Ezra Klein is the classic example of someone given too much on a plate without earning it who is forever convinced of their inherent genius. He also molds to his environment from pretty far left at Vox to centrist at NYT without seeming to have solid internal philosophical compass.
Politics · Takes · page 2
Further down today’s ranking of Politics posts that are opinions and questions: page 2 of 5.
I drove through NH on Friday and was struck by two things: 1. There were a lot more Pappas signs than Sununu, and more Ayotte signs than Warmington (consistent with polls); and 2. While all of the Democratic signs were blue, none of the GOP signs were red. The red brand is toxic at the moment.
Ben Carroll wants to match the Libs’ plan to raise Vic’s land tax threshold from $50k to $300k. But cheaper landholding won’t help renters or homeowners. We need a tax shift: less tax on jobs and moving, more on land and resources. Read more: www.prosper.org.au/2026/10/land... #VICPol
‘“Stop calling it an Iron Dome,” Kemi dead-panned. “It isn’t an Iron Dome. I’ve never called it an Iron Dome. It’s a Britannia Shield.” Genius. She couldn’t think for the life of her why everyone was calling it an Iron Dome. Mmm. It might have been something to do with the Tory press office releasing a statement calling it an Iron Dome? And the opinion piece in the Sun, written by Kemi herself, calling it an Iron Dome?’ #ukPol 🟦🤦♂️ theguardian.com/politics/2026/…
There are so many tragic examples like this. The potential consequences of distracted driving are obvious. brutal & devastating. We all know this. Why then, when people make the choice to risk others lives do we shy away from prosecuting them properly? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Americans scream tyranny is wonderful, but Americans are unable to explain why Cubans try to escape even though Cuba has gun control and free medical care.
"While Carney did not come from an elite family, his path in life took him to Harvard, Oxford, and then Goldman Sachs. He led the central banks of two of the world’s largest economies. And as his recent investment summit has shown, he has the global economic elite in his Rolodex."
There is a rather wider minority for abolishing the Monarchy (about 1 in 5 to 1 in 4) than for the controversy of whether only white people can be English (1 in 10). It is weird the media classes are so rarely across how niche this 'controversy' is - about 1/4 Reform voters, but few others
The very funny FBI hack has a 'reason' given now "FBI’s internal review of a hack of its jobs portal...determined that a “security failure” by a contractor managing the site...the FBI has removed the contractor, which it did not identify" The number of times privatization is responsible for gov hacks is unsurprisingly incredibly high And the public doesn't even get to know if they were actually punished or what other contracts they have, bc they almost certainly still do
It's easy and understandable to say the Trump administration is being racist again here. But the more analytical question is how & why is Black home ownership quoted at 24% vs 73% white. That would require an analysis of an economy that continually makes winner and losers along racial lines.
How come we are blaming immigrants? When the blame lies with: Federal governments not properly funding: - national infrastructure, logistics and strategic development of transport, and electricity production and delivery. - healthcare - education, tertiary, secondary, primary and preschool - innovation, technical and apprenticeship training, - local manufacturing, and services - protecting the environment and ensuring Australia’s bio security and food security - international efforts to improve sustainability, and build resilience and self sufficiency - government and public services.
Show more of this post
State and local governments not properly funding: - state and local infrastructure to enhance national goals - rural and regional development - affordable, sustainable, adaptable and appropriate housing - healthcare and health facilities - protecting the environment and encouraging sustainable development - government and public services - public transport. The decades long mismanagement of the Commonwealth of Australia is a factor of politics, not immigration. #auspol #Immigration #Labor #liberals #onenation
One thing I wish the left wing of the political spectrum appreciated is an electorally robust Dem Party means *more* left wing candidates not fewer. There is a penalty for being “too left wing” and Democrats running up big electoral margins means more candidates can pay that penalty and still win.
The DSA flipped more seats this year than the Tea Party did in 2010. It's obvious incumbents everywhere are going to lose.
This is a really good and nationally binding decision. It remains to be seen what impact it has on the NSW Government approval of a massive mine expansion at Hunter Valley Coal only days before. Presumably the High Court should rule against that too. Yay. theguardian.com/australia-news…
When the US Department of Homeland Security was founded, in 2003 or thereabouts, I thought, "what idiot named this, clearly that's racist". This based on the notion that "homeland", as a concept, is a hallmark. Since then, especially recently, it's become very clear that use in the DHS name was not a mistake, rather a telegraph of intent. So it is with some surprise and confusion that I witness the media's reaction to the Green Party's resolution about Zionism. Most discussions I can find include the word "homeland".
Show more of this post
Clearly there is nuance here of which I am ignorant. Also I'm sitting from a position of exceptional privilege: I've never needed a "homeland", I've always been already there. One aspect of this which fails to be communicated or recognised is that "____ is racist" can be applied to most actions or principles that aggregate and execute power. There is not, however, a lot concrete you can do with the statement "everything is racist" other than say "I'll try, again and always, to do better". We should all be doing that.
