iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Bill DeBaun

Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Rufo gets to position himself as "respectable." Polite sit-down interview w/ Ezra Klein. Celebrated by Substack as one of platform's "best" writers. Senior fellow at Manhattan Institute. His "Indian Question" podcast is pretty explicitly white nationalist talkingpointsmemo.com/news/chris-r...

talkingpointsmemo.com

Chris Rufo — Known For ‘DEI’ and ‘CRT’ Panics — Tries to Make ‘the Indian Question’ a Thing

To the degree that a “respectable” or “moderate” right exists today in...

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Joshua Goodman @joshua-goodman.com · 30/09/2026

Our "A Few Goodmen" paper now has some serious competition, coming from the many Katherines of the world. arxiv.org/pdf/2404.00732

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Betsy Wolf @betsyjwolf.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

A couple of cool new data points for the District: 1) Wages (within the DMV I believe) are higher for students who earned a college degree, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone: etep.dc.gov/page/high-sc...

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I think "save" is so high a standard that it becomes a trap. Like any other community, if you can help to improve it on the margins or build something positive, *even if those things are temporary*, you should! It might not matter in perpetuity, what does? But it can matter for the impacted kids!

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

In conclusion, New Jersey is a land of contrasts. Neither my district overall nor the schools I went to were particularly racially diverse. When I graduated, and as I got older, I realized I had missed out on something I think it is important for my kids to have, and so I'm trying to deliver it

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Excellent thread that I generally associate my own views with from @conorpwilliams.bsky.social. Minus the being from Michigan part. New Jersey FTW.

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

CSOSA apparently there too. The whole thing is gross and I hate it.

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

This is what counts as the Trump administration's contribution to my kids' learning environment today. Atrocious.

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Truly tremendous t-shirt spotted today in Arizona

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Congress simplified the FAFSA ➡️ good. Congress expanded Pell eligibility ➡️ good. Congress funding Pell in a manner inconsistent with those actions ➡️ bad. The Pell Grant faces a $15B funding shortfall. Congress needs to act to fully fund its commitments. www.the74million.org/article/cong...

the74million.org

Congress Made it Easier to Pay for College. It Must Keep That Promise

Cook: A Pell Grant shortfall threatens progress on expanding college access and making it more affordable.

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Starting to get the feeling that all of the information in this primetime address isn’t on the up and up

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

The high school class of 2026 set a new record by getting to 59.1% FAFSA completion by about June 30. This surpasses the previous record of 54.4% and shows the impact of simplifying the FAFSA! More here from NCAN: www.ncan.org/Web/News/Cla...

ncan.org

Class of 2026 Sets New June 30 FAFSA Completion Record of 59.1%

The high school class of 2026 has done it! With a 59.1% FAFSA completion rate through June 26, graduating seniors have set a new record, exceeding the previous high by nearly five percentage points.

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ElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

With this ruling, the birthright issue is not going away. The right hasn't really begun *organizing* around getting rid of the citizenship clause. Like Roe, this will be their fight for a generation. And if the Democrats just say "we won" and ignore it, like Roe, the Republicans will eventually win.

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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Jesus, three dissenting votes on birthright just might be the most insane part of this court's entire awful term.

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Sean Satori @seansatori.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

5 to 4 is pathetic.

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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Gorsuch, Alito, and Thomas dissent. How tf is this not unanimous

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Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

This is so incredibly cruel and gratuitous bsky.app/profile/jayw...

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

very clear Ezra is not a war-time consigliere, because, and no if about it, he’s exactly that chump. Rufo’s bad faith, if harnessed as an energy source, would make Exxon sweat, but Ezra platforms him anyway and then gets totally embarrassed for his efforts.

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CJ Ciaramella @cjciaramella.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Ezra Klein sitting down for his journalistic interview with Chris Rufo

The guy Harry from Die Hard who tries to negotiate with Hans Gruber. He’s giving a thumbs up.

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Platforming Rufo is a choice that Ezra didn’t have to make. He has now made that choice twice. Guy just does not get it.

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David Rothschild @davmicrot.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Ezra Klein, by elevating & normalizing & humanizing, terrible people who do terrible things is doing politics the wrong way.

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Nate O @nateo.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

I think it's a moral abomination for Ezra Klein to have Chris Rufo on his podcast and then get a transcript of it published in The New York Times as if this is a conversation between equals and not a radical centrist and a fascist telling each other 'exaaaaactlyyyy'

Another argument you make in that piece is: “The popular slogan that ‘facts don’t care about your feelings’ betrays similar problems” — the slogan being Ben Shapiro’s.
In reality, feelings almost always overpower facts. Reason is a slave of the passions.

Yes, that’s true, and we’ll caveat — we love Ben Shapiro. We’re Ben Shapiro fans, of course. But I think that he’s very wrong on that, and I think conservatives have made a fundamental error in latching on to that.

