Show Notes
NY Mayor Mamdani just released 170,000 pages of 9/11 air quality records proving New York City officials knew by October 2001 that Ground Zero air was carcinogenic. And that the Mayor at the time, Rudy Giuliani, told nobody. First responders, firefighters, and police officers were left to breathe toxic air while Giuliani's administration publicly assured everyone it was safe. Thousands got cancer. Many are dead. And somehow nobody went to prison for it.The 9/11 25th anniversary comes at a moment when Islamophobia in America has reached levels that Muslim Americans say surpass the post-2001 era. The smear campaign against Abdul El-Sayed for simply acknowledging that the War on Terror caused catastrophic harm overseas is a case study in how the media weaponizes 9/11 grief while refusing to reckon with what came after: a destabilized Middle East, roughly a million dead, the creation of ISIS, traumatic brain injuries among Marines, and a global war on terror apparatus that Spencer Ackerman has documented boomeranging back onto American soil through agencies like ICE.Meanwhile, fuel prices are surging toward $6 a gallon for diesel thanks to the Iran conflict, Trump's tariff war with Canada is eroding long-term economic relationships that future presidents may never be able to repair, and immigration enforcement is threatening to gut industries like DC-area construction where Salvadorans with TPS make up 25% of the workforce. The damage being done now is just what we can feel today. The damage being set in motion may take a generation to fully understand.Listen to the full conversation over on Luke's Substack: https://lthomas.substack.com/Subscribe and hit the notification bell so you never miss a video.Chapters00:00 Mamdani Releases 9/11 Air Quality Files01:30 Giuliani Knew and Said Nothing02:45 Islamophobia Worse Than 200104:00 Abdul El-Sayed Smeared by Media05:30 War on Terror Created ISIS07:15 Spencer Ackerman's GWOT Boomerang08:45 Iran Conflict and Diesel Prices10:00 Canada Tariffs and Economic Erosion11:30 Immigration Policy Is Ruinous13:00 TPS Salvadorans and DC Construction14:15 International Trust Is Gone
More from Luke Thomas Gets Political (LTGP)
Historically, discussing the Israel lobby and its impacts in the United States has come with a variety of challenges. Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt earned enormous blowback in 2007 when they tried to simply argue there was such a thing as the Israel lobby. While now the existence of the loose federation of donors, organizations and activists isn’t necessarily contested, few actually understand how they operate, who funds them and perhaps most importantly, how their efforts influence our lives and government’s priorities.That’s where today’s conversation comes into play.In their latest book, investigative journalist Eli Clifton and political science professor Ian Lustick combine their expertises to explain what they call “the greatest story in geopolitics”, namely, how American domestic and foreign affairs are massively influenced by the Israel lobby, who seek to police our speech and cajole our national security apparatus to back “unpopular, costly and national security-threatening politics.”This book deserves consideration because it illuminates what has long been hidden or poorly understood. Clifton and Lustick chronicle how the lobby came to be and why its aims have changed over time. They also expertly detail how its funding has grown and how those impacts have been felt plus the tactics it uses to deliver for the interests of Israel.Most importantly, they leave us with a warning that the Israel lobby hasn’t merely degraded and frustrated American foreign policy for decades, but now actively seeks to turn their efforts toward the rest of American society, attempting to curtail our freedoms at home.#israel #gaza #lukethomas TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Open01:34 The Israel lobby’s response to the book04:52 Support from the publisher to get the book printed07:00 What is the Israel lobby?11:54 The changing tactics of the lobby15:50 Changes to Israeli society and how that’s influencing U.S. politics21:37 The state and failure of the Israeli left26:39 How the lobby is funded and how that’s changed33:12 How the lobby was changed by Citizens United34:22 Lobby and media coordination aligning against Abdul El Sayed38:00 Israeli support in the Democratic Party47:44 How the lobby has undermined U.S. Presidents51:12 What is the IHRA antisemitism definition?55:24 How this definition is policing speech59:07 What can an average voter do to push back?
