It’s obvious why so many people on the left are silent about the conclusive NYT piece documenting the mass rape and sexual torture by Hamas:

Because it explodes their simple fantasy that Hamas are noble “resistance” fighters and not the terrorists monsters they truly are. The entire point of their narrative is that Israel is bad (i.e. Jews = evil) and Palestinians are good (all women/children, no terrorists).

The messy truth is Netanyahu IS bad, and so is Hamas, and so are the people denying rape and so are those advocating carpet bombing.

The sense that so many people who knew next to nothing about the Middle East before October 7th and recently learned ALOT of antisemitic talking points are merely repeating (and trying to enforce) a script with almost no understanding of the history or facts on the ground. It’s particularly depressing bc it’s mostly coming from a generation who brought a focus on language, how it’s weaponized, how empathy must be at the forefront of how we speak.

So to see the, “Words are violence” crowd say, “Mass rape is not violence,” is SHOCKING and pathetic.

I just don't see how you can look at what's coming out of Gaza and blindly support Israel. Netanyahu is a criminal fascist.

I just don't see how you can deny the atrocity of Hamas' unspeakable acts and pretend there is a chance of any peace as long as Hamas exists. Everyone just retreats into their tribal affiliation, like its football.

You can believe Israeli families don't deserve to be slaughtered in their homes while criticizing the IDF.

You can believe Palestinians have a right to statehood without denying Hamas's inhuman atrocities.

So we’re clear:

The Supreme Court ended affirmative action yesterday by saying you CAN’T discriminate by helping a minority group, then turned around today and said you CAN discriminate by hurting them. The basic point is it has nothing to do with the law. The only question for them is, “How can we crate and enforce a system which only benefits the ruling class?”

America, where the legal age to rent a car (25) is 7 YEARS OLDER than the legal age to buy a semi-automatic rifle which can shoot 45 exploding bullets per minute. The logic, of course, is that renting a car requires maturity and forethought. A car can be very dangerous, after all and you wouldn't want it in the hands of an irresponsible and erratic 18 year old.

Republicans on Afghanistan:

2001 (W's invasion): Let's build a nation!

2009 (Obama's troop surge): We must leave!

2015 (Obama 's troop drawdown): We can't leave!

2020 (Trump's agrees to leave): We must leave!

2021 (Biden withdraws troops): We can't leave! For the record, I wrote a protest song against the war in Afghanistan in 2006 called "The Winning Side."

At the time I was told it was, "Anti-American."
open.spotify.com/track/0ibC6URi…

Major League Baseball is a business. Moving the All-Star game out of Atlanta was a BUSINESS decision after Georgia passed racist laws.

For years, Republicans have been saying, "Let the market decide."

Well guess what? The market decided. It's pretty simple, really:

Racism is bad for business.

Want major sporting events in your state? Don't pass racist laws.

Imagine calling yourself a "Christian" and thinking following Jesus means giving people weapons and denying them water. I don't know how you explain to people that Jesus had a moral philosophy and it wasn't, "Sit in a building once a week looking pious."

It was fierce. Active. You help those less fortunate. You welcome the stranger. You love your enemies. It's not easy, it's not about hate.

This is one of the most heartless pieces I have ever read.

JD, as someone who also grew up in very difficult circumstances and who also wrote a book about it, the fact that you have no understanding of immigration, no empathy for immigrants is sickening.

https://twitter.com/JDVance1/status/1372544218695106565

Why do people come here? Your answer is, because they are greedy.

You don’t care about the poverty and violence they face, which is particularly sad since the REASON you are famous is bc you wrote a book about your own experience w poverty and violence.

My father left prison at 27 and went to a drug rehab community which turned into a cult where I was born.

When we escaped, I finally got to know him. He became my best friend.

When he died I wrote this song for him. It’s called HOLLYWOOD PARK. open.spotify.com/track/4oqTFpt6… This song is about the moment my father nearly died from a heroin overdose. He woke up with tubes in his arms in a hospital bed.

He always said if he ever went back to it, he knew he’d die and that was the only way to change.

It’s called CARRY ME.

open.spotify.com/track/42TPjDlB…

If you're wondering why the music industry is talking about NFTs, beyond cryptocurrency apps, beyond "democratization of patronage" is one simple, glaringly obvious fact:

Music is worth WAY more than it's current price in the modern world and corporations are strangling artists. Musicians currently only get 12% of all revenue in the music business. That's it. The rest go to middlemen (labels, streaming services, publishers).

