Recent posts by Online Political Thinkers on Bluesky

i have book recommendations

remembering great tim pool moments from 3 years ago

We deleted the initial message because I didn't feel like dealing with the clowns from the left and right - Will Stancil was one - who said there was no way to know if the Minnesota thing could be political. Walz has said it was, and there is a list of others targeted.

Well past time for big city mayors to call for the arrest of anyone who claims to be law enforcement but wears a mask and/or won’t identify themselves

Well past time for big city mayors to call for the arrest of anyone who claims to be law enforcement but wears a mask / won’t identify themselves

He’s now tied with Fetterman for second most votes with Trump Shaheen: 70 Fetterman and Warner: 69 Hassan: 68 Slotkin: 65 Rosen: 61 Gallego: 60 docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

*withdrew the report, but stayed DHS until 2013

the malheur occupation should not have had any survivors

Yeah. This is something clearly planned long in advance.

Do you hear the people sing?

Doing the bidding of corrupt mega donors and saying it’s for the youths

“The time for assessing this administration is over — now is the moment to raise our voices and be heard. Not just to protest this parade, but to affirm something deeper: that power belongs to the people… .” 💥 @ezralevin.bsky.social Have out there. Enjoy in community … in peace … w joy. #NoKings

Bracing for today to spiral into an even bigger shit show

www.axios.com/2025/06/14/s...

This means they likely have bodyworn camera footage of the gunman from the responding officers

It's 9:00 a.m. and I'm feeling completely burned out. Hopefully I can make it down to the city hall today but I need to lie back down. Here's a woodpecker I met yesterday. 🪶

they need to come up with a new derogatory term for politicians like this like copperhead during the ACW

Seems pretty clear which side @nytimes.com editors and headline writers are for.

Re: violence against lawmakers Good reaction: 2017 shooting that hospitalized Rep. Steve Scalise. Quickly, unequivocally condemned by members of both parties. Bad reaction : 2022 home invasion that hospitalized Rep. Nancy Pelosi's husband. Mocking, cheering, and conspiracy theories from the right.

In the 1970s there was a Christian Nationalist org in Oregon called the Posse Comitatus whose members impersonated police officers. They menaced judges and other public officials who they thought had committed "treason" against the Constitution. A close associate became chair of the OR GOP in 1978.

Elon Musk thinks it's hilarious that your girlfriend got sick and can't make the school dance, something that would never happen to his extremely real Canadian girlfriend from summer camp

Which centrist columnists will publish the first “both sides need to tone down the rhetoric or more Democratic leaders will be shot” opinion piece?

It’s not just that they normalize political violence. They also accuse the left of engaging in mostly imaginary violence, which gives unhinged right-wingers justification to “retaliate.”

LAWMAKER ASSASSINATED AT HOME - 2 couples shot at their homes in Minnesota - Killed: State Rep. Melissa Hortman (D) and husband - Injured: State Sen. John Hoffman (D) and wife - Suspect at large, dressed as a cop - Manifesto found inside fake police car - No word yet on a motive

also, not just "cities" - #NoKings rallies and protests are being held in small towns and communities across the country the NYT's reporters should look at the map www.nokings.org#map

Normal politics are over. The ones who don’t want you dead “just” want you in a prison cell.

this week's writing: everything is horrible, but also there are cats. www.everythingishorrible.net/p/this-weeks...

Fine, jump to conclusions. You'll probably have a better time doing that than getting mad at me for saying go by available evidence and that more info will emerge quickly. And I'll have a better time doing something else.

Get out today if you can! I’m here at the first of two events in Falls Church, VA today, and it’s so heartening. There are TONS of people lining the streets of our little town, block after block. Shouting to drivers honking massively in support. It’s happening everywhere. Join in if you can!

Rest in Peace, Representative Melissa Hortman

The free fair transit stuff becoming an idiot litmus test because some non-profit types decided it should be is the actual way in which Omnicause shit is harmful: technical policy minutiae becomes this Grand Ideological Division.

dudes (and turn of the millennium toyotas) rock

Bernie Sanders had to apologize for a random person on Twitter with 32 followers being an asshole. It became a nationwide story An individual pretends to be a cop and murders sitting Dems and not a single law enforcement agent nor right wing elected will be questioned if they're at fault. They are.

