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Jim Carroll

@jtccarroll.flux.community
745 followers 248 following 995 posts

Editor, The Hot Screen; contributor at Flux

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Reposted by Jim Carroll
Flux @flux.community · 02/10/2026
As Republicans' electoral fortunes fade significantly, many of its politicians are trying to distance themselves from Trump, but it's only verbal misdirection. He owns the Republican party, and Democrats must remind voters of that, @jtccarroll.flux.community argues:
plus.flux.community
Flimsy GOP attempts to show ‘distance’ from Donald Trump should fool no one
As Republicans face a likely midterms wipeout, Democrats must be unsparing in reminding voters that there is little daylight between a radicalized GOP and the aspiring despot in the White House
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 29/09/2026
Fair point! I went back and forth with what label to give them, don't love "centrist" either but went with it for the time being.
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 28/09/2026
The choice to declare war on the one but not the other only becomes more bizarre when you consider the centrality of pro-democracy and egalitarian policies within the DSA platform and general appeal to voters. More here: /fin plus.flux.community/p/third-way-...
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Third Way “war” on democratic socialism betrays a basic misreading of U.S. politics
An increasingly fascistic Republican Party, not ideas that lie within the continuum of pro-democracy policies, is the true threat to America
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 28/09/2026
In the face of this, are we really to believe that the highest priority in American politics is not to beat, discredit, and dismantle a fascistic GOP, but to administer a beatdown to the Democratic Socialists of America? 13/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 28/09/2026
Equally disqualifyingly, Third Way seems not to grasp the single most dangerous political threat of our time: the emergence of an authoritarian and racist Republican Party led by an increasingly unstable would-be dictator. 12/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 28/09/2026
At the broadest level, we face a vexing constellation of challenges, including but hardly limited to the extremely unsettled, perilous state of American democracy and an economic system that not only generates increasing levels of extreme inequality. 11/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 28/09/2026
Damningly, Third Way also radically misreads the political, economic, and sociological contexts currently making Americans more receptive to fresh ideas such as those propounded by the DSA and the left more generally. 10/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 28/09/2026
A scorched-earth strategy by one faction — in this case, Third Way essentially promoting “moderate” policies and trying to exclude “extreme” ones — seems doomed to fail. 9/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 28/09/2026
For the Democrats, a party that includes both moderate and progressive wings, the proposition that certain ideas can simply be excommunicated rather than repudiated with opposing ideas and arguments is simply not realistic — or desirable. 8/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 28/09/2026
And while this might be an appropriate tack to take against, say, self-proclaimed Democrats who advocate for the overthrow of the U.S. government, it’s an overwrought and counter-productive strategy against simply controversial or unpopular ideas. 7/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 28/09/2026
Instead, it is denouncing as “democratic socialism” a whole host of policies in an effort to preemptively delegitimize them rather than engage with them on their merits. 6/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 28/09/2026
White supremacists or those who advocate violence as a way to solve political differences are obvious, clear examples. But Third Way appears to be doing something quite different than calling for the exclusion of such truly outlandish ideas. 5/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 28/09/2026
Now, the idea that Democrats might be damaged when the party nominates candidates who hold controversial or unpopular positions, and that it thus might have an interest in patrolling its ideological and policy boundaries, is not crazy on its face. 4/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 28/09/2026
Alongside the allocation of $15 million dollars to attack the DSA and those who share its positions. Jonathan Cowan, president of Third Way, asserted that the DSA presents a “mortal threat” to the Democratic Party. 3/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 28/09/2026
The long-running tension between moderate and progressive Democrats to steer the party’s direction saw a revealing development last month, as a prominent centrist group indicated it was declaring “war” on the Democratic Socialists of America. 2/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 28/09/2026
My latest @flux.community: An increasingly fascistic Republican Party, not ideas that lie within the continuum of pro-democracy policies, is the true threat to America: why the Third Way declaration of war on the DSA is so very bonkers. 1/x plus.flux.community/p/third-way-...
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Third Way “war” on democratic socialism betrays a basic misreading of U.S. politics
An increasingly fascistic Republican Party, not ideas that lie within the continuum of pro-democracy policies, is the true threat to America
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Reposted by Jim Carroll
Flux @flux.community · 23/09/2026
As Trump ramps up his attacks on America's founding principles and seeks to destroy our most treasured institutions, the conservative Democrat group Third Way thinks that not-even socialists are the bigger threat. This is a dangerous error, @jtccarroll.flux.community writes:
plus.flux.community
Third Way “war” on democratic socialism betrays a basic misreading of U.S. politics
An increasingly fascistic Republican Party, not ideas that lie within the continuum of pro-democracy policies, is the true threat to America
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 14/09/2026
Solid article out from CNN on AI dangers and the GOP's non- response, though this understatement made me lol: "But Trump’s attitude toward cataclysmic warnings of rampant AI suggests he’s done little philosophical soul-searching at a turning point for the human race.” www.cnn.com/2026/09/14/p...
cnn.com
A fateful turning point for humanity and AI could redefine American politics | CNN Politics
If a terrorist threat led subject experts to warn of a near-term existential menace to humanity, the weight of the US government would mobilize in an immediate and limitless effort to save the day.
