"A pure Chicago moment came one recent Saturday after agents tackled a 70-year-old....prompting a former Cook County prosecutor, to storm out his front door, barefoot and wearing Chicago Blackhawks pajama pants, to scream “Nazi” and “Gestapo” at the armed goons."

The rhetoric of Carlson and Fuentes echoes centuries-old prejudices, fuels persecution and division, and defies Christ’s inclusive message of love over hate.

With a diverse advisory circle that includes both progressive reformers and pragmatic economists, Mamdani’s true governance style will be revealed only once he faces real-world challenges and must balance ideals with practical policy decisions.

My latest for @theunpopulist.net: www.theunpopulist.net/p/jb-pritzke...

Gov. Pritzker to Trump and DOJ: "Come and get me." www.theunpopulist.net/p/jb-pritzke...

JB Pritzker Might Become the Face of America’s Resistance by Taking on Trump’s Authoritarianism www.theunpopulist.net/p/jb-pritzke...

LFG Pritzker

The promise of "no new wars" has proven to be all slogan and no substance.

Good piece. The... I'm not sure if "more serious" is right, but the version of it Vance and others more openly advocate... is this crackpot idea of giving extra votes to parents, which I wrote about @theunpopulist.net. Nominally that wouldn't discriminate by sex, but it's unabashedly patriarchal.

"Authoritarians are bad for both liberty and the economy. A state hell bent on spreading terror can’t deliver widespread prosperity."

My odd-year election roundup @theunpopulist.net :

On election day, an election 🧵 @andycraig.bsky.social argues that institutional reform of congressional elections is necessary. Instead of the winner-take-all logic of gerrymandered single-member districts, he says, choose proportional representation.

Ahead of New York City's mayoral election, Tibita Kaneene, the political director of @cnliberalism.org's NYC chapter, lauds Zohran Mamdani as a champion of multiracial and multiethnic democracy, and suggests market-friendly liberals can be cautiously optimistic about a Mamdani victory.

"Antisemitism, in subtle and blatant forms, likely will grow in American Christianity. Discerning American Christians must prepare to counter it. The argument against it is not complex and comes directly from our Savior: Love thy neighbor as thyself, without exceptions." @markdtooley.bsky.social

"Antisemitism, in subtle and blatant forms, likely will grow in American Christianity. Discerning American Christians must prepare to counter it. The argument against it is not complex and comes directly from our Savior: Love thy neighbor as thyself, without exceptions." @markdtooley.bsky.social

There are certainly things to be concerned about with Zohran Mamdani, especially about his economic policies. But he is infinitely better than the corrupt and thuggish alternatives. And his message of inclusion is fundamentally in keeping with New York's tolerant, pluralistic spirit.

Ahead of New York City's mayoral election, Tibita Kaneene, the political director of @cnliberalism.org's NYC chapter, lauds Zohran Mamdani as a champion of multiracial and multiethnic democracy, and suggests market-friendly liberals can be cautiously optimistic about a Mamdani victory.

It's Seabird Sunday, our weekly roundup of intriguing links shared by the Seabird app community. First up, @andycraig.bsky.social in @theunpopulist.net makes the case bringing proportional representation to the US House: www.theunpopulist.net/p/want-to-en...

And more from me on this topic @theunpopulist.net :

"This is the groundwork for a regime of ideological censorship aimed at suppressing organized opposition to and protest against this administration—and enshrining a shrinking MAGA minority's views as dogma that is officially shielded from criticism." 🔥 @tracinski.bsky.social in @theunpopulist.net

"Trump needs to pretend that his opponents are violent anarchists in order to justify the use of state force to suppress them."

The central goal of NSPM-7 is to establish special privileges for a conservative ideological minority, whose views are to be protected from criticism or opposition, w/ such criticism in treated as literal terrorism. @tracinski.bsky.social @theunpopulist.net www.theunpopulist.net/p/trumps-new...

I have some alarming things to report about Trump's "NSPM-7," a pretentious name for a mandate of ideological censorship that will target us all. www.theunpopulist.net/p/trumps-new...

