Susan Collins couldn't fill a phone booth.
Political scientist. Political behavior + methods. Spatial analysis. Speaking in a personal capacity. Opinions expressed are my own.
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Susan Collins couldn't fill a phone booth.
Portland, Maine crowd as Democratic US Senate candidate Graham Platner takes the stage today.
Hey @jaketapper.bsky.social, what’s the timeline for the book on how the President went missing like a week after he had weird bruising on his hands?
Glengary Glen Ross.
*TRUMP TO MAKE ANNOUNCEMENT 2:00 PM ET TUESDAY: WHITE HOUSE
Nate Silver is a toxic bro & has long been one. He also reflects a pattern of men who started in data journalism or analysis & became all about vibes: him, Yglesias, Leonhardt, & others.
She won by nearly double that. 5.78 points.
Putin Finds a Growing Embrace on the Global Stage Eurasian leaders eagerly met the Russian leader at a summit this week, as President Trump has helped ease his isolation over the war in Ukraine. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/w...
A non-answer.
SoCal poll | 8/31-9/1 Virginia Governor 🟦Abigail Spanberger 53% 🟥Winsome Earle-Sears 41% substack.com/inbox/post/1...
Pope Leo XIV met with one of the most prominent advocates for greater LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Catholic Church. The Rev. James Martin said Leo told him that he intended to continue Pope Francis’ policy of LGBTQ+ acceptance in the church and encouraged him to keep up his advocacy.
Seems like as good a time as any to reshare my story on the Coffee County voting system breach, which details the key role Giuliani played in Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/what...
From 1974, America Goes Public, a telethon for the Democratic Party. It includes Henry Fonda, The Fifth Dimension, Steve Allen, Carroll O'Connor, Rosey Grier, Jack Lemmon, Dick Van Dyke, Jim Backus, Hubert Humphrey, &, given everything we're dealing with now, a heartbreaking tribute to RFK, Sr.
There is so much to say about @nadler.house.gov’s incredible legacy. But for now I’m just grateful for his leadership on so many fronts — including in passing the torch to new leaders. Nadler, Pillar of Democratic Party’s Old Guard, Will Retire Next Year www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/n...
Giuliani made the lives of two Black women, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, a living hell with his lies about them. Trump's giving him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Yet another example of Trump disrespecting Black women.
Apparently Julie Andrews & Jackie Gleason did a TV special together in 1974. It includes a Honeymooners skit with Julie as Norton. youtu.be/HvhFah5Dxc4?...
Brewers lose! Cubs are within 5 and a half games with a month to go.
These Brewers TV announcers are shameless homers.
Graham Greene has died. A Canadian acting icon, he earned an Oscar nomination for his role as Kicking Bird in Dances With Wolves. He also won a Grammy, Gemini and Canadian Screen Award, along with the Governor General's Performing Arts Award. He also earned a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.
I've been gobsmacked at food prices. We need to talk about them more – about how folks are getting squeezed from every angle with no relief in sight. That's why it's so important to have regular folks with regular experiences in these races.
Cubs win!!! We came back from being down 6-1 and beat the racist tomahawk chop organization from Atlanta!
For years, anti-renewable-energy groups linked to fossil fuels have opposed Ohio solar and wind projects by claiming they take up too much land. Now those talking points have made their way into a sweeping new directive from the Trump administration ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/09/01/t...
Happy Labor Day to all. Throwback of Kamala Harris uplifting union member speech in Detroit last year to celebrate. 💙 ✊ 💙
NEW: All Guatemalan children placed on planes yesterday have indeed been returned to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, @nilc.org lawyers confirm to Judge Sooknanan. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Perhaps no politician in history has tried to dominate every day's news cycle like Trump has. He loves being on camera. I've been away from the TV a bit today. What did Trump say today? Oh, you're saying he didn't say anything? For the 6th straight day? That's odd.
Neil Diamond: September Morn youtu.be/roW_MEX9o1Q?... 5/
Green Day: Wake Me Up When September Ends youtu.be/NU9JoFKlaZ0?... 4/
Jerry Orbach: Try to Remember youtu.be/arzRzPWghwE?... 3/
Frank Sinatra: September Song youtu.be/kjiVbaA1-sc?... 2/
Perhaps no month has had as many great songs written about it as September. A thread. Earth, Wind & Fire: September youtu.be/Gs069dndIYk?... 1/
I'm 3 and a half hours away from Atlanta so my Cubs broadcast is blacked out and I have to watch the Braves announcers. The young Braves announcer just pronounced Bill Veeck's name as VEEck. I've never seen a generation with so little interest in learning about anything that came before them.
The modal political reporter today reports on the Democratic Party like it's in the same competitive position as Democrats were in the Fourth Party System. The modal political reporter today has also never heard of the Fourth Party System.