Is it odd they went to this guy's house proactively? Does he live close to the other victims? Also we sure the shooter isn't just a cop and not someone pretending to be a cop

Is Trump speaking at his fascist birthday party today? I worry he's going to celebrate these shootings.

Someone shooting lawmakers is often political, but not always. Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot in AZ by a man with schizophrenia who thought she'd snubbed him personally. MN shooting appears political, but exactly what motive still unclear. Nothing lost by waiting for evidence. We'll know more soon.

Virginia- surely you can do better than this Fetterman in a suit ↘️

key points about #NoKings from @leahgreenberg.bsky.social, feel even more important: A single mobilization won’t turn this ship around. But it can do a few very important things: Change the narrative Bring in new people Foster community Spread courage indivisibleteam.medium.com/the-strategi...

What happened in Minnesota is a direct consequence of the violent way that Trump talks about his political opponents.

front page of CNN

Minnesota police telling everyone to beware of individuals who look like police is certainly a statement. Today is a good day to spend with your loved ones or new friends.

Ever think about how in 2025 a Republican president took federal programs focused on domestic terrorism and unstaffed them, laid their workers off entirely, or refocused them on “antifa” and defacing Teslas?

people don't get that X is the modern far-right portal because they want to keep using it

Seems very bad but it's time to put up the bat signal

the first problem here is (1) that's an X claim and (2) the chances of someone on the far-left shooting Democrats is miniscule

Limited to communities with an average yearly family income of $30K-75K.

there should be an edit button that puts a strikethrough on the original text so it's obvious what was changed

Horrific things happening

An horrific and shocking act of political violence. Our hearts are with Rep. Hortman’s family and loved ones. Every elected in the country must denounce this evil act

Fox comments appear to be blaming the Democrats for being shot www.foxnews.com/us/minnesota...

It's so fucked how much employers have completed escaped any guilt. They exploit our labor, they funded Trump's campaign, they fund the associations that promote his ideology, and they can still get a meeting with any elected in any blue state in the country. #NOKings

While you're getting ready to hit the #NoKings protest, toss this video on that shows how celebrity gossip swung the 2024 election to the right. It's still happening. Candace Owens uses Blake Lively hate to radicalize young people. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyMl...

How did he get that “police vehicle”? Seems like an important question?

BREAKING: Gunman who shot 2 Minnesota lawmakers was dressed like a police officer and driving a fake police car, commissioner says. A manifesto with a list of names was found inside the car. The suspect fled the scene and is still at large.

What does this even mean

I don’t understand how he had a police vehicle if he was just “posing” as a cop.

according to law enforcement speaker at the presser, they have the shooter's vehicle. they know it's politically motivated because the shooter had a "manifesto" with a list of elected officials - the two who were shot, Melissa Hortman and John Hoffman - were on that list, along with others

Is anyone going to ask Mike Johnson if he still thinks Gavin Newsom should be tarred and feathered?

Sure reads like a planned assassination to give Republicans control of the Legislature The Minnesota House was tied 67-67 until Hortman (D) was murdered The Minnesota Senate is tied 34-34, unless Hoffman (D) dies

Apparently assassinated by people impersonating police officers. Even more alarming, given recent events.

you ever think about how in 2009 DHS released a report about the growing threat of violent domestic terrorism from the right and then Republicans got so mad about it the DHS secretary resigned?

BREAKING: Minnesota Senator John Hoffman and his wife were shot multiple times, but both are expected to survive, governor says

Missing from Trump’s Truth Social account so far today: A single word about the dual shootings of Minnesota Democratic legislators. Same goes for the official DHS and Noem accounts

This is horrific. Awaiting further details.

*very “relentlessly on message Kraft surrogate unaware that the Pride Parade is happening today” voice* The traffic standstill on Dartmouth and Tremont is a result of the bike lanes.

