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Des Ertsen

@desertsentinel.bsky.social
163 followers 172 following 42 posts

Quiet curmudgeon. Speak Truth to Pain.

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Reposted by Des Ertsen
Jamison Foser @jamisonfoser.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
this is so obviously correct it is deeply bizarre and corrosive how many people who should know better are unwilling to simply say it
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Better Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
At some point we also have to deal with the fact that one of the two parties is openly hostile to democracy. If you have to win big every election or else the country falls into despotism we're all just playing Russian roulette every few years
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Des Ertsen @desertsentinel.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
The Queen
static.klipy.com
Freddie Mercury of Queen at Live Aid
ALT: Freddie Mercury of Queen at Live Aid
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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
The entire Republican Party and broader conservative movement need to be smashed to bits. Donor networks gotta be exposed and disrupted. All the outside machinery needs to be dismantled. And electorally it must lose over and over and over and over. We need a truth and reconciliation commission.
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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
There is a moment at the very very end of Abdul El-Sayed's podcast with Ezra Klein (book recommendation section) where he talks about the idea of "speaking truth to pain" and this will be staying with me for an extremely long time. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...
But there’s also something about truth to pain. We talk a lot about truth to power, but I think it’s actually a lot harder to speak truth to pain. I say that as someone who went to medical school, realizing that in a lot of our politics right now, we’ve got to get a lot better at speaking truth to pain if we’re going to get through some of these challenges that we have.

What does “truth to pain” mean?

It’s one thing to look power in the eye and say: You’re wrong about this. But there’s a way in which pain is very difficult to reason with. Because when somebody is in their pain, they’re in their trauma. They see that pain, and they may not see what’s causing it.

I remember just very explicitly being in a trauma ward with a gunshot wound patient and watching this big guy with his hand on his gunshot wound. All the folks are trying to pull his hand off his pain, that point of his gunshot wound, this clear vulnerability.

And this emergency room doctor had the presence of mind to be like: Everyone, stop. And she looks him in the eyes, and she’s like: I get that really hurts, and I’m so sorry that you’re here. You don’t want to be here. We don’t want you to be here. But if you don’t let us fix this, you could die. So I’m going to take your hand, and I’m going to move it off, OK? Because I need to get there so that you can live.

She was speaking truth to pain. He understands he’s at the hospital, he needs care, but he also doesn’t want anybody to touch the wound. Which is a natural thing. And I think it is a really great metaphor for how we think about a lot of these challenges we talked about today.
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Today, I see angry young men online LARPing as Catholics, often for the aesthetic. They celebrate strength and hate the weak. The use slurs against the disabled and fantasize about enacting Crusader violence against their enemies. I wish the Pope would speak directly on this.
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Arizona Mirror @azmirror.com · 25/09/2026
Houston PD accounted for nearly a third of searches of one Arizona agency's Flock system, alarming privacy advocates story via @jerodmacevoy.com
azmirror.com
Who's tracking Arizona drivers through Flock cameras? Often, it's police from other states.
Arizona license plate data: Out-of-state police are among the heaviest users of Flock cameras surveillance data, records show
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🌬Breeze @cool-summer-breeze.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This is the Stolen Neighbors Quilt. Each of the 11,000 squares represents a person taken by ICE in Minnesota.
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Des Ertsen @desertsentinel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
When my grandmother was in hospice, she would cry out, “The nurses aren’t giving me my meds the doctor prescribed.” Long story, short. My grandmother was being influenced by the Dr. Oz show and she was mad that nobody would get her the supplements he was hawking.
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Better Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Humoring conservatives & acting like they make good points over the last 30 years brought us here. You never have to listen to them for the rest of our lives. It's time to treat career arsonists with the contempt they've earned instead of imagining a fake world where they're reasonable interlocutors
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Des Ertsen @desertsentinel.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The stadium debacle couldn’t have blown up in front of a more worthy man. I love when apoliticism is exposed.
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Better Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Every time there's a software update something basic that's worked for like 10 years no longer works. Thank you to our big tech industry for Building The Future
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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
It’s wild you’re expected to celebrate SCOTUS not allowing the president to dismantle a voting method used by tens of millions at the 11th hour — and also, at the same time, it absolutely is a big deal and couldn’t be taken for granted.
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Gillian Branstetter @gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
When Democrats attempt to triangulate on trans rights, it's my sense that many liberals and people in politics don't understand why many trans people are so upset. I wrote about the differences between then and now, what trans people have lost, and what we still stand to lose
autonomy.substack.com
This Is Not A Love Song
Explaining the “maximalism” of trans rights
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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 13/09/2026
I advocate for withholding your vote from the leading anti-trans Dems, the ones calling us biological males and/or declaring they will be in favor of healthcare restrictions. So of course Will, who I have never had beef with, compares our anger to a cult and drives extreme harassment my way.
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Des Ertsen @desertsentinel.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Wish self-professed allies to Queer people would stop and interrogate their own rhetoric whenever they become emotionally agitated and indignant towards the people they claim allyship on.
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Luke O'Neil @lukeoneil47.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Just go on the attack for once instead of sitting there trying to please your enemy who is in the process of trying to humiliate you. www.welcometohellworld.com/i-do-not-bel...
Just once in my life I would like to see a Democrat being interviewed by right wing media like Fox News or right wing media like every single other outlet treat their questions with the contempt they deserve. I know it's not going to fix everything or maybe even anything but how much coverage and how much groundswell of excitement from the base do you think it would inspire if when asked about "boys in girls sports" or some other stupid fucking culture war distraction one of them finally said "What the fuck are you talking about man? You sound like a dumb asshole right now."

