NEW: Republicans tried to get Missourians to effectively kill direct democracy and ballot initiatives. Last night, Missourians literally laughed in their face — rejecting the measure by a massive 80% to 20%. Here’s what to know:

Missourians Reject Measure That Threatened to Kill Citizen-Led Ballot Initiatives - Bolts

Missourians on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted against a measure to restrict direct democracy, while state officials are trying to block even more citizen-led reforms from the November ballot.

boltsmag.org

as with a lot of things the actual question is "what is the Democratic solution to a hostile media environment" and I don't know but boy do we need one

They’re going to have to give Iran what they want, then deal with a press that views it as 10 times worse than the Afghanistan withdrawal

Honest question: What's the Democratic solution to this problem? I think they need one because this is likely going to be a problem until Trump's not in office, and nobody's going to be able to put the toothpaste back into the tube.

Sky Marchini@sky.skymarchini.net · 3h ago

lol. lmao, even.

Every single Republican candidate for governor of Minnesota (including Mike Lindell!) makes clear that if Trump tried another Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities, they would support his efforts to brutalize residents

A gracious concession: “I want to congratulate Abdul El-Sayed on winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. He is a doctor, a community health official, a Rhodes Scholar, and a dedicated Michigander. I am proud to offer my support as he takes on Mike Rogers in the general election…

NEW: Here, finally, is my new draft article on the Supreme Court's Chatrie decision. I think the ruling is tremendously important to Fourth Amendment law—and here's why. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Looks like a 10-15 point polling miss in Michigan regardless of who wins. And people have been writing a lot of electability takes using this data. It’s dangerous out there folks be safe

Missouri voters: Voting on issues: center left Voting for elected officials? Far right

Stephen Wolf@stephenwolf.bsky.social · 17h ago

Missouri Republicans' Amendment 4 is getting trounced not just in every congressional district but in every *county* so far. Trump won all but four counties in Missouri.

Tonight we find out whether Michigan voters are bluesky posters or bluesky replyers

hey guys maybe chill out about drawing conclusions about a state with notoriously bouncy county-by-county results before even 40% of the votes are in

AES scraping out a victory is probably the worst possible result ngl. We needed a decisive win by *somebody*.

Yashar Ali 🐘@yasharali.bsky.social · 16h ago

UPDATE Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate primary. 34% of the vote counted Abdul El-Sayed 264,196 votes — 49.9% Haley Stevens 246,121 votes — 46.5% El-Sayed leads by 18,075 votes.

UPDATE Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate primary. 34% of the vote counted Abdul El-Sayed 264,196 votes — 49.9% Haley Stevens 246,121 votes — 46.5% El-Sayed leads by 18,075 votes.

Mail ballots extremely impressive for Stevens no doubt, and honestly better ED than I expected. On the flip side Abdul did better than expected on early votes. Very interesting stuff

Abdul El-Sayed is outperforming his benchmarks in every county reporting so far, though all are areas where he was expected to run well. Unless Stevens significantly overperforms in the Detroit area, this is set to be an early night.

like sorry, your brain is being cooked

Sharon 🪳🌹@sharonk.bsky.social · yesterday

like no, i don't think you're going to get people to sign on to centrism by being conspiratorial about progressives

The war in Iran has shown that Trump’s inability to perceive reality has become truly dangerous. Iran is a disaster, but Trump’s irrationality could create other, even more perilous situations. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Trump’s Irrationality Is Dangerous

The president’s recent rant is a sign of serious dysfunction in the Oval Office.

theatlantic.com

I think this piece is interesting, and I understand that Wilson is never going to be a fan of Nolan’s Odyssey. This piece is better about it, but one of my least favorite things about criticism is bemoaning what one thinks a thing should have been rather than engaging with what it is.

Chris Suellentrop@suellentrop.bsky.social · yesterday

Turns out @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social knows a lot about ancient epics www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Having finally seen the movie and read this piece, I can now say that they’re both good, but damn, she misses the point big time here. The entire structure of the movie, the entire Athena thing and the way the movie presents it & then only spells it out at the end IS what it has to say

Chris Suellentrop@suellentrop.bsky.social · yesterday

Turns out @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social knows a lot about ancient epics www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

This is a long, complex essay, but it hews to a simplistic, almost naive moral: that you can’t show violence on screen without endorsing it. I would think an esteemed professor and translator as Wilson would be a bit more subtle.

Chris Suellentrop@suellentrop.bsky.social · yesterday

Turns out @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social knows a lot about ancient epics www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

I'm not sure I agree with you a hundred percent on your police work there, investors

Crouch in the place where you work

Gretchen Felker-Martin PRE ORDER CHIMERA 2.16.27 🍉@scumbelievable.bsky.social · last yr.

crouching is the standing of sitting

SAUDI ARAMCO IS ROUTING CRUDE AROUND THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ VIA ITS EAST-WEST PIPELINE AS THE IRAN-RELATED CRISIS HAS CUT SHIPPING THROUGH THE STRAIT TO A TENTH OF PRE-CONFLICT LEVELS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE AMIN NASSER SAID ON TUESDAY.

guys is it normal for majority Hispanic districts in Texas to swing 24 points left in a year and a half

Joel Wertheimer@wertwhile.bsky.social · 2d ago

Ossoff Pulido 2028.

• According to the same source, Iran believes President Trump will avoid any game-changing move before November. As a result, Tehran intends to maintain maximum pressure and extract as much money as possible.

What. They were begging for a ceasefire. How could this happen

Shipwreck@shipwreck75.bsky.social · 2d ago

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) carried out an attack on a US base in Kuwait using three drones, according to a source familiar with the matter.-i24 News

so democratic socialism is good

Democrats@democrats.org · 2d ago

HUGE: Under Mayor Mamdani, New York City just recorded its safest first 7 months of a year in history—and its safest July ever. In July: Major crime dropped 13% Murder dropped 32% Robberies dropped 15% Vehicle thefts dropped 25% Democratic mayors are putting public safety first.

This is the perfect headline for ok magazine because I can’t have any reaction other than “ok”

OK! Magazine@okmagazine.com · 4d ago

Patricia Heaton backed a petition urging Mayor Zohran Mamdani to be barred from New York City's 25th 9/11 anniversary.

yeah the stall that a lot of people want to attribute to either not being real, or being because of Gaza and 'most lethal military stuff' almost certainly came from RFK Jr's sliver of the electorate swinging right

The real impasta@therealimpasta.bsky.social · 2d ago

You can also see in 2024 polling that RFK Jr. endorsing Trump correlated with Harris's momentum stalling out around the DNC. She got a bounce from the debate that makes it harder to notice but it's there