Matt Vallone
@matthewjvallone.bsky.social
Dad to an amazing girl. Former Hill staffer & NH native. Currently aerospace/defense/data guy. Fan of all things New England and THFC. Some writing on the side when I have time.
created December 9, 2024
1,067 followers 1,813 following 1,983 posts
view profile on Bluesky Posts
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
Absolute erasure of non-white experiences or the massive and ongoing fights for acceptance by those deemed "not" American. My Italian-American grandfather served in WWII and has no place in this myopic, racist trashfire of a history.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
I have no idea how I missed this when they were performing but this is genius. Just straight genius. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFpr...
Michael Hobbes (@michaelhobbes.bsky.social) reposted
40% of Republicans think the COVID vaccine killed more people than the COVID virus. One in four believe that QAnon is real. No matter how far they radicalize, we are told over and over again that the people being rude to them are the problem.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
Whatever the most expensive option available. P-8 surveilling followed by an F-35B with some sort of air-to-surface.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
It's Marco Rubio >>> Pete Hegseth at bureaucratic maneuvering. Elbridge Colby is writing something while things happen elsewhere.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I would wager large sums of money this is Rubio driven.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I also think a lot of these people are incapable of accepting that other countries have agency. Everything is viewed through a prism of American primacy and American responsibility. It's like the world is trapped in amber in 1993.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
There was an SNL skit about how we were going to defeat the terrorists with the greatest photo opps in the world and this administration is where reality is now imitating life.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
It's important to remember that these are people that think Jessup is the protagonist in 'A Few Good Men' and the lesson from "Clear and Present Danger" is moar air strikes.
Walter Olson (@walterolson.bsky.social) reposted
An Aug. 29 policy statement from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency, will from now on bar nonpartisan groups such as the League of Women Voters from offering voter registration services at the end of naturalization ceremonies. /1
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
Steven Beschloss (@stevenbeschloss.bsky.social) reposted
Surely, the decision to hold a military spectacle at that time is just coincidence.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
Really want to go back to 2003 and see what 2003 Matt Yglesias has to say about 2025 Matt Yglesias' decision to throw himself into hippie punching as a career choice.
Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner.bsky.social) reposted
Two things can be — and are — true here: Bowser is not the champion DC needs in this moment, and The Washington Post has become a Trump rag. A newspaper that actually cared about the city in its name would not publish such an inflammatory, bullshit headline.
Tracy King (@tracyking.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
Related, children are now given constant supervision (saw some stats recently that children play out 62% less than my generation). Huge toll on parents. Anecdotally, I went back to the estate where I grew up this weekend, zero kids playing out. A weekend afternoon in my day was dozens of kids out.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I also feel like an analogous thing would be leaving facebook and yet no one making the “you need to post to the Fox News comments section run by a racist” argument seems to have had similar objections to leaving facebook.
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 (@josephpolitano.bsky.social) reposted
US factory construction continues steadily declining as CHIPS & IRA projects either complete or cancel—in official data released today, overall US manufacturing construction activity is down 7% compared to last year & electronics/electrical manufacturing construction is down 14%
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
We absolutely can and should fight back but we should recognize that if the leadership for 40% of the country doesn’t want a liberal democracy it’s going to be very hard to keep it in place. Accountability for illiberal actions has to be significant.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
Even in-power, small-l liberals would need to engage in more illiberal behavior to sanction conservatives pushing reactionary/authoritarian government. In practice, a lot of libertarian-style (racist or otherwise) nominal liberals seem to have gotten comfortable with Trump/illiberalism for others.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I’ve been saying this since midway through his first term but once a decent chunk of GOP leadership decided that Trump and/or illiberalism was preferable to Democratic policies, there’s not a lot that we on the left can do to prevent a slide into illiberalism.
Cooper Lund (@cooperlund.online) reposted
Once again - why would you trust a machine to think for you when that machine can be modified by the powerful? medium.com/p/232bf010694a
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I actually think Vance is much more committed to his illiberalism than Trump. He’s repeatedly discussed how they need to ignore the Judicial branch.
