Jack Mirkinson
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jackmirkinson.bsky.social
Jack Mirkinson
@jackmirkinson.bsky.social
9.9K followers 1.5K following 1.6K posts
Senior editor, The Nation (@thenation.com) | Editor/co-owner, Discourse Blog (@discourseblog.com)

Get in touch: jmirkinson at thenation dot com / jack at discourseblog dot com
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jackmirkinson.bsky.social
time to add it to the meme
adding "STANDING UP TO DONALD TRUMP DIDN'T WORK!" to the Simpsons "we hate life and ourselves" democratic party meme
November 10, 2025 at 2:00 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
among the supposed sins committed by the BBC that were so bad its chief executive and head of news have resigned: talking to a trans woman who said she received good medical care.
• The report noted concerns with how the debate about the Cass Review was framed on Newsnight - the views of a doctor critical of the Tavistock Clinic were "balanced" with those of a trans woman, who said she had received excellent care. The report pointed out that if Newsnight was covering concerns about a maternity unit it would not seek to provide balance by interviewing a mother who was happy with her care
November 10, 2025 at 1:35 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
a telling part of the nyt take on zohran's win: the insistence that a cop's killing was a "disaster" for his campaign. there has never been any real evidence to support this! but the nyt has a narrative and it refuses to budge. there will be lots more of this to come www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/n...
But when a crisis did arrive, it was not the one they expected. Seven thousand miles away, back in New York, a gunman walked into a Midtown office tower and carried out a deadly mass shooting, including killing an off-duty police officer. The attacker had targeted a building that happened to house the offices of Mr. Rudin, the real estate executive, and killed one of his employees. Aides woke Mr. Mamdani in the night to put out a statement, and he rushed to get on the first flight back to New York City. But by the time he landed two days later, Mr. Cuomo was on television screens across the city all but blaming his opponent, who once called for defunding the police, for the massacre. It was a disaster. And the unfavorable optics might have changed the course of the whole campaign, but for one twist of fate: The officer killed turned out to be Bangladeshi and, like Mr. Mamdani, a Muslim. The family invited the candidate to join them at home, and he arrived directly from Kennedy Airport.
November 5, 2025 at 1:25 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
da mayor
zohran won
November 5, 2025 at 4:19 AM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
frame it
NY1: "Cuomo speaks after defeat in race for mayor"
November 5, 2025 at 3:47 AM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
need 50 of these
NY post cover calling nyc "the red apple" with zohran wielding a hammer and sickle
November 5, 2025 at 3:08 AM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
it's official
Zohran Mamdani Mamdani in 2025 Mayor-elect of New York City Assuming office January 1, 2026
November 5, 2025 at 2:09 AM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
lol it's done
Decision Desk HQ projects Zohran Mamdani to win the New York City Mayor election. #DecisionMade: 9:03 pm ET
November 5, 2025 at 2:06 AM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
nearly 25 years after cheney spearheaded what everyone has always known was a global torture regime and the new york times STILL dances around calling it torture. come on now. (also this comes 11 long paragraphs into the obit.)
But it was the national security arena where he had the most profound impact. As defense secretary, he helped engineer the gulf war that successfully evicted Iraqi invaders from Kuwait in 1991, then took a leading role a decade later in responding to the terrorist attacks of Sept. I1, 2001. To prevent future attacks, he advocated aggressive policies including warrantless surveillance, indefinite detention and brutal interrogation tactics. And he pushed for the invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003, completing the unfinished job of his previous stint in power but leading to years of bloody warfare.
November 4, 2025 at 1:53 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
a comically anodyne way for the NYT to frame Cheney's legacy www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/u...
Dick Cheney, Powerful Vice President and Washington Insider, Dies at 84 A former defense secretary and congressman, he held the nation's No. 2 job under President George W. Bush and was an architect of policies in an era of war and economic change.
November 4, 2025 at 1:48 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
here is the official CNN transcript of this answer from Jeffries about Mamdani. You will see that at no point does coherence enter the frame. transcripts.cnn.com/show/sotu/da...
You have already cast your ballot for mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Do you see Mamdani as the future of the Democratic Party? JEFFRIES: No, I think the future of the Democratic Party is going to fall, as far as we're concerned, relative to the House Democratic Caucus and members who are doing a great work all across the country, as it relates to our need to both take back control of the House, but, in doing so, make sure that we're communicating to the American people, like, we understand, you deserve better than the country that you have received.
