The UnPopulist

It’s Open Season for Racism and Bigotry in the Republican Party This Midterm We have seen nothing like this in living memory By Steve Chapman https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/its-open-season-for-racism-and-bigotry

This is vile stuff

“The majority also sets the rules, and the first rule it should change is how the final vote is cast. The Senate can adopt a secret ballot on conviction by simple majority under its own rulemaking power, with each senator’s vote recorded in the Senate’s journal and sealed for a term of years.”

"Congress controls the money, the confirmations, the subpoena power, and the impeachment power. The past two years have shown what happens when it declines to use them. The job of the opposition is to use all of them, at full strength, from the first day."

“Congress controls the money, the confirmations, the subpoena power, and the impeachment power. The past two years have shown what happens when it declines to use them. The job of the opposition is to use all of them, at full strength, from the first day.”

"The Alliance for Justice’s review of last year’s nominees found them far more extreme than the first-term picks, with loyalty to Trump now a prerequisite. Nominee after nominee refused to say plainly that Biden won in 2020." www.theunpopulist.net/p/a-democrat...

In this October 2026 analysis, Jonathan Casey criticizes the abandoned plan to livestream Nidal Hasan’s execution and argues that the state’s power to take a life must never become entertainment.

"Democrats have campaigned for two years on the claim that this is an emergency. If they win, they should act like it."

Lots of interesting ideas - for example, use a secret ballot for impeachment trials, so Republican Senators can vote yes.

A Democratic Toolkit for Using a Midterm Win to Check Trump and Force a Reckoning The next Congress will need to act like the first branch and unabashedly use all its constitutional powers By Andy Craig https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/a-democratic-toolkit-for-using-a

New and very important from @andycraig.bsky.social

Ezra Klein argues that liberalism needs three things working together: a vision of progress, a practice of pluralism, and institutions capable of turning values into change.

In this 2026 reflection, Nathan Law recounts his father’s escape from China to Hong Kong in the late 1970s—and the historical irony of having to leave Hong Kong himself decades later.

Liberals Need to Live Their Creed: A Conversation Between Jonathan Rauch and Alexandre Lefebvre By Jonathan Rauch https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/liberals-need-to-live-their-creed

India's chief justice called unemployed young critics "cockroaches and parasites." They named their movement after the insult.

The Supreme Court has mirrored Trump's power grabs in at least nine ways. Congress already has the tools it needs to respond.

"Trumpism is the only real establishment in American politics." @andycraig.bsky.social's case for why liberals need to stop playing defense and start acting like the underdogs they actually are.

Why are Western publics so disillusioned with liberalism? Why gravitate to authoritarian populism, which is invariably corrupt, repressive, and incompetent? @jonrauch.bsky.social

At 23 he became the youngest lawmaker in Hong Kong's history. Within a year, his seat was stripped and he was in prison. Nathan Law's full LibCon2026 address on choosing exile over silence.

Israel votes on Oct. 27. The election will decide whether Israel's courts can still check its government.

Making the Case for Liberalism Without Apology: A Video Roundup Our late-October collection of clips https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/making-the-case-for-liberalism-without

Francis Fukuyama argues that federal agencies need room to exercise judgment within the law, with more attention to outcomes and less to procedure.

Fire career officials at will and the result is incompetence and patronage. @frankfukuyama.bsky.social explains why the unitary executive gets the risks of modern bureaucracy backwards.

Democrats Need Both Subpoenas and Supply Trump’s corruption demands accountability, and voters expect a serious plan to bring down costs By Gary Winslett https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/democrats-need-both-subpoenas-and

"The criminal investigation is the pretext that gets a search warrant signed; denaturalization and removal are the goal." — @andycraig.bsky.social on the federal raid of Ilhan Omar's home

Jefferson thought wage earners were barely better off than servants. Lincoln thought wage work could be a steppingstone to independence.

The Supreme Court said Trump couldn’t fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook without a proper hearing. So he created a panel of his own appointees, one of whom has already pre-judged the matter and declared Trump has cause to fire her.

The latest reporting points the finger at Elon Musk for capping Ukraine’s Starshield service. Here’s how the restrictions unfolded and what they cost Ukrainians.

"We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable," Thomas Jefferson first wrote. Ben Franklin crossed it out. As @andycraig.bsky.social explains, there is a lot behind that edit.

Rubio’s speech placed Alexander, Caesar, and Cortés in a tradition he says America inherited. The Founders actually read Caesar as a cautionary tale.

Trump’s Iran war sent diesel prices soaring. Zelenskyy says U.S. officials warned Ukraine that intelligence would be cut off if it kept striking Russian refineries. Ukraine’s war effort is now suffering due to the consequences of Trump's senseless Iran decision.

Jan-Werner Müller explains how federalism can give democratic opposition an institutional foothold when national power becomes concentrated.

"The authoritarian effort has been stronger than I expected. So has the resistance.” — @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social

Rubio’s speech offered little more than a grotesque vision of Trumpism with an erudite face.

At a "Don't Sharia My Texas" panel, Texas Republicans floated new restrictions on Muslim practices.

An Enthusiasm Gap Foreshadowed the GOP’s Midterm Troubles This Summer, an ISMA Survey Finds By Thomas Shull https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/an-enthusiasm-gap-foreshadowed-the

"That she is a member of Congress matters ... Article I, Section 5 provides that each house 'shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members.'"

To Rubio, Western civilization means chauvinism and conquest. @cathyyoung63.bsky.social dissects his gross foreign policy vision @theunpopulist.net www.theunpopulist.net/p/rubios-gro...

Steven Bonnell argues that Trump’s political advantage comes from a long-established Republican media network, not unique messaging genius. He explains how that infrastructure amplifies Trump and defends what he says.

Rubio’s Grotesque Defense of Western Civ In his pseudo-history, Caesar and other European conquerors are the models for the US By Cathy Young https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/rubios-grotesque-defense-of-western

Cathy Young on Rubio’s grating Western Civ speech [@theunpopulist.net]

"Trump’s hateful screeds against Somali Americans are not a matter of dog whistles or subtly implied bigotry. This is overt, explicit, virulent racism, without any attempt to pretend otherwise. His obsession with attacking Omar is inseparable from that context." 💯 @andycraig.bsky.social

Sarah Longwell rejects the idea that voters are permanently drawn to cruelty and political performance. She argues that authentic leadership can still find an audience for decency and substance.

Ukrainian Civilians Died Because America Cut Off Intel and Satellite Links Along with Trump’s diesel deal with Russia, these tactics represent an in-kind contribution to Putin’s war By Jason Jay Smart https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/ukrainian-civilians-died-because

Hrs after we ran this @jjsmart.bsky.social at @theunpopulist.net, WSJ confirmed Musk n Trump coordinated the cap on speeds at which Ukrainian vehicles could connect w/ Starshield and intercept Putin's bombs. The duo has civilian Ukrainian blood on its hands open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

"Ukraine, the victim of an authoritarian’s war of territorial conquest, is being made to absorb the costs of Trump’s senseless war with Iran." @jjsmart.bsky.social

Adam Serwer argues that people who break the law for an administration must face accountability—and that failing to act invites another attempt.

Trump’s Attack on Congresswoman Omar Is an Attack on Congress Itself It’s a classic authoritarian move to weaken and intimidate institutions that can check his abuses By Andy Craig https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/trumps-attack-on-congresswoman-omar