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Gar W. Lipow

@garlipow.bsky.social
114 followers 88 following 685 posts

small d democrat, socialist, environmentalist, hate war but not a pacifist, support Palestinian rights, pronouns he/him they/them is also OK if you prefer that.

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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Self control note to me: don't correct the factual error in the joke! The actual history of the real person upon which the fictional character the joke is about is not relevant. A "correction" will contribute nothing to the conversation! Do not correct the joke, Gar! Do no correct the joke!
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Barry Deutsch @barrydeutsch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Dear Some Of My Fellow Lefties... Read more cartoons! ---> #PoliCartoon Help us make more! ----> patreon.com/barry
1,973 characters:

Nine panels. In the first eight, a different character speaks to the viewer.

PANEL 1
CAPTION: Dear (some of) my fellow lefties:
A man in a white shirt and tie laughs at his desk.
MAN: Ann Coulter is a man! Haw haw!

PANEL 2
An older white-haired woman in a floral blouse raises her hands, laughing.
WOMAN: Clarence Thomas’ parents should have named him “Tom.” Get it? Like Uncle Tom?
WOMAN: As a white liberal, it’s totally my place to say that!

PANEL 3
A smiling man with a huge beard, sunglasses, bowler hat and puffy-trimmed coat stands by a bike.
MAN: I bet all these anti-gay conservatives are secretly gay!
MAN: Let’s laugh at them for being gay!
MAN: (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)

PANEL 4
A thin woman in a red knit cap, hoodie and hoop earrings speaks angrily.
WOMAN: Trump just keeps pulling lies out of his big fat ass!
WOMAN: God fat people disgust me!
WOMAN: Er… I meant, Trump disgusts me!
WOMAN: Whichever!

PANEL 5
A man in glasses and a “this is what a feminist looks like” tee points at his tablet. Behind him is a hillside with paths and trees.
MAN: When I see pro-life women, I think, who’d even want to get them pregnant?

PANEL 6
A tattooed person with a partly shaved head and nose and ear rings sits with coffee, smiling with a hand beside their mouth as if telling a dirty joke.
PERSON: Guys obsessed with protecting big guns are just making up for they lack downstairs, ifyaknowwhatImean.
PERSON: You do know what I mean, right?
PERSON: I mean penises!

PANEL 7
An aggravated woman outdoors wears a jacket, scarf and big knit hat.
WOMAN: You know who votes Republican? Inbred, flyover state hillbilly retards!

PANEL 8
A grinning redheaded man sits on a curb, leaning on one hand, wearing an open shirt over a striped tee.
MAN: I love it when right-wingers get sent to prison. “Don’t drop the soap!” Ha!

PANEL 9
No art: a caption in big white letters fills an otherwise red panel.
CAPTION: Shut up and get the hell off my side.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Yes it is bad news,but it is closer than the earlier reporting said. Bolsanaro leads 47.03 to Lulu's 45.15 - hair less than 2%. Lulu can still win in the second round
Bolsanaro leads 47.03 to Lulu's 45.15 - hair less than 2%.   Lulu can still win in the second round
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
If you are left of liberal, consider this: Information on local elections is harder to get than national. If you follow local politics (and you should) people will be glad to hear your (informed) opinions. I mean most people have no idea who to vote for in the judges' races. If you know, share!
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I created a personal pdf voter guide for Washington State and Thurston County elections. I wish some of the left of liberal groups like DSA would do this. I know DSA only endorses campaigns they work on. But they could suggest choices in other races drive.google.com/file/d/1mR3z...
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
possibly the single most terrifying sentence in the history of civilian aviation.
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Reposted by Gar W. Lipow
Barry Deutsch @barrydeutsch.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The Art of Persuasion Read more cartoons! —> #Policartoon Support the cartoons! —>patreon.com/barry
TRANSCRIPT
Panel 1:
A woman and a man sit on a low stone wall in a park. The woman is upset; the man listens.

