John Cluverius
@johncluverius.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Political Science @ UMass Lowell. “If you fail at something long enough, you become a legend.” They call me “Bow tie Karen” in these skeets All statements are personal opinions, not reflective of university positions.
A 50-year old book reveals the tendencies that undermine military competence—a century ago and today. Read our analysis for free:
The Book That Predicted Pete Hegseth’s Failures
‘On the Psychology of Military Incompetence’ examines the narrow minds of petty men.
foreignpolicy.com
It’s important to understand that when 1.2 million Americans are dying from a disease, any government action is excessive and tyrannical, but if a dozen trans women want to play soccer no government action can go far enough
Direct action is a powerful activist tool because of all the information it provides- you essentially learn to do politics while outside of power.
wishda@wishda.bsky.social · 5d agoThe DSA in Wilmingotn, N.C. has created a "crisis" by putting benches at city bus stops, after literal decades of the city promising and failing to do so.
if you want to see normally sclerotic do-nothing local governments suddenly snap into action, do some quietly beneficial tactical urbanism type thing like this and watch how quickly they race to remove it
wishda@wishda.bsky.social · 5d agoThe DSA in Wilmingotn, N.C. has created a "crisis" by putting benches at city bus stops, after literal decades of the city promising and failing to do so.
New primary data @fiftyplusone.news confirms a pattern political scientists have flagged for years: Women with endorsements are winning primaries at high rates in both parties, but the opportunity structure around them is wildly unequal🧵 (full story here open.substack.com/pub/fiftyplu...)
We tracked every candidate in the 2026 primaries. Here's who voters are nominating.
Our original dataset tracks endorsements across every congressional and gubernatorial race to reveal how party leaders and ideological groups are faring.
open.substack.com
Yes! Act accordingly! There is still a strain in Dem thinking that is colored by the idea that Trump tapped into something Real that can't be ignored. Time to get over that.
JLRay@jlray.bsky.social · 6d agoHistorically, Trump's numbers are closer to those of presidents who aren't invited to the next nominating convention than to presidents who get to hand pick the next nominee. Act accordingly.
I’m very government grocery store skeptical, but I’m also like “man everyone was wrong about congestion pricing and that rocked” - we are to the point where every politician needs to be trying to make things as better as they can for as many people as they can all the time.
Asawin Suebsaeng@swin24.bsky.social · 6d agoOrdinarily I would have first suggested a rapid expansion of other types of food and other assistance but a certain federal administration is trying to stop everyone from having nice things (like barely living), so I guess local leaders have to try different things out
Mayor Mamdani even specifically said during the election that if the idea did not work out during the grocery store pilot program they’d move on to trying something else, and he’s only pushing it because existing policy to address the issue by subsidizing the private sector fell short of its goals.
Asawin Suebsaeng@swin24.bsky.social · 6d agoIf it works, great, if it doesn’t and isn’t worth it and there are better policies to address this, then do that. But the freakout over the economics of it in the largest city in America where your business Will Not Be Threatened by these is superb stuff all around
Also: it’s not going to work! No voter is asking for a hearing about Anthony Fauci and COVID-19 in 2026 when the war in Iran is increasing gas prices by 50%. Republicans have been pushing for this because it gets retweets from rabid MAGA users on social media. This is made-for-X governing.
NEW: Most Americans support several major structural changes to the nation's political system, from term limits to campaign spending caps. Achieving those changes, though, would require amending one of the world's hardest constitutions to change.
Most Americans favor big changes to the political system that likely would require amending the Constitution
Most Americans support term limits, campaign spending caps, and Electoral College reform, but achieving these changes likely would require amending one of the world's hardest constitutions to change.
pewresearch.org
I like an aged Gouda. Taste, texture, color - and because it doesn’t melt well, it feels luxurious. I love a lot of cheeses for many different reasons but that was a life-changing cheese.