Childhood vaccination rates are declining in the U.S. Medical experts say hesitancy is likely to increase as a result of misinformation pouring from the Trump administration — and turmoil at the federal agency responsible for setting vaccine policy ohiocapitaljournal.com/briefs/as-cd...
I don’t know if you all remember, but Sharice Davids was reelected in Kansas even after the GOP gerrymandered her district…
Some Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients: JFK: Marian Anderson, Ralph Bunche LBJ: Pope John XXIII, Aaron Copland Carter: Martin Luther King, Jr., Jonas Salk Clinton: Arthur Ashe, Thurgood Marshall Obama: Billie Jean King, Harvey Milk Trump: Rush Limbaugh, Jim Jordan, Rudy Giuliani
Are taxpayers going to have to pay the insurrectionists by the amount of feces they wiped in the Capitol on January 6th? More poops means a bigger payday for the insurrectionists? Do you get paid more if you did a Number 2 than a Number 1?
Trying to give our taxpayer money to maniacs like these
Graham has been working to make South Carolinians pay more through his support for Trump's tariffs.
As Pope Leo confirms his approach to LGBT community to be like that of predecessor, a particular optic should not go unnoticed: at today’s audience in the Apostolic Palace, Father James Martin was seated directly across from Leo at the desk, a place normally reserved for heads of state.
It is folks like this that just piss me off… I’m a Black man from SC. By 21, I’d been pulled over a few times for “driving too slow” or “looking suspicious.” Trailed 10 miles on I-20, asked if I had drugs when I’ve never touched drugs in my life. That’s profiling. So don’t pretend to know my life.
Trump Orders Have Stripped Nearly Half a Million Federal Workers of Union Rights www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/u...
Photo passed along from a federal employee from inside the Dept of Labor building, where a giant Orwellian image of Trump's face is now draped outside. Big Brother is watching.
My internal clock tells me it's time to get ready to watch Jerry sing this song even though he's no longer alive and hasn't sung it in years.
Susan Collins tripled down on her support for RFK Jr as recently as three days ago. It's disqualifying. tinyurl.com/2s4a4j7t #MEpolitics
Only 19% of Mainers believe their households are better off economically now under Trump-Vance than they were under Biden-@kamalaharris.com a year ago. www.pressherald.com/2025/09/01/m...
Another insane article from Politico. www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
Trump's right up there with Teddy Roosevelt as a reformer in the bizarre, naive reporting of @politico.com's Eli Stokols.
Please share: Seeking seed funding to develop innovations for open science, design, aggregation, transfer..? Call open now with @egap.bsky.social egap.org/our-work/res... @awilke.bsky.social Deadline 31 October
Maybe our Congress would function better if it had a mascot like Peru's Congresito. h/t: @crampell.bsky.social www.instagram.com/reels/DN84RJ...
He's also not a fan of Noem. I heard a reference to Hitler at some point.
Today in eavesdropping...this time at a Panera in Democratic Irmo, SC. Older immigrant man just said: "look at that guy at HHS. He's a bozo."
Doing department service at a Panera on a Labor Day. Paying the competence tax.
This will not make Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
Someone please kill me right now.
Pope Leo embraces Francis' legacy on LGBTQ+ Catholics, Fr. James Martin says Thank you for all you do, @jamesmartinsj.bsky.social!
Crime Festers in Republican States While Their Troops Patrol Washington
I'm catching up on some previous episodes. Still several episodes behind. But will have a question for you when I'm done with them.
Congratulations!
@jaketapper.bsky.social
For Trump, violent criminals who spread their feces in our nation’s Capitol are heroes who must be pardoned while 10-year-old Guatemalan children are such a threat that they must be deported. And this is being cheered on by white Christian nationalists.
JUST IN: Drew Ensign, on behalf of DOJ, reports that all of the migrant children have been returned to ORR custody.
Drudge on September 1, 2025.
Any thoughts on this, @jaketapper.bsky.social?
Jake Tapper is not going to ignore legitimate questions re the health of the president. Surely he's not going to make that mistake AGAIN. Right, @jaketapper.bsky.social?
lmao YOU LITERALLY TARIFFED LUMBER
Everyone who said thoughts & prayers aren’t enough was literally reflecting Catholic teaching. Catholics believe that faith without works is dead & we are not saved by faith alone. Anyone criticizing the call for action in addition to prayers, including Vance, is disrespecting Catholic teaching.
"Solidarity Forever" at the Workers Over Billionaires rally on the steps of Wisconsin's Capitol on this beautiful #LaborDay
Crime under Trump & Vance: I’m at a Long John Silver’s in Republican South Carolina. A reporter from WLTX is in here interviewing a worker who was here when there was a high-speed police chase outside. Maybe Henry McMaster should send the National Guard to address crime in South Carolina, not DC.
