“They studied 51 populist presidents and prime ministers who were in power between 1900 and 2020 and found that after 15 years, GDP per capita was 10% lower when compared with a plausible nonpopulist counterfactual.”

Look, this might sound bad but this is what voters who were upset about Biden's handling of inflation wanted.

As CNN offers daylong saturation coverage of the podcaster’s funeral, I went back and checked to see how CNN covered Melissa Hortman’s memorial on 6/28, where Walz spoke and Biden/Harris attended. It got about four minutes during the hours it was happening—less than Jeff Bezos’s wedding that day.

Kleptocracy. As I've said before,, it's much easier to make sense of this administration's policies when you accept that rent-extraction is one of its primary motivations.

And the thru-line runs through his trade deals too, which is a connection I wish more observers would make (I've made the connection in offline settings and need to find the time to set it out in writing finally)

Critical part of the President's new $100,000 charge for H1-B visas: The Administration can also offer a $100,000 discount to any person, company, or industry that it wants. Replacing rules with arbitrary discretion. Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.

The visa policy is rolled out with the same competence at drafting as the tariff policy. Tariffs yes, tariffs no, yes, but not now. The uncertainty makes life unbearable for visa-holders. Imagine you‘re visiting your parents, get a panicked email from your boss ordering you back TODAY and then this

For a White House that likes to celebrate its business acumen and smart hires, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has a striking number of key economic jobs unfilled right now.

One of the reasons China can never truly become a great power is because its closed system fails to attract the best and brightest to contribute their skills and ingenuity, something the United States has always been able to leverag wait what son of a bee sting forget what I said

One of the reasons PRC hegemony would be concerning is the lack of information surrounding their capabilities and intentions, especially compared to the United States which thrives on transparenc oh wait shoot I read the headline never mind

The Trump administration has already used its golden share in US Steel to block plans to shut down a blast furnace. www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZ...

Honestly the Catholic Church simping for fascists is very much "tale as old as time". The fact that's by a guy who's repeatedly covered up for sex predators and child rapists is just stamping the last box on your "stereotype bingo" card

Cardinal Timothy Dolan failed to report direct admissions of rape by multiple priests, lobbied against extending the statute of limitations for sex abuse, and moved money off the church books to hide it from victims of sex abuse. In case you were wondering.

Do you have a lot of annoying admin tasks or household chores you need to accomplish, but never seem to find the time for? Then may I suggest: setting aside a day to do nothing but write, you will be amazed at how many such tasks you can accomplish.

PSA: A "Major Terrorist Organization" (MTO) is not a thing. The Immigration and Nationality Act *delegates* power to the State Department to designate *FOREIGN* terrorist organizations (FTOs) based on certain criteria. It doesn't apply to domestic orgs. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!

Gotta say as someone who teaches American politics I've been conscious of the fact that conservatives might be on the lookout for things I may say, but after this week I've gone from conscious to full-blown nervous

As always, there are zero demands, expectations, or criticisms of the far right authoritarians. Only Democrats/The Left/Those Liberal Academics Must (Not) Do Things. No one else has agency in 🇺🇸 politics, least of all the party/people overseeing the worst Article I constitutional crisis in history.

I thought tariffs were supposed to bring down the deficit I mean I thought tariffs were supposed to replace the income tax I mean I thought the tariffs would need to be refunded if they're illegal I mean

These guys are unpopular and dumb as rocks, they did not discover a secret 'I win' button at the heart of all politics labeled 'mean tweets' or 'cancel elections.' Keep speaking, keep writing, keep marching, keep voting, force them to show the country what they are.

the kimmel thing is bad but as long as they arent rounding people up indiscriminately based on race, building concentration camps and talking about eradicating those they deem sexual deviants, i think we’ll be ok

In short, force them to try to rule by naked force because they *do not* have enough force and the very nakedness of it will mean they have less and less. The Civil Rights movement overcame far more with far less, if we had a fraction of their courage, we'll win.

