Calvin Coolidge and the Holocaust: A thread

By Ivan Hodes

(1/16) In the 1880s, about 200,000 Eastern European Jews emigrated from the Russian Empire to America. In the 1890s, it was 300,000. Between 1900-1914 it was 1.5 million, including four of my great-grandparents.

(2/16)

Q: “Are you a Zionist?”

A: *takes deep breath*

A 🧵

By Ivan Hodes

Tl;dr: no but also yes but also not really but also it’s irrelevant and also Free Palestine and also Am Yisrael Chai 1) this is a question that should be, but is not, moot. Zionism was a political movement with the goal of establishing a sovereign Jewish state. Asking “are you a Zionist?” should be like asking “Are you an Irish Republican?”

(1/14)

Hey #aktwitter:
A local (literal) Neo-Nazi and convicted violent felon named Brett Maness has taken to impersonating former Mat-Su School Board candidate Sydney Zuyus on social media and harassing her friends and family. Let's take action!



(1/6)thebluealaskan.com/pepper-sprayin… Since she lives in the Valley, she's contacted the State Troopers but they seem to be dragging their feet on the matter. Since it's now a matter of state business, you can do what so many of you have done many times before: Contact your state representative and Senator!

(2/6)

Hey Alaska: it’s time to follow up your emails about @davideastmanjr with a three very short phone calls! Keep reading the 🧵 for details.

Please retweet and share widely especially on other social media platforms

(1/9)

#akleg
#caneastman TOMORROW, Tuesday February 16, the #akleg reconvenes. One of the first orders of business is forming committees and assigning members. The Committee on Committees must know that @davideastmanjr cannot serve on any committee.

(2/9)

Hey Alaska: Does it bother you that @davideastmanjr , terrorist group member, had a seat on the powerful House Judiciary committee? You can do something about it!

Please retweet and share widely, esp on other social media platforms!

#akleg
#caneastman

1/11 For now all you need to do is write THREE (3) short emails to the following legislators:

—your own (find them here;
—Rep. Cathy Tilton (rep.Cathy.tilton@akleg.gov)
—Rep. Calvin Schrage (Rep.Calvin.Schrage@akleg.gov)

2/11akleg.gov/house.pho

“Who are those Orthodox Jews you see at anti-Israel rallies?”

An unnecessarily long thread 🧵

By Ivan Hodes

(1/19) In the 18th century, a revivalist movement arose among the traditional Jews of Eastern Europe, a response to modernity that emphasized man’s mystical communion with God. We call that movement Hasidism.

(2/19)

Just cause I haven’t seen one before, a thread on the different ethnic, religious, and political identities in Israel, and how they impact the current situation

Caveat; I’m not a historian of Israel although I do have a degree in European history

1/ During Roman, Arab, and Ottoman rule of the Palestine region there was a small remnant Jewish population. By the mid-19th century this “Old Yishuv” was mostly Ladino- and Arabic-speaking and traditionally religious in practice, with a small admixture of Orthodox Ashkenazi

2/

RACE AND RACISM IN TODAY'S U.S. ARMY

A 🧵

By Ivan Hodes

Caveat: My views are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Defense.

(1/ 1) Most soldiers are young, and therefore today's Army reflects the demographics of relatively young America. Therefore, it is less white than American society . White supremacists enlist into the Army--obviously--but they have to keep it under wraps if they do.

(2/

Hey #aktwitter & Anchorage Twitter: a call for a action regarding @davideastmanjr

#akleg

https://twitter.com/RepAndyJ/status/1628925548767637504?s=20

(1/11) As I neither conceal nor apologize for, my approach to politics is to make so much noise that the people making decisions can’t ignore it. I propose that we do exactly this next Sunday at UAA, at the legislative town hall.

(2/11)

If you are disgusted by @davideastmanjr , here’s a short thread about what you can do about it, but the bottom line is to call Rep. Sarah Vance’s office

(907)465-2689

and demand that she remove this man from the Judiciary committee. #akleg #davideastman

(1/10) While it’s understandable to be enraged and horrified by Eastman, to some extent it’s a waste of energy. He is who his. Nothing that I know of will change his behavior. Instead, direct that energy towards those who enable him.

