E.J. Graff

E.J. Graff

@ejgraff.bsky.social

Editorial coaching & communications consulting. Journalist, author, loudmouth. Substack at https://howtobeamerican.substack.com. Website at ejgraff.com.

1.1K followers258 following1K posts

E.J. Graff
@ejgraff.bsky.social

Because this is America, and we WANT people to starve. 😫

Katie Bergh@katiebergh.bsky.social

In the wake of unprecedented cuts in last year's Republican reconciliation law, SNAP participation & spending have been falling — and the decline is much deeper than the Congressional Budget Office initially projected. www.cbpp.org/blog/congres...

E.J. Graff reposted

Ana Marie Cox
@anamariecox.com

GOP is circling the wagons around Ramaswamy with two lines of messaging. 1. A version of “It’s about ethics in gaming journalism” (ad is about honesty, not calling a child a liar) 2. Only pussies object to calling a child a liar.

E.J. Graff
@ejgraff.bsky.social

SO GREAT!! Make that money backfire and explode like a cybertruck.

Team Talarico@teamtalaricohq.bsky.social

NEW AD: Have you seen these anti-Talarico attack ads? Elon Musk paid for nearly all of them. The world's first trillionaire knows if he drags the most corrupt politician in Texas across the finish line, Ken Paxton will owe him everything. Elon Musk: Texas is not for sale.

E.J. Graff
@ejgraff.bsky.social

This is SO GOOD

Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social

“Republicans are creepy as hell. Democrats need to grow a spine and call Republicans out for their creepy fetish of monitoring children’s bathrooms.” The correct response. thehill.com/homenews/cam...

thehill.comDemocratic super PAC hammers GOP over trans bathroom focusA Democratic super PAC is hammering Republicans over their focus on transgender issues as GOP candidates in battleground races invoke culture war issues against their Democratic opponents in the fi…

E.J. Graff reposted

Philip Bump
@pbump.com

That $366 million Elon is spending to try and convince voters that Congress should stay Republican? It's more money than McCain's 2008 campaign spent. But it's also, relative to Musk's net worth, the same as a household at the median income spending $32.

ctinsider.comThe 2026 question: Which is more powerful, money or people?Elon Musk has spent $366 million this election cycle. Philip Bump examines what that kind of money can buy in American politics.

E.J. Graff reposted

davidrlurie
@davidrlurie.com

The SWAT team like descent on Rep Omar's home weeks before an election, after JD Vance declared an intention to investigate her for some crime, any crime, echoes decades of misuses of law enforcement power for political purposes, starting with J Edgar Hoover's deportation of political opponents.

publicnotice.coLessons from a Red ScareThe American people are capable of turning the tide against repression.
Ryan Goodman@rgoodlaw.bsky.social

With Ilhan Omar search: DOJ Inspector General report (on Comey's misdeeds): "[V]arious witnesses testified that the Department has a longstanding unwritten practice to avoid overt law enforcement and prosecutorial activities close to an election, typically within 60 or 90 days of Election Day."

E.J. Graff reposted

Dana Houle
@danahoule.bsky.social

Starting Monday morning every candidate who Elon Musk is spending against should hold an event where they tell everyone Elon Musk has their Social Security number & he’s funding their opponents’ campaign so he doesn’t have to give it back.

#TeslaTakedown@teslatakedown.com

Do you like Friday night news dumps? In the last 24 hours Elon dumped another $4,082,655.01 into GOP campaigns. Sad news for Mike Rogers tho. Elon must be disappointed in Mike's debate performance. He added big $ to dozens of races, but not a single dollar in this batch for Mike. Too bad, so sad 😢

E.J. Graff
@ejgraff.bsky.social

Think through the corollary: If the Dems win the Senate, Alito plans to retire immediately, so that Trump/Thune can replace him in the 22 days it's in session before the new Senate is seated.

Sahil Kapur@sahilkapur.bsky.social

New: Some Democrats don’t expect to fill a Supreme Court vacancy under Trump BLUMENTHAL: "I think it is slim to none that we would support a nominee from this administration." GALLEGO: "No, we’ve got to do exactly what McConnell did to us." Big 2026 court stakes: www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...

nbcnews.comSome Democrats don’t expect to fill a Supreme Court vacancy under TrumpDemocrats need a net gain of four seats to capture the Senate. If so, they’d control what happens in a vacancy, as Justice Samuel Alito admits he’s thought about retirement.
E.J. Graff
@ejgraff.bsky.social

😯

Jennifer Smith Richards@jsmithrichards.bsky.social

I've been a reporter for a long time and this might be the strangest thing I've ever done. We've been reporting on privatization of schools this year and found that just about anyone can open a private school in most states. So we asked, Could reporters do it?

propublica.orgAlmost Anyone Can Start a Private School. We Put This to the Test.Our reporting has shown how easily people — some with questionable backgrounds — have founded their own private schools in barns, strip malls and other places. That led us to an experiment: If the hur...
E.J. Graff
@ejgraff.bsky.social

This is so fkg brilliant. Forget Third Way, Dems. Follow THIS leader.

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov

Want to learn about the history of our city?  Well you’re in luck. This month, we’re hosting a massive scavenger hunt across the city — all about the history of organizing in NYC. Sign up at organize.nyc.gov and come see the city through the eyes of the people who built it.

