thegregbucking.bsky.social
@thegregbucking.bsky.social
musician, progressive, former physics student, The Scofflaws, Aqua Cherry, The Vine Brothers, The Bluebillies, Greg Bucking Band
gregbucking.com
The Great State of New York
MUSIC: gregbucking.com
gregbucking.com
The Great State of New York
MUSIC: gregbucking.com
Actually laughed out loud
Gavin Newsom looks like one of the masks they wore in Point Break
February 17, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Actually laughed out loud
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
The drunk uncle theory.
You don’t argue with the casually homophobic uncle at Thanksgiving dinner to change his mind; you argue so that the closeted cousin at the kids table knows there’s safe people and better possibilities out there
You don’t argue with the casually homophobic uncle at Thanksgiving dinner to change his mind; you argue so that the closeted cousin at the kids table knows there’s safe people and better possibilities out there
agree with this (hah) but also think a particular mistake the left made for a long time online, and still makes to an extent, is failing to understand that the person whose mind you may actually change is the one reading the argument you're having, not the one you're arguing with
The secret to engaging in social media debate is knowing you will never win anyone over. The best you can hope for is to have people who already agree with tell you you're awesome. You might great a dopamine thrill from the righteousness of your anger! Fine benefits, all. But you will never win.
February 16, 2026 at 11:35 PM
The drunk uncle theory.
You don’t argue with the casually homophobic uncle at Thanksgiving dinner to change his mind; you argue so that the closeted cousin at the kids table knows there’s safe people and better possibilities out there
You don’t argue with the casually homophobic uncle at Thanksgiving dinner to change his mind; you argue so that the closeted cousin at the kids table knows there’s safe people and better possibilities out there
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
gotta do investigations into DHS “waste, fraud and abuse” as pretext for killing the agency
The interior of Kristi Noem’s new billionaire-class luxury jet is complete with two bidets and a wet bar with a wine chiller. It will be purchased on our dime from the slush fund Congress approved in the One Big Beautiful Bill.
open.substack.com/pub/newsnotn...
open.substack.com/pub/newsnotn...
Let Them Fly First Class: Kristi Noem’s DHS Luxury Jet Scandal
Inside Noem's flying palace. Plus: Pentagon demands obedient, deadly AI. The race to deploy untested nuclear reactors. Lawmakers move to rein in presidential pardons. And remembering Robert Duvall.
open.substack.com
February 17, 2026 at 2:53 AM
gotta do investigations into DHS “waste, fraud and abuse” as pretext for killing the agency
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
I still think the best way to think of the ending of US AID is as the single worst genocide committed by any one US presidential administration.
even given all the horrific things the US has done, it's not really that close. 750k dead already; expected 14 million.
even given all the horrific things the US has done, it's not really that close. 750k dead already; expected 14 million.
this is exactly why I am absolutely not willing to overlook anyone who was once “advocating for ending USAID” as merely committing a little oopsie-daisy-booboo, by the way
The Project 2025 author is using millions of dollars in USAID money for his own security detail.
It is estimated that 762,000 people have *already died* as a result of Elon Musk and Russell Vought’s obscene murder of USAID, including more than 500,000 children.
Vought is a mass murderer.
It is estimated that 762,000 people have *already died* as a result of Elon Musk and Russell Vought’s obscene murder of USAID, including more than 500,000 children.
Vought is a mass murderer.
February 17, 2026 at 2:54 AM
I still think the best way to think of the ending of US AID is as the single worst genocide committed by any one US presidential administration.
even given all the horrific things the US has done, it's not really that close. 750k dead already; expected 14 million.
even given all the horrific things the US has done, it's not really that close. 750k dead already; expected 14 million.
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
USAID absolutely was imperfect and had a lot of problems: we are also now witnessing the utterly unfathomably evil consequences of taking it out back and shooting it.
February 17, 2026 at 1:55 AM
USAID absolutely was imperfect and had a lot of problems: we are also now witnessing the utterly unfathomably evil consequences of taking it out back and shooting it.
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
Another absolute necessity: outlaw the billionaire strategy of dodging taxes by living off of tax-free loans against their stocks/real estate holdings. No more "buy-borrow-die."
fortune.com/2026/01/14/w...
fortune.com/2026/01/14/w...
California's wealth tax doesn't fix the real problem: Cash-poor billionaires who borrow money, tax-free, to live on | Fortune
Billionaires live under "buy, borrow, die," and California's wealth tax wouldn't touch that. An estimated $1 trillion of wealth has already fled.
fortune.com
February 13, 2026 at 4:34 PM
Another absolute necessity: outlaw the billionaire strategy of dodging taxes by living off of tax-free loans against their stocks/real estate holdings. No more "buy-borrow-die."
fortune.com/2026/01/14/w...
fortune.com/2026/01/14/w...
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
If those who claim the authority of law do not obey the law, and the law does not stop them, then they do not have the authority of law, because there is no longer any law.
Courts have ruled 4,400 times that ICE jailed people illegally. It hasn’t stopped.
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
Courts have ruled 4,400 times that ICE jailed people illegally. It hasn’t stopped.