No, there is no third term loophole. Please read this from @gowder.io

The Trump administration’s reduction in funding for gravitational wave studies won’t save taxpayers much but it *will* jeopardize future scientific breakthroughs. @kensil.bsky.social

A democracy can handle disagreement; it cannot survive a system where losing is treated as inherently illegitimate and the winners can use unlimited power to stifle opposition.

The most damaging evidence against Jim Jordan's claims of a “Biden censorship regime” comes from his own committee's work: dozens of interviews with tech executives that directly contradict the claims he's now making about the Google letter.

Trump has requested the DOJ, where he has installed his buddies in senior positions, hand him nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in restitution for being investigated. He is turning it into his personal ATM.

From the Enlightenment onward, liberal thinkers challenged the inherited hierarchies of kings, emperors, warlords, and priests. They insisted that no man should rule another by divine right—that every person is capable of reason, entitled to liberty, and deserving of equal protection under the law.

Excellent 🧵

I encourage anyone who cares about reforming our system to read this article. I also think we should increase the size of the House to at least apply the Wyoming rule (to bring the average representative-to-constituent ratio to that of the least populous state), which would be about 139 more seats.

LAURA K. FIELD: “One of the most important reasons to spend time with the new right is to understand just how out of step they are with ordinary people, and with traditional American values like equality, freedom, pluralism, and ordinary patriotism.”

The modest chief magistrate the Constitution envisioned has become the center of national life, the constant main character at the center of everything, a universe revolving around the occupant of the Oval Office.

In light of gerry-mania, let's talk... ✨proportional representation✨

"The system that we have today is completely unfit for the kinds of challenges that we have." - Drew Penrose on the benefits of proportional representation #LibCon2024

When confronted with evidence produced through three years of litigation, congressional investigation, and sworn testimony, the claims of a “Biden censorship-industrial complex” didn't just get debunked—they disintegrated. @noupside.bsky.social

The president seeks not to destroy America's institutions, but to hollow them out, repurpose them in his image, and wear their reappropriated symbols like trophies.

*taps sign* in any event, proportional representation! @theunpopulist.net

Must read from @andycraig.bsky.social www.theunpopulist.net/p/want-to-en...

We must reject the lie that liberalism is the cause of our problems. It was the erosion of liberal values—not their application—that created the grievances authoritarians now exploit. The answer to our malaise is not deeper control, but renewed freedom. @joshuaeakle.com @projectliberal.org

The danger isn't just presidential overreach—it's that we've arrived at a place where the presidency is the only institution with the energy to address major problems, creating a structural push toward presidentialism regardless of what courts say. @andycraig.bsky.social @narosenblum.bsky.social

American science has long thrived on the country’s openness to immigrants and visitors. But an environment in which scientists from around the world are unable or fearful to come to the U.S. is not conducive to American leadership in science.

The presidency has swollen into a near-monarchy, a turnkey tyranny, now in the hands of a rapidly consolidating authoritarian regime. @andycraig.bsky.social

There's a difference between criticism and coercion—between persuasion and the threat of punishment—that shapes the boundaries of free expression in America. The Biden administration offered criticism and attempted persuasion; the Trump administration is perpetrating coercion and issuing threats.

Want an end to the Gerrymandering Wars? Embrace proportional representation. @andycraig.bsky.social

France has cycled through five prime ministers in two years, with the most recent government lasting just 14 hours before dissolving. This political crisis could lead to an illiberal, far-right party with ties to Putin taking power.

The MAGA coalition isn't fundamentally united by shared policy goals but by a shared instinct: to dismantle liberal-democratic norms in favor of hierarchy, control, and a singular vision of national identity. It's also a rejection of the idea that people deserve dignity at all.

The American right is no longer conservative in any recognizable sense. They do not seek caution in implementing changes. They no longer seek to conserve established old institutions.

The Neo-Right Rejects Liberalism Because It Wants to Rule by Brute Force Not Consensus: At @theunpopulist.net: @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social @lkatfield.bsky.social Damon Linker and Tom Palmer with a nice intro by @andycraig.bsky.social y www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-neo-ri...