Qasim, excellent episode! Keep up the good work . People like you, Dr Shah and Ms Jayapal remind us why our country is worth fighting for, there are much much better ways to run this country and you all are offering positive options! Peace be with you!
Qasim, I remain a subscriber precisely because of your principle based commentary. I also appreciate very much your interviews with candidates who are running to unseat entrenched and compromised Democrats. On that note, we have in CA3 an incredibly exciting candidate who stepped up to run against Ami Bera and incumbent Republican Kevin Kiley. His name is Chris Bennett, he is an anti genocide disabled veteran who decided to run after seeing students arrested and detained for speaking out against the genocide in Gaza. His platform is outstanding, he is an eloquent, empathetic and informed speaker, and an on-the-ground activist, who turns up regularly at immigration court to track and protest ICE activities. I am working with other local volunteers to build awareness about his campaign. He is considered an underdog, but young people are saying he excites them as much as Zohran Mamdani. I'm not young - 62 years old - but feel strongly that he has the capacity to beat both Bera and Kiley, should he win one of CA's two primary seats in June. At the very least, he will put pressure on them while building a movement here in conservative Northern California. My ask - would you consider interviewing him on your podcast? I'd be happy to connect you, or you could contact him via his website - https://www.bennettforca.com/
I have not yet listened to this interview of yours with Washington state Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, but I’m going to in a few minutes.
Regarding your column yesterday about the hypocrisy of the Democratic Party, I would fully concur. It is partly why the American people opted to elect a racist, fascist demagogue and psychopath as President of the United States in 2024 and the Trump regime is largely able to get away, at least for now, with threatening to invade and colonize Greenland, blow up NATO, and potentially cause a nuclear Armageddon.
Hence, the only way out of this authoritarian nightmare our nation is currently in and to save American democracy from fascism I see is for a large majority of Americans, including the national Democratic Party, to adopt a new social and political paradigm centered exclusively around human rights, social justice, economic equality, and support for freedom and democracy both at home and abroad.
That means Democrats proposing, and fighting for, a policy agenda that includes an amnesty for all undocumented immigrants in the U.S. except for the small minority who have truly committed serious crimes and abolishing, or significantly, reforming ICE; adapting a single-payer health care system or something very close to it in the U.S., significantly raising taxes on ultra-wealthy Americans, reducing the defense budget to some extent; passing a strong, new voting rights act that includes a ban all gerrymandering, passing a new civil rights bill that includes protections for transgender Americans, properly addressing the plight of the Palestinians, supporting Ukraine for as long as is necessary and Taiwan as well; recommitting to eliminating poverty by re-assembling and, restoring funding for USAID, appropriately addressing the gun violence epidemic in the U.S., approximately addressing the climate crisis, and holding everyone in the Trump regime and Biden administration fully legally accountable for any abuses of power and/or crimes against humanity they may have committed.
What I am struggling with is where exactly to draw my “line in the sand” between “voting blue no matter who” and making the perfect the enemy of the good. For example, I made a small donation to the 2026 U.S. Senate campaigns of former North Carolina Senator Roy Cooper and former Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown in spite of the fact that they are largely indifferent to Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians, because I believe the consequences of Republicans winning those Senate races would be far worse.
Where I have decided to draw my “line in the sand” around not supporting candidates for elected office is any candidate who I believe is engaging in baseless hatred (the most serious sin in Judaism) in the way of his or her rhetoric and/or policy, a candidate who I think has engaged in heinous personal conduct, and/or any candidate who votes to fund ICE, or is in favor of funding ICE, without major reforms to it.
If you feel that any of my reasoning in this comment is off, please let me know and explain to me what you would do differently.
Finally, I apologize for this comment being so long-winded. But, this is a complex thought and I could not figure out a way to make it any shorter. And disregard my previous comment, it was incomplete.
I expanded my comment, so please reply when you have the time. I would like to know if you think my reasoning is off in any way and how hard you think it is appropriate to press Democrats on Palestine.
I may be making a huge mistake by sending donations to Cooper and Brown. And, once again, thank you for always taking the time to respond to my comments. It means a lot.
we are still during covid. with our crumbling health care infrastructure, masking in indoor spaces like grocery stores, hospitals, and public transport we are protecting those being targeted by ice. Hispanic and Black people are the most impacted by covid and flu infections in this country, not to mention the large number of newly disabled Palestinians and other american funded genocide impacted peoples around the globe, are still dying from airborne illness. we all share the same air and are under surveillance nearly 24/7. wearing high quality respirators is a daily action and worth recommitting to. covid is a labor issue, covid is a public health issue, covid is a community care issue. check out pmc19.com for national tracking of the virus and maskbloc.org to find free masks near you.
