Recent posts by Online Political Thinkers on Bluesky

Allowing the least cool people in America to think they matter to real culture is one of the biggest reasons you can't trust the media. Bill Maher is pitching to like 8 people but the execs who make shows agree with him so he gets a show. Epstein Class shit.

the saddest words in the English language by far

So in Taiwan, the Guomindang aren't the only party in favor of reunification and/or conservatism - there's a bunch of non-KMT parties that are aligned with reunification or conservatism that aren't the KMT.

Great points here about how Democrats can change what voters think "immigration" means as an issue. Public opinion is never fixed; it depends on what is salient for people. www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-shutdo...

We look back on Scarface more fondly now but it still blows my mind that when it first released few critics focused on how gorgeous this movie looked and the fully lived-in world DePalma created in this fake version of Miami and instead they talked about Pacinos insane accent

Buckley is a perfect example of someone who is retconned as a good principled conservative but actually spent most of his life openly slobbering over foreign dictators and pining for a "protestant Franco" to rule the US. Jacob Heilbrunn wrote a book about it. newrepublic.com/article/1801...

George Wallace in 1962: "I started off talking about schools and highways and prisons and taxes and I couldn't make them listen. Then I began talking about n**rs and they stomped the floor." Donald Trump in 2023⬇️

I suspect that, after the last strikes, most believe whatever he does will be half-assed and quickly abandoned. Their concern was Trump embroiling us in an Iraq-style war that had political fallout. Now they don't think that, I suspect, and aren't so worried.

okay real talk the trajectory of Angelica has been real weird. she's ridiculously pan-blue now

Great discussion with @onekade.bsky.social about data privacy! You also get to see me podcasting from a train. incorruptible-mass.buzzsprout.com/606004/episo...

Maura Healey was excited to give this guy money.

Did ChatGPT write this talking point for you, Sam? Or do you just *organically* suck this bad?

Like how good are those basic ass Betty Crocker brownie mix brownies. So good. A whole pan of brownies with crispy edges would be my last meal choice I think

more than that, it's "average democratic socialist/social democrat attempts to shift politics in a better direction but is constrained by the reality of power"

when i think of Trotskyism i think of [looks at index cards] major fundraising events among NYC donors for elected campaigns

i will say it is extremely funny for a Trotskyist to do this though

the "AOCification of Zohran Mamdani" is a phrase that's going to live in my brain rent free

Screening LOST IN AMERICA on Criterion, and this is always an outstanding decision

she's a Trotskyist, not a tankie

Trying to outrun Crockett and Tubbs with 10 kilos of yayo

Bad news for the ̶p̶r̶i̶v̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶i̶s̶o̶n̶ immigration gulag industry

The purple area contains all of the highest volume posters, this could be an extinction-level event for non-New Yorkers hearing about the weather

The student section at Dudley Field:

"turning his back on taxing the rich" ?????

I think @minakimes.bsky.social was just talking about this? Online fandom is nothing but outrage posting and vitriol. And most of the posters don't even watch the shows/movies they're screaming about! If you watch the show you know Princess just won money!

It's still hilarious to me that the most powerful hard left politician in the country resigned from office to become a podcaster

If you're taking future force design seriously, ships?

Every one of these guys is stupid. Every one. We may look back with disdain on the culture of the 50s and 60s but at least those buzzcuts and long skirts got us to the fucking moon

A lesson in how RCTs can be gamed to get them to say what you want🥴

This dude hates that he can’t own slaves

I spent my first 30 years of life in Buffalo and Chicago, and I don’t even know how to interpret this. 6” to 7” of accumulation while the temp is above 32. What sort of sloppy mess is this going to be?

I don't follow figure skating, so I couldn't figure out why I started sobbing while watching Alysa Liu's gold medal-winning performance. Then it dawned on me: I was watching a young woman be free.

My aunties-in-law have gotten in days long screaming matches about this that ended with me learning new Hindi curse words and family members gifting rice cookers to each other out of spite

It also doesn’t help that writers like him consistently launder what people who aren’t white men have said—better and more incisively—into sanded down blog posts that make them money & a name to trade on. The business model they’re using is itself kind of fucked up.