And really, what it is — it’s a rationalization for losing. It’s like: Yes, we may have lost the great political question that operates on emotions or passions, but we have the facts on our side, and if only people would read our white paper, our regression analysis or our rigorous logical argumentation, then we would be vindicated.

But look, while we should have the facts on our side, and while we should use logic, by itself, it’s insufficient. And, in fact, politics operates on a deeper level, an emotional level. And politics occurs on the field of sentiment and public opinion — much more on the field of abstract argumentation at the top.

Then you go on in the same piece to make an argument for “agitprop” — an old Soviet Union term for agitation and propaganda mashed up together.

It doesn’t have a great reputation — “agitprop” is usually not a term of endearment. But you say: “Agitprop doesn’t mean sacrificing the truth but, rather, channeling the truth toward victory.”

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Eddy Conroy @econroy.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

@billdebaun.bsky.social I didn’t realize you’d taken up modeling for The Onion!?

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

retiring early off the royalties from my titanic scale

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

All they want to be is British Irish non-Irish Brits, Eddy.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 12/06/2026

that’s right

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Adam Kinzinger @adamkinzinger.substack.com · 15/05/2026

With the news that Gov Jared Polis of Colorado just granted clemency to Tina Peters, justice has been once again perverted, and this time by a DEMOCRAT desperate for Donald Trumps adoration. Congrats Jared Polis. I bet you get invited to the WH now

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Eddy Conroy @econroy.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Turns out it is possible to make financial aid simpler for students! The FAFSA is working, more students are applying for and qualifying to college, and qualifying for aid. @donmoyn.bsky.social was nice enough to have me guest author for Can We Still Govern donmoynihan.substack.com/p/good-news-...

donmoynihan.substack.com

Good News! FAFSA is Actually Working

It is possible to fix burdensome administrative systems

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Nine states currently have some form of FAFSA completion requirement, two more will implement next year. By % of seniors completing, 4 of the top 5, 6 of the top 10, and 8 of the top 15 states have FAFSA completion requirements.

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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Similar to ACA website the initial rollout was ROUGH, but it’s now become an obvious and clear improvement on the status quo ante

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Nearly a decade of @ncanetwork.bsky.social work in this chart. 2020 was on pace to a record before Covid hit. 2021 plummeted. We plumbed new depths with the 2024 rollout. 2025 was a big bounceback, but now 2026 now sets a new record. Incredible for students & the field. www.ncan.org/Web/News/Cla...

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Reposted by Bill DeBaun

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 08/05/2026

it is incredible to see folks complain that good people don't run for office, that lawmaking is a hobby for the rich, that our state legislators are run by car dealership freaks, and then insist that we shouldn't pay lawmakers any more than we do.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 07/05/2026

this is also one of my hobbyhorses. you want a better caliber of lawmaker? you want to reduce the odds of corruption? pay them more. a lot more.

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Eddy Conroy @econroy.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

American higher Ed is a golden goose that’s delivered medical, tech, and science innovations, bolstered soft power internationally, and is one of the largest employers in every state. This admin is doing everything it can to kill it.

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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

I continue to be gobsmacked at 1) how common this formulation is 2) how antisemitic and generally bigoted it is 3) and how for all the talk of anti-semitism this is never cited as an example even though it’s quite literally the original incarnation.

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

GOP welcome to pay for all of this with higher top-end tax rates.

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Amy McGrath @amymcgrath.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

I served 3 combat tours over our 20 years of war in the Middle East. Trump had an entire SOTU address to make the case for going to war in Iran. He did not. Congress is absent, & for years, it has ceded its war making powers. Now, Trump has started another foreign war. apnews.com/live/live-up...

apnews.com

Live updates: Tehran launches retaliatory strikes as Trump calls for regime change

The U.S. and Israel struck Iran on Saturday. President Donald Trump said the Iranian public should “take over" their government. The first strikes appeared to target Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Al...

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 25/02/2026

trump going on about corruption and then slandering somali-americans makes my blood boil

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

I know for a fact that without it I couldn't have made the jump from guy who posts charts about FAFSA to older guy who posts charts about FAFSA.

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

There's also the piece that as a young professional a decade ago there was something that collapsed the (considerable) professional distance between me and let's say e.g., @kevincarey1.bsky.social to be able to interact online. I don't see the next generation up doing the same, maybe I'm missing it.

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

I think about this a fair bit. I don't post here professionally like I used to on X. I've mostly moved that kind of posting (but not really the same professional banter/back and forth) to LinkedIn. I think that 2010s-style posting on professional topics isn't going to blossom here.

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Kevin Collins @kwcollins.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Once again I'm asking Democrats to take their messaging cues from the sitting Democratic Senator who is the most vulnerable for re-election in 2026

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Bill DeBaun @billdebaun.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

CNBC…welcome to the resistance

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Eddy Conroy @econroy.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Even the insults are amateurish. I’ve heard better insults from middle schoolers

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