Meiselas: When I hear all of these right-wing people attacking Senator Ossoff for bringing up objective facts about Natalie Harp traveling with Trump hiding in catering containers and they’re like “oh my god, that’s so mean” Dude shut up, you’re supporting someone who is a sexual predator.

Relatedly, Harris was +6 with people who consume news People who say they do not consume news were +20 Trump The online ecosystem is dominated by the right. Have to figure out how to reach more of the no news people bsky.app/profile/dark...

Lord Guardian of Gastown@darkdementus.bsky.social · last yr.

Re the disconnect between policy and political views, people increasingly get their info from tiktok, the Joe Rogans of the world, etc. And this ecosystem is dominated by right leaning voices This is one of our biggest challenges and I haven't really come across good ideas/solutions

Anything you didn't like about the pandemic should be blamed on the people not in charge, not those who mismanaged it 2023-24 US had the worst economic immiseration anyone had ever experienced, or could Russia attacking Ukraine in 2022 and Hamas attacking Israel in 2023 was Joe Biden starting wars

Mindboggling to me how millions of Americans decided 2020 doesn't count.

Reconstructionist@unavaleable.bsky.social · 21h ago

The median American voter, voted for it be 2019 again and for Trump to make them rich, under the very mistaken belief that Worse Things Aren't Possible, and quite literally everyone is paying for it

Three forces colliding: 1) Some mystical "They" makes everything work and will keep doing so. Government doesn't matter, voting is just aesthetics. 2) If rich, must be smart and good at everything. 3) Deep human psychological resistance to "I was badly wrong, and people I don't like had a point."

Sky Marchini@sky.skymarchini.net · 20h ago

It’s so bizarre when you encounter this in the wild with Normies too, like, they’ll genuinely truly believe that Trump could not have materially made their lives worse, and so they don’t understand, like genuinely are incapable of understanding, what is currently happening 

It’s so bizarre when you encounter this in the wild with Normies too, like, they’ll genuinely truly believe that Trump could not have materially made their lives worse, and so they don’t understand, like genuinely are incapable of understanding, what is currently happening 

Reconstructionist@unavaleable.bsky.social · 21h ago

The median American voter, voted for it be 2019 again and for Trump to make them rich, under the very mistaken belief that Worse Things Aren't Possible, and quite literally everyone is paying for it

The median American voter, voted for it be 2019 again and for Trump to make them rich, under the very mistaken belief that Worse Things Aren't Possible, and quite literally everyone is paying for it

GOLIKEHELLMACHINE@golikehellmachine.com · 2d ago

even if you somehow *could* get american voters behind a trade war against canada in isolation (and i don't think you could), trump's got 150 other trade wars and a real, live shooting war in iran going on that no one supports, there's just no political will for this beyond his own

A Mussolini fangirl wrote a letter that sounds as cultishly devotional as Natalie Harp's letters to Trump, @aselrod.bsky.social shows in this piece. And I'm once again thinking about how much "MAGA isn't fascist" was "because it's not literally Hitler," as if Mussolini and others didn't count.

Natalie Harp and the American Don (Juan)

Even as the right cheers Trump dispensing punishment to their enemies, they crave to be disciplined themselves.

liberalcurrents.com

If anyone doesn’t want to take my word for it, how about from geneticists?

Simon Fisher@profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 3d ago

Hello, human geneticist here. There is no scientific basis for attempts to define people in terms of “good” or “bad” genes - these are discredited views in service of racist ideologies. For consensus & concerns of experts in our field, see e.g. this 2020 statement from @geneticssociety.bsky.social:

All these guys know each other, there aren’t many of them, but they’ve managed to get outsized influence by 1) Say what some billionaires want to hear, especially Peter Thiel 2) Exploit a culture that got so comfortable it forgot/rejected the Paradox of Tolerance, and if anything did the opposite

☀️ Starshine@starshine.bsky.social · 3d ago

Wait he’s the third man?

Trump has destroyed US credibility to the point that no one can make a deal with America even if they think the terms sound good, because they can’t trust the US to honor it. The U.S.-Canada trade arrangement Trump now claims is unacceptable was the one he negotiated and signed in his first term.

Andrew Sabl@andysabl.bsky.social · yesterday

Full text of Mark Carney’s speech yesterday. Here’s a line that few are reporting but that seems crucial: because the US no longer can make—or wants to make—credible commitments, it’s kneecapped its own ability to reach agreements. www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/spee...

“Is one race (whites) biologically superior to others?” has been asked and answered many times. Skin color is a bad predictor of individual ability. If grouping humans by race, one sees much more genetic variation within each group than between them. Not free-thinking mavericks. It’s anti-science.

Katie Mack@astrokatie.com · yesterday

So many of these folks are like “ooo we’re daring free-thinking mavericks” and it’s like nah man you’re just super racist

Iran and Canada now have a joint interest in harming the U.S. economy ahead of the midterms. Of all countries. If you’re going to start a war with an adversary—shouldn’t have done this one, but if—then it’s wise to line-up allied support in advance, not to pick fights with allies at the same time.

