Ishmael
@dontcallmeishmael.bsky.social
Writer. Runner. Uncle.
📍Washington, D.C.
📍Washington, D.C.
Reposted by Ishmael
It annoys me that the strategists seem to think it’s a binary choice. Why can’t Democrats attack the use of military forces to police our streets and tackle kitchen table issues? Bridge the two: how much money are troops costing? Whose mouth is Trump taking food from to play authoritarian general?
we see very clearly in public polling that people in california and D.C. hate the deployments and that americans broadly disapprove of them, but here we have an assertion that the smart strategy is to avoid any discussion of the situation in favor of a pivot to, you guessed it, kitchen table issues.
If you’re mad about Dems avoiding talking about DC, you can blame the Democratic quants, as demonstrated in this memo from David Shor’s Blue Rose Research
August 24, 2025 at 7:19 PM
It annoys me that the strategists seem to think it’s a binary choice. Why can’t Democrats attack the use of military forces to police our streets and tackle kitchen table issues? Bridge the two: how much money are troops costing? Whose mouth is Trump taking food from to play authoritarian general?
Reposted by Ishmael
Media corporations keep normalizing American troops on American streets; see Chicago coverage like Trump's just doing a thing. Then media elite complain when we point out how they're aiding fascism blaming us and saying we just live in a bubble. At any point is the media going to be self-reflective?
August 24, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Media corporations keep normalizing American troops on American streets; see Chicago coverage like Trump's just doing a thing. Then media elite complain when we point out how they're aiding fascism blaming us and saying we just live in a bubble. At any point is the media going to be self-reflective?
Reposted by Ishmael
If you’re in DC and seeing National Guard/Federal agent activity, reach out via Signal at marisakabas.04
August 11, 2025 at 11:28 AM
If you’re in DC and seeing National Guard/Federal agent activity, reach out via Signal at marisakabas.04
Reposted by Ishmael
As a general matter, joyfully putting children in jail forever is a sin, not a virtue.
August 11, 2025 at 3:13 PM
As a general matter, joyfully putting children in jail forever is a sin, not a virtue.
Reposted by Ishmael
DC statehood is now an imperative. No more dicking around. Next Dem majority, get it done immediately.
August 11, 2025 at 3:18 PM
DC statehood is now an imperative. No more dicking around. Next Dem majority, get it done immediately.
Reposted by Ishmael
Just saw someone call the military occupation of DC a distraction, and that’s it, the it’s a distraction people have lost it. We should wait until the bulldozer is running over your house and all chime in with “isn’t there something else we should be talking about”
August 11, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Just saw someone call the military occupation of DC a distraction, and that’s it, the it’s a distraction people have lost it. We should wait until the bulldozer is running over your house and all chime in with “isn’t there something else we should be talking about”
Reposted by Ishmael
hey! are you represented in congress? if so, you should be calling your representatives NOW to ask what they’re doing to prioritize DC statehood going forward. Call (202) 224-3121 for the U.S. House switchboard operator.
the flag of washington d.c. is waving in the wind
ALT: the flag of washington d.c. is waving in the wind
media.tenor.com
August 11, 2025 at 3:47 PM
hey! are you represented in congress? if so, you should be calling your representatives NOW to ask what they’re doing to prioritize DC statehood going forward. Call (202) 224-3121 for the U.S. House switchboard operator.
Reposted by Ishmael
A teenage 4channer was beat up by two 15 year olds in DC, which was spotted and quickly stopped by nearby police. He told his friends, the richest man in the world and the Vice President of the United States, that he was pummeled by a dozen adult Romanians. A week later, Trump federalized DC police.
August 11, 2025 at 3:09 PM
A teenage 4channer was beat up by two 15 year olds in DC, which was spotted and quickly stopped by nearby police. He told his friends, the richest man in the world and the Vice President of the United States, that he was pummeled by a dozen adult Romanians. A week later, Trump federalized DC police.
Reposted by Ishmael
and why isn’t DC a state, democrats?
STATEHOOD FOR D.C.
August 11, 2025 at 8:25 PM
and why isn’t DC a state, democrats?
