iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Not even Gavin Newsom's Democratic rivals seized on the revelation that his teenage son was a big fan of Kirk -- a racist sexist. Imagine if a Republican governor (or even a Democratic governor) admitted publicly that their son was a big fan of Piker's.

1101

Look, I get why right-wingers would find Charlie Kirk more "normal" than Hasan Piker or even Francesca Hong (who even moderate Dems all but dismiss as bonkers), but Democrats should really unpack why they think supposed "swing voters" would find Kirk more "normal."

1120

I couldn't help but think of @nberlat.bsky.social 's piece when I read the following on social media. So many self-proclaimed moderate/even liberal Democrat will insist that MAGA extremists are more "normal" than almost anyone on the far left. This is how "consensus white supremacy" works.

2215

Gottheimer on Biden admin's focus on voting rights and LGBTQ rights.

1110

Rahm Emmanuel invoking Black people losing voting rights is especially galling considering that it was Dems like Manchin/Sinema who prevented it from passing and many moderate Dems warned that "partisan" legislation was divisive and non-constructive.

1142

Nothing resonates more with Black voters than a white guy on Fox News. There is such unbelievable cynicism regarding how many on the left speak about Black people. It's a widespread issue.

88110

I saw this on social media and it truly astounded me: No, the GOP *stealing* a Senate seat is not the platform for a Talarico 2028 POTUS campaign. You don’t shrug this off and incorporate it into your stump speech (as if the 2028 election would matter under those circumstances).

020

Isn’t it convenient that the GOP canidate is a dangerous election denier so — for the sake of democracy! — we can’t risk nominating the progressive candidate? People who can’t win elections on actual issues must instead run on a platform of fear. Deep down, do they even want MAGA to go away?

170

And now Hasan Piker is Alex Jones. This just ignores the greater influence -- and insanity -- from right-wing media.

191

Democrats have a legitimate reason to dislike Piker but they should also recognize when they're being duped. I've seen a lot of Dem influencers accepting right-wing framing about Piker's statements -- something the GOP *never* did with Kirk.

2281

It is hard to take seriously that Piker is somehow more toxic than Kirk -- a transphobic racist misogynist. Or Musk, who's a blithering white supremacist.

1727

Stephen Robinson @playtyperguy.com · 08/08/2026

Didn't Scarborough go visit Trump at Mar-A-Lago? The problem with the "disavow Piker" argument as a practical political one is that Charlie Kirk was a beloved right-wing activist who the GOP embraced with zero backlash. The GOP doesn't disavow Musk!

1712526

A Carville-like figure criticizing the party’s direction in 1992 would’ve been born in 1910 (older than Reagan). His relevancy would have peaked in the 50s. He’d thus likely complain that the Democrats have focused too much on civil rights, women’s rights, abortion, and is too open to LGBTQ.

3752793

Stephen Robinson @playtyperguy.com · 04/08/2026

There’s this presumption that bc Haley Stevens won a right-leaning House district, she can easily turn out the margins necessary in more liberal districts to win statewide. We haven’t actually seen Stevens try to achieve this, and her numbers with young people in particular are awful.

3162

Stephen Robinson @playtyperguy.com · 04/08/2026

All it takes for people to give up on democracy is democratic results they don’t like.

2110

Stephen Robinson @playtyperguy.com · 03/08/2026

There is the persistent centrist/center-right bias that they are electoral Vulcans and everyone else are overly emotional and irrational in their choices. Eventually, you’d think they’d acknowledge their own blind spots.

3150

When I said that Schumer bore some responsibility for the Maine Senate debacle, Tom Nichols insisted that it wasn’t Schumer’s job to intervene in primaries. Obviously, it is. He just pushed forward Janet Mills — a misread of the electorate’s mood — and let Platner gain steam.

1176

Trump actually "did it first," going back to his Iowa primary loss to Cruz, but these are also fundamentally different things. As @robynelyse.bsky.social pointed out, the Democratic Party did overtly try to benefit HRC over Sanders. I have defended that as normal party politics but it still existed.

170

The "electability" argument in a party primary, especially one rooted in hypothetical head-to-head general election match ups have never worked and are often flat-out wrong. At this point, they just scream desperation.

713728

Carville's freak out over Piker reminds me that in 1992, Clinton was able to maintain a diverse coalition, even accepting an endorsement from Maxine Waters, who he called a "friend." (Waters was considered quite the radical among conservative Dems/independents in 1992)

2121

Manchin had endorsed Lamb in 2020 and raised money for him. Lamb tried to distance himself from Manchin but in 2022 that was going to be an anchor. Meanwhile, Fetterman presented himself as the anti-Manchin.

190

Way too many center-left Democrats maintain an irrational stab in the back narrative for the left, despite actual reality. It’s especially an issue here because Fetterman *lied* to voters, which is more relevant than suggesting that the left alone is why he crushed Lamb.

2182

And a lot of people who died from COVID during 2020 didn’t get the sick at a fun holiday gathering with friends. They were essential workers. They didn’t have a bad cold.

1402

THE FOUR SEASONS had a an episode set during Thanksgiving 2020 when everyone gets covid and it’s treated very much like a bad case of the flu. This is somewhat dangerous revisionism of the risks from the disease pre-vaccine.

1317019