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Ericjhensal

@ericjhensal.bsky.social
1.3K followers 436 following 3.2K posts

Writing for Progressive Conjecture at newsletter.aprogressiveway.com and author of "A Progressive Art of War" outlining the benefit of Sun Tzu’s ancient Art of War for modern progressive efforts. amazon.com/dp/B07V9JXRMS

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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Sheriff Kerry is a Manhunter. As Alfred Hitchcock taught us flashbacks can lie. Her Rushville origin may not be true. Consider Kerry against all the show says about manhunters. Developing favors. Using romantic attachment leaving her now-useless husband for Hal. It adds up. #Lanterns #GreenLantern
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Buy these goggles before you spray degreaser while working under your truck. Your cornea will thank you.
Me wearing new 3M goggles after eye injury.
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
For Hong's governor's campaign, consider that, perhaps, Wisconsin just doesn't like women. Obama won. Hillary lost. Biden won. Harris practically moved there and--lost. WI has Sen. Baldwin, but not much else for women in statewide office now or historically. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
What can we learn from Francesca Hong’s loss in Wisconsin? | Ben Davis
A fairly overtly radical socialist winning about 40% of the vote in a primary like this was unthinkable even a few years ago
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Boaty McTrumpface is how I explain why lower information voters cast ballots for Trump in 2024. Now they regret their commentary. From my friend William Klein. williamklein.substack.com/p/no-please-...
williamklein.substack.com
No, Please, Not More "Polling and Ad Testing"
What Data Lovers Don't Tell You
120
Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
AI can be useful to writers, but as a writer, AI is the slippery slope to hell... From William Klein--That's Not Writing, That's... williamklein.substack.com/p/thats-not-...
williamklein.substack.com
That's Not Writing, That's...
Ay Ay! AI!
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Dear Canada, i whole-hardheartedly agree with you that Trump sucks. But ease up on the smoke please. You've made your point. Also consider Trump's White House crypt brings in air through a complicated HEPA filtration system, so he doesn't even notice. Thanks, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
More Canadian wildfire smoke shrouds US midwest, mid-Atlantic and north-east
109 million people face another day of poor air quality as smoke from blazes in Ontario drifts over the US
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
If you want to support young Jazz musicians and are in the Boston area, stop by to see my son playing in Cambridge at the Lilypad. Thanks all for tolerating my proud parent moment.. www.lilypadinman.com/home/2026/7/...
lilypadinman.com
The Nicolas Hensal Quartet — The Lilypad
$15 admission / 10pm doors / seated & standing / 10:30 til 1am
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Moraff, Fan, and Katz may be earnest. Doesn't matter. Progressives must stop giving their hearts and wallets to every candidate the machine serves up.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
The Call for Platner Is from Inside the Progressive House
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Elevating a candidate with no political experience and no vetting is reprehensible. It nearly cost progressives a winnable Senate seat. On the Platner collapse:
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
The Call for Platner Is from Inside the Progressive House
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Jenny Racicot weighed justice for herself against a Senate seat progressives need. That she came forward anyway is the bravest act of this cycle. On how it unfolded:
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
The Call for Platner Is from Inside the Progressive House
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Mid-collapse, survivors' allies offered Platner staffers résumé help to resign in solidarity—the same play that emptied Swalwell's office. A damned brilliant move. My piece:
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
The Call for Platner Is from Inside the Progressive House
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Swalwell: three days from publication to resignation. Platner: two. A survivor-support infrastructure now exists inside progressive politics, and it moves at startup speed.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
The Call for Platner Is from Inside the Progressive House
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Platner won his primary with 72% on June 9. He was gone by July 8. What happened in between wasn't the GOP or the party establishment—it was progressives doing the vetting the professionals skipped.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
The Call for Platner Is from Inside the Progressive House
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
"Most of the money is going to the creators who are all speaking in the same echo chamber... it's not going to change hearts and minds." Said to NPR in mid-June. Three weeks later, a campaign built on exactly that money collapsed.
