Chris Johnson

Chris Johnson

@ectowombat.bsky.social

Unitarian Universalist, humanist, lefty. Interests include linguistics and other cognitive sciences. Probably mostly reskeets. he/him/his

411 followers1.3K following1.3K posts

Chris Johnson reposted

Joe Sudbay
@joesudbay.bsky.social

"Democrats are also eager to break the GOP’s three-fifths supermajority in the legislature so that Republicans can’t override Acton’s vetoes should she win. Their best bet is the state House, where they need to flip six seats." --> Ohio House Dems have candidates in 97 of the 99 House districts

The Downballot@the-downballot.com

It's not just Ohio's governorship and Senate race that the GOP has to fret about next week. Ohio Democrats' strength, plus Vivek Ramaswamy’s own self-inflicted wounds, give them the chance to flip more key offices the GOP has held since the 2010 wave.

the-downballot.comMorning Digest: How Ramaswamy could sabotage the Ohio GOP all the way down the ballotOffices like attorney general, long held by Republicans, are now in play

Chris Johnson reposted

Chris Terry-Enescu
@cjterry.bsky.social

Oh no. Always seemed such a wonderful guy. And obviously Chekhov is his most famous role, but as Alfred Bester in Babylon 5 he was genuinely spellbinding

Jesse Thorn@jessethorn.bsky.social

My pal Danielle Koenig shared that her father Walter Koenig passed away last night at age 90. A performer whose kindness and warmth shone through the screen. He will be well remembered.

Chris Johnson reposted

Kathryn Tewson
@kathryntewson.bsky.social

Thirty years ago I was on a high-volume high-aggro mailing list, and when someone lost it like this the tradition was for someone to take the text of the message, alphabetize it, paste it into a reply, and say “these words didn’t appear to be in any particular order so I alphabetized them for you”

Hemry, Local Bartender@bartenderhemry.bsky.social

checking in on the president of the united states

Chris Johnson reposted

Peter
@notalawyer.bsky.social

some good local political drama: there's a crowded mayoral race in a nearby town, and one local business owner put out signs opposing a local councilwoman who's running. the signs get stolen, but it turns out he put airtags in them and they were traced to the councilwoman herself.

Chris Johnson reposted

Silky Shah
@silkys13.bsky.social

I understand the skepticism but what we should be asking ourselves right now is how to make sure this moment isn’t fleeting and do the work to make some of the shifts in thinking last. The dems and technocrats are so deeply committed to the status quo, it’s our job to counter that.

Austin Kocher, PhD@austinkocher.com

There is absolute giddiness among NGOs that we are on the cusp of some radical transformation of the immigration system, including abolishing ICE. Most people know the inside baseball game much better than I do, but I am, in a word, skeptical. Going big is great, but remember what country we're in.

Chris Johnson
@ectowombat.bsky.social

There’s an ad in Ohio with a Trump voter who now opposes Husted, and he seems like an unkind stereotype of one of these people.

G Elliott Morris@gelliottmorris.com

New: Low-info voters, who put Trump in the White House, now look even more anti-Trump than high-info voters, and give Dems bigger margins on the generic ballot. 1 out of 3 Trump voters who can't name the party in charge of Congress now back Dems for 2026. www.gelliottmorris.com/p/poll-low-i...

gelliottmorris.comPoll: Low-information voters have turned hardest against Trump and the GOPTrump voters who can't answer two basic questions about politics are three times as likely as other Trump voters to back Democrats for the House. This is a big change since 2024.
Chris Johnson
@ectowombat.bsky.social

Rally tomorrow in Columbus at 1 pm at West Bank Park, 313 W Main (I think). action.poweredby.faith/haitian-soli...

action.poweredby.faithHaitian Solidarity: A Pilgrimage from Springfield to Columbus - Unshackle Springfield
Abuse of Power Watch@abuseofpowerwatch.bsky.social

📍 𝐎𝐇𝐈𝐎: Haitian immigrants and supporters organized a pilgrimage from Springfield to Columbus to advocate for immigrant rights as their communities face uncertainty over deportation and legal protections. #AbuseOfPowerWatch

haitiantimes.comPilgrimage demanding ICE stop using ankle monitors kicks off in Ohio | PHOTOSA procession from Springfield to Columbus, Ohio, taking place Oct. 21 to 24 aims to stop ICE operations bringing much suffering to many immigrants. It mirrors a similar action held in Brooklyn days pr...

Chris Johnson reposted

Abuse of Power Watch
@abuseofpowerwatch.bsky.social

📍 𝐎𝐇𝐈𝐎: Haitian immigrants and supporters organized a pilgrimage from Springfield to Columbus to advocate for immigrant rights as their communities face uncertainty over deportation and legal protections. #AbuseOfPowerWatch

haitiantimes.comPilgrimage demanding ICE stop using ankle monitors kicks off in Ohio | PHOTOSA procession from Springfield to Columbus, Ohio, taking place Oct. 21 to 24 aims to stop ICE operations bringing much suffering to many immigrants. It mirrors a similar action held in Brooklyn days pr...
Chris Johnson
@ectowombat.bsky.social

If I had bazillions of dollars, I’d create a SuperPAC just to run negative ads against Democrats for opposing the ballroom/drone installation that the people demand.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Joe Mitchell: "Thank God you're building the ballroom. Thank God you're getting rid of those awful bike lanes. We don't ride bicycles in Iowa."

Chris Johnson
@ectowombat.bsky.social

Hardly one of the top ten worst things about this post, but for the record there was never a point when Mike DeWine was “losing by 16 points” and saved by a Trump rally.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Trump: "Ramaswamy put up a very powerful Ad about a mother saying that her daughter, Acton, is a liar, and much worse. The Press is trying to get him to 'take down the Ad.' Frankly, anybody whose mother spoke about daughter that way would normally lead to the daughter being precluded from serving"

Chris Johnson reposted

Joshua J. Friedman
@joshuajfriedman.com

Thank you so much to the incomparable @sarahmackattack.bsky.social for working with us on this! If you love magical, creative science communication, including nature murals in Philly, eel facts advent calendars, Skype a Scientist, and so many other worthwhile projects, please support Sarah's work!

Bluesky@bsky.app

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Chris Johnson
@ectowombat.bsky.social

It occurs to me that people who don’t follow Ohio politics closely may not realize that the journalist who broke the story about Ramaswamy’s appalling ad is the same one who was arrested for sending a state legislator a Shrek dick pic.

Chris Johnson reposted

Nathan Goldwag
@goldwagnathan.bsky.social

It mostly depends on how you define "Liberals", "Fascists", or "Socialists", none of which are Platonic entities.

Paul-tergeist Crider@paulcrider.liberalcurrents.com

Point from the Discord: "Liberals will side with fascists over socialists" has been true sometimes, but *it is demonstrably not true in America in the 2020s.*

Chris Johnson reposted

Paul Waldman
@paulwaldman.bsky.social

Wow. One thing this brings to mind: Traficant was a kind of rumpled proto-Trump. His whole thing was "Am I a crook? Sure. But I'm a crook FOR YOU. And also, just a crook But you know you love me!" And the stuff he got away with was incredible.

Karen Tumulty@ktumulty.bsky.social

People who have been around politics a long time may be struck as I was by the sheriff's signature on this arrest warrant for Amy Acton's stepfather, who at the time was a fugitive. Does the name James Traficant ring a bell?