balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 14/10/2026First Harris claims he has First Amendment protection from hecklers (nope-- only for government censorship). In another clip (post-event gaggle), he claims he can deny people permission to record him-- & refer them for prosecution (no-- public event). This clown is chair of the Freedom Caucus. 000 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 13/10/2026Do negroes next, Mr. Tech CEO... How much are they worth? 000 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 13/10/2026Saying "This election is crucial-- we must play these kinds of games" is how Team D has marginalized itself in most states. "Let's not worry about building the party-- let's just try to win this election" is what Team D does in every cycle. How well has that short-term thinking worked? 010 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 13/10/2026When Dem elites support an independent candidate over Team D's nominee , they're saying one of two things: 1) We believe Team D's brand is so toxic that no nominee can win, or 2) we don't care about the process (or the voters who chose the nominee). Neither encourages voters to support Team D. 110 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 13/10/2026Opinion | Because she doesn't respect what voters want, and she doesn't give a damn about building the party.ms.nowOpinion | Why I am resigning as Montana Democratic Party chair to endorse an independent Senate candidateMontana Democratic Party chair resigns, endorses independent Seth Bodnar over Democrat Alani Bankhead to defeat Kurt Alme in Senate race. 120 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 10/10/2026Bankhead has been pushed to drop out, because Team D thinks she can't win (likely so). Rumor is they supported her in the primary, thinking they could get her to quit for the "I" & knew Reilly Neil (who started running as soon as Jon Tester lost) would not. Hell of a way to rebuild a party. 010 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 10/10/2026"R" Kurt Alme polls at 42%. Bodnar 27% & Bankhead 18%. The belief that Bodnar picks up ALL of Bankhead's votes, at which point 62% of the undecideds (13%) break for Bodnar is a pipe dream. If you want to rebuild a party-- as opposed to win ONE race, tanking for Bodnar-- isn't the way you do it. 000 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 10/10/2026Alani Bankhead has no chance to win ($22K in the bank at last filing). She has some similarities to Tulsi Scattered. But how do you expect to build a party if you give candidates the Rod Steiger speech ("Sorry kid-- it ain't your night") every time you think and Indy might win? 100 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 10/10/2026Here's the pitch Team D gives candidates: "We need you to run for office in states where you'll face long odds. We don't have the money to help your campaign. "We also reserve the right to order you to drop out, if we decide an "I" might beat the "R". Then they wonder why nobody runs.montanafreepress.orgWho, in the end, is Alani Bankhead?The Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, buffeted by PAC money pro and con, hones her own last-ditch pitch to voters. 110 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 10/10/2026When Jon Ossoff condemns Trump or Mike Collins, he leaves the impression that he doesn't care if saying it is "good politics" or not. He's doing it because he believes it is right. Good consultants learn you can't fake sincerity. If it isn't what you really think, it always sounds phony. 000 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 10/10/2026You can see the difference when Schumer attacks BDS or IDF war crimes. Or Any Klobuchar rejects regulating the police. Or Cory Booker denounces tech regulation. Nothing matters as much to Hakeem Jeffries as eliminating limits on corporations. You can't disguise that with presentation techniques. 100 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 10/10/2026Expressing moral outrage at someone's heinous behavior sounds phony if you make it clear (as Chuck Schumer & most of Team D do) that you're playing to the crowd or the media. You can't call someone a monster if you imply that you can "move forward" if they say they're sorry & try to make amends. 110 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Art-- great art You find it any way you can Art-- great art I get it from the garbage can 010 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 07/10/2026What's sad: Ellison's discarded assets won't have the synergy & clout they used to. Most will be stripped and sold to hacks. Even well-meaning buyers won't be old enough to remember what these dinosaurs were once like. We'll be left with what the current-day Yahoo or The Atlantic have become. 000 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 07/10/2026It's not just that David is an imbecile-- that he accomplished nothing other than being born to the right father. He's loaded down with debt. The economy is going south & the AI bubble will burst. He'll end up selling all these properties. He'll have to. Capable people could rebuild them. 100 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 07/10/2026This is a terrible sign; it shows how corrupt & rotted-out the US economy has become. But remember that David Ellison has destroyed CBS-- the only unanswered question is "How badly will he ruin the prime-time lineup?" The same thing will happen to these properties. 