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
The establishment didn't take Platner down—it was happy with a vote. Look at Fetterman. Progressives cleaned their own house. That's the story no one is telling:
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
The Call for Platner Is from Inside the Progressive House
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
My mother always said (in)famous folks die in threes. So Lindsey Graham is gone, Mitch McConnell is likely gone or well on the way. Wonder which GOP death is coming up soon? Reply with your thoughts and prayers regarding who may be next.
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Platner raised $3.2M in six weeks. That money didn't just fund a campaign—it cleared the field and crashed Janet Mills' bid before most of Maine knew his name.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
The Call for Platner Is from Inside the Progressive House
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
I honestly believe Trump et. al. did not know bills pass if not vetoed. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Bipartisan housing bill becomes law despite Trump’s refusal to sign it
President says he would refuse to sign housing bill without passage of voting legislation, but without veto it will still become law
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Two operatives roam the country scouting veteran candidates. In Maine they found Platner through his mom. No election ever held, no vetting done—then $1 million in nine days.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
The Call for Platner Is from Inside the Progressive House
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
June 4: an underwhelming Times story. July 2: NBC puts the ecosystem on notice. July 6: Politico publishes. July 8: Platner is out. Anatomy of a progressive housecleaning:
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
The Call for Platner Is from Inside the Progressive House
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Watch Platner's launch video. It says "Maine" but speaks fluent national clickbait. That was the point—it was built for the progressive fundraising ecosystem, not for Mainers.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
The Call for Platner Is from Inside the Progressive House
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
The campaign spent $14 million. The demolition took days. My new piece on the making and unmaking of Graham Platner:
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
The Call for Platner Is from Inside the Progressive House
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Ousting Graham Platner was no establishment revenge plot, no Trumpian project. The call came from inside the progressive house. New essay:
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
The Call for Platner Is from Inside the Progressive House
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Graham Platner was cultured, not natural. The progressive social media ecosystem manufactured his Senate campaign—and women wielding that ecosystem's own skills took it apart in days.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
The Call for Platner Is from Inside the Progressive House
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Graham Platner was cultured, not natural. The progressive social media ecosystem manufactured his Senate campaign—and progressive women wielding that ecosystem's own skills took it apart in days. newsletter.aprogressiveway.com/the-call-for...
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
The Call for Platner Is from Inside the Progressive House
Platner was cultured, not grown. The ecosystem made him—and women with its skills ended his campaign in days.
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Dear World, sorry about that whole Red Card thing. Trump saw us having fun so he had to, and this is the proper term of art, take a giant shit on that. Hope you understand our problem. Again, apologies.
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Big anniversary tonight for the U.S. and we have a cover band for the Trump July 4 fireworks--which started July 5.
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
CNN is covering Trump's fireworks as if they are eagerly anticipating their new fascist overlord.
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Are the AI generated books in Trump's Qatar Force 1 there to pretend they all read, or are images covering up Trump's editions of Mein Kampf and Hitler's Collected Speeches? gizmodo.com/are-those-fa...
gizmodo.com
Are Those Fake Books on the New Air Force One AI-Generated?
The books are somehow both real and fake at the same time.
