Brian Welsch

What's happening is that these commentators adopt Republican talking points about the Democratic agenda. That's it, that's the whole story. Their source of information about Democrats and Democratic priorities is Republicans and Republican-aligned media

Wow shocked 2 learn Tariffs Not Only Impose Immense Economic Costs but Also Fail to Achieve Their Primary Policy Aims and Foster Political Dysfunction Along the Way

Locked in with @arimelber.bsky.social.

Just a reminder that both Elon Musk and Melania Trump are immigrants to the United States who illegally worked in violation of the terms of their visas.

the other thing about this is that there is no reason to pit these candidates against each other? each are good fits for their respective electorates and each shows the value of vigorous campaigns focused on the stated material problems of voters.

it's time for journos to start asking Johnson meta questions

"Speaker, on 5 occasions last week you said 'I haven't seen it' when asked about news events w/big implications for public policy. Do you ever read the news, and do you agree it's problematic for the Speaker to be so woefully uninformed?"

It really is fucking crazy making that Trump is doing the fake Obama scandals for real:

✅ sending IRS after enemies
✅ jade helm
✅ shitting on the voters of the other party
✅ playing favorites with corporations
✅ cozying up to Russia

Is that so bad when the alternative is just being a stenographer for fascism?

bsky.app/profile/agat...

Preview of 2026, and one of the ways Trump will try to expand control over elections

Wait, did they edit an interview? Did they not air every second?

I heard that’s grounds for a multimillion lawsuit

Douthat writes that 2024, when Harris lost by 1.5% of the popular vote, was "an ideological referendum and progressivism lost." I wonder why he didn't view the 2020 election, when Trump lost by 4.5% of the popular vote, as a far more significant loss for conservatism.
bsky.app/profile/larr...

tired: great gatsby parties
wired: bastille day parties

This guy's video explains what's happening.

Can't overstate how fucked up it is that unraveling what is arguably the greatest achievement in the history of humanity is now a motivating issue of one of the two dominant parties in the U.S.

I can’t stress this enough: you cannot understand politics without reading this paragraph about why there’s no such thing as a 1/3rd pound hamburger

i don’t think you can maximin vote share with polls and spreadsheets, and i think it is a problem that the most prominent and influential political commentators right now are more devotees of data than experts in narrative

Early planning documents reviewed by WIRED describe a statewide transport grid designed for steady detainee transfers across Texas, with ICE estimating each trip to average 100 miles. Every county would have its own small, around-the-clock team of contractors collecting immigrants from local authorities deputized by ICE. It is a subtle transfer of the physical custody process into the hands of a private security firm—authorized to carry firearms and perform transport duties “in any and all local, county, state, and ICE locations.”

NEW: ICE is planning to build a shadow deportation network in Texas. A proposal outlines a 24/7 transport operation run by armed contractors—turning Texas into the logistical backbone of an industrialized deportation machine.

My latest @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/ice-is...

In fall 2022, ahead of the midterm elections, Garland opted to freeze both the classified documents and election investigations because of what some officials believed was his overly cautious reading of a DOJ policy not to take any public action close to an election. Trump was not even on the ballot and had not yet declared his presidential candidacy for 2024. But Garland nonetheless imposed the freeze.

The selection of Garland as AG and his failure to act was about ten bajillion times more consequential than any campaign strategy decision

www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/t...

It's time for a Grand Remonstrance!

If you see someone stealing food - no you didn't.

Trample Nazis

America right now is an airplane that the crew is actively trying to dismantle mid-flight while at least half the passengers are sitting bare-knuckled just hoping we somehow eke out a survivable landing. (The other half are, inexplicably, rooting for the dismantling.)

How a Small Elite College in Maine Influenced Mamdani’s World View

A few thoughts about this deeply-flawed Jeremy W. Peters article.(Gift link.) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/u...

It didn’t take a Reichstag Fire to burn down Congress | Will Bunch Newsletter Plus, what’s troubling about Maine’s Nazi tattoo flap.

The Founders knew Congress - especially the House - was the backbone of U.S. democracy. It should be a huge story that Mike Johnson, serving Trump, has all but shut it down

From the Reichstag Fire to Putin's toothless Duma, this is what dictators do. My new column www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...

Graphic featuring a bear with the text "California: Vote Yes on Prop 50" and a reminder to make a plan to vote at IWillVote.com.

CALIFORNIA: Stop the Republican power grab and say YES to Prop 50!

Make your plan to vote at IWillVote.com.

"Going around the Constitution" means ending the Union

I do not believe Dems should fold. I believe if this works, he will keep doing it. If I believed folding would feed hungry people, I would at the very least strongly consider it. But he explicitly said he felt no obligation to honor any deal struck.

Some see the mass appeal of today's rightwing politics in status anxiety, as formerly dominant groups resent their relative decline. It's illuminating to extend Du Bois's "psychological wage" to capture how right populists generate both demand for this wage & give themselves a monopoly to supply it.

My main takeaway on the “moderation” debate is that Democrats would be better served by other debates besides left-right positioning, like how to develop new valence issues (corruption!) as wedge issues, and how to get attention for their policy proposals in the first place