Sharon (@sharonk.bsky.social) reposted
jesus man, tell me you have no idea who Claremont is or JD Vance's record as a postliberal
Infinite TsukoyomISRT Gigan (@gigansprogress.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
MILCON which has already been raided for border construction this year, got plussed up in the reconciliation request to cover the shortfalls for the border deployments this year, and is always the first slush fund for cost overruns federalnewsnetwork.com/federal-repo...
Adam Weinstein (@adamweinstein.bsky.social) reposted
Here's one really big headline and one really little headline from this morning's WSJ homepage
Jonathan Cohn (@jonathancohn.bsky.social) reposted
Perfect encapsulation of the Trump administration: The guy suing Harvard for alleged antisemitism is a straight-up Hitler-admiring Nazi. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/02/m...
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I mean, there's a chance Vance is the Augustus to Trump's Julius Caesar but it sure feels like he lacks the charisma and shamelessness that has powered this horrific ride.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
Much of modern US journalism consists of otherwise intelligent people pondering deeply questions of motivation that are not actually particularly challenging due to the implications of the obvious conclusions.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
Plus I'm a Boston homer - have been since childhood and always will be. I miss New England quite a bit.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
I feel like it's a sign of aging that I really enjoy watching old episodes of 'Cheers'. I don't actually remember much of it from growing up (I was too young for its prime), but the general atmosphere reminds me so much of my childhood I find I like it.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
This is really not a difficult question to answer unless you are intent on being willfully obtuse.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I mean, that's as comprehensible as Quebecois is to my French.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
One of the reasons I disagree with @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social 's piece on competitive authoritarianism is I don't think the mainstream media is actually harshly opposed. It's more like tentatively skeptical.
plastickfox (@plastickfox.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
His GFM is here: www.gofundme.com/f/HELPJACKfi...
plastickfox (@plastickfox.bsky.social) reposted
Furries, I need your help. Temg, a childhood terminal cancer fighter, needs you now more than ever. He wanted to quit fighting until Furrydelphia and MakeAWish got him to his first con. Afterwards he told his parents he wants to continue fighting.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I also think the educational polarization means that the midterm electorate should be extra-Dem leaning. Think about how badly they underperformed in 2022 and now assume similar. If it's free & fair, could see an 8+ point swing left between reduced turnout and typical midterm dynamics.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
As a non-lawyer, is there a point at which people's ability to practice law should be revoked for overt dishonesty in court? Like I feel like DoJ attorneys are not serving in good faith at the moment.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
It's both evil and undercuts Israel's ethnic cleansing campaign to create a Trumpian Mediterranean Singapore by expelling all the Palestinians. Evil and self-sabotaging.
Faine Greenwood (@faineg.bsky.social) reposted
Anecdotally, it does seem like quite a few kids think the phone bans are a good thing, too:
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
Honestly, by itself this should be enough to get Drew Ensign disbarred. Nevermind an express trip to Hell when he is called to judgement. Flatly lying about scared children.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
Somewhere a crisis PR intern at a really scummy comms firm is screaming into a paper bag.
Max Berger (@maxberger.bsky.social) reposted
The DeSantis regime will do more to protect sidewalks from chalk than children from bullets.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
I honestly am agog at the willingness of DoJ attorneys to lie and/or repeat utter falsehoods to judges.
Kevin M. Kruse (@kevinmkruse.bsky.social) reposted
Pure fucking evil. Everyone involved in this shit needs to be held accountable.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I've read several books by Jan Morris that predate that assertion by quite a bit.
Dan Murphy (@bungdan.bsky.social) reposted
Historians will tell the story of the Trump presidency through excess death statistics. bsky.app/profile/kend...
Stephen Bush (@stephenkb.bsky.social) reposted
👇 This one reason why I think trad approaches to school curriculums will continue to be the best approach. How you use knowledge will always change, but the importance of having it, not so much.
Atrios (@eschatonblog.com) reposted
One thing Sensible Centrists refuse to acknowledge - and this was true during covid when people were also saying this stuff explicitly - is these people are eugnenicists who welcome a good plague to get rid of the old, botched, and bungled
Secretary of Defense Rock (@sodrock.bsky.social) reposted
What even more wild about the original Ernst scandal is it was propublica that broke the story; think about how many hill reporters sat on it to preserve access
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I remain surprised you don’t have more organization around a movement to amend the 2nd amendment since that’s very obviously what has to happen.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
In fairness, we had a literal assault weapons ban that covered quite a lot of this for over a decade so I don’t think it’s actually that difficult to find a reasonable basket of descriptors (fire rate, stock length, magazine capacity, etc.).