The hardest thing about writing for Eater was figuring out 3 million different ways of saying something tasted good. Thesaurus dot com got a mfing workout lemme tell you

think it is maybe important to understand how badly AIPAC feels like they need a W right now and Jan Schakowsky’s seat has been a decades-long white whale

I set the silliest photo imaginable for my partner in the “find my friends” app so that on the rare occasion I’m concerned enough to check on their whereabouts I just bust out laughing the minute I see the picture.

One of my favorite style guide recs from the pre-Vox days of Eater was that anyone on Top Chef was to be referred to as a "Cheftestapant." Our editor thought Bravo calling them "Cheftestant" was already stupid, so the guidance felt sorta motivated by spite and I was all in on that.

got a buddy who brought single-source tangerines to a thing the other week and I’m kind of angry about how good they were

53 year old father of three who’d lived in the US for 30 years dies of pneumonia in Mexico shortly after he was apprehended and deported by ICE. www.kptv.com/2026/02/21/n...

So the only rationale here is that he's angry at the Supreme Court. No other basis in law whatsoever.

The world is full of scared mfs telling you everything is gonna be fine because they need it to be fine. This isn't about dooming, it's about being prepared. But you can't live life frightened. Drink beers, have fun, get to know your neighbors and build community. It's always been us vs the govt

Also, important to add, as Justin knows, companies ate the majority of the tariffs to prevent prices from shooting up. That adversely affected hiring. The question is do they lower their prices and resume hiring.

The problem is, it will take another year, and by that time the damage is done.

I am neither a fan nor a defender of Iran's regime, and would be happy to see it fall. But I honestly can't see what Trump's realistic objective is, in terms of military action at this time (especially in light of the limitations the absence of any congressional consultation or approval implies).

speaking on a personal level, as someone who is basically entirely indian on a heritage level but paler than usual (and has a non-standard eye color): i feel like people get *really* weird about people who don't fit into their categories (someone once thought i was italian????)

This administration whined to the SCOTUS that they should not have to pay out SNAP even though they were legally obligated to do so. They spent so much cash appealing a court case they knew they were gonna lose just for spite and to waste taxpayer money just to make life worse for poor Americans

This is so true and I swear people try to project more shit into that guys pudding brain than anyone else I've ever written on. This is why it isn't hard to predict moves by this administration. Just imagine everything is driven by revenge/spite and you can see the next play coming twenty miles away

This really sucks—but in the US w/our very expensive fees, at least 1 university I know of fucked students over by telling them there was definitely going to be in-person instruction & the DAY AFTER univ got students’ nonrefundable campus housing payments admin admitted classes were gonna be online.

I've already got two bottles of Gruet and some sparkling cider for the kids

It's spelled restaurateur, Newsweek

And in honor of free speech, I'm putting up a poster-sized display of the lyrics to 2 Live Crew's iconic hit, The Fuck Shop, right next to the Ten Commandments in my Social Studies class

Killed my first man in Arc Raiders last night after 80 plus hours of play. He had it coming.

Holy fucking ass, stay safe nyc homies

Buddy, my sense of morality and legal legitimacy is relatively fixed. So if those six hold views that are radically different than mine, I see them as radical. It’s a claim about absolute legitimacy, not comparative extremism. Also, they ARE comparatively radical vs 350,000,000.

I still get that tingly danger feeling whenever I hear an evangelical Christian say 'Next year in Jerusalem'

QTown is exactly the kind of place you're picturing

two toddlers on an isthmus engaging in parallel playa

it's maddening that his genuine answer to "what should we do to people who we worked closely with and trusted us" is "send them to a country close to afghanistan"

i wish Bluesky had some way of reinventing the softblock for when you don't want someone to follow you but you don't want to block

The plot to enslave America:

Working up the nerve to do a full undercut again. It’s not that I’m afraid of the undercut, but I’m afraid of fucking up the sides. Please show me your undercuts! Also happy to see inspo pics you used for your cuts.

