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I went in with the expectation that I would be seeing a train wreck, and I was not disappointed. Or mad -- perhaps because on some level, I think it's about its own futility. I'm glad I went, in the same way I never feel ripped off by county-fair sideshows. But if YOU want to go, you better hurry.

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It could definitely be read as someone who never got into a club trying to overcompensate as a way of proving they belong in it. But I couldn't speak to Cruise's state of mind in making this. Or anyone else's, really. I walked out of there sort of respecting him for taking the chance.

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The impression given by the trailer -- that this is "Dr: Strangelove: or how I learned to stop worrying and love climate change" -- is not inaccurate. There's an additional layer of self-reflexivity which felt tacked on at the time, though the more I think about it the more sense it makes.

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Welp, I saw "Digger" last night. Real 'Murricans who don't to be lectured are definitely right to stay away. I think the film more subtly implicates the audience who WILL see it too. But based on the 6 other people in the theater on opening weekend, I think that damage will be easily contained.

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Best campaign song since "Jimmy Carter Says Yes"? Many people are saying. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Psi...

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This is a peril of mail-in voting for sure.

The Flocked Up Blues -- Ken Krawchuk, Libertarian for Pennsylvania Governor

Man how did I not know until just now that Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Ken Krawchuk has a blues song about Flock cameras? www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYhI...

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YouTube video by Ken Krawchuk

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You raise a fair point but then ... which is worse? Functionality that you can't trust to work reliably, or functionality that doesn't exist at all? This is not a rhetorical question.

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Chris Potter @cpotterpgh.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

First world/fourth estate problems but ... the state's campaign finance online database is killing me. Was never great, but I just feel like it has gotten progressively worse. Someone please hear my desperate prayer.

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I've seen signs that after the WSJ story, Fetterman may be getting the memo: There've been more public statements from his office in the past few weeks, and I haven't seen/heard of him being on Fox lately. But that doesn't mean he's shifting on Israel/Middle East! theintercept.com/2026/09/30/i...

Chris Potter @cpotterpgh.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I know! Not long ago I heard it twice in the space of an hour, switching between DVE and The X.

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The last line of the chorus always gets me. And yeah, the lyrics' repeated denial that these things mean anything, even as they are kept for years, is a little obvious. But it's better than feeling sorry for yourself because of some loose change on a floorboard. Also, Hazel Dickens is great.

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YouTube video by Hazel Dickens - Topic

And hey, I can be sentimental! Like, I feel things. I have feelings. I just think it's been done better. As here by the very underappreciated Hazel Dickens (a song probably better known for the Dolly Parton cover). www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAci...

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A Few Old Memories

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Yeah, yeah, even trivial, cast-off items can become suffused with meaning when something is lost. But a penny? C'mon. It just doesn't wash. The gap between the triviality of the object and all the maudlin ruminations it inspires is just too wide to be credible.

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Chris Potter @cpotterpgh.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Look, I'm as much a western PA homer when it comes to music as anyone else. When "Ah! Leah!" comes on the car radio, I turn it up, every time. But that "Penny on the Floor" song? They gotta stop playing that, I'm sorry.

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I have tremendous respect for the power of friendship. (I don't have friends myself, of course, though I DID see "Project Hail Mary" twice.) But the DEFINITION of being a pawn is that you are used to serve a broader strategy, regardless of your own interests. www.axios.com/2026/09/14/i...

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Chris Potter @cpotterpgh.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

One upside for Fetterman: maybe now folks will stop talking about that "he was too sick to meet with veterans but still made his Fox News appearance" story in the WSJ. www.wesanews.org/politics-gov...

wesanews.org

Fetterman praises Trump, McCormick in taped appearance before Republican convention

The minute-long speech, which hailed Trump's support of the steel industry and decried socialism, is unlikely to endear him to already-disaffected Democrats.

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Chris Potter @cpotterpgh.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Hard to tease these things out, but I suspect distrust in some quarters of progressives as "coddling criminals" played a role. We saw a white progressive DA candidate lose in 2023 after winning Dem primary in a race animated by crime fears. (Though lots of factors went into THAT result too.)

