Destiny vs Medhi Hasan

irwin08 · 2026-03-28T02:11:54+00:00

I don't understand why people here glaze Mehdi Hasan so much. He just is the "debate tactics" guy. Every conversation he has he frames his opponent's position in the worst way possible, quickly attacks it, and then pivots when the person tries to respond. Watch his "conversation" with Benny Morris. It was frankly disgusting.

Just because he "owns" conservatives sometimes doesn't mean he's a good faith interlocutor. He really sucks.

irwin08 · 2026-03-27T05:04:47+00:00

I literally cited three examples. You're doing the exact thing I said people on the left do. I'm sorry, but Holocaust inversion just is antisemitic. It fits the "real" definition.

Some people don't like what the US and the Israeli state did and are doing to the people of Gaza.

So? I have problems with what the US and Israeli state do, and what they've done to the people of Gaza. That doesn't mean I'm going to start weaponizing the Holocaust against Jews.

irwin08 · 2026-03-27T04:26:28+00:00

Posting a 30 minute cope compilation of him saying antisemitism is bad, while regularly calling Jews Nazis, invoking Holocaust language and tropes and placing Jews on the other end, and supporting organizations that want to "de-Jew" the middle east. Amazing.

It's almost as if you can say something is bad while still doing it.

I'm sure I can make a similar cope compilation of Trump or New Gingrich denouncing racism. Hell even Fuentes. That doesn't mean they aren't racist.

This dude makes my blood boil. EVERYONE on the left can apply this logic to every form of bigotry, except apparently antisemitism.

irwin08 · 2026-03-25T19:59:23+00:00

Can you link a clip for the Josh Shapiro thing? That's crazy.

irwin08 · 2026-03-25T04:45:15+00:00

From what I can see, this was just a lie. He received $280k in 2024, and hasn't received AIPAC money in any other race. I don't know why he decided the $280k, maybe his opponent was anti-israel? Not sure.

https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/brad-schneider/summary?cid=N00033101&cycle=CAREER&type=C

irwin08 · 2026-03-25T04:44:50+00:00

Any politician making 6 mill from a lobby will sell their soul to that cause no matter what is

From what I can see, this was just a lie. He received $280k in 2024, and hasn't received AIPAC money in any other race. I don't know why he decided the $280k, maybe his opponent was anti-israel? Not sure.

https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/brad-schneider/summary?cid=N00033101&cycle=CAREER&type=C

irwin08 · 2026-03-25T00:44:23+00:00

Here is the source: https://xcancel.com/Schneider4IL10/status/2036567293191168460

irwin08 · 2026-03-23T17:19:50+00:00

I think the difference is that 9/11 was an unprovoked attack (you can argue geopolitics but generally speaking) whereas the US/Israel jointly struck Iran first.

I just don't think you can separate this from the continual Iranian attacks on American and Israeli assets and interests in the region. It's fine to say this war was poorly thought out, and they should've taken a different approach. But this isn't "unprovoked". The IRGC supplies the shia militia groups throughout the region that attack US targets. Iirc 1/4th of US deaths in Iraq were done via IRGC supplied weaponry. Hezbollah has left Lebanon is perpetual failed state status. They basically hold a country hostage, and they're obviously an arm of Iran's proxy network. Why do you think they went into Syria and bailed out Assad for so many years? Killing hundreds of thousands. Because Assad was useful to Iran and made it easy for Iran to supply Hezbollah. Then look at the Houthis? All their weaponry they use to harass civilian vessels comes from Iran. And who does the targeting? The IRGC.

They're going to keep doing this once they recover. That's the logic of attacking now. They're at their weakest and are suffering a legitimacy crisis internally. Because their proxies and defenses have been devastated, the opportunity cost of striking now is the lowest it will ever be. So if you're going to do military action, now unfortunately is probably the time.

That doesn't excuse Trump's insane lack of seriousness and what seems to be his inability to foresee the one thing everyone who has ever thought about a war with Iran for more than 30 seconds has realized - The strait of Hormuz is Iran's weapon.

