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jamestalley.bsky.social
@jamestalley.bsky.social
350 followers 770 following 210 posts
Kansan. Disappointed.
jamestalley.substack.com
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jamestalley.bsky.social
Tomato, tomahto
I got 9 out of 16. And a tumor.
October 29, 2025 at 6:32 AM
jamestalley.bsky.social
Skeet by Kat Tenbarge: I don't think the conclave passed the bechdel test
May 9, 2025 at 6:27 AM
jamestalley.bsky.social
Today at work I saw a squirrel thrilled as hell with a zip lock of snacks it found.
May 2, 2025 at 6:29 AM
jamestalley.bsky.social
Image of dog wrapped in grocery bags under caption reading, "My dog chases coyotes but won't go pee in the rain unless I cover her with plastic bags."
April 24, 2025 at 7:56 PM
jamestalley.bsky.social
Middle of Kansas. So many tales to tell. The heartwarming outweigh the bad. Best 2: we got to organize a wedding party for 2 men new to town, & this anon postcard...
Postcard reading: Dear Friends, Thank you for putting up (& keeping up) all the beautiful flags & affirming signs around your home. Every time I drive past it, I feel uplifted & safer knowing y'all are here, too. (I'm still too scared to put up flags of my own 😞)
April 10, 2025 at 7:41 AM
jamestalley.bsky.social
But...but...this lady from Wichita said Indivisible is getting $200 per protester, Seth!
Text reads: It's been proven that the organization call Indivisible is paying $200 dollars to people to do this protesting and acts of vandalism. Just another fine example of the hypocrisy of the Lefts tolerance and inclusion so long as it is their view! [All typos stet]
April 10, 2025 at 7:11 AM
jamestalley.bsky.social
A second letter to Salina Rep. Steven Howe, who "Nicewashed" his way into more deceptively glowing coverage this week, impotently asking us to "think of the poor, disabled school children" while hoping we won't think of all he's done to help ruin the world.

jamestalley.substack.com/p/im-startin...
Adapted Goose Meme: In top panel, Goose says "You're disappointed with the KS Legislature, Steven?" In bottom panel, chasing after "Steven," Goose demands to know "Who RUNS the KS Legislature, Steven?" On-screen text reads "I'm Starting to Think You're Not A Good Person, Steve; A Second 'How Not To Do It' Letter to An Elected, JAMESTALLEY.SUBSTACK.COM"
February 22, 2025 at 10:29 PM
jamestalley.bsky.social
Black-background, multicolored text reads "In this house, we commit the sin of empathy."
January 26, 2025 at 4:27 PM
jamestalley.bsky.social
secure.everyaction.com/zgkixsnbfUe2...
Flyer: EN: Join New Frontiers for a BILINGUAL conversation about what we can do in our neighborhoods and community to defend our loved ones from deportation. At this one-hour virtual Zoom session we'll provide a free toolkit with all the information you'll need to be prepared and learn how you can play a role in defending immigrant families these next four years. From 6-7pm. ES: Únete a New Frontiers para una conversación BILINGÜE sobre lo que podemos hacer en nuestros vecindarios y comunidades para defender a nuestras familias contra la deportación. En esta sesión virtual de Zoom, le ofreceremos un kit de herramientas gratuito con toda la información que necesitará para estar preparado y aprender cómo puede contribuir a defender a las familias inmigrantes durante los próximos cuatro años. De 6 a 7 de la tarde.
January 23, 2025 at 10:23 PM
jamestalley.bsky.social
My first two-fer.

The first is a self-sabotaging piece in response to a small surge in subscriptions.

The second is a look back at an old, influential book that helped movement conservatism eat our faces.
Rising slope graph. Onscreen text reads, "Hold Your Horses: Avoiding buyer's remorse as you subscribe to this free newsletter" Image of Roman faces are. Onscreen text reads,"The Slow Road to Immediacy, Part I: Waiting on a new book, revisiting an old one."
January 10, 2025 at 9:24 PM
jamestalley.bsky.social
Jamelle, Day One at NYT?
Well-known meme photo of little Black boy in dress clothes, bow tie, suspenders, one hand in pocket, other hand holding a dinner roll, presumably at a wedding or other event.
January 5, 2025 at 6:26 AM
jamestalley.bsky.social
Sam Adler-Bell wrote, "In a functioning democracy, politics isn’t separate from living."

