Paramount should enjoy its growing news monopoly while they have it because when Democrats win back power we are going to break up these anti-democratic information conglomerates. All of them.

This is amazing. www.getyourfuckingmoneyback.com

found myself considering a legal explainer about why the government can’t lie their way into a residence to kidnap someone and then was like wait why the fuck would I need to explain that

The entire Democratic strategy debate — "moderate" or move left? fight or compromise? — is based on a misreading of data. Voters don't think Dems are too progressive; they think Dems are weak. The actual math on what to do about this isn't even close! New: www.gelliottmorris.com/p/new-poll-d...

Many old school DC "I pine for the days of the Gang of 500" pundits reflexively presume that voters will automatically accept GOP framings on crime/immigration. That keeps being wrong It's weird because it shows the exact sort of contempt for voters that they often accuse Dems/liberals of harboring

New polling from @indivisible.org tells us something we all probably guessed: having the least popular political figure in the country “lead” the opposition is bad politics. indivisibleteam.medium.com/new-polling-...

4 Minnesota guys

Dems are the opposite. They believe turning the other cheek in response to real affronts is good politics. I *think* they picked this up from Obama, who was indeed a successful politician. But his unflappability wasn't a super power. It was an artifact of racism. www.offmessage.net/p/why-the-st...

There is no positive issue territory left for Trump, per our new Strength In Numbers/ @verasight.io poll. POTUS plans to focus on the economy in his SOTU 2nite. But shifting media focus back to a -30 issue is perhaps not the foolproof strategy he thinks it is. www.gelliottmorris.com/p/ahead-of-s...

I think the fun thing about the latest John Oliver episode is that he’s mainstreaming what has been common discourse here for months, in that if you’re a government official/reporter/someone who considers themselves a non-Nazi then what the FUCK are you still doing on X?

Have to stay on X to reach people We're at this midwestern diner (again) "Real Americans" Chuck Schumer and "the Baileys" All stem from a widespread conviction among centrist and center-left elites that this small slice of the public matters most, which has no equivalent among right-wing elites.

Here’s last night’s story about Twitter, how it went from bad to worse under Elon Musk, and the real reason why John won’t be tweeting in the future. Hint: it has something to do with his amazing feet. youtu.be/p7ZG_xWYLzI

In the midst of the most aggressive and alarming federal assault on the First Amendment since the Palmer raids, the Biden-era free speech warriors have focused their outrage on . . . the injustice of releasing the Epstein files.

They said it. We’re all thinking it.

More elite impunity than British royals. More bigoted towards immigrants than Germany. Worse sexual ethics than the French. America 2026!

Cancel culture is back, baby.

ah greg, you need to understand that this is just the work of an energetic executive! as john roberts so patiently explained to us, the president needs to be able to dirext the activities of the DOJ to preserve executive authority and separation of powers!

AOC on Randy Fine: “This is genuinely one of the most disgusting statements I have ever seen issued by an American official — It should not stop shocking us that the Republican Party openly embraces this — Fine should be censured & stripped of committees. To ignore this is to accept & normalize it”

Hear Colbert explain exactly why CBS told him he couldn’t interview @jamestalarico.bsky.social on tonight’s episode of the Late Show—but why he still interviewed him anyway. youtu.be/oh7DPSP65JA?...

Calling it now: the US political media's treatment of AOC is going to make their treatment of Hillary Clinton or Al Gore look like a model of balance and discretion.

This scheme to make passports harder to obtain comes as Republicans are trying to make passports one of the few documents that can be presented in order to be permitted to register to vote.

Elon Musk, a pro-apartheid South African, may have come here believing the US was a bastion of English-Scots-Irish culture. (By the way, were the Irish welcomed by the English?) My grandparents and so many others came here because of the promise of freedom, tolerance, equal rights, and opportunity.

This duet cover of Radiohead's "Creep", between a son and his Shastriya Sangeet classically trained mother, is the mash-up I didn't know how much I needed in my life. Totally spontaneous sobbing may have taken place. www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZoH...

The central unspoken assumption of most left-of-center political analysis is “the commoners can only be influenced by their grubby little pocketbooks and stomachs, not by the high-falutin ideas that smart people like us spend all of our time thinking about”

#art #photography #BlueSkyArtShow #wood #trees #sacramento

#art #photography #BlueSkyArtShow #wood #trees #sacramento

#art #photography #BlueSkyArtShow #wood #trees #sacramento

Trump has lost the culture. But what if the universal conventional wisdom—that he won the culture in the first place—was never true? What if our warped media environment, then Trump's victory, created an illusion of MAGA cultural dominance that is now slipping. This is a long one, so strap in.

Cartoon by @andertoon.bsky.social.

The silence of US elites about this remains stunning & utterly damning.

under questioning from Peters, ICE officials confirm that Kristi Noem's claim about Pretti being a "domestic terrorist" was not based on information from them

“You disgust me.” Is as honest a thing as you will ever hear coming out of the mouth of this asshat Senator.

She is an empty suit, of course. And an absolute nasty piece of cornbread. She is also, to my somewhat trained ear, absolutely, positively terrified here. She is either intimidated by the process or deeply anxious about her relationship with her boss. Or both. But she is terrified.

Every photo from Minneapolis looks like this. Cops decked out with guns and full tac gear facing off against people in bathrobes, parkas, and sweatpants armed only with whistles and cell phones. Yet every verified MAGA chode on X dutifully calls it a riot or violent insurrection.

I've tried to get this point across myself. Here, @brianbeutler.bsky.social does a great job of it. Liberal bias is a political tool — not a critique of performance — and it will assert itself regardless of how well the newsroom does on truthtelling and fairness. www.offmessage.net/p/a-requiem-...

I learn from their website that Gallup is proud of all the contracts they have with many federal agencies. thehill.com/homenews/med...

Shot, and one-hell-of-a-chaser.

Likely-historic photo by NBC News of all the Epstein victims asked to raise their hands if they've not yet been asked to meet with the DOJ as Bondi testifies in foreground

Grand juries, neighbors > elite universities, law firms

The political dynamics of 2025 were shaped by Democrats and Republicans over-reading Trump's victory in the same way. That turns out to be a problem for a LOT of rich and powerful people who made a very large bet on the theory that MAGA had won the culture war. www.offmessage.net/p/trump-has-...

Some amazing photos here. www.popsci.com/environment/...

very wise piece, pretty much where I'm at www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-no...

🚨 Epstein survivors release this powerful PSA in advance of the Super Bowl demanding answers from the Justice Department. This is the Super Bowl ad every American should see. Spread it everywhere.

The aurora last night in Beaver, Alaska was just incredible. This is a real-time video (not sped up) of the crazy motion I saw. Also, look how BRIGHT it is, wow!

People are mad at @samuelmoyn.bsky.social but this is a good piece from him and @ryandoerfler.bsky.social on need to accept that SCOTUS has become functionally illegitimate. Key point is legitimacy does require the public to think the court operates in good faith: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

US elite institutions be as ethical as Burning Man challenge via @henryburke.bsky.social

I do want to shout-out my fellow sociologists, who have collectively created a discipline so woke that not a single one of our introductory textbooks can make it past Florida's censors. Great work everyone.