Chris Potter @cpotterpgh.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Year-to-year comparison of where homicide rates stood after Labor Day.

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Chris Potter @cpotterpgh.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I'm not a Gainey booster, but it's wild to look at homicide rates in recent years, and try to square them with the urban dystopia some people depicted back then. Gainey took office in 2022. I don't necessarily credit him for the trend -- lots of cities had post-COVID crime-rate drops. But still!

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Presumably if Welch squared off against McCarthy on Day 1, Fisher would have been just the first in a long line of victims. Maybe the tipping point is always arbitrary, and the only variable is how much bullshit people will put up with. Maybe that's the difference between now and then.

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Hard to imagine any utterance, either by an elected official or directed at him, ever having the effect of "have you no decency" again. But was it a one-off? An effect ascribed to the wrong cause? Or did we lose track of something so completely that now I can't even name it?

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I don't think the 1950s were morally superior, or more "innocent," than the times we live in now. There was plenty that Americans were willing to turn a blind eye to back then! It's one reason I find it so hard to account for the impact of what Joseph Welch said.

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Joseph N. Welch: 'Have You Left No Sense of Decency?' | Defining Moment in American History

Was thinking last night of the "have you no sense of decency" moment that ended McCarthy, and it is like a story from a country whose culture wholly alien to my own. This is all it took? Invoking the reputation of a young lawyer no one had ever heard of? www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaUg...

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YouTube video by Voices Through History

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Chris Potter @cpotterpgh.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I mean no disrespect, and there are some juicy details in this article. But basically the same story has been written a dozen times now, and it's unfolding out in the open if you are paying any attention at all.

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Chris Potter @cpotterpgh.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

"Behind closed doors"? This is stuff he does in plain sight.

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Chris Potter @cpotterpgh.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Today I learned the word "hydronym," thanks to President Trump.

Chris Potter @cpotterpgh.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I think that's generally true and especially so right now -- a moment of profound political cynicism in which many voters doubt the ability (and even the desire) of elected officials to have meaningful policy impacts. At such a time, seeing the other guy get punched at least FEELS good.

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Chris Potter @cpotterpgh.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Gosh, haven't they heard he votes with Dems more than 90% of the time? No surprise here: If you want to see Dems punched in the face, Fetterman delivers better than McCormick. But will pundits who insist Dems should love him, despite his Fox appearances, tell these GOP voters THEY are wrong too?

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Chris Potter @cpotterpgh.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

No, no that was GOOD. This is BAD.

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Chris Potter @cpotterpgh.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Just engaged in what may be the most egregious wordplay in my journalistic career. Feels good, man.

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Alternately, of course, people aren't connecting Tuesday's outcome to the Slippery Rock news. It's just that any mention of a GOP loss prompts a reflex response of alleging fraud in the absence of any evidence or even an actual claim. Either way ... it's rough to see unfold.

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When I imagine multiplying this by like 1 million times, it's easier to get a sense of how we ended up where we are.

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Yes, folks start "connecting the dots," making this a story about election integrity, even though: 1) Slippery Rock is not in the House district where the election took place; 2) elections are overseen by the county, not municipal officials; 3) Presler isn't alleging -- and hasn't alleged -- fraud.

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Watching conspiracy theories emerge in real time, chapter 9,814. MAGA activist Scott Presler gripes about Slippery Rock officials voting NOT to let police work with ICE. He adds this is in Butler County, site of a tight special election win by Dems Tuesday. You won't believe what happens next!

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Dukes has declared victory in the race, saying that while "we want to county every vote" he plans "to get to work on day one."

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And if you don't believe me, take it from Scott Presler!

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As a reminder, Pennsylvania does not have an automatic recount provision unless a race is statewide. Voters can challenge the results within their district, but they have to put up $50 to do so, and that is not a high-percentage play.

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Oh, my bad! I accidentally reposted an earlier total here. But all the precincts appear to have reported in and ... Democrat Brandon Dukes is up by 88 votes!

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Those Cranberry precincts I was waiting for are in and ...

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Dukes is now out ahead by 105 votes. Looks like some precincts in Cranberry, where Dem hopes really lay in this race, are still not in yet?

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