Ericjhensal
@ericjhensal.bsky.social
Writing for Progressive Conjecture at https://erichensal.substack.com/ and author of "A Progressive Art of War" outlining the benefit of Sun Tzu’s ancient Art of War for modern progressive efforts. http://amazon.com/dp/B07V9JXRMS
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Ericjhensal
@ericjhensal.bsky.social
· May 23
Progressives must re-examine strategies to defeat Trump and fascism. Here is how to use a classic text to inform how we change to fight the good fight and teach Democrats what they should be doing to win. open.substack.com/pub/erichens....
Media outlets know when not to name mass shooters. They should apply the same restraint to Trump’s cruel attention-seeking posts.
Turn Off Trump's Oxygen
His Reiner posts are horrible, but his intent is worse
open.substack.com
December 17, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Media outlets know when not to name mass shooters. They should apply the same restraint to Trump’s cruel attention-seeking posts.
Trump’s cruelty isn’t always ideological. Sometimes it’s just instrumental—designed to provoke coverage. That distinction matters.
Turn Off Trump's Oxygen
His Reiner posts are horrible, but his intent is worse
open.substack.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Trump’s cruelty isn’t always ideological. Sometimes it’s just instrumental—designed to provoke coverage. That distinction matters.
Sometimes the most responsible response is to note the behavior—and move on. Attention to Trump’s cruelty is not neutral.
Turn Off Trump's Oxygen
His Reiner posts are horrible, but his intent is worse
open.substack.com
December 17, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Sometimes the most responsible response is to note the behavior—and move on. Attention to Trump’s cruelty is not neutral.
Trump’s posts about the Reiner family tragedy are vile. The deeper problem is why he posted them—and why the media keeps amplifying them.
Turn Off Trump's Oxygen
His Reiner posts are horrible, but his intent is worse
open.substack.com
December 16, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Trump’s posts about the Reiner family tragedy are vile. The deeper problem is why he posted them—and why the media keeps amplifying them.
Trump's Reiner comments, horrible and embarrassing, are also a very purposeful narcissistic play to wrench attention away from a person he hates, just to hear "Trump" across the news coverage. The more we talk about these posts, the more Trump wins.
December 16, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Trump's Reiner comments, horrible and embarrassing, are also a very purposeful narcissistic play to wrench attention away from a person he hates, just to hear "Trump" across the news coverage. The more we talk about these posts, the more Trump wins.
Miami elected its first woman mayor—and did Higgins won by going beyond usual Democratic politcs. Why that matters for Democrats nationally:
La Gringa and the Democratic Party's Future
Put voters first as voters before anything else
open.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Miami elected its first woman mayor—and did Higgins won by going beyond usual Democratic politcs. Why that matters for Democrats nationally:
Campaigns don’t lose because voters are complicated. They lose because messaging is. Miami is the counterexample.
La Gringa and the Democratic Party's Future
Put voters first as voters before anything else
open.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Campaigns don’t lose because voters are complicated. They lose because messaging is. Miami is the counterexample.
Eileen Higgins turned an outsider label into a winning strategy. Not with slogans—with respect and clarity. Why her campaign worked:
La Gringa and the Democratic Party's Future
Put voters first as voters before anything else
open.substack.com
December 13, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Eileen Higgins turned an outsider label into a winning strategy. Not with slogans—with respect and clarity. Why her campaign worked:
Relief isn’t a strategy. Miami shows what is: treat voters as voters first. La Gringa, Miami, and a lesson Democrats keep missing:
La Gringa and the Democratic Party's Future
Put voters first as voters before anything else
open.substack.com
December 13, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Relief isn’t a strategy. Miami shows what is: treat voters as voters first. La Gringa, Miami, and a lesson Democrats keep missing:
What if Voters First is the real answer to America First? Miami may have already shown us how.
La Gringa and the Democratic Party's Future
Put voters first as voters before anything else
open.substack.com
December 13, 2025 at 3:19 PM
What if Voters First is the real answer to America First? Miami may have already shown us how.
Special elections flip seats because turnout is weird. Miami flipped expectations because the campaign wasn’t. A closer look at how Democrats can win:
La Gringa and the Democratic Party's Future
Put voters first as voters before anything else
open.substack.com
December 13, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Special elections flip seats because turnout is weird. Miami flipped expectations because the campaign wasn’t. A closer look at how Democrats can win:
Off-year elections were fine for Democrats. Miami was different. Eileen Higgins won by running one campaign for all voters—not identity silos. There’s a lesson here.
La Gringa and the Democratic Party's Future
Put voters first as voters before anything else
open.substack.com
December 13, 2025 at 4:11 AM
Off-year elections were fine for Democrats. Miami was different. Eileen Higgins won by running one campaign for all voters—not identity silos. There’s a lesson here.
Democrats often confuse listing identities with inclusion. Eileen Higgins did the opposite—and won. Here’s why Miami mattered more than most off-year races:
La Gringa and the Democratic Party's Future
Put voters first as voters before anything else
open.substack.com
December 12, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Democrats often confuse listing identities with inclusion. Eileen Higgins did the opposite—and won. Here’s why Miami mattered more than most off-year races:
Miami didn’t prove Latino voters are shifting right. It proved voters respond to respect more than labels. A case study worth reading:
La Gringa and the Democratic Party's Future
Put voters first as voters before anything else
open.substack.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Miami didn’t prove Latino voters are shifting right. It proved voters respond to respect more than labels. A case study worth reading:
Money helps. Ground games matter. But neither explains Miami. Respect does. Why Eileen Higgins won—and what Democrats should learn:
La Gringa and the Democratic Party's Future
Put voters first as voters before anything else
open.substack.com
December 12, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Money helps. Ground games matter. But neither explains Miami. Respect does. Why Eileen Higgins won—and what Democrats should learn:
Off-year elections were fine for Democrats, but not unexpected.
Miami was different.
Eileen Higgins won an upset in the mayor's race by running one campaign for voters as voters first.
There’s a lesson here for Dems.
open.substack.com/pub/erichens...
Miami was different.
Eileen Higgins won an upset in the mayor's race by running one campaign for voters as voters first.
There’s a lesson here for Dems.
open.substack.com/pub/erichens...
La Gringa and the Democratic Party's Future
Put voters first as voters before anything else
open.substack.com
December 12, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Off-year elections were fine for Democrats, but not unexpected.
Miami was different.
Eileen Higgins won an upset in the mayor's race by running one campaign for voters as voters first.
There’s a lesson here for Dems.
open.substack.com/pub/erichens...
Miami was different.
Eileen Higgins won an upset in the mayor's race by running one campaign for voters as voters first.
There’s a lesson here for Dems.
open.substack.com/pub/erichens...
Greene’s Exit Speech, Decoded: survivor framing, Trump as abuser, a permission structure for resignations, and implications for 2026. Read it here:
Greene’s Exit Speech, Decoded
Greene didn’t just resign. She built a survivor narrative, cast Trump as the abuser, and used it to attack GOP house leadership while setting her political future. Here’s how her speech actually works.
erichensal.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Greene’s Exit Speech, Decoded: survivor framing, Trump as abuser, a permission structure for resignations, and implications for 2026. Read it here:
Wavering Republicans may now see Greene’s framing as permission to walk too. The survivor narrative becomes political strategy. Full piece:
Greene’s Exit Speech, Decoded
Greene didn’t just resign. She built a survivor narrative, cast Trump as the abuser, and used it to attack GOP house leadership while setting her political future. Here’s how her speech actually works.
erichensal.substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Wavering Republicans may now see Greene’s framing as permission to walk too. The survivor narrative becomes political strategy. Full piece:
Greene’s exit speech protects her future and threatens GOP stability. Survivor framing on the front end, monkeywrenching on the back. My take:
Greene’s Exit Speech, Decoded
Greene didn’t just resign. She built a survivor narrative, cast Trump as the abuser, and used it to attack GOP house leadership while setting her political future. Here’s how her speech actually works.
erichensal.substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Greene’s exit speech protects her future and threatens GOP stability. Survivor framing on the front end, monkeywrenching on the back. My take:
I asked AI to analyze Greene’s speech. The parallels with survivor stories were many—and politically revealing. Full analysis:
Greene’s Exit Speech, Decoded
Greene didn’t just resign. She built a survivor narrative, cast Trump as the abuser, and used it to attack GOP house leadership while setting her political future. Here’s how her speech actually works.
erichensal.substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 2:13 PM
I asked AI to analyze Greene’s speech. The parallels with survivor stories were many—and politically revealing. Full analysis:
If you read Greene’s speech as a survivor script, a lot snaps into focus. The story arc and its impact here: open.substack.com/p/...
November 28, 2025 at 11:36 AM
If you read Greene’s speech as a survivor script, a lot snaps into focus. The story arc and its impact here: open.substack.com/p/...
Did Greene just cast Trump as her abuser? Her resignation speech has a clear pattern people overlook. Mapped out:
Greene’s Exit Speech, Decoded
Greene didn’t just resign. She built a survivor narrative, cast Trump as the abuser, and used it to attack GOP house leadership while setting her political future. Here’s how her speech actually works.
erichensal.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Did Greene just cast Trump as her abuser? Her resignation speech has a clear pattern people overlook. Mapped out:
Greene’s speech wasn’t chaos—it was a calculated narrative aimed at Trump and House leadership. Here’s what she was doing:
Greene’s Exit Speech, Decoded
Greene didn’t just resign. She built a survivor narrative, cast Trump as the abuser, and used it to attack GOP house leadership while setting her political future. Here’s how her speech actually works.
erichensal.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Greene’s speech wasn’t chaos—it was a calculated narrative aimed at Trump and House leadership. Here’s what she was doing:
Greene framed leaving Congress as leaving an abusive relationship—creating a template others in the GOP might follow. My analysis:
Greene’s Exit Speech, Decoded
Greene didn’t just resign. She built a survivor narrative, cast Trump as the abuser, and used it to attack GOP house leadership while setting her political future. Here’s how her speech actually works.
erichensal.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Greene framed leaving Congress as leaving an abusive relationship—creating a template others in the GOP might follow. My analysis:
Trump deploys National Guard for a fight & Insurrection Act excuse. After peaceful months, guard members are shot days after a judge ordered troops out of DC by a person (alledged) with asylum subject to ICE & DHS whims. Now Trump wants 500 more troops who will now fear for their lives in DC. Odd.
November 27, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Trump deploys National Guard for a fight & Insurrection Act excuse. After peaceful months, guard members are shot days after a judge ordered troops out of DC by a person (alledged) with asylum subject to ICE & DHS whims. Now Trump wants 500 more troops who will now fear for their lives in DC. Odd.