Jamison Foser
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jamisonfoser.bsky.social
Jamison Foser
@jamisonfoser.bsky.social
38K followers 1.6K following 3K posts
Political consultant, media critic, and longtime Cassandra.
www.findinggravity.net
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jamisonfoser.bsky.social
This parenthetical is striking, given how often the Washington Post references Republican attacks on Democrats without noting their falsity.

Also striking since Democratic criticism of Project 2025 has aged much better than Republican and media critiques of that criticism.
The Washington post Democracy Dies in Darkness The conflict escalated as Democrats made Project 2025 central to their campaign messaging, highlighting (and sometimes misrepresenting) unpopular proposals and tying them to Trump. Trump aides announced that Heritage employees would be unwelcome in the next Trump administration, and Project 2025's director, Paul Dans, left Heritage in a messy dispute with Roberts.
November 6, 2025 at 6:00 PM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
I guess not apologizing for being Muslim is "shedding a conciliatory tone" at the New York Times?
After a campaign marked by attacks over his Muslim faith, his youth and his left-leaning politics, Mr. Mamdani was defiant: "I refuse to apologize for any of this."
November 6, 2025 at 12:15 AM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
The NYT devotes four full paragraphs to the "most striking" of Mamdani's supposed tone shifts but there's ... nothing there?
The shift in tone was most striking when it came to his plan to raise taxes on the wealthy. In recent weeks, Mr. Mamdani had conveyed an openness to finding creative ways to pay for his signature policy initiative, universal child care, indicating that he was not necessarily set on raising taxes. There was plenty of revenue in the existing budget, he suggested. On Wednesday, Mr. Mamdani said his call to tax the wealthy was also about fairness. He said that New Yorkers who had voted for him were eager for billionaires like Elon Musk to pay more taxes. On Monday, the day before the election, droves of Mr. Madani's supporters marched with him over the Brooklyn Bridge at sunrise, chanting, "Tax the rich!" "My supporters and our movement are hungry for a politics of consistency — a politics that actually focuses on the needs of working people," Mr. Mamdani said. "I think that our tax system is an example of the many ways in which working people have been betrayed." But the mayor-elect's support for tax increases could put him at odds with Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat whose endorsement in September was significant as Mr. Mamdani sought to consolidate Democratic support. Ms. Hochul, a moderate Democrat who is running for re-election next year, has strongly opposed any tax increases
November 6, 2025 at 12:13 AM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
the New York Times is trying *so hard* to accuse Mamdani of a bait & switch but its evidence is incredibly thin
The New Hork Times Mayor-Elect's Rise Election Takeaways Detailed Mayoral Results An Emboldened Mamdani Sheds Conciliatory Tone Fresh from a stunning victory, Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect, said in an interview that his supporters wanted "a politics of consistency" and aggressive action, including on taxing the rich.
November 6, 2025 at 12:12 AM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
Me, May 2024: www.findinggravity.net/you-would-no...

It's a free newsletter, you should subscribe!
That concept -- that quality of life outcomes will be much worse in America under an autocratic regime -- is pretty much entirely missing from media coverage of the GOP's assault on democracy. It isn't particular present in the story Democrats tell about Trump, either. There's so much fretting about whether Democrats should center Republicans' assault on democracy or talk about things that affect peoples lives. It's kind of unbelievable, really. Dismantling democracy would be really bad for the American people! Including most of the people who will vote for Trump! Things are generally not great for people living under autocratic regimes. And that's a story we should tell: Democracy is the best system of government anyone has yet come up with not merely because it's the fairest way of making decisions or the "right" way to do things — though it is both — but also because it yields better results than a power-hungry strongman imposing his will on the nation he rules. That's a pretty important story to tell at a time when "democracy is on the ballot."
November 5, 2025 at 8:04 PM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
This, I think, holds up pretty well! www.findinggravity.net/you-would-no...
It's deeply weird how absent that story is from the national conversation about the Trump/GOP assault on American democracy - both media coverage of it and political responses to it. For a long time it was pretty widely believed in America that American democracy was a far better system of government than, say, Eastern European autocratic regimes not merely because of abstract notions of the fairness of representative democracy but because of quality of life outcomes too. The soul-crushing austerity of life under an autocratic regime in which a handful of favored party loyalists lived lavishly while everyone else stood in bread lines and worried about who was listening in on conversations in their own homes — these images of bleak and punishing everyday life in the kinds of regimes Donald Trump is trying to emulate were once a fixture in American culture, ever-present in our consciousness. Not that long ago, either.
November 5, 2025 at 8:01 PM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
This from @gregsargent.bsky.social is exactly right.
newrepublic.com/article/2027...

Donald Trump's authoritarianism and the punishing reality of everyday life under his rule are inextricably linked.
