When Trump began pressuring Texas and other red states to re-gerrymander their maps, the immediate consensus was that Democratic-led states could do little or nothing to counter it. But it turned out that Democrats were anything but helpless.
Same.
they’re calling it the fakest economy of all time
Because of course he did
For @whstancil.bsky.social:
On a related note, this chart -- which shows a large disconnect in recent years b/n how people rate their own personal-finances and how they rate the national economy (44-point gap in 2024 v. 25-point gap in 2019) -- is a strong piece of vibecession evidence. www.federalreserve.gov/publications...
I think part of the reason it worked for Trump in first 3 years of first term, but is not working for him now, is expectations setting & disappointing. GOP ripped Biden/Harris about inflation, Trump over-promised about bringing prices down on day one, and then he very prominently adopted tariffs.
Curious as to whether your work on these issues leads you to have thoughts about lingering disconnect Fed has seen in its surveys b/n how people rate their own personal-finances and how they rate nat'l economy (44-point gap in 2024 v. 25-point gap in 2019). www.federalreserve.gov/publications...
Mamdani: When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich
Well, today we're taxing the rich...
i can't help but think about 10 or 11 years ago when conservatives insisted that obama was uniquely anti-catholic because his administration thought that catholic-led orgs could just fill out a form if they didn't want to cover contraceptives in their health plans for employees.
nothing fundamentally changed about conservative political influencers from 2024 to 2026. they were whiny then they’re whiny now. except they went from whining these guys liked to laugh at because it held no consequences to something that actually was being implemented into policy.
JUST IN: John Eastman, the conservative attorney who helped devise President Trump's last ditch strategy to overturn the 2020 presidential election, has officially been disbarred, per the California Supreme Court:
The Live Nation-Ticketmaster settlement doesn’t deliver real competition and won’t do anything to lower prices for fans.
There are serious concerns here and the court needs to investigate.
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Through decades of modern US history, I did not find myself itching to say, "Good for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops."
Right now: Good for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops!!!
And good for the globally most influential living American, Leo XIV.
Everyone in America supports filing their taxes directly with the IRS for free—everyone but Trump & executives at giant tax prep companies like Intuit-TurboTax, who teamed up to cancel Direct File.
(What a coincidence: Intuit donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.)
In private group chats and meetings, Republicans fear the Iran war will cost them the midterms www.nbcnews.com/politics/ele...
This is some absolutely fantastic work by @gelliottmorris.com!
Kernan on an impressive Getting Owned run
If Democrats had successfully painted Reagan economy in 1984 the way Republicans painted Biden economy in 2024, and a Dem took over in 1985 and imposed tariffs that reversed downward trajectory in inflation and launched war driving gas prices to record levels, we might have seen that effect.
Eric Swalwell’s and Tony Gonzales’ resignations are emblematic of a larger truth: This Congress really is dreadful.
Put it this way: When the number of resignations far exceeds the number of major bills passed, that’s ... not great.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
Seriously burying the lede: Trump picked up the phone for KFILE.
@ichotiner.bsky.social please call Trump
Inflation continues to rise. The producer price index (PPI) rose .5% from February and 4% from March 2025. The year-to-year increase was the biggest in more than three years.
What is trump focused on? Attacking the Pope and posting Jesus-like images of himself.
Psaki: Pitching the U.S. strike Iran?
Kerry: Yes, he wanted us to strike. He came to President Obama. He made a presentation to ask to strike. President Obama refused. President Biden refused. President Bush refused.
Story: 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). Even before lashing out at Pope Leo XIV on Sunday night, and then posting an image of himself as a Jesus-like figure before deleting it, Mr. Trump had shocked many with his outbursts at critics. He accuses those who anger him of sedition, a crime punishable by death. He claimed bizarrely that the Hollywood director Rob Reiner, who was allegedly stabbed to death by his son, was killed “due to the anger he caused” by opposing Mr. Trump. When Robert S. Mueller III, the former F.B.I. director and special counsel, died, Mr. Trump said, “Good, I’m glad he’s dead.”
Good to see this level of detail from @peterbakernyt.bsky.social in @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/u...
Is this really pushback? Or a more specific diagnosis of the "unwell" observation in the piece, with which @gregsargent.bsky.social appears to agree?
If the diagnosis is correct, what are the lessons, both short-term and long-term, electoral and non-electoral.
Trump has deleted the Jesus post which of course means everyone will stop talking about it.
www.mediaite.com/media/breaki...
Donald Trump: Betraying You, Betraying America Price-hiking, job-killing tariffs Higher healthcare costs for working people while billionaires get more tax breaks A reckless war, a cover-up for pedophiles, and masked ICE agents terrorizing our neighborhoods
With Trump and the Republicans, it's just one betrayal after another.
"Trump presided over catastrophic mismanagement of a global pandemic. Then he led an insurrection. And then we put him back in power again...that's damning."
On the pod, @aselrod.bsky.social is great on what Trump's colossal unfitness says about our country:
newrepublic.com/article/2089...