i know these speakers mean “during lockdown” or “during the nation wide state of emergency period of this ongoing pandemic” but it would be great to hear covid talked about in the present tense as we continue spread it year round like we are invincible or think others being disabled and killed by this illness are disposable. language is so important right now. Hispanic and Black people are the most vulnerable group to flu, c19, and rvs. if we care about the people being abused by ICE, we care about public health. if we can about equity for all, we care about public health. i am asking for a long term commitment from my community to start wearing masks again. high quality respirators, save you time getting ready for work because you only need your makeup done from the eyes up. masks prevent illness in shared public space, where proper ventilation is not guaranteed and we can’t medically diagnose a stranger we are sharing the air with. an n95 or kn95, here in america, protects me from overwhelming city smells, unpredictable beverage spills, and the ever occasional spitter. masking is a preventative tool for fewer sick days from work. our infrastructure is being defunded and gutted. Many people losing access to health insurance, quality education, and groceries. covid is here. it’s a labor issue. it’s a education issue. it’s a public health issue. We allow these things to spread unmitigated, allows for further mutation of the virus, leading to year round surges and vaccines that don’t protect against every strain. this will be forever unless we all do something to slow the spread. we have power collectively to change our circumstances. its a daily practice that i invite all of you to recommit to. we eradicated two strains of the flu while on lockdowns and most of us were wearing bare minimum barriers of single layer cloth across our faces. find what works for your face and recommit. we protect those who medically cannot wear masks. Alice Wong, who died last year, was one of those people who could not mask though she was outspoken about advocating for masking. We have technology at our fingertips, facetime your friends and have dinner and dance parties like long distance cousins! we can change the world. we can slow down and care about ourselves and others without burning ourselves at both ends. this is the new normal sweeties. we gotta get with the times so we stop leaving people behind. https://www.pmc19.com/data/index.php
Listening to this, I keep thinking about one thing: when we call something ‘public health,’ we can’t pretend that tanks, spikes in federal violence, and gunshots suddenly become healing. Real health is safety, dignity, and agency for every family in the street, not soldiers on standby. If we’re going to talk about care, talk about stopping the state violence first. Then maybe we can talk about healing.
Qasim, excellent episode! Keep up the good work . People like you, Dr Shah and Ms Jayapal remind us why our country is worth fighting for, there are much much better ways to run this country and you all are offering positive options! Peace be with you!
Qasim, I remain a subscriber precisely because of your principle based commentary. I also appreciate very much your interviews with candidates who are running to unseat entrenched and compromised Democrats. On that note, we have in CA3 an incredibly exciting candidate who stepped up to run against Ami Bera and incumbent Republican Kevin Kiley. His name is Chris Bennett, he is an anti genocide disabled veteran who decided to run after seeing students arrested and detained for speaking out against the genocide in Gaza. His platform is outstanding, he is an eloquent, empathetic and informed speaker, and an on-the-ground activist, who turns up regularly at immigration court to track and protest ICE activities. I am working with other local volunteers to build awareness about his campaign. He is considered an underdog, but young people are saying he excites them as much as Zohran Mamdani. I'm not young - 62 years old - but feel strongly that he has the capacity to beat both Bera and Kiley, should he win one of CA's two primary seats in June. At the very least, he will put pressure on them while building a movement here in conservative Northern California. My ask - would you consider interviewing him on your podcast? I'd be happy to connect you, or you could contact him via his website - https://www.bennettforca.com/
Thank you for your support, Noga. Truly grateful. And thank you for the heads up. I'll be sure to look him up!
Hi Qasim,
I have not yet listened to this interview of yours with Washington state Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, but I’m going to in a few minutes.
Regarding your column yesterday about the hypocrisy of the Democratic Party, I would fully concur. It is partly why the American people opted to elect a racist, fascist demagogue and psychopath as President of the United States in 2024 and the Trump regime is largely able to get away, at least for now, with threatening to invade and colonize Greenland, blow up NATO, and potentially cause a nuclear Armageddon.
Hence, the only way out of this authoritarian nightmare our nation is currently in and to save American democracy from fascism I see is for a large majority of Americans, including the national Democratic Party, to adopt a new social and political paradigm centered exclusively around human rights, social justice, economic equality, and support for freedom and democracy both at home and abroad.
That means Democrats proposing, and fighting for, a policy agenda that includes an amnesty for all undocumented immigrants in the U.S. except for the small minority who have truly committed serious crimes and abolishing, or significantly, reforming ICE; adapting a single-payer health care system or something very close to it in the U.S., significantly raising taxes on ultra-wealthy Americans, reducing the defense budget to some extent; passing a strong, new voting rights act that includes a ban all gerrymandering, passing a new civil rights bill that includes protections for transgender Americans, properly addressing the plight of the Palestinians, supporting Ukraine for as long as is necessary and Taiwan as well; recommitting to eliminating poverty by re-assembling and, restoring funding for USAID, appropriately addressing the gun violence epidemic in the U.S., approximately addressing the climate crisis, and holding everyone in the Trump regime and Biden administration fully legally accountable for any abuses of power and/or crimes against humanity they may have committed.
