Kevin Thurman
@kmthurman.bsky.social
Making travel better for everyone.
My political hot take is this an absolutely terrible idea that is solved more stably by hundreds of other Democracies across the planet. UK has had 5 prime ministers in 5 years without a recall mechanism. Might have 6 in 7 … we don’t need endless recall threat to make politicians more nervous.
My political hot take is that US voters should be able to recall elected representatives via petition - at any time.
No more hiding behind election terms.
No more hiding behind election terms.
November 12, 2025 at 2:54 PM
My political hot take is this an absolutely terrible idea that is solved more stably by hundreds of other Democracies across the planet. UK has had 5 prime ministers in 5 years without a recall mechanism. Might have 6 in 7 … we don’t need endless recall threat to make politicians more nervous.
The lists is so long. Every book changes me somehow. But, as a kid:
ValueTales - Incredible books that inspired me to dream.
Enders Game - The first book i feel in love with. OSC is bad and so many things but kids were complex & i was a kid. Wrote my first story after reading it.
ValueTales - Incredible books that inspired me to dream.
Enders Game - The first book i feel in love with. OSC is bad and so many things but kids were complex & i was a kid. Wrote my first story after reading it.
performative reading, lack of reading skills, nobody's reading anymore -- NO!
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
November 12, 2025 at 9:49 AM
The lists is so long. Every book changes me somehow. But, as a kid:
ValueTales - Incredible books that inspired me to dream.
Enders Game - The first book i feel in love with. OSC is bad and so many things but kids were complex & i was a kid. Wrote my first story after reading it.
ValueTales - Incredible books that inspired me to dream.
Enders Game - The first book i feel in love with. OSC is bad and so many things but kids were complex & i was a kid. Wrote my first story after reading it.
Because every news story about it was that is too expensive, late and horrible before it opened.
The Elizabeth Line in London is interesting because it is concrete proof that it is actually possible for the state in the UK to do something good, like just straightforwardly it's a useful addition to our public transport infrastructure that works well and looks nice. So why are most things crap?
November 11, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Because every news story about it was that is too expensive, late and horrible before it opened.
I get this joke, but the voters and candidates not Senators did that last week. No Senator won anything last week.
After their resounding victory in Tuesday’s elections, the Democrats had no choice but to surrender.
November 10, 2025 at 1:09 AM
I get this joke, but the voters and candidates not Senators did that last week. No Senator won anything last week.
Reposted by Kevin Thurman
I’ve voted 7 times to reopen the government in a way that holds Trump accountable for his lawlessness and prevents a health care crisis.
I’m prepared to work toward a compromise, but this “deal” before us does not come close to meeting those terms. Voting NO.
Full statement:
I’m prepared to work toward a compromise, but this “deal” before us does not come close to meeting those terms. Voting NO.
Full statement:
November 10, 2025 at 12:48 AM
I’ve voted 7 times to reopen the government in a way that holds Trump accountable for his lawlessness and prevents a health care crisis.
I’m prepared to work toward a compromise, but this “deal” before us does not come close to meeting those terms. Voting NO.
Full statement:
I’m prepared to work toward a compromise, but this “deal” before us does not come close to meeting those terms. Voting NO.
Full statement:
Reposted by Kevin Thurman
Exactly.
Someone just asked me "but is political gain (vs Trump) worth seismic political risk?"
Allowing Trump to function as a lawless dictator without any pushback from Congress IS the seismic political risk here.
Someone just asked me "but is political gain (vs Trump) worth seismic political risk?"
Allowing Trump to function as a lawless dictator without any pushback from Congress IS the seismic political risk here.
Democrats have to stop bailing out Republicans from facing the consequences of their own policies. And yeah, that means they have to stop sparing voters from experiencing what GOP government truly means.
Every time Dems step in, it only emboldens the GOP & they make it even worse the next time.
Every time Dems step in, it only emboldens the GOP & they make it even worse the next time.
So Democrats get:
1. A CR that will prevent the GOP from facing the wrath of Americans for a shutdown over the holidays
2. A coupon for one (1) meaningless ACA vote that will fail
3. An end to the illegal RIF/SNAP moves that are already before the courts
Those all seem like wins for the GOP.
