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Seth Mandel Profile picture
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23 Nov, 7 tweets, 1 min read
Looks like Biden has decided on Not Susan Rice for Secretary of State
Also not at all surprised by Michele Flournoy at Defense after her CNN oped in September reminding Biden that he needs to pick her for Defense cnn.com/2020/09/02/opi…
Biden: I picked a woman for vice president!

Flournoy:
Biden knows everyone is merely control-F the fopo team announcements for 'ben rhodes' and 'wendy sherman' and every scoop that scans 0/0 gets a ticker tape parade.
"No top level position for Susan Rice? Wow, imagine who else is not in the running for various positions! Let's see where this goes."
Jake Sullivan for NSA? Solid. Elevating an experienced and low key institutionalist over Obama bros is such a relief.
I'm going to disagree with these guys plenty but they're serious about their jobs and unlike Obama bros Jake Sullivan is never going to call me a disloyal Jew for disagreeing with him on Iran.

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More from @SethAMandel

Seth Mandel Profile picture
23 Nov
Glad Scott Gottlieb wrote this, which correctly makes clear that the ppl who have been treating wearing masks as a silver bullet are usually wearing a mask that provides between 10% and 30% protection (less, b/c they're not wearing/handling them correctly) wsj.com/articles/some-…
The person yelling at others about wearing a mask is very likely using it at 5% protection and then obliterating whatever is left by barking for the camera.
This is why "oh but many of those packed, screaming and singing protesters were wearing masks" was such a laughable excuse for saying you were allowed to march with de Blasio but not attend an outdoor funeral.
Read 4 tweets
Seth Mandel Profile picture
23 Nov
One of the reasons it matters that Biden has begun elevating institutionalists instead of ideologues: institutionalists may share the ideologues' posture in the Gulf but are much less reckless. Institutionalists probably won't want to blow up Arab-Israeli peace. Ideologues will.
Ppl have to understand that a lot of the praise from center and right on Biden's fopo choices thus far is not *policy agreement* overall, it's recognition that these are folks you can disagree with but actually have a debate on policy with.
And they value the architecture of America's place in the world. I don't have any illusions about their preferred approach to Iran (bad). But would they sacrifice half a million Syrians for it? Would they trade Israel for Qatar over it? Less likely than the ideologues.
Read 8 tweets
Seth Mandel Profile picture
12 Nov
I saved this one for a follow up because it deserves its own tweet. Behold the majesty of the New York Times:
A sampling of 'to be sure' caveats in this NYT report, which probably should've raised a red flag:

"The parallel is not exact."

"There is little indication that Mr. Trump can overcome the laws and institutions..."

"Nobody expects Mr. Trump to follow that gruesome example."
Here is a picture NYT is running with the piece: Milosevic at The Hague
Read 5 tweets
Seth Mandel Profile picture
11 Nov
Gyms closing at 10pm? Aren't most comparatively empty by then? What's the thinking here?
This is a big source of frustration. Officials don't seem to be paying close attention to where spreading is taking place, just trying to head off questions of "well then why are *they* allowed to stay open?" Well, those questions often have actual answers!
"To stop the spread of the virus we recommend New Yorkers take up day drinking, then maybe head over to the gym."
Read 4 tweets
Seth Mandel Profile picture
11 Nov
Spine Gap update: One sad thing about Max Rose losing is he was the one elected Democrat willing to push back on the Squad's antisemitism. His replacement obviously will call it out too but it was nice having someone from their own party do it.
Hopefully Rose will run for mayor or something where he can continue kicking de Blasio around the yard.
Also, and this is important: Rose was an ally against James Vissarionovich Dolan.
Read 4 tweets
Seth Mandel Profile picture
11 Nov
Going to end up being a fairly impressive victory when all is said and done
Also that GOP pickup in Orange County suggests Republicans should be pretty happy. Idk how the party managed to escape with its brand in one piece but man, put aside the victim complex and take the W here. Don’t Shawshank this where you can’t remember how to live on the outside.
It’s like a reboot of My Two Dads but America is that kid and the dads are Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden. Gonna be fun!
Read 6 tweets

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