“To play the demagogue for purposes of self-interest is a cardinal sin against the people in a democracy.” - Theodore Roosevelt

Trump’s Tariffs Are Already Stunting World Growth “As Donald Trump barrels toward his latest tariff deadline, the damage to the global economy from American protectionism is becoming increasingly evident, even if financial markets seem to have decide...

Trump’s Tariffs Are Already Stunting World Growth politicalwire.com/2025/07/27/t...

U.S. to Stop Practice of Assessing Fairness of Elections Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the State Department to “stop commenting on the fairness, integrity and legitimacy of foreign elections, a major shift away from a decadeslong practice of promot...

U.S. to Stop Practice of Assessing Fairness of Elections politicalwire.com/2025/07/21/u...

Senate Confirms Official Who Called Obama a 'Terrorist' "The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Anthony Tata to serve as the Pentagon’s undersecretary for personnel and readiness, approving a nominee whose incendiary political commentary made him unconfirmable du...

Senate Confirms Official Who Called Obama a 'Terrorist' politicalwire.com/2025/07/15/s...

Open primaries will aid local democracy New York needs open primaries now — and not for the reason you might think. Open primaries would enfranchise more than a million New York voters, who are disproportionately young and represent comm…

“Delay is denial.”
In the wake of NYC’s chaotic primary season, the case for open primaries is stronger than ever. More inclusive. More representative. More democratic. @johnavlon.bsky.social makes the case in @nydailynews.com
www.nydailynews.com/2025/07/07/o...

"You want to incentivize people that were early to this and care about it, so that they keep developing."

Thomas Pacchia discusses crypto regulation and more with @johnavlon.bsky.social:

Trumpcare Claims Its First Victim When Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, Republicans seized on every glitch, cost increase, or regulatory change and laid it at their feet. Premiums up? Blame Obamacare. Medicare tweaks?...

TrumpCare just shut down its first hospital:

politicalwire.com/2025/07/09/t...

Majority Don’t Know Why We Declared Independence A new Morning Consult poll finds 53% of Americans don’t know why the American colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence to separate from Britain on July 4, 1776.

This is one of many reasons why we need civics education.

Hint: #NoKings

Majority Don’t Know Why We Declared Independence politicalwire.com/2025/07/04/m... via @politicalwire

Early voting for primaries starts tomorrow! Voters will use ranked choice ballots for just the 2nd time ever – it’s a reform we’ve long advocated for, and it has already made city campaigns more positive.

Watch CU's @johnavlon.bsky.social explain how it works, and why RCV in NYC is a BFD:

📘 See our 2025 Primary Voters Guide for candidate preferences new.citizensunion.org/voters-guide...

🗳️ Early Voting starts TODAY! 🗳️
Make your voice heard in NYC’s critical local races—from Mayor to City Council. Polls are open 9am–5pm through June 22. Primary Day is June 24.
✅ Use Ranked Choice Voting
📍 Find your poll site: findmypollsite.vote.nyc

The only country that has military parades on the leader’s birthday is North Korea.

Until today.

And that’s not the consideration set we want to be in.

"I believe Donald Trump wants there to be violence, involving the National Guard and the military, and that that will support in his mind, his argument that this is an invasion, this is an insurrection." - @repdangoldman.bsky.social

Goldman joins @johnavlon.bsky.social on the latest How To Fix It

Opinion | To Take On Trump, Think Like a Lion

To take on Trump, think like a Lion. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/o...

Last night, Citizens Union Chair @johnavlon.bsky.social testified before the NYC Charter Revision Commission with a clear message: New York must open up its closed primary system.

#OpenUpNYPrimaries #NYCCharterRevision

Real Americans aren’t Authoritarian.

Pass it on.

Brand new How to Fix It with @mattyglesias.bsky.social on @thebulwark.com - we talk about popularism, the abundance agenda, and what common sense Democrats need to do to reconnect with the moderate majority and win elections again.

“To play the demagogue for purposes of self-interest is a cardinal sin against the people in a democracy, exactly as to play the courtier for such purposes is a cardinal sin against the people under other forms of government.”
- Theodore Roosevelt #quoteoftheday

Board Chair @johnavlon.bsky.social celebrates the Charter Revision Commission report's embrace of open primaries and even-year races, “Representative elections have representative results. That’s good for democracy.”

Watch the story @spectrumnewsny1.bsky.social

There is no sport more Adrenalin producing than a Knicks playoff Game for a kid of the 90s.

Memorial to Victims of Gun Violence Removed "The Trump administration has removed a memorial honoring victims of gun violence from the main atrium of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, taking down about 120 portraits hung ...

Memorial to Victims of Gun Violence Removed politicalwire.com/2025/05/05/m...

Are You Better Off Than You Were 100 Days Ago? We all know the answer.

“Are you better off than you were 100 days ago?”

That is the question.

New column up on The Bulwark -
www.thebulwark.com/p/are-you-be...

“The test of an adventure is that when you're in the middle of it, you say to yourself, 'Oh, now I've got myself into a mess; I wish I were sitting quietly at home.' And the sign that something's wrong is when you sit quietly at home wishing you were out having an adventure." - Thornton Wilder

@johnavlon.bsky.social Speaking At The #Riverhead #NewYork #HandsOffProtests

John spent the day going to #HandsOff protest locations throughout #SuffolkCounty yesterday

I got to see him in Sag Harbor & his words were just as powerful there

#DefendDemocracy
#NY01

Thank you!

I recently came across a @johnavlon.bsky.social discussion with the George W. Bush Institute from 2022. This quote from John is tremendous and even though it’s three years old, perfectly underscores why I chose to get involved in my local government.

“The power of courts to punish for contempt is a necessary and integral part of the independence of the judiciary, and is absolutely essential to the performance of the duties imposed on them by law…Without it, they are mere boards of arbitration, whose judgments and decrees would only be advisory."

“Whoever makes his way into a tyrant’s court, becomes his slave - although he went there as a free man.” - Sophocles

The Largest Peacetime Tax Hike in History “White House aide Peter Navarro claimed Sunday that President Donald Trump’s new tariffs would raise more than $6 trillion in federal revenue over the next decade, a figure that experts said would alm...

Trump Tarrifs are The Largest Peacetime Tax Hike in History politicalwire.com/2025/03/31/t...

The Death of Debate: How Power Is Killing Free Speech in America Podcast Episode · How to Fix It with John Avlon · 03/30/2025 · 37m

Brand new “How to Fix It” with @glukianoff.bsky.social on @thebulwark.bsky.social - about how to protect free speech from the extremes - and why he believes the Trump administration is the worst he’s seen in their assaults on free speech. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...