Kathleen Cole
@kcolempls.bsky.social
590 followers 1.1K following 370 posts
political scientist, organizer, knitter, animal rescue, fan of early bedtimes. Currently: Transformative Justice Alliance; formerly: People Over Prosecution, Recall Freeman, MN for Warren.
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kcolempls.bsky.social
These young Republicans are being sacrificed by older, more entrenched Republicans not because they disagree, but because it’s strategic. They can point to this largely symbolic ouster as evidence that their party “isn’t racist” while the Republican Party is quite literally doing fascism.
‘It’s revolting’: More Young Republican chat members out of jobs as condemnation intensifies
POLITICO report on private Telegram chat filled with racist slurs and tropes ignites debate from New York to Washington.
www.politico.com
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
thatbaba.bsky.social
We used to own the house next to ours and participated in the Stable Homes program. The inspector who signed off on the house being ready for move in SPECIFICALLY said that a fixture on the exterior needed a lightbulb "in case the mayor wants to come by for a photo." He uses the program for clout.
dbrauer.net
If I’m reading Kyle right, Frey admits failing to issue 100 housing vouchers *that are funded this year because he wants to kill the program next year.* (This is not Stable Schools, but for single folks.) This is unallotment Trump-style, especially since county/MPHA are in.
Friction point: In August, to remedy Stable Homes Stable Schools' $3.2 million projected shortfall, Frey proposed canceling another promising anti-homelessness initiative to provide 100
emergency housing vouchers for chronically unsheltered individuals and families. • Many City Council members believe this is needed just as urgently, and the council earmarked the funding last year to revive the pandemic-era program "that had incredibly successful outcomes at long-term housing stability," Ward 2 representative Robin Wonsley
wrote in a newsletter. Yes, but: No vouchers have been issued yet, so Frey administration officials decided it would be irresponsible to begin a new anti-homelessness initiative - promising though it may be - with
an existing program short on funds.
kcolempls.bsky.social
I had a student who chose to intern with the Republican Party in Minnesota. He was distraught listening to what the other young interns were saying. They were straight up arguing for a return to monarchy and chattel slavery. Young Republicans in Minnesota.
erinmayequade.bsky.social
I’m only thinking about this article in the content of SCOTUS rehearing the Voting Rights Act case. This is what Republicans say in private. Republicans who are elected. Republicans who serve within their party apparatus. Republicans who work for the Trump administration & work in state government.
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
erinmayequade.bsky.social
I’m only thinking about this article in the content of SCOTUS rehearing the Voting Rights Act case. This is what Republicans say in private. Republicans who are elected. Republicans who serve within their party apparatus. Republicans who work for the Trump administration & work in state government.
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
markharris.bsky.social
Mamdani talking lucidly and passionately about trans rights and history in a video that should frankly shame every politician who has hemmed and hawed and triangulated and said, "Well, but sports..." It's not that hard to tell the truth and stand for what's right. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEvV...
Until It's Done: Sylvia Rivera
YouTube video by Zohran Mamdani for NYC
www.youtube.com
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
wedge.live
Editorial Board Endorsements (so far)

MAYOR
DeWayne Davis

COUNCIL
Ward 10: Aisha Chughtai
Ward 7: Katie Cashman

PARK BOARD DISTRICT 4
Jason Garcia

PARK BOARD AT-LARGE:
Tom Olsen
Michael Wilson
(3 seats, I endorse 2)

BOARD OF ESTIMATE
Eric Harris Bernstein
Steve Brandt
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
redemmas.org
Because certainly there's no reason why this history might be terrifyingly relevant right now, here's a link to preorder @stschrader1.bsky.social's "Blue Power" on how police in the US organized to exempt themselves from democratic oversight and control: redemmas.org/titles/48838...
Blue Power: How Police Organized to Protect and Serve Themselves
Buy from Red Emma's, a worker-owned radical bookstore
redemmas.org
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
matthenry.fyi
When the nazis were coming into power, there was a lag before local law enforcement was fully on board. People were able to get police protection from nazi-aligned paramilitaries. Here, today, police look at rising fascism and say “Finally. We’ve been waiting for this.” www.notus.org/democrats/me...
Democrats' New Fear: They Can’t Rely on Local Law Enforcement for Protection
“They called the local sheriff; they showed up and were going to arrest me,” said Rep. Steven Horsford.
www.notus.org
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
paulisci.bsky.social
A Brief History of Men are Becoming Less Manly

🧵
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
rcsmitheco.bsky.social
That's a bubble and one that's four times the size of the subprime mortgage crisis.

