Joe Stieb
@joestieb
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Asst Prof of Nat Sec Affairs at US Naval War College. History, hoops, running, cats. Celtics and Tar Heels. Views are mine.
Joined June 2017
PSA: I don’t engage with anonymous accounts and neither should you.
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This whole campaign is a giant social experiment in how terrible and insane you can be and still get a preponderance of the American people to support you.
Tucker: it's going to be pretty tough for them. say. Kamala Harris, she got 85 million votes because she's so impressive. As the first is a Samoan Malaysian low I.Q. former California prosecutor ever to be elected president.
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AOC is a great case of an idealistic and charismatic young politician growing up and realizing that political performances and moral purity matter less than results and that working within the system can actually get those results. But sorry that she’s ‘boring.’.
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I think one of the things that 10/7 showed abt academia is that we aren’t really better than ‘normal’ people. It has revealed a deep cruel streak in which ideology and identity determine who gets empathy and who doesn’t. It’s just so easy to not say things like this.
Now revelations of torture by Hamas. She had to wash dishes. That is torture, if you ask me.
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The Crank if a Democratic President fired the FBI Director mid-term and replaced him with a fanatical crony with no law enforcement experience:
10 years is a maximum term, not a minimum. It's designed to prevent another J. Edgar Hoover. The director can be fired at will by POTUS.
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Counterpoint:
Imagine if there were only 1 brand of peanut butter, 1 brand of pasta sauce, etc. Rather than spend your time in the grocery wondering "Which brand shall I buy?", you'd have the mindspace to wonder: "What person shall I become?".
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@artisanrocky Which shows that they don't actually care about Palestinians at all; they are just angry at the Democrats and want them to lose out of spite.
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Yeah you are so not a member of the establishment, guy named Elbridge whose grandpa was head of the CIA.
Our self-righteous establishment has led us to the brink of World War III, a weakened and overstretched military, and deindustrialization. We desperately need a change. Vote Trump - and stay in line - for peace and strength!.
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Biden's pardon of his son erodes the rule of law, shrinks the distance between the Dems and the GOP, and objectively aids whatever nonsense Trump is about to do. In this last year, he torched what might have been a decent legacy.
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"In a country tangling itself in knots over questions of age and mental competence in the White House, Trump somehow keeps getting a pass for saying things that are orders of magnitude more worrisome than forgetting a name or a date." @RadioFreeTom 💯💯.
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@artisanrocky and so they'll burn everything (women's rights, electoral integrity, gay rights, Ukraine, healthcare, any chance of getting the Supreme Court back, the Constitution itself) for the completely uncertain and unlikely of a more progressive candidate in 2028. Makes no sense.
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Mindless anti-establishmentism is a plague in our politics today. The establishment seems to stink until you get MAGA morons and fanatics running the country.
I've been trying to figure out why I'm more optimistic now than I was before the election, even though I was so against the guy who won. I know now. MAGA is not my mortal enemy (and neither is the extreme left). My mortal enemy is the establishment. And they have been defeated!.
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The fact that the J-6ers basically won is appalling to me. I remember thinking on Jan. 6 something like "well, at least he won't be able to come back from this.". I had a minimal level of belief in my fellow citizens to be citizens and take this seriously. And I was wrong.
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@whstancil Whenever I read statements like this I feel like the poster is blaming Biden for not being a king.
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I don't know where to start with how bad this tweet is:. 1. Trump is on record as being vehemently pro-Bibi and hostile to the Palestinians. 2. How the heck did he run "to the left" of Hillary on Iraq? He supported the Iraq War. Also, not all war opposition is "on the left" as/.
I have this wild notion that Trump might conceivably run to Biden's left on Israel-Palestine in the general election, like he did with Hillary and Iraq. He's been noticeably quiet on the issue since Oct. 7.
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These people claim to be Christian, right?. I don’t remember learning this at Catholic school….
"I think our people hate the right people," said JD Vance. You know, I'm not sure about that.
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Just reading about Vaclav Havel rn, and he has a great phrase:. A ‘contaminated moral environment.’.
Unthinkable, pre-Trump, that any candidate for high political office of either major party would publicly cheer such behavior. (Conservatives in particular used to be for traditional cultural/social norms.).The extent to which that man has debased our public culture is shocking.
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This is paranoid conspiracism that seems to be increasingly par for the course at National Review, in their desperate attempts to deny Trump's proven, manifest threat to democracy and the rule of law. Bro if you want to vote for Trump just do it. No need for the gymnastics.
Been trying to outline one of forked roads in politics on the right. I think the biggest one is between those who think our form of government barely managed to survive Trump’s presidency. And those who think our government barely managed to recognize Trump as president.
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@artisanrocky Yes they do. Vote for Harris, then work assiduously within the party for a new candidate or to push Harris in a better direction. What you are proposing is an insane shortcut that won't work. Jane Fonda had a great statement on this, btw.
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Fun thing: My book is now out in paperback from the Cambridge U Press website or online booksellers.
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@SenatorRomney Thank you Mitt for calling him out specifically. That seems terribly hard for many.
