Andy Craig
@andycraig.bsky.social
📤 50638
📥 933
📝 5943
@theunpopulist.net
Election law and policy, liberalism and democracy, and occasional pugs.
Massie is talking about inherent contempt, which should be revived, but... I don't think the House can use contempt to coerce compliance with the EFTA statute. That's not obstructing the House as such. The House should first issue a subpoena identical in scope to EFTA and then it can enforce that.
about 1 hour ago
3
75
8
reposted by
Andy Craig
Jeff Sharlet
about 4 hours ago
People are rightly disgusted by this speech, but it’s a measure of fascism’s normalization that many see this as more of the awful same rather than what I think most of us who’ve been reporting this beat hear it as: a significant calculated escalation. Full alert stuff.
add a skeleton here at some point
78
1832
533
Timothy McVeigh would be loving this.
add a skeleton here at some point
about 3 hours ago
5
101
16
The vice president, singling out for overtly racist abuse a natural-born US citizen whose only non-racial political relevance is he recently lost a primary for mayor of the country's 46th largest municipality.
add a skeleton here at some point
about 3 hours ago
6
432
83
Grotesque as he is, Trump has his sense of humor. Too much of one, if anything. But he knows, or did back when he knew things, how his shtick's a self-parody persona. Vance otoh is a debate me bro twitter reply guy, the smarmy tone of a guy who's cloyingly desperate to be the chad in a soyjack meme.
add a skeleton here at some point
about 3 hours ago
3
104
9
reposted by
Andy Craig
Micah
1 day ago
it is almost Christmas which means it’s Muppet Christmas Carol season and that, in turn, means it is time to revisit this delightful interview with Michael Caine, who loves everything about that movie even more than you do
loading . . .
Michael Caine Loves 'The Muppet Christmas Carol' as Much as You Do
God bless us, every one! But especially Michael Caine.
https://www.gq.com/story/michael-caine-muppet-christmas-carol-interview
21
1447
422
reposted by
Andy Craig
G Elliott Morris
1 day ago
also, these "WAR" values (a) are derived from a statistical model that produces ideologically convenient results that no other open-source model replicates, (b) lack controls for important factors like fundraising and candidate experience, and (c) completely ignore uncertainty in the data. not good!
add a skeleton here at some point
8
480
69
reposted by
Andy Craig
Giraffe Or Possibly Popehat
1 day ago
The person charged with enforcing the laws is an open lawbreaker, assisted by a team of open lawbreakers, backed by a Congressional majority indifferent to lawbreaking, supported by a Supreme Court that privileges them to break the law. It has no legitimacy whatsoever.
add a skeleton here at some point
61
4124
1013
reposted by
Andy Craig
Mark Histed
1 day ago
scientist who’s published papers on statistical theory here: yes, this
add a skeleton here at some point
1
19
4
Biden ran a point and a half ahead of House Dems generally. But more relevant: you know what winning a seat by 13 points instead of 8 points gets you? Absolutely nothing. Even if Casten traded away a few points he didn't need anyway in order to go further on whatever issue, that's rational behavior!
add a skeleton here at some point
1 day ago
22
1144
118
They really went in and tried to delete this photo in particular because they'd missed that it had Trump in it. Incredible.
add a skeleton here at some point
1 day ago
9
308
78
Of course, Claudius was famously a historian. Also famously dribbled snot and was socially inept and his own mother was ashamed to let him be seen in public. tbh not the strongest Roman reference to invoke in your branding
add a skeleton here at some point
2 days ago
5
49
5
2 days ago
8
173
32
reposted by
Andy Craig
Steve Stranov
2 days ago
Here's Andrew Johnson's impeachment resolution text, in the handwriting of Rep John Covode, who introduced it (later modified to add the words "while in office"). This was voted on and resulted in Johnson's impeachment. Articles came after. Trump Imp 3.0 could be done in days.
1
56
12
reposted by
Andy Craig
Aisle424 Has Fallen
2 days ago
That was fast.
10
332
79
So... any kind of plausible deniability that somebody might have really had an innocent or unaware relationship with this guy rather falls apart when you see the full scale of how it was literally all he ever did and talked about, every waking moment of his life and to everyone he knew.