Trump's tariffs, his killing of the tunnel project, his potentially illegal federal-worker firings, his DOGE bloodbath, and more show that the economic carnage he's unleashed is inseparable from his consolidation of autocratic power. Democrats can say these things are bad because they're both authoritarian abuses of power and have terrible economic consequences, while vowing to stand up to that lawlessness—and do well with the working class.
November 5, 2025 at 7:59 PM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
old reliable
Is a government shutdown the right fight for Democrats to pick? Risky! CHRIS CILLIZZA SEP 30, 2025 The Washington Post & @washingtonpost.com President Trump on Wednesday blamed his party's bruising election night losses on the government shut down and urged Republicans to end the funding gridlock by any means necessary.
November 5, 2025 at 6:28 PM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
You guys.
BRET STEPHENS Do Dumb Ideas Ever Die? 4 MIN READ
November 5, 2025 at 5:52 PM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
UPDATE: No.
Are Democrats blowing it in Virginia? The Jay Jones saga, explained CHRIS CILLIZZA OCT 06, 2025 • PAID
November 5, 2025 at 1:58 AM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
I hope those 28 seconds of anxiety weren't too much to stand Kevin!
Kevin M. Kruse @@kevinmkruse.bsky.social 1m I would absolutely love to have my worries about the NJ governor's race prove to be completely wrong, and the early signs are hopeful that I will, in fact, be completely wrong there. Bring it on. 2 •63 Kevin M. Kruse •@kevinmkruse.bsky.social • 32s Wow, DDHQ has already called it?!? • Chris Geidner©@chrisgeidner.bsky.social ©@chrisgeidner.bsky.social•4m NEW: Decision Desk has called New Jersey governor for Sherrill. election-night.decisiondeskhq.com/date/2025-11...
November 5, 2025 at 1:27 AM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
The New York Times a couple weeks ago: "It's 2025, and Democrats Are Still Running Against Trump"
November 5, 2025 at 1:19 AM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
Good morning from San Francisco, where those boxes in the background will likely remain un-unpacked tomorrow.
In the foreground a mug is perched precariously on the edge of a plastic folding workbench that currently serves as an uncomfortable makeshift desk. In the background there are some opened cardboard boxes containing a weird variety of things that will likely remain in the boxes for weeks if not months. The mug is cool.
November 4, 2025 at 6:30 PM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
This is an example I've cited for 31 years now. It made quite an impression on my when I was 19, and helped shape how I think about what journalists should do and how they fall short. www.mediamatters.org/legacy/why-w...
My favorite example of the fact that a great many people don't know the basics is the poll that showed that during then-Speaker of the House Tom Foley's unsuccessful 1994 re-election campaign, 30 percent of his constituents thought that if Republican George Nethercutt defeated Foley, Nethercutt would become speaker. Given that Nethercutt eked out a win with 51 percent of the vote, it isn't at all hard to imagine that Foley might have been re-elected had voters understood the clout their district stood to lose by replacing him. (Of course, Foley wouldn't have remained speaker anyway, as Republicans won control of Congress.)
October 29, 2025 at 9:18 PM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
Oh hey here's me in 2009, about journalists overestimate how much people already know, and the consequences that has. Holds up pretty well, I think! www.mediamatters.org/legacy/why-w...
One of those kinks -- one that doesn't get much attention - is the extent to which the media (and politicians and the people who work for them) overrate the amount of knowledge most voters have about politics and policy. You see it when they use insider jargon and acronyms in their reporting, assuming readers and viewers know what they mean. Do they? Do they really know what FISA is? Pay-Go? "Judicial activism"? This overestimation of how much knowledge most people possess is one of the causes of the media's failure to clearly and consistently report the facts about health care. They don't understand how necessary it is. They think they can focus on horse-race political coverage of the debate. They think if they report the facts once, that's often enough. They think the fact that people are satisfied with their health insurance tells us something about the quality and reliability of that insurance -- though it clearly doesn't. So the public, which -- again, understandably -- doesn't know much about a complex policy and lacks the time and resources to find out for itself, is exposed to a nonstop barrage of spin, misinformation, and outright lies about health care. And the media, overestimating how much people actually know, don't think they have to make the facts clear every day, over and over again. Is it really any wonder that people believe things that aren't true? Do we really need to relive the run-up to the Irag war all over again?
October 29, 2025 at 9:15 PM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
the dew Work Eimes Jeremy W. Peters I am a national reporter for The New York Times who focuses on free speech and the politics of higher education.
October 29, 2025 at 3:01 AM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
I am giving this shit article by this shit journalist in this shit newspaper exactly as much respect as it deserves, because the "critic" whose grievance it adopts is jd motherfucking vance
Majors like Africana studies, or any of its siblings such as women's studies, these critics charge, promote a worldview that sees little to admire in American history. Some disparagingly call the entire field "grievance studies." In a July speech attacking Mr. Mamdani, Vice President JD Vance alluded to his education, and characterized his support from younger, well-educated voters as the product of "elite disaffection."
