Gillen Tener Martin

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​My Disenfranchised California Republican Neighbors Should Take It Up With Their Party Prop 50 gerrymander passed. Meet the rural California republicans who will now be represented by a Marin County progressive.

Wrote about how Prop 50 reshapes representation in my lesser-known corner of the country for the @washingtonmonthly.com.

"In these parts, timber and farming still reign supreme, locals help locals, and outsiders—especially city folk—face an uphill battle to become anything else."

A One-Woman Stand Against Conspiracists YouTuber Natalie Wynn—better known as ContraPoints—spent a year diving into the online rabbit holes that fuel QAnon and MAGA paranoia.

@anne-s-kim.bsky.social and I spoke with @contrapoints.bsky.social on how conspiracism throws a wrench in the works of our political system, which requires reasonable public debate, deliberation, and compromise for the @washingtonmonthly.com podcast.

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Draining the Online Swamp Instead of chasing MAGA-style virality, Democrats should lead the fight to reform the toxic online world politics now depends on.

One of my favorite pieces from @washingtonmonthly.com Nov/Dec issue.

"Zadie Smith, more than a decade ago, wrote that the technology shaping our lives is unworthy of us. We are more interesting than it. We deserve better. It’s time to build something different."

Trump Has Project 2025 But the Democrats Have No Plan and They Need to Go On the Offensive With One November 3, 2025 - Paul Glastris backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

We are joined by @glastris.bsky.social to discuss how Democrats can win back voters by creating their own response to Project 2025. We discuss this new series at The Washington Monthly, including his article, “How the Democrats Can Play Offense” soundcloud.com/user-8304426...

Polls show Democrats are about as unpopular as Republicans. That’s not a messaging issue, it’s policy. Both parties oversaw a system that left the bottom 60% sliding downward. Trump rose by promising to fix it. Democrats can win only by truly doing so: bit.ly/3JcXdDu

SNAP-Ed’s Demise Exposes MAHA’s Hypocrisy Despite the Trump administration's MAHA rhetoric, Republicans defunded America's largest nutrition education program: SNAP-Ed.

"Choices are shaped by what’s available, what we know, and what we can afford—all of which are influenced by policy and profit, and little of which MAHA’s strategy proposes to change."

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"The successful Democratic politicians don’t sound moderate because they’ve sanded off their edges. They sound moderate because they’ve rebuilt a moral vocabulary around work and place."

This one hits home @nateweisberg.bsky.social !

The College Degree Is Not Losing Value AI is disrupting entry-level work, and graduates constitute a growing share of the long-term unemployed. But the degree's value still holds.

"The bartender with a doctorate will always be good copy. But the degree remains the surest, sturdiest path to prosperity."

Excellent piece by @nateweisberg.bsky.social out in the Monthly today @washingtonmonthly.com

“The U.S. and Europe Should Learn From Us”

A Ukrainian air defense unit showcases what NATO should have done when the Kremlin sent drones into Poland:

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A Blinkered Supreme Court Blocks Relief from Racial Profiling The Supreme Court’s conservative majority has allowed Trump’s Los Angeles ICE raids to proceed, upholding racial profiling practices.

The Court on affirmative action: "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."

The Court on ICE stops: "Proceed detaining any brown-skinned, Spanish-speaking, low-wage worker in central California."

Trump’s Definition of DEI Is a Disaster for Disaster Management Hurricane Katrina showed the cost of ignoring society’s most vulnerable. Trump’s redefinition of DEI in disaster management begs a repeat.

Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina showed the world what it looks like when unequal realities on the ground are not considered in emergency planning. A story I wrote about how Trump’s anti-DEI policies are doing away with the mechanisms of government designed address those realities is out today.

Washington Monthly's 2025 College Guide and RankingsWashington Monthly's 2025 College Guide and Rankings A college degree is costly, to both students and taxpayers. Here’s the only list that shows which institutions provide good value to both.

The Washington Monthly's 2025 College Guide – rating schools based on what they do for the country via access, affordability, outcomes, and national service metrics – is out this week! I highly encourage all of us U.S. taxpayers to check it out.

How AmeriCorps Kept Young Talent in Rural Communities | Washington Monthly Trump's cuts to the federal service program eliminated thousands of positions that provided career pathways in small towns across America.

AmeriCorps brought broadband, disaster relief, and young talent to struggling towns. So of course, Trump gutted it.

What Hungary Lost When It Obeyed in Advance | Washington Monthly Hungarian leaders thought they could restore the nation’s lost glory through alliance with Hitler. By 1945, Budapest lay in ruins.

In November 1944, as Soviet forces pushed into central Europe, Hitler declared Budapest a “fortress city,” meaning that its defenders would fight to the last man. Three months later, the former jewel of central Europe looked like Stalingrad. Around 40,000 German and Hungarian troops had been killed.

God and Man at Sea | Washington Monthly Tanenhaus shows why anyone searching for a stable or politically responsible American conservatism should look elsewhere.

William F. Buckley Jr. spent a lifetime trying to make a coherent intellectual case for conservatism, but could never articulate what it was supposed to consist of apart from owning the libs. From @jacobheilbrunn.bsky.social:

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Resurrecting the Rebel Alliance | Washington Monthly To truly end the age of Trump and his loyal oligarchy, Democrats must relearn the language and levers of power.

The idea that the early United States was an unregulated libertarian utopia is a modern myth. In fact, Americans used government both to protect themselves from private corporate power and to create new wealth.

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