Don't threaten us with a good time

States of Distrust: Science and Politics in America James Druckman presented the Center for Political Studies 2026 Miller-Converse Lecture At the University of Michigan’s most distinguished lecture series on American electoral politics, political scien...

"'If you can increase the diversity of the scientific workforce, there’s some evidence that you can increase the trust in scientists,' Druckman explained... [diversity] encompassing not just race and gender but also rurality, religiosity, and class background."

cps.isr.umich.edu/news-events/...

Ford CEO Draws Line In Sand: Keep Chinese EVs Out Of US – 'Should Not Let Them Into Our Country' Ford Motor Company paused its electric-vehicle growth efforts, but is pivoting to a major push in 2027. With lower-cost production methods and new models in development, the legacy automaker’s CEO wan...

Imagine if Blackberry had successfully convinced the US government to forbid the sale of iPhones

Hungary’s New Leader Reveals Viktor Orbán Was Paying CPAC Péter Magyar called the payments a “crime” and said his government would stop the funds.

MAGA took Hungarians' money.

Hungary's new prime minister reveals that Orban's government was diverting Hungarian taxpayers' money to pay the American conservative group CPAC.

Just a thought: How about we stop shaming the poor for buying things that may not be essential, and start shaming the rich for making a profit off things that are essential?

FWIW, the answer to this question is “no”

Mike Nellis @MikeNellis "I'M NO LONGER CATHOLIC!" Hannity ABANDONS HIS FAITH for Trump NELLIS X.com • +*+

Amazing that in the national divorce the libs are getting the NFL, butter and cooking oil, being attracted to adult women, standup comedy, Bud Light, and now also Catholicism

Authoritarianism is, at its core, performative and aesthetic. US autocrats who, not only do not recognize fictional, satirical characters, but who emulate them, are telling us who they are. They are frauds intending to deceive. Do not let them.

The Election Performance Index Documents a Decade’s Improvement in Election Administration The major gains have been made. The next round of improvements will be subtler.

US Election administration has greatly *improved* in the last 20 years, contrary to some national rhetoric. MIT Prof. Charles Stewart has the receipts. substack.com/@cstewartiii...

You could read this as, "Liberal orgs and students need to play the game better; they're just losing to conservatives."

Or you could read it as, "No one should fix prestigious jobs for anyone based on factors unrelated to qualification."

Liberals aren't playing badly; it's a broken system.

Peter Thiel-backed group contributes $2.5 million to oppose Virginia redistricting Thiel has made no secret of his skepticism about democracy, writing in a 2009 essay: “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.”

It's not unknown. The group is funded by Trump backer, Peter Theil. He's pouring millions into the campaign to oppose the amendment using false claims and misleading messages. There is almost no campaign finance law in VA, so it's legal. It's disinformation.
www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

A campaign ad saying “Richmond politicians’ scheme to redraw congressional districts silenced black & brown voices”

In a state with an ugly history of racial gerrymandering, the “no” campaign against VA’s temporary redistricting plan is using misleading campaign messages that suggest the amendment IS racial gerrymandering. It is not. I received this text image today. These are disingenuous scare tactics. 😡

There's no greater sign of the iron grip that "both sides" framing has on American journalists than the repeated descriptions of the unhinged tantrum Trump is throwing over the pope's anodyne statements on Catholic doctrine as a "feud" or a "fight" or anything else that implies they're both to blame

I study racism for a living and can still manage to be shocked by how institutionalized it is. What do you mean they were giving tax-breaks to white supremacists celebrating treason?

just a wild country

Opinion | The Affordable Car Is Dead. What Happened? (Gift Article) This is how cars got so ridiculously, forbiddingly expensive.

This is not just a great article about the decline of the compact, economic car market. It’s an article about how wealth and political power have reinforced each other so much that the American dream—physical and economic freedom—has become inaccessible for millions.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

A line graph showing the average number of caucuses members of Congress join, between the 103rd (1993) and 116th (2020) Congress. Democrats consistently join more caucuses than Republicans.

From my data vault---the average number of congressional caucuses that members of the US House of Representatives join over time (1993-2020). Democrats consistently join more groups than Republicans, likely driven by the heavily advocacy org-driven Democratic coalition, compared to the top-down GOP.

Strong political parties that bend the rules to entrench their power and succumb to corruption are a consistent feature of democracy qua democracy. And if your entrenched ruling party can lose everything in a wave election, you are not living in an authoritarian state.

Nope. Nope. Nope. This post is just two false statements.

Authoritarianism is largely a performative art.

This is so criminally irresponsible, I don’t know where to begin. USGS and its EMA are central to how Americans can understand - and respond to - a changing world.

I’m very sorry to hear this. A good friend of mine went there in the 90s. It’s a special place.

Thanks for the link. The appearance of coordination between the House parties on sanctioning intraparty bad behavior is….is it novel? Perhaps another consequence of very narrow majorities.

Say more about this bipartisan movement. I got the sense that Swalwell was pressured more because of his position in the CA governor’s race, not his House seat, which led to me thinking the CA Dem party was key to his decision, not House leadership. The swell of opposition to G in the House was ⬆️.

In his second term, Mr. Trump seems even less restrained and more incoherent at times. He uses more profanity, speaks longer and regularly makes comments rooted in fantasy rather than fact. He keeps saying that his father was born in Germany when in fact he was born in the Bronx. He repeats an invented story about his uncle, an M.I.T. professor, telling him about teaching the terrorist known as the Unabomber. He wanders off into odd tangents — an eight-minute ramble at a Christmas reception about poisonous snakes in Peru, a long digression during a cabinet meeting about Sharpie pens, an interruption of an Iran war update to praise the White House drapes. He has confused Greenland with Iceland and more than once boasted of ending a fictional war between Cambodia and Azerbaijan, two countries separated by nearly 4,000 miles. (He evidently means Armenia and Azerbaijan).

It’s about time we saw this coverage:

“As the president threatens to wipe out Iran and attacks the pope, even some former allies and advisers are questioning whether he has grown increasingly unbalanced, describing him as ‘lunatic’ and ‘clearly insane.’”

Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/u...

Ha! Well this aged like warm milk. (Replies off) I posted it yesterday when I’d heard about Swalwell but yet about not Gonzalez. Now I’m fascinated if Swalwell dropping out somehow pushed Gonzalez to finally step back. Inter-partisan peer pressure?

Whistleblower says Trump officials thought USAID did 'just abortions,' asked for 'Barney-style' slides before gutting agency, per new book Read an exclusive excerpt from Nicholas Enrich's "Into the Wood Chipper"

Someday, someone is going to make a movie about the tech-bros who recklessly dismantled the professional US administrative state and it’s going to be devastating.

Gripping excerpt from “Into the Wood Chipper,” Nicholas Enrich. h/t @marisakabas.bsky.social

www.thehandbasket.co/p/trump-usai...

generation lead never fails

It's nice to know that one of America's political parties still has the power to hold its members accountable.

Literally the first comment. Also, the fact that authoritarians *can* lose elections in some systems does not mean democracy is unaffected. Would Cowen prefer to live in an illiberal democracy or competitive authoritarian state? Are they really the same as, say, Canada?

This is partly why compellence (getting a country to do something it doesn't want to do, or undo what it has already done) is so hard: you need to be able to provide *assurance* that you will accept their actions and refrain from further punishment, etc. See @reidpauly.bsky.social's book!

U-turns are possible. 80% turnout. Let’s go.