2 days ago
11
445
71
*taps sign* Any individual member of the House can force a vote on impeachments and anything impeachment-related.
add a skeleton here at some point
2 days ago
19
1523
381
reposted by
Andy Craig
Robert Black
2 days ago
JUST IMPEACH TRUMP FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
add a skeleton here at some point
15
569
109
2 days ago
430
36785
8193
Aside from all the sex crimes, who the hell takes this many pictures all the time? Grand total if I went back 15+ years, I probably have... I dunno, 50, maybe 100 photos of me with friends and such, at most. It seems Epstein had that many taken every time every time he walked into a room.
2 days ago
21
119
11
reposted by
Andy Craig
James Ball
2 days ago
The list of "masseuses" is completely redacted (victim information, makes sense), but…it is 254 entries long.
www.justice.gov/multimedia/D...
11
584
191
reposted by
Andy Craig
Daniel Skelly
2 days ago
He didn't even match the existing font!
add a skeleton here at some point
9
62
15
I guess the idea is they can drop the extra "the" when it happens.
add a skeleton here at some point
2 days ago
4
55
3
reposted by
Andy Craig
Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
2 days ago
It's difficult to overstate how stupid these young men are. Like, yes, their values and beliefs are vile. But they're also just exceptionally dumb, no doubt fancying themselves paragons of critical thinking while saying the most moronic stuff imaginable.
add a skeleton here at some point
9
131
22
Spanish is effectively the second language of the United States and has been since whatever point in the 19th C. when the number of Spanish speakers we'd annexed surpassed the number of French speakers we'd annexed. About 1 in 5 can speak it and a large chunk more have some rudimentary familiarity.
add a skeleton here at some point
2 days ago
11
188
40
Per the announcement and apparently also the signage on the building, it's "The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center," with a grammatically inexplicable surplus of definite articles.
2 days ago
10
63
12
reposted by
Andy Craig
jamelle
2 days ago
i have never quite understood the praise for deneen's work because he honestly just seems like a crank
loading . . .
Patrick Deneen's Bullshit Case Against Liberalism
He distorts everything about this governing system and offers a scary 'aristopopulist' authoritarianism as an alternative
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/patrick-deneens-bullshit-case-against
48
1111
151
reposted by
Andy Craig
The UnPopulist
2 days ago
Deneen misrepresents liberalism’s fundamental principles and presents a warped history of liberalism that dismisses its achievements and exaggerates its weaknesses.
@mattjj89.bsky.social
loading . . .
Patrick Deneen's Bullshit Case Against Liberalism
He distorts everything about this governing system and offers a scary 'aristopopulist' authoritarianism as an alternative
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/patrick-deneens-bullshit-case-against
0
12
6
reposted by
Andy Craig
The UnPopulist
2 days ago
HARRY LITMAN (
@harrylitman.bsky.social
): The Supreme Court's overruling of Humphrey’s Executor will be a constitutional and practical earthquake.
loading . . .
The Supreme Court Is Poised to Hand Trump More Sweeping Powers to Fire Agency Heads
The conservative justices are risking America's democracy by pushing their ideological notions about the ideal structure of government at a perilous moment
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-supreme-court-is-poised-to-hand
1
21
15
reposted by
Andy Craig
Center for Ballot Freedom
2 days ago
🗳️ At a recent panel hosted by University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Law School, politicians and legal experts dug into the future of fusion in WI — a system banned since 1897 that would allow multiple parties to endorse the same candidate.
@dailycardinal.bsky.social
www.dailycardinal.com/article/2025...
loading . . .
Politicians, experts debate changes to Wisconsin voting at UW panel
Politicians and professors discussed the future and history of fusion voting in Wisconsin at a conference hosted by University of Wisconsin Law School on Nov. 14.
https://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2025/11/politicians-experts-debate-changes-to-wisconsin-voting-at-uw-panel
1
4
4
He's wrong in very basic ways about how the EC and contingent elections work. But the actual expert brings up succeeding from Speaker. One nitpick about that: I don't think the commonly repeated idea that the House can technically choose a non-member as Speaker is correct, pres. succession aside.
loading . . .
Exclusive | Trump Told by Alan Dershowitz Constitutionality of Third Term Is Unclear
Trump’s former lawyer presented him with his forthcoming book that concludes the Constitution is ambiguous on the question.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/trump-told-by-alan-dershowitz-constitutionality-of-third-term-is-unclear-33133eb8?mod=author_content_page_1_pos_1
3 days ago
3
31
4
reposted by
Andy Craig
Laurence H. Tribe
3 days ago
“The embrace of the unitary executive theory by both the president and the court has given us the worst of all worlds: an ultrapowerful presidency without an actual president at the helm.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/o...
loading . . .