1. A CR that will prevent the GOP from facing the wrath of Americans for a shutdown over the holidays
2. A coupon for one (1) meaningless ACA vote that will fail
3. An end to the illegal RIF/SNAP moves that are already before the courts
Those all seem like wins for the GOP.
November 10, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Exactly.
Someone just asked me "but is political gain (vs Trump) worth seismic political risk?"
Allowing Trump to function as a lawless dictator without any pushback from Congress IS the seismic political risk here.
Someone just asked me "but is political gain (vs Trump) worth seismic political risk?"
Allowing Trump to function as a lawless dictator without any pushback from Congress IS the seismic political risk here.
Reposted by Kevin Thurman
Last night, the Trump Administration sent a letter suggesting Wisconsin should return our FoodShare payments.
My response ⬇️
My response ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Last night, the Trump Administration sent a letter suggesting Wisconsin should return our FoodShare payments.
My response ⬇️
My response ⬇️
Reposted by Kevin Thurman
1/ Unique typing style aside, the President raises an interesting question here:
Why do some like me think Congress and the Founders are comfortable with him banning or licensing an import during an economic emergency, but not applying a tariff on it?
Let's talk about it.
Why do some like me think Congress and the Founders are comfortable with him banning or licensing an import during an economic emergency, but not applying a tariff on it?
Let's talk about it.
November 9, 2025 at 4:52 PM
1/ Unique typing style aside, the President raises an interesting question here:
Why do some like me think Congress and the Founders are comfortable with him banning or licensing an import during an economic emergency, but not applying a tariff on it?
Let's talk about it.
Why do some like me think Congress and the Founders are comfortable with him banning or licensing an import during an economic emergency, but not applying a tariff on it?
Let's talk about it.
I really think the conception housing costs need to go beyond supply and differentiation of supply. Income inequality and regional difference accumulation of capital are likely contributing causes that operate in a feedback loop to make all this worse. Supply is a necessary but not sufficient fix.
I think that the disconnect here is that real household income is absolutely (indisputably!) up, but the price of the most essential household good, the fucking house, has dramatically increased beyond general inflation (due to both lack of supply as well as lifestyle inflation)
What drives me absolutely insane about this debate is how claims like “there has been a generational stagnation of purchasing power” have taken on the tenor of religious faith among progressives, and seemingly cannot be disproven with any evidence, no matter how overwhelming. It simply isn’t true!
November 9, 2025 at 6:36 AM
I really think the conception housing costs need to go beyond supply and differentiation of supply. Income inequality and regional difference accumulation of capital are likely contributing causes that operate in a feedback loop to make all this worse. Supply is a necessary but not sufficient fix.
Reposted by Kevin Thurman
A majority of the days the government has ever been shut down, Donald Trump was president. www.howtoreadthisch.art/red-versus-b...
November 8, 2025 at 7:04 PM
A majority of the days the government has ever been shut down, Donald Trump was president. www.howtoreadthisch.art/red-versus-b...
This is the point for a majority of Republican keeping the Government closed.
Buddy if this goes into 2026 there isn’t gonna be a federal government left to reopen.
GOP SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: It may be 2026 when we'll come out of the shutdown.
REPORTERS: 😳
KENNEDY: I'm not kidding, you guys. I mean, you see what I see. Okay? This shutdown is going to last a long time. What's going to get us out of it?
REPORTERS: 😳
KENNEDY: I'm not kidding, you guys. I mean, you see what I see. Okay? This shutdown is going to last a long time. What's going to get us out of it?
November 8, 2025 at 7:17 AM
This is the point for a majority of Republican keeping the Government closed.
I used to look forward to the US World Cup and the 250th anniversary of our nation and then make corruption ate them both whole.
Now I look forward to mens and women’s Arsenal matches and don’t know who even plays for the USMNT and planning big history tour from 2037-39 ending in Paris.
Now I look forward to mens and women’s Arsenal matches and don’t know who even plays for the USMNT and planning big history tour from 2037-39 ending in Paris.
