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Gadfly

@gadflypod.bsky.social
541 followers 356 following 552 posts

Gadfly is a podcast about third parties, fringe candidates, and generally weird American electoral history. Hosted by Dusty Wilson & Oona O'Leary. www.buzzsprout.com/760511

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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
Hey, y'all! Just hopping on real quick to note Elon Musk's desire the start a new third party called the America Party. On one hand, congrats on picking the most generic, overused name. On the other, this is never going to happen. 1/3
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
Hey, y'all! Posting today with a bit of sad news. Oona & I started this pod five years ago and it's been a ridiculous rush ever since. We've met amazing people and the fan base has been truly amazing. That said, matters of personal health have made it harder and harder to create each episode. 1/4
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Hey, y'all! We're back from our holiday hiatus to tell you the story of a cute little cat named Stubbs. In the late '90s the small village of Talkeetna, Alaska made the town bodega cat their mayor. This is the story of not just Stubbs, but of Talkeetna itself.
buzzsprout.com
Stubbs Stec-Spone - Gadfly
Hey, y'all! We are back from our holiday hiatus and due to the world just being a ball of chaos, we are focusing on something a bit more whimsical. In the late '90s, the town of Talkeetna, Alaska name...
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Pookleblinky @pookleblinky.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
When you make eugenicist arguments, a Nazi will happily agree with you. "So you agree that mentally ill people are dangerous? We both agree that fat people need to be punished? Sounds like we're both disgusted by gay and trans people my friend" They'll nod along happily as you say Nazi shit.
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Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans) @iwriteok.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
We failed to stop fascism's rise. Now it's dancing about on the White House lawn. I don't know how to fix all this but I do know that the shit we've been doing won't get us out of this one. shatterzone.substack.com/p/we-failed-...
shatterzone.substack.com
We failed to stop the rise of fascism. What comes next?
How to navigate the future without a map.
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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Already there are wannabe local influencers here in Chicago making all-caps posts about ICE raids in neighborhood Facebook groups because their friend saw an unmarked cop car somewhere and they consider that evidence enough to growth-hack off of people's fear. Listen to trusted orgs, not randos.
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Fascist Dem Tracker @fascistdemtracker.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
For a man of God, Raphael Warnock sure seems to be voting like he doesn't believe Hell is real.
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Adam H Johnson @ahjohnson.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
Chicago Legal Responders Network has produced a series of short videos about what to do if ICE shows up at your house, stops you while driving, etc. Available in Spanish and English. Please share with those who may find them useful. Here's what to do if they show up at your house.
youtube.com
En Su Casa
YouTube video by Chicago Legal Responders Network
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Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
The instinct people online have to make a dumb clichéd joke in response to other people suffering in a way that will never affect them is really fucking annoying
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David Neiwert @davidneiwert.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
@jesspish.bsky.social raises the relevant questions about the opening salvo on immigrants and the eagerness of Democratic “centrists” to cooperate with what will inevitably prove to be a historic travesty. substack.com/@sheriffs/no...
substack.com
Are these the "working class" politics the center wanted?
January 18, 2024
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
Is it just me or are a lot of big Blue accounts absolutely silent about the Laken Riley Act?
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Imani Barbarin @imanibarbarin.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
Just so we’re all clear: -Dems bend over backwards to Netanyahu’s every whim carrying through with financing a genocide, Bibi wants Trump to win and it costs Dems the election. -At the request of Netanyahu, the Tiktok Ban bill is Revived under a Dem President, closer tying it to Biden moreso
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Ms . Penny Oaken, SkyWitch 🧙‍♀️ @skywitchy.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
I want to do a quick “How To Tell That This Is An Op” tutorial, because apparently some propaganda tank or trollboard somewhere decided it’s time to send out Leftist Trolls, and they’re both very bad at it but also very effective. So let’s talk about How To Troll, Generic
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
Going to be interesting to see if Rep. Robert Menendez starts voting more favorably with Trumpist bills all of a sudden
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
The Wall Street Journal says there will be a splashy ICE operation in Chicago on Tuesday. While the headline is lurid, the actual operation described in the piece (100-200 agents) seems not that unusual for ICE (google Operation Cross-check). Expect a PR blitz, though. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
wsj.com
Trump to Begin Large-Scale Deportations Tuesday
The incoming Trump administration is planning a large-scale immigration raid in Chicago next week, the first move in President-Elect Donald Trump’s promised mass deportation campaign.