Pardon me, but while MAGA and Trump may want to use it that way, we don't need to let them. I think it is absolutely the case that Trump aspires to be something like a fascist dictator, I said so last October. But we are not powerless and they have not won yet.

reading a book about china. apparently the government there has sent federal forces into cities, taken shares of major private enterprises, slapped tariffs on industries, and pressured media outlets to fire people they politically disagreed with. didn’t know this.

a big reason companies are caving this hard is that they're banking on hunkering down for the next 3.5 years and then coasting by when the dust settles Democrats need to make it very clear that there will be future consequences for defecting in this prisoner's dilemma

Respectfully disagree: 1) in fact it is unusual for a democracy w/ this level of GDP to turn authoritarian & so quickly; 2) the weakness of both institutions (congress & courts) and individuals (Schumer etc) is shocking. Would take less than 10 people in congress or 2 SC justices to stop all this.

One way to think of this is they're trying to back in to Lèse-majesté laws, but instead of prohibitions on insulting the king, it's a prohibition on insulting a murdered podcast host

Today, the US government forfeited all credibility in criticizing the CCP’s suppression of free speech in China.

The real story here — that this happened after a threat from the federal government — is completely absent from this headline. Again, the press is so in the tank for Trump — and/or scared — that they don’t even have solidarity for their own.

in light of the kimmel news, just a reminder that a few days ago a prominent fox news host literally called for killing homeless people. right afterward, someone shot up a couple homeless encampments. that fox news host still has his job.

Once again, something we already saw in 2000s era Russia

Ugh, of all the horrific things this admin has done making me have to defend Jimmy Kimmel sure is up there

We are now straight into full-blown McCarthyism, with black lists and everything.

The Free Speech President has now pulled two of the three major late night hosts off the air through threats and intimidation because of their jokes. Obviously I’m behind Jimmy Kimmel 100% in the face of this fascist garbage. Speech against this admin isn’t just being chilled, they’re freezing it.

DEI for conservatives in academia is categorically stupid but I really do wish the academy would do a better job of acknowledging and reckoning with its progressive biases <ducks>

"...these aren’t...debates at all. They’re performances designed to generate...emotional reactions for viral distribution. Participants aren’t trying to...genuinely engage with opposing viewpoints. They’re trying to create moments that will get clipped, shared, and monetized across social media."

the hard line of 'racism is not part of any conversation' is the very minimum to maintain to have a civilized order, and the reactionary centrists are among the biggest quislings around when it comes to that.

this demands unpalatable answers and hard political actions, and a political class capable of taking responsibility for its own ideas, and all these things are anathema to the class who prospered in the old order.

look, it is comforting to think that your political opponents are, at the end of the day, just people like you who really want us all to live together as Americans. it's just very obviously not *true* in MAGA's case, as you can tell through, well, what they say and do.

By making jokes about killing innocent brown people at a political rally, JD Vance is doing politics the right way. —Ezra Klein

An "international embarrassment" would be calling a head of state by the wrong name or skipping a major summit because of reasons What's happening with Korea, if not E. Asia generally, could become a course-altering, trajectory-changing, critical juncture clustercuss because of a deportation quota

I just watched Kash Patel's testimony in the Senate yesterday, and it reminded me of the @drewmagary.bsky.social piece that's stuck with me the most over the years. I've usually thought about it in regards to pop culture and social media, but with Trump it's now very much a political phenomenon

i do not think that "should we execute joe biden for treason" is a debatable proposition. the answer to that question is "no." that admits no further argument. my job is to frustrate the ambitions of anyone who publicly argues for this position by whatever means possible.

Universities already have professors who think woke on campus went too far, the gender stuff is a little weird, free market economics are good, etc. What Republicans actually want are people who will inform Tayshaun his inferior skull shape makes him subhuman filth, then fail him for complaining.

Reports from Koreans detained by ICE are shocking Korea making this response from the Lee administration necessary. Bruised wrists from handcuffs and zip ties. Force tuberculosis shots. Slow response to medical emergency by facility staff. 1/ m.yonhapnewstv.co.kr/news/MYH2025...

I'm old enough to remember when Congress would actually protect its authorities

Gotta say this isn't the framing I would've used here

Truly insane post from The Federalist, which includes the recommendation that the government pressure tech companies to limit access to BlueSky because of the reaction to Kirk's death thefederalist.com/2025/09/15/w...

Shot Chaser

November 17, 2021 www.mypanhandle.com/news/local-n...