November 2, 2025 at 9:29 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
the scariest anecdote the times can come up with to begin this article is....zohran pronounced "haiti" the way a haitian would. chilling stuff
It wasn't so much what Zohran Mamdani said. It was how he said it. "We're going to stand up for Haiti, because you taught the world about freedom!" the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York exclaimed to an elated crowd at a Haitian music festival in June, fresh off his upset victory in the primary. Mr. Mamdani pronounced the island nation's name "AH-ee-tee" — near-perfect Creole elocution. "When I heard him say that, I smiled," recalled Brian Purnell, one of Mr. Mamdani's former professors at Bowdoin College. He also noted that Mr. Mamdani's reference to freedom was a nod to Haiti's status as the first republic founded by former slaves.
October 29, 2025 at 12:36 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
side note would be legitimately interested to know what weird combination of hyper-racist keywords went into creating this AI 1970s pimp caricature
a screengrab of an ai-generated 1970s pimp caricature from this horrible cuomo video
October 23, 2025 at 12:23 AM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
Back in July, @alexvitale.bsky.social wrote in @thenation.com that a Tisch-led NYPD would be "counter to the overall goals of a Mamdani administration" www.thenation.com/article/politics/zohran-mamdani-nypd-policing-crime/
While Tisch has shown herself capable of managing a large complex department and is seen as having rooted out the corruption at the heart of Adam's handpicked leadership, she has done nothing to change the basic functioning of the department and is seen as highly loyal to the institution and its worldview, which run counter to the overall goals of a Mamdani administration. She has made it clear that she supports a wide variety of regressive police policies such as cooperating with ICE, treating young people of color as "gang bangers," labeling unhoused and mentally ill people as "quality of life" problems to be managed by intensive "broken windows" policing, and endlessly increasing the size and scope of the NYPD.
October 22, 2025 at 11:25 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
it's so funny that the nobel people clearly gave this woman the prize bc they thought trump would love it
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/us/politics/nobel-trump-rubio-venezuela.html
October 10, 2025 at 7:03 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
www.thenation.com/article/poli...
Abolishing ICE Is the Bare Minimum ICE agents aren’t out of control. They are performing their designed role as fascism’s storm troopers. Jack Mirkinson
October 10, 2025 at 6:57 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
This extraordinary piece from Gaza by Ali Skaik about the ceasefire made me cry. It contains so much—joy, grief, determination, love, sorrow, hope. Very proud to run it in @thenation.com today. Please read it. www.thenation.com/article/worl...
Then my sister Huda, 21, was awakened by a phone call. Her friend told her the ceasefire would begin at 12 PM. "A ceasefire! A ceasefire!" she shouted, her voice shaking with disbelief. The whole house erupted— some of us laughed, some of us cried, and all of us dared to hope, if only for a moment. My 10-year-old brother Abedrahim jumped from his mattress and danced around the room shouting, "The genocide is over! We'll finally eat chicken!" I walked through the ruins of Al-Rimal to find a cafe with internet so I could submit my exam. The streets were unrecognizable. Shops were flattened. Homes were piles of ash and steel. I ran into my friend Khaled Al-Saqqa, 27, the sole survivor of his entire family. When I told him about the ceasefire, his eyes filled with tears. “Why was I left to suffer alone?!” he asked. I had no answer. I simply hugged him and whispered, “God gives you strength.” We’ll welcome back loved ones who fled to the south—but not all will return. The IOF killed many who sought safety in so-called “safe zones.” Among them was the family of my father’s cousin Yusuf. A midnight strike on September 28, 2025, hit the apartment next to theirs as they prepared to pitch a tent. His wife Nidaa, daughter Ruaa, 18, and son Hamoud, 11, with curly yellow hair, were killed. Yusuf survived, along with his daughter Aya, 21, who suffered a broken leg and pelvis, and Aboud, 17, who remembers hearing his mother’s last breath. We will remember the martyrs—those who died teaching, reporting, healing, mothering, surviving. We will carry their memory like fire in our hearts. And we will begin again. The real war is now. The war of healing. Of remembering. Of refusing to forget. Of restarting. Of chasing our dreams.