100 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 07/10/2026It's also the sort of explanation that 'fact-checking' sites like Politifracked used to dish out, when they gave claims like "Bush wants to privatize Social Security" six Pinocchios. 010 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 06/10/2026The VWRC, on the other hand, lets sites go their own way. They don't offer the same agenda, nor do they use the same tone. Different places specialize; everyone has their own pet ideas. Some jihads fail; others go viral. The continual experimenting means they find things that work. 010 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Another-- as significant-- reason Team D has trouble communicating: They don't want functional media sites. Team D wants megaphones it can control. Don't talk about 'X'; only present our talking points on 'Y'. They install censors (see Tanden, Neera) & will strangle a site that gets too frisky. 2110 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Although, after the Ellisons' debt load blows up-- forcing them to sell many assets at bargain prices (possibly at inopportune times) -- their media empire will be only half-vast... 000 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Two people have omitted. HOUSE blew up because they didn't rotate his team out, & refused to hold the protagonist to account for increasingly bad behavior. MURPHY BROWN stopped being satirical & then quit being funny. They'd do gimmicks that fell flat, & wouldn't stop beating the horse. 010 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 06/10/2026That wasn't surprising. The producers ran out of books to dramatize & had to figure things out on their own. They weren't George Railroad Martin. Second, they got tired of making the show (which must have been grueling, admittedly) and & to get it over ASAP. They rushed through the last 2 seasons. 000 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Here's a piece of information you might find enlightening: Each season had a different showrunner. For the season you liked, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (who also did Fleabag) was in charge. There is zero chance of continuity when that happens. The new boss typically sees everything very differently. 020 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 05/10/2026In season two, Reacher develops deep interpersonal relationships with several people. In season three, he increases his emotional intelligence. This reminds me of Gene Siskel's frequent complaints that kung-fu movies lacked strong character development & well-developed plots. It is what it is. 000 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 05/10/2026To borrow an idea from Teddy Roosevelt, the words that matter come from people in the arena. They have something to lose; their voice means more. Tillis is doing better than many folks (he's still drawing a government paycheck). But he's just trying to polish his reputation; his career is over. 010 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 05/10/2026People should read media coverage of the New Deal. Spoiler Alert: it wasn't generous or admiring. 1930's media wasn't nearly as polarized as the current one. The VRWC will come out solidly opposed on all fronts. Team D must be willing to run roughshod over opposition-- not try to work with it. 000 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 05/10/2026If reform doesn't proceed at DOGE speed-- if the Neo-Times & Amazon Post aren't constantly railing about leftist overreach-- the things that need to be done won't get done. If Matt Yglesias, Jon Shite & pundit Nate Silver aren't constantly fulminating, it's a sign we're going too slow. 110 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Team D will want to go slowly. To ask their elite backers for advice, & pick strategies that offend them least. They'll want to give David Brooks &Jimmy Matalin line-item vetoes-- & constantly see how it plays in the media & in polls. (Especially CBS & CNN.) If that happens, we're cooked. 100 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 05/10/2026The attitude people take toward leaders must be "You've fucked up our mandates too many times before. You ALL have track records-- and they are, without exception, terrible. "We cannot assume you know better. Or that you mean well. Or that you can be trusted. The stakes are too high this time." 100 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 05/10/2026The thing that will decide our future is the amount of pressure we apply to our leaders after the 2026 & 2028 elections. Team D loves to say "Chill out-- we've got this. We'll fix things if you shut up & let us play eleventy-dimensional chess. Wasn't true when Clinton said it. Or Obama. Or Biden. 