Expect to see everyone promise to stay in the room while finding quiet ways to edge towards the door before the stampede begins. It's how every bubble ends.
#EconSky #AI
justinhendrix.bsky.social
"The hundreds of billions of dollars companies are investing in AI now account for an astonishing 40 per cent share of US GDP growth this year... In a way, then, America has become one big bet on AI."
America is now one big bet on AI
It’s seen as the magic fix for every threat to the US economy
www.ft.com
kcolempls.bsky.social
So excited you’re moderating! Looking forward to this event!
kcolempls.bsky.social
Attn: American Political Science Association
chanda.blacksky.app
Weird thing where people say “no one could have predicted it” when really what they mean is their political commitments and orientation were such that they ignored everyone who was predicting it

Sorry but “no one could have“ and you having your head stuck up your ass are two different situations
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
andrewjweinstein.com
ICE admits that up to 50% of arrests in its Chicago raids are "collateral.” These aren't statistics. They are parents taken from their children, neighbors taken from our communities. When does a "collateral" U.S. citizen child's trauma matter? This isn't law enforcement; it's a campaign of terror.
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
taylordahlin.com
dewayne davis and kareem murphy have adopted the first bench of the eric harris bernstein / local human fundraiser and intend to take it to north commons park

@dewayneforminneapolis.com @dewayneskareem.bsky.social @ehbinmn.bsky.social @locallhuman.bsky.social
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
nkalamb.bsky.social
MSF staff are universally understood to be engaged in an essentially sacred form of work. For a state to nonetheless continuously murder them is a testament to a truly unthinkable degree of depravity.

msf.org/msf-denounce...
This morning, an attack carried out by Israeli forces killed Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff member, Omar Hayek, and seriously injured four others. The attack took place on a street where our teams were waiting to take a bus to the MSF field hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza.  

All staff were wearing MSF vests, clearly identifying them as medical humanitarian workers.  
We express deep sorrow and outrage over the killing, which occurs less than two weeks after another MSF colleague, Hussein Alnajjar, was killed by the Israeli forces, in Deir Al Balah.  

Our thoughts are with Omar’s family and colleagues at this tragic time. Omar, 42 years old, is the fourteenth MSF colleague to be killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023.
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
ryanlcooper.com
once again, it's a race between whether centrist elites can capitulate faster than these fucking imbeciles can step on their own dicks
startribune.com
The messages show high-level officials in the Trump administration discussing the possible deployment of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, an infantry force that has dropped into combat zones in both World Wars, Vietnam and Afghanistan.
Trump officials discussed sending elite Army division to Portland, text messages show
A high-ranking White House official was indiscreetly texting about the Portland, Ore., planning last weekend, according to messages shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune.
bit.ly
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
paleofuture.bsky.social
When your “superpower” as a country is self-delusion about upward mobility it enables the status quo. Because nobody is demanding substantive change if the majority believe they’re just temporarily embarrassed millionaires, as the saying goes.
"It sort of saddens me," said Neale Mahoney, a Stanford University economics professor who has studied economic sentiment. "I think one of our superpowers as a country is our relentless optimism...It is the fuel for entrepreneurship and other exceptional achievements."
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
wedge.live
Something is wrong in the "moderate" DFL universe when the new norm is taking money from Trump megadonors, running a coalition of candidates propped up by millions from PACs, and participating in this Minneapolis-bashing propaganda doc to be aired on Hubbard-owned KSTP.
rkmpls.bsky.social
Okay we all know about how Rick Kupchella is airing this secretly-funded propaganda movie about how Minneapolis sucks (it’s NOT the two-term Mayor’s fault!!!) - but did we know that it will prominently feature local crackpot and conspiracy theorist Carol Becker?!
precariousstate.bsky.social
Tonight, #APrecariousState reveals Minnesota’s turning point—and how a small bloc of DSA-endorsed members gained outsized influence on #Minneapolis City Council.

7 p.m. CT on ABC MN + precariousstate.com
Live Q&A follows on the website.

#APrecariousState #Minnesota #TwinCities #Documentary
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
chadstanton.blacksky.app
People are willing to see an entire apartment raided and hold their tongues so as to not be “soft on crime and immigration”
walterolson.bsky.social
“ABC7 spoke to Pertissue Fisher, a woman who lives in the building. She said ICE agents took everyone in the building, including her, and asked questions later….’They was bringing the kids down, too, had them zip tied to each other.’”

It can’t happen here, you say. But it is happening.
ICE agents raid South Shore apartments; Trump says Chicago could become military training ground
ICE agents raided a South Shore apartment building overnight as the city braces for a possible military deployment.
abc7chicago.com
kcolempls.bsky.social
Made in China by Anna Qu was incredible. Highly recommend.
Reposted by Kathleen Cole
dewayneskareem.bsky.social
@dewayneforminneapolis.com at tonight’s forum “Home Health and Hope” for 205 candidates for Minneapolis Mayor. DeWayne talking about the values he will bring as a Mayor to how the city should address the crisis in unsheltered homelessness.

We deserve better. Strong principled effective leadership
kcolempls.bsky.social
I didn't know how much I needed this book. There are many ways Anna Qu and I are different, but in some crucial ways we're the same. Eldest daughters of abusive mothers. "Golden child" siblings treated with care. Mother's childhood poverty shaping abuse. Sharing in case anyone else needs it, too.
Made in China
books.catapult.co