This week in the USA: * DHS Sec posts Nazi phrase * ICE shoots driver point blank * Fed Chair reveals Trump blackmail * FBI raids reporter’s home * Trump bullies Nobel Peace Prize winner to get award * Trump says power only limited by “own morality” * Epstein files not released

4 Supreme Court cases about to be decided could shape the 2026 & 2028 elections @thehill.com thehill.com/homenews/cam...

Maybe Trump and Vance don’t realize that we can all see the video

I believe this shrinks the House majority margin to just 5 seats: 218-213

The administration is trying to erase this history. NPR has fortunately archived it apps.npr.org/jan-6-archive/

Trump pardoned the people who smeared feces on the walls, stole equipment, threatened lawmakers, and tried to overturn an election for him.

Glad some of you are having good experiences with AI tools because they have failed at every minor task I sent their way this week

US taxpayers are going to pay to “run” another country?

Late December days are at their shortest and my email inbox is at its lowest

This is your notice that the Elections Research Center @uwmadison.bsky.social has joined @bsky.app elections.wisc.edu

Make that 6 in 7 days

Make that 5 in 5 days

Several academic journals are on holiday hiatus but that has not stopped me from getting 4 review requests in 5 days

Watch for Trump to be on the road more in coming months to get out of the bubble and reassert himself as a campaign force going into 2026 elections thehill.com/homenews/564...

Just want to share with my American friends how the Australians respond to a shooting tragedy. Action, rather than thoughts and prayers.

The Harris book tour is going to be twice as long as her presidential campaign www.cnn.com/2025/12/10/p...

Watch: 📺 🖥️ 💻 📱 @uwmadison.bsky.social political science professor and Elections Research Center director @bcburden.bsky.social explains the premise and status of two lawsuits that seek to redraw Wisconsin's congressional district maps.

The irony of Indiana’s magical football season while politicians and university leaders are destroying its academic greatness (see www.indystar.com/story/opinio...)

Dems will have more success in 2026 elections spotlighting Trump’s dismissal of affordability, his Epstein connection, & corruption (& connecting the 3) than bait such as the fake peace prize, renaming DOD, & bulldozing part of the White House www.ft.com/content/1b46...

The Trump administration has changed which holidays qualify for free entrance to national parks, removing two holidays celebrating Black people and adding the president’s birthday. via @thatsmohrlikeit.bsky.social www.sfgate.com/national-par...

So it IS possible for the Speaker to swear in a new member just days after their election. The TN special election results have not even been certified yet.

Everything in this administration is arbitrary and usually involves boot-licking

If Barnes or Rodriguez is successful next year, it would the first time in more than half a century that a Wisconsin lt gov got elected as governor www.wpr.org/news/mandela...

Using AI makes it even less likely this scheme will work www.npr.org/2025/12/01/g...

Have you seen any mention that the Winter Olympics take place 70 days from now? That hype train must start soon. www.olympics.com/en/milano-co...

This will be such a loss for public engagement & government transparency Wisconsin. I hope a creative team can come up with a solution to keep the public affairs video flowing.

You read that right. The President of the United States has called for execution of legislative opponents .

Insight from Trump on this week’s SNL www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/...

Searches for Guns N’ Roses song “November Rain” have fallen over time but always tick up this month

Comparing the legal ages for driving a car, voting, and drinking alcohol: the one that most obviously needs to change (is raising) the driving age.

Return of House presumably means finally swearing in member-elect Grijalva and opening the door the Epstein files when she signs the discharge petition punchbowl.news/article/hous...

Let’s put a cap on the use of “honestly,” “literally,” and “perfect” www.npr.org/2025/11/07/n...

Smooth move, Louvre abcnews.go.com/Internationa...

Terrific new research on US political parties being shared at the 2025 State of the Parties conference

An interesting combo of: (1) Trump’s unique appeal compared to rest of GOP, (2) inherent swinginess of the group, (3) different *kinds* of Hispanics who vote in state v. pres elections

Looking bake to Trump’s first term: in 2017 Dems also won gov races in NJ & VA by healthy margins, so yesterday is not unique. But Dems went on to a romp in the 2018 midterms

Mamdani getting more votes just on the Working Families line than Sliwa is getting in total

Folk wisdom is that women are the swing voters but tonight provides even more evidence that it’s men #Election2025

Kamala Harris arrived in Madison just as Dick Cheney was leaving news.wisc.edu/two-vice-pre...

This timeline could have been prevented by Trump condemning rather than enabling the Charlottesville mob & Proud Boys

A dozen ways US has shifted toward authoritarianism under Trump: (1/2): Curbing free speech Using gov against opponents Ignoring Congress Using military inappropriately Defying courts Faking emergencies Marginalizing groups Controlling media www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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I’ve taken 2 surveys in 2 days that are obvious message testing by 2026 Wisconsin candidates

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If you’re @uwmadison.bsky.social on Monday join me for a conversation and Q&A with new Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Susan Crawford union.wisc.edu/events-and-a...

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Can we persuade Tim Mellon to cover the coach buyouts instead of paying for a few minutes of military salary? www.nytimes.com/athletic/671...

Fall leaf 11 (maybe my favorite)