WOMAN: And now the Democrat in the race is backing some anti-trans laws! I’m not sure I can vote for that.

MAN (thinking): Uh-oh. Democrats need every vote. How can I convince her to vote for the Democrat anyway?

Panel 2:
The woman and man walk through the park, the woman ahead of him.

WOMAN: Of course, the Republican is even worse. But if Democrats turn against trans people… I’m so frightened.

MAN (thinking): I’ve got to be empathetic and persuasive.

Panel 3:
Close-up of the man, looking thoughtful with his hand on his chin.

WOMAN (off-panel): Look at what happened to the UK — they’ve now got two anti-trans parties. If we let that happen here, trans rights are dead.

MAN (thinking): Okay, I think I know how to reassure her and get her vote.

Panel 4:
The man is suddenly furious, leaning toward the startled woman and pointing at her.

MAN: You’re a Trump supporting moron and you deserve to die!

CHICKEN FAT WATCH
PANEL 1:
A good dog with a halo peers out a window. A hand sticks out of a hole in a tree holding a sign that says SEND CANDY.

PANEL 2:
Groucho peeks from behind some bushes. A poster nailed to a tree reads "Background gag to come and it'll be so funny!" A bad rabbit (we know it's bad because it's smoking) sits beside a bad worm (also smoking). A bottle lying in the grass is labeled "BARRY BEER" and has a disturbed-looking drawing of Barry. A mouse holds a knife to a cat; the cat raises its front paws in surrender.

