Dave Steele

Every US presidency has an iconic line that gains meaning over time:

-“Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

-“I did not have sexual relations with that woman”

I think this current one is gonna be:

-“I know what the hell I’m doing”

I saw a congressman from northern Wisconsin say he represents “rural America. Or as I think of it, ‘real America’”

This has become such a trope that we don’t even notice how messed up this is. So you’re telling me I’m not a real American because I’m from the city? WTF

In my co-working space there’s a group of youngish dudes who’ve been here for years, giving off serious tech bro energy. Super obnoxious.

What they actually *do* has been a mystery, until now. They have new hardware in their office space.

Sports betting.

OF COURSE it is. It totally tracks.

The were never “surviving” on a desert island.

The “bachelor” isn’t actually proposing and/or marrying the winning contestant.

And, DONALD TRUMP WAS NEVER A BUSINESS GENIUS.

Reality television is not real. The fact that millions of people think it is real is costing all of us dearly.

Fun fact for ya

80% of the road salt used in Wisconsin during the winter comes from 🇨🇦 Canada

So, people will be left with a choice.

Pay more taxes to get the same amount of road salt as before,

Or, slow the fuck down because the streets won’t be as well treated as they’ve been accustomed to

-a gradual but noticeable increase in the middle class, mass consumerism fed by big US brands, essentially selling a suburban American version of the good life. See: really nice McDonald’s restaurants

-luxury shopping malls all over the place, multistory, fully enclosed, underground parking with armed security checkpoints.

-The US embassy moved from a high profile location on a main thoroughfare into one of these luxury shopping and residential districts, walled off from the rest of the city

-perhaps as a result of traffic, residential and office towers are going up all over the place. People who can afford it are moving in droves to the city center.

-the nicest McDonalds restaurants you’ve ever seen. Whoever is in charge of McDs brand there has positioned it as a quasi-luxury brand.

I’ve gone to Guatemala City every few years over the past 15 years. Every time I go I see changes. Here’s a few:

-traffic is so horrendous that rich people commute by helicopter. You’re sitting on a patio enjoying lunch and there’s choppers fluttering overhead. Locals are used to it.

I’ll call out racism when I see it. And that includes among white progressives. Oh you have a Black Lives Matter sign in your yard? That’s cute. But when you marginalize Black voices, sideline Black leaders and stifle Black excellence I will see you and call it out.

Sounds like the older woman who may well have been a nun, whipping around my corner, blowing the stop sign, the holy rosary hung from her rear view mirror swinging from side to side from the sheer momentum of the maneuver

Colleague: “I see you like Star Wars.”

Me: *takes deep breath, rubs forehead*

Yes, I have several Star Trek models and action figures in my office. And several many at home

And no, these are not toys. They are collectibles

One of my Guatemalan relatives works for an NGO in Guatemala City, providing vital, and beloved, education services.

With the implosion of US foreign aid, she’s now pivoting to getting funds from the UK government.

The world, in many ways, will be fine. But the US will be diminished.

I had a great time back in my dad’s home country, Guatemala, spending quality time, and meeting with local leaders to talk transportation, public sector/NGO partnerships and more! And I explored Guatemala City on their very impressive bus rapid transit network. What a beautiful country.

Seems like when I leave the country these past few years, I think I’m gonna get a nice break from the craziness and then the first thing people want to ask about is Donald Trump.

And I always oblige. People in other countries should know what’s happening in the US from an American’s perspective

Really??!! You choose a picture of avocados to go with this article?

The top imports from Mexico to US are cars, auto parts and electronics.

But sure, let’s pander to stereotypes and give Americans the impression that trump’s tariffs will make tacos more expensive.

Do better.

This was in a room of 150 mostly conservative suburban business leaders. The MAGA people in the crowd didn’t like what he had to say, but he stuck to his guns.

Sanity still exists. We need people like this to speak up, loudly and publicly, and consistently.

2 months ago I saw a prominent business leader, moderate Republican, forcefully call for undocumented immigrants who’ve been here a long time to be legally welcomed into the fold. He cited the patriotism and bravery of his fellow soldiers in war, several of whom were undocumented. 👇🏻

"My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right"
-Lincoln

“I was saved by God to make America great again."
-Trump

He has figured out how to exploit our fractured and overwhelmed attention spans to win every engagement. He wins not on substance, but on how much he has dominated our attention in the moment.

No other current political leader comes to close to his ability to do this.

We need to update our thinking of how politics is performed in the trump era.

When (not if) SCOTUS strikes down the birthright citizenship order, in “normal” politics that would be interpreted as a huge “L” for the president.

But it’s actually a W by how he plays the game. It’s all about vibes

BlueSky needs a drafts function

I legitimately wonder: how many extreme weather days do school districts around here schedule in? And since snow is less common than it once was, are they more likely to call it due to cold since they have so many days to use up? I do remember school being closed in 1994 for -20 temps though

It’s officially a “take a screenshot and text it to my family members in Georgia and Guatemala” kind of day.

A lot of them are! But in my experience a lot of them are not.

Good to hear! Not sure if you’re in district 3 but this tracks with the crop of aldermanic candidates over there

I love this paragraph. I don’t know how many people I’ve talked to who are either running or are in local elected office, have a lot to say about big national issues but you ask them about transit, parks, streets, housing and you get blank stares. It’s a problem.

Honest question for any constitutional scholars out there. Why did the framers give the executive such broad pardoning power? I mean what was the rationale for having it in there? Right now it’s probably my least favorite part of the constitution.

Probably worth noting that Grover Cleveland’s second presidency was a disaster that destroyed his party and kept them out of power for 16 years.