Thank you. I keep saying it but it seems to fall on deaf ears.

Yes, and also the "where the left went wrong" diagnoses seem to never account for the incredible inbalance in our info environment, which is dominated by the ever expanding RW propaganda machinery. There's this notion that some magic Message™ or Policy™ will make it all better. Well, the left /1

Gender is a big influence on this. The Dems are coded as the "female" party while the right wing is "male".

It is the large-scale equivalent of "boys will be boys"/"but what were you wearing": treating the perpetrator as natural disaster that cannot be stopped, it is always the victim's fault for failing to get out of the natural disaster's way.

And when did this start? Is it we're basically serfs who have never properly challenged our overlords since, ahem, forever?

Or does it come from a Maoist blame circle tradition, deeply embedded in Western progressive thought, whether you recognise it or not?

And will I regret posting this...?

“The right has no agency over their own behavior” is the feature that unifies the entire spectrum of the political take havers. It’s the ironclad rule above all others.

Crucially, though, it's a view that conservatives have cultivated for generations, especially around white grievance.
They claim it can't be *their* fault if they secede from the Union; they would be "forced" to by the North (Calhoun)...

I see this same dynamic in the materials I research. "Compromise" in the 19C literature often means Northerners who oppose slavery accommodating enslavers, who cannot be held responsible for throwing tantrums in Congress and literally threatening Northern colleagues with weapons.

and often there just isn’t a simple, just-so story to tell

it’s not that the broad center-left/democratic party is blameless or that the political right is never reacting to changes/provocations or the like, but that victory and defeat, success and failure are shaped by actors on both sides, as well as broad forces and the contingency of human events

This is the most mindboggling thing for me.

flipping through a proof of yet another book from a somewhat well known liberal voice diagnosing “where the left went wrong” and i’m struck, again, by the fact that a large part (if not most) of the liberal commentariat simply does not believe that the political right has agency.

How Trump's proposed triumphal arch would change the nation's capital President Trump wants a triumphal arch to be built in Washington, D.C., on a traffic circle between the entrance to the Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial.

I spoke with NPR's Scott Tong about the proposed Triumphal Arch, and why it's not wanted or needed. www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...

Well, people elected him knowing he was an untrustworthy criminal and rapist. They deliberately gave him this power.

Horrific

JFC. Nobody on Earth will ever trust us again. And they shouldn't.

This Isn't Trading. It's Theft from Your Retirement. Someone keeps making perfectly-timed bets right before the President speaks. The victims are your pension, your 401(k), and the country I took an oath to defend.

Fifteen minutes before the President announced he was pausing strikes on Iran, somebody moved $500 million in oil futures. Somebody knew. Somebody told them. Or somebody is them.
New piece ↓
open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...

I think it's better to focus on the 25th because he is obviously losing his mind, while impeachment requires trials for crimes - harder for the average voter to follow. Anyway nothing will happen unless the Dems take back power.

a man in a purple jacket is playing a guitar on a stage Alt: prince rogers nelson in a purple jacket is playing a guitar on a stage

Hard to believe it's been 10 years. 💜💜💜🕊️

Oh but he's so square-jawed and virile-looking 🙄

No, I don't believe the voters when they said they did this because of the economy. I don't believe them that it was a failure to articulate a progressive agenda. I don't believe them that it was some piece of policy they were waiting out for.

And believing dumb shit like "THEY'RE EATING THE PETS!!"

VENGEANCE

FUCK why didn’t I think of that shit

Bad ramp placement

Here's the latest from the 2026 California Governor's race (June 2 primary): Most recent poll - IVP Survey (April 14-20, 2026): Xavier Becerra leads at 23%, followed by Republican Steve Hilton at 19.7%, Republican Chad Bianco at 16.7%, Democrat Tom Steyer at 13.9%, and Katie Porter at 11.4%. Independent... Emerson/Inside CA Politics (April 14-15, 2026): Hilton leads at 17%, Bianco at 14%, Steyer at 14%, Becerra at 10%, Porter at 10%, and Mahan at 5%, with 23% undecided. Emerson Polling

Wow!! Becerra has jumped to the top!! Keep it going team Becerra!! 💙💙💙

Famously, armies have never been done in by disease.

Certainly, Washington never forcibly innoculated his troops to prevent the spread of the scourge of smallpox so they could live to fight another day.

Surely, the campaigns of the Pacific were not shaped by disease and featured daily treatment.