PANEL 4:
A giant mouse (?) in a shirt and tie sits on the wall reading a newspaper, called "Daily Blah Blah," whose headline says "Literate Rodent Escapes Lab."
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I really like the civil rights as phalanx metaphor. My gototo was always "Stop arguing over who to throw off the sled. Fight the damn wolves." But, yours is better. @birdsaredinosaurs.bsky.social @sabreuse.bsky.social
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Reposted by Gar W. Lipow
Your Internet Friend Tom Tomorrow @tomtomorrow.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
tl;dr the LLM is a dangerous tool, not a living entity
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
poem my father wrote upon Neruda's death a few weeks after the coup in Chile
 will not mourn for Neruda, no crooked cross
Can foul his dreams with the stench
Of graveyard breath.,the albatross
Will grin on the tyrant's bloody trench
But Neruda will still sing
Together with a holy man called Cesar
Neruda will sing, and together
With the crimson fury of a lead guitar
hurling rebel rock forever
at the vultures' heads.
And when the raging barrios
In California stretch brown arms to join
Black ones in New York alleys, Santiago's
Snarling bullet and rattling coins
will not buy his silence.
In the harvest fields of California,
And the coal mines of Appalachia,
And the agony of Cambodia,
On the smouldering streets of Uganda,
And the river banks of India
And with Jose Marti in Cuba
And in El Salvador named for the savior
Neruda will still sing.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
You can return malfunctioning toasters. Why not politicians? Flaws in existing znetwork.org/znetarticle/... "Failure to Represent" Flaws in participatory democracy znetwork.org/znetarticle/... "Control Failure:" The proposal "The Returnable Vote" znetwork.org/znetarticle/...
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
2 conflicting test results lead my cost-conscious Dr. to the conclusion that I'm fine. So just lost 1/2 day gathering & sending documentation from the ADA and NKF that the 2 test results combined classify me as high risk. That normal on test 1 and high on test 2 translates into "treat or refer."
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
"The Returnable Vote", third in my series of the same name, znetwork.org/znetarticle/... is now available. Think of it as an undo button for voters, that works even between elections. You can return malfunctioning toasters without multiyear waits. Why not politicians?
znetwork.org
The Returnable Vote
This is Part III of a three-part series. Around two thirds of the population of the world’s democracies surveyed don’t believe their democracy functions
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Trump does nothing that bipartisan action did not create conditions for. He turns the sliders up from five to eleven. But the sliders were already on the control panel.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Interview With the Clueless Vampire
V: Just because I'm a 600 year old vampire, don't think I can't understand your society. I completely comprehend this undead money of yours.
Interviewer: Umm....
V: Yes, you conjure money from crypts, in rituals where you you sacrifice chained blockheads, whose stupidity and greed you channel ...
Interviewer: Ummm, well .... <beat>  ....  Hmm, actually that makes as much sense as any other explanation of crypto I've heard.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
The NY Times is 'concerned' about the Mamdani administration sending out press releases! They are being sent to influencers rather than the NY Times! Icky unaccountable influencers!, Not the completely accountable transparent NY Times! And, horror of horrors, some of them are videos!
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
znetwork.org/znetarticle/... Limitations of participatory democracy in replacing states. Information constraints, low participation, failure of directly democratic assemblies to control councils making large scale decisions.
znetwork.org
Control Failure
This is part II of a three-part series. . In conventional representative democracy, lack of accountability between elections leads to broken promises;
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
With constitutional reform finally part of the conversation, it is important to understand what is failing even in nations without the US's particular structural flaws: znetwork.org/znetarticle/...
znetwork.org
Failure to Represent
This is Part I of a three-part series. Why does representative democracy seem so broken that it is tempting to translate “Vox populi, vox dei,” (“Voice of
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gamera obscura october edition @ohrobin.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
And generally, American liberals desperately need to stop treating dislike of Trump as evidence of political virtue. Trump is the easiest person on earth to hate! Which structures of power are you willing to challenge when they’re administered by someone less grotesque?
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
A site whose newsletter I had subscribed to had no unsubscribe button, but did have a link to adjust settings. When clicked that link, it turned out that "adjust settings" was only available in paid version. So I reported the newsletter as spam.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Flash horror; Protagonist: "How can demons and vampires exist?" Mentor: "In an infinite multiverse, ours happens to contain these things. The universe where capitalism is the dominant system and Donald Trump is the US President is worse." Protagonist: "The horror! The horror!"
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Dolly Parton was one example I always used when arguing that it is possible to be a sweetheart without being a pushover.
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Reposted by Gar W. Lipow
gamera obscura october edition @ohrobin.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Still thinking about the Luddites I came across this. How fascinating it is to watch what might be the germ of a neo-Luddite movement around surveillance technology. And a guy writing a nudge-wink, fuck-the-man, banger of a country song makes me feel American in a way that for once isn’t pejorative.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
With the destruction of US food safety infrastructure, inadequate as it was, I'm planning to pretty much live on textured vegetable protein (TVP) cooked at high heat.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Hip went out, so: Primary care appointment->referral to ortho->appointment with ortho->referral to imaging->appointment with imaging->2nd appointment with ortho->referral to PT->appointment with PT->begin PT 4 months later. Thank god we don't suffer the delays socialized medicine would cause. 1/2
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
