sukkot 5784 2023 (LAST YEAR) @ChochmatNashim.

Downloadable PDF with Divrei Torah by Orthodox women scholars on the holiday & other weekly topics. 15 pages.
drive.google.com/file/d/154AH4_…
222.03/ Another October sports is awesome moment: Mets playoffs, Yankees playoffs, Monday night football plus the #NYR at home. Pretty much all at the same time.
Read 7 tweets

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