James A. Natesmith

@jamesanatesmith.bsky.social

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Utah Utes, Chicago Bears, the American West, sometimes a stray Shakespeare take.

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You know what? This is what Vice Presidents are for. Fuck it. Biden announce that he’ll retire in a two months, transition to Kamala who will choose her own Vice President.

There’s not a single candidate for President that gives a shit about what the world will look like in 2035. I think that really indicates that we’re nearing come kind of breaking point

The fundamental flaw in the non-ideological Democratic Party is that it has super high expectations for its constituents and demands no expectations of its leaders. It’s a corporate ladder, and it’s failing for the same reason that Google Search sucks.

Some say I hope to achieve the level of shamelessness that Dorval Carter spews out. His address basically boils down to “woe is me, I try hard, the CTA is better, better things aren’t possible.”

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James A. Natesmith

Chicagoans to pay $1.75 mil to the family of a person who warned police about her urgent mental health problems before committing suicide in lockup. This belongs to a lineage of deadly and expensive failures by Chicago police as they arrest mentally ill people. Look up Christina Eilman.

Family of veteran who committed suicide in Chicago police holding cell could get $1.75M settlementwww.chicagotribune.com Irene Chavez told police about her mental health struggles, including a PTSD diagnosis, when she got arrested.

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FWIW if you are shocked to discover that cops will gladly treat you like a rabid dog even if you're a smart and respectable middle-aged person who wears business casual to work, I have nothing but love and solidarity for you. It is shocking. It should be shocking. Let's work together. We can fix it.

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Sorry but a core organizing principle for inviting new people into movements is to meet them where they are, not make fun of them for suddenly realizing the world is unjust.

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if you follow me or rhiannon or 5-4 you should watch this all the way through www.instagram.com/reel/C6MfdYo...

Palestine Solidarity Committee on Instagramwww.instagram.com 265 likes, 2 comments - psc_atx on April 25, 2024

Why does *all this* keep happening in election years?

Tin soldiers and Biden coming. We’re finally on our own.

The decision by the Democratic Establishment to rally behind Biden to block Bernie in 2020 will stand as one of the most disastrous political decisions in decades. May it mark the beginning of the end of their rule.

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Reply to

Link is coconut-pilled. 🥥 🌴

i go back and forth over whether it is the transphobia that poisons brains or whether the people who become obsessive transphobes were already brain poisoned. i am thinking here of someone like wesley yang

@lollardfish.bsky.social does the culture depicted in Braveheart really resemble the Medieval Scots at all? Or is it best understood as a representation of something in Mel Gibson’s psyche?

If everyone on the left side of the aisle could expend 20% more grace to each other, we could absolutely turn this ship around.

Ohhhhh rest in piss

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it's not hard to figure out when Objective Reporters are really carrying out a bigoted persecution campaign www.mediamatters.org/new-york-tim...

Seen but not heard: The New York Times failed to quote trans people in over 60% of 2023 stories on anti-trans legislationwww.mediamatters.org A new report from Media Matters and GLAAD finds that The New York Times excluded the perspectives of trans people from two-thirds of its stories about anti-trans legislation in the year following publ...

It sucks, but we got to play defense before we can play offense in 2026. Hopefully Bowman, Bush and Omar have used the past four years to build a strong incumbency advantage.

wapo.st/3TAy7PO

Opinion | The House’s left was right about Gaza. That could cost them their seats.wapo.st Eighteen House Democrats started calling for a cease-fire in Gaza months ago. They are in real danger of losing.

I don't know what to make of this. I have thought for a long time that Utah could have a West Virginia style swing (going for Clinton in '96 to reddest state in the Union by 2016. Utah is the youngest state in the Union, and the weight of those Gen Zers is going to start making itself known.

The Republican-led Utah Legislature passed more laws targeting the LGBTQ+ community this year. But a new poll shows that most Utahns are supportive of their LGBTQ+ neighbors.

Are Utahns more supportive of LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination laws than Californians?www.sltrib.com Utah was among states with the highest support for nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Americans — ahead of reliably blue states like California and New York — in a recent survey by the Public Re...

The apparent failure of Bring Chicago Home and Clayton Harris at the ballot box yesterday should be a DEEP embarrassment to the progressive movement of Chicago. These should have been layups, especially in a low-turnout election.

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NEW: The Chicago Police Department spent $293M on overtime last year, 40% more than in 2022 and nearly three times the $100M earmarked for police overtime set by the Chicago City Council as part of the city’s 2023 budget, according to data obtained by me and @jaredrutecki.bsky.social for WTTW News.

Chicago Spent $524M on Overtime in 2023, Including $293M for Police,news.wttw.com The Chicago Police Department spent $293 million on overtime last year, 40% more than in 2022 and nearly three times the $100 million earmarked for police overtime set by the Chicago City Council as p...

I wonder if there’s something to be gained by the Dems going full press on Netanyahu. Really make him the issue and the scapegoat and do everything to force him out. Then once you’ve made an example start pushing the new PM and use what happened to Netanyahu as leverage.

The "who" here stands out -- these six come from a wide spectrum of the Dem Party. Balint is a first-term progressive, but DeLauro is a veteran with significant AIPAC ties. Carbajal is a moderate Dem, and Casten came to Congress riding in part on pro-Israel unhappiness w/former Rep. Marie Newman.

6 House Dems, back from Israel, accuse Netanyahu of 'utter disregard for Palestinian lives' - Jewish Telegraphic Agencywww.jta.org Their statement came as President Joe Biden says Israel must deliver more aid to Gaza, "no excuses."

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i interpret this (cautiously) as a good sign.

Whenever this is brought up, it's always insinuated that the Dems just couldn't do this. Or couldn't get away with it. I think they could? Tell people Mississippi is a hole and conservatives have been running it for 300 years. Tell them how shitty the infrastructure is in South Carolina.

No national politician would insult rural America the way Republicans routinely trash NYC — which happens to be a low-crime city

The Democratic Parties in New York and New Jersey are excellent examples of why the national party needs to be taken over by a coherent movement. The big tent model only trades clarity for easier reelections. What's better? A divided party winning by 15 or a united party winning by 5?

I definitely would have knocked doors and donated to Kam Buckner if I’d known Brandon was going to be this bad on transit.

It’s wild how things that seemed so vital in 2018 have just completely disappeared from the Democratic Party’s platform. Gun Control. Humane immigration reform. Expanded healthcare. The left rallied around Biden once he won the nomination and he’s been kneeing us in the nads for 18 straight months.

Seeing the Dems go hard right on immigration is so dispiriting. They bilked so much money, energy and time out of me during the Trump years, just to turn around and say “actually, we don’t believe in anything.”

Tim Walz could guide to 57% in a national election based on nothing more than this picture.

A new poll finds that 70% of Minnesotans approve of the state's decision last year to make school lunches free: minnesotareformer.com/briefs/free-...

Free school meals overwhelmingly popular with voters, survey finds - Minnesota Reformerminnesotareformer.com More than 70% of Minnesota voters — including majorities across every ideological and demographic category — say they approve of the Legislature’s decision last year to provide free school meals...

Again, Biden ran in 2020 on the dubious idea that he could work with Republicans. Remember this for the next primary. Maybe we can get to a critical mass of Democrats who are able to remember what the last 15 years have wrought.

The border deal is a bad one, but it’s also a symptom of a larger problem - there aren’t any mechanisms for passing funding for important things (and aid to Ukraine is important) when the party with the majority in the legislature has no interest in actually passing legislation.