One clinical depressive's reflections on the killing of a health insurance CEO.
Image of weathered red paint on wooden siding. White on-screen text reads, "Why I Don't Shoot People: 'We may run out of bullets / We're never gonna run out of hostages' JAMESTALLEY.SUBSTACK.COM"
December 10, 2024 at 8:15 PM
jamestalley.bsky.social
I've so far resisted (by which I mean wrote and discarded a dozen drafts of) election post-mortems. This one's a conceptual scooping of ideology and debunking for a way to think about Trumpism going forward.
Image of Joe Pesci in Goodfellas. On-screen text reads, "Gangster's Paradise: Linker versus Ganz on Trumpism; Gourevitch on the historical analogue. JAMESTALLEY.SIBSTACK.COM"
December 5, 2024 at 7:26 PM
jamestalley.bsky.social
My reaction
Image of a Google search box with the question "did he pardon leonard peltier"
December 2, 2024 at 2:45 AM
jamestalley.bsky.social
Skeet by Jonathan Hansen: Exactly this. I have idiot friends who are like "We don't want to give them more ammo..." and I'm like, "mother fucker, they make their own. "
November 20, 2024 at 8:01 AM
jamestalley.bsky.social
We reap what we fail to sow.

open.substack.com/pub/jamestal...
November 8, 2024 at 8:23 PM
jamestalley.bsky.social
Don't watch the election returns. It won't be "over" for a while. Shenanigans will ensue. You know this. Instead, have a sobering account of what happens AFTER she wins. Which is also an account of how we keep getting into this mess.

jamestalley.substack.com/p/lather-rin...
November 5, 2024 at 2:13 AM
jamestalley.bsky.social
Self-Gaslighting. The Neverending Story. The Myth of Returning to Normal.

jamestalley.substack.com/p/spit-take-...
Image of Artax, the horse from The Neverending Story, stuck in the Swamp of Sadness. On-screen text in white reads "Spit-Take, On a Take, Taking On Would-Be Buckets of Warm Spit Linker, JVL, Vance, and the siren song of normal's return. Gaslighting is one of the worst things humans ever invented. Making someone question their own reality, making them wonder if they’re going crazy or if the rest of the world is—it’s just... JAMESTALLEY.SUBSTACK.COM"
October 3, 2024 at 4:06 PM
jamestalley.bsky.social
All my friends were creeped out when I posted this. I was totally serious.
Image of Facebook post from August 16 that reads "Anytime you're feeling small and unimportant as a parent or mentor or role model to someone, just think how much better the world would be right now if Tim Walz had adopted J. D. Vance"
October 1, 2024 at 6:34 AM
jamestalley.bsky.social
This guy represents all that's terrible, and one of the worlds we can choose in the election

jamestalley.substack.com/p/the-electi...
Image of attorney Jonathan Mitchell framed in red bars. On screen text reads "The Election Described As A Guy You Never Heard Of: Jonathan Mitchell, the Avatar of Awful, is trying to ruin everything" JAMESTALLEY.SUBSTACK.COM
September 28, 2024 at 9:48 PM
jamestalley.bsky.social
Funny title and subtitle.

Decidedly un-funny content.

Man, I despise these fuckers.

jamestalley.substack.com/p/heavy-pett...
White text over screenshots of Twitter posts from Kathleen Belew reads "Heavy Petting: Hit dog hollers, lets cat out of the bag" Below this "So Donald went there. I didn't think he would, not really, though I shouldn't be surprised. JAMESTALLEY.SUBSTACK.COM"
September 12, 2024 at 7:06 PM
jamestalley.bsky.social
So I finally caved to the onslaught of incessant email teasers from The Bulwark and gave them $8 a month. Mainly so I could read Jonathan V. Last, whose “What Does ‘Conservatism’ Even Mean Anymore?’ just buried my curiosity needle too hard.

jamestalley.substack.com/p/jvl-dissec...
JVL Dissects A Frog JAMESTALLEY.SUBSTACK.COM
August 31, 2024 at 4:47 PM
jamestalley.bsky.social
Must prove I remain alive for my dozen of followers. Oh, the burdens!
Old fashioned lock on bright blue box. On screen text reads, On Not Writing: Also Vance, Project 2025, and the mess in Marion, Kansas. JAMESTALLEY.SUBSTACK.COM
August 24, 2024 at 3:55 PM
jamestalley.bsky.social
At least the links are to hopeful tunes.

jamestalley.substack.com/p/trump-is-s...
Photo of rural barn next to silos. A leafless tree stands in the foreground behind a handmade sign that reads IN 1986 NOTHING HAPPENED HERE. On-screen white text reads "Trump is Shot. Is Biden? Breaking the silence on the big events JAMESTALLEY.SUBSTACK.COM"
July 15, 2024 at 1:17 AM
jamestalley.bsky.social
It's been the case for several elections now--if you bank on electoral politics, that is: the best possible outcome is a massive, blowout repudiation of the GOP anywhere and everywhere.

Better yet, don't bank on electoral politics.

jamestalley.substack.com/p/what-the-f...
Photo of a room littered with debris and a single office chair. On-screen text reads "What the Future Holds: Two articles clarify what we're in for JAMESTALLEY.SUBSTACK.COM"
July 6, 2024 at 10:19 PM