Favorite Rejects 2021-08-20

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

Shout-out to the people on the Right who can't decide if they want to worship China's authoritarian model or use China as an external threat to unite America under right-wing rule, and so are forced to learn nuanced thinking for the first time

Christopher Bouzy @cbouzy

I faced criticism when I called Republicans the Taliban in Bespoke suits, and yet here we are.

Rep. Matt Gaetz @RepMattGaetz

Taliban and Trump should both be on Twitter. More legitimate than the last government in Afghanistan or the current government here. https://t.co/VN7oxtCHk8

YIMBY Action @yimbyaction

For those wondering where new homes can be built without sprawl. Image by @bufordsharkley

Jordan Weissmann 🗽 @JHWeissmann

I guess the "housing justice" movement is similar to the "climate justice" movement, in that both are at times more interested in making rhetorical stands against capitalism than in addressing the actual crisis they're ostensibly dedicated to.

kang🚎 @jaycaspiankang

and we discussed a question I hope to ask everyone I interview in this series. Why isn't there a way to combine efforts to build middle/upper-middle class housing with protect tenants, rent control, and the like? This was her answer. https://t.co/uhLHL4NuuK

Pinboard @Pinboard

The limiting factor in evacuating Afghans right now is our refusal to fly them to US territory and finish the paperwork there. This capricious administrative decision is costing lives and has no justification beyond American xenophobia.

Ruffini @EenaRuffini

NEW: there was a stop in evacuation flights overnight because of the need to find receiving facilities to house evacuees from #afghanistan, since Doha has reached capacity. As reported below, flights should resume and start flying to Bahrain this afternoon. (W/David Martin) https://t.co/VucCbA8Ks0

Nate Silver @NateSilver538

Move the capital back to Philadelphia.

POLITICO Playbook @playbookdc

The bashing of former President BARACK OBAMA'S birthday bash is having a chilling effect on the D.C. party scene as (especially Democratic) pols and their staffers scramble to figure out when and where — or even if — they can party again. More in Playbook: https://t.co/Fh5HivK9YK

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Kinda feels like summer 2020 would have been a good time to get this kind of thing lined up. https://t.co/hKJYmTtZz8

Alexander Gaffney @AlecGaffney

A little scoop in AgencyIQ today: The FDA is calling in some help to conduct the complex reviews for Pfizer, Moderna and J&J's vaccines. https://t.co/LOn6YOCZTZ (paywalled) https://t.co/NMOT2J2MzO

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Right … it’s weird to me how many people are quasi-hoping for an Iran/hostage situation when it would obviously be win-win for all the foreigners who want to leave to be able to get out. https://t.co/xEb4AVUGsG

Richard Engel @RichardEngel

Biden says US in constant contact with Taliban to get safe passage to airport. So, US asking former enemy, the Taliban, to please allow us to get our people out while they take the country.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Tons of national security hawks and their allies in the press have been rooting for the evacuations to go poorly in order to punish Biden politically for making a policy decision they disagree with. It’s on every TV channel, NPR, most papers, etc. and it’s gross.

Ben Kesling @bkesling

Who’s hoping for a hostage situation? Get off Twitter and get your eyes on the X. https://t.co/GUUI261Y4H

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Biden has gotten more bad press over a week of messy-but-successful-so-far evacuations than Obama and Trump combined got across 12 years of Americans actually dying in pursuit of a failed policy. Frightening political implications.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Never gonna get booked on CNN with that attitude https://t.co/7SSdZMza8M

Kevin Robillard @Robillard

The idea that the pullout from Afghanistan is more humiliating than the U.S. spending $2 trillion and twenty years propping up a corrupt government while American military leaders misled the country about their progress seems backwards.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

“To maximize the benefits during construction, the project also includes extensive utility maintenance, civic improvements and safety enhancements that will revitalize this historic corridor” —> and that’s how you get a $300 million bus lane

Christof Spieler @christofspieler

A streak of fresh red bus lanes down Van Ness in San Francisco. https://t.co/QmzXlyppKK

Veena Dubal @veenadubal

Breaking: CA Superior Court judge finds Prop 22 UNCONSTITUTIONAL!!!