October 29, 2025 at 1:08 AM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
no *you're* a feckless workshop
Critics say the growth of these programs, which aim to teach about historical events from the perspective of marginalized and oppressed groups, has turned colleges into feckless workshops for leftist political orthodoxy.
October 29, 2025 at 1:06 AM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
counterpoint: shut the fuck up
By Jeremy W. Peters Oct. 28, 2025 Updated 3:17 p.m. ET It wasn't so much what Zohran Mamdani said. It was how he said it. "We're going to stand up for Haiti, because you taught the world about freedom!" the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York exclaimed to an elated crowd at a Haitian music festival in June, fresh off his upset victory in the primary. Mr. Mamdani pronounced the island nation's name "AH-ee-tee" _ near-perfect Creole elocution.
October 29, 2025 at 1:04 AM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
The University of Michigan has turned out odious right-wing bozos like Ben Carson, Tom Price, and Jeremy Peters but I don't remember any New York Times articles wondering if the school is indoctrinating students because the NYT only pretends that's a thing when it suits their agenda.
the New Work Gimes IVE Updates 7m ago Early Voting: What to Know Ballot Measures Who's Running On the Issue What Zohran Mamdani Learned as an Africana Studies Major at Bowdoin The mayoral candidate has said his education was formative. But critics say that his degree exemplifies how colleges steep students in leftist dogma. ▶ Listen to this article • 12:37 min Learn more By Jeremy W. Peters
October 29, 2025 at 1:02 AM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
The executive editor of the New York Times, casually lounging in his $7,000 suit on his $30,000 rug in his $14 million brownstone, as one does.

(All numbers guestimates of the poster)
The executive editor of the New York Times, casually lounging in his $7,000 suit on his $30,000 rug in his $14 million brownstone
October 23, 2025 at 9:09 PM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
does it have something to do with the literal richest men in the history of the world waging a longterm propaganda campaign on behalf of the Republican Party in exchange for wealth and power beyond human comprehension
The NY Fucking T: OPINION GUEST ESSAY How Democrats Became the Party of the Well-to-Do Oct. 23, 2025
October 23, 2025 at 8:52 PM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
must-read story about what's going on at Planned Parenthood Southeast
The people Akposé hired for leadership positions were as new to the reproductive health world as she was—her pick for executive director even described herself in a 2022 interview with a Black-owned newspaper in Chicago as "pro-life," a term associated with abortion opponents. In September, the new VP for external affairs, Tangela Parker, asked a colleague in an email if PPSE had ever worked with Students for Life, one of the preeminent anti-abortion groups in the country. (As the activists behind the Instagram channel women inamerica noted, "That's like asking if the ACLU has ever partnered with the KKK.") PPSE did not respond to a request for comment about these issues.
October 23, 2025 at 3:48 PM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
no no darth there was "further evaluation" involved
But, upon further evaluation, the White House determined it was cheaper and more structurally sound to demolish the East Wing to construct the ballroom, rather than build an addition, the official said.
October 22, 2025 at 9:37 PM
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
"Andrew Cuomo will not be a good mayor."
As Gov. Cuomo amassed power, New Yorkers watched that power corrupt him. And when his COVID briefings turned him into an international celebrity, New Yorkers watched how absolute power corrupted him absolutely. Cuomo created an ethics commission to clean up Albany, but then disbanded it once it started to look into his own administration. A longtime Cuomo friend and advisor cut a deal with the Department of Justice, which uncovered years of graft and corruption. His top aide — whom he called his father's third son — went to prison for accepting bribes. He directed close to $1 billion in tax breaks to Elon Musk. Even at the height of the COVID crisis, the governor seemed more focused on settling political scores than protecting New Yorkers. As the virus took hold in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio called for shelter-in-place to stop the spread. Cuomo ridiculed him and dismissed the idea, but several days later announced his own "New York State on Pause." Cuomo's delay most likely led to tens of thousands of avoidable COVID infections. Cuomo made another catastrophic mistake sending seniors with COVID to die in nursing homes, and then tried to cover it up, even as he was getting a $5 million book deal. A bipartisan congressional panel — including Democrats — accused Cuomo of lying about his role in the cover up. Cuomo barred state Health Department officials from working closely with their city counterparts and he even played politics with the state's vaccine program, pushing county executives for pledges of political loyalty before distributing vaccines and blocking vaccine clinics from opening in certain districts out of political retribution. When NYC Health & Hospitals announced a mass vaccine site with the Mets at Citi Field, Cuomo privately threatened to withhold vaccines because the team's management had accepted the invitation from City Hall before checking with the governor's office.
October 22, 2025 at 7:51 PM