@billscher.bsky.social
Politics Editor for @washingtonmonthly.com
There's a new and very dangerous development in Trumpland. They're now so devoted to coal, oil, and gas that they want to punish any country that tries to “inhibit, prohibit, strangle, divest from” U.S. fossil fuels. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/o...
22.11.2025 16:41 — 👍 119 🔁 39 💬 11 📌 3“It’s easier than explaining it” really sums up the era.
22.11.2025 15:06 — 👍 6 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
News investigations into Trump-era national security and criminal justice decisions haven’t penetrated the national consciousness because of the president’s ability to distract. They should. @billscher.bsky.social
washingtonmonthly.com/2025/11/21/t...
This is from the FBI
21.11.2025 14:43 — 👍 6 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
"Trump’s Policy Failures Are Even Worse Than We Realize"
My @washingtonmonthly.com look at how Trump's policy choices have weakened national security
washingtonmonthly.com/2025/11/21/t...
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the New Jersey Democratic Governor-elect, has resigned from Congress. #nj11 now vacant.
House now 219 R, 213 D
2 other vacancies:
#tn07 (Green/R) Dec 2 special election
#tx18 (Turner/D) Jan 31 runoff election
“Trump’s job performance garners career-high disapproval among men, White voters, and those without a college degree.”
www.foxnews.com/politics/fox...
Aug. 2016: "We must also screen out any [immigrants] who believe that Sharia law should supplant American law"
Sept. 2025: "London, where you have a terrible mayor... it’s been so changed. Now they want to go to sharia law"
Today: Let's heed what Saudi theocrats have to say on transgender rights
"Nobody knew health care could be so complicated" -- Donald Trump, February 2017
19.11.2025 14:59 — 👍 9 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0People are pissed about food prices. People are pissed about Trump. Affordability politics can be tricky and divisive, but there’s an obvious food affordability agenda that could unite the left and center behind good policy and good politics. A thread! 1
19.11.2025 14:02 — 👍 20 🔁 1 💬 2 📌 0NEW this AM: A new Marist poll has Democrats up 14 points on the generic congressional ballot ahead of the 2026 midterms.
19.11.2025 11:32 — 👍 22 🔁 8 💬 3 📌 3This opinion makes it very clear that Trump's Justice Department screwed up badly here. Texas could've just drawn a partisan gerrymander and gotten away with it. Instead, the Justice Department (unnecessarily) injected race into it, directing Texas to draw an unconstitutional *racial* gerrymander.
18.11.2025 18:52 — 👍 547 🔁 89 💬 11 📌 8It will be hilarious if the 2025-2026 gerrymandering cycle ends with only California getting a new map
18.11.2025 18:23 — 👍 22 🔁 2 💬 2 📌 0
For me and clearly many others, the SOB test is now the primary lens for judging Democratic candidates. Every election at every level, from now through 2028, is a referendum on an unbearable presidency. My latest, at The Big Picture.
thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p/democrats-...
“Trump’s Poll Numbers Just Entered the Danger Zone” — my latest for @washingtonmonthly.com
washingtonmonthly.com/2025/11/18/t...
We finally solved that pesky problem of too many college graduates getting jobs
17.11.2025 13:39 — 👍 1122 🔁 274 💬 83 📌 7
Trump's job approve/disapprove is 5 points underwater (44/49) in ARIZONA, per Emerson College Polling
emersoncollegepolling.com/arizona-2026...
"Doublewide Blues"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI_8...
"It Runs Together"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSgG...
I believe these clips are from Todd Snider's final performance:
Handsome John: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc17...
Near Truths and Hotel Rooms is a perfect album open.spotify.com/album/0Fwf3V...
15.11.2025 17:57 — 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Thank you as always!
15.11.2025 12:41 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Does everyone know this Jacob Bernstein lore? archive.seattletimes.com/archive/1999...
14.11.2025 20:49 — 👍 173 🔁 40 💬 6 📌 4
“Trump Could Deal With the Epstein Scandal by Addressing Health Care” — my latest for @washingtonmonthly.com washingtonmonthly.com/2025/11/14/t...
14.11.2025 12:31 — 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 2 📌 0Everyone is correcting the substance here so I'll skip ahead to note that the last year has been a good test of the theory that most people just want bigotry rather than housing (& etc.) and that theory turns out to be totally wrong for a large majority, including virtually all the swing voters.
14.11.2025 00:37 — 👍 196 🔁 62 💬 10 📌 1Also just generally, gerrymandering does involve risk, it is ultimately giving Ds to R districts to split the Ds up. But R gerrymanders over the year are getting close to some diminishing returns, I think. Might be OK in a normal midterm. In a wave, those Rs the computer gave you vote D.
13.11.2025 19:37 — 👍 2 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0Trump admitted the shutdown was hurting Republicans. That’s where the leverage came from.
11.11.2025 20:24 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
My thoughts on the Invertebrate Eight
washingtonmonthly.com/2025/11/10/d...
In Georgia’s statewide races on Tuesday, the two Democratic candidates won 8 counties where, in 2024, Kamala Harris had received UNDER 40%.
via: almanacofamericanpolitics.substack.com/p/democrats-...