FIFA has announced the creation of a peace prize, which it plans to award at the draw for the World Cup on Dec. 5 in Washington. https://to.pbs.org/47LyluB
FIFA to award new peace prize at World Cup draw in Washington
FIFA has announced the creation of a peace prize, which it plans to award for the first time at the World Cup draw on Dec. 5 in Washington.
www.pbs.org
November 6, 2025 at 6:06 AM
I used to look forward to the US World Cup and the 250th anniversary of our nation and then make corruption ate them both whole.
Now I look forward to mens and women’s Arsenal matches and don’t know who even plays for the USMNT and planning big history tour from 2037-39 ending in Paris.
Now I look forward to mens and women’s Arsenal matches and don’t know who even plays for the USMNT and planning big history tour from 2037-39 ending in Paris.
It’s a very good idea to have an org that make the party into civic spaces, but it would need to be a parallel to the existing local parties & naturally subsume them later or the young will get eaten by Roberts Rules & reality show level petty fights.
Local parties make national fights look tame.
Local parties make national fights look tame.
ah, perhaps instead of pumping millions into endless factional infighting Dem donors could invest in making local Dem organizations genuine civic spaces that can reach people during and between elections
November 6, 2025 at 5:55 AM
It’s a very good idea to have an org that make the party into civic spaces, but it would need to be a parallel to the existing local parties & naturally subsume them later or the young will get eaten by Roberts Rules & reality show level petty fights.
Local parties make national fights look tame.
Local parties make national fights look tame.
I have always wondered where this came from, was it the hunter gatherers pressed into farming by war or famine? Or ancient farmers that rightfully feared disease? Or was it long ago parents who also worried the city will entice their sons and daughters as it does today?
8. Evil city / pure countryside is an example of what Jeremy Lent calls a “root metaphor”: an idea so deeply implanted in our minds that we don’t even recognise it as an idea.
November 6, 2025 at 5:31 AM
I have always wondered where this came from, was it the hunter gatherers pressed into farming by war or famine? Or ancient farmers that rightfully feared disease? Or was it long ago parents who also worried the city will entice their sons and daughters as it does today?
Getting general ballot to D+8 or more changes so much i am not sure people really get it. but it wont be even,there are like five or six FL districts alone close to that range. But FL doesn’t usually match the swing … but that means places like NC or TX might over perform it.
Seriously, who was the brain genius that made every seat in North Carolina R+8??
November 5, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Getting general ballot to D+8 or more changes so much i am not sure people really get it. but it wont be even,there are like five or six FL districts alone close to that range. But FL doesn’t usually match the swing … but that means places like NC or TX might over perform it.
Reposted by Kevin Thurman
Nov 5, 2024 was terrible. But it's not Nov 2024 anymore. Trump is much more unpopular. He, not Biden, is getting blamed for affordability challenges. Democratic voters are much more activated. The "racial realignment" didn't even last a year. newrepublic.com/article/2026...
Hey, Uh, Democrats, Can You Finally Please Stop Fighting Over 2024?
Last night showed that the party is far from doomed—and the country is simply not as conservative as it seemed in November 2024.
newrepublic.com
November 5, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Nov 5, 2024 was terrible. But it's not Nov 2024 anymore. Trump is much more unpopular. He, not Biden, is getting blamed for affordability challenges. Democratic voters are much more activated. The "racial realignment" didn't even last a year. newrepublic.com/article/2026...
Reposted by Kevin Thurman
Train worker hero credited with saving lives in the Huntingdon knife attack named as Samir Zitouni.
November 4, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Train worker hero credited with saving lives in the Huntingdon knife attack named as Samir Zitouni.
Prediction: This is an unlikely as it will likely be an obvious two person fight or there will be more than one candidate and the one he endorses has as much/more buzz.
Unless he endorses very early. But he’ll be a valuable surrogate & fundraiser and will make a bigger impact in other races.
Unless he endorses very early. But he’ll be a valuable surrogate & fundraiser and will make a bigger impact in other races.
Zohran Mamdani will be a top 5 valuable Dem endorsement in the 2028 primary
November 5, 2025 at 6:22 AM
Prediction: This is an unlikely as it will likely be an obvious two person fight or there will be more than one candidate and the one he endorses has as much/more buzz.
Unless he endorses very early. But he’ll be a valuable surrogate & fundraiser and will make a bigger impact in other races.
Unless he endorses very early. But he’ll be a valuable surrogate & fundraiser and will make a bigger impact in other races.