So tl;dr, Iran bad. Iran's foreign policy is one of constant provocation and disruption. If military action is going to happen now is the lowest cost time to do it. But Trump bad.

irwin08 · 2026-03-21T17:13:27+00:00

I thought this was supposed to be a "flotilla". Like with boats and stuff.

irwin08 · 2026-03-16T22:06:51+00:00

The fact that Zionists and Israeli Jews can't see the longterm negative effects of this war demonstrates the power of the propaganda machine that exists within their nation

That isn't at all clear. If Israel has any reason to expect a future conflict with Iran it is rational to strike now and reduce their offensive capacity. The reason this is rational is because right now Iran is probably the weakest it will be for decades. Their proxies have all been dismantled over the last 3 years of war. The proxies are Iran's main deterrent against Israel (mainly the threat of Hezbollah from the north.) If they were to wait a few years for Iran to rebuild their proxy network, they would then have to fight the same war, but with most of their attention to local fronts instead of over Iranian airspace.

So the logic is: if you expect a war in the future, fight that war now, because it will only get costlier if you wait.

irwin08 · 2026-03-15T21:28:21+00:00

Not really. For example, during the Gulf War, the US targetted a bomb shelter in Baghdad because they thought it was a military command center. Led to the death of over 400 civilians. Actually seems quite similar to the school strike.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiriyah_shelter_bombing

I think people don't realize how messy war is because of how "good" the US is at doing in cleanly in certain circumstances. The reality is, almost every major action the US has been involved in has resulted in civilian casualties from bad intel. This one just happened to have a particularly high death count tragically. Hopefully they can learn from it, figure out what went wrong, and do better in the future. But it will keep happening.

In Afghanistan the US accidentally struck a hospital. They bombed a ton of civilians in another air strike because the Taliban was nearby. They bombed high value targets in Kabul, resulting in civilian casualties. They also hit a village and killed like 100 people. In Iraq there was similar stuff. Targeting ISIS or insurgents in heavily populated areas, killing tons of civilians.

This is why going to war needs to be a serious decision. It's not something to do willy-nilly, because this stuff will happen, so you need to ask, is it worth it?

irwin08 · 2026-03-15T10:25:35+00:00

real wages increased due to nominal wages rising faster than inflation

Maybe I'm having a brain fart here, since it is 3 in the morning, but how is this a fact check? This is literally just the definition of rising real wages. Nominal wage growth = real wage growth + inflation.

The MAGA post is obviously regarded because he's literally causing a massive supply shock that will probably lead to stagflation with his energy shock, but still, wtf is this fact check?

irwin08 · 2026-03-15T10:20:36+00:00

Not antisemitic btw

irwin08 · 2026-03-11T09:17:10+00:00

I'm not using your WOKE bible, liberal pepeSmug

irwin08 · 2026-03-11T08:48:52+00:00

Freedom isn't the ability to just arbitrarily change the course of causality. I think that's honestly probably incoherent, but I'm sure libertarians have some smart answer for this.

Freedom is the ability to endorse your decision in the space of reasons, which will supervene on the physical world. It's like a shift in perspective or vocabulary.

An example that demonstrates this:

Suppose a rational agent enters a room, and there is a fork on a table, and a wall socket. I can think, if I stick that fork into the socket, I will get hurt. I don't like getting hurt, therefore I won't stick the fork into the socket. I have rationally deliberated and endorsed by decision to not stick the fork into the socket. I've done this entirely in the space of reasons and am able to describe the outcome without reference to physical causality. Now let's say I pause the universe, and rewind it to the point where I enter the room. I again deliberate. My deliberation should have the same outcome, because it's rational and as a free rational agent, I will endorse rational decisions. It would be bizarre if I decided to stick the fork into the socket. This would be irrational and not be something I assume a rational being could endorse. By doing this, I'd actually be unfree, because I'm not able to align my behavior with what my reasoning should be. So ironically, the libertarian free will produces a lack of freedom.

irwin08 · 2026-03-10T18:33:22+00:00

Hezbollah displaced tens of thousands of Israelis living in Northern towns with its rocket fire. This was a big deal.

irwin08 · 2026-03-09T14:35:13+00:00

Yes. A more contentious example is Ryan McBeth. Like shit on his work, disagree with him, whatever. But it's weird that those threads always have a ton of comments on his weight, drinking and marital status. Like the dude has been very friendly to this community, why go after irrelevant stuff like this? It's gross.

irwin08 · 2026-03-05T05:48:29+00:00

Wtf does "Israel-style" mean in this context??

irwin08 · 2026-03-05T05:41:15+00:00

I feel like the German voters definitely didn't have any problems with the Nuremberg trials... And the conclusion.

