And I can say, from personal experience, a real barrier to considering reforming redistricting in the first place!

But the absolute kicker has to be 7. From Arlington all the way to West Virginia is such a politically and culturally disparate range as to be barely cognizable as a group of people that someone could actually attempt to *represent.* You'd have to be bipolar and schizophrenic to internalize it.

The new 10, 3 and 9 are at least defensible from a communities of interest perspective. But the tendrils of 1, 7, 8, and 11 reaching all the way to DC is just insane. At least 1 is "95 corridor." The 4th would make sense... without Richmond. Hilarious.

Asking for a friend who lives on Observatory Circle

Given my background on the issue, re-upping my thoughts on VA redistricting referendum for tonight's results.

SEN. @ossoff.senate.gov : “The faithless president depicts himself as Christ while he plunges the nation into wars of choice… Remember — While you pay more for everything, the First Family’s wealth is growing by billions. Because they’re crooks, and everybody knows it.”

In short, I think the best outcome is probably that it passes, but that it's close. I want the voters to be reluctant to do this. And I want political leaders to think it's not politically tenable in just about any other situation.

Third, I'm not sure the map as drawn is sustainable for Democrats. Spanberger's numbers are probably an outlier. It may well be a lesson in hubris that backfires in 2 or 4 years, making it less attractive to repeat for either party.

The VA referendum does have a few saving graces. First, it's temporary: it doesn't eliminate the redistricting commission, just pauses it for a cycle. Second, that means pulling this again would require yet another referendum; that's a lot of friction, which is good.

I know two things are true at the same time: the supporters of effective, representative democracy can not unilaterally disarm in the face of today's abuses of power. And I know a race to bottom - Constitutional hardball - leaves everyone worse off. It poisons the well for the future.

In 2007 I led a bipartisan redistricting reform effort that came *thisclose* to passing. I had friggin Ken Cuccinelli on my bill for Christ's sake. An old friend succeeded a few years later with the system VA has now. Yet I am deeply conflicted about tomorrow's Virginia redistricting referendum.

9 months with no childcare-a 1st grader in "zoom school" and a toddler at home. A full time job that had little patience for that reality. Parents I couldn't see for a year. While so many of my countrymen eagerly showed how little they cared for others? I'd do it again, but it was the F-ing worst.

@davidpierce.xyz made the joke in the last 30secs of the pod, but I *seriously* wonder if the first thing the new Apple CEO announces at WWDC is that he's "pausing" new AI projects. Ride the current sentiments, ground yourself in the creatives as core audience/ethos, emphasize the Apple values, etc

Smart interesting read skywriter.blue/@eliothiggin...

Do it!

It's worth considering if Iran intends to stretch this out as long as possible to hurt Trump politically. With the side benefit that never agreeing to a final deal helps their domestic politics. Squint and it looks like what they did to Carter.

Just over 24 hours between these. 🤡

I recall Amb Edelman saying we had the percentage of their economy that the USSR spent on defense right. It's just that we drastically overestimated the denominator. If your bureaucratic process *needs* the bad guys to be good, eventually you'll argue your way into them being smart... And right-ish?

My impression is that we have a tendency to overestimate our adversaries. And that there are bureaucratic incentives to imagine them 100 feet tall.

So just saw Project Hail Mary again.

It's better the second time. J

ust excellent storytelling, acting, design, music.

This is honestly the best case scenario for the FBI under Trump. Better an incompetent drunk than someone competent turning it into Trump's personal gestapo.

Yup. We massively overestimated the size of the Russian economy.

Right out in the open, Donald Trump is suing his own IRS to try to steal $10 BILLION taxpayer dollars.

I just introduced a bill that would make this theft ILLEGAL.

Good walkthrough

Both docs should be declassified to the extent possible. We are not doing this whole “secret exceptions to the 4th amendment” crap again or we are going to face a problem of another Snowden-like figure running off with tons of classified docs.

nonzero chance the FBI is plugging LLMs into wiretap data under the legal theory AI alone can’t implicate 4th amendment concerns (semi-known 702 issue). or the NSA has now hard coded wiretaps across all newly built US data centers due to expanded ECSP scope. or probably both.

Wyden and Massie doing this in public should be considered Very Serious Message Sending that something important amiss.

A thoroughly corrupt, debased hack. A malicious liar.

“A constant tenet of that thousand-year tradition is a nation can only legitimately take up the sword in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed.”

Consistent with the jus ad bellum requirement in int’l law that the use of force in self defense be necessary, eg exhaustion of diplomacy.

BREAKING: The U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine just issued a formal statement defending Pope Leo XIV's teaching authority on just war doctrine — less than twelve hours after JD Vance told a Turning Point USA crowd the pope should “be careful” talking theology.

This is a serious escalation.