On @ABCNewsLive just now, there was a dust up when I said that JD Vance wanted women to stay in violent marriages for the sake of their kids. Here is Vance's direct quote: /1 "This is one of the great tricks that I think the sexual revolution pulled on the American populace, which is the idea that like, ‘well, OK, these marriages were fundamentally, you know, they were maybe even violent, but certainly they were unhappy. And so getting rid of them /2

I've been hearing lots of back and forth about how outrageous it is that Fox knowingly lied to its audience about the 2020 election but all this analysis is missing something important: Fox's viewers *want* Fox to lie to them. /1 It is a safe space for same MAGA crowd that spent years mocking colleges and other liberal institutions for having safe spaces for "snowflakes." But the real snowflakes are Fox viewers who crave validation of their views, even if it involves being fed fairy tales. /2

What we are up against: I received email notice that I can opt out of Venmo's forced arbitration process if I scrolled through reams of disclaimer language, clicked on several links, printed out a hard copy of an opt-out form, FILL OUT the paper form by hand and mail it back /1 Then, I need to put it in an envelope, place a stamp on it and mail it back via snail mail to PayPal's litigation department in San Francisco. Ok, fine. But what record will I have that they received it unless I want to pay for for certified mail or FedEx/UPS? /2

The EU freezing Putin's assets is performative. He doesn't officially have many, if any, assets abroad. Now, if they were to seize the assets of his oligarchs, that would mean something. Start with Chelsea United, move on to Mayfair and all the yachts still docked in the Med. Chelsea United owes Abramovich $2 billion. Will the Brits be prepared to let the team go under for the sake of geopolitical stability if he calls in the loan?

A short history of Russian land grabs over the last century and its effects on domestic politics: the Russo-Japanese War, which Russia thought it would win in a walk, resulted in a humiliating loss that led to the 1905 Revolution, a dress rehearsal for the Russian Revolution. WWI led to the Russian Revolution and the overthrow of the Tsar. The land grab in Finland in 1939 led to a humiliating loss at the start of WWII. The land grab of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact certainly didn't end as well for Stalin as he would have thought.

Let's use this site to crowdsource helpful info for a change. Does anyone know anything about hawks? This guy has been hanging out on our deck and won't respond or move, no matter how close we get. Worried that it might be hurt. It is definitely not well. When we gently tried to prod it, it was annoyed but too lethargic to fly or move. Bugs all over its body. Wildlife rescue won't come out to get it and we aren't sure whether it will try to scratch/bite if we try to transport. Suggestions/ideas welcome.

Now that this election is in the bag, let me discuss something I think Dems might benefit from:
In 2015, before Trump rode down the golden escalator, a client of mine grew concerned that Dems were losing races in towns where the party had an outsized voter advantage. These towns were largely white, so this thread applies largely to this cohort. (AA women delivered for the Dems -- AGAIN -- in ways that white people never have in my lifetime. And we need to dispel the notion that Latinos are a monolith, but that's a thread for another day.)

They once roughed up my dad at the Spectrum for doing nothing more than rooting for the Canadiens at a Flyers game. I watched multiple fights break out outside a Genesis concert at Veterans Stadium. Don't mess with #Philly. Those people live to fight. inquirer.com/news/fox-news-… I mean... it's Genesis. If hearing Invisible Tough drives you to violence, you just live to fight.

Media guide to enabling more workplace toxicity: 1. Speculate that women who speak up might be doing it just to further a powerful man’s agenda. (“What?? I’m just asking questions others raise!”). 2.Question her motives for coming forward. 3. Wonder why more women don’t speak up. I remember this dynamic playing out when @GretchenCarlson came forward. “What? She must obviously have an axe to grind. It can’t be that she was actually retaliated against for refusing to put up with a toxic work environment.”

Media, please stop saying that Lt. Colonel Vindman is “Ukrainian-born.” He is Soviet-born. Yes, he was born in what is now an independent Ukraine but Ukraine’s geo-political status today bears little resemblance to the Soviet Union, from which Vindman and his family emigrated. /1 I was born in Moscow but I am not “Russian-born.” I am Soviet-born. Like me, Vindman was a Soviet Jew. Trust me when I say that Soviet Jews in the 1970s had little reason to be loyal to their homeland and have no reason to be loyal to its successor independent nations. /2