Tom & Lorenzo@tomandlorenzo.bsky.social · last wk.People on Bluesky sigh and talk about The Discourse as if it were something required of them instead of something they opt to partake in, day in and day out. You really don't have to. Post about your favorite cheese
polling shows trans athletes are possibly the lowest salience issue amongst most voter groups and those that want to vote for the most anti-trans candidate aren't persuadable by democrats.
Scott Witte@scottwitte.bsky.social · last wk.Tom, suburban, college educated women are scared of “boys in girls sports”. Not arguing it, but that’s what polling shows. Same with runaway DEI and open borders. Again, not gonna argue, that’s just what reality is. If Dems stick to those things, independents and mod Rs are lost, again.
it's a midterm election where you are the party in power and you have an unpopular president. if your "reliable Republican base voters" are shaky on turnout or voting Republican, they are not reliable Republican base voters
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · last wk.About 1 in 5 reliable Republican base voters are at risk this November, according to Nathan Nascimento, executive director at AFP Action. According to their data, some voters are either saying they may stay home or are weighing voting for Democrats. https://wapo.st/4pHZszd
Schatz has the same pathology as Newsom: a need to show "I'm just like you" to awful people with bad values. It's not even cynicism; it yields no additional votes. Destroying USAID was an illegal act by white nationalists with genocidal intent and it has killed people. That's more than just "bad."
Aaron Huertas@aaronhuertas.bsky.social · 2w agoGross to see a senator skip over the part where the aid was cut off illegally and without warning. Cooking their brains on a right wing owned social media site.
zohran is a completely normal (mixed-market socialist/new-deal liberal/whatever) and it’s completely frying the brains of people with too much money or whose livelihoods are built on catering to the opinions of people with too much money
Helen Kennedy@helenkennedy.com · 2w agoThe wild eyed radical communist continues to destroy capitalism www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
People don’t hate AI data centers because they think AI data centers use too much water. They think AI data centers use too much water because they hate AI data centers.
People really have to understand that the rich are only weirder than normal people because not as many people around them call them on their bullshit. But they hate new places and new people just as much as you do, if not more so.
Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 2w agoMillionaire flight is always a myth. Taxing rich people to invest more in our schools and transportation has been a resounding success. inequality.org/article/wher...
mass layoffs at Pixar despite Toy Story 5 about to cross $1 billion at the box office. there is simply no amount of money that will make corporations happy enough to not upend people’s lives.
Pixar Bears Brunt of Disney Studio Layoffs as Company Axes Several Hundred Staffers
Pixar Animation Studios, despite riding high on the success of summer blockbuster "Toy Story 5," was hit particularly hard in a wave of corporatewide layoffs at Disney.
variety.com
Kalshi is fighting against a Wisconsin state law that says that if you vote in an election, you can’t bet money on it www.jsonline.com/story/news/p...
Is buying into a prediction market OK if you're voting in Wisconsin?
Kalshi and Polymarket are pushing back on WEC's guidance that voters shouldn't buy into election results prediction markets, then vote in the race.
jsonline.com
The most effective line mainstream Dems have against single payer is “oh, so you want RFK Jr running it?”
Eric Michael Garcia@ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 2w agoAndy Kim suggests a new health care policy: -Enroll every child in Medicaid until the age of 26 www.notus.org/healthcare/a...
All of the Maine senate selection process questions raised by leftist podcasters will be gone by Monday; they’re getting their guy Troy Jackson, who Platner endorsed in the governor’s race.
Cabo Verde are the true winners of this World Cup.
RFEF presidents / allegations: current guy: convicted, abuse of power, later overturned guy before that: corruption guy before that: convicted, sexual assault guy before that: corruption guy before that: embezzlement guy before that: fascist and further back there's a wwii vet...from the axis side.
Katelyn Burns@katelynburns.com · 2w agoI don't want Spain to win, I just want Argentina to lose.
Big news out of Maine. I liked Bellows' odds because she finished strong in the governor primary, and could be a compromise candidate between the establishment and insurgent elements in the Maine Democratic Party.
Portland Press Herald@pressherald.com · 2w agoShenna Bellows drops out of Maine Senate race
