Gregor Macdonald

My call is that the Vivek ad wound up functioning as the GOP's closing message, washing up shores of states from IA to MI, and probably further. The unique dynamic set in motion is due to Vivek's fuller membership of the Trump admin: JD and Trump's defense of the ad formalized, expanded the message.

Always amusing to see big accounts on the socials (people with career accomplishments, public figures) get taken in by charlatans like Ed Zitron, simply because tech isn't their area of knowledge and someone like Ed delivers a message they simply want to hear.

"Indeed, China’s double whammy—forcing fast EV adoption at home while flooding the global market with affordable EVs at the same time—is probably the biggest climate story of the current moment," writes @gregor.us: www.coldeye.earth/p/election-h... 🔌💡

Distinctly remember my professor at Iowa, Jorie Graham, asking our class for feedback on her choices for the Best American Poetry series and in the pile was work by someone named Anne Carson. I was stunned. Clarity, music, high design, and a voice like no other.

If you are obsessed with controlling FF production rather than consumption, a reminder there is only one game in town, forever and always: controlling consumption. The rest is just a college kid on your doorstep year after year raising $$ to "fight big oil." cc @mattyglesias.bsky.social

A massive Dem win this Nov. would probably shift the party's self-assessment towards the center. Incentives would gather around newly precious gains in KS, IA, OH and the big one, TX. The power of the far left would be reduced, but organically. Big tent convergence point still standing: healthcare.

Watching the IA senate race finally break towards Turek feels like it answers the lingering question, "But wait, is it really happening?" Yeah, it is.

Employment downside surprise, but maybe enough for breakeven? Household survey shows employment below Jan '25 levels #EconSky econbrowser.com/archives/202...

SCOOP: General Motors is bidding farewell to Lithium Valley. GM no longer plans to buy lithium from the Salton Sea — another setback after years of false starts. There's still hope, though, if you squint. I have details in CLIMATE-COLORED GOGGLES: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/gm-lithium...

Related and important point: what Democrat has the solution to win #WA03? Maries does. Not some other Democrat taking positions that you prefer, not some other Dem moving to the left. The confusion come from failure to accept you're already getting a D win in a reliably lean R district.

Another tight race here in #WA03. A good time to remind that, if you are on the left and conclude that Marie doesn't pass your purity test, well, she vanquished a MAGA extremist twice, and now faces a tougher opponent in Braun (Trump endorsed).

Today is the 50th anniversary of Stevie Wonder's masterpiece, Songs in the Key of Life. And of course, the good folks at @kcrw.com are riffing on it brilliantly, helmed by the always delightful @novenacarmel.bsky.social.

Trump's approval in SC is actually a touch worse than it is in OH. www.economist.com/interactive/...

I have blamed The agents That hacked Your website And which You probably Reasonably thought I controlled Forgive me I am rich And unaccustomed To taking responsibility

Many Republican voters will discover the way to avoid this painful dilemma is to simply not vote.

GOP candidates waiting until the last week of September to rebut Trump on the war strikes me as nearly damaging to their prospects with the electorate as their initial failure to act. Indeed, all GOP tactical moves recently (money, positioning) feel like they should have come months ago. #whiff

AI is confirming something we kinda already knew about people's relationship to their own writing: you can be highly educated, accomplished, and in a position of distinction and also hate your own writing with good reason. How that can be: writing well is hard, and takes 1000s of hours to achieve.

Did a first round of candidate donations this summer, but in a second round today I'm using the @mattyglesias.bsky.social high-impact donation list to concentrate on Iowa. Turek James (#IA02) Matt's list: www.slowboring.com/p/the-midter...

U.S. total fossil fuel consumption. So many changes below the surface over the past 15 years, but no forward progress since the initial round of gains secured post 2008. #stuck

It is with tremendous sadness and sense of loss that we regretfully share the news that @penncssm.bsky.social senior research fellow, and my close personal friend Joseph Romm has passed away unexpectedly. He will be sorely missed here. web.sas.upenn.edu/pcssm/news/r...

Trump’s war on Iran is expected to help push global coal use to record highs this year, as disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz cut off oil and gas supplies: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/10/c...

tariffs for thee, exemptions for me www.wsj.com/opinion/kati...

Man we are headed for a blockbuster midterm election.

Well said and well written. A+ Mr. Streever.

As if Alito and Thomas hadn't already made the case for court expansion, their dissent in USPS v Calif. really pushes things towards comical farce.

#ELB: My New One at Slate: “Let’s Celebrate the Supreme Court Not Outright Rigging the 2026 Election” https://electionlawblog.org/2026/my-new-one-at-slate-lets-celebrate-the-supreme-court-not-outright-rigging-the-2026-election/

I still encourage Washingtonians to stay vigilant, vote early, and use drop boxes when possible to avoid delays in the postal system. (2/2)

The Constitution makes clear that elections are run by states, so it’s not surprising that the Supreme Court rejected Donald Trump’s attempt to interfere with our vote by mail system. 🧵

TIL: Canada and Greenland (an E.U. OCT - Overseas Countries and Territories) actually share a land border: Hans Island. Moreover, residents of Greenland have EU citizenship but the *land* itself is not formally part of the E.U. common market.

The slow turning creak of the death rattle.

AI is a scientific discovery and as a rule those don't get put back in the bottle. If halting AI is your aim, you will need to build a highly stratified political structure, with concentrated, dictatorial decision-making. In every country.

For my fellow cyclists: I resurrected my 2003 Serotta Colorado III frame this summer, and plastered it with as much shiny silver as possible. Campy Athena (NOS), H Plus Son archetype rims with White Industries T11 hubs. Gearing: 53/39 in front, 12/29 in the rear. She's fresh as a daisy.

District Court, as Expected, Issues Preliminary Injunction in Trump/USPS Mail-In Ballot Case: Why This Should Be an Easy Case for the Supreme Court to Deny a Stay electionlawblog.org/2026/distric...

Wow. I used to teach poetry writing to London school age children (at the Lookout Centre) and I never saw Hyde Park like this.

Before it was El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula, the land was/is #Tovaangar. LA Times map: www.latimes.com/projects/la-...

About to move across the river from Portland to Vancouver, WA where @gluesenkampperez.house.gov will be my new rep. If you're a Democrat, all you need to know is that Marie beat Joe Kent twice in #WA03, which Trump won 3X. Whatever complaints Dem voters have about Marie are, well, petty at best.

I find myself wondering these days whether a climate-change component is newly present in global inflation rates, and that it's just the beginning.