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
A provocation: if Joe Biden had run in 2016 instead of Hillary, do you really think we'd have gotten Trump? Our idea of "presidential" is baked with bias. Be honest.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Happy Birthday 'Merica
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Make the 250th more than nostalgia for faded glory. Let it be year one of disenthralling ourselves from the imperial presidency—and building a government for the people that lasts.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Happy Birthday 'Merica
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
For all of Stephen Miller's resemblance to Goebbels, Trump can't even throw a party—much less run a country. The fizzling 250th is the proof, dim as a cheap sparkler.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Happy Birthday 'Merica
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
The founders were flawed—often too capitalist when not slaveholders. The accommodations made over centuries to a property-first Constitution are what made a Trump possible.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Happy Birthday 'Merica
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Hard truth: we did this. You may never have voted for Trump, but none of us did our utmost in the decades between Reagan and 2024 to keep a Trump from ever happening.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Happy Birthday 'Merica
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Polk wanted Texas—but at least Congress declared war on Mexico. Trump spends north of $100B losing to Iran while Congress does nothing and the Supreme Court hands over even more keys.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Happy Birthday 'Merica
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Why do we keep craving a "lone warrior" president? The Cold War built an office that could confer vast power in an instant. That imperial presidency haunts us. It doesn't have to.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Happy Birthday 'Merica
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
World Cup fans are awed by our ranch dressing, Buc-ee's and everyday kindness. Meanwhile the federal government is mired in hate, incompetence and greed. The cities show our best. Trump can't even clean the pool.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Happy Birthday 'Merica
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
We sing the anthem before ballgames like it's sacred. It started as WWI public relations. We've taken patriotism to the point of fetish—and that fetish is exactly what handed Trump a second term.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Happy Birthday 'Merica
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
For this 250th Independence Day, we must disenthrall ourselves from our acceptance of an imperial presidency. Trump on July 4 is a plain, shameful failure. We should do a better job pursuing happiness for all. newsletter.aprogressiveway.com/happy-birthd...
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Happy Birthday 'Merica
The 250th highlights our failures in electing presidents. How a nation's fetish for the strongman president handed us Trump—and why the anniversary should be the year we start disenthralling ourselves...
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Progressives, here's the opening: a global audience, on our soil, ready to understand how we got here. Lean in and explain it. New at Progressive Conjecture. twp.ai/4hrtt7 #Progressive #Politics
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Unwashed America
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Progressives: lean into this World Cup moment. Explain to the world what we're actually dealing with. New at Progressive Conjecture: twp.ai/4hrtsn #Politics
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Unwashed America
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Foreign fans will notice what we've stopped noticing: a near-dead press, an inward-looking public, a politics held together with flimsy material.
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Unwashed America
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Foreign visitors will notice what's become background noise to us: a hollowed-out press, an inward-facing public, a civic culture running on fumes. twp.ai/4hrtt8 #MediaCriticism #Politics
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Unwashed America
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
A brief Star Trek geek. I watched the DS9 episode "Treachery, Faith and the Great River." An interesting re-framing of Ferengi beliefs away from the rampant capitalism they typically represent and towards something more progressive actually. @steveshives.bsky.social youtu.be/s6QVPbD9rD8?...
youtu.be
DS9 Nog borrows Sisko's desk (Treachery, Faith, and the Great River)
YouTube video by trekclip123
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Trump isn't staging a Riefenstahl spectacle. He's just being himself on a world stage — and the world is watching. "Unwashed America":
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Unwashed America
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
The kindest thing the World Cup could do for America's image abroad? Turn some of the hatred into pity. New essay: twp.ai/4hrtsi #WorldCup2026
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Unwashed America
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
No one is coming to America for a savage journey to the heart of the American Dream. They're here for football. They'll find the rest anyway. twp.ai/4hrtt2 #WorldCup2026 #HunterSThompson
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Unwashed America
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
"The Center Cannot Hold": Trump is de-centering the U.S. from the world order we built. For a planet of parliamentary democracies, watching it unravel is its own kind of horror. New essay. twp.ai/4hrtt3 #Democracy #Politics
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Unwashed America
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
The best the World Cup might do for Brand USA: turn some of the world's hatred into pity. That isn't soft power — it's the absence of it. "Unwashed America." twp.ai/4hrtt1 #SoftPower #WorldCup
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Unwashed America
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Ericjhensal @ericjhensal.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
No one comes to the U.S. for "a savage journey to the heart of the American Dream." They'll get one anyway. New from Progressive Conjecture:
twp.ai
newsletter.aprogressiveway.com
Unwashed America
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