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Reposted by Jim Carroll
The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 25/08/2026
"Eugenics looms here....If the method of salvation is embracing self-actualization, then saving yourself is a choice. If you fail, you are culpable for the failure." Whatever this is, it doesn't belong in the upper echelons of the federal government.
lnk.thebulwark.com
RFK Jr.’s Toxic World
The HHS secretary uses fear of contamination to denigrate modern medicine and advance a project rooted in vulgar eugenics.
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Reposted by Jim Carroll
The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 25/08/2026
"It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the HHS secretary sees deaths from outbreaks of diseases we had beaten or contained, like measles and cyclosporiasis, as a form of social hygiene that kills off the weak and susceptible."
lnk.thebulwark.com
RFK Jr.’s Toxic World
The HHS secretary uses fear of contamination to denigrate modern medicine and advance a project rooted in vulgar eugenics.
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 27/08/2026
Counterpoint: they can always use their drippy mouth acid to melt the pedals.
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 26/08/2026
Just as vaccine-skeptic Americans might still listen to their personal doctor's advice, it seems that hearing actual scientists talk about their values and commitment to public health (and not the right's caricature of them) can be key to reviving and fortifying public trust in medical science. /fin
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 26/08/2026
2/ One implicit point that stood out for me: as horrifying as MAGA's war on science has so far been, the solidaristic actions of the scientific community, alongside a growing public backlash, may yet turn Trump's vandalism of key public agencies into a mere Pyrrhic victory. 2/
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 26/08/2026
ICYMI: This @flux.community @matthew.flux.community conversation with two former NIH employees offers both on-the-ground details of Trump's war on medical science and an overview of the larger stakes re public health and scientific freedom. 1/ plus.flux.community/p/how-scient...
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How scientists are fighting the Trump administration’s attempts to silence them
Sylvia Chou and Alexa Romberg on how scientists are supporting each other and realizing that being apolitical is a luxury belief
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 26/08/2026
Good point here too - Dems have ability to maximize the damage: "All this gives Dems a potent line of attack on incumbent Republicans: that they’ve done nothing to resist the tariffs, even though the levies constitute a huge usurpation of their own power—that is, of Congress’s power to tax."
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Reposted by Jim Carroll
Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Trump’s Idiotic Trade War Is a Bigger Political Opening Than You Think talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-b...
talkingpointsmemo.com
Trump’s Idiotic Trade War Is a Bigger Political Opening Than You Think
As a general matter, people who write about or strategize about politics...
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Reposted by Jim Carroll
Joe Ragazzo @jragazzo.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Had an awesome conversation with @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com and ofc @joshkovensky.bsky.social about Prairieland. There are, imo, a lot of difficult and important questions around activism. We get into many of them. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhqS...
youtube.com
How a Texas Protest Ended in Disaster | TPM Social Club
YouTube video by Talking Points Memo
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 26/08/2026
"So “we” may not “need” Canada, but Republicans in the region really “need” Trump to not rupture trade relations with our ally for the next two months." Heartening analysis from @gregsargent.bsky.social on how Trump is undermining GOP candidates in the Midwest. newrepublic.com/article/2146...
newrepublic.com
How Trump’s Crazed Fury at Canada Is Already Backfiring Badly for Him
The escalating trade war with Canada will hit hard in the Midwest—right where some of the most important contests in the midterms will be decided.
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 20/08/2026
Our politics and our society need to catch up with this reality, not the comforting one that would have us believe there is a deeper method in the madness. More here: /fin plus.flux.community/p/indefensib...