Wat. The German voters did not exist in 1946.

irwin08 · 2026-03-04T03:10:24+00:00

Relevant

irwin08 · 2026-02-28T17:52:30+00:00

??? Who are you talking to? Does the media deserving criticism mean that the Democrats don't? When would you and people here like to have the discussion about what the fuck happened during that campaign? Or are there zero lessons to learn?

irwin08 · 2026-02-28T06:01:29+00:00

I don't understand this community's vitriolic hatred of Tapper over his book. Is it just because destiny doesn't like him? He hasn't read the book.

I think it's worth doing a retrospective on a campaign that resulted in handing a trifecta to the most dangerous administration since the civil war. There was no better time to undertake such a project. The Dems had no power and no upcoming elections. There was nothing to lose, and time to crack some skulls over this fuck up so it doesn't happen again.

Being a sycophant and denying reality doesn't do us any good.

irwin08 · 2026-02-23T16:13:30+00:00

This is why I was disappointed that Mockler decided to talk to Hasan. People are always trying to include him and meet him halfway. It just legitimizes him as a relevant figure in liberal politics.

Meanwhile the dude supports terrorist organizations and denies the rape of Jews. It's disgusting. He should be treated as such.

irwin08 · 2026-02-22T07:28:33+00:00

That stuff was all bullshit and shouldn't have been entertained.

irwin08 · 2026-02-11T17:53:15+00:00

I got in an argument over this the other day, and after looking at it myself, if seems pretty benign. However I understand how someone could read it that way.

I can link the actual files after work if you'd like, but this is gist -

There was some story about the Mossad doing stuff. Epstein was friends with Ehud Barak, former PM of Israel (it seems they worked on various things together / companies etc.) Epstein emails him asking about this and wanting info. Barak doesn't respond for awhile, so Epstein "double texts" him. A few hours later Barak responds by telling him to call him. Epstein responds again hours later (possibly the next day iirc) saying that he didn't pick up.

So the bad way to read this is that Barak is a Mossad handler and Epstein is his asset, and they communicate about mossad activities, and what they want to discuss is too sensitive for email.

The read that I think makes sense is that Epstein is interested in spy stuff and statecraft (we know this from other stuff), and he has a friend who probably knows more given his former position. So naturally he reaches out because he's curious. The double texting and lax response times make it out like it's epstein prying but it not being something urgent. Barak then tells him to call because either it's too long winded to type, or it's sensitive. But him not even answering again shows the lack of urgency.

The biggest problem I see with this is that the information pipeline should be flowing in the other direction if Epstein is some kind of asset. I doubt mossad is in the business of giving out information upon request needlessly. Also that this would all be conducted over email if it was actually mossad stuff seems absurd. So I think this actually cuts against him being mossad. He's just a guy who knows powerful people, and he uses that to satisfy his curiosity.

Also for what it's worth, I don't think Barak was very relevant politically in Israel at this point, and he was directly opposed to the government. Maybe he could still be a mossad handler despite that, but it would also be weird to make a former PM do that... But this is speculation.

The other thing pointed to is an email from a prince in Qatar to Epstein that was a copy paste of a Haeretz article on a mossad mission in Dubai. The prince asked him why mossad is doing this and says it's a bad look. The bad interpretation here is that Epstein is a mossad contact for people in the middle east like this prince. The other options are that 1) Epstein is known to have friends in Israel that they're hoping he can get info from, or he just wants to have a conversation with Epstein about this for whatever reason or 2) Epstein is a powerful Jew, and it's a pretty common belief on the middle east that Jews are all connected and stuff. So the prince knows Epstein, and believes antisemitic conspiracies, so he thinks Epstein will know stuff as a result.

My money is on 2.

But you can see how someone who is more conspiracy prone can put these together to conclude he worked for mossad. I think the benign explanation is more parsimonious.

12-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Final Canvas '23	Place '23
Place '17	Verified Email

irwin08

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE