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Reposted by Rob Flaherty

G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · Jun 15

Based on crowd-sourced records of No Kings Day event turnout, and extrapolating for the cities where we don't have data yet, it looks like roughly 4-6 million people protested Trump across the U.S. yesterday. That's nearly 2% of the U.S. pop!

Mobilized anti-Trump resistance is exceeding 2017 levels

"No Kings Day" protests turn out millions

Our unofficial estimate is that around 4 million people attended a protest event yesterday. Anti-Trump resistance is outpacing 2017.

www.gelliottmorris.com

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Jun 5

in retrospect, they probably should have made this a key fob

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Apr 28

Wrote about Democrats, the media environment, culture, and authenticity for the @nytimes.com

Our problem is bigger than an election: it's that we lack the tools to communicate the vast majority of the electorate who get their information through culture.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/o...

Opinion | If You’re a Voter Reading This, This Essay Is Not About You

Opt-out voters don’t buy what we’re selling — and even if they did, we’d have a hard time reaching them.

www.nytimes.com

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Apr 3

Sorry we cooked your retirement savings. We were hoping to make inflation worse and slow down the economy.

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Apr 2

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Apr 2

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Reposted by Rob Flaherty

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · Apr 1

“The truth is that a tattoo identifying Tren de Aragua does not exist,” she told me. “Tren de Aragua does not use any tattoos as a form of gang identification; no Venezuelan gang does.”

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · Apr 1

www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...

The Makeup Artist Donald Trump Deported Under the Alien Enemies Act

The President has invoked the law to send Venezuelans to prison in El Salvador without due process—and, in many cases, under false pretenses.

www.newyorker.com

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Reposted by Rob Flaherty

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · Mar 31

JPM calls it “the fastest Momentum unwind in 40 years .. erased 2 years’ worth of gains and accelerated investors’ late-cycle positioning into Defensive / Low Vol ..”

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Reposted by Rob Flaherty

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · Mar 26

This guy is in one of the worst prisons in the world with no way out and may spend the rest of his life there because, it appears, he has an autism awareness tattoo in honor of his little brother.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Mar 14

Just think it’s important to look at the politics of a moment for how they are and how you can change them, versus learning lessons from an era that’s passed.

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Mar 5

"a little disturbance but we'll be okay with that" is gonna be around for a while, I think

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Feb 28

slava ukraini

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Reposted by Rob Flaherty

Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · Feb 16

Without going all Martin Niemöller here, I do think that it's bad not to speak up for immigrants, transgender Americans, civil servants, women, Ukraine, and everyone else the MAGA bullies are going after. We're beyond picking and choosing whom to defend. It's time to stand up and speak out.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · Feb 15

the single most un-american and anti-constitutional statement ever uttered by an american president

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Feb 15

This all gets harder for them once the (already low) honeymoon polling comes down to earth.

The polling comes down because the unpopular stuff they're doing breaks through.

The unpopular stuff they're doing breaks through because people with megaphones sharply oppose it in ways people can hear.

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Feb 14

I have found @chrismurphyct.bsky.social ‘s email stuff to be a real highlight of late. Sorta lives in the space between a substack and a fundraising program.

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Feb 14

I'm not sure where it sits on my list of "shit the last year pretty clearly revealed to me" but "conflict drives attention drives outcomes" is pretty high up there!

bsky.app/profile/jame...

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · Feb 14

this is a good example of the attitude that has led democrats down the road to disaster. it rests on the belief that public opinion cannot be shaped or mobilized or moved, only reacted to

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Feb 14

Your "doing massive amounts of unchecked corruption won't lower egg prices" post is currently being reviewed by the DOJ and really, quite frankly, making them rethink their position.

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Feb 13

3. The instant-gratification that comes from endorphin-mining media leads to an appetite for big, quick solutions to their specific problems. So "person in charge who fixes things quickly" becomes more appealing than "deliberative process through elected institutions."

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Feb 13

2. Mainstream culture is now formed online by cross-pressure from subcultures -- the right has a big online one where the left doesn't in the same way (our "subculture" generally is happy to get their information from traditional sources).

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Feb 13

Fundamentally agree with this. A few points I'll add:

1. Imo there's another category: People who don't care about the news at all who sort of loosely hear about politics through culture, who A) were the cohort who swung the election and B) Democrats have a hard time reaching

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · Feb 13

The secret political turning point, clear only in retrospect, was when we shifted from turning on the TV or opening a paper and hearing the news, to turning on your computer or phone and being delivered whatever version of the news someone like you would find most engaging.

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Jan 25

Two random thoughts:

1. Obviously, they’re paving the way for unprecedented levels of grift, self-dealing, and corruption.

2. The amount of work the next Democrat is going to have to do to unfuck the Government is going to be staggering.

Eric Lipton NYT @ericlipton.nytimes.com · Jan 25

President Trump fired 17 inspectors general, the internal watchdogs who monitor federal agencies, on Friday night, capping a week of dramatic shake-ups of the federal bureaucracy with a focus on loyalty to the president. (NYT confirming WashPost) www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/u...

Trump Fires 17 Inspectors General in Late-Night Purge

The internal government watchdogs were believed to have been dismissed at several major agencies, though the Justice Department’s was not said to have been among them.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Rob Flaherty

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · Jan 22

This matters. Not because I think Trump is capable of mercy or empathy towards these vulnerable groups. But because it is a public act of defiance.

Contrast that with all these other powerful people in this country signaling nothing but appeasement and obedience.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Jan 21

Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde to Trump: "I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender people in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives ... and the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals"

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Rob Flaherty @robflaherty.bsky.social · Jan 19

Tech is obviously stealing the show but I do think the traditional media companies handing Trump cash settlements is really its own scandal.

deadline.com/2025/01/para...

Paramount Global Discusses Settling Donald Trump Lawsuit Against CBS News As Media Companies Look To President’s Next Term

Paramount Global executives have held internal, informal discussions about what it might take to settle a lawsuit by incoming President Donald Trump against CBS News.

deadline.com

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