Cyclospora is about more than Americans getting sick. It’s about the cost of grift and broken institutions. And it raises questions about why DOJ, which has jurisdiction, doesn’t seem to be doing anything. joycevance.substack.com/p/bad-food?r...

Bad Food

It’s not hard to follow the money

joycevance.substack.com

As with war war, in a trade war, which side is more willing to endure pain is shaped by who started the fight and why.

George Pearkes@peark.es · 2d ago

On paper a trade war between the US and Canada should be much harder on the northern country. But one country’s political economy can sustain the major costs of a trade war and the other’s cannot.

U.S. government intervention in the bond market failing is a big deal. The Treasury doesn’t have many moves to calm bond markets, at least not without negative trade offs elsewhere.

Few things deserve to die more than LIV golf. Never should have gotten this far. It was always Saudi Arabia trying to sportswash their rights-violating reputation, and bribe people—namely Trump—via hosting tourneys at courses. One big reason is the Iran war. Saudis have less money to throw around.

The Wall Street Journal@wsj.com · 2d ago

The upstart golf league is playing what could be its final tournament ever as executives scramble to find new investors. on.wsj.com/4cWJyMa

I don’t think a good definition of “viewpoint diversity” is “you must lower your standards specifically for anti-science, anti-truth, bigots, and fascists — a healthy intellectual community needs those voices and they can’t clear the bar otherwise.”

Remember when Congress regulated trade? The Constitution clearly gives that power to Congress. But the president decided to lie and ignore the Constitution, the Roberts court said he can without consequence, and the GOP Congress wanted to be supplicants and online influencers instead of legislators.

Trump is *illegally and unconstitutionally* imposing 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadians products *after his attempt to bully the erstwhile U.S. ally into an unfair new arrangement failed* Those details seem pretty important

The Associated Press@apnews.com · 2d ago

BREAKING: The U.S. is imposing 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products after last-ditch negotiations failed. Canada promises to match the tax.

This is such a great book. A must read if you want to understand white Christian nationalism, and see how it’s supported by powerful people 

Robert P. Jones@robertpjones.bsky.social · 2d ago

Just posted—a great conversation with @realjaredhuffman.bsky.social about his new book, NO PROPHETS: The Fight to Save Democracy from Christian Nationalism. Full video below. open.substack.com/pub/robertpj...

The fact he apparently thinks he can convince NK to abandon their nuclear weapons and get a win because he thinks Kim likes him show he's both desperate and very delusional

Reeling From Blatant, Ongoing Failure with Iran, President Turns Aggressive Eye to Canada, Trying to Get a Win, Fails

How Trump’s economic threats to Iran sound in the Middle East: I’m afraid of escalation. Don’t worry about a ground invasion, and maybe not even about more bombing. I failed, but admitting it is embarrassing, and I think this makes me sound tough. So you should let me twist in the wind some more.

China put out a statement officially rejecting sanctions on Iran. Not surprising, and comes across like “why would we make sacrifices just to rescue you from your own stupid failure (and sanctions probably wouldn’t work anyway, but watching you flounder alone is, uh, not really a problem for us).”

This NYT piece that fighting back against Trump’s abuses is hurting Harvard carries the same whiff as the slew of stories that Harvard was on the verge of surrendering. Trying to will it into being. Wouldn’t be surprising if a source is someone trying to get Harvard to fold, such as Bill Ackman.

Samantha Brennan@samanthabrennan.bsky.social · 3d ago

How Harvard’s Epic Fight With Trump Is Costing the University The federal government has slowed Harvard’s funding, despite the university’s legal victories. The conflict is forcing hard choices on campus. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/u...

On AI and politics: Dropping the “left needs to…” as if an org’s comms team were crafting a statement And thinking bigger than Bluesky culture v. X It’s a big deal, in a left/right sense, that today’s boom tech empowers technofascist oligarchs, and a main use case—not only, but one—is post-truth.

She “declined?” “Declined”? You can’t just decline to get a security clearance. You either get one or you don’t have a job. So much dysfunction in this White House. When will the GOP have had enough? Why risk the country for this? www.ms.now/news/trump-a...

Trump aide Natalie Harp worked at the White House without security clearance for a year

The close aide to the president, known to filter much of the information reaching the commander-in-chief, ultimately relented in recent months after pressure from White House staff.

ms.now

US president declares “any country that allows” economic institutions “to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences.” China, Russia, and every other country trading with Iran shrugs. No credibility. Americans voted to make the country’s word worthless.

NEW: Measles Used to Be in Our Rearview Mirror. Now Cases Are Reaching Record Highs. In other parts of the world that have let their guard down to vaccine-preventable diseases, long-forgotten scourges have roared back and killed and disabled children.

Measles Used to Be in Our Rearview Mirror. Now Cases Are Reaching Record Highs.

In other parts of the world that have let their guard down to vaccine-preventable diseases, long-forgotten scourges have roared back and killed and disabled children.

propublica.org