The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali

Author and scholar Kristin Du Mez grew up in conservative America and was a dutiful consumer of “traditional” mainstream Christian culture, such as Amy Grant CDs and frequent trips to Christian book tours. She knows the positive influence of faith that inspires millions to attempt to live righteous lives and help the marginalized.

The Streisand Effect should be renamed The Sheeran Effect after the generational fumble and act of cowardice by singer Ed Sheeran following the cancellation of hip-hop artist Macklemore. The phenomenon refers to attempts to silence or bury a story that ironically result in the story going viral and gaining more attention. Had pro-Israel hawks and genocide deniers simply allowed Macklemore to use his opening act to say, “Free Palestine,” it would have made a blip in the news.

Fill up your gas tanks and buy your Thanksgiving airline tickets yesterday because prices are about to surge thanks to Trump and Netanyahu’s failed, escalating war with Iran. Over the weekend, missiles from southern Iraq significantly damaged the 800-mile Saudi Arabian pipeline, disrupting about 5% of the global oil supply. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed, and now Houthis, backed by Iran, control the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait connecting the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean.

The latest NYT/Sienna poll dropped out today with excellent news for Democrats ahead of the midterms. However, if you dig deeper, some warning signs for the Democratic Establishment emerge as its leaders and donors continue to punch their left. According to the numbers, Democrats should easily take back the House and the Senate, and perhaps even win in red states such as Texas. Trump’s numbers remain absolutely abysmal across the board, especially with Latinos, young voters, and Independents.

In a rare rebuke, the Supreme Court refused to give a rubber stamp to Donald Trump’s shameless attempt to rig the upcoming elections by altering how the Post Office handles mail-in ballots. Trump, of course, responded like a totally normal, sober President. As expected, two Justices, however, decided to make it known they dissented from the majority. Want to guess their names? Why, it was Alito and Thomas, of course, whose respective spouses also supported the January 6th insurrection.

It’s always fireworks whenever Mike Nellis of Endless Urgency joins The Left Hook. Although he’s more ideologically aligned with progressive values, Nellis also consults the Democratic Party and, as such, has a window into the mindset of the Democratic Establishment. You can witness in real time how he tries to balance the competing ideologies and strategies of what is the messy, fractured Democratic base.

We are being slowly ground to dust by tech billionaires who will use our ashes as biofuel for their penis-shaped space rockets that they will fly to Mars, where they plan on restarting humanity with their seed and live forever with the help of AI technology. I wish I were joking, but this is the bat-shit plan of Silicon Valley sociopaths, such as Elon Musk.

Why would Donald Trump’s neerdowell son, who has made millions through the family’s crypto/grift company, World Liberty Financial, need a Russian oligarch to secretly bankroll his Bahamas wedding to the tune of $170K? Billionaire Umar Kremlev, a close ally of Putin, was one of the 50 attendees at the multi-day, lavish wedding, which included only family and friends.

In 2026 America, you can publicly accept money from right-wing billionaires who support genocide and techno-fascist eugenicists, but you must never, ever criticize Israel and its ongoing war crimes. Macklemore found out the hard way today after he revealed he was kicked off the Ed Sheeran concert tour for briefly using his opening act to oppose Israel’s occupation and genocide of Palestinians.

Danielle with today’s Democracy-ish write-up. There is a specific brand of fatigue that comes with watching a nation’s treasury, national security, and regulatory apparatus converted into a family-run concession stand. We are no longer observing standard political corruption, which at least historically attempted the grace of a cover-up.