October 10, 2025 at 2:15 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
there was a ceasefire when trump came in. he let israel blow that up, let famine spread, let his goons murder starving people, before using the power he'd had since he took office. grotesque to call this peacemaking. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/us/politics/trump-mideast-visit-israel-gaza.html
(from the nyt obvi) With Mideast Deal, Trump Is on the Brink of a Major Diplomatic Accomplishment For President Trump, success in brokering a cease-fire is the ultimate test of his self-described goal as a deal maker and a peacemaker.
October 9, 2025 at 1:00 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
Today in @thenation.com: Taqwa Ahmed Al-Wawi, a 19-year-old in Gaza, describes what it's like to be so scarred by genocide that you lose your very ability to speak.

Taqwa is brilliant and profound and deserves to be listened to. Please read her words. www.thenation.com/article/worl...
In my own life, it feels like there is a constant fog inside me. I often know what I want to say, but the words just don't come. My thoughts get tangled, and even when I try to speak, my voice falters or dies in my throat. Sometimes my body reacts too-my chest tightens, my hands shake, or I find myself frozen, unable to move forward. It's not just about grief or fear; it's the sensation of being muted from within. I feel as if my inner landscape has been shrouded in silence, and navigating even simple conversations or expressing my needs becomes exhausting. Every attempt to speak out loud feels like breaking through an invisible barrier, and the frustration of being trapped in my own mind is overwhelming.
October 1, 2025 at 3:52 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
apropos of nothing, wikipedia is a more objective and informative source about the gaza genocide than any major news outlet i can think of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_ge...
The Gaza genocide is the ongoing, intentional systematic destruction of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip carried out by Israel during the Gaza war. The genocidal acts include mass killings, starvation, the infliction of serious bodily and mental harm, and preventing births. Other acts include blockade, destroying civilian infrastructure, destroying healthcare facilities, killing healthcare workers and aid-seekers, causing mass forced displacement, committing sexual violence, and destroying educational, religious, and cultural sites. 10 The genocide has been recognised by a United Nations special committeel111 and commission of inquiry,[12] humanitarian and human rights organizations, [131 and international law experts 141[15) including multiple genocide studies 16) and the International Association of Genocide Scholars. (17[18]
September 30, 2025 at 11:33 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
www.thenation.com/article/poli...
Abolishing ICE Is the Bare Minimum ICE agents aren’t out of control. They are performing their designed role as fascism’s storm troopers.
September 25, 2025 at 6:57 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
it cannot be overstated how disgusting tony blair and his gaza plan are. just one of the most despicable people walking the earth
Perhaps most keen is Tony Blair, an ex-British prime minister. Within weeks of the outbreak of war in Gaza, he had made repeated visits to Jerusalem and got his London-based foundation drafting a plan for a post-war mandate. According to multiple sources involved with the plan, Mr Blair could head a body called the Gaza International Transitional Authority (gita). It would seek a un mandate to be Gaza’s “supreme political and legal authority” for five years. If approved Mr Blair would have a secretariat of up to 25 people and chair a seven-person board to oversee an executive body running the territory. Gulf states would pay. “He’s willing to sacrifice his time. He genuinely wants to end the war,” says a source who knows Mr Blair.
September 25, 2025 at 5:31 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
an evil brit installed as a colonial ruler over palestine? some things never change www.economist.com/middle-east-...
"Could Tony Blair run Gaza?" asks the Economist.
September 25, 2025 at 5:27 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
The Times has now updated its headline — much better, but still not complete. Brendan Carr publicly threatened to punish ABC unless they punished Kimmel. That's far beyond "criticism," and it's crucial to the story.
ABC Pulls Jimmy Kimmel Off Air for Charlie Kirk Comments Mr. Kimmel faced criticism from the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission for remarks about the motives of the man who is accused of killing Mr. Kirk, the conservative activist.
September 18, 2025 at 12:30 AM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
this just doesn't cut it. kimmel didn't merely "face some criticism," the head of the FCC publicly demanded that he be punished! and ABC obliged! it's a total dereliction not to make that clear in your headline www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/b...
ABC Pulls Jimmy Kimmel Off Air for Charlie Kirk Comments Mr. Kimmel faced some criticism for comments he made on Monday about the motives of the man who is accused of killing Mr. Kirk, the conservative activist.
September 18, 2025 at 12:25 AM