Michael Tesler

If you’re white, your accomplishments are your own and you can resent and criticize the country all you like, but if you’re black and successful you should be grateful to white people for allowing you in their presence. bsky.app/profile/jess...

The Vice President of the United States used his social media page to tell Joy Reid, a private citizen with no connection to the government, that she should express "gratitude" for how this country has treated her.

Black women remain the most consistent targets in all of this.

My husband was detained by ICE today

Juan Muñoz, an American citizen, father of 2, and local government official, was peacefully protesting w. other elected officials. He was assaulted and taken away

I have had zero contact or updates since

#SOS
@duckworth.senate.gov @durbin.senate.gov

New York Times: "Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference." The White House asked nine top universities to pledge support for President Trump’s agenda to help ensure access to research funding.

IF ANY CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY SIGNS THIS RADICAL AGREEMENT, THEY'LL LOSE BILLIONS IN STATE FUNDING — INCLUDING CAL GRANTS — INSTANTLY.

CALIFORNIA WILL NOT BANKROLL SCHOOLS THAT SELL OUT THEIR STUDENTS, PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS, AND SURRENDER ACADEMIC FREEDOM.

My colleague, Crystal Robertson, is actually teaching a course on the Racial Politics of Horror this quarter at UCI.

Reconstruction bros have long understood that in the American context, "socialism" most often means "integration and equality" bsky.app/profile/bren...

like guys this is the whole thing, right here, in one chart

Onward. Forward. Steady. Things have really changed. Now I need your help.

Some major personal news:
 
Things have really changed. Now I need your help.
 
On why I left academia, why I left America, and why I need your support as I am starting over as a full-time independent writer:
 
Onward. Forward. Steady:

Democrats’ waning support for Israel extends to Jewish Democrats too. Politics and ideology increasingly trump religious identity for Jewish Democrats.

Democrats’ waning support for Israel extends to Jewish Democrats too.

Politics and ideology increasingly trump religious identity for Jewish Democrats.

See the data from @tesler.bsky.social: goodauthority.org/news/democra...

Again, this is a broad coalition of people across the ideological spectrum whose top concern is making sure everyone rues and laments the “Woke Times” forever. It’s very much akin to the myths around “Negro misrule” in Reconstruction, which justified Jim Crow.

Seems bad for our society when you can’t make racist terrorists the villains

I'm all in for AOC in 2028, but anyone quoting Nemik gets at least some consideration.

Especially notable given the well-established psychological tendency to rate the dead more favorably than the living (aka death positivity bias).

Charlie Kirk had an unmistakable & lasting effect in galvanizing young conservatives, but he's actually fairly unpopular among young people

Jimmy Kimmel Returns: ABC Ends Suspension Starting Tuesday Jimmy Kimmel will return to late night on Tuesday

"Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that."

Looking forward to seeing Jimmy back on the air.

I'm all in for AOC in 2028, but anyone quoting Nemik gets at least some consideration.

The Democrats' Path Forward: Become the Anti-Corruption Party But to reform the system they first need to reform the Democratic Party.

Democrats should become the anti-corruption party. 72% of voters think a member of Congress would likely accept a bribe if offered one. 80% say donors run DC. The solution isn’t left vs right, it’s clean vs corrupt. But first, Democrats must reform themselves and reject big money.

I’m a Congressional Candidate. I Was Assaulted by ICE. An interview with Kat Abughazaleh, a 26-year-old Democratic House candidate in Illinois, who was violently thrown to the ground twice at a peaceful protest in Illinois on Friday morning.

As I told @newrepublic.com, "Once last week, twice today, ICE has picked me up and thrown me on the ground. Honestly, it doesn’t compare to what our neighbors who are trapped inside the Broadview processing facility are going through. They’re committing crimes against humanity there."

This is how Trump ends democracy The past week has revealed Trump’s policy road map to veto one-party rule. Will Americans let him follow it?

The past week has shown us something scary — the concrete and specific outlines of a durable authoritarian state in America.

Here's what this state would look like, and the precise policy levers Trump is pulling to get there from here.

www.vox.com/politics/462...

They just tear-gassed us. They tried to run us over in a van holding a peaceful protester. They shot us with pepper balls. They dragged another protester into the facility.

Violence against civilians carried out by the state to accomplish political goals -- especially lawless ones -- is "political violence" too.

And violence by governments against the people is almost always a much bigger threat than political violence by civilians.

Goebbels Ends Careers of Five 'Aryan' Actors Who Made Witticisms About the Nazi Regime (Published 1939)

These are precedented times and the precedent is a loud ass warning

www.nytimes.com/1939/02/04/a...

Much respect and appreciation to YouGov for polling so quickly on this and many other instances of democratic erosion over the past eight months.

Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.

A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the President doesn’t like what they say.

This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand.

All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.

Most American Jews say Trump is using antisemitism as an 'excuse' to silence free speech at universities Most Jewish Americans disapprove of the Trump administration withholding funds from colleges to address anti-Jewish sentiment, according to a new survey.

""Three-fourths of the sample view the Trump administration as using antisemitism as an excuse,"
...
only 31% of Jewish Americans polled said they support Israel's military campaign in Gaza over the past two years"

www.npr.org/2025/09/17/n...

i have said this before but when “getting rid of race in admissions” for the administration means “you can’t even try to reach out to underrepresented communities and encourage them to apply and if you do it is illegal discrimination against white people” then the actual goal here is segregation

The Money Signal A data-rich, eye-opening look at how, when, and why political fundraising is consequential.  Over the last two decades, the number of competitive congressional races has declined precipitously. Yet ca...

Danielle Thomsen's (@daniellethomsen.bsky.social) The Money Signal will change how you think about the function of money in US elections. A must-read! press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

"In fact, a review of the administrative record makes it difficult to conclude anything other than that Defendants used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities ..."

🚨 Job! 🚨

Brown Sociology & the Watson School of International & Public Affairs are hiring a TT assistant professor whose research focuses on social policy (broadly conceived).

Apply by 9/15: apply.interfolio.com/172655

Happy to chat about life at Brown, etc!