Bobby Kogan (@bbkogan.bsky.social) reposted
A pocket rescission is an illegal impoundment, not a rescission. It’s a method of not spending money they are required to spend. The Trump admin is choosing to focus on the foreign aid funding, loudly impounding it. But it’s still quietly illegally impounding other things, like cancer research.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
Josh Marshall (@joshtpm.bsky.social) reposted
This is the peak Axios AI story. Workers are getting stressed because they’re under pressure to find something useful to do with AI. If they don’t investors will have bought into a bubble. Why do workers hate investors?
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I also think there's a significant set of people for whom masculinity/male heterosexuality is a very rigid set of behaviors and anything outside of that set they don't really have a way to process/reject.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
What he should do is swear he won't allow confirmation of a replacement CDC head who is anti-vax and given his vote, that would work. That he won't should make clear where his priorities lie.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I’m also pretty sure if he wanted to he could issue a statement that he would not confirm replacement nominees who are antivaccine that would actually be meaningful but, I note, that is not what he’s doing.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
Even more pathetic is that they literally acknowledge that they already sent this letter almost a month ago to no response. Even as a press stunt this is lame.
Brian Wasik (@brianrwasik.bsky.social) reposted
Sen Cassidy received his wallet back from Bobby and is PISSED to find that it is, in fact, empty.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I think the latter point is totally valid but at least be vaguely consistent within your own oped!
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I personally found how they first decry “personal experience” as an unreasonable obstacle (implied leftwing argument) and then, several paragraphs later, highlight how important it was to have Jewish students provide their personal perspective post 10/7.
Rueben Hewitt (@fitfastcoach.bsky.social) reposted
cap your workouts at 1 hr. more isn't always better. for most people 60m is a good sweet-spot that balances exertion with recovery. go too long and cortisol stays elevated (more muscle breakdown, slower recovery, stubborn fat loss)
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
If Sen. Cassidy actually had principles, he would make clear he won’t approve a replacement who endorses RFK’s quackery but I’m sure we know how this will go.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I also think it’s hard to separate this from the broader assault on higher education. Since we’ve seen the electorate polarize sharply around those with college degrees and above and those without, this seems to be the outcome of an administration that views higher education writ large as suspect.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
My daughter goes to a public charter school in DC. As I walked her over today I saw there was a police car with an officer inside watching drop-off. A year ago I would have found that heartening, now it raised my hackles in ways that are really uncomfortable.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
Sitting here in Washington DC, I feel like operating under the assumption that just because a given policy is absurd, cruel and completely unlikely to work means it won't be attempted is not the way to go.
Marisa Kabas (@marisakabas.bsky.social) reposted
imagine being so maniacally racist that you side with the fire over the firefighter
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
Oh, very excited to read this. Great cover!
Ian Boudreau (@ianboudreau.com) reposted
Are vaccines safe? Let's ask this guy who sounds like a dying refrigerator compressor
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
There’s this ongoing weird thing where “savvy” and "quant-oriented" centrists make really bad claims about what is and is not worth fighting over.