Two thoughts: - How messed up is it that the audit and counterintelligence folks took so long to pick up on this? - How bad is CIA spy training such that if they give this guy $200M he can't figure out how to vanish into a new identity and squander that money in peace? The real DOGE scandal here is that the US intel community is paying far too much for ineffective clandestine officer training
The threats to our resilience are the same as the threats to our democracy: corporate lobbyists shaping policy, with dire consequences for our ability to withstand crises. Burnham seems to want to change this. But is he aware of scale of the task? My column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A barrister with reported longstanding ties to Farage conducts Reform’s internal inquiry and delivers a reassuring verdict. One trusts the potential conflicts were examined with rather more rigour than the allegations. Independence requires more than a wig and a favourable conclusion.
Final thought on the imminent election from listening to Sunday's edition of MediaWatch; Voters in the Māori electorates have a very clear choice. If they want the current regime out of power, they'll vote for the most popular candidate who isn't running for Labour (TPM or otherwise). If they want to keep Labour out of government, they'll vote for Labour's candidate, hoping to reduce their intake of list MPs. This is the reality of voting under MMP. It's just not simple, and can't be.
The stories themselves will not result in systemic change. The stories may be the driver to be part of a mass mobilization of millions of people rising up also against ICE also against the desecration of voting rights also against many other harms in a sustained movement towards something big
The argument I've seen from MANY liberals is that Carney is building an oil pipeline so that he can fund social programs So why is he simultaneously building a pipeline while cutting national pharmacare? www.hilltimes.com/2026/10/05/n...
Something I was thinking yesterday evening reading a Guardian piece on her is that if Badenoch takes her party backwards at the next GE, which is not unlikely, the Tories are really stuffed. Even just in terms of thinking about who might replace her.
I don't care about cars. I bought my first one at age 31, and I drove my last one to the scrap yard 15 years later when the kids were grown. I cycle and ride buses and trains. But I believe the only way we can get the small-town male petrol-car huggers back from voting for Fascist parties is solid subsidies on electric vehicles. As for jobs for these men, sorry, no idea. #evs #environment #climate #fascism
Economic policy should serve people and planet, not arbitrary fiscal rules and targets. The speech by chancellor John Healey earlier this week may as well have been another speech by Rachel Reeves. greenparty.org.uk/2026/10/04/g...
Really sad to hear about increased ASB in #Blakelaw. I heard first hand from kids from Projects4Change years ago about the lack of engagement in the design and scope of the previous administrations "investment" in Blakelaw. #RightToPlay @makespaceforgirls.bsky.social
Eminent domain should NOT be usable by a private entity. It should ALWAYS require the action of an elected government answerable to the people. And require public hearings where the justification is made clear (and alternatives considered). That probably won't help, of course. Our governments aren't really responsive to their constituents in many cases and there's always more people unaffected and therefore uninterested than those that are. Here, the government granting the project is the state, not local, so people be damned. Now, maybe it IS a "good" project, but I'm feeling the cynicism of the farmer here ... no real accountability, no real negotiable, just we WANT your land and we have the power to take it. agweb.com/news/business/farmla…
There’s a reason, when writing my first book on the Tories, that I insisted on the importance of “the party in the media” as an integral part of their milieu.
I just saw an interview with Pete Hegseth. He had promised that if he got the job of Sec Def he would stop drinking. Why don't I see anyone asking if he is keeping this promise? I think his performance so far warrants him being asked this question. #uspol #hegseth
In the West Wing-verse, President Bartlett was just reelected. It was apparently a tough campaign, but then he pulled ahead at the end and won in a landslide. According to the show, he gave a phenomenal debate performance in which he embraced the complexity of the world and delved deeply into issues and solutions. And this swayed something like 70% of undecided voters to vote for him. So, still a fairy tale, but the angle took a little shift there. Fairy tale about the american electorate.
It's a good thing that people with extremely conservative views also think racism is bad.
Our current National government proposing random drug testing for people on jobseekers benefits. Given the importance of their jobs, I think maybe it should be mandatory for MPs. That and breath testing for alcohol. Similarly, I think their wage in parliament should match that of job seeking benefit, and the meals they get when at parliament be the same as school dinners. It might concentrate their minds a bit on what the impacts of their decisions actually are
The new, mandatory, effectively privatized, expensive, and gloriously inefficient invoicing system enforced in Greece is another example of just how failed and corrupt this state is.
This is from an article about a rare grove of American chestnut trees about to be demolished in WV — and we have no say in it! My former* delegate, Kayla Young, broke it down in her newsletter a few months back. (She's still a delegate, but for a neighboring district. I wish she was still mine!)