I mean pluralistic institutions, lack of oppression, peaceful international order and maximizing GDP do really go hand in hand. This isn’t really a big tent it it can literally be one person.
the future of the democratic party is a coalition of the wokest people on tumblr and absolutely dead-eyed pursuers of the national interest and the maximization of GDP
funny that the two groups in the political class who have been the least enthusiastic about trump term 2 are like neocon blob guys and economists
November 5, 2025 at 6:03 AM
I mean pluralistic institutions, lack of oppression, peaceful international order and maximizing GDP do really go hand in hand. This isn’t really a big tent it it can literally be one person.
Reposted by Kevin Thurman
this is absolutely true and this should not strike fear, it should strike righteous fucking fury in you, are you going to let them break you, or are you going to make them break upon us?
serious note: they're gonna try 5x harder to sabotage the midterms after tonight and we're gonna have to organize on a literally historic scale to stop them
really obvious now why trump and the republican party have been working so hard to prevent fair elections lol they know
November 5, 2025 at 5:49 AM
this is absolutely true and this should not strike fear, it should strike righteous fucking fury in you, are you going to let them break you, or are you going to make them break upon us?
Reposted by Kevin Thurman
BIG TENT
virginia democrats winning the three big offices with a cia agent, an indian muslim immigrant, and a black lawyer who loves committing terms of service violations is real 2025 democratic party moment
November 5, 2025 at 4:43 AM
BIG TENT
Reposted by Kevin Thurman
We saw a blue wave roll across America tonight! I’m so proud of our candidates across the board.
Let’s keep it going in 2026.
Let’s keep it going in 2026.
November 5, 2025 at 4:17 AM
We saw a blue wave roll across America tonight! I’m so proud of our candidates across the board.
Let’s keep it going in 2026.
Let’s keep it going in 2026.
Reposted by Kevin Thurman
Summarizes what I’ve been trying to pull together in my head. Democrats basically won everywhere, high profile and low profile, usually by more than optimistic predictions
What we know, 12:10am
[Now in 2 parts]
—Prop 50 wins
—VA Dems flip Gov, LG, AG
—Dems flip ≈13 seats in VA House
—Dems defend NJ-Gov + Assembly
—Dems win NJ+VA trifectas
—Mamdani wins
—PA Dems win supreme court
—ME vote-restricting measure loses
—GA Dems flip 2 statewide offices
—Krasner & Bragg win
[Now in 2 parts]
—Prop 50 wins
—VA Dems flip Gov, LG, AG
—Dems flip ≈13 seats in VA House
—Dems defend NJ-Gov + Assembly
—Dems win NJ+VA trifectas
—Mamdani wins
—PA Dems win supreme court
—ME vote-restricting measure loses
—GA Dems flip 2 statewide offices
—Krasner & Bragg win
November 5, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Summarizes what I’ve been trying to pull together in my head. Democrats basically won everywhere, high profile and low profile, usually by more than optimistic predictions
Acemolu, Johnson, Mokyr, Howitt, and Aghion win some Nobel prizes by proving this to be very incorrect after centuries of history showing this to be very incorrect and the distribution of their own portfolios cos showing it to be incorrect … but who cares: Time to bring back the Ancien Régime.
November 4, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Acemolu, Johnson, Mokyr, Howitt, and Aghion win some Nobel prizes by proving this to be very incorrect after centuries of history showing this to be very incorrect and the distribution of their own portfolios cos showing it to be incorrect … but who cares: Time to bring back the Ancien Régime.
Reposted by Kevin Thurman
If the president feels so adamant about teaching a lesson to countries that “persecute Christians,” he can start with the man in his mirror.
According to the diocese, the priest was legally working here. Now, he’s in ICE detention: www.ncronline.org/news/texas-e...
Texas Episcopal diocese says one of its priests has been detained by ICE
The Episcopal Diocese of Texas announced on Saturday (Nov. 1) that one of its priests, a Kenyan national, has been detained by immigration officials despite working in the state legally.
www.ncronline.org
November 4, 2025 at 4:07 AM
If the president feels so adamant about teaching a lesson to countries that “persecute Christians,” he can start with the man in his mirror.