Jeff Lazarus
@jlazarus.bsky.social
On here way too much. Political scientist at Georgia State University. Congress & elections. My feed is mostly politics but you’ll get some sports takes and terrible dad jokes along the way.
Reposted by Jeff Lazarus
The New York Times smeared AOC for saying “um”
Trump: "We have a man at the end ... you and your new friend ... these are two tough people"
Trump brags about stopping fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan but can't remember the name of either country's leader
Trump brags about stopping fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan but can't remember the name of either country's leader
February 19, 2026 at 2:53 PM
The New York Times smeared AOC for saying “um”
Reposted by Jeff Lazarus
me watching other countries actually start holding their elites accountable
February 19, 2026 at 12:13 PM
me watching other countries actually start holding their elites accountable
Reposted by Jeff Lazarus
Reposted by Jeff Lazarus
“This revelation adds to the mounting pile of evidence undermining statements from Attorney General Pam Bondi and other senior administration officials assuring the public that the Epstein file release has been transparent, complete, and bereft of any evidence implicating Trump in wrongdoing.”
NEWS: The FBI interviewed an Epstein victim who accused Trump of sexually assaulting her when she was underage not once — but at least FOUR times. But the document that shows those additional interviews appears to have been deleted from the DOJ website. substack.com/home/post/p-...
DOJ Removed Record of Multiple FBI Interviews with Underage Trump Accuser, Epstein Data Shows
The FBI spoke at least four times with a woman who credibly accused Trump of sexually assaulting her when she was a minor, Epstein files show. That document is no longer accessible on the DOJ website.
substack.com
February 19, 2026 at 1:22 AM
“This revelation adds to the mounting pile of evidence undermining statements from Attorney General Pam Bondi and other senior administration officials assuring the public that the Epstein file release has been transparent, complete, and bereft of any evidence implicating Trump in wrongdoing.”
Reposted by Jeff Lazarus
It needs to be said clearly that it would be absolutely insane for the United States to start a war of aggression against Iran. If anyone thinks that Trump gives a rip about democracy or human rights you are kidding yourself. It’ll be another campaign of domination and plunder.
February 19, 2026 at 12:06 AM
It needs to be said clearly that it would be absolutely insane for the United States to start a war of aggression against Iran. If anyone thinks that Trump gives a rip about democracy or human rights you are kidding yourself. It’ll be another campaign of domination and plunder.
It needs to be said clearly that it would be absolutely insane for the United States to start a war of aggression against Iran. If anyone thinks that Trump gives a rip about democracy or human rights you are kidding yourself. It’ll be another campaign of domination and plunder.
February 19, 2026 at 12:14 AM
Evergreen.
No idea. My assumption is that whatever is going on in the administration's internal deliberations is almost certainly stupider than we mere mortals can imagine.
February 19, 2026 at 12:01 AM
Evergreen.
Gone with the Muppet
To Kill a Muppet
No Country for Old Muppets
February 18, 2026 at 11:50 PM
Gone with the Muppet
It's a trite point by now but if Biden ever spoke like this we'd have wall to wall media speculation about his mental fitness for at least 48 hours.
Trump: "Herschel Walker, speaking about loyal. How good a football player was Herschel? Now he's ambassador to the Bahamas. I don't know. Bahamas. Bermuda. Is he Bahamas? Whatever. It's a nice place."
February 18, 2026 at 8:48 PM
It's a trite point by now but if Biden ever spoke like this we'd have wall to wall media speculation about his mental fitness for at least 48 hours.
Boy howdy does this make the "capitulate in advance" crowd look like craven morons.
February 18, 2026 at 8:37 PM
Boy howdy does this make the "capitulate in advance" crowd look like craven morons.
Social science denial is science denial.
Again, we should treat answers to "who pays tariffs?" & "does voter fraud exist?" & other social scientific questions as settled law/facts, just like we treat "does the sun rise in the East?" We do not need more research or explainers or both sides debates about this in 2026. It feeds the trolls.
Who pays for the US tariffs? The answer may not surprise you ft.trib.al/MLaTtRV
February 18, 2026 at 6:02 PM
Social science denial is science denial.
Reposted by Jeff Lazarus
The streets of the village my family was from in Poland is literally paved with Jewish headstones. The cemetery itself was made into the town dump. Fascists cannot countenance memorials to righteous people. Rebuild it. Again and again.