This system both undervalues music AND benefits corporations at the expense of artists.

NFTs have the potential to change this.

OK Twitter, What’s the best music venue in America?

(It can’t be a converted sports venue or a park. I’m talking about a place that was built for music.)

I nominate the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. The early front runner is Red Rocks in Colorado. We played there accompanied by the Colorado Symphony. I don’t read music so I spent most of the show counting while trying to remember the lyrics.

Lots of love for First Avenue in Minneapolis, the 930 Club in DC and the Gorge.

I don't think the general language we are using in the discourse about covid vaccines is appropriate.

So far, 140 million people have received a covid vaccine worldwide. There have been virtually NO DEATHS from covid after receiving the vaccine. This should be common knowledge. I admire scientists who use the academic language of skepticism in their popular work bc it translates to a more scientifically literate audience.

But, it's creating a cloud of doubt over vaccinations which is dangerous. A third of Americans say they will not get vaccinated.

We’re at the mass vaccination site at Dodger Stadium to get my mom the vaccine. The anti–vax protestors have approached the entrance to the site. The LAPD have now closed the gate. We have been sitting here for about half an hour. Nobody is moving. There has been no communication from the LAPD as to how long the entrance will be closed. They closed the gate as the protestors approached, presumably to stop them from entering the facility itself. Now nobody is going in. This is the largest vaccination site in the country.

I remember the day Trump was sworn in, I had a lump in my throat of fear and dread. I've had it every day since. I've carried it like a tumor.

4 years later our system is in shambles, our Capitol was attacked by his supporters and 400,00 are dead.

But...it's over in 87 hours. Trump did something important though, he revealed many of the lies America tells itself about itself: that America is somehow a post-racial meritocracy, that we are not susceptible to fascism, that America is somehow less selfish or stupid than other countries. It isn't.

My book, HOLLYWOOD PARK, was chosen as an Amazon Editor's Pick for a best book of 2020:

"Wild and shocking, but beautifully articulated. Jollett conveys his journey—the hurt, strangeness & yearning of youth—with delicate care & unabashed honesty."
amazon.com/Hollywood-Park… My book, HOLLYWOOD PARK, received a *starred review* from Publisher's Weekly which called it:

"A heartbreaking memoir of staggering growth."

publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/co…

Wow. This is very cool. My book, HOLLYWOOD PARK, is a finalist for the Memoir of the Year in the Goodread's Reader's Choice Awards.

I'm truly honored.
goodreads.com/choiceawards/b… This is the opening paragraph of my book, HOLLYWOOD PARK, which was excerpted in @TIME Magazine earlier this year.

You can read the entire excerpt below:
time.com/5838998/mikel-…

The entire game for Republicans is to slow the counting of early votes in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin-- then pretend that counting these legal votes is somehow cheating because they take a long time to count. Most of you know this by now, but IF Trump holds Florida, NC and GA:

1. When we go to bed on Nov 3rd he'll be AHEAD in PA and MI by 10-15%.

2. Early votes are counted LAST in these states and lean heavily Dem.

3. Trump will claim that COUNTING these legal votes is cheating.

Donald Trump is the WORST jobs president in American history.

NO OTHER PRESIDENT IN HISTORY has lost as many jobs as Donald Trump.

He ignored the advice of experts on covid, failed to lead and ran our economy INTO THE GROUND. Since he was born rich, Trump thinks the stock market IS the economy.

But 84% of the stock market is owned by the rich.

That's why Trump passed a $2.3 TRILLION tax break for the rich that took money out of the hands of working Americans and gave it to the wealthy.

If Trump loses and tries to hold onto power, would you take to the streets for a General strike? That’s a yes for me, by the way.

Between 2008 and 2016, Republicans BLOCKED the appointment of *105* (you read that right) federal judgeships nominated by Obama including a Supreme Court pick which the Constitution GUARANTEED and Republicans DENIED.

MEDIA: "But DEMOCRATS want to pack the court." It was always the Republican plan to undo very popular laws through the corruption of US courts:

75% of Americans support safe, legal abortion.

79% support protections for pre-existing conditions.

Since Republicans can't legislate these away, they're trying to cheat instead.