David Bates (he/him)
@psephographic.bsky.social
Currently clean on opsec
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
"Experts have called the possibility of losing elimination status for measles 'deeply embarrassing' for a wealthy country with the medical resources of the United States..."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/h...
C.D.C. Links Measles Outbreaks in Multiple States for the First Time
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:59 PM
"Experts have called the possibility of losing elimination status for measles 'deeply embarrassing' for a wealthy country with the medical resources of the United States..."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/h...
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
According to the car wash owner, agents arrested employees before they could obtain their documentation from their work lockers. So many were likely here legally.
Here's hoping this article on Zac boasting about how he ruined some immigrants' lives follows him around for a very long time.
Here's hoping this article on Zac boasting about how he ruined some immigrants' lives follows him around for a very long time.
BU College Republicans president says he called ICE to ‘detain these criminals’ at Allston Car Wash
The president of Boston University College Republicans wrote on X he called the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement requesting it detain employees at Allston Car Wash, the site of a Nov. 4 raid w...
dailyfreepress.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:03 PM
According to the car wash owner, agents arrested employees before they could obtain their documentation from their work lockers. So many were likely here legally.
Here's hoping this article on Zac boasting about how he ruined some immigrants' lives follows him around for a very long time.
Here's hoping this article on Zac boasting about how he ruined some immigrants' lives follows him around for a very long time.
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
NEW: @propublica.org investigated the Chicago apartment raid where kids were zip-tied and citizens detained for hours. They find:
- NONE of the arrested were criminally charged
- NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists."
- ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.
- NONE of the arrested were criminally charged
- NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists."
- ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.
November 13, 2025 at 2:08 PM
NEW: @propublica.org investigated the Chicago apartment raid where kids were zip-tied and citizens detained for hours. They find:
- NONE of the arrested were criminally charged
- NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists."
- ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.
- NONE of the arrested were criminally charged
- NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists."
- ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
Looks like both of our NH senators are about to sell out the people they represent.
@shaheen.senate.gov
@hassan.senate.gov
@shaheen.senate.gov
@hassan.senate.gov
November 9, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Looks like both of our NH senators are about to sell out the people they represent.
@shaheen.senate.gov
@hassan.senate.gov
@shaheen.senate.gov
@hassan.senate.gov
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
Beshear: Let me be clear. The president has both the funding and the authority to fund snap during a shutdown. In fact, every other president in every other shutdown has done so. People going hungry in this instance is a choice that this president has made.
November 5, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Beshear: Let me be clear. The president has both the funding and the authority to fund snap during a shutdown. In fact, every other president in every other shutdown has done so. People going hungry in this instance is a choice that this president has made.
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
The disappearance of America’s leadership class at a time like this means that the rest of us have to be leaders. We can no longer wait to be led by those with the power and authority to lead. You must lead, I must lead, all of us must lead. We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for.
October 27, 2025 at 4:01 PM
The disappearance of America’s leadership class at a time like this means that the rest of us have to be leaders. We can no longer wait to be led by those with the power and authority to lead. You must lead, I must lead, all of us must lead. We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for.
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
how it feels explaining early 2000s hipster history to young people
October 25, 2025 at 5:04 AM
how it feels explaining early 2000s hipster history to young people
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
The reshaping of the playing field is underway
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...
Justice Department Will Monitor Elections in California and New Jersey
www.nytimes.com
October 25, 2025 at 7:47 AM
The reshaping of the playing field is underway
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
Of course it is! Every public appearance he has been remarkably unprepared. He doesn't know what's in the exec orders he's been signing. He doesn't give a fuck about the job. All he wants to do is be the host at Mar a Lago North. What's the over-under that he'll tear down the White House to do it?
Leavitt: At this moment in time, the ballroom is really the president's main priority.
October 23, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Of course it is! Every public appearance he has been remarkably unprepared. He doesn't know what's in the exec orders he's been signing. He doesn't give a fuck about the job. All he wants to do is be the host at Mar a Lago North. What's the over-under that he'll tear down the White House to do it?
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
Wow. Trump's masked federal agents tear-gassed a crowd in Chicago and ended up gassing a bunch of local Chicago cops who were there to *deescalate tensions.* One local cop was captured on film washing out his eyes with a hose:
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
October 15, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Wow. Trump's masked federal agents tear-gassed a crowd in Chicago and ended up gassing a bunch of local Chicago cops who were there to *deescalate tensions.* One local cop was captured on film washing out his eyes with a hose:
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
Tim Walz: "It's almost unimaginable that he's got Milei in there, giving him $20 billion, so that they can undercut us and China can buy their soybeans from them. And now China has learned they can replace our markets."
October 15, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Tim Walz: "It's almost unimaginable that he's got Milei in there, giving him $20 billion, so that they can undercut us and China can buy their soybeans from them. And now China has learned they can replace our markets."
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
To be clear:
LA County has declared a state of emergency BECAUSE OF the federal government.
The Feds, LA County is (correctly) saying, have CAUSED the emergency.
This is a striking political moment of internal collapse. Local govts feeling compelled to protect their ppl from … their own govt.
LA County has declared a state of emergency BECAUSE OF the federal government.
The Feds, LA County is (correctly) saying, have CAUSED the emergency.
This is a striking political moment of internal collapse. Local govts feeling compelled to protect their ppl from … their own govt.
Los Angeles County declares state of emergency over immigration raids
Los Angeles County officials voted on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency over ongoing federal immigration raids.
abcnews.go.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:54 AM
To be clear:
LA County has declared a state of emergency BECAUSE OF the federal government.
