Jack Mirkinson
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jackmirkinson.bsky.social
Jack Mirkinson
@jackmirkinson.bsky.social
10K followers 1.5K following 1.7K 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
She writes that the first few times Kennedy said he loved her, she did not say it back. Yet she knew she felt the same. "I love him, I thought. Oh no. I love him so much."
November 21, 2025 at 4:39 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
that's like $1250 of jewelry per celebration
Keith Olbermann • † Follow @olbermann.bsky.social Btw about this from Lizza's reply: Olivia and I lived together for 4+ years (4 b'days, 4 Xmases, 4 anniversaries). That's like $1250 of jewelry per celebration. And her apartment was a writing studio. And I made an f-ton then. What was I supposed to do? Get her a lot of Gift Certificates from Kmart? paid for her to attend college, outfitted her in Tom Ford and Hervé Léger dresses and some $15,000 worth of Cartier jewelry. Later, he covered her rent and furnished her apartment in a doorman building in the West Village. While Keith, who was 34 years older, was generous, there were strings attached. Olivia
November 18, 2025 at 2:38 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
they're calling it "some of the worst writing of the century"
I would take a bullet for you," the Politician said. He always said that. "Please don't say that," I said. I always said that. From his mouth the bullet theoretical launched the bullet possible. I did not like to think about it. About the armed man at his speech. Or the armed man who broke into his home. Or the armed men he paid to guard him from armed men who sought to harm him while the federal government denied his pleas for protection from the security agency whose modern protocols were carved by the same bullets that cut boughs from his family tree and cut the track of the American experiment.
November 17, 2025 at 7:50 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
image of the infamous four pinocchios graphic
November 13, 2025 at 2:21 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
Today in @thenation.com: a harrowing account from human rights lawyer and Gaza flotilla member Thomas Becker of his kidnap and torture by Israeli troops www.thenation.com/article/worl...
The Israeli forces brought us to Ktzi’ot Prison. B’tselem, Israel’s most prominent human rights organization, has described it as one of Israel’s most notorious “torture camps,” with prisoners dubbing it “Israel’s Abu Ghraib.” There, they stripped us naked, deprived us of sleep, food, and sanitary facilities, arbitrarily threatened us with guns, and physically attacked us. The treatment was more violent for my Muslim, Arab, North African, and Israeli colleagues than for me.
November 12, 2025 at 3:52 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
The ties of American Landmark's parent company, Electra, to illegal settlements and the Israeli military are deep and long-lasting—so much so that the UN has flagged Electra over its activities in the settlements. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Whether they stay or get priced out, these tenants are also linked to a multinational conglomerate that profits from the displacement of people on the other side of the world. That's because American Landmark is almost entirely owned by Elco, one of Israel's largest corporations. For years, Elco, via its Electra Super Brand, has done extensive business in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israeli settlements drive many thousands of Palestinians from their homes and are considered illegal under international law. Elco has also maintained deep ties to the Israeli military, including during the genocide in Gaza. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has cited Electra Ltd. in its database of over 150 companies doing business in the settlements. In 2024, the American Friends Service Committee put Electra on its list of companies that "directly facilitate and enable human rights violations and violations of international law as part of Israel's prolonged military occupations, apartheid, and genocide." Meanwhile, in a podcast appearance that same year, an Electra executive described American Landmark as a "big winning card" for the company. (Elco and Electra Real Estate, the subsidiary that owns American Landmark, did not respond to requests for comment.) Furthermore, Electra is deeply intertwined with the Israeli military. It owns Electra Power, which has been "the exclusive gas supplier of the Israel Defense Forces and the country's Police and Prison systems services for many years," and supplies gas to illegal settlements, according to the American Friends Service Committee. Who Profits has found that Electra also helped to construct and maintain multiple Israeli military and police training facilities. In 2024, well into the Gaza genocide, Electra Power's CEO said on an Elco earnings call that "the IDF is a major client. We stand shoulder to shoulder with them in facing challenges and fulfilling missions. We are likely the only supplier that can say we've expanded our areas of deployment... This is a great source of pride for us?"
November 11, 2025 at 3:04 PM
jackmirkinson.bsky.social
American Landmark's CEO told @thomasbirm.bsky.social that "some people are absolutely displaced" when his firm buys a property. In fact, he said, the company typically expects around 45 percent of tenants to leave once it takes over. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
When I spoke with Joseph Lubeck, he vigorously denied that American Landmark’s practices are predatory, claiming that “most residents are very pleased” and that 65 percent renew their leases. But he confirmed that rent increases and displacement are part of the company’s strategy. “When we take over a property, the first analysis we do is: How much is the rent going to go up, and how many can afford to stay?” Lubeck said. “We typically raise the rent anywhere from $100 to $400, so some people are absolutely displaced. Some people paying $1,000 in a distressed apartment are not going to be able to afford the $1,400 we’re going to charge.” Based on the company’s “modeling,” Lubeck said, only “55 percent of existing residents [are expected to] stay,” while the remaining 45 percent “move out.”
November 11, 2025 at 2:43 PM
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