Tom Benthin

One post-election narrative is already pre-baked: Voters turned out *against Trump* not *for Dems*—ergo Dems' post-2024 reckoning must continue. The first part will be true. The second part doesn't follow AT ALL. What should follow is *doing what voters signaled they want* so that they are grateful.

solid chance he is in the 34s tomorrow

Yes, this is what I think too, and likely the reason for the abrupt coordinated messaging

We need LEADERS with strong moral compasses willing to put people ahead of their narrow self-interests and their own pockets. Instead they stand with the rapacious billionaires and companies whose greed knows no boundaries. If we don't demand better, we may not be alive in 10 years to reconsider.

As but one example, @schumer.senate.gov's ENTIRE FAMILY is enmeshed with the most dangerous companies and oligarchs in the country. He cannot lead because he is both bought, and self-interested. He also enables a continuing and growing genocide. Jeffries is bought by the same actors.

We are a death cult intent on killing ourselves and a planet on which complex and interrelated life forms evolved over billions of years. We will obliterate all life either through nuclear war, climate change, or out of control "artificial intelligence" which may actually launch the nuclear war.

NAZA: 24 Israeli soldiers sit on Tel Aviv rooftops, sharing how they killed entire families, thousands of people, in Gaza. These testimonies appear in NAZA, a film that premiers in Venice today. Here are the directors, explaining why they made the film: www.972mag.com/naza-exposin...

My colleague Sarah Ladd with this remembrance: "...Wendell Berry once wrote: 'Beware the machinery of longevity. When a man’s life is over the decent thing is for him to die. The forest does not withhold itself from death.'" kentuckylantern.com/2026/08/31/k... @kentuckylantern.com

Wendell Berry: “Though we have life, it is beyond us. We do not know how we have it, or why. We do not know what is going to happen to it, or to us. It is not predictable; though we can destroy it, we cannot make it. It cannot... be controlled." www.kentucky.com/news/local/a...

Wendell Berry, revered American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, and farmer. August 5, 1934 - August 31, 2026. Rest in Peace, sweet soul. ❤️‍🩹🕯️🕊️

Rest in the peace of wild things, Wendell. Thank you, thank you, thank you for everything, every word. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/u...

So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Take all that you have and be poor. Love someone who does not deserve it. Denounce the government and embrace the flag. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/u...

👀👀👀. Immediately.

Again… immediately. And no hiding behind the worst Senator whoever that turns out to be. Put them ALL on record.

Israeli settlers beat a team of NBC journalists, putting one in the hospital. The Israeli government said and did nothing. The USG said and did nothing. Israel’s violence is metastasizing.

In possibly the fastest shift in public opinion I've ever seen, local data center approval went from -5 to -65 in less than a year heatmap.news/daily/data-c...

Part of the problem is Dems aren’t even making this case.

I am truly honored and humbled to be Minnesota’s Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. Thank you, Minnesota – for everything.

Peggy Flanagan’s likely win in Minnesota should send a thunderous message to all Democrats who bent the knee to Trump in the early days of his 2.0 inauguration which unleashed the brutality of Miller/Trump’s immigration regime. Not ok. Anyone running for Prez who voted for LR will need to explain.

There is really no way to reform this kind of behavior.

ABOLISH ICE, PROSECUTE THE MFS

Powerful point from @elienyc.bsky.social with @profmmurray.bsky.social re how Dems/progressives aren't being strategic when they are not being thoughtful re how to rebalance/reform the Roberts #SCOTUS. It is the SCOTUS stupid. W/o control of SCOTUS every progressive policy dream burns.

If you find yourself dooming, it's worth recalling that Trump has neither the legal nor (more importantly) the practical ability to effectively federalize & rig the midterms. But if you find yourself complacent, it's important to note he can cause a whole lot of chaos by illegally trying & failing.

Climate change is bringing more & deadlier mosquitoes to the US, but I'm told we're "hushing" about climate these days, so, uh, don't mention it.

Abolish this agency. Burn it to the ground. Scatter the ashes. Imprison those involved.

The dashcam video in the follow-up post here shows that Officer Roid Rage here was completely lying about why he blocked this woman and pulled a fucking gun on her, but of course there will be no consequences for him.

Since Breitbart wrote a piece that largely just quotes this chapter of Let This Radicalize You (which MK and I reprinted here in my newsletter last year), I thought I would reshare the full text with you all. IMO, it's one of the best and most relevant things MK and I ever co-authored.

I’m just so fucking tired of platforms like the NY Times and organizations like the Democratic Party continually insisting, no we cannot have a better world. Shut the fuck up. I’m tired.

A solid majority in this country does not want maga heritage foundation supply side horse shit. They just want elected leaders who reflect this.

The conventional wisdom that Democrats “have to move to the middle” to win elections is evidence-free horseshit. It’s beginning to sound like all the NFL coaches who used to argue that you just can’t start a black quarterback. You know until they did. And then they won.

If you’re not helping, you’re hurting. So get the fuck out of the way.

My godson turns 1 on Friday. I need this fucking country to get its shit together so he and my nieces and nephews can have nice happy lives for decades to come. I’m tired of people who keep getting in the way of this, especially the people in the party that is supposed to be for the good stuff.

Will America Fall for Islamophobia and the Communist Bogeyman? The normalization and mainstreaming of Islamophobia, anti-Arab racism, and fearmongering are due to both parties using hate to silence legitimate criticism of Israel and establishment politics. thelefthook.substack.com/p/will-ameri...

Does anyone else wonder why as Nevada, Montana, Washington state, and even the Everglades burn, as fires are spreading across Europe, and as the Colorado river is reduced to a trickle you do not hear a fucking thing from Democrats about climate crises?

🫶

he ran against the full force of the zionist establishment and won. unbelievable victory

MSNow just reporting that by *their* calculations there was $80 million in outside spending for Stevens. Abdul neither took nor was he supported by any corporate or dark money.

Going to bed believing in you Michigan. The many can beat the money.

Alright, so. Abdul El-Sayed is going to be the Dem nominee for Senate, and Will Lawrence will be the Dem nominee in MI-7. For people who were supporters of other candidates, it's time to vote blue no matter who. For their supporters, we now have a chance to prove what we've been saying for years.

MI-SEN is over in my view. I'd expect media to wait until we get maybe 10-15% more in from Wayne to confirm the trend before making the call. But Stevens wouldn't have any place to make up 35K votes even if the college towns were all tapped out, which they're far from. So we're done here. AES wins.

the lesson of tonight is that everyone needs to lock the fuck in for @peggyflanagan.bsky.social

Do they ever write that the victory of a moderate makes some worry that a lack of enthusiasm could hurt their chances in November? https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/us/politics/maasdam-lawrence-michigan-primary.html

Looks like a 10-15 point polling miss in Michigan regardless of who wins. And people have been writing a lot of electability takes using this data. It’s dangerous out there folks be safe

The numbers coming out of Detroit are not enough for Stevens. It’s a bloodbath

“There is so much money right now in detaining people.” As for-profit companies battle over ICE contracts, immigrants are caught in the middle.