Micah Escobedo

A card reads: "rage bait / noun: Oxford’s 2025 Word of the Year is defined as “online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative or offensive.” Over the past year, according to Oxford’s data, frequency of use spiked by a factor of three."

Oxford University Press has chosen “rage bait” as its 2025 Word of the Year. The open-compound word, which beat out “biohack” and “aura farming,” goes back at least to 2002. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/a...

Feel your emotions, but keep a 30,000-foot view in mind. We aren’t in the clear, but we’re also not (totally) f*cked. The story of American democracy is still being written — by us.

Of course, our journey will not be easy (or pleasant). It will be terrifying and infuriating at times. But before freaking out about the latest news from the administration or declaring that voters are about to usher in utopia, take a step back.

There are hopeful signs we can get there, from the explosive growth of left-of-center content via podcasts, YouTube, Substack, etc., to the insane Democratic overperformances we’ve seen in races since January — as well as the single-largest political protests in U.S. history.

If we can’t build a majority that includes people we may only agree with 50-60% of the time, we’re squandering a generational opportunity.

The only thing that should matter universally is ‘Do you believe in the rule of law, building more housing, and bringing down healthcare and grocery costs?’ On a national level, everything else is marginal.

Somewhat hot (perhaps lukewarm) take: The presidential race starts November 4, 2026 (perhaps early 2027). Until then, our focus should be on building out a durable, politically diverse coalition from CA & NY to GA & TX — a coalition that includes progressives + socialists *and* centrists + liberals.

absolutely not, facebook

thankful (for good lighting)

Yes, we know the reason for this season is far more complicated—give it a rest.

It’s a holiday. Go OD on tryptophan. 🦃

The ‘well actually this is about genocide check yourself’ asides from self-righteous buzzkills are one of the reasons why the left is seen by mast Americans as a bunch of moralistic scolds.

good luck gerrymandering this

SEN. GALLEGO: "This is fucking insane... Secretary Hegseth, all these guys, fuck you, you're not going to be able to scare us. You say you’re not acting like fascists… you won’t intimidate us.”

on the “investigation” announcement for telling the military their oath is to the constitution

who wore it better

👋

Trump now says Republicans can vote to release the Epstein files.

He never urged Republicans to support the discharge petition. He never demanded Mike Johnson swear in Adelita Grijalva. But now, after reports indicate 100+ GOPers are planning to support their release, he caves.

best part of any conference: the swag

doing my best barbara walters impression @ #NARNXT

sad!

If you’re reading this, you’re probably in a bubble. Political maneuvering doesn’t interest most people (including a significant number of Democrats). What does: 200% premium hikes, cancelled holiday travel, and going hungry.

Think of it this way: CR tees up steep premium hikes for millions of middle-class families ahead of a midterm election that is already expected to go quite well for Democrats. Plus, Trump and the GOP have taken more of the blame for the shutdown (to say nothing of Trump’s high 30s/low 40s approval).

The funny thing is that on the WaPo site, if you click on the comments section, it gives you an AI-generated summary of people's responses that is basically like "They all disagree with the paper's right-wing turn"

time to get the jab(s), folks 💉💉

dems crush 2025 elections *and* the queen of pop releases the 20th anniversary edition of the album that made me a loyal subject of her empire?

we are so back.

Affordability, affordability, affordability: Democrats’ new winning formula From a democratic socialist in New York to moderates in Virginia and New Jersey, Democrats found success by focusing on the cost of living — not culture wars.

“Democrats now have proof that campaigns grounded in affordability and competence can still unite the party’s fractious coalition — from democratic socialists in the nation’s biggest city to centrists in its quintessential suburbs."

INTERNALIZE THE SH*T OUT OF THIS, DEMS!

Going into Supreme Court arguments over President Donald Trump's tariffs on Wednesday, it was genuinely difficult to guess how the justices would rule. Within minutes, that suspense vanished. The hearing was a bloodbath for the Trump administration: Six justices lined up to bash the Justice Department's defense of the tariffs, barely disguising their annoyance with the government's barrage of blustery nonsense. At the halfway point, it would've saved everyone time had the court just huddled, announced its decision from the bench, and recessed early for lunch. Trump's signature trade policy-which he expected to raise trillions of dollars for him to use as he wished-looks dead on arrival at SCOTUS. We have spent ten months waiting to see if, and when, this court would set a limit on Trump's power. Perhaps we should've guessed that its extraordinary deference to this president could be outweighed only by its hatred of taxes.

My take on today’s tariff arguments at the Supreme Court. Short version: LOL slate.com/news-and-pol...

👀

yep

the schadenfreude is delicious + off the charts for dems right now and i love that for us

I know it’s often a fool’s errand to make these kinds of predictions (and I could be wrong), but the vibes have truly shifted over the past six months.

Onward to 2026, team.