"Among adults, high levels of exposure to mercury can cause heart disease as well as severe damage to the brain&central nervous system. Among fetuses and babies, it can cause significant developmental delays, leading to lower I.Q. scores and impaired motor skills." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/c...

in retrospect MAGA getting mad at one wasian and getting horny for another wasian should have been on the bingo card

Miami-Dade man who voted for Trump says ICE "kidnapped" his partner of 20 years, who is Cuban. 8 months detained, she hasn't seen a judge and could be deported to Cuba. "I didn't vote for this," he says. "I'm sorry. I didn't know this was going to happen." www.local10.com/news/local/2...

that being said: i would however support government owned laundromats in major cities

you're telling me that a latina from the bronx is catholic?

it is deeply funny watching a subset of this site realize AOC is a devout Catholic

Hypothesis: “Artificial vs authentic” is the defining attentional axis of 2026 - in marketing, in politics, in art, in social media — all of it. I am hopeful in which one will win, but tbd!

Reading about a Florida Republican politician from the 1970s who supported the presidential aspirations of a tough talking outsider populist, while also expressing his interest in unorthodox diets and medical treatments. Who needs the germ theory of disease? Oh, and also, and more importantly…

No one wants this except the hucksters pushing it

Every tea party must be a signal group now.

Hyper-presidentialism is not only something Supreme Court conservatives have inflicted on us, it has been the central project of Scalia school "originalism" since the 1980s. Congress *has* tried to claw back power w/ reforms, and SCOTUS has repeatedly struck those laws down or made them ineffectual.

Nobody learns anything from New Jersey

excellent but depressing

Periodic reminder that Trump has an economics degree from Penn. More and more data suggests an Ivy League business degree often means you went to failson finishing school instead of getting an actual education.

This is a ridiculous abuse of power.

I have yet to see any evidence that this is true. There are some retention bonuses and some performance-based bonuses, but as far as I can tell the idea of a per-head bounty is an urban legend, apparently circulating even among contract detention staff. I’m open to being wrong. Hope I’m not.

setting up a mini PC and while i'm not done yet my impression halfway through is that Claude Code makes this incredibly easier

These guys are really great at “passing the savings on to consumers,” though.

“They are going to set up JD Vance as a rival pope” watch is now at code orange (elevated)

On sports fandom, sports commenting, and my intimate understanding for the sport of curling in particular that I am watching people perform at a level miles beyond anything I could ever do myself when I say something critical. Hard not to feel silly sometimes.

Man, come on! www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/u...

hello to new followers: this is probably what you're going get

Absolutely no one is editing or fact checking over at the Butthole Where News Goes To Die

My mom and I often sing when I visit her on the dementia ward. Today we sang this song, one she used to sing to me when I was tiny. It’s pretty much the only one she remembers all the words to at this point. (Not showing her face, because she was looking ragged today and can’t consent.)

We’re not going to win with better messaging. What we need is better messaging!

Best thing about the JFK Jr. show is the 90s soundtrack

The problem with this framework is it assumes that the two are in tension. In reality, democracy is the only hope we have of achieving societies that provide material and physical security. Without the accountability of elections, leaders will rob the public blind.

It's good that they got at the right result, but the tariffs issue isn't really just a matter of statutory interpretation, nor major questions doctrine. This is a power Congress fundamentally cannot delegate to the president, no more than they could say the president will decide income tax rates.

who's got two thumbs and four Springsteen nosebleeds

i like the idea that you need experience under NOC to be a "moderate"-coded democrat

This week @jamellebouie.net had some questions for me about where the US is at now and why the term "concentration camp" might be a useful way to think about the crisis. (He interviewed me eight years ago for Slate on a similar topic. Let's hope we don't end up having the same discussion in 2034.)

Today in Konrad's insanity: Abgail Spanberger is a former neo-Marxist CIA officer? I guess the Jay Lovestone wing of the CIA returned.

This is great. The cowardice of so many Democrats on display, contrasted by a genuinely fearless one.