I will repeat this as long as I have to, when the Supreme Court said in 1937 that the Social Security Act was “unconstitutional”, FDR didn’t ask people to vote harder in the next election, he told the Court he’d add more justices until they backed off, which they did. If you want to understand why liberals always lose, even when they win, read the responses from the dudes who think the only difference between FDR and Biden is how many Democratic Senators there were. Really sad stuff.

My favorite Wikipedia entry is about the name of the indie NJ band Yo La Tengo. During the 1962 baseball season, New York Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn and Venezuelan shortstop Elio Chacón found themselves constantly colliding in the outfield while chasing fly balls. /1 When Ashburn went for a catch, he would scream, "I got it! I got it!" only to run into Chacón, who spoke only Spanish. Ashburn learned to yell, "¡Yo la tengo! ¡Yo la tengo!" instead. /2

I took this picture back in 2015 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near Harvard Square. This is what I witnessed: A young African-American man, seemingly out of control and under the influence of some nasty substance, was apprehended and surrounded by the police. /1 This man was not being "cooperative", did not follow their instructions, and sounded like he might do something drastic. Keep in mind that this was just a couple of hours after a serious bomb scare at Harvard and people were on edge, probably especially the police. /2

There's something crucial about Israel's place and hold in US politics that Americans IMO don't fully understand, and it can be illustrated through the sad example of none other than Trump himself and how he went from being "neutral" to being vehemently pro-Israel. /1 In a Republican primary debate in February 2016, the candidates were asked where they stood on Israel-Palestine. As expected, the two major candidates at the time, according to the pundits, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, fell over themselves to say how much they supported Israel. /2

The conflation of Jews and Israel is real - it is a historical development of the past several decades. It has to do both with the history of Zionism and Israel on the one hand, and the history of Jews in the rest of the world, especially in the United States. /1 The reality is that Israel and Jews, at this point, are almost entirely, hopelessly, and dangerously conflated. Israel has always defined itself as representing, and working in the interest of, all Jews in the world. It also invites all Jews to emigrate and become Israelis. /2

Let's revisit Benjamin Netanyahu's rise to political power in Israel and its origins in the murder, 23 years ago, of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. /1 Netanyahu first became chairman of the Likud Party in 1993, after the resignation of defeated former PM Yitzhak Shamir. Netanyahu easily defeated three internal rivals in an ominously nasty campaign. He then became the opposition leader. /2