Someone doused Renee Good’s Minneapolis memorial and a nearby pile of wood with gasoline and started a fire at about 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Renee Good memorial site in south Minneapolis doused in gasoline
Damage was minimal but police are investigating.
bit.ly
February 18, 2026 at 5:45 PM
The streets of the village my family was from in Poland is literally paved with Jewish headstones. The cemetery itself was made into the town dump. Fascists cannot countenance memorials to righteous people. Rebuild it. Again and again.
Speaking only for myself, I don't understand the perspective of someone who leans on religion as a motivating force in their life. I just don't have that gene.
But a lot of people do have that gene. And winning elections is good. So Dems should have some folks who know how to push that button.
But a lot of people do have that gene. And winning elections is good. So Dems should have some folks who know how to push that button.
February 18, 2026 at 4:34 PM
Speaking only for myself, I don't understand the perspective of someone who leans on religion as a motivating force in their life. I just don't have that gene.
But a lot of people do have that gene. And winning elections is good. So Dems should have some folks who know how to push that button.
But a lot of people do have that gene. And winning elections is good. So Dems should have some folks who know how to push that button.
Back in 2003 I knew we were going to war with Iraq about 12 hours before most of the rest of the country because I lived under the takeoff path for MCAS Miramar and one morning something like 50 or 100 C-17's flew directly over my apartment, one right after another, nonstop for an hour.
Wow.
Watching 37 USAF aircraft - 23 tankers, 13 transports and an E-3 AWACS over CONUS and Europe over the last 4 hours.
Watching 37 USAF aircraft - 23 tankers, 13 transports and an E-3 AWACS over CONUS and Europe over the last 4 hours.
February 18, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Back in 2003 I knew we were going to war with Iraq about 12 hours before most of the rest of the country because I lived under the takeoff path for MCAS Miramar and one morning something like 50 or 100 C-17's flew directly over my apartment, one right after another, nonstop for an hour.
Fetterman’s a bad senator. Among other things, he only votes with Democrats 82% of the time. That’s a lot less than the median Democrat!
But if you replace him with a Republican, that Republican would vote with Democrats 5% of the time. That’s even less.
But if you replace him with a Republican, that Republican would vote with Democrats 5% of the time. That’s even less.
February 18, 2026 at 1:37 PM
Fetterman’s a bad senator. Among other things, he only votes with Democrats 82% of the time. That’s a lot less than the median Democrat!
But if you replace him with a Republican, that Republican would vote with Democrats 5% of the time. That’s even less.
But if you replace him with a Republican, that Republican would vote with Democrats 5% of the time. That’s even less.
Reposted by Jeff Lazarus
Writing forces your brain to coordinate memory, reasoning, and meaning-making simultaneously.
Every time you write, you rewire toward clearer thinking. Every time you let an LLM do it, you rewire toward consumption.
Every time you write, you rewire toward clearer thinking. Every time you let an LLM do it, you rewire toward consumption.
February 18, 2026 at 12:54 PM
Writing forces your brain to coordinate memory, reasoning, and meaning-making simultaneously.
Every time you write, you rewire toward clearer thinking. Every time you let an LLM do it, you rewire toward consumption.
Every time you write, you rewire toward clearer thinking. Every time you let an LLM do it, you rewire toward consumption.
Reposted by Jeff Lazarus
The left tried for decades to pass green energy subsidies, passed them, the subsidies worked, and now literally the entire planet's electricity grid is going to convert to solar+battery. It just doesn't feel like "tech" because it mostly produces kinda boring blue collar jobs instead of billionaires
is there a technology that "the left" is excited about?
www.transformernews.ai/p/the-left-i...
www.transformernews.ai/p/the-left-i...
The left is missing out on AI
As a movement, it has largely refused to engage seriously with AI, ceding debate about a threat and opportunity to the right
www.transformernews.ai
February 18, 2026 at 3:51 AM
The left tried for decades to pass green energy subsidies, passed them, the subsidies worked, and now literally the entire planet's electricity grid is going to convert to solar+battery. It just doesn't feel like "tech" because it mostly produces kinda boring blue collar jobs instead of billionaires
Reposted by Jeff Lazarus
Just once I’d love these guys to come back from Europe and say “Had a great time in Europe” instead of endorsing a Fourth Reich
February 18, 2026 at 5:02 AM
Just once I’d love these guys to come back from Europe and say “Had a great time in Europe” instead of endorsing a Fourth Reich
I am a sucker for a TV show about regular imperfect folks without any villains, just leaning on each other while they try to make their way through their very ordinary problems.
