Steve Sawyer
@stevesawyer12.bsky.social
Recovering data analyst. Husband to the LOML, proud Dad to a union machinist, a union road maintenance worker, and a pit bull. “The old order is not coming back” – Canadian PM Mark Carney
The Fuel That Feeds Europe’s Far Right: Nostalgia and Lost Pride. Finally front page news @tepizep.bsky.social
The Fuel That Feeds Europe’s Far Right: Nostalgia and Lost Pride (Gift Article)
The populist emphasis on national identity and threats to it, real and imagined, finds a deep response in voters adrift in a world they no longer understand.
nytimes.com
A tremendous ruling from the 9th Circuit on one of the most cruel and inhumane Trump rules. "Noncitizens who arrive illegally and are found away from the border well after arrival are protected from arbitrary detention in violation of the Due Process Clause." 1/3 cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov
The most potent force in American politics is anti-establishment fury at a system seen as rigged against average working people. AI has become Exhibit A. Will Democrats seize the moment and embrace the new AI-fueled economic populism? Or will they continue to succumb to the siren song of Big Money?
The Rise of AI Populism
Are we on the cusp of a political realignment against corporate power?
robertreich.substack.com
“Well, right after the weekend update was sent out yesterday morning, reports started coming in of a mass Ukrainian attack on Moscow.” phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/the-ukrain...
The Ukrainians Bomb Moscow With Intent
What Is Important About This Operation
phillipspobrien.substack.com
Someone didn’t think through this water reflection effect…
Five corporations control 90% of the US media. Airlines have merged from 12 major carriers in 1980 to 4 today. A handful of companies control the pharmaceutical industry. Four giants control 80% of meat processing. The evidence of corporate concentration is everywhere.
It’s hard to rebuild your life after you’ve been incarcerated. Senate Bill 603 makes it easier by ensuring the incarcerated receive a valid ID before they’re released. A current ID is critical to getting a job, housing and more. Urge your state senator to approve this bill. #Indivisible.org #VAAC
I want to pass along something I picked up from @gelliottmorris.com last week re polls that indicate a change in “generic ballot” polling.
I just had a vision of the Trumpful Arch as a Transformer.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2d agoBeyond parody: "At the strong request of the Military, and for National Security purposes, I have agreed to convert the magnificent Triumphal Arch, into a top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch, to house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers..."
An important and VERY interesting point @pkrugman.bsky.social makes in today’s post (I’m not including a link as this is behind a paywall)
Between her analysis of DJT’s obsession with AI and her *litany* of examples showing how the American Fascist Movement™ is unraveling, don’t miss Heather’s livestream from Thursday!
Today in Politics | Explainer
YouTube video by Heather Cox Richardson
youtu.be
“WE HAVE TO SHOVE ACCOUNTABILITY DOWN THEIR F***ING THROATS.” 🔥🔥 Katie Phang delivers a fiery sign-off on today’s episode of Sidebar with Katie Phang: “I don’t want any of you to ever think that we can’t get through this. But I want us to thrive, not just survive.”
People should be counted in the district they live in. SB 537 would count incarcerated people at their prison address, not their home address, allowing redistricting to weaken their community. Urge your Michigan senator to vote NO on this unfair bill. #Indivisible.org #VAAC
Wanna see an asshole apologist for Russia get his ass handed to him by someone who has the receipts? Check this 👇 convo.
Pacha's Perfect OK Gesture
Alt: Pacha's Perfect OK Gesture
static.klipy.com
Eliot Higgins@eliothiggins.bsky.social · 3d agoSpecify which investigators you're referring to, or those you believe have the credibility to present the information you require to believe Russia's culpability for the death in Bucha.
The Kennedy Center was financially stable until Trump took over: "In the fiscal year ending in 2024, when the center was led by President Deborah Rutter and a bipartisan board of trustees, it brought in about $40 million more than it spent" www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
What the Kennedy Center’s Tax Return Reveals
A previously unseen filing captures the state of the institution seven months after Donald Trump’s takeover.
theatlantic.com
If radiation had escaped containment at two different nuclear power plants, you can bet bank that the Congress and the President would be rushing to better regulate the industry. Why is AI any different when their agents escape containment? 
Anthropic employees: NEXT-GEN AI COULD WIPE OUT HUMANITY WITH A SUPERVIRUS! Normies: that seems like a big leap. How would this AI disseminate such a virus in the real world? Anthropic employees: oh, through the wet labs we built and hooked it up to, of course. Normies: …😬😤
Thomas Wood@advanced-eschatonics.com · 4d agocool
Axelrod: "The thing is just how devastating the war and the tariffs have been for these states through the heartland. So, Iowa—he won the state by 13 points; he’s now 10 points underwater in Iowa. And he has problems akin to that in Nebraska, in Kansas." youtu.be/Afpz_eXuRJE?...
David Axelrod on How the War and Tariffs Have Hurt Republicans
YouTube video by Conversations with Bill Kristol
youtu.be
If you’re following this shit, this is an informative conversation. But it brings home once again how the resistance to this regime has been very grass-roots; that in general, major institutions have really failed America. I hope the stain on their reputations never disappears.
Bill Kristol@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 3d agoNathaniel Zelinsky, lead counsel challenging Trump on the Kennedy Center, on the president’s demolition threats, the judge putting new limits on what the administration can do, and how this fight over one building is a bigger test of the rule of law. youtu.be/XQokQCuYXss?...
A measure of the cluelessness of the RWNJ party is an anti-El-Sayed ad they’re running. It has some out-of-context clips that actually shows him to be a) thoughtful and reasonable, but also b) a possibly transformative candidate.
It is incumbent upon on Dem digital fundraisers to show us data that echoing GOP assertions that our candidate is struggling and the race is “tightening” helps us win. It may help us raise money but does it help us win?
Simon Rosenberg@simonwdc.bsky.social · 6d agoI know folks need to raise money but Democratic fundraising appeals should not be using these clearly right-aligned polls in their fundraising appeals. It gives the polls legitimacy, and can make our candidates look weak rather than strong - which is the whole intent of this GOP op.
I am no longer afraid of Trump or the GOP stealing elections. In fact, I want them to try. I want them to sent ICE jackboots to the polling stations to stop us. And then I want them to see what fucking happens with this powder keg of polity explodes in their face! AmeriMaidan!
Here's what I think: I think those protests around the Kennedy Center should grow to consume DC. And we should have non-stop protests until this administration is impeached by Congress. A boy can dream ....
Was it Chomsky that said the GOP is biggest terrorist organization in the world? I used to think that was insane leftist stuff. The past three days alone now force me to concede the point.
“And Democrats, once in power…will have to point to some new way forward for the country, if not necessarily rapid and dramatic improvement, or the same anger and pessimism will again turn on them.”
Yep, the Anti-Trump Wave Is Building
Conventional wisdom holds that a midterm election only fully comes into focus...
talkingpointsmemo.com
WAPO is reporting that at least four more service members have died in the war in Iran than DOD is publicly acknowledging. CNN is reporting that the US almost seized a Chinese vessel because AI incorrectly identified it as containing Iranian nuclear material. Clown show.
This is the type of AI disaster scenario that I ACTUALLY worry about. (1) AI industry oversells the capabilities of its products to score fat government contracts. (2) govt puts the AI in charge of critical shit. (3) AI fucks up, because it has a nonzero error rate. (4) shit, now we’re at war.
Kieran Healy@kjhealy.co · 4d agoThat’s a load-bearing assumption, Dr Strangelove. www.cnn.com/2026/09/18/p...
