I'm a bit confused by how puzzled SH and MD are over Israel's reluctance to agree to a ceasefire. If the war ends with Hamas still in power, won't Hamas declare victory? And also declare October 7 a success, as an operation that changed the world's view of their cause? And won't Hamas stay in power as Gaza is rebuilt? I mean, love Israel or hate it, it isn't hard to see how that is not an appealing long-term prospect from the Israeli POV!
People seem comfortable talking about 'victory' when discussing the other war--one often hears "We can't let Russia win." Of course that's silly, we can absolutely let Russia 'win', as DM points out.
In short, if it's easy to see why Ukrainians don't want to lose land to Russia, shouldn't it also be easy to see why Israel doesn't want to leave Hamas in control of Gaza?
I expected Damir to make that simple common sense point. He was really off his game this episode. Shadi and Matt just made the moralistic arguments you'd expect from them.
Why did you bring this person just so that he and Shadi would spend all the time agreeing with each other, talking over Damir? Where is substantive the disagreement that I expect from Wisdom of Crowds. If I wanted hear consistent BS about racism, I would look at Coates or the Washington Post.
Progressives like Matt Duss lose a lot of credibility when they are unable to differentiate between MBS, a psychopathic Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia who has credibly known to have Khashoggi murdered, and Narender Modi, a democratically elected Prime Minister of India. I am no fan of Modi's right-wing, Hindu revanchist policies of him and his government, which are being addressed democratically when Modi's party lost majority in the recent elections.
Regarding Shadi's question to Matt on why Harris campaign does not give more concessions to the pro-Palestinian democrats, I agree with Matt's response that Harris has decided on how much support she needs to give to the Gaza issue and has accepted the consequent loss if votes. But I also think her campaign has made a determination that a little bit more will not help as the pro-Palestinian supporters are very passionate about the cause. Moreover, there is a real downside from Jewish voters voting for Trump. After all, American Jews have lower downside from Trump presidency than Arab-Americans.
Also, with the Russians changing their nuclear posture, a Ukrainian incursion into canonical Russian territory, and large Ukrainian losses in the East - why is the focus on the Middle East and not Ukraine - where are the more nukes, what can lead to a worse scenario?
I'm a bit confused by how puzzled SH and MD are over Israel's reluctance to agree to a ceasefire. If the war ends with Hamas still in power, won't Hamas declare victory? And also declare October 7 a success, as an operation that changed the world's view of their cause? And won't Hamas stay in power as Gaza is rebuilt? I mean, love Israel or hate it, it isn't hard to see how that is not an appealing long-term prospect from the Israeli POV!
People seem comfortable talking about 'victory' when discussing the other war--one often hears "We can't let Russia win." Of course that's silly, we can absolutely let Russia 'win', as DM points out.
In short, if it's easy to see why Ukrainians don't want to lose land to Russia, shouldn't it also be easy to see why Israel doesn't want to leave Hamas in control of Gaza?
I expected Damir to make that simple common sense point. He was really off his game this episode. Shadi and Matt just made the moralistic arguments you'd expect from them.
Why did you bring this person just so that he and Shadi would spend all the time agreeing with each other, talking over Damir? Where is substantive the disagreement that I expect from Wisdom of Crowds. If I wanted hear consistent BS about racism, I would look at Coates or the Washington Post.
Progressives like Matt Duss lose a lot of credibility when they are unable to differentiate between MBS, a psychopathic Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia who has credibly known to have Khashoggi murdered, and Narender Modi, a democratically elected Prime Minister of India. I am no fan of Modi's right-wing, Hindu revanchist policies of him and his government, which are being addressed democratically when Modi's party lost majority in the recent elections.
Regarding Shadi's question to Matt on why Harris campaign does not give more concessions to the pro-Palestinian democrats, I agree with Matt's response that Harris has decided on how much support she needs to give to the Gaza issue and has accepted the consequent loss if votes. But I also think her campaign has made a determination that a little bit more will not help as the pro-Palestinian supporters are very passionate about the cause. Moreover, there is a real downside from Jewish voters voting for Trump. After all, American Jews have lower downside from Trump presidency than Arab-Americans.
Between modern autocrats or “democratically” elected Islamic regimes, the world is a lot safer with a bunch of MBSs running the region
Also, with the Russians changing their nuclear posture, a Ukrainian incursion into canonical Russian territory, and large Ukrainian losses in the East - why is the focus on the Middle East and not Ukraine - where are the more nukes, what can lead to a worse scenario?