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Heba Gowayed هبة جويد @hebagowayed.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Dems are on board to pass Laken Riley in the Senate, a bill that mandates detention & deportation of immigrants *accused* of petty theft. Bill was amended to add that any immigrant accused of assaulting an officer should suffer same fate. This country is going to hell in a handbasket.
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Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
I've seen people dismiss the Pornhub bans, sometimes couching their dismissal in an anti-porn stance. What I don't think they realize is that the people pushing this stuff conflate porn with LGBTQ people and sex education and are part of Project 2025 mashable.com/article/free...
mashable.com
What the Supreme Court hearing about age verification could mean for you
The court's decision could set a new precedent for free speech online.
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Gabrielle A. Perry, MPH @geauxgabrielle.blacksky.app · 17/01/2025
@debtcollective.bsky.social sent out an email newsletter yesterday that took the breath out my chest, warning people to screenshot and save their student loan payment just in case the incoming Trump administration/DOE DELETES people’s PSLF standings b/c loan servicers arent keeping track.
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The TRiiBE @thetriibe.com · 16/01/2025
NEW — Young Lords founder and revolutionary José “Cha Cha” Jiménez passed away on Jan. 10 Read these letters of love from Chairman Fred Hampton, Jr., son of the late Black Panther Party revolutionary; and the actor who played Jiménez in ‘Judas and the Black Messiah.’ thetriibe.com/2025/01/lett...
thetriibe.com
Letters: Long live Chairman José ‘Cha Cha’ Jiménez of the Young Lords • The TRiiBE
Young Lords founder and revolutionary José “Cha Cha” Jiménez passed away on January 10, 2025. He was 76 years old.
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Hey, y'all! Thanks for your patience in waiting for our next episode. In the mean time, we have a new side project! Fascist Dem Tracker is a blog that follows fascist bills, notes what makes these bills fascist, and name the Democrats that voted to pass the legislation. Hope to see y'all there!
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Fascist Dem Tracker @fascistdemtracker.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
The first fascist law on the docket is HR 29/SR 5: the Laken Riley Act. The bill has been introduced by Rep Mike Collins (R-GA-10) and, if passed, would require federal imprisonment for any undocumented immigrant arrested for theft of over $100.
fdt.beehiiv.com
Laken Riley Act
HR 29/SR 5
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David C Bell @moviehooligan.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
Genuinely impressive that in just 30 years we created this vast digital resource of human knowledge and then monopolized it down to three guys everyone hates
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Fascist Dem Tracker @fascistdemtracker.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Hey, y'all! With the start of the newest Congress, @gadflypod.bsky.social is kicking off a new project: the Fascist Democrat Tracker. We will be posting bills that are fascist in nature, why they are fascist, and which Dems voted to pass them. For more details, check out our intro post.
fdt.beehiiv.com
Welcome to Fascist Dem Tracker
Just a quick overview of what this is, why this is, and who I am
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Of the three blatantly fascist bills to go through the House thus far (HR 23, 28, & 29), two Democrats have voted yay on all of them: Henry Cuellar (TX-28) & Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34). Two prime examples of when voting blue no matter who just results in electing fascists anyway.
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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 14/01/2025
Happening now, a transgender sports ban is being heard in Congress. This ban might ban trans people from dancing, darts, and even chess in many universities. It'll also target 9 year olds playing soccer. I'm covering live, follow along with me. live.house.gov
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Jared Yates Sexton @jysexton.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Trump didn’t just come up with the Greenland stuff. The tech oligarchs he serves want it for resources. There’s a difference between ignoring his madness and looking past the very real agendas and designs harbored by the people who control him. And we’d better learn that difference quickly.
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
*screams in Umberto Eco*
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
What's a substack alternative that you've used and recommend?
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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
As we see Democrats join Republicans to empower Donald Trump's anti-migrant regime, note that this is just the endpoint of Democrats' 2024 detached "follow the polls" strategy — campaigning as diet Republicans; losing as diet Republicans; legislating as them. A cycle with no end:
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Von Hindenburgs all the way down
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People’s City Council - Los Angeles @pplscitycouncil.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Was LAFD defunded by $17.5 million? YES Some council offices and the mayor are now trying to cover for their disastrous budget by claiming that they approved new LAFD contracts, which happened 6 months AFTER they approved the FY24-25 budget, leading to services and 58 LAFD positions cut
LAFD memo “SUMMARY
The Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) is facing unprecedented operational challenges due to the elimination of critical civilian positions and a $7 million reduction in Overtime Variable Staffing Hours (V-Hours). These budgetary reductions have adversely affected the Department's ability to maintain core operations, such as technology and communication infrastructure, payroll processing, training, fire prevention, and community education.