The Feds, LA County is (correctly) saying, have CAUSED the emergency.
This is a striking political moment of internal collapse. Local govts feeling compelled to protect their ppl from … their own govt.
LA County has declared a state of emergency BECAUSE OF the federal government.
The Feds, LA County is (correctly) saying, have CAUSED the emergency.
This is a striking political moment of internal collapse. Local govts feeling compelled to protect their ppl from … their own govt.
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
You gently run your hand through the rack. You can feel it—pure cotton, rich wool, Irish linen. The plump buttonholes are handsewn; the buttons attached with a firm shank. You flip the price tag over. It's affordable
You buy the jacket and go home, which is only 15 mins away. Your apt is $600/month
You buy the jacket and go home, which is only 15 mins away. Your apt is $600/month
October 15, 2025 at 7:00 AM
You gently run your hand through the rack. You can feel it—pure cotton, rich wool, Irish linen. The plump buttonholes are handsewn; the buttons attached with a firm shank. You flip the price tag over. It's affordable
You buy the jacket and go home, which is only 15 mins away. Your apt is $600/month
You buy the jacket and go home, which is only 15 mins away. Your apt is $600/month
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
Oh hey, check this out. They talk the same way in their private chats as they do on Twitter www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat
Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.
www.politico.com
October 14, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Oh hey, check this out. They talk the same way in their private chats as they do on Twitter www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
Again, every time this happens, we literally have no idea if the masked, plainclothes people are actual government agents, or private citizens acting in party-affiliated paramilitaries. The whole point of IDs & uniforms & no masks is that we know these things.
October 13, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Again, every time this happens, we literally have no idea if the masked, plainclothes people are actual government agents, or private citizens acting in party-affiliated paramilitaries. The whole point of IDs & uniforms & no masks is that we know these things.
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
The concentration of wealth in the hands of a few isn't just bad for our economy. It's corrosive to our democracy.
When the wealthy and well-connected control our political system, regular people don't have a voice.
The result? The demagoguery and corruption we're seeing now.
When the wealthy and well-connected control our political system, regular people don't have a voice.
The result? The demagoguery and corruption we're seeing now.
October 13, 2025 at 9:31 PM
The concentration of wealth in the hands of a few isn't just bad for our economy. It's corrosive to our democracy.
When the wealthy and well-connected control our political system, regular people don't have a voice.
The result? The demagoguery and corruption we're seeing now.
When the wealthy and well-connected control our political system, regular people don't have a voice.
The result? The demagoguery and corruption we're seeing now.
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
This was once the kind of shit we cited to differentiate ourselves from authoritarian countries. It’s just who we are now.
Wow, wow, wow. This has always been legally possible but the law has virtually never been enforced — and now this is the SECOND case I've heard of in the last month (first involving a person with a green card) of a noncitizen being charged for failure to carry their papers.
NEWS: ICE gave a Rogers Park man a $130 ticket for not having his papers on him. They rounded him up last week and eventually let him go, but not without a fine that some critics say is un-American. Trump admin enforcing little-used law
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/13/i...
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/13/i...
October 14, 2025 at 2:54 AM
This was once the kind of shit we cited to differentiate ourselves from authoritarian countries. It’s just who we are now.
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
"We always think about America’s postwar role in Europe as an act of great generosity, the defense of allies from Soviet aggression. But by putting democracy at the center of our international identity, we also helped strengthen our own political system"
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
The Beacon of Democracy Goes Dark
For nearly 250 years, America promoted freedom and equality abroad, even when it failed to live up to those ideals itself. Not anymore.
www.theatlantic.com
October 14, 2025 at 10:25 AM
"We always think about America’s postwar role in Europe as an act of great generosity, the defense of allies from Soviet aggression. But by putting democracy at the center of our international identity, we also helped strengthen our own political system"
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
We have armed secret police kidnapping people off the street based on the color of their skin.
When we win: we will haul them before a Senate committee. The masks will come off. There will be consequences.
When we win: we will haul them before a Senate committee. The masks will come off. There will be consequences.
October 12, 2025 at 4:44 PM
We have armed secret police kidnapping people off the street based on the color of their skin.
When we win: we will haul them before a Senate committee. The masks will come off. There will be consequences.
When we win: we will haul them before a Senate committee. The masks will come off. There will be consequences.
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
a key thing about vought — and all of these guys — is that they have a totally top down and hierarchical vision of the world. they believe that the cultural changes they hate can be turned off by destroying the federal government because they can’t imagine that they emerged bottom-up in society
What he’s railing against is a profound shift in culture, status… He’s obsessed with the idea that America is controlled by a leftist “ruling elite” - but “elite” isn’t defined socio-economically or by political power, it means something like: Getting to define “real America” and who gets to belong.
October 12, 2025 at 2:17 PM
a key thing about vought — and all of these guys — is that they have a totally top down and hierarchical vision of the world. they believe that the cultural changes they hate can be turned off by destroying the federal government because they can’t imagine that they emerged bottom-up in society
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
JB Pritzker's forceful, defiant response to Trump's threat to jail him confirms the points I tried to make in the piece and thread below about the role of conflict and attention in the public battle over Trump's authoritarian takeover:
October 8, 2025 at 3:49 PM
JB Pritzker's forceful, defiant response to Trump's threat to jail him confirms the points I tried to make in the piece and thread below about the role of conflict and attention in the public battle over Trump's authoritarian takeover:
Reposted by David Bates (he/him)