Brian Finucane (@bcfinucane.bsky.social) reposted
Tapping into Blair's expertise in Middle East regime change.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
If your business model is dependent upon you actively hoping you can avoid people with legitimate legals claim for redress, perhaps your business model isn’t actually good.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I think there was a lot of totally unwarranted self-congratulatory behavior by elites post 2008 that ‘the system worked’ when for most people it absolutely did not. Hell, I remember reading Dan Drezner’s book of that same name and thinking “it is way too early to be claiming this”.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
My personal theory is that the 2008 financial crisis and the horrifically slow recovery blew up faith in a bunch of institutions. People started casting about for options and, well, here we are. Turchin's theories on elite overproduction and timed unrest also resonate.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
There’s a lot going on here.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
That’s fair, I just have a lot of subscriptions already but am curious on this. I’d understand if he didn’t want to reply.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
The whole Jade Helm kerfuffle really feels even more ridiculous now. Military exercises (under a Democratic president) - concerning, government overreach Random feds pulling people off the street due to skin color - freedom
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
It’s honestly kind of impressive how MAGA guys bleat about traditional masculinity but then embody none of the actual virtues (courage, discipline, honesty in the face of difficulty, self-control, restraint) that make up traditional Western masculinity.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I’m not paying for it, but do you address at all what ongoing exposure to what is promoted on twitter can do to people’s values? I honestly think quite a few center left folks have shifted in rather concerning ways over the past couple of years and I feel like that’s worth noting.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
There’s considerable evidence that exposure to false but emotive narratives/accusations has real impact even if you consciously are aware the information is false. That’s before we get into the groupthink aspect of getting news from a site that is consciously trying to push rightwing narratives.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
I don’t understand the utility of arguing on what amounts to a bot-enmeshed version of a Newsmax comments section is - its not effective persuasion. Further, I think the psychological impact of being deluged with rightwing junk isn’t negligible.
Adam Gurri (@adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com) reposted
Because no debate is ever truly concluded, I'll respond to Jerusalem's last section: 1- Any "center-right, libertarian, "apolitical," and persuadable middle audiences" such as they are, can be reached more readily on other platforms
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I think it’s a lot more complicated than that, but as someone with a background in US politics, I absolutely think educational polarization has really hollowed out Democrats ability to connect to working class voters at a values level.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
Politics is tribal rather than logical. People have to believe they share your value before they will believe your policies. A party that solely prioritizes the needs of ‘experts’ won’t have the moral language to talk to enough of the electorate to win elections.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I feel like we continue to have a conversation about policy solutions to presentational problems. You need people to believe you share their values before they will listen to you on policy and yet since data people love data, we’re going to just assume policy levers can be pulled.
Lord Businessman II (@lordbusinessman.bsky.social) reposted
They better settle for eleventy bajillion dollars because if this thing gets in front of a jury that's game over lol lmao lol Please dear Lord may it get in front of a jury
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
I feel like their training regimen is basically the family guy color palette thing and then they issue firearms.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
Orwell’s spinning in his grave could power Washington DC.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
I really wish the manosphere that talks about reclaiming masculinity would have an honest conversation about the dichotomy of what a healthy sense of self entails and whatever the hell this is.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
Someone is going to really need to someday explain to me how the guys that bray about honor and pride and old fashioned values can look themselves in the mirror after performing like whipped poodles like this. My God, have some shame.
Michael Caley (@michaelcaley.bsky.social) reposted
the risks inherent in the most powerful csam creation engine ever made are not, primarily, the potential extinction of humanity in service of paperclip quotas
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
I honestly remain surprised there hasn't been any ‘straight’ news reporting on how cabinet meetings have devolved into DPRK level performance.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
Really curious as to what the fuck he thinks happened to the big European land empire at the center of WWI and how that was a blow against “nationalism”.
Zoomer Antimillenarian ♨️ (@surcomplicated.bsky.social) reposted
It's perilous, using a chatbot as your therapist, with tragic results in this case. And frankly, OpenAI's publicity strategy has encouraged this sort of overreliance. @questauthority.bsky.social would I be correct in thinking this is going to be one hell of a product liability case?
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
Being even nominally part of a network that not just tolerates but actively boosts PEG content is one of the many reasons I’m not going back to Twitter.
Defence Blog (@defence-blog.com) reposted
Boston startup secures $50M for U.S. Navy’s autonomous warship defence-blog.com/boston-start...
NBC News (@nbcnews.com) reposted
Photographer Ross Stepanek captured footage of a bobcat chasing a rabbit near the Venice fishing pier in Florida.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social)
I do think, writ large, that elite impunity to consequences has been a big part of the general disillusionment and decay of the past ~40 years. It’s not a party thing - Obama should have fired Sebelius for the ACA rollout and we all were too protective of WJC in the 1990s but its bad.
Matt Vallone (@matthewjvallone.bsky.social) reply parent
And, before anyone assumes I was grimly nodding with impressive foresight, I was definitely in the ‘awkward laughing’ contingent.
Sky Marchini (@sky.skymarchini.net) reposted
oh my god? brave.com/blog/comet-p...