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19 Dec, 4 tweets, 2 min read
I’m sorry, but the ideas that she lost this committee spot because of a very good interview she did with The Intercept and that she only gave the good answers she gave in the interview because of pressure from the “Jimmy Dore caucus” are both completely insane.
AOC didn’t get the committee spot because corporate Democrats oppose her social justice advocacy and think they will suffer no consequences from blocking her. They don’t yet think she’s a legitimate threat to torpedo their priorities (like getting Pelosi elected as Speaker).
What @jimmy_dore is wrong about: this ideas that AOC is a sellout and that the only worthwhile demand for her to make right now is a floor vote on Medicare for All.

What Dore is right about: to have power, AOC must credibly threaten to withhold support corporate Democrats need.
*These* ideas

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Ben Spielberg Profile picture
20 Dec
Much to agree with here from @BenBurgis. I think he undersells the potential upside of a floor vote & agree more with @briebriejoy's case about why it would have value. But this is a strategic disagreement among people with the same goals. Dore calling AOC a sellout is a problem.
Here's @briebriejoy's piece on the floor vote. My personal view is that the best push right now would be for a standalone cash relief bill.

To me, though, the question of what specifically AOC should demand misses the more crucial point: how does AOC win? currentaffairs.org/2020/12/the-ca…
To succeed at getting good results - a floor vote for Medicare for All or anything else - social justice advocates in Congress need real leverage over corporate Democrats. Pelosi needs to be legitimately worried that she'll lose without AOC. @jimmy_dore is right on this point.
Read 7 tweets
Ben Spielberg Profile picture
18 Dec
Ah yes, the never-seen-before “Russian model” of [checks notes]...consistent messaging. 🙄
Every specific example of “Russian disinformation” I’ve seen cited over the past 5 years has been unsophisticated, small bore, &/or actually mostly true. Russia hasn’t “hacked our minds;” Russiagate is just the manifestation of a wide swath of the media losing touch with reality.
Also, while it is true recent hacks are “widely attributed to Russia,” as @FareedZakaria points out, it’s also true that this attribution has not been confirmed. Discussion of the hacks as if Russia being behind them is a forgone conclusion is just bad journalism.
Read 4 tweets
Ben Spielberg Profile picture
18 Dec
I'm glad @chefjoseandres is supporting #OneFairWage in NY this year after opposing it in DC in 2018, but it is important to note that he seems only to be supporting it because the wage increase request is coupled with other requests, like for "tax relief." washingtoncitypaper.com/article/504447…
Sadly, José Andres is still making things up about the push to abolish the subminimum wage for tipped workers in DC in 2018, though this time, the falsehood is more bizarre than anything else. What is he even talking about? Image
This sentence is also fascinating to me because it's clearly José Andres's own fault that he became the "poster boy" against fair wages in DC. He behaved in a Trumpian fashion! I had some firsthand experience with that. ImageImageImageImage
Read 4 tweets
Ben Spielberg Profile picture
17 Dec
This piece is written by a former adviser to both Bush & Trump who sells "network security services to governments and private companies." Maybe we could take his evidence-free claims about the extreme Russian hacking threat with a grain of salt? nytimes.com/2020/12/16/opi…
This is literally the only explanation the author provides for alleging that "the Russians" have probably infiltrated everything: a certain type of hack is "almost always" committed by a nation-state & we should just take his word for it that there's evidence implicating Russia.
Trump will soon be gone but Russiagate will likely continue to poison our political and media landscape for years to come. A reminder about why this conspiratorial & dangerous narrative exists: 34justice.com/2018/07/24/a-p…
Read 4 tweets
Ben Spielberg Profile picture
16 Dec
If the Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice Task Force co-chaired by @SenLisaBaker, @Senatorcosta, @RepToohil, & @RepZabel wants to bring "data-driven findings and recommendations" by March 31, they should pay close attention at today's @CareNotControl town hall. eventbrite.com/e/care-not-con…
The @CareNotControl campaign aims to end youth incarceration in Pennsylvania. Their town hall will feature the voices of young people and parents who have experienced the injustices of juvenile detention firsthand as well as policies that can begin to be implemented right now.
The @CareNotControl policy recommendations, which are "initial and/or interim steps" towards ending youth incarceration, include ideas like ending fees and creating individualized transition plans when youth are released from custody. Read them all here. villagearts.org/carenotcontrol/
Read 4 tweets
Ben Spielberg Profile picture
30 Aug
Donald Trump has a lot less power & Barack Obama had a lot more than many Democrats will admit.
The presidency is an incredibly important office. It cannot both be true, though, that Trump can enact whatever awful things he wants despite a divided Congress & that Obama was hamstrung by the limitations of the presidency when Democrats controlled both the House & the Senate.
Corporate Democrats' inconsistent narratives on presidential power are a product of political strategy: they feign impotence when they win to hide their ideological opposition to social justice & overhype the threat when they lose to scare you into giving power back to them.
Read 4 tweets

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