Reposted by Ishmael
IT IS NOT AN IMMIGRATION CASE
May 15, 2025 at 9:08 PM
IT IS NOT AN IMMIGRATION CASE
Reposted by Ishmael
On my way to join the protests at ICE's Newark detention facility, where Mayor Ras Baraka was taken into custody. He must be released.
May 9, 2025 at 9:57 PM
On my way to join the protests at ICE's Newark detention facility, where Mayor Ras Baraka was taken into custody. He must be released.
Reposted by Ishmael
Rümeysa Öztürk officially freed from ICE detention.
(Photo from Rümeysa’s legal team)
(Photo from Rümeysa’s legal team)
May 9, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Rümeysa Öztürk officially freed from ICE detention.
(Photo from Rümeysa’s legal team)
(Photo from Rümeysa’s legal team)
Reposted by Ishmael
“Grok allows users to make deepfakes depicting things like Mickey Mouse wearing a Nazi uniform. Musk has called it ‘the most fun AI in the world.’
Boxtown residents say they have been paying for the images with their health.”
Boxtown residents say they have been paying for the images with their health.”
Poisoning the air of a Black community for a fucking chatbot.
'How come I can’t breathe?': Musk's data company draws a backlash in Memphis
The company’s turbines — enough to power 280,000 homes — run without emission controls in an area that leads Tennessee in asthma hospitalizations.
www.politico.com
May 10, 2025 at 2:30 PM
“Grok allows users to make deepfakes depicting things like Mickey Mouse wearing a Nazi uniform. Musk has called it ‘the most fun AI in the world.’
Boxtown residents say they have been paying for the images with their health.”
Boxtown residents say they have been paying for the images with their health.”
Reposted by Ishmael
JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian co-director of Oscar-winning film "No Other Land" is attacked by Jewish settlers and arrested, activists say.
March 24, 2025 at 7:09 PM
JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian co-director of Oscar-winning film "No Other Land" is attacked by Jewish settlers and arrested, activists say.
Reposted by Ishmael
They're always like, well we're doing market research blah blah blah. Literally just FUND PROGRESSIVE CREATORS. Progressive creators have to quit or end up shilling for the right because there is zero money in speaking truth to power, not from the Dem or GOP side.
March 24, 2025 at 10:27 PM
They're always like, well we're doing market research blah blah blah. Literally just FUND PROGRESSIVE CREATORS. Progressive creators have to quit or end up shilling for the right because there is zero money in speaking truth to power, not from the Dem or GOP side.
Reposted by Ishmael
Ever since I wrote this piece after the election, organizations reach out to like "do you have time to talk about what we can do to support progressive creators?" I reply: I don't need an hour, they need money. Full stop. That's what we need. And just like that these orgs vanish!
Why Democrats won't build their own Joe Rogan
"This is not a cultural war that you can win just by doing fucking podcasts" + Meat Loaf’s wikipedia drama, eating disorder Twitter turns on Trump, DDG on Kai Cenat
www.usermag.co
March 24, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Ever since I wrote this piece after the election, organizations reach out to like "do you have time to talk about what we can do to support progressive creators?" I reply: I don't need an hour, they need money. Full stop. That's what we need. And just like that these orgs vanish!
Reposted by Ishmael
On the same front page of the NYTimes website right now you can read Schumer saying the courts will protect the law and the breaking news that the administration has defied a court order
March 16, 2025 at 6:23 PM
On the same front page of the NYTimes website right now you can read Schumer saying the courts will protect the law and the breaking news that the administration has defied a court order
Reposted by Ishmael
in america you have several inalienable rights unless you poll badly with white suburbanites
March 12, 2025 at 10:19 AM
in america you have several inalienable rights unless you poll badly with white suburbanites
Reposted by Ishmael
Here’s the reality: This government—despite what they’d have us believe—cannot simply do whatever it wants. The moment we accept that bullshit, we become complicit in this blatantly authoritarian move by the president and his administration.
With a loud, collective voice, we must say: fuck this!
With a loud, collective voice, we must say: fuck this!
UPDATE—Mahmoud's attorney says they do NOT know where he is.