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@cwjones89 I wonder how much of the distortion from this book is a specifically Irish phenomenon. I have read that the author has been wildly cavalier about his inaccuracies and lack of expertise, even after historians have called him out.
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@shadihamid Well it's not an accurate statement about liberalism in historical terms, and it's from a hyper-reactionary source, a guy who opposed both decolonization and the Civil Rights movement. He has a point, I suppose, I just wonder how you are using it or what you like about it.
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@radleybalko Former HS teacher here: sometimes when a kid is having a bad day, it is best to leave them alone as long as they don’t disrupt others. The worst thing u can do is engage in a power struggle over *checks notes* kickball. Kickball.
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Nah it is freakin awesome was loaded w talent and was optimistic about public service and it’s ok to not be miserable all the time.
Parks and Recreation is the single most "Obama-era" show I can think of and it'd be torn to shreds by audiences if it aired today
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This is a solid review of Coll's book by Gideon Rose, but Rose, and to a lesser extent Coll, still lean a little too hard on the "misperception" thesis of the Iraq War, with the resulting narrative of the war as a "tragedy.". Rose, for example, argues/.
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The thing abt DJT is that he’s so capricious and incoherent that he will eventually take a position that sounds a little bit like the thing you want, so you can talk yourself into thinking he might be good for that thing when he won’t be.
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@ChallengeYCL What was the best thing abt him? Idk was it the Cheka murder squads? The creation of a tyranny much deeper than the czar’s? The dictatorship? The crushing of other socialists? . Just tell us what u like abt this stuff.
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Now seems like as good a time as any to let everyone know that I've accepted a position as Assistant Professor of National Security Affairs at the @NavalWarCollege in Newport, RI. Super excited to be heading back to my native New England to work with outstanding colleagues/.
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@Tyler_A_Harper ‘Entangled’ as in backing an ally against naked aggression?. This does not make Biden demented.
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@ChaseMadar Opposing fascism? Being a citizen? Not putting the onus on your fellow citizens to oppose fascism?.
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Unpleasant campus politics doesn't negate the threat Trump poses. That is straightforward.
DeMOcraCy is ON thE ballOT.
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@Nate_moseby @OfficialNBARefs @warriorsvox Lol I don't know about you guys but I always leap forward 8 feet on my jumper. That's why it is so pure.
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@tooforwon241 @statmuse Like there are 16 guys averaging over 25 a game. There were 7 in 04-05.
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The rejoinder to this cheap critique is that you do want a military edge over authoritarian power but that you want to hold that power in reserve, using it mainly for deterrence, partner support, and structuring rivals' behavior. The good version of this argument is that having/.
Harris wants to make the US military the “most lethal” in the world. 4.5 million dead from America’s post 9/11 wars . Thousands of civilians dead in Libya . Over 3 million dead from the Vietnam War. Not sure the problem with US foreign policy is its death toll.
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@rizzlerofcook What does he do? Guys, answer or I’m gonna point at Pete again. ‘He gets into Mordor.’.
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I stopped here, just could not endure:. ‘A hostile military alliance, now including Sweden and Finland, is at the very borders of Russia. How are Russian leaders—whose country was almost destroyed by Western invasion twice in the 20th century—supposed to react to this?’.
Urgent, necessary reading/Is NATO’s Endgame Nuclear War /?
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This idea that it’s boring to get results within the system and nudge it in the right direction shows the enduring romantic streak on the left that holds them back in so many ways from realistic political engagement.
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What dense 700-page Pulitzer Prize-winning history book should Chris Nolan adapt for film next?.
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@RpsAgainstTrump "When I heard that leopards would be eating my face, I decided to oppose the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party.".
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Hillsdale really seems to have faculty who would put Chomsky to shame in terms of hating America.
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Just finished Carter Malkasian's outstanding "The American War in Afghanistan." There's a lot of great work on this conflict by people like Rashid and Coll, but I think this is the new gold standard. Attached a link to my informal review below:.
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What the heck is wrong w Snyder’s tweet?.
One Yale historian retweets another Yale historian's historical nonsense. That department used to be *the* place to study history. Now it's where you go to lose your mind.
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What people think the Naval War "School" is:
What 10/7 actually showed is that many of you, like this guy who teaches at the Naval War School, only support justice and liberation in the abstract, to appear “good” and “compassionate” to others.
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A devastating review by @KathaPollitt of Judith Butler's new book. Pollitt shows that when they (Butler uses they/them pronouns) strip the jargon and theoretical sleight-of-hand out of their writing, they don't have anything interesting to say at all.
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A massive oversimplification, to the point of distortion (🧵). I agree that the mil-industrial complex did not drive us into war. But voter support for Iraq was highly contingent on the way the Bush admin shaped the information space, if you will, and on other factors. There/.
I think Iraq was a mistake, but this idea that elites and the industrial military complex sent us into Iraq is a myth. Iraq was supported widely by voters.
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Seems like the fascism debate from about 6 months ago has been resolved. I don’t hear much any more from anyone in the camp that he isn’t some kind of fascist. I mean, this is one minute packed with openly fascist themes.
Trump to Bartiromo on what worries him about election day: "I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within . sick people, radical left lunatics. And it should be easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military."