Anyway y'all should be watching Shrinking. It's golden.
Anyway y'all should be watching Shrinking. It's golden.
February 18, 2026 at 5:14 AM
I am a sucker for a TV show about regular imperfect folks without any villains, just leaning on each other while they try to make their way through their very ordinary problems.
Anyway y'all should be watching Shrinking. It's golden.
Anyway y'all should be watching Shrinking. It's golden.
It is BAFFLING* to me that the Trump administration has spent an entire year toting out unfiltered Nazi lebensraum as official policy all up and down the executive branch and it gets nary a peep from the media.
*not that baffling
*not that baffling
JD Vance: "What we have consistently said is that we want to deport violent criminals, people who came in under the Biden administration, and get them out of the country so Americans' wages can go up."
February 18, 2026 at 2:01 AM
It is BAFFLING* to me that the Trump administration has spent an entire year toting out unfiltered Nazi lebensraum as official policy all up and down the executive branch and it gets nary a peep from the media.
*not that baffling
*not that baffling
I'm all for gender representation - hell I wrote a book about women members of Congress - but "there is female leadership here" is not a point in favor of concentration camps.
How is this even possible? Rep. Haley Stevens, who is running for #MISen, "seemed generally impressed with the staff" at an ICE detention facility, per the @michiganadvance.com.
At the same event, Rep. Hillary Scholten spoke of a man "being kept in a freezing room where he couldn’t feel his toes."
At the same event, Rep. Hillary Scholten spoke of a man "being kept in a freezing room where he couldn’t feel his toes."
February 18, 2026 at 1:50 AM
I'm all for gender representation - hell I wrote a book about women members of Congress - but "there is female leadership here" is not a point in favor of concentration camps.
Reposted by Jeff Lazarus
I'm sorry that we're in "first they came for" territory, I really am. But we are.
The concentration camps will not only be for immigrants, documented or otherwise. They already aren't.
They won't only be for brown and Black people.
The targets will keep expanding. It will not end.
The only way it will is if we stop it. Both in and out of the system. There is no other way.
They won't only be for brown and Black people.
The targets will keep expanding. It will not end.
The only way it will is if we stop it. Both in and out of the system. There is no other way.
February 18, 2026 at 1:02 AM
I'm sorry that we're in "first they came for" territory, I really am. But we are.
I didn’t believe it until I watched the video.
Mike Rounds says Republicans just want to make you show your document with a yellow star in order to vote
February 18, 2026 at 1:05 AM
I didn’t believe it until I watched the video.
Reposted by Jeff Lazarus
I've got a piece out today @theatlantic.com with @dashunwang.bsky.social on how the Republican Party in Congress continues to fund science, pushing back against the Trump Administration's most anti science funding proposals. (gift link)
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
The Republicans Made Peace With Science
The Trump administration’s hostility to science is real, but it isn’t matched by the rest of the GOP’s.
www.theatlantic.com
February 17, 2026 at 5:53 PM
I've got a piece out today @theatlantic.com with @dashunwang.bsky.social on how the Republican Party in Congress continues to fund science, pushing back against the Trump Administration's most anti science funding proposals. (gift link)
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Reposted by Jeff Lazarus
The ongoing argument isn’t about Gavin Newsom, per se, it’s about whether or not it’s a valid decision to abstain in the 2028 election because you didn’t like the Democrat enough. That’s important because every single election the same people find an excuse to bow out, then blame the candidate.
Yeah fortunately this guy is in my city of Seattle, so it wont matter. My view: arguing about Newsom at this moment is a total waste of time, and ppl making this argument should just be ignored or blocked unless/until it's a real issue.
February 17, 2026 at 11:41 AM
The ongoing argument isn’t about Gavin Newsom, per se, it’s about whether or not it’s a valid decision to abstain in the 2028 election because you didn’t like the Democrat enough. That’s important because every single election the same people find an excuse to bow out, then blame the candidate.