Just so horrified right now. Politics in this country are broken.

Goddamn it, this f––ing sucks. Condolences to their families and loved ones. Hope the assassin is brought to justice stat.

BREAKING: Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman (D) and her husband killed in shooting, Governor Walz says

omg. omfg Governor Walz just told us that MN speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed "an active of targeted political violence" Senator hoffman and his wife will recover

Congratulations to the U.S. Army on its 250th birthday. It's a shame that this day is being marred by using soldiers to indulge the narcissism of a would-be king, instead of honoring the democratic values so many have served and fought and sacrificed for. They resisted tyrants - so should we.

Hortman and her husband are dead, says Walz.

Congratulations to the U.S. Army on its 250th birthday. It's a shame that this day is being marred by using soldiers to indulge the narcissism of a would-be king, instead honoring of the democratic values so many have served and fought and sacrificed for. They resisted tyrants - so should we.

Target one Senator it could be anything. But there is little reason to target two Democrats in Minnesota but to tip the 34-33 Senate majority the other way.

Whatever decision you made today, it’s probably not as bad as that of people who thought they could successfully drive on Dartmouth St the day of the Pride Parade.

Congratulations to the U.S. Army of its 250th birthday. It's a shame that this moment is being marred by using soldiers to indulge the narcissism of a would-be king, instead of the democratic values so many have served and fought and sacrificed for. They resisted tyrants - so should we.

I usually think Mark Warner is just corrupt but maybe he's simply a dumb guy.

Ah, I forgot: never post! [bunch of blocks to block before o mute the thread]

18-year-old coders at DOGE didn't know what Farsi is, so 🤷‍♂️

A man "impersonating a police officer" does not rule out an actual law enforcement officer. Whenever an Afghan soldier or police officer went rogue, killing Americans in an insider attack, it was described as "a man dressed as an Afghan soldier" or a "man in an Afghan security uniform."

he’s not wrong but this message is for Americans and we are simple folk with simple passions, one of which is searing lower-case-r republicanism

At @markwarner.bsky.social’s town hall. A questioner asked what the DNC is doing to attract younger voters. He answered by pointing to … his support for pro-crypto legislation, specifically the GENIUS Act.

Mountainhead: a promising first draft

Whenever an Afghan soldier or police officer went rogue, killing Americans in an insider attack, the press described it as "a man dressed as an Afghan soldier" or a "man in an Afghan security uniform." So a man "impersonating a police officer" does not rule out an actual law enforcement officer.

So what you're telling me is I should probably head to LA now or I won't get parking?

The king across the ice.

the logical extension of castle doctrine is that every firearm makes a person into a little tyrant over a little fiefdom of their home and vehicle and, if there's open carry or even if there isn't, everywhere they are in person, armed microstates in a state of anarchy, little kings ready to go off.

It's still quite early, but the Atlanta Fed's GDPNow gauge is currently predicting a strong rebound of +3.8% GDP growth in Q2 following Q1's contraction of -0.3%. That's much higher than consenses expectations of +1.0%.

If these lawmakers do not survive or are otherwise unable to vote, then the shooting has just flipped the Minnesota House to Republicans. It had been even. The Minnesota Senate will now be deadlocked. Democrats had a one-vote advantage. While we don't know the motive, this must be considered.

Here's your morning awwww before everything starts moving fast today 🪶 🐣

American Years of Lead

to be clear I got a five second blaring flash flood warning from my phone last night, this is potentially more than a sprinkling and I think some of the safety concerns are legitimate

I like the new papal headgear.

Look downthread for updates (from me and others replying)

he's probably going to tell them to hold it even if there's lightning and this could potentially turn into a disaster

Trump says a rainy day “perade” is good luck

My kids have decided to give our dog a gift on Father's Day because he is, and I quote, "daddy's best friend."

Happy No Kings Day, Don

“DFL” is the Democrats in Minnesota for those unfamiliar with the terminology

they got the guns but we got the numbers