Bravo @thevirdas.

You must, must, watch his powerful, eloquent, thought-provoking, brutally honest, and above all else, very, very funny monologue at the Kennedy Center on the 'Two Indias.'

"You make some noise for the India you want to live in."
And of course politicians in India, especially but not exclusively on the right, immediately made his point for him (and reminded us how free speech is under threat in the world's biggest democracy):
theguardian.com/world/2021/nov…
"I come from an India that is Hindu and Muslim and Christian and Sikh and Parsi and Jew and when we all look up at the sky we only see one thing together: the price of patrol."
- @thevirdas
“I come from an India where we take pride in being vegetarian, and yet run over the farmers who grow our vegetables.”
- @thevirdas

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More from @mehdirhasan

7 Nov
Sorry, what? I’m pretty sure I was sounding the alarm on Trump & democracy long before you were, Congressman, back when you were refusing to impeachment him first time round.

Also, unlike you, I support the Freedom to Vote and John Lewis voting rights bills. How come you don’t?
*impeach not impeachment dammit #typo
I’ll be responding to @AdamKinzinger on my @MSNBC show tonight at 8pm ET. The Congressman is welcome to join me to debate voting rights, democracy, and bipartisanship if he’d like.
Read 4 tweets
4 Nov
Almost every BBB policy that Manchin has blocked has huge support from the public at large - including majority support from his beloved Republicans!
One thing I was always amazed by when I didn’t live here and am even more amazed by since I moved here, is this weird American insistence - even from many Dems and libs - that America is a rightwing country - in defiance of all the polling and electoral evidence.
Read 4 tweets
4 Nov
My @MehdiHasanShow monologue tonight reacting to last night's election, & addressing:

- 'moderates' ridiculously blaming 'progressives' for the Virginia loss
- how Republicans on emotions while Dems run on policy
- how rightwing propaganda is central
"You can't beat [GOP racist dogwhistling] by offering people a new bridge."

My opening monologue today on why running on policy - even progressive popular policies! - isn't enough for Democrats & how they have to fight the culture wars & win them.

Watch:
"Democrats need to recognize the real challenge isn't about policy. It's about finding ways to brand the Republicans in the same way that the Republicans have branded Democrats, & in doing so to motivate people & connect with them."

My post-election take:
Read 4 tweets
27 Oct
The excellent @esglaude debating @JohnHMcWhorter on 'wokeness' and anti-racism and McWhorter's new book on @Morning_Joe right now on @MSNBC

Worth your time.
"The same thing is going on on the left" in terms of illiberalism and "closed minds," says McWhorter.

This is demonstrably false. There is no leftwing equivalent of 1/6, Great Replacement, QAnon, at the top levels of the Democratic Party and the liberal media.
As for "closed minds," it is a majority of GOP voters who don't accept democracy right now, & it is the leadership of the Republican Party that denies climate change & basic science.

People can try & 'both sides' our current moment as much as possible but it's just not true.
Read 5 tweets
8 Oct
Joe Manchin, whose uncle was WV Sec of State, who joined his family business out of college, whose son took over his family firm, who carries on getting coal money payouts, is giving right-wing lectures on "entitlement mentality"? Seriously?

My #minirant:
"When, as governor of WV, Joe Manchin was pushing for a multibillion-dollar bailout of the big banks, banks like Goldman Sachs, whose employees would go on to become some of Manchin's biggest donors, that wasn't 'entitlement mentality'?"

My #minirant:
"'Entitlement mentality' is a conservative trope...no different to Reagan... 'welfare queens'...When Manchin's predominantly white voters in rural WV hear him talk about ppl & their 'entitlement' they're thinking about black ppl in big cities on welfare."
Read 4 tweets
24 Sep
*Part of me thinks Dems should start fighting fire with fire. If the only language MAGA folks understand is power, & the abuse of power!, Kamala Harris should threaten to use the power the MAGA folks *think* the VP has & just preemptively confirm right now Biden has won in 2024.
*Part of me thinks that. The rest of me recognizes that if both parties were to go anti-democratic and anti-norms then we are all screwed & the U.S. democratic experiment is over. Then again, it may be over anyways if Dems don't stop Manchin/Sinema from letting the GOP run wild.
Sorry these only semi-serious, and slightly crazy, tweets are a result of my frustration at the state we're in and what's coming down the track. A lot of Very Serious People *still* don't recognize the threat to our democracy and how 2024 is set to be a true scary sh*tshow.
Read 4 tweets

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