How it started. How it’s going. Lindsey Graham edition. South Carolina can do better with @drannieandrews.com.
Yes! Thanks!
When unions are strong, our communities and our country are strong. Every person in our nation has benefited from the labor movement. This Labor Day, we celebrate the workers and unions who have fought for fair wages, safe workplaces, and sick leave for all of us.
Liberals: “We could try to DO some things to reduce gun violence; ‘thoughts and prayers’ isn’t enough.” Republicans: “Outrage! Disgrace! They’re attacking prayer.” There’s no need to be polite or defensive in response to this. Invoking faith as an excuse to shun responsibility deserves no respect.
9 CDC Directors going back to 1977 speak out. What RFK Jr has done to our nation’s public health system "should alarm every American." It "is unlike anything we have ever seen at the agency, and unlike anything our country has ever experienced." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
A lead CDC official who resigned said Kennedy’s team asked him to “change studies that have been settled in the past” to fit anti-vax views. That’s not public health leadership—it’s malpractice. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/o... #BlueSky #MedSky #NewsSky #SciSky #NurseSky
WE ARE HIRING! 2 Lecturers in Quantitative Social Science. Want a friendly interdisciplinary department in one of the world's most vibrant cities? This just might be for you. Apply by: 10 Oct www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
Appreciated the opportunity to join Dr. Ali Khan and @richbesser.bsky.social via @wsj.com to discuss recent changes to public health and what this means for health and preparedness @altcdc.altgov.info www.wsj.com/video/three-...
"I never thought I would see the day when I couldn't rely on the CDC website for fact-based information with transparency about how it got there, what it's recommending and why." Former CDC director and author of "The Formula of Better Health," Dr. Tom Frieden, on @npr.org's All Things Considered:
Remember when Hillary coughed and the media were practically writing her obituary?
Leaving aside the typical histrionics, this seems to be Trump beginning to distance himself from Kennedy (who’s “ripping apart” CDC), and inviting mainstream physicians and scientists to defend the vaccines, so Trump can then say, I got them to explain it better and vaccines are OK.
Putting this out there for all the "where are the democrats?" folks... Right here. They are right here. @repyassansari.bsky.social is especially powerful on the ICE raids, etc. Follow her.
Anti-union Senator Lindsey Graham is a fixture at the Chapin Labor Day parade. Here he was last year. South Carolina can do better with a pro-union Senator @drannieandrews.com
The ageists on the left in Bernieworld are certainly quiet about Trump’s decline.
RFK, Jr: Some men see things as they are and say why. I see how how we were curing diseases and say no more of that.
Thanks to @williamadler78.bsky.social for the Norma Rae gif. Which reminds me, if you’ve never seen the great Oscar-winning documentary Harlan County, USA, do yourself a favor and watch it (in addition to Norma Rae).
For years, anti-renewable-energy groups linked to fossil fuels have opposed Ohio solar and wind projects by claiming they take up too much land. Now those talking points have made their way into a sweeping new directive from the Trump administration. ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/09/01/t...
If you enjoy… Weekends Safe working conditions Retirement benefits Paid vacations Breaks at work Sick leave Paid holidays … then you’re part of the labor movement. Happy Labor Day.
No, Native-Born Employment Has Not Soared. A viral chart shared by Trumpworld showing an increase in employment among native-born Americans is a multiple-count data felony: washingtonmonthly.com/2025/09/01/n...
There are so many horrific things happening in our country right now. And this is what white Christian nationalist Franklin Graham is focused on. An event that didn't even get cancelled. Meanwhile he's silent on what's being done to immigrants, the safety net, our environment, & so much more.
I am chairing the search for two (2) Tenure Track positions at the Department of Health Services, Policy and Management at @uscarnoldschool.bsky.social We are looking to move relatively fast so please get your applications in quickly #HealthPolicy #AcademicSky uscjobs.sc.edu/postings/194...
I just want to stress again that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is such a conspiracy theorist and malevolent human being that he thinks his father's assassin didn't kill him & wants him set free. That's the kind of monster we're dealing with in RFK, Jr.
@thedanrather.bsky.social Is Still Chasing the News. Thank you for all you do, sir! www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/b...
Thank you for being a US Senate candidate in South Carolina who actually stands up for workers.
This should be the lead story in all major national news outlets. Public health people prefer to stay out of the limelight unless there is no other choice. I can’t overstate how bad things have to be for 9 former CDC directors to band together and pen an op-ed in the NYT warning the entire country.
🇺🇸
Kamala Harris would not be secretly trying to deport innocent children to Guatemala if she was our president instead right now.
Republican elected officials are letting this happen because they care more about not making Trump mad than they care about our health.
"We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and we cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy...We aspired to intelligence. We didn’t belittle it. It didn’t make us feel inferior." -- Aaron Sorkin
We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
Nor in this one. www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-... 2/2