I considered titling a work about repurposing some tools and processes from corporate governance to improve democracy "Dismantling the Master's House With the Master's Tools." But I think that joke would amuse too narrow a segment of the audience I want to reach.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Anyone who only wants to stop aid to Israel but supports continued weapons sales to it is either trying to con us (the most likely case), or is the world's easiest mark.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
A phrase for what the whole anti-DEI and anti-Woke thing is after besides white and male supremacy - "Manufacturing Ignorance." #ManufacturingIgnorance
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Big Pharma yearly global gross revenue ~1.8 trillion: www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-ana... Big Snake Oil yearly global gross revenue ~6.8 trillion: globalwellnessinstitute.org/press-room/s... Both evil. But Big Pharma produces tons more life-saving & useful products than Big Snake Oil.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
There’s an underlying assumption a lot of people are making that if a black guy successfully misleads you, it means you have set your racism levels too low.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I opposed every military action by the US in my lifetime, and always wanted to cut the military budged by at least 75%, to fund real defense only. But I'm no pacifist. It scares the frack out of me that I know better how to run a military than our Secretary of Defense & President combined.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
democraticconstitutionblog.substack.com/p/the-senate...
democraticconstitutionblog.substack.com
The Senate Is Begging to Be Abolished
The hubbub surrounding McConnell, Platner, and Graham stems from the undemocratic Senate, argues Steven Raney.
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August J. Pollak @augustjpollak.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Say whatever you want about the Senate Majority PAC but they picked up the phone here and said "Abdul, do not worry about the white people, we are ON IT"
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Trust no domestic political analyst driven by eternal terror of repeating McGovern 1972. Trust no foreign policy analyst who sees every opposition to war as Munich 1938.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Underestimated: broken campaign promises contribute to the fascism worldwide. Treating politics as weather, something to endure rather than influence is very old in human culture - for good reason. "Put not your trust in princes." Broken promise encourage reversion to that historical norm. 1/2
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Nome @nome.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
My experience is of every American COVID-19 mitigation effort being obviously insufficient, and ended far too soon. To see people now argue that they somehow were too much, going too far? Not anti-vax or MAGA people, but folks just out here on Bluesky? It staggers me.
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Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.com · 30/07/2026
This is going to make it very difficult to know which sports we should ban them from.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
I look forward to the Haley Stevens supporters explaining that the Emerson poll showing Abdul El-Sayed 15 points ahead is not an independent poll or does not count for some other reason. (Even if the exact number is not right, that big a polling lead strongly implies he is well ahead.)
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Two positions that make complete sense to subject to broad public election: judge and brain surgeon.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
In my uneasy nap after my eye injection, the scary dream thing left me a verse: How many lice to a cart of gold? How many rapes to a director's board? How many children wizened and old to fatten the looters of Sudan's hoard?
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
All the complaints about how Mamdani's stores differ from normal grocers just sounds like mini-Aldis.. They are leaving out frills that add labor and eat up floor space. I don't think anyone really needs 900 varieties of toothpaste,
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
90+ degree with light rain - never happened in Western Washington that I can remember during the past 30 years; so climate change. Because it is light rain, will not only cause immediate misery but will trap heat and take longer to cool down. Heavy rain cools. Light rain makes heat worse.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
f you are anti-Farage in Claxton, cast your ballot for Count Binface. Picking the Monster Raving Loony Party instead will only split the vote. That this snark is actually good advice is an extremely strong argument against first-past-the-post electoral systems.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
I don't think the war against Iran will end while Trump is in office. He can't admit he lost, and Iran won't surrender enough to make him look "dominant." There may be lulls and pauses, but no end while he is there. To change that, short of his leaving office, we would need an antiwar *movement*.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
My endorsement for Congressional District 10 in the August 4th primary: Alex Scheel, long term DSA member and anti-war organizer. www.alexscheelforcongress.com
alexscheelforcongress.com
Alex Scheel for Congress | Washington's 10th District
Support progressive change and vote for anti-war Veteran Alex Scheel for Congress. Join a people-powered campaign focused on Medicare for All, Housing for all and Workers rights. Unseat the incumbant,...
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Quoting Atrios/Ducan Black. "'Civility' means do not speak ill of the people we think matter, you scum pig person."
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
The US Senate is the world's best eldercare facility. And given that Senators in close to a vegetative state have continued to serve, Senator must be the world's easiest job..
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Mr. Lindsey Graham, he dead. During his time as Senator, there was no vicious attack by the US on other nations he failed to support.  There was no robbery of the American pocketbook or of American liberties he failed to enable. 
I will not say the world is a better place for his passing. He was too much of a mediocrity for that; he was a follower of evil, never a leader in it. He was the ultimate replaceable part in a destructive machine. His spot will easily be filled.
He may, as some say, have been good to his friends and his family; but that does not outweigh the harm he did to strangers.  To the multitudes whose lives he helped worsen or end, his passing leaves no hole in the world. To them his memory will never be a blessing.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Maybe Trump could move in with Mitch. I understand he prefers warm climates.
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Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
A good article on Platner on why so many Maine women supported him . archive.is/0X3ni
archive.is
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