Firehose #113: Unhappy Anniversary

Also: Maxi-Megyn.

Your in-boxes will be (forgive the wording) flooded with content related to the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s savage murder/rape/kidnap spree across the Gaza border last Oct. 7^th. But as we reflect on all of that, I would like us to also spare some attention to the also-intolerable anniversary of Oct. 6^th. My case for dwelling on today’s date (at least in certain time zones!) is contained within a Reason essay from earlier this year:

The horrors of October 7 revealed that the seemingly operable status quo of October 6 was in fact untenable. It was, and is, untenable for Israel to live next to neighbors, to the north and southwest, who regularly fire rockets into the country and sporadically dig tunnels [the northern variety of which is pictured above] to execute acts of terrorism. It’s untenable for Gaza’s residents to live under the dictatorial whims of a theocratic death cult that takes money from foreign governments not to build prosperity but to harass and murder Israelis. It’s untenable for the region’s autocrats to loudly pin the blame for their own heavy-handed misgovernance on American and Israeli scapegoats while quietly reaching out for assistance from Washington and Tel Aviv.

Qatar enjoys the status of being a major non-NATO ally with the U.S. while also financing and sheltering the leadership of Hamas. That too is untenable, and the designation should be withdrawn. Residents of the Palestinian West Bank live in a harassed and conflict-ridden uncertainty and emasculation, with second-class property rights and lousy government services. Untenable. Iran flexes its muscle to turn parts of Israel’s neighbors into vassal states rather than fully fledged independent entities. None of this is tenable.

Meanwhile, the U.S. floats above the whole region, handing out aid and military contracts like a grand seigneur, hoping on Mondays to build peace, on Tuesdays to launch airstrikes, and on Wednesday try to tamp down the resulting messes from spreading into a regional war. It does deals with some of the most hideous regimes on earth while the captive populations seethe.

We had our regularly scheduled Second Sunday (of the month) Zoom recording with paying subscribers last year on Oct. 8, and let’s just say I think everyone who participated, co-hosts and special guests (such as Eli Lake and Peter Meijer) very much included, feel forever grateful for the community on that day. Then came a (lunges for thesaurus) deluge of on-topic conversations—with hawkish historian Oren Kessler, lefty foreign policy thinker Matt Duss, what-the-hell-is-happening-on-college-campuses go-to Greg Lukianoff, guy-who-likes-to-count-Jews-in-things comedian Danny Polishchuk, Israel critic Shadi Hamid, Israeli politician Asaf Zamir, foreign policy worrier Andrew Sullivan, take-the-handcuffs-off-Israel growler Jacob Siegel, and so forth. The ongoing conflicts and wars are both enraging and deranging, not to mention hellishly complex, so consider this note an appreciation for all of you who make our own inadequate stabs at having honest and informative out-loud conversations (and occasional debates) far more possible than they otherwise would be.

* Oh hey in case any of you were planning on catching us at the “Demand for Bullshit” conference at the University of Florida at Gainesville Oct. 9, please don’t: There’s another terrible hurricane heading for the Sunshine State this week. Will be rescheduled for early next year.

* I was remiss last week in not pointing out the Rosh Hashanah episode of the edJEWcation podcast, the joint run by Fifdom stalwart Chaya Leah Sufrin and her marvelous father father Rabbi Aba Abba Perelmuter. They do YouTube, so feast your eyeballs:

* We did some Megyn Kelly last week. First, Moynihan traded places with the Irish-Italian broadcaster for some newsmaking convo at The Free Press:

Then we went on The Megyn Kelly Show to talk about the vice-presidential debate moderators, their number-two question at the vice presidential debate, Tim Walz’s worst moments, the discussion about abortion, Donald Trump turning down a 60 Minutes interview, and some overtime stuff about Ta-Nehisi Coates. Full episode:

* We talked a bit about the writer Ta-Nehisi Coates on Episode #472 and beyond. Coleman Hughes (veteran of #121, #144, #181, #188, #201, #379, #412 & #442) wrote a critical Free Press piece about the critical darling under the headline “The Fantasy World of Ta-Nehisi Coates.” Also, to Glenn Loury (#121, #188, #366) has produced a micro-cast called “I Was Wrong About Ta-Nehisi Coates.”

* Not gonna lie, there was a bunch of stuff I had intended for this weekend post, but time slips away, leaves you with nothing mister, etc., so instead, apropos of literally nothing, let’s watch my offspring repurpose the political filth that’s been broadcast into her brain between YouTube clips:

* Comment of the Week comes from Joshua B:

Trinidadian. Sebastian is a Trinidadian crab. Though in some places Disney has him listed as a a lobster. And in early drafts he was British. I've spent considerable time looking into this. I'm not proud.

Walkoff music is what it is: