Mark Olbert
@markolbert.bsky.social
Former biotech CFO. Elected official in San Carlos, CA for nearly 20 years. MBA from Amos Tuck/Dartmouth, BA/Molecular Biology from SUNY Buffalo. Discovered passion for history and politics through science fiction. Avid programmer and motorcyclist.
This is both irrelevant given all the other evils perpetrated by the Trump administration and obscene.
www.npr.org/2025/12/06/g...
www.npr.org/2025/12/06/g...
National parks fee-free calendar drops MLK Day, Juneteenth and adds Trump's birthday
The Trump administration, which has railed against what it describes as "woke" policies, removed MLK Day and Juneteenth from next year's list of fare-exempt days for visitors at dozens of national par...
www.npr.org
December 7, 2025 at 12:34 AM
This is both irrelevant given all the other evils perpetrated by the Trump administration and obscene.
www.npr.org/2025/12/06/g...
www.npr.org/2025/12/06/g...
Reposted by Mark Olbert
The GOP can spin last night all they want as a "win", but a 13-point shift to the Dems in a +22 Trump district is making them shit enough bricks to rebuild the East Wing.
December 3, 2025 at 3:00 PM
The GOP can spin last night all they want as a "win", but a 13-point shift to the Dems in a +22 Trump district is making them shit enough bricks to rebuild the East Wing.
Sadly, it’d probably work
December 3, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Sadly, it’d probably work
Burn, GOP, burn!
“The fact that a rural Tennessee district ended up just a high-single-digits win for Republicans should be a five-alarm fire for the party ahead of the 2026 midterms.”
“The fact that a rural Tennessee district ended up just a high-single-digits win for Republicans should be a five-alarm fire for the party ahead of the 2026 midterms.”
A recap of tonight's special election in TN-07 (plus a WAY-TOO-EARLY model of the 2026 midterms).
A swing of 13 points would put Dems over 250 seats in the U.S. House. A more reasonable scenario—say, D+6—still gives them the House, and maybe the Senate.
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/what-the-s...
A swing of 13 points would put Dems over 250 seats in the U.S. House. A more reasonable scenario—say, D+6—still gives them the House, and maybe the Senate.
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/what-the-s...
What the special election in Tennessee's Seventh District means for the 2026 midterms
Republicans held a Trump +22 seat — but by only 9 points. A swing half as large would give Democrats the U.S. House in 2026, and put the Senate clearly in play
www.gelliottmorris.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Burn, GOP, burn!
“The fact that a rural Tennessee district ended up just a high-single-digits win for Republicans should be a five-alarm fire for the party ahead of the 2026 midterms.”
“The fact that a rural Tennessee district ended up just a high-single-digits win for Republicans should be a five-alarm fire for the party ahead of the 2026 midterms.”
Reposted by Mark Olbert
The real question is not "Why is Bluesky so left-coded," the real question is "Why can't the right exist in a social media environment without algorithmic assistance, where people can ignore them"
December 2, 2025 at 3:08 PM
The real question is not "Why is Bluesky so left-coded," the real question is "Why can't the right exist in a social media environment without algorithmic assistance, where people can ignore them"
Reposted by Mark Olbert
The first rule of low-turnout special elections is you do NOT talk about low-turnout special elections.
December 3, 2025 at 12:12 AM
The first rule of low-turnout special elections is you do NOT talk about low-turnout special elections.
Reposted by Mark Olbert
Y’all talked too much about the TN-7 race, turned it high salience, juiced turnout, and wrecked Dems’ chances of sneaking in a win.
December 3, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Y’all talked too much about the TN-7 race, turned it high salience, juiced turnout, and wrecked Dems’ chances of sneaking in a win.
One can always make money off morons…
When a business detects a customer is a Trumpanzee, they should raise their prices 25% and assure them they’re actually lower 😆😆😆😆
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/u...
When a business detects a customer is a Trumpanzee, they should raise their prices 25% and assure them they’re actually lower 😆😆😆😆
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/u...
Trump Calls Affordability a ‘Con Job’ as His Edge on the Economy Slips
www.nytimes.com
December 3, 2025 at 12:44 AM
One can always make money off morons…
When a business detects a customer is a Trumpanzee, they should raise their prices 25% and assure them they’re actually lower 😆😆😆😆
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/u...
When a business detects a customer is a Trumpanzee, they should raise their prices 25% and assure them they’re actually lower 😆😆😆😆
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/u...
Reposted by Mark Olbert
You don’t get to pick. That’s the whole damn point of the rule of law.
KARL: Did you know about the judge's order when you issued your order for the planes to continue?
KRISTI NOEM: This is an activist judge. We comply with all federal orders that are lawful and binding.
KRISTI NOEM: This is an activist judge. We comply with all federal orders that are lawful and binding.
November 30, 2025 at 5:25 PM
You don’t get to pick. That’s the whole damn point of the rule of law.
Reposted by Mark Olbert
A new post by a Republican state Senator in Indiana, saying she will "not cave" on redistricting as she shares that she was just the target of a pipe bomb threat to due "DC political pundits."
November 30, 2025 at 8:57 PM
A new post by a Republican state Senator in Indiana, saying she will "not cave" on redistricting as she shares that she was just the target of a pipe bomb threat to due "DC political pundits."
Reposted by Mark Olbert
Trump continually overturns the decisions of American citizen juries.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...
The Ex-President Whom Trump Plans to Pardon Flooded America With Cocaine
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Trump continually overturns the decisions of American citizen juries.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/n...
