NEW — Maine State Representative Valli Geiger says Graham Platner has pledged to back her U.S. Senate bid if he exits the Democratic primary, according to WMTW.

🧵Rahm does Tel Aviv. I’ll be live posting here. Since most of the speech leaked already, unclear why you should be following this.

As i understand it, Democrats need Platner to drop out. And only Platner can force Platner to drop out. So Platner has leverage. But nowhere near the leverage he'd have had as the deciding vote in a divided Senate.

I think it would be helpful for us outside the Pine Tree State to have someone mainesplain to us the best choices from the Gov runners-up and elsewhere.

Say what you will but it’s very funny that this has happened for a game against Belgium, the country whose primary export is rules

Three [not two, read down] years ago, Stephen Miller & friends litigated claims of "censorship" to effectively censor scholarly research on disinformation such as theirs. Much harm done to persons, institutions, and the commonwealth of public information -- but a small victory to celebrate.

Precisely the brand of underhanded textualist fuckery that provoked Jesus to announce "If the Law says that, the Law is an Ass!" (or words to that effect).

Under the new rules, which are being challenged, those with physical and developmental disabilities will be prioritized for permanent supportive housing while those with behavioral conditions are expected to quickly get to "self-sufficiency" through non-subsidized housing and work.

A man cries over his niece after Russia bombed Kharkiv . She got her diploma today. There’s a graduation cap near to the body , torn . Monday.

You've heard of war as politics by other means. Let me introduce you to war as insider trading by other means.

There is no less enlightened way to look at politics than left-right-center. Politicians - just like you! - have different views on different things. Vote for people who share your values on issues you care about. But don't assume nuance disappears the minute you win an election.

Dementia! It's not just for the elderly!

You said it, Senator. thats the attitude! Right on! What kind of outfit would we be if we llhad leaders making decisions??? THAT would be ridiculous!

i don't know how to make it clearer that there are 5,000 soldiers + federal agents + the 30-odd police forces that are always here + like the oklahoma sheriff's department for some reason, in an area that is *68 square miles* and has lower crime than many of the places these folks come from

Just back from a week in Brussels and Strasbourg, meeting with EU Parliamentarians, business leaders and other EU-adjacent groups about climate and energy policy. Some observations:

If you come to those anchored ethics through religion or through some other path I don't especially care, but it is a Very Good Thing(tm) to have reps and senators who believe that there are Good Things(tm) and Bad Things(tm) and we should do the Good Things and not the Bad Things

Sounds more like "kids with libertarianism".

Fifteen Minnesota ICE-resisters are now facing federal charges of conspiracy to stand up for Truth. Justice and the American Way.

Pretty sure this ⤵️ is a real Teddy Roosevelt quote:

IMO, economics is at best a proto-science, and may or may not ever advance beyond that (a p.o.v. that has got me blocked by people you should follow). Again IMO, Mark is on point here.

The Strait of Hormuz is permanently toll free. However, roaming charges may apply - as may local taxes and fees.

As the World Cup comes to Seattle, so does increased ICE presence. At the direction of Exec Girmay Zahilay*, King County Sheriffs give locals useful advice re their role in immigration enforcement and interactions with the feds. In 17 languages. (h/t www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...) 1/2

Israel has enjoyed their recent latitude of military operation versus established military adversaries. They might like this to continue. Israel has a recent history of blowing up negotiations by (among other tactics) blowing up the other side's negotiators. 🐻🐻🐻👀👀

WILD story. Alberto was an undercover INS informant. As a reward, in 1996 INS “paroled” him in legally, then never called him again. His status expired in 1997 but for 30 years he worked at a hospital; he assists surgeons in the ER now. ICE threw him in jail at a green card interview last October.

Common problems with institutional strategery, academic or otherwise.

I read military trials for work and guys in the 1600s failed to fire salutes with blanks all the time, killing the officers they were supposed to honor

Tattoo's, ado's, and minimal life experience as a fully functional adult aside, Platner is a wrecker. A simplist, fantasist, conspiracy theorist, selling easy answers to hard questions, on the premise his betters are stupid, cowardly, or paid off. How will he vote in the Senate? 1/2

A Platner win is a Collins win. Her oppo cannons are loaded. Service records? 100% disability (Duckworth is 20%)? Etc. Here's a plan: 1) Rank all but Platner. 2) Mills wins. 3) Mills lacks magnetism, momentum, magic, money. 4) Mills drops out. 5) Party names e.g. Costello to replace her.

(Not a joke: www.military.com/dod-official... )

Just when I think i have enough outrages ... well, there's always room for one more. Hope this comes back to bite em.

U.S. Begins Dismantling Major Ocean Observation Network gcaptain.com/u-s-begins-d...

www.pressherald.com/2026/06/01/m... [h/t politicalwire.com/ ] It's ranked choice, so Maine voters can rank everybody but Platner.

galactic cosmological arc of the night sky as seen from portugal (photo taken from the website space (dot) com) and Nut (Sky Goddess - seen as the Milky Way) wih Geb (earth God); between them is Shu (God of Air) - from the tomb of Pharaoh Ramesses VI

Google AI responds weirdly in first person to my "declare victory and get out" search:

Question of war vs peace are never as interesting as questions of grey granite vs black Italian granite. More of the world's pressing questions could be resolved if Trump simple took them for granite.

Happily, I don't vote in Maine. Platner has a Totenkopf, and lame excuses. A sexting history, and more excuses. (Or denials?) Not fatal - necessarily - but Maine D's are losing sleep. It's not just that another shoe might drop. It's that their presumptive nominee might be a centipede.

Wales used a closed-list PR electoral system for the first time. The election occurred during a time of flux in the party system. And despite all that, the outcome fits the Seat Product Model expectations precisely. fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com/2026/05/29/w...

Jury convicts Spokane 3 ICE protesters on conspiracy charges. Details in @rangemedia.co liveblog (see top of 🧵 below). See also www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...

Forcing Donald Trump to sit through a 5-hour Vania Ice concert is the funniest possible outcome.

I would be remiss not to point out that "Tricking Milli Vanilli into performing a concert for a dictator" is LITERALLY a storyline from the 1990s 'Super Mario Bros 3' cartoon 🙃

Something that can happen to people engaged in politics is they can come to believe that something they care about deeply being done—some vital change—is effectively impossible; some corruption or problem is baked irrevocably into politics. If you come to believe that, you may become 'black pilled.'

UPDATE: Mike Johnson said he has nothing to do with this dirty tricks operation. Which is interesting because what I reported was that it was linked to the Congressional Leadership Fund, the House Republican Super PAC. The CLF has declined to comment.

Can we get one of these for bsky, @joshuajfriedman.com?

(And I also note that if you enjoyed this movie I'm talking about, which is probably The Sheep Detectives or The Devil Wears Prada Part 9, that is very good, and I want you to enjoy things, even when I do not enjoy those same things.)

Pericles is like, “hey, I wrote that”. (Actually Thucydides, who imagined the funeral oration that Pericles gave).

🚨 🚨 🚨 NEW: A shocking @USCIS memo seems to declare that hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in this country and applying for green cards must instead apply for visas abroad; which could MASSIVELY disrupt lives. 🧵 on what we know, and what we don’t.

This in re Doug Jones run for the open Senate seat in Alabama, as Tommy Tuberville is giving up his Stupidest Senator title for a shot at the big time: Stupidest Governor.

Game design is hard because you really need to solve problems without creating more problems And nobody has ever done that

Long 🧵 but well worth the time in re obstacle courses some voting publics face (with an amusing backfire turn for dessert).