100 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 05/10/2026It's only confusing if you assume The Atlantic is a serious journalistic publication, without an overriding political viewpoint. If you believe (based on your reading of what its editor pays for) that its mission is to create content that pleases a specific cohort, it's not surprising. 1100 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 05/10/2026One supposes her next story will be about Amber Guyger's struggle to put her life back together after an uncaring world leaped to conclusions about her. 020 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 05/10/2026She wanted to write a "Look what happened to this poor man" story. The guy who killed himself was dead, so she went to the next-closest option: the driver. Of course, to write that story, she had to lie about the driver's politics. But that was a small price to pay for an ATLANTIC byline. 200 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 05/10/2026It would be interesting to be able to tally the amount of money this moved on betting parlors. 000 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 05/10/2026If AI kills Sam Altman, I would accept that. 030 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Not sure I would go there after only four games-- two after the high-octane QB went down. 100 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 04/10/2026The pitch is severely undercut by making David Jolly the poster boy. Another 'R' turned 'D' who claims he's changed positions on all the things he used to espouse. Maybe he has-- but how much of your money would you spend trying to make someone who changed parties governor? 000 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Buried in this whinging is a tangible point: Governors can have huge impacts on state-- and ultimately-- national policy. The writer doesn't think it's the DNC's job (or DGA's) to make that case to them. Stupid voters should just grasp it. Would that be best use of their money? He doesn't say.politico.comDemocrats Are Underfunding the Races That Could Remake the MapDemocratic donors are pouring money into Senate races as Republicans build an advantage in gubernatorial contests that could shape the party’s future. 111 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Young me went nuts in the 70's, wondering why everyone tried to "establish the run" rather than try possession passing. Now I find myself thinking the pendulum has swung too far-- to the point where a team that came out with a two-back offense would physically overwhelm opponents 100 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 04/10/2026I know there were rules changes. I know times change. But it was possible for a team with a suboptimal QB to win by running the ball, playing good defense, avoiding mistakes & winning on kicking teams. Now everyone goes for high fantasy stats & a lot of defenses are geared only to stop that. 100 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 04/10/2026I don't know that they're worse than when I was a lad. But: 1) few teams run to a degree that disguises it, 2) many eschew high-percentage passes, 3) few deploy 'possession' receivers & 4) draftees start A LOT sooner. In 1975, 15 of 26 teams had passer ratings below 70. But many still won. 100 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 04/10/2026If Stephanie McCrummen were here, I'm sure she would point out that she can't very well interview the dead guy. 300 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 04/10/2026In 1971, Jim Bouton explained three things fans & the media believe: 1. If a player is doing well, nobody can criticize him for any reason. 2. If he's struggling, you can't rip him unless your moral & professional standing is higher. 3. It's always dirty pool to criticize off-the-field behavior. 000 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Always nice to learn which people dictate messages but don't bother to review the text before sending them. 72% of that cohort will wonder why co-workers cease to take their work product seriously afterward. 010 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Late to the party, but... Anyone who reviews the timeline (Chris Rock hits on Jada Pinkett, then consistently-- over a long period-- makes her the target of his 'jokes') understands why Will Smith eventually slapped Rock & supports his doing it. 0111 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Grant always H*A*T*E*D his performance. He felt Frank Capra was pushing him to go waaaayyyyy over the top-- overacting to an unnecessary degree. But he couldn't get the director to agree. Watching Grant in BRINGING UP BABY, one wonders what Howard Hawks or Leo McCarey would have produced. 000 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 04/10/2026I get the impression, from close observation over time, that Justin Bibb secretly believes he's the black Gavin Newsom. 000 0
balzac.bsky.social @balzac.bsky.social · 03/10/2026The release clearly states exactly what you said. Local 696 endorsed Marshall, not the National. If I were O'Brien, I wouldn't have rushed to get out front. I'd have let 696's president do the talking-- told him "You speak for your members." Some leaders think that make them look weak, though. 060 0
