There's a wrong way and a right way to report this

"In looking at the other two branches of government — Congress and the courts — we have generally asked whether they are checking the authoritarian power grab or complicit in enabling it; we have not asked if they are the power grab." www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/the-pyrrhi...

Massive victory for the First Amendment. One of the most critical test cases so far — and our democracy passed!

“52% of all autocratization episodes become U-Turns, which increases to 73% when focusing on the last 30 years. The vast majority of U-Turns (90%) lead to restored or even improved levels of democracy” V-Dem data

There is no world in which it is normal for the president to publicly call upon his attorney general to hurry up and prosecute his political foes. It’s like the Watergate tapes but posted on social media. Let’s get a grip on what’s happening here.

Kind of wild to see a Saturday Night Massacre style scandal play out in full public based on a mistaken DM….

Wrote about how California needs to get serious about the urban disorder our failure to build housing has created.

Trump attacks 1A, demands opponents be prosecuted without legal basis, imposes tariffs and visa fees. All very bad, all unpopular, all divide parts of Trump’s base. What should Dems do? Some of us: Dunno, attack Trump? Dem leaders: Could we have a meeting, sir? www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/u...

Have watched these negotiations several times a year for a decade now and have never seen two party leaders engage in the absolute polar opposite of a power move quite like this.

Disney/ABC have a responsibility to refuse to participate in corruption. Kimmel must be reinstated. If Disney/ABC agree to this extortion then perhaps creatives + workers should consider collective action to push back. Same w/buying park + cruise tickets if they bow. People have power. Ask Target

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 past week really mattered in a way that I’m not sure has been totally processed yet

The actual problem is that many voters in red states don’t like people like Ezra Klein (or me, to be fair) and will vote against any candidate who seems to be backed by us. I don’t know the solution to that problem, but NYT op-eds backing candidates with unpopular policy platforms ain’t it!

I think two things can be true at once: 1) the Trump/Miller plan of a splashy military invasion was foiled, expertly 2) they are using their ICE Gestapo to extract terroristic revenge

Translation: The US Department of Defense announced it will no longer issue press credentials to journalists.

Anyone who thinks constitutional violations ought be an "eye for an eye" endeavor is (a) shockingly craven and (b) neither a believer in our Constitution nor fit for public office.

Michael Eisner, who served as CEO of Disney for 21 years and acquired ABC while he was in charge, slams his successor Bob Iger for bending the knee.

Pro tip: if you are a would-be autocrat who is trying to use law enforcement to persecute your enemies (but through a still reasonably independent judiciary), it's quite counterproductive to say things like "it looks to me like she's very guilty or something."

Jesus Christ. What a symbol of the Orwellian times we live in

Read @ansleyskipper.bsky.social on the National Guard deployment you're probably not paying much attention to — and why you should be following more closely www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/domestic-d... @protectdemocracy.org

The Trump administration's war on free speech is *deeply* unpopular and poised to shatter their coalition more even than tariffs and medicaid cuts.

"Taking away a broadcast license has so many legal obstacles and takes so long that the FCC doesn't even try." This is important to understand. The real action is in self-censorship and merger approvals. view.newsletters.cnn.com/messages/175...

Biggest story in the world, told in the mainstream press perfectly well: AP/PBS headline: TRUMP'S MOVES AGAINST MEDIA OUTLETS MIRROR AUTHORITARIAN APPROACHES TO SILENCING DISSENT www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...

The last time a govt went after Disney for its speech, Disney stood up. But it didn't get support from others. Now we're here. That's not to absolve Iger, but it is to say if our private sector doesn't stand together against censorship they will fall separately. protectdemocracy.org/work/desanti...

hey so this is insane

This is the playbook, folks. If you're not paying attention now and doing something about it, then you're going to have to sit down the rest of your life because democracy is being taken away. Do not be quiet in this moment.

Karen Bass currently has a 32 percent approval rating in a city where 70+ percent of voters routinely back democrats. @governor.ca.gov should think long and hard before staking his future political career on her instincts.

A very revealing moment in the Ezra Klein/Ben Shapiro interview is when Shapiro genuinely seems to think the rare instances of Obama mentioning racism — Trayvon Martin, Ferguson, and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. — were the singular catalyst that led to this entire moment we live in.

Proposal: I think we should informally refer to Sunset Dunes as “Engardio Park” A fitting honor for a politician who had the courage to do the right thing even at great political risk.

The ideological shift in America, in the span of just a few years, from “free markets” to “select industrial policy in the service of great power competition with China“ to “unapologetic crony capitalism“ is legitimately one of the most shocking political developments of my lifetime.

To quote the previous President, it's a big fucking deal. Thank you Ben and everyone else who helped win truly historic victories for housing in 2025. People have worked for decades to make these reforms happen.

The 2025 legislative session is one for the record books. We finally won two longtime housing moonshots — a clean infill housing exemption to CEQA (AB609/SB607) and a statewide transit upzoning (SB79). It's a new day in California. @cayimby.bsky.social @yimbyaction.bsky.social @sacyimby.bsky.social

It’s easy to be a zealot, hard to be a convert. Enormously impressed by Sen. Wahab who, I think it’s not an exaggeration to say, cast one of the most important housing “aye” votes in California history today. Grateful for a deliberative democracy that still works.

The mortgage fraud claim against Lisa Cook is false, per documents obtained by Reuters. Bill Pulte's accusation, the sole pretext Trump used to fire her from the Fed, was that she claimed two homes as primary residence. These docs show she did not. www.reuters.com/world/us/fed...

History.

LETS GOOOO @cayimby.bsky.social TEAM!!! THE BILL THAT LEAD TO THE FOUNDING OF CALIFORNIA YIMBY HAS FINALLY PASSED AND IS HEADING TO THE GOVERNOR!!! THIS WAS 5-8 YEARS IN THE MAKING!!!

HUGE HOUSING NEWS: The Assembly just passed our bill allowing more homes near public transportation, SB 79! We need more housing & we need it near transit. It’ll reduce traffic congestion & carbon emissions & increase transit ridership & affordability. Go housing! Go transit!

The murder of Charlie Kirk is part of a dangerous pattern of violence threatening our democracy & the safety of our communities. Part of the democracy movement’s work is ensuring everyone can express their opinions & engage in civic debate in peace. We must all agree violence is always unacceptable.

The horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk was quickly condemned across the political spectrum - as it should be. Most Americans do not support political violence, regardless of what some may claim or imply on social media. home.dartmouth.edu/news/2024/02...

New Construction Defect research: @ternerhousing.bsky.social "High insurance costs add roughly 2-4% to a condo project’s hard cost. An estimated that 80-85% of the condo projects are sued." Why build condos if it costs more and you have to sit in court? ternercenter.berkeley.edu/blog/the-fin...

Political violence is a slope that, once a democratic society slides down it, is almost impossible to climb back up. Horrified by the assassination attempt on Charlie Kirk not just as a senseless act of evil, but as a threat to the republic itself.

I've got an op-ed in @calmatters.org today about SB 79 and "local control." If a city's policy decisions hurt people outside its borders, then it's the state--not the city--who should be given the final say.

For any other president since Nixon (and probably before then too), this transcript alone would likely have led to a successful impeachment

San Francisco is on the brink of doing what even just a couple years ago seemed unthinkable!

Happy 175th birthday, California!

They could have done something like this in the Trump immunity case and given a chance for the special counsel to take Trump's federal election subversion charges to trial. Expediting cases is a choice