Joel Lesko

"Anyone who eats at the Cheesecake Factory knows that the decor is wacky. That’s part of the appeal...The restaurant’s decor is intentionally over the top." Calling Democrats elitist is the surest marker of elitism @paulwaldman.bsky.social gets it right. Good read: substack.com/inbox/post/2...

This week’s installment of my Stop the Presses newsletter recalls the Republicans’ history of cheating in elections. They’ve often gotten away with it. Let’s make sure cheaters don’t prosper this time.

The Republican Party has left the door open white nationalists, antisemites, and Nazi sympathizers to walk on in. Some are now running for office as Republicans - and could win.

The far-right gets the @lastweektonight.com treatment www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnsB...

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.

"The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous." - George Orwell This is good analysis, but it isn't an exact quote - it's paraphrasing Orwell’s 1984.

Did the Heritage Foundation use Bukele's police state takeover as model for Project 2025 - it proposed authoritarian moves similar to what Bukele did- turn civil service to political appointments; take over dept justice; deploy military domestically; target media www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

A solitary oak sheds its leaves. The seasons show us the beauty of the cycle of life

This supercut is likely to make Trump VERY upset. The difference between Trump and Obama is on full display, and the contrast is absolutely devastating. Watch until the end...

asked Subway Takes viral star Debbie Shields (aka Conan's "ex-wife") if she's getting recognied on the street. “Oh my goodness. They’re yelling, they’re running, they’re walking up taking pictures." www.youtube.com/watch?v=er88...

President Obama gets Detroit fired up. Let's go. @barackobama.bsky.social @abdulelsayed.bsky.social #VoteBlue

“How much time do you think this defense secretary spends looking in the mirror in the morning? These are not serious people” — Obama’s audience in Ohio is hanging on every word as he skewers Trump and Hegseth

www.youtube.com/shorts/g4KnD...

It's the #Corruption, stupid. #VoteBlue #Democrats #VoteDems #BlueWave youtu.be/_4aj3EbuXBU

New — I wrote about Vivek Ramaswamy’s weaponization of Amy Acton’s childhood sexual abuse and how it’s only the latest symptom of a Republican party flush with rape apologists, led by an adjudicated rapist:

Omg...this is horrific. “So Much Worse Than People Realize”: Never-Before-Seen Images Reveal Damage at U.S. Bases as Troops Describe Being Abandoned open.substack.com/pub/meidasto...

Exc response to Nieman's book, Call it Evil. Neiman asks "why aren't we marching” but has she not seen the #NoKings rallies? The moral response she questions is happening all across the country. She blames the woke crowd for ditching morality for tribalism for Trump 2 newrepublic.com/article/2163...

This is one of the most holy sh*t stories I’ve ever read in my life. www.vanityfair.com/story/jared-...

"Honestly, if we end up with two hundred and twenty-five seats on the White Council, I would be disappointed. I would rather Sauron keep control of Middle-earth by five seats than have the Fellowship win by five, because then we’d be hostage to the Ents." buff.ly/9WluK1y

Important and timely article. As someone who's getting barraged with texts from PACs and campaigns, I can say they turn me off. I do donate, but directly to candidate, and even then... what happens to the money? Esp when "Political ads have essentially zero persuasive effect in general elections."

youtu.be/vdQj5iv4oGU?...

El Niño will lead to a lot of finger pointing and blame. Your beloved Exxon family just wants to make sure you blame the right people.

NY Times today: ICE said its agents didn't hit a cyclist in California with a car before detaining him. Video tells a different story. #BrokenTimes couldn't say ICE is lying. "Tells a different story" reveals yet again how the Times softens its reporting, enabling the criminal acts of the Admin.

Senator Jon Ossoff says, "Corruption is why things don’t work for the American people.” And he's right. Here's my short video that ties corruption to high costs. #TrumpCorruption #VoteBlue #VoteDems www.cultureofbelonging.net/corruption-i...

The Trump-MAGA freakout over Senator Elissa Slotkin's call for real oversight of Trump is complete horseshit, and every Democrat and journalist should be loudly saying so. This is how MAGA baits MSM into elevating propaganda into "controversy." New from me: newrepublic.com/article/2168...