They were first told he was sent to an ICE facility in Elizabeth, NJ. But when his 8-month-pregnant wife tried to visit him, she was told he's not there.
They've received reports he may be sent as far away as Louisiana.
They were first told he was sent to an ICE facility in Elizabeth, NJ. But when his 8-month-pregnant wife tried to visit him, she was told he's not there.
They've received reports he may be sent as far away as Louisiana.
March 10, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Here’s the reality: This government—despite what they’d have us believe—cannot simply do whatever it wants. The moment we accept that bullshit, we become complicit in this blatantly authoritarian move by the president and his administration.
With a loud, collective voice, we must say: fuck this!
With a loud, collective voice, we must say: fuck this!
Reposted by Ishmael
Even this analogy understates how advantageous their system really is. Homeowners would still actually have it worse. You still pay property taxes on your home's value every year. Billionaires pay NO equivalent annual taxes on their stock holdings, no matter how much they appreciate.
March 10, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Even this analogy understates how advantageous their system really is. Homeowners would still actually have it worse. You still pay property taxes on your home's value every year. Billionaires pay NO equivalent annual taxes on their stock holdings, no matter how much they appreciate.
Reposted by Ishmael
Imagine if you could:
1. Have your paycheck go directly to your mortgage (bypassing income taxes)
2. Fund your entire lifestyle through home equity loans
3. Never pay taxes on your home's increasing value
That'd be great, right? That's what billionaires do—but with stocks instead of houses.
1. Have your paycheck go directly to your mortgage (bypassing income taxes)
2. Fund your entire lifestyle through home equity loans
3. Never pay taxes on your home's increasing value
That'd be great, right? That's what billionaires do—but with stocks instead of houses.
March 10, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Imagine if you could:
1. Have your paycheck go directly to your mortgage (bypassing income taxes)
2. Fund your entire lifestyle through home equity loans
3. Never pay taxes on your home's increasing value
That'd be great, right? That's what billionaires do—but with stocks instead of houses.
1. Have your paycheck go directly to your mortgage (bypassing income taxes)
2. Fund your entire lifestyle through home equity loans
3. Never pay taxes on your home's increasing value
That'd be great, right? That's what billionaires do—but with stocks instead of houses.
Reposted by Ishmael
1/🧵 Following up on our study featured in NYT today, this figure provides a macro-level view:
Dem vote shares rise with turnout parity (left) but fall with party-level ideological moderation (right). This suggests mobilizing base voters > persuading swing voters by moving to the center.
Dem vote shares rise with turnout parity (left) but fall with party-level ideological moderation (right). This suggests mobilizing base voters > persuading swing voters by moving to the center.
March 12, 2025 at 12:37 AM
1/🧵 Following up on our study featured in NYT today, this figure provides a macro-level view:
Dem vote shares rise with turnout parity (left) but fall with party-level ideological moderation (right). This suggests mobilizing base voters > persuading swing voters by moving to the center.
Dem vote shares rise with turnout parity (left) but fall with party-level ideological moderation (right). This suggests mobilizing base voters > persuading swing voters by moving to the center.
Who will Republicans insensitively and incorrectly blame for the death of the six year girl who died of measles?
A] Trans women
B] Immigrants
C] Joe Biden and the Democrats
D] Black people
E] All of the above
A] Trans women
B] Immigrants
C] Joe Biden and the Democrats
D] Black people
E] All of the above
March 12, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Who will Republicans insensitively and incorrectly blame for the death of the six year girl who died of measles?
A] Trans women
B] Immigrants
C] Joe Biden and the Democrats
D] Black people
E] All of the above
A] Trans women
B] Immigrants
C] Joe Biden and the Democrats
D] Black people
E] All of the above
Reposted by Ishmael
Peter Doocy is doing more than some Democrats.
DOOCY: You're buying a new car. There are some folks who will see this clip at home and they are struggling with their retirement accounts down at the moment.
TRUMP: Well I think they're gonna go great. Our country had to do this.
TRUMP: Well I think they're gonna go great. Our country had to do this.
March 11, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Peter Doocy is doing more than some Democrats.