[3/4] condemning the evil values of these right-wing extremists and refusing to tolerate atrocities by Australian soldiers. If I were Australian, I would not support a plutocratist party overall. Plutocratist policies are driving the non-rich into penury. But I have to admire Hastie's adamant support for the laws of war. The other soldier was not prosecuted for murder. Rather, he sued, for defamation, those who reported on the murders. He lost the case because the judge ruled that the
We should take the debt seriously, but that means being honest about how we got here. Spending alone didn't get us to $40 trillion. Decades of tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations have cost taxpayers trillions. Read my full op-ed in @financialtimes.com:
If we really want to reduce immigration, it's would need to be the later parts of a detail plan. Up front it would require several years of investment is education and training. Not window dressing, real change like free tuition for all and means tested allowances for living expenses. Anything less is destined for failure, with lots of adverse side effects across the community. Failing to do that, ends in MAGA style blow back for it's electoral supports.
This is a really important point. The narrative is all "Kemi Bounce" on the right. I listened to The Spectator podcast from Tory conference the other day and you'd think they were on 45 points the way they were talking. They're polling worse than they have in 100 years.
I spent all day on election activism. There’s a county clerk here who is interfering with duly appointed election watchers’ access to the polls. I was settling down for the evening, when I read this opinion and it reminded me of why I am working so hard to make sure the U.S. election is free and fair and the results are respected and implemented. The opinion is an order to make ICE bring back a man they kidnapped and flew to Equatorial Guinea. The author is a Trump appointed judge. 1/ #LawFedi
My experience of the left over 25 years? It's a fringe (albeit a loud one) that's indulgent of e.g. Hamas. For most of us, we focus on the UK & its allies because that's what we can affect with our work. We see condemnations of actors who are bad, but whose actions we can't affect, as mere posturing
Today, for the first time, I heard the word "Christian Zionists" related to Trump and the Republicans. For Christian Zionists, this alliance is about more than religious affinity. Many view Israel as central to biblical prophecy, including end-times interpretations and the anticipated return of Jesus Christ. These beliefs elevated support for Israel from a foreign-policy preference to a religious commitment. aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/10… #us_politics
A referendum isn’t a life sentence. In 2016 voters chose Brexit, but they didn’t vote to surrender the right of future generations to reconsider it. Since the consequences have proved damaging, democracy allows the freedom to debate, vote again, & change course. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
#RoryStewart & #AlastairCampbell are v good interviewers. They don't challenge hard, but do gently draw ppl out. #TheRestIsPolitics Leadjng is usually a fine listen, despite the duo being austerity backer & #warcriminal who cheered Starmer. But I couldn't listen to TRIP interview of #GordonBrown. It's not just the mendacity of #TheVow. Brown's 13 yrs in govt was bullying neoliberalism, & he does no self-criticism. Of 10 PMs since Thatcher, the fake-left Broon revolts me the most. 🤮 😡 #ukpol
On top of these polling methodology issues, here are 3 other reasons to think there’s not much of a pro-Dem bias: 1. Repubs aren’t successfully spinning the press & getting a lot of favorable coverage 2. A lot of press coverage about Repubs is they see doom 3. Repubs are spending in very R areas
Here in the US we're four weeks away from the midterm elections. But I have to admit that my family and I are considering that maybe we're three weeks away from some invented disaster that Trump uses to declare martial law and prevent the elections from taking place. We're stocking up on essentials just in case such a disaster has wider implications. It's saddening that we even have to consider such things, but the govt is certainly less predictable and less reliable than just ten years ago...
I am deeply sympathetic to people organizing tirelessly against genocide for years, and think a degree of grace should be given in light of that context But damn does this show the limitations of a political strategy based around organizing protests against whoever happens to be in power
Jon McDonnell says on #Peston that [Israel] "has created an apartheid state" RP replies, "but that is contested" Fact check The three parties who represent Palestinian and Arabic rights in Israel have been told they can not run in this month's general election. That will means that there is no political representation for arabs in government. That is literally apartheid. Robert, do better, love
'terror attack, provoke response, alienate pop. from authority, push towards attacker's cause' dynamic is pretty well known & there are definitely cases where you could argue it was a successful strategy, but also when you read actual terrorists own writings on their goals they're rarely that smart
In every generation, America has a group of immigrants who augment and bolster the Union. For a long time that was my community, even as late as the end of the Cold War. Jewish people famously emigrated through Ellis island as a classic story of American greatness and welcoming.
Thatchers ‘legacy’ is flattered by what went before, industrial mayhem that she partially ended. But she sold off the family silver privatising swathes of British industry and squandering North Sea oil and crippling rather than subduing union power. She encouraged greed and the loadza money society.
The right wing is getting desperate about the upcoming midterm elections. How do I know? Because for the first time in my 60 years on this planet, they're spamming me, a person who (if they bothered to check) has donated money to Democrats (and only Democrats), has only ever voted in Democratic primaries, and lives in a very Democratic-leaning neighborhood. The spam I get is outrageous but illuminating. The latest one from the Heritage Foundation has this subject line: “We cannot stop fighting to end birthright citizenship.” Something I received yesterday had this call-to-action button: “STOP TALARICO FROM TRANSITIONING YOUR KIDS >>” Fuck these guys. #USPolitics