In addition to these impacts, the reduction in v-hours has severely limited the Department's capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires, earthquakes, hazardous material incidents, and large public events. Specialized programs and resources, such as Air Operations, Tactical EMS Units, Disaster Response, and Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), which rely heavily on v-hours, are now at risk of reduced effectiveness.
This report provides an in-depth analysis of these cascading impacts, underscoring the critical need for resource restoration to ensure operational readiness, firefighter safety, and the delivery of high-quality public service.
RECOMMENDATION
That the Board:
Receive and File.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.”Screenshot of city council voting on the budget. 12 yes 3 no
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
I feel like one of the many tiring things in the near future will be arguments why we shouldn't primary the 40-50 Democrats that consistently vote for fascism. Like all grim predictions, I really want to be wrong.
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
To kick off the #resistance, 48 Dem congressmembers vote in favor of a law that would allow the DHS to detain and deport any undocumented person arrested for for theft over $100. Not convicted. Simply arrested.
nbcnews.com
House passes Laken Riley Act to amp up border enforcement and put pressure on Democrats
The bill, named for a nursing school student who was murdered by a man in the country illegally, passed the House last year. The new Republican-controlled Senate is expected to take it up Friday.
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Sarah Lazare @sarahlazare.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
Today, 48 Dems joined Republicans in the House to pass the Laken Riley Act, a far-right, Trumpist law that would aggressively target people accused of nonviolent crimes for deportation. Of course Ritchie Torres was one of them. Find all their names here: clerk.house.gov/Votes/20256
clerk.house.gov
Roll Call 6 Roll Call 6, Bill Number: H. R. 29, 119th Congress, 1st Session
VOTE QUESTION: On Passage, DESCRIPTION: Laken Riley Act, VOTE TYPE: Yea-And-Nay, STATUS: Passed
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
It's gotten ZERO attention (this article doesn't even mention it!) but this law authorizes state AGs like Ken Paxton to seek court orders forcing the executive branch to detain and deport specific people, overturn individual humanitarian parole decisions, and cease issuing visas to entire countries.
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Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
There are some who say “your life won’t change much when trump is President” and I get why they’re saying that in the sense that I’m well off and a citizen who was born here to parents who aren’t gonna be deported either, but all else aside fuck yourself, I have a conscience
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
It's never a good sign when Gerald L.K. Smith is involved
buzzsprout.com
Gerald L.K. Smith & the America First Party - Gadfly
Welcome back to Gadfly! This week we did a deep dive into the phrase "America First," which is why we are talking about the worst person we have featured to date: minister Gerald L.K. Smith.TW: We are...
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Slash Bandicoot
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
My unpopular football opinion is that all fantasy leagues should play the whole season. The chaos of week 18 and good teams benching their starters is the pure distillation of fantasy football. And that is the spirit of random chance.
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 01/01/2025
This shit is so much worse for Democrats than any of the things they scold leftists for doing
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 01/01/2025
The unavoidable endpoint when fascists take over and the legal definition of obscenity is based almost entirely* on vibes. *if memory serves, the only hard line take in obscenity law is that '2 girls, 1 cup' should be illegal.
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Chad Loder @chadloder.dev · 01/01/2025
Elon Musk is a good example of how terrible people become increasingly radicalized into the far right simply because the far right is a community that accepts cruel, terrible people. It's tempting to say Elon is going "mask off", but I'd wager Elon didn't know who Tommy Robinson was 5 years ago. 1/
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 01/01/2025
This is the content we need. No bad takes to be found.
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Laura Jedeed @laurajedeed.bsky.social · 01/01/2025
bannedinyourstate.com
The Year Things Fell Apart
The Year New Things Began
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Gadfly @gadflypod.bsky.social · 01/01/2025
The 'silver lining' phrase from BlueMaga/#resist types is that they find some comfort in Trump voters suffering from his bad policies. It keeps getting clearer that the subtext of that is they cannot wait for everyone who said anything bad about the party or Biden to also suffer for their amusement.
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