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Indefensible U.S. attacks on Latin American vessels are even more outlandish than previously understood
Reports that a covert CIA program was behind the sinking of three Ecuadorian fishing vessels should raise public alarm bells about an out-of-control operation in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 20/08/2026
It is far likelier that we are seeing what happens when broken men are given control over the most powerful military in the world, and choose to deploy it for their own psychological and political aggrandizement. 12/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 20/08/2026
There remains a too-common presumption that this administration is somehow advancing U.S. interests, in however misguided a fashion: but we are well past the point where this presumption of good intentions should be granted. 11/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 20/08/2026
It is as if the Trump administration had looked at all the interventions committed by the U.S. over the last century, and determined that the lesson offered by history is that we need more killing, more murder, more counterproductive interventions in sovereign nations. 10/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 20/08/2026
Equally, it should raise all manner of alarm bells given prior U.S. involvement in Latin American affairs, a litany of offenses that include complicity in genocide in Guatemala and the operations of death squads in El Salvador. 9/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 20/08/2026
The prospect of non-military involvement suggests a homicidal metastasizing of the Latin American maritime killings. Where Operation Southern Spear advertises its bloodlust and lawlessness, this CIA program should chill us with its secrecy, murderousness, and incompetence. 8/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 20/08/2026
Survivors of the attacks say their attackers spoke English, with at least some wearing uniforms with US flags and “USA” stitched on. Whether they are military personnel, CIA employees, or mercenaries is at this point not publicly known. 7/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 20/08/2026
As with the larger-scale campaign conducted by the military, the CIA effort (at least what we know of it) seems to specialize in murdering innocents and blowing up their boats. But unlike Southern Spear, the American people don’t know who’s doing the killing in their name. 6/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 20/08/2026
So not only is the administration ostentatiously killing hundreds of sailors via Operation Southern Spear in order to make Trump and his allies feel like modern-day gods, but has established a separate, secret program that is killing still more innocent sailors. 5/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 20/08/2026
This included drones striking their vessels, and armed men speaking English and wearing uniforms with American flags detaining them before releasing them to authorities in El Salvador. In at least one attack, injured sailors were denied medical attention by their captors. 4/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 20/08/2026
A crew of 8 disappeared without a trace, save for a plume of smoke seen by a couple of sailors who had been out on one of its smaller boats. But with the two other vessels, all aboard survived, and they were able to recount the dire events that had befallen them. 3/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 20/08/2026
Over nearly a year, the U.S. military has attacked more than 60 boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. At least 200 souls have perished in the strikes. Now the Washington Post has reported on a separate CIA program that has sunk 3 fishing vessels. 2/x www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
washingtonpost.com
Covert CIA program said to be behind mysterious attacks on Galápagos boats
A surveillance plane flew from El Salvador toward the fishing boats before drones attacked, flight data shows.
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 20/08/2026
My latest at @flux.community: Reports that a covert CIA program was behind the sinking of three Ecuadorian fishing vessels should raise public alarm bells about out-of-control U.S. maritime attacks in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. 1/x plus.flux.community/p/indefensib...
plus.flux.community
Indefensible U.S. attacks on Latin American vessels are even more outlandish than previously understood
Reports that a covert CIA program was behind the sinking of three Ecuadorian fishing vessels should raise public alarm bells about an out-of-control operation in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 10/08/2026
Though Trump and his minions have done far worse, the WH's creation of a fictional narrative to target and potentially imprison an innocent American FOR UP TO A DECADE to cover up Trump's incompetence distills the president's malevolence into a particularly pure form. /fin
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 10/08/2026
This from Rep. Jamie Raskin is promising: "Judiciary Democrats will investigate who lied, who buried the evidence, and who decided to threaten an American citizen with prison simply to protect Trump’s wounded feelings and continuing corruption." 12/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 10/08/2026
But as @gregsargent.bsky.social reports in a new piece, Trump's Reflecting Pool wrongdoing may not just be swept under the rug, and House Dems are planning an investigation of Trump WH machinations leading up to the Hearn indictment. 11/x newrepublic.com/article/2141...
newrepublic.com
Trump’s Reflecting Pool Fiasco Is About to Get Even Worse for Him
The David Hearn affair isn’t over. Far from it. Jamie Raskin is launching an investigation, and Hearn’s legal team will pursue remedies.
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 10/08/2026
Incredibly, Trump’s lies and desire for retribution continued in the days following the JD's nixing of the indictment. He has voiced his strong disagreement with the decision, saying that U.S. attorney Jean Pirro “made a mistake,” “choked,” and “folded like an umbrella.” 10/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 10/08/2026
But the larger story remains Trump’s own abuse of power; most specifically, his willingness to mobilize resources of the federal government to target a single innocent American in order to distract from his own incompetence. 9/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 10/08/2026
More broadly, it offers the possibility that Trump has hit a barrier to his various abuses of power, in this case as his own lackeys appear unwilling to carry out an impossible prosecution. There is an air of public servants caught red-handed abetting a presidential vendetta. 8/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 10/08/2026
Given the president’s stance of never admitting error, the Justice Department’s admission that it has no actual case against Hearn carries the whiff of novelty. 7/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 10/08/2026
Even worse, the Justice Department indicted Hearn on a felony vandalism charge that could carry a ten-year prison sentence, attempting through the abuse of the justice system to turn Trump’s self-serving fantasy of anti-American vandals into reality. 6/x
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Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 10/08/2026
Notably, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt repeated the lies about vandals, as if through repetition they could overcome the lack of actual evidence. 5/x
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