E.J. Graff reposted

Aaron Rupar
@atrupar.com

Renee Good's mom: "I am a registered Republican. I voted for President Trump under the impression that these agents were here to protect citizens -- innocents like our family and the others here. Certainly not to accuse those of us here of being terrorists and take precious lives. This is madness."

E.J. Graff reposted

Paul Eric
@pauleric70.bsky.social

Walter Cronkite: After liberating execution camps… Germans (who cried) they didn’t know…were as as guilty as Nazis…because they applauded when Hitler shut down (media) and said, ‘We don’t need to know. We trust our government...’ It’s our duty to know.

E.J. Graff reposted

Joe Flynn
@chinajoeflynn.bsky.social

No amnesty @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social

NEW: @apnews.com confirms that ICE has begun electronically "disappearing" people in the agency's custody who have final orders of removal. As of last week, anyone jailed by ICE with a final order of removal will NOT appear in the ICE Online Detainee Locator System, making them effectively vanish.

apnews.comAP Exclusive: ICE hides locations of thousands of detainees with final removal ordersU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stopped publicly revealing where it is holding most detainees who are subject to final deportation orders, in a move that has made it harder for lawyers an...
E.J. Graff
@ejgraff.bsky.social

Need a reward break? Take a listen to powerful Black women in New Orleans discussing freedom, community, and democracy. This was convened by reporter Lottie Joiner and produced by former NPR exec Ellen Weiss, for the America's 250 project I managed. Enjoy! www.amacad.org/news/podcast...

amacad.orgPodcast conversation: Black women in New Orleans talk about freedom, community, and democracyAs America marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Black women in New Orleans have their own ideas about freedom and democracy. On May 20 and May 26, 2026, Black women gathered...

E.J. Graff reposted

Abuse of Power Watch
@abuseofpowerwatch.bsky.social

📍 𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐍: ICE arrests in Michigan surged to their highest monthly level since Trump returned to office, with 504 people arrested in July alone. The increase comes as ICE continues arresting people without criminal records. #AbuseOfPowerWatch

mlive.comMichigan ICE arrests soar to highest number since Trump took officeU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is increasingly arresting people without criminal records, new data shows, as numbers hit a peak in Michigan this summer.

E.J. Graff reposted

John Nichols
@nicholsuprising.bsky.social

Dolly Parton logged a combined total of 115 years of union membership. Throughout her working life, the “9 to 5” singer/songwriter carried the union cards of two major unions: The American Federation of Musicians Local 257 in Nashville — for 58 years. SAG-AFTRA — for 57 years. HAPPY LABOR DAY!

share.googleOpinion | Celebrate Dolly Parton's working-class solidarityJohn Nichols: She carried two union cards, sang Woody Guthrie songs and mocked the bosses in "9 to 5."

E.J. Graff reposted

Mrs. Betty Bowers
@mrsbettybowers.bsky.social

The ultra-wealthy keep trying to pit the rest of us against each other with scare tactics ("communists!" "men in the ladies room!!" "brown people!!!" "drag queens!!!!") to keep us from noticing that our real problem is THEM. They want us to fight *any* war—except a class war. Happy Labor Day.

E.J. Graff reposted

Allison Gill
@muellershewrote.com

NEW: The federal prosecutor who charged ICE agent Christian Castro for lying about shooting Sosa-Celia has now been FIRED. He objected to the DoJ stopping him from charging a civil rights violation. And now he’s fired. www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-min...

cbsnews.comFederal prosecutor fired after investigating ICE officer for civil rights offenses in Minnesota shooting, sources sayA federal prosecutor in Minnesota who was investigating an ICE officer for possible civil rights crimes has been fired, four sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

E.J. Graff reposted

Goldy
@goldy.horsesass.org

This is murder. They are murdering this man by denying him treatment.

Michael Hobbes@michaelhobbes.bsky.social

A 76-year-old green card holder with stage 4 cancer was arrested at his citizenship application interview and has been held by ICE for two months. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

E.J. Graff reposted

Elizabeth Warren
@warren.senate.gov

When a handful of companies control the economy, a handful of CEOs dictate what you watch on TV, which doctor you’re allowed to see, what you eat, whether predators get online access to your kids, and what apartment you can rent. That's exactly why we need to block mega-mergers.

E.J. Graff
@ejgraff.bsky.social

Optimist: The glass is half full Pessimist: The glass is half empty Editor: What are your sources on whether or not that's actually a glass?

Daniel Drezner@dandrezner.bsky.social

Optimist: The cup is half full Pessimist: The cup is half empty Political scientist: The cup creates sovereign borders around the water, socially constructing who can and cannot drink from it — and that is power.

E.J. Graff reposted

Mass50501
@mass50501.bsky.social

"The line that makes the most sense isn't 'Left' vs 'Right'; it's 'Tyranny' vs 'Democracy.'" -a conservative volunteer on finding a political home at Mass 50501, and knowing "where the hell" they stand. 🇺🇸 www.mass50501.org/blog/on-the-...

mass50501.orgBlog | On the “Right” Side of History - Holding Conservative Values In an Era of Right Wing Authoritarianism — Mass 50501The Overton window is a funny thing. In American discourse, we tend to imagine the Overton window as a range of politically acceptable ideas for the mainstream population sliding up and down a one-dim...