Opinion | The White House Is a Lost Cause
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/opinion/trump-presidential-power-miller-vought.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
199
3550
1222
I know it's irrational racism, but this is also stupid as a factual matter. If no duplicates, 11th-great grandparents plus intervening descendants = 16,382 ancestors. Astronomically unlikely no 19th/20th C. immigrants. Patrilineal surnames are just a social convention, that's not your only ancestry.
3 days ago
26
183
21
It'd be bad enough just on how Watterson famously doesn't want this kind of thing, leave him alone man. But also there's no way anybody could make a Calvin and Hobbes movie that wouldn't be absolutely terrible anyway.
add a skeleton here at some point
3 days ago
5
199
18
3 days ago
4
36
0
reposted by
Andy Craig
mtsw
3 days ago
All you really need to understand about water usage in the western United States is that every single use - even the ones that sound egregiously wasteful like AI data centers - rounds down to 0 compared to what irrigated agriculture uses
43
1319
273
Kennedy Center absurdity is another example of how many laws are on the books but don't have any actionable remedy because Congress just assumed, especially on something so mundane and obvious as "what is the name of this thing we're creating?," that the law would of course be followed on its face.
3 days ago
2
123
20
It almost goes without saying, but this is illegal. The name "John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts" is established by law and the board doesn't have the power to change it. 20 USC 3 §§ 76h - 76s.
add a skeleton here at some point
3 days ago
119
2301
846
The problem with this model is the Republicans also exist. You can't just sit back and ignore their signature issue, letting them frame it as their great positive with zero rebuttal. Weakening your opponent's advantage on their perceived strongest issue is a necessary tactic, and has been working.
add a skeleton here at some point
3 days ago
7
85
10
California Democrats should be turning on and moving more aggressively to change a system that has a substantial chance of producing a general election ballot next year with two Republican candidates for governor and nobody else.
3 days ago
8
91
21
And ditto in return! Liberal Currents is an incredible and important voice. Be the media ecosystem you want to see in the world.
add a skeleton here at some point
3 days ago
0
37
4
We can compare him to George III, but when that king went mad and started babbling gibberish, at least the British did something about it and transferred his powers to the next in line.
3 days ago
4
83
11
A sign of how structurally weak the national committees are, how we've hollowed them out and stripped them of any real power. Not only does the DNC not have much ability to make anybody (PACs, candidates, etc.) listen to this, it's so politically impotent it can't even publish such a report.
add a skeleton here at some point
3 days ago
5
38
10
Deciding when to recess the House to "district work periods" isn't some inherent or longstanding power of the Speaker. It was only added to the rules for the first time in this Congress. Otherwise this would have required the full House to vote on it, which could have been defeated.
add a skeleton here at some point
4 days ago
16
639
213
reposted by
Andy Craig
Jacob T. Levy
4 days ago
Support
@theunpopulist.net
www.theunpopulist.net/p/help-us-st...
loading . . .
Help Us Stand Up to Authoritarianism: Become a Paid Subscriber This Holiday Season
Right-wing extremism is well funded. That means liberals can't afford to hold back if they want to win.
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/help-us-stand-up-to-authoritarianism
0
16
7
This is possible but it also wouldn't be the first time Trump has done an "address to the nation" which turned out to just be his usual meandering gibberish on no particular topic.
add a skeleton here at some point
4 days ago
0
107
7
That we just keep rolling along with pretending he's not manifestly non compos mentis will be studied by future generations as a kind of mass psychosis.
4 days ago
28
726
119
reposted by
Andy Craig
Scoiattolo
4 days ago
The Vanity Fair photographer knew what he was doing. (I doubt I’m the first to notice this but it hasn’t graced my TL)
135
5847
1420
Dershowitz is also totally wrong about how this works. House can only pick somebody who’s in the top three from the Electoral College. A candidate’s electors all abstaining, even setting aside how state binding laws wouldn’t let them do that, would mean they’re not eligible in a contingent election.
add a skeleton here at some point
4 days ago
4
125
26
reposted by
Andy Craig
Chris Geidner
4 days ago
Everyone is understandably sharing the Miller quote, but I found this response from photographer Christopher Anderson to be notable, too.
add a skeleton here at some point
16
3510
831
Load more
feeds!
log in