What's the worst that's going to happen the New York Times is gonna work overtime to make sure you don't get elected? They were already doing that buddy.

You simply say "Are you stupid? Do you think I am stupid? And do you think all of the people watching at home are stupid? Everyone sees through what you are doing. Using one group as a scapegoat for the very real problems everyone has – all caused by Republicans by the way – unlike this fake one you have made up. Dumb asshole."

Just go on the attack for once instead of sitting there trying to please your enemy who is in the process of trying to humiliate you.
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Luke O'Neil @lukeoneil47.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I do not care if you are from a traditionally red state your job as a leader is to change that. It's not to chase what people have been told they already think it's to give them something else to believe in. And the way to do that is to show you are willing to fight for everyone...
welcometohellworld.com
I do not believe you care about this
You are lying
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Luke O'Neil @lukeoneil47.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
"I am for the dignity and safety and equal rights of trans people everywhere. Fuck you. The end." "I do not believe you care about this issue. You are lying. In fact you're a straight up weirdo for fixating on kids' genitals so much. That is odd behavior. Let kids run around with their friends."
welcometohellworld.com
I do not believe you care about this
You are lying
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dr. rich traditions, JD @helldude.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
im still an "adult liberal" who has made peace with all manner of the horrid contradictions that undergird american life. im not into purity tests. but this is also a crucial moment. ive got kids who have to live here and for whom these are critical issues. i deserve to have expectations
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dr. rich traditions, JD @helldude.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
i don't believe talarico is a bigot. im pretty sure he isnt. but if he apparently "has to" answer bad faith questions in a way that appears to compromise on the rights of one group of people being repressed to get elected, it's fair to ask what else he will "have to" do once he's in office
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I Scare You Like Sound Dog @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 12/09/2026
To be fair, there’s a significant number of influential campaign consultants and candidates who also believe it’s important for Dems to focus in on punishing trans kids for trying to play sports too.
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I Scare You Like Sound Dog @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 12/09/2026
The Republican Party is chock full of open race scientists and Hitler apologists, so naturally our political press is laser focused on reckoning with “wokeness” and trans kids playing sports.
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Des Ertsen @desertsentinel.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Whatever you do, poasters do not like being reminded of their failed political campaigns.
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Protect trans kids.
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David the Trifecta: Fatty, Beardo, Weirdo @coldwarhost.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The most damaging political idea I've seen in my lifetime is the idea that government should be run like a business
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Tea Pain @teapainusa.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I’m watching a documentary on World War II. The Nazi higher-ups were still praising Hitler’s genius while the Russians were only 12 miles from the city center of Berlin. Just like the Republicans still loyal to Trump as the party goes under.
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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Of course, it’s not just polling that matters here: Medicare-for-all would have saved hundreds of thousands of lives at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have research showing it. For a Democrat to be unwilling to wholeheartedly embrace this policy in 2026 is disqualifying.
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Ian Boudreau @ianboudreau.com · 16/08/2026
I don't understand Kingdom Hearts but I love it when there's news about it because my friends who do know about Kingdom Hearts sound completely insane
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AZ Advocacy Hub @azadvocacyhub.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
52 issues, 2,515 events shared, 103 Arizona organizations highlighted. Arizona Advocacy Hub runs on about $500 a year, which doesn’t cover the platform costs or the time. I’d like to keep going 😃 gofundme.com/f/azadvocacyhub
gofundme.com
Donate to Help Arizona Advocacy Hub Grow, organized by AZ Advocacy Hub
I’m June, and I created Arizona Advocacy Hub about a year and a half ago to help people… AZ Advocacy Hub needs your support for Help Arizona Advocacy Hub Grow
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Des Ertsen @desertsentinel.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I’ll take it.
static.klipy.com
Bliss: Iconic Windows XP Landscape
ALT: Bliss: Iconic Windows XP Landscape
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QuoProQuid @quoproquid.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
i personally think polymarket and all companies like it should be regulated out of existence and their assets seized by the state
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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
AOC: Millennials are not punk kids anymore. We're grown adults with mortgages and kids, and that generation is starting to be decisive at the polls. And there is anger at being ignored, having our economic futures mortgaged by the generations that came before us and we're taking the reins
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Garrett Petersen @gpetersen.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
A huge part of Democratic Party angst can be traced to the fact that Millennials are the single largest part of the electorate and even more so in the Democratic Party and we have been shit on our entire lives and are simply done with this shit and are activating.
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Deva Woodly @devawo.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
I’m telling you this as a political scientist. The person who is electable is the one who is elected. This can and does change over time. Any and all speculation about “electability” is either puffery or anxiety and is often both.
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lumberjack wharfie @lumberjackwharfie.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
why are my taxes going toward subsidizing the police when i might never even need to be beaten up and violated
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Rob-In-Seattle-AntifaCaptain LandofFreeHomeOfResistance @theresisterpost.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Happy Birthday to James Baldwin. A great American society critic. And then so much more. This is a great watch. Nothin better than seeing Will Buckley, getting his teeth kicked in and lunch money taken, and on, an international level. youtube.com/watch?v=dTEr...
youtube.com
James Baldwin v. William F. Buckley (1965) | Legendary Debate
YouTube video by Reelblack One
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Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
"Numerous progressives have won in swing states and districts in the past. Neither El-Sayed nor Hong would be the first progressive candidate to win in the Midwest. Ocasio-Cortez wouldn’t be the first president with a left-wing background." newrepublic.com/article/2136...
newrepublic.com
Can Progressive Candidates Win in Swing States? They Already Have.
In 2004, not many people imagined Senators Brown and Baldwin and President Obama. America’s voters often progress more quickly than we expect.
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 26/07/2026
36 years ago today, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law. This came after decades of advocacy from the Disability Rights movement and changed our country and our City for the better.
Mayor Mamdani holds the finish line at the USATF Outdoor and Para National Championship 

