Greg Etling

He returns

honestly this just makes me nostalgic for the obama years, I kinda miss everyone constantly losing their minds over the stupidest bullshit imaginable rather than committing 47 front pages worth of crimes on a daily basis

and then what, bryan

The Downballot Discord rule 9, undefeated. Want to discuss polls with a community of nerds vigilant against misinformation? Subscribe today! www.the-downballot.com/subscribe

Hey Gemini what is my kid's name and what does she look like, I'm at her school play and I can't figure out which one it is

Also why the right didn’t heavily pursue the Cornell case despite its crusade against higher ed.

The elections are on next Tuesday, and so much is at stake, including the soul of the Democratic Party when it comes to transgender people. I am asking you to leave a very small number of races blank in which a Democrat has embraced extreme anti-trans hate. I make my case here.

This is eminently reasonable, extremely well-argued, and essential reading. Erin is correct about all of this, and it is doubly urgent given what we've seen in the UK. 2026 is the time to correct the Dems about this. 2028 may be too late.

As well telling a candidate you will not vote unless they grow a spine is extremely useful rhetorically, because its one of the only ways you can assert your needs towards a candidate. It is good actually to criticize politicians for their wrongs especially if they are being bigoted.

Elon Musk has spent more money on American elections in the last two years than George Soros has in his entire life.

This is why @aoc.bsky.social , @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social, @abdulelsayed.bsky.social and others like them are not just the future of the party, they are its only hope because they understand how to navigate the media environment to both get their message across and inspire people.

I don't know that there is a template or a "secret sauce" or a clear-cut lesson to take from this. But if there is one it's the idea of treating social media as the hostile territory that it is, of actually acting like you are a participant in propaganda warfare and not like a consumer.

I’m not a political journalist, so was gladly surprised at the community I found here last night. To Americans anxious about the upcoming elections, a key thing we learned in Brazil that might help you: DO NOT engage with the far-right online. Don’t share rage bait. Amplify your people. Ignore them.

Another data point for ”leave X, you’re not actually helping by being there”

Not sure I’m the target demographic for this particular line of questioning tbh

I just want to name that people overcame this. Even against a stacked deck, the good fight is worth it. Win or lose, it's worth it. And sometimes the good guys win.

lula

It's really important to pay attention to the fact that Lula beat the fascist candidate not by compromising and trying to meet fascist voters in the middle, but by sticking to his guns, promising prosecutions for election interference, and mobilising his own voters to turn out in greater numbers.

interestingly this interest in black voters doesn’t extend to the republican effort to deprive them of federal representation, nor do they seem interested in asking whether republican candidates are burdened by the fact that trump talks like a klansman

There are some people who claim "oh, Dems in blue states will never shift towards enacting anti-trans policy" Meanwhile Colorado is literally enacting a medical detransition protocol for trans youth on medicaid.

Roberts *explicitly* stated that POTUS has immunity even for directing a “sham” prosecution or one with an improper purpose or motivation. He can also promise to pardon anyone who follows his orders. As AG says, what’s the downside, for anyone?

The thing about this is that Trump's 2024 victory was always built on irreconcilable messages that were going to collapse once he actually had to govern. Deport everyone, but also deport only the "criminals"; no more wars, but also more belligerent, more isolationist, but also more pro-Israel.

Brazil going the way of South Korea. Basically around the world women are desperately trying to keep power out of the hands of incredibly stupid fascistic grifters while men keep trying to hand it over. Men are an embarrassing cringe gender.

Aiming to spend 60 years in Purgatory tops.

we're the Oregon Trail generation, dammit. if you pull this goonie shit on me I will give you dysentery

If you told me this was literally a Dril tweet I would completely believe you.

THE PERKINI REPORT: THE 2028 REALITY CRISIS What if the most obvious financial bubble in all of history turns out to be.... a bubble... and what if that is just really.... bearish? there were signs, there are always signs 🤣 free link: hub.tslombard.com/the-perkini-...

One of the most important things we need, as a society in the US, is to restore some semblance of executive & policing accountability for wrongdoing.

these people are shameless!

JUST POSTED: Today at The NYT we are publishing a major investigation into how President Trump used his executive powers to expose millions of Americans to greater cancer risks. A six month-long investigation built on more than 10,000 pages of FOIA records. Read it www.nytimes.com/2026/10/24/c...

There is hope for some of the newer voices in the Democratic Party like AOC and AES because they realize you have to actually stand for something to build a movement and draw people toward you. The old guard must all be overthrown. Their laziness and cowardliness can never defeat fascism.

Democrats don't want to have these public debates though because they hate their base and don't want to hear from you. This is why they don't post much on Bluesky. This is also why Klein, Yglesias, Smith, etc. are too afraid to post here also. They know that they would lose.

The other reason why popularism is the Democratic Way is that most American left elites are actually libertarians or moderate conservatives. They don't want large welfare spending, restrictions on police misconduct, high taxes on corporate robber barons, or free healthcare and college....

So why does this failed, illogical, and immoral viewpoint continue to rule the Democratic elite class? Because popularism is easy. Its main dictate is to do nothing. And because of the plurality wins format of American elections, you can win them even if you don't campaign at all.

Popularism has been a total failure. It does not work. Since it became the unquestioned gospel creed of Democratic elites in the latter half of Obama II, they have only had victories after titanic Republican screwups. They were not earned by Democrats. They were cries for help from the public.

As many have posted, this view is morally monstrous. But it also is incredibly stupid because it misunderstands several things: what polls show, how we can interpret them, what politics is for, and how political change works. In other words, this standpoint is astonishingly stupid.

Palmer Luckey? That kid who got his balls caught in a vacuum cleaner?

press 4 to pay respects

Enormous news. A melanoma vaccine, one of the most deadly cancers out there. Science is good and helpful and there should be more of it. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...