(2/10)

AMATEUR-HOUR LEGAL ANALYSIS

I'm not and never have been a lawyer, but my dad was a con-law professor and the Supreme Court cases governing the area of "seditious groups" was of particular interest to him. Here are the laws and decisions relevant to the Eastman case:

(1/22) In 1940, Congress passed a law called the Smith Act, which allowed for the imprisonment (or deportation, if they weren't citizens) of anyone who advocated or was a member of a group that advocated for the violent overthrow of the U.S. government, a familiar phrase

(2/22)

Since Eastman’s views on the Holocaust have come up, it’s worth noting that he believes that it was perpetrated by a cabal of butch gay Germans. Yes I have the evidence.

https://twitter.com/mattbuxton/status/1604941915417640960

When Betsy Peratrovich wrote this in response to @davideastmanjr 's creepy white-nationalist-dog-whistle Thanksgiving FB post, someone asked her "Why do you troll people who aren’t personally attacking you?" Her response is worth quoting (with her permission) in full.

(1/14) "As an Alaska Native, I take exception to Dave describing “our heritage as Americans” as being passed on from the time of the Pilgrims.

(2/14)

Homework: what are the patterns of turnout in the Valley?

(1/4) HD 25: 51.0%
HD 26: 45.8%
SD M: 48.5%
HD 27: 41.3%
HD 28: 44.5%
SD N: 42.9%
HD 29: 50.2%
HD 30: 48.2%

(2/4)

Having taken my medicine after talking out of church about Stedman, it seems to me that the *only* three extremists left in the Senate are the three who are in that little minority, with (I think) Wilson as the furthest-right member of the majority. How about the House?

(1/7) I'm interested in the intersection of "extremists left in the House" and "vulnerable Republicans in the House." Obviously "extremist" is extremely subjective, but stuff like election denialism, vaccine paranoia, and overt LGBT/racial/ethnic bigotry are hallmarks.

(2/7)

A fascinating phenomenon I discovered fairly late in my career as an amateur historian:

In the years of the most feverish rhetoric of the pro-slavery faction (i.e. immediately before the war), some of them were moving in the direction that northern whites weren't *really* white. and I have zero doubt that, had the war not interrupted the ideological march, eventually someone would have suggested that Southern whites were justified in enslaving northern whites.

Important data thread!

There were 5 state Senate races in which multiple Republicans, but nobody from any other party, ran (A,C,L,N,O) and 6 such state House races (5,23,27,28,7, and 25).

How did this impact voter turnout? Keep reading to find out; there's a moral.

(1/16) There were 0 Senate races and 2 House races (17 and 19) in which multiple Democrats and nobody from any other party ran, so I analyzed those too.

(2/16)

The homework assignment: "What proportion of the Alaska State Legislature is white male lawyers?"

(1/6) In the Senate, there are 14 white folks (15 if you count Jews as white), 15 men, and 10 (11 if you count Jews as white) who are both. Only one is neither--Elvi Gray-Jackson.
(2/6)

This is a thread about @davideastmanjr ’s vote against honoring Hmong veterans living in Alaska, like the ones pictured here.

(1/13) For those who don’t know me outside Twitter, I’m an amateur historian of the Vietnam War with a degree in history, so the Hmong story has long been of interest to me
(2/13)

Thanks to all those who called today, but today’s development has turned tomorrow, Tuesday, February 1 into a critical day of action to work on getting this guy expelled from the legislature! No rest yet. Retweet this thread widely!! (1/14) Wednesday there will be a floor vote on removing this man from all of his legislative committees, a first step towards having him expelled from the legislature per Article XII, Section 4 of the Alaska Constitution. So call tomorrow, Tuesday, February 1. (2/14)

Would you like to get this guy expelled from the Alaska State legislature? Here’s what you can do Monday to help! (Be sure to retweet this whole thread, to begin with!)

(1/18) If you don’t know who your legislator is, find them on this website: openstates.org/find_your_legi…. You’re look for your State House (not State Senate) representative.

(2/18)