“Raises questions”?? In this Kavanaugh Stop, ICE agents swerve to hit a US citizen, knock him off his bike breaking his arm, tase him, cuff him as he screams in pain, blame him, lie about everything, threaten to charge him for damage to their SUV. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/u...

Just a little video update on “Tommy,” the guy from the viral @abdulelsayed.bsky.social video, featuring major new reporting from @jasonaw.bsky.social for @theguardian.com:

The grifting is off the charts.

Leaked audio: Michigan Republican Mike Rogers asking for officers at polling stations to intimidate voters "We called the RNC early and said hey... Let's put police officers, retired or off-duty police officers as our poll watchers in Detroit because go ahead, try to intimidate them. Please."

I’m no medical professional, but even I know Trump is mentally unfit. Other journalists know it too, but they shy away from the issue. In this installment of my Stop the Presses newsletter, I assess Trump based on a psychiatry group’s 14 warning signs. The takeaway: He needs help, not power.

We’re back with our second story about how Trump’s purge of the FBI killed a sweeping bribery probe in D.C. This time, we take you to South Carolina, where two powerful politicians escaped scrutiny: Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. James Clyburn. THREAD 👇

Sometimes I wish Kate was working for us #TheDiplomat No spoilers. Season 4 was fannnnnnntastic.

I made this 2-min video to highlight @ossoff.senate.gov who says, "Corruption is why things don’t work for the American people.” #VoteEarly #VoteBlue #NoKings youtu.be/_4aj3EbuXBU

If you don't think that Trump is expecting a major quid pro quo from Russia in thanks for his open betrayal of the US, our national security and our allies, think again. And it has nothing to do with peace with Ukraine. Almost certainly it is about two things: election interference and $$$$.

J.D. Vance is the most soulless, slanderizing, racist asshole to ever hold high office in the United States. Except, of course, for the president he serves. And by not employing more profanity and maledicta here, I am short-selling him. So to the extent my rhetoric has been imperfect, that's on me.

We have an affordability crisis because we have a corruption crisis. I made a video for #VoteBlue #Corruption #VoteDems youtu.be/_4aj3EbuXBU

The #fascists have not stopped. We must continue all efforts to resist and help our neighbors. Thank you for continuing to keep this in awareness.

Step by step, day by day, Americans experience the big platforms becoming Orwellian political censors. The US needs a federal government that will tax them and break them up; the democratic world needs to learn the lesson and protect itself.

#NoKings #AshlandOregon More photos of the more than 600 people lining the street with great signs.

I don't know how CBS News can claim it's a nonpartisan news outlet when a prominent CBS correspondent like Jan Crawford goes after Abdul El-Sayed in such a ridiculous manner. Of course, Crawford attended the CBS owners' dinner in honor of Trump, so her MAGA leanings were already well established.

SCOOP: 'Tommy' from the now-viral exchange with Abdul El-Sayed is Thomas Teepell, a former staffer for Republican Senator Josh Hawley with close ties to Christian Nationalist Sean Feucht. He's the son of a former Bobby Jindal staffer whose consultant work was instrumental in getting Hawley elected.

This is Tommy. Tommy had a question about my allegiances. Listen to the end to hear about his.

USA Vote: URGENT Registration ends: 19th - AL, DE, SD, WY, PA, CA 23rd - ID, UT, VA,TX 24th - MS, TN, NY 26th - IN, HI 27th - MA 31st - MI Request email ballot. Complete it. Send it. DO IT TODAY Vote early Help/Info: www.votefromabroad.org Pls copy/paste & remind other Americans Vote! Vote! Vote!

Ossoff: "The crisis we must meet is deeper than this presidency. Trump's rise is proof that business as usual has failed, that our politics, sickened by corruption, is failing the American public and compromising our national integrity. And that the hour is late to fix what's broken."

It’s taking a long time for people to wake up to the fact that these platforms are not public forums but privately owned companies with terrible agendas and total control. If you lay down with these dogs…