The decisions amount to a huge legal rebuke, but the administration has continued jailing people indefinitely.
www.reuters.com
February 15, 2026 at 2:07 PM
If those who claim the authority of law do not obey the law, and the law does not stop them, then they do not have the authority of law, because there is no longer any law.
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
There is no easier or more important political position to take than to do everything possible to stop this. It will change our society forever, and Democrats are going along with it.
February 15, 2026 at 2:56 PM
There is no easier or more important political position to take than to do everything possible to stop this. It will change our society forever, and Democrats are going along with it.
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
Only deeply sick societies spend obscene amounts on chains, cages, walls, and all-seeing cameras as opposed to stuff that fosters beauty, joy, health, people who can think, and a natural world capable of sustaining it all.
February 15, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Only deeply sick societies spend obscene amounts on chains, cages, walls, and all-seeing cameras as opposed to stuff that fosters beauty, joy, health, people who can think, and a natural world capable of sustaining it all.
Yes. If we want our government to make our lives better, we need to support candidates that will use their power to actually try to make our lives better
I keep coming back to the fact that we pretty easily solved poverty for around 6-12 months in 2020, and a lot of rich dudes are petrified of anything like that ever happening agin.
February 16, 2026 at 11:52 AM
Yes. If we want our government to make our lives better, we need to support candidates that will use their power to actually try to make our lives better
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
I miss when you could post Brave Norman Rockwell Townsperson and the caption could be, like, “R.E.M was wrong to leave ‘Fretless’ off of Out of Time” instead of “The secret police should stop murdering people.”
February 15, 2026 at 8:56 PM
I miss when you could post Brave Norman Rockwell Townsperson and the caption could be, like, “R.E.M was wrong to leave ‘Fretless’ off of Out of Time” instead of “The secret police should stop murdering people.”
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
I am seeing nonprofits lay off staff, cut services, and in some cases close outright. The very programs that help those most at risk are being run into the ground so a murderous regime can build concentration camps and ballrooms.
Imagine if even a fraction of what this administration plans to spend on cages went toward housing people.
ICE plans to spend $38.3 billion turning warehouses into detention centers
ICE plans to spend $38.3 billion converting warehouses into detention centers, according to planning documents, more than the annual budgets of 22 states.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 14, 2026 at 7:33 PM
I am seeing nonprofits lay off staff, cut services, and in some cases close outright. The very programs that help those most at risk are being run into the ground so a murderous regime can build concentration camps and ballrooms.
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
I think the events of the last year strongly favor taking the state of the info environment more seriously. When ordinary people and elected Dems drew attention to some of the worst Trump/Miller atrocities, Trump's approval on immigration fell, and kept falling. 5/
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
February 13, 2026 at 4:20 PM
I think the events of the last year strongly favor taking the state of the info environment more seriously. When ordinary people and elected Dems drew attention to some of the worst Trump/Miller atrocities, Trump's approval on immigration fell, and kept falling. 5/
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
Behind all this is a deeper argument among Dems over how persuasion really works: The consultant class theory versus those who argue that the consultants are not seriously reckoning with the scale of today's information challenges.
I try to lay this out here. 4/
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
I try to lay this out here. 4/
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
February 13, 2026 at 4:16 PM
Behind all this is a deeper argument among Dems over how persuasion really works: The consultant class theory versus those who argue that the consultants are not seriously reckoning with the scale of today's information challenges.
I try to lay this out here. 4/
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
I try to lay this out here. 4/
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
To this day, reporters marvel at GOP governors who bussed migrants to cities. But JB Pritzker and Gavin Newsom have flipped the script: By encouraging people to document ICE atrocities, they've helped create the basis for a revitalized opposition politics. 2/
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
February 13, 2026 at 4:03 PM
To this day, reporters marvel at GOP governors who bussed migrants to cities. But JB Pritzker and Gavin Newsom have flipped the script: By encouraging people to document ICE atrocities, they've helped create the basis for a revitalized opposition politics. 2/
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
newrepublic.com/article/2059...
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
What the congressman reports below is disgusting.
He reveals the utter lack of decency and humanity in the Trump administration, especially in the telling detail at the end.
He reveals the utter lack of decency and humanity in the Trump administration, especially in the telling detail at the end.
February 14, 2026 at 12:56 AM
What the congressman reports below is disgusting.
He reveals the utter lack of decency and humanity in the Trump administration, especially in the telling detail at the end.
He reveals the utter lack of decency and humanity in the Trump administration, especially in the telling detail at the end.
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
It really is amazing how much of political punditry, *especially* elite outfits in NYC and Washington, still embrace this bizarre idea that rural spaces represent the "Real America" while metropolitan areas, where most (presumably real) Americans actually live, should be held in contempt.
