David Frum

David Frum @davidfrum

Esper compares the Pentagon to a soccer ball. There are rules about how it is to be handled. Break the rules - grip the ball with the fingers - and the ball will be briefly indented. But the rule-breaker cannot grip forever. Once released, the ball rapidly recovers its shape. 2/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

I've been working my way through former SecDef Mark Esper's memoirs, "A Sacred Oath." You've probably heard about its one or two re-reveals of previously reported information. But the real interest of the book arises from a metaphor Esper uses a couple of times ... 1/x — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

"Here at US Strategic Air Command, we see our mission as helping our people live up to their fullest potential." — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

More evidence for my theory that the more lethal a modern military is, the more it talks about caring, inclusion, and self-actualization. And vice versa. — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

ICYMI The guide who illegally lured the bear faces felony charges. The presidential son who killed the bear does not. — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

RT @RobertMaguire_: Utah hunting guide faces felony charge for big-game hunt with Don Jr. Court documents say the guide used ‘a pile of gr… — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

RT @RadioFreeTom: "The point of speech rules is to allow space for the unguarded and the ill-tempered, for the provocative and prickly pers… — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

RT @aravosis: The Russians bragged about one of their guns on social media. It’s now in flames — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

https://t.co/SCA8rDyMNP — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

In @TheAtlantic on Georgetown's months-long "investigation" of a staff member's three tweets — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

ICYMI — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

Not enough that I'm this close to Morgan Freeman From Russia's latest visa-ban list https://t.co/KYasDrQexq — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

RT @olgatokariuk: A great thread and a fantastic piece https://t.co/tQw21NESaL — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

Thread ICYMI — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

RT @TheFIREorg: 'But how is a society ever to settle its most important questions if it follows the rule “The more important a question, th… — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

RT @KyWhitney: .⁦@davidfrum⁩ nails it: “If we all spoke circumspectly and wisely all the time, who would even need institutional free-speec… — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

RT @TheAtlantic: "The point of speech rules is to allow space for the unguarded and the ill-tempered, for the provocative and prickly perso… — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

@SteveSchmidtSES @mschlapp A PS reminder from a favorite professor: "History never repeats itself. It only seems to do so to those who do not pay attention to the details." — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

RT @JeffreyGoldberg: "Georgetown’s protections for free-speech policy are very broad; on April 26, for example, its law school hosted a Pal… — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

Thread on Orban, Hungary, and antisemitism in reply to @SteveSchmidtSES and @mschlapp starts below ... — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

10) Modern illberals like Orban and Trump pose a special challenge to Jews, precisely because they make it clear: This time, we can be exempt. Will we as Jews stand for liberal values even when cordially invited to join the illiberal coalition? More here: https://t.co/bcyyJCXHZU — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

9) Orban is very canny and very disciplined. On many issues - not only antisemitism, but also on defiance of EU rules and cozying up to Putin - Orban deftly walks right up to red lines, extracts all the benefit from that walk ... and then is able to stop before he crosses. — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

8) The greatest threat to the physical security of European Jews remains radical Islamic ideology. Jews in Budapest are safer from violent attack than Jews in Brussels or Paris or many cities in Germany. Synagogues and schools are less heavily guarded. — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

7) About half the Hungarian Jewish community survived the Holocaust. Jews and people of Jewish origin remain important in Hungarian life - and to Orban's regime. Orban's ideologist of Christian nationalism, Maria Schmidt, lives on the wealth bequeathed her by a Jewish husband — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

6) Jewish community leaders told me that Orban would directly assure them: "This doesn't mean YOU" when he engaged in coded antisemitism. They strongly felt they had his attention and protection, even as he played a double game with antisemitic feelings in the electorate. — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

5) Orban cultivated a close personal relationship with former Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and enthusiastically encouraged Israeli investment in Hungary. When I visited Budapest in 2016, the restaurant most popular with Orban cronies was owned by an Israeli couple. — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

4) It's also true that the Hungarian state under Orban lavishly invests in Jewish memorialization and historical preservation. https://t.co/EqUUb6FHX5 — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

3) Orban's memorializations of Hungarian history - the "House of Terror" museum https://t.co/ie2X9HMtuQ and his Szabadsag Square monument - falsely depict the Hungarian state as a victim of Nazi aggression rather than as the ally and partner it was from 1940 to 1944. — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

2) Orban has made a major propaganda effort to rehabilitate prewar fascist figures, some of them vituperatively and even murderously antisemitic. https://t.co/vYXil1ww2k — PolitiTweet.org

David Frum @davidfrum

1) It's clearly true that Viktor Orban manipuates antisemitic impulses as a tool of power. Here's an article describing Orban's methods. https://t.co/7tXUPQ5nS0 — PolitiTweet.org