What I am struggling with is where exactly to draw my “line in the sand” between “voting blue no matter who” and making the perfect the enemy of the good. For example, I made a small donation to the 2026 U.S. Senate campaigns of former North Carolina Senator Roy Cooper and former Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown in spite of the fact that they are largely indifferent to Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians, because I believe the consequences of Republicans winning those Senate races would be far worse.
Where I have decided to draw my “line in the sand” around not supporting candidates for elected office is any candidate who I believe is engaging in baseless hatred (the most serious sin in Judaism) in the way of his or her rhetoric and/or policy, a candidate who I think has engaged in heinous personal conduct, and/or any candidate who votes to fund ICE, or is in favor of funding ICE, without major reforms to it.
If you feel that any of my reasoning in this comment is off, please let me know and explain to me what you would do differently.
Finally, I apologize for this comment being so long-winded. But, this is a complex thought and I could not figure out a way to make it any shorter. And disregard my previous comment, it was incomplete.
Best,
David Hurwitz
Chicago, IL
Thank you, and yes, well said. We cannot expect our base to show up when Dem leadership is not actively working to oppose fascism.
I expanded my comment, so please reply when you have the time. I would like to know if you think my reasoning is off in any way and how hard you think it is appropriate to press Democrats on Palestine.
I may be making a huge mistake by sending donations to Cooper and Brown. And, once again, thank you for always taking the time to respond to my comments. It means a lot.
we are still during covid. with our crumbling health care infrastructure, masking in indoor spaces like grocery stores, hospitals, and public transport we are protecting those being targeted by ice. Hispanic and Black people are the most impacted by covid and flu infections in this country, not to mention the large number of newly disabled Palestinians and other american funded genocide impacted peoples around the globe, are still dying from airborne illness. we all share the same air and are under surveillance nearly 24/7. wearing high quality respirators is a daily action and worth recommitting to. covid is a labor issue, covid is a public health issue, covid is a community care issue. check out pmc19.com for national tracking of the virus and maskbloc.org to find free masks near you.
i know these speakers mean “during lockdown” or “during the nation wide state of emergency period of this ongoing pandemic” but it would be great to hear covid talked about in the present tense as we continue spread it year round like we are invincible or think others being disabled and killed by this illness are disposable. language is so important right now. Hispanic and Black people are the most vulnerable group to flu, c19, and rvs. if we care about the people being abused by ICE, we care about public health. if we can about equity for all, we care about public health. i am asking for a long term commitment from my community to start wearing masks again. high quality respirators, save you time getting ready for work because you only need your makeup done from the eyes up. masks prevent illness in shared public space, where proper ventilation is not guaranteed and we can’t medically diagnose a stranger we are sharing the air with. an n95 or kn95, here in america, protects me from overwhelming city smells, unpredictable beverage spills, and the ever occasional spitter. masking is a preventative tool for fewer sick days from work. our infrastructure is being defunded and gutted. Many people losing access to health insurance, quality education, and groceries. covid is here. it’s a labor issue. it’s a education issue. it’s a public health issue. We allow these things to spread unmitigated, allows for further mutation of the virus, leading to year round surges and vaccines that don’t protect against every strain. this will be forever unless we all do something to slow the spread. we have power collectively to change our circumstances. its a daily practice that i invite all of you to recommit to. we eradicated two strains of the flu while on lockdowns and most of us were wearing bare minimum barriers of single layer cloth across our faces. find what works for your face and recommit. we protect those who medically cannot wear masks. Alice Wong, who died last year, was one of those people who could not mask though she was outspoken about advocating for masking. We have technology at our fingertips, facetime your friends and have dinner and dance parties like long distance cousins! we can change the world. we can slow down and care about ourselves and others without burning ourselves at both ends. this is the new normal sweeties. we gotta get with the times so we stop leaving people behind. https://www.pmc19.com/data/index.php
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/viewer
Listening to this, I keep thinking about one thing: when we call something ‘public health,’ we can’t pretend that tanks, spikes in federal violence, and gunshots suddenly become healing. Real health is safety, dignity, and agency for every family in the street, not soldiers on standby. If we’re going to talk about care, talk about stopping the state violence first. Then maybe we can talk about healing.
Encouraging candidates.
Democrats need to get vocal about ICE HOLES. Demand Change.
That’s not ice, its a facade that’s the KKK