Just going to point out again that our arbitrary political rules permit Republicans to attack urban areas with impunity but strictly forbid the faintest whiff of condescension toward rural areas by Democrats
“The first thing I thought was, ‘What is she talking about?’” said Bryan Fish, the vice mayor of Culver City, whom everyone calls Bubba but doesn’t look like someone whom everyone calls Bubba. “The only crime here,” he added, “is like the $18 strawberry at Erewhon.”
culver city, crime haven! lmaooo
culver city, crime haven! lmaooo
February 14, 2026 at 10:41 PM
It really is amazing how much of political punditry, *especially* elite outfits in NYC and Washington, still embrace this bizarre idea that rural spaces represent the "Real America" while metropolitan areas, where most (presumably real) Americans actually live, should be held in contempt.
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
Just going to point out again that our arbitrary political rules permit Republicans to attack urban areas with impunity but strictly forbid the faintest whiff of condescension toward rural areas by Democrats
“The first thing I thought was, ‘What is she talking about?’” said Bryan Fish, the vice mayor of Culver City, whom everyone calls Bubba but doesn’t look like someone whom everyone calls Bubba. “The only crime here,” he added, “is like the $18 strawberry at Erewhon.”
culver city, crime haven! lmaooo
culver city, crime haven! lmaooo
Bondi Suggests Culver City Has a Crime Problem. Culver City Has a Problem With That.
www.nytimes.com
February 14, 2026 at 10:37 PM
Just going to point out again that our arbitrary political rules permit Republicans to attack urban areas with impunity but strictly forbid the faintest whiff of condescension toward rural areas by Democrats
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
The American right does not defend slavery because progressives say it was bad. They defend slavery because racial hierarchy has been an important and increasingly explicit component of their ideology for 70 years. Read a fucking book.
February 14, 2026 at 1:16 PM
The American right does not defend slavery because progressives say it was bad. They defend slavery because racial hierarchy has been an important and increasingly explicit component of their ideology for 70 years. Read a fucking book.
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
NEW: Hundreds of judges around the country have ruled more than 4,400 times since October that President Donald Trump’s administration is detaining immigrants unlawfully, a Reuters review of court records found.
The government keeps doing it nonetheless.
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
The government keeps doing it nonetheless.
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
February 14, 2026 at 12:14 PM
NEW: Hundreds of judges around the country have ruled more than 4,400 times since October that President Donald Trump’s administration is detaining immigrants unlawfully, a Reuters review of court records found.
The government keeps doing it nonetheless.
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
The government keeps doing it nonetheless.
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
Not only is this what you would do if you were trying to kill a technology and a company developing it ….
it's what you would do if you were trying to kill *people*.
it's what you would do if you were trying to kill *people*.
February 12, 2026 at 5:19 PM
Not only is this what you would do if you were trying to kill a technology and a company developing it ….
it's what you would do if you were trying to kill *people*.
it's what you would do if you were trying to kill *people*.
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
this is why its super important for democratic politicians and liberals to *make noise* about things. most people do not follow politics, certainly not like we junkies do. when you make a ton of noise about stuff it bleeds over into normie world and shapes opinions.
New poll: In 2024, low-engagement voters went for Trump over Harris by 11 percentage points. But now they disapprove of the way he's handling the presidency by 13. They have moved 25 points against Trump — 2x as large as the shift for high-knowledge voters www.gelliottmorris.com/p/trump-lost...
Trump has lost the voters who weren’t paying attention in 2024
The least-engaged Americans have swung 25 points against him since 2024 — about twice the shift among everyone else. Trump has flattened the engagement gap.
www.gelliottmorris.com
February 12, 2026 at 2:16 PM
this is why its super important for democratic politicians and liberals to *make noise* about things. most people do not follow politics, certainly not like we junkies do. when you make a ton of noise about stuff it bleeds over into normie world and shapes opinions.
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
Not sure if this is the case but holy shit was it the case with Jan 6 when EVERYONE agreed it was one of the worst things Ever and then Dems… let millions of people just lose interest in a matter of weeks
Sadly, this is why Democratic leaders needed to act when the iron was hot — to lead, get out on the streets, and mobilize public opinion.
It may now be that their moment has passed and the public has moved on. If so, what a shame; what a lost opportunity.
It may now be that their moment has passed and the public has moved on. If so, what a shame; what a lost opportunity.
Sometimes very hard not to feel like the rest of the country has abandoned Minnesota. We STILL have ICE everywhere. Our schools, businesses, and economy are in profound crisis. But without Bovino here throwing tear gas, much of the country seems to not care at all what’s being done to us.
February 11, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Not sure if this is the case but holy shit was it the case with Jan 6 when EVERYONE agreed it was one of the worst things Ever and then Dems… let millions of people just lose interest in a matter of weeks
Reposted by thegregbucking.bsky.social
easy slogan for the next democratic presidential candidate is “i will reform the corrupt supreme court and repeal citizens united”
“When Citizens United was decided in 2010, billionaires had spent $18 million on the 2000 election, $13M 2004 and $16M in 2008. Then came the deluge. In 2012 it was $231M, and nearly doubled again in next three election cycles —to $682M in 2016, $1.2 billion in 2020 and $2.6 billion in 2024.” Gift:
Opinion | Affordability and the ‘Epstein Class’ Will Define American Politics
www.nytimes.com
February 12, 2026 at 2:26 AM
easy slogan for the next democratic presidential candidate is “i will reform the corrupt supreme court and repeal citizens united”