A florist from California is driving a 'homemade tank' to battle ISIS in Syria


Twitter is a great place for jokes, but it often seems like a place where political organizing goes to die. One member of the loose-knit community of jokesters known as "Weird Twitter" decided to take some more concrete steps: He joined a Kurdish militia to fight ISIS.
Little is known about the shadowy figure who goes by "PissPigGranddad," save that he used to be a florist and a boxing gym manager. He has been texting with Jacobin's Connor Kilpatrick, and says his unit of the People's Protection Guards (or YPG, in the Kurdish acronym) is heavily engaged in the push against ISIS forces in northern Syria. He's "at the very tip of the Raqqa offensive" and the militia is "taking villages like crazed hounds." Also, apparently the Kurds are not happy with Donald Trump's gender politics.
An interview with PissPigGranddad can be found here, where he explains why he believes in the YPG's socialist project.
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Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.
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