Luke Thomas discusses the UFC airing multiple MAGA Inc. ads during their recent UFC Edmonton broadcast.#danawhite #donaldtrump #lukethomas
Luke Thomas discusses the latest political news around the midterms, the Fort Hood execution, Abdul El Sayed and JD Vance trading barbs and much more.00:00:00 — Intro00:01:01 — Financial Times UFC and Trump quote00:01:24 — Weekly CNN appearances with Audie Cornish00:02:59 — Remote host setup on today’s CNN show00:04:50 — Michigan Senate race and progressive movement00:07:19 — Scenarios if El-Sayed loses00:11:09 — Super chat questions begin00:11:22 — Zionism and Anglosphere colonial history00:15:36 — Federal gun laws passable in our lifetimes00:15:50 — Screen share trouble00:16:04 — RAND gun policy research walkthrough00:21:36 — Starshield throttling for Ukraine00:23:08 — Mehdi Hasan vs Neera Tanden debate00:23:22 — Joe Walsh on Never Trump Republicans00:23:30 — Neera Tanden establishment denial00:25:53 — Odds of Dems taking House and Senate00:28:04 — Ilhan Omar raid and deportation threat00:30:51 — Trumpism and who counts as citizen00:32:51 — Press secretary fired breaking news00:34:55 — How long is a Scaramucci00:35:20 — How past Trump press secretaries left00:36:30 — Leaked CBS editorial meeting00:36:56 — GOP risks between election and January00:39:10 — Samson option concerns00:40:23 — Israel crazy state strategy book00:42:52 — Marc Lamont Hill collab chances00:43:28 — Abolishing the presidency00:45:39 — Super chat comment on worsening outlook00:45:50 — Task Force Radar election cyber unit00:46:12 — Entre dos tierras song tangent00:46:43 — Balancing CNN prep and progressive coverage00:47:09 — Forensic accounting after Trump administration00:48:36 — Gun laws and protecting children00:50:32 — Other candidates to watch00:50:56 — Candidate watch list00:52:16 — Mixed support for ending the filibuster00:52:33 — DC home rule and the filibuster00:55:33 — Jordan Breen request, no MMA chat00:56:07 — Twitter replies and MMA fatigue00:57:04 — Final super chat call00:57:36 — CNN next Friday announcement00:57:53 — Outro#abdulelsayed #lukethomas #jdvance
Luke Thomas: The Cornell Seven case exposes how sexual violence gets excused when the accused are athletes, fraternity brothers, or celebrities like Conor McGregor. A viewer asks what men should actually do when accused rapists are celebrated as sports heroes, and the answer is more uncomfortable than a simple yes or no. The conversation moves from the Snapchat group chat at the center of the Cornell fraternity case to the broader culture of impunity in MMA, where fighters hype Andrew Tate and fans shrug at serious allegations. There is a personal story about a female Marine who kept years of harassment to herself, and a blunt argument that most men have no scale for how much women navigate on campuses, in workplaces, and in the military.Then the case itself: New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed Letitia James as special prosecutor, the governor’s own statement signals distrust of the local district attorney, and new evidence keeps surfacing. Whether or not criminal charges follow, the question of what these seven men did to Jane Doe is not a close call.From there, a harder look at what is ailing young men. Fraternity houses as problem institutions. Porn as the primary sex education of a generation. Political leadership that modeled “grab them by the pussy” to boys who are now in their twenties. And finally, why the right’s response to Cornell lands the way it does, and why the left spends so much energy critiquing centrists instead of MAGA.Listen to the full conversation over on Luke’s Substack: https://lthomas.substack.com/If you want more political commentary that does not flinch, subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications.#lukethomas #andrewtate #tatebrothers Chapters00:00 Should men boycott accused athletes?01:24 McGregor, Gable and sports impunity02:32 A female Marine’s untold story04:42 False accusations and fraternity houses05:52 The grab them by the pussy generation06:42 Due process vs what women face07:57 Cornell Seven: they preyed on her09:39 Hochul appoints Letitia James10:39 Sexual violence is not new11:21 Why this fraternity chapter should go12:07 Porn, power dynamics and young men15:00 The right’s response and MAGA
Luke Thomas discusses the new Israeli documentary movie NAZA about the use if artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the war on Gaza.#israel #gaza #lukethomas