One strategist talking to @nymag.com about @katmabu.bsky.social: “She has clearly fucking put her own health and safety on the line to stand up to ICE in a way that 99 percent of members of Congress have not.”

“In Iowa,” says @zachwahls.bsky.social, “we know that rotating the crops is good for our soil, and you better believe it’s good for our politicians.”

“Construction can be intended to project authority, dignity, glory and a desire for immortality. But the reality is that many of things we think of as being done for that reason later come to represent the exact opposite — the vanity and the ephemerality of human wishes.”

Maine voter: “If you look at the controversies surrounding the current president, this is nothing.”

“While other presidents may have ruminated about this issue privately, I am not aware of any of them making a public statement questioning whether they will go to heaven.”

"... our electoral regimes have devolved into frameworks amenable to politicians who stoke fear and manufacture enemies to secure votes. This phenomenon has become so normalized that ordinary people have begun to reflect the sociopathologies of the leadership class."

"You know, I feel like I'm on an island sometimes. I do feel like the weirdo sometimes."

“I was able to pay my bills, but it left me with about 22 bucks.”

“What’s happening is public support for political violence is growing in the mainstream, it’s not a fringe thing, and the more it grows, the more it seems acceptable to volatile people.”

“The emir broke all the protocols for President Trump because he understands the value of the relationship.”

“There is a realization — if you want life to be more affordable, if you want a strong middle class — people need to have some money left after they pay rent or their mortgage. If there’s no money left or not even enough to eat, then your entire society collapses.”

Five things we learned about Zohran Mamdani.

An expert on international law weighs in on the legality and global implications of the Trump administration’s drug boat killings.

“We have a crisis of connection and meaning in this country, and Trump is a symptom, not the cause, of that crisis,” @chrismurphyct.bsky.social tells @politico.com.

America is like “someone who is feeling lost, confused, or beat up … or uncertain of what to do, and looking around and saying this isn’t right, this isn’t the way.”

“Our own federal government is making this choice to hurt its people ...”

“What country am I living in? Where is the law?”

The latest from JMart: Trump Is the Democrats’ Best Campaigner.

POLITICO Weekend.

“She was the top communicator for the president of the United States and she can’t get through basic interviews.”

Ran five years ago today.

“I think there’s something Democrats on every part of the spectrum can learn: that you shouldn’t just run against Donald Trump, and that you need to offer an affirmative vision. And if you do that, people will rally around you, even if you are an unknown 33-year-old member of DSA.”

“If you are not frightened, you are not paying attention.”

A democratic socialist is poised to become New York mayor. Democrats are nervous.

From @kenvogel.bsky.social's new book.

“An invasive species from Texas threatens the last major piece of protected open space on the Front Range: a ball-capped beaver named Buc-ee.”

“Many of these doctor associations are run by liberals. They’re run by people that failed being real doctors.”

“A lot of rural and fairly conservative farmers are like, ‘What the hell?’ … the issue now is that we’re also helping Argentina by importing Argentinian beef instead of American beef, and that means that now you’re hitting American agriculture two times ahead of American interests.”

“We are opening up the process reluctantly because of this aggressive midterm redistricting by Republicans in response to Trump across the country.”

I appreciate the link from my West Wing Playbook colleagues.

“I’m kind of an elder millennial,” @wilsonforseattle.bsky.social tells @agpnw.bsky.social, “so I’m part of this generation that at some point realized that we were on the whole less well off than our parents and probably always will be.”

“I think the Democratic civil war isn’t actually a civil war. It’s just the people with the money are deeply out of touch with what the American people want and don’t want their party to do the things that win elections.”

“We are in the most perilous moment, the biggest threat to our republic since the Civil War.”

“We all learned how to say ‘Daenerys Targaryen’ when we were all into ‘Game of Thrones.’”

Worth the read from @defaultfriend.bsky.social.

“In a democracy, you need knowledge, you need expertise, you need to understand what the consequences are of particular policies, and you need to be involved in deliberation. All of those things are being lost when you go directly to a president who shoots from the hip and believes in reciprocity.”

“The old school, establishment firms in D.C. don’t understand the new Washington. They are used to a D.C. that doesn’t exist anymore. It’s a different ball game from 10 years, or even five years ago.”

Mamdani: “I know some of you have expressed concerns about my age. I’m committing that for every single day from here on out, I will grow older.”

“He has a very good understanding of the game’s nuances. He is really comfortable around a poker table. He’s always one of the better players at these tournaments.”

“He’s a vibe.”

“He has this hopeful energy that we haven’t seen, that reminds you of Obama.”

“I wouldn’t be doing this if it weren’t for the election. I just couldn’t understand, and still can’t, how a third of Americans can think a felon and sex offender is the right guy for the job.”

“It’s such a changed country from the one I left behind.”

POLITICO Weekend.

Ran 15 (!) years ago today.

New this morning for @politico.com.

“I think right now the problem is that both sides think they’re winning,” says @senangusking.bsky.social.

Here for this.

“Anybody who has played cards in a casino knows that you often play for too long and lose whatever it is you’ve won. I was fortunate enough to have to leave before that happened.”

Need to read this.