Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · 18h

www.latimes.com/california/s...

Californian detained on Gaza-bound flotilla deported to Jordan from Israel prison

Israeli naval forces intercepted aid vessels headed to Gaza, taking into custody Southern California native David Adler, among other passengers and crew.

www.latimes.com

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Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · 18h

NEW: David Adler, 33-year-old U.S. citizen with the Gaza Sumud Flotilla, says Israeli minister Ben Gvir personally separated two Jewish members from the rest of the flotilla for a photo-op and with the Israeli flag while his aides taunted them.

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Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · 5d

Gave a lecture at Georgetown a few months back and was struck that many students basically had no idea who Dick Cheney is.

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Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · 9d

One thing missing in this whole debate is that frontline Democrats ran largely as moderates in 2024--ads filled with cops and sheriffs, border crackdowns, oil drilling, and bipartisan stamps of approval. If it were a cure-all, the map would look different by now.

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Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · 14d

Civilitycraft is our modern witchcraft: we conjure bad manners to explain democratic breakdown, the way failed crops were once blamed on witches. But politics isn’t haunted by rudeness: it’s broken by rules and power.

www.waleed-shahid.com/p/our-crisis...

Our Crisis Isn’t a Failure of Manners

On Ezra Klein, Charlie Kirk, and the civility trap.

www.waleed-shahid.com

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Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · 14d

Kamala Harris explaining in her book why not a single Palestinian or Arab American was allowed to speak at the DNC.

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Tara Raghuveer @taraghuveer.bsky.social · 15d

In the last six weeks, the Tenant Union Federation launched seven (7) majority tenant unions, across five (5) states, representing 1000 units of housing owned by Capital Realty Group, a New York-based corporate landlord. The first portfolio organizing of its kind...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Tenants Seek to Unionize One Private Equity Firm's Entire Housing Portfolio

By organizing renters across Capital Realty Group’s affordable housing complexes, the Tenant Union Federation hopes to bring sectoral bargaining to negotiations with large landlords.

www.bloomberg.com

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Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · 15d

Start a group against “the groups” while Trump works to outlaw the groups and democracy begs for stronger groups.

www.waleed-shahid.com/p/realignmen...

Realignment Isn’t A Playlist

On Searchlight, why Democrats can’t simply curate their way to power and what it takes to forge an era of democratic renewal.

www.waleed-shahid.com

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Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · 18d

2017, Hungary: Bill Seeks to Stifle Independent Groups

www.hrw.org/news/2017/06...

Hungary: Bill Seeks to Stifle Independent Groups

A bill targeting nongovernmental organizations would force some groups that receive funding from outside Hungary to register as “foreign funded” and subject them to excessive sanctions and obligations...

www.hrw.org

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Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · 20d

Everyone knows I’m a big Marvel Comics nerd, but it’s time to cancel my Disney Plus subscription.

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Reposted by Waleed Shahid

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 22d

Getting more sinister by the minute www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/u...

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Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · 23d

What We Look At When We Look At a Baby

www.waleed-shahid.com/p/what-we-lo...

What We Look At When We Look At a Baby

A newborn in the house, and I can’t stop watching people watch the baby.

www.waleed-shahid.com

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Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · 26d

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021...

Money and misinformation: how Turning Point USA became a formidable pro-Trump force

The rightwing group outgrew its origins on campuses to hobnob with Republican operatives and donors – despite some discomfort in the party

www.theguardian.com

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Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · 26d

It is true that there isn’t a left-wing equivalent to Kirk and Turning Point on American campuses, either in the reach of their network or the scale of their budget.

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Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · 26d

To mourn Kirk’s horrific killing as a wound to democracy is right. To recast him as democracy’s patron saint is dangerous delusion.

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David Weinfeld @davidweinfeld.bsky.social · Aug 27

Superb article in @jacobinmag.bsky.social by @waleedshahid.bsky.social about Uncommitted, the Palestinian cause, and the future of the Denocratic Party. With some real optimism and a way forward. jacobin.com/2025/08/unco...