Text on image reads
“The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law 36 years ago.

We’re fighting for a City 
that is accessible for all.”Mayor Mamdani high fives a child in a blue shirt. 

Text on image reads 
“More than 1 million 
New Yorkers live with disabilities.
So we’re investing
$67.5M in Special-Ed Pre-K.”
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Claire Connelly @claireconnelly.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Why are all new cars so hideously unintuitive? Forget electric vehicles. Electric schmelectric. My next car money will go to the manufacturer that brings back physical knobs, car door handles, and a gear shift. Make cars… cars again. I don’t want to drive a tablet.
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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Exciting news: I just learned that @boltsmag.org has won a Nonprofit News Award tonight. The award is for the powerful (& distressing) story reported by @burness.bsky.social on the zealous prosecution of a community of American Samoans by the state — you may remember the article:
boltsmag.org
Americans by Name, Punished for Believing It - Bolts
In a small Alaska town, American Samoans face prosecution for voting in the only country they’ve ever known. They live in a limbo, created by colonial expansion, that now confuses even public official...
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Nate Rathjen @rathjen.us · 04/06/2026
here we go
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Max Berger @maxberger.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
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Graham Platner for Senate @grahamformaine.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Health insurance companies don't provide health care. Doctors do. Nurses do. Hospitals do. Clinics do. All insurance companies do is deny you the care you already paid for so some executive can buy their second yacht and their third home.
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Better Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
The entire right wing ecosystem, from politics to media to business, is just for-profit contrarianism. The formula is: they name a real shortcoming of the imperfect status quo and once they got you they sell you horseshit that's much, much worse
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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Indeed. A person rushed at POTUS's security perimeter and was stopped there. A person whose plan is to do a one-man charge through POTUS's security perimeter is, ipso facto, irrational. To the extent anything can be done to prevent this, it's universal free healthcare including mental healthcare.
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
every few months, americans are asked to resume their banquet and pretend a shooting didn't just happen
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