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@pourfairelevide I've taught HS, college, grad school, almost all imaginable levels of interest and capability, and a key tenet is differentiation; that's what you are overlooking. There is no point to assigning 100 pages a day or even a week to many students. They simply will not do it, and/.
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Idk, maybe the ones who were super pumped about paragliding Hamas murderers are radical.
No college professor is radical.
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Most people who wear masks now either have a medical reason to do so or are already sick and don't want to get other people sick. So they are being thoughtful and reasonable, and it's really none of your business.
Spotted a couple in masks today in the year of our lord 2024 🤡
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@NiranjanShan13 @ajamubaraka One would think the Global South would be able to recognize blatant imperialist aggression.
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I fundamentally, deeply disagree w this. What happens when the evidence, in whatever field, goes against the political cause?. Within this mindset, how can you take a principles stance against someone like Chris Rufo, who’s doing basically the same thing from the other side?.
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One of the most hilarious Twitter things is people who act like the Naval War College is this hive of imperialist warmongering. Narrator: it isn't.
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Because the sitting President didn’t praise them.
Why don’t these anti-Semitic mobs get the same coverage as Charlottesville? 🤔.
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Overjoyed to announce that my first book, "The Regime Change Consensus: Iraq in American Politics, 1990-2003," has got a cover and is coming out in June! Check the link!
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Tell me if I'm wrong:. I often feel like a big difference btw political scientists and historians is that the former look for consistency in human behavior/motivations and tend to dismiss explanations when that consistency can't be established. Historians seem more comfortable/.
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@tatefrazier This moment really struck me, esp in comparison to Lonzo, whom Fox torched in the previous round. Zo clearly didn't care, he was like "whatever, that was my college career." Bam and Fox bleed for the game.
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QI joining the hacks and ideologues on the Left and Right advancing this absurd claim and ignoring that the US government is actually responding with alacrity to Helene. Again, people and institutions who make this argument are spreading a form of disinformation.
Flint is still waiting on clean water.Displaced Maui residents are waiting on housing.It took over a year for East Palestine to receive payouts. How long will communities destroyed by Helene be left waiting?. Meanwhile, last week, Biden agreed to $8.7B in military aid for Israel
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@TADStrange89 @n_hold @TomDuncombe Correct. Harris losing will probably make the Dems go even more centrist, while hurting women's rights, LGBT rights, environmental issues, you name it, not to mention putting someone in office who is all but promising to subvert the Constitution.
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Always a tweet.
Trump isn't a fascist except when you ask him leading questions that have potentially fascist-sounding answers.
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I finished @mattdelmont's phenomenal "Half American" yesterday, and I wanted to follow up with a little thread of other excellent social histories of the military from the last few years/
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A much better critique of what Israel is doing/poised to do than people hyper-ventilating about genocide and settler colonialism. Starts w a clear denunciation of Hamas but points out excesses in Israel’s response, lack of planning for the incursion, and key moral concerns.
“The most dangerous reasoning in policy is, ‘Something must be done. This is something. Therefore it must be done,'" says @chrislhayes. "Yes, this campaign of bombing and maybe ground incursion into Gaza is something. But no, it does not need to be done."
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Good line from historian John Dower about historians' roles:. “Their primary task is to use the perspective of time, together with access to previously unavailable materials, to rethink the past. In the process, historians often embrace ambiguity (including the possibility that/.
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One reason why many people don’t like this kind of student protest is that it’s mostly working class people, often of color, who have to clean up the facilities and spaces they trash and graffiti. It’s just another form of thoughtless privilege really (unless the kids will/.
BREAKING:. California Polytechnic University (Humboldt) closes its campus until autumn. Anti-Israel students seized several buildings 5 days ago & hold them. There’s graffiti all over the walls & a building was renamed “Intifada Hall”. Via @thestustustudio
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Busting out the block button for fellow liberals who clearly don't give a crap about the rule of law or the politicization of the pardon power.
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@justinamash No mostly in the GOP. Most consequentially in the GOP. That could change, but that's the case right now.
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When I see academics out there saying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is so simple morally and historically, it really makes me wonder how y'all teach it. Bc I have a history Ph.D w a focus on US foreign policy in the ME, and the more I read about it the harder it becomes to/.
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I asked my students what the big points of our course were today and they said:. 1. There are no lessons in history. 2. Everything is multi-causal. 3. Be a historian.
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Feels cool to have my stuff referenced in this NYT article on "Why the United States Invaded Iraq.". This piece also does a solid job laying out some of the history and polisci work on this question.
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I swear these protestors have some kind of handbook called ‘How to Make Everyone Hate You and Your Cause.’.
Breaking: Columbia University students take over the quad of the university praising terrorism. “We stand here to honor all our martyrs. Those who resisted, whether violently or non-violently.”.
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@BibsCorner Bball breakdown frustrates the heck out of me. He loves a soft foul-baiting game and then makes all these weird comments he passes off as "insights.".
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@shadihamid Fair point but I think we all know there’s a certain absurdity about ‘peace protestors’ chanting ‘intifada, intifada.’.
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