The Uncommitted Movement, a Year Later

One year after the Democratic National Convention refused to allow a Palestinian American onstage, it’s clear that the Democrats have paid a steep price in ignoring voters opposed to Israel’s brutal h...

jacobin.com

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Reposted by Waleed Shahid

Max Berger @maxberger.bsky.social · Aug 27

"The lesson isn’t that today’s left has too many causes. It’s that Democrats haven’t done the senior-partner job of choosing a unifying program and turning movement energy into governing power." - @waleedshahid.bsky.social, explaining what @mattyglesias.bsky.social gets wrong

What Yglesias Gets Wrong About the 1850s

Republicans forged purpose out of disparate interests and factional conflict.

www.waleed-shahid.com

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Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · Aug 26

NEW: In 2024, the DNC refused to platform a Palestinian American. Today, Gaza is unavoidable in Democratic politics. I dug into Uncommitted's experience rallying anti-war voters + confronting elites' entrenched deference to Israel – and what the party could learn:
www.huffpost.com/entry/democr...

Democrats Wrote Off This Group In 2024. But They’re Ready To ‘Fight Again’

Leaders in the "Uncommitted" movement told HuffPost they sense a turning point, citing signals like Zohran Mamdani's primary win.

www.huffpost.com

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David Wright @davidwright6.bsky.social · Aug 26

@waleedshahid.bsky.social: “History shows that independent political and fundraising operations often do more to change a party’s direction than the party’s own infrastructure"

www.cnn.com/2025/08/26/p...

David Wright @davidwright6.bsky.social · Aug 26

NEW:

How AOC built a Democratic fundraising juggernaut

David Axelrod: “She has extraordinary communication skills…She’s done well and I’m sure her name will surface in speculation about future elections.”

www.cnn.com/2025/08/26/p...

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Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · Aug 26

nobody:
me and @mattyglesias.bsky.social: 🚨You won’t BELIEVE the 1850s debates over political factions and coalitions.

i regret to inform you, this is the least clickable beef in internet history. bring your own footnotes.

www.waleed-shahid.com/p/what-ygles...

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Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · Aug 25

We need to talk about Clue #4 of the #ZcavengerHunt. I wrote about how @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social wouldn’t be the first DSA member elected mayor of New York. He wouldn’t even be the second socialist to hold the job.

www.waleed-shahid.com/p/zohrans-sc...

Zohran’s Scavenger Hunt and the Forgotten Socialist Mayor of New York

A citywide scavenger hunt turned contained a mini-history lesson about New York’s socialist lineage.

www.waleed-shahid.com

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Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · Aug 20

I highly recommend this piece from @waleedshahid.bsky.social looking at what happened to Brandon Johnson in Chicago and the lessons that Zohran Mamdani and his supporters should take from it: www.waleed-shahid.com/p/what-mamda...

What Mamdani Can Learn from Chicago’s Struggles

Brandon Johnson’s early successes were quickly overshadowed by relentless and well-funded opponents.

www.waleed-shahid.com

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Dan Ancona @danancona.bsky.social · Aug 19

One of the Dem party's top thinkers, someone whose words carry enormous weight to shape strategy, believes the uncommitted movement is composed of "idealistic young dupes" and "contributed in small but real ways to Trump winning." The actual, heartbreaking story from @waleedshahid.bsky.social -

Inside Uncommitted: The 1-Year Anniversary of a Missed Turn at the DNC

Twelve months on, the cost of ignoring anti-war voters is plain.

www.waleed-shahid.com

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Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · Aug 19

Inside Uncommitted: A year after the DNC, I reflect on what it meant for Democrats to bar Palestinian Americans from the convention stage and what the campaign revealed about fractures, power, and the future of the anti-war movement and the Democratic Party.

www.waleed-shahid.com/p/inside-unc...

Inside Uncommitted: The 1-Year Anniversary of a Missed Turn at the DNC

Twelve months on, the cost of ignoring anti-war voters is plain.

www.waleed-shahid.com

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Reposted by Waleed Shahid

Dan Ancona @danancona.bsky.social · Aug 15

🤬🤬🤬

The media is blowing it but if you’re not mad enough about that, you can also blame the Dems, basically none of whom are even bothering to speak up against this. Primary everyone.

Waleed Shahid @waleedshahid.bsky.social · Aug 15

NEW: Trump’s DC “crime crackdown” distraction worked as planned: in 72 hrs, media mentions of Epstein revelations fell 71% and BBB coverage dropped 29%, replaced by wall-to-wall footage of troops in the streets and repetition of Trump's message.

www.waleed-shahid.com/p/the-distra...

The Distraction Playbook: How Trump’s DC Takeover Swallowed the News Cycle

Trump didn’t like what he was seeing on his TV screens these past few weeks, so he decided to change the story.

www.waleed-shahid.com

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