If we want to uphold even a shred of our true American values, we cannot grant any leadership role to the Republican Party until it has radically cleansed itself of the evil, lying and villainous people who currently dominate it.
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
November 28, 2025
As Trump’s popularity continues to drop, the MAGA coalition shows signs of cracking, and Trump’s mental acuity slips, there is a frantic feel to the administration, as if Trump’s people are trying to ...
open.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 11:51 AM
If we want to uphold even a shred of our true American values, we cannot grant any leadership role to the Republican Party until it has radically cleansed itself of the evil, lying and villainous people who currently dominate it.
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
Reposted by Mark Olbert
[P] goddammit
We are now further away from the theatrical release of Raiders of the Lost Ark (June 12, 1981) than it was from the year it takes place in (1936). We have reached the Indiana Jones event horizon.
November 28, 2025 at 12:33 AM
[P] goddammit
Shocked I am!
That Trumpanzees would not realize they’ve been played by foreign actors 😆😆😆
www.santacruzsentinel.com/2025/11/25/x...
That Trumpanzees would not realize they’ve been played by foreign actors 😆😆😆
www.santacruzsentinel.com/2025/11/25/x...
X’s new feature raises questions about the foreign origins of some popular US political accounts
Elon Musk’s X unveiled a feature that lets users see where an account is based.
www.santacruzsentinel.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Shocked I am!
That Trumpanzees would not realize they’ve been played by foreign actors 😆😆😆
www.santacruzsentinel.com/2025/11/25/x...
That Trumpanzees would not realize they’ve been played by foreign actors 😆😆😆
www.santacruzsentinel.com/2025/11/25/x...
This is a great idea!
November 25, 2025 at 1:43 PM
This is a great idea!
Reposted by Mark Olbert
this dumb shit is what i mean when i say this is a purely aesthetic “politics.” yeah man, why can’t we have a fusion of cosmopolitan social democracy and revanchist hierarchies of wealth and privilege? tough question.
Matt Stoller: “..Trump & Mamdani defeated establishment in their own way, representing hunger of voters on the right & left who want something different. If those sides cd come together.. that would be a sea change in how we organize our political economy”.
www.thebignewsletter.com/p/monopoly-r...
www.thebignewsletter.com/p/monopoly-r...
Monopoly Round-Up: Why the Establishment Freaked Out Over a Mamdani-Trump Press Conference
Meta wins its antitrust case, there are now two fire truck antitrust claims, the stock market got wobbly, and Larry Summers was exiled from the establishment, at least for now.
www.thebignewsletter.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:04 PM
this dumb shit is what i mean when i say this is a purely aesthetic “politics.” yeah man, why can’t we have a fusion of cosmopolitan social democracy and revanchist hierarchies of wealth and privilege? tough question.
I wonder if they feel conned? I mean, what did they expect, based on his rhetoric?!?
www.santacruzsentinel.com/2025/11/24/h...
www.santacruzsentinel.com/2025/11/24/h...
New survey finds rising pessimism among U.S. Hispanics
Hispanic adults are increasingly unhappy with how the administration is handling the economy and immigration.
www.santacruzsentinel.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:21 AM
I wonder if they feel conned? I mean, what did they expect, based on his rhetoric?!?
www.santacruzsentinel.com/2025/11/24/h...
www.santacruzsentinel.com/2025/11/24/h...
“The rulings …dismissing the [Comey & James] indictments [are] littered with citations to conservative justices, including …Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, …the late Justice Antonin Scalia, and …Samuel A. Alito.”
Translation: feel free to overrule yourselves, assholes 😆😆😆😆😆
Translation: feel free to overrule yourselves, assholes 😆😆😆😆😆
November 24, 2025 at 6:43 PM
“The rulings …dismissing the [Comey & James] indictments [are] littered with citations to conservative justices, including …Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, …the late Justice Antonin Scalia, and …Samuel A. Alito.”
Translation: feel free to overrule yourselves, assholes 😆😆😆😆😆
Translation: feel free to overrule yourselves, assholes 😆😆😆😆😆
A saving grace of the batshit crazy MAGAnuts is that they’re easily confused and upset. As well as being stupid, too, of course.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/s...
Mamdani’s Meeting With Trump Scrambled the MAGA-Sphere
www.nytimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:11 PM
A saving grace of the batshit crazy MAGAnuts is that they’re easily confused and upset. As well as being stupid, too, of course.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/s...
A saving grace of the batshit crazy MAGAnuts is that they’re easily confused and upset. As well as being stupid, too, of course.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/s...
Mamdani’s Meeting With Trump Scrambled the MAGA-Sphere
www.nytimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:10 PM
A saving grace of the batshit crazy MAGAnuts is that they’re easily confused and upset. As well as being stupid, too, of course.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/s...
If the Democratic Party ever gets back in power, it should set a simple rule when on judicial candidates: if you were ever endorsed by the Federalist Society, or belonged to it, you cannot be appointed to a Federal judgeship.
The Society is a pox on America.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/u...
The Society is a pox on America.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/u...
The Federalist Society Is Torn Between Its Legal Philosophy and Trump’s Demands
www.nytimes.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:47 PM
If the Democratic Party ever gets back in power, it should set a simple rule when on judicial candidates: if you were ever endorsed by the Federalist Society, or belonged to it, you cannot be appointed to a Federal judgeship.
The Society is a pox on America.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/u...
The Society is a pox on America.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/u...
Reposted by Mark Olbert
