Louis F Poster
@louisposter.bsky.social
they want to build that world again. their fantasy is a patriarchal, violent, oppressive america where mediocre white men get to exercise arbitrary power over a permanent underclass and abuse women with impunity.
February 15, 2026 at 5:39 AM
they want to build that world again. their fantasy is a patriarchal, violent, oppressive america where mediocre white men get to exercise arbitrary power over a permanent underclass and abuse women with impunity.
they like the worst bits: the genocidal settler colonialism of western expansion, and the backwards slave society of the antebellum south. if it’s got supremacism of some kind, patriarchy, and arbitrary hierarchy they love it.
February 15, 2026 at 5:39 AM
they like the worst bits: the genocidal settler colonialism of western expansion, and the backwards slave society of the antebellum south. if it’s got supremacism of some kind, patriarchy, and arbitrary hierarchy they love it.
and honestly it’s kind of late in the cycle to not have a couple initial frontrunners. i’m actually surprised there isn’t more explicit conversation about it!
February 14, 2026 at 12:32 AM
and honestly it’s kind of late in the cycle to not have a couple initial frontrunners. i’m actually surprised there isn’t more explicit conversation about it!
because it’s fun to talk about and unbelievably important. the only path to getting out of this mess is if we get someone who will 1. win and 2. fight hard and do what’s necessary — very very few dems can do both! if we screw this up like we screwed up the last 3 pres. primaries, we’re fucked.
February 14, 2026 at 12:30 AM
because it’s fun to talk about and unbelievably important. the only path to getting out of this mess is if we get someone who will 1. win and 2. fight hard and do what’s necessary — very very few dems can do both! if we screw this up like we screwed up the last 3 pres. primaries, we’re fucked.
but it’s important as a factual matter! just not useful as a messaging/electoral approach
February 14, 2026 at 12:03 AM
but it’s important as a factual matter! just not useful as a messaging/electoral approach
i know you know this, but just to make it explicit: “they’re all equally corrupt the whole system is corrupt” is both completely wrong and also what a lot of especially low info people think — in large part because enough dems are sufficiently corrupt and people are sufficiently disengaged
February 14, 2026 at 12:01 AM
i know you know this, but just to make it explicit: “they’re all equally corrupt the whole system is corrupt” is both completely wrong and also what a lot of especially low info people think — in large part because enough dems are sufficiently corrupt and people are sufficiently disengaged
there’s confusion here between:
1. in what ways and to what degree are democrats vs republicans corrupt as a descriptive matter?
2. how do people form their views of who is corrupt and how corrupt they are?
3. because democrats are quite corrupt they aren’t credible messengers; contrast insufficient
1. in what ways and to what degree are democrats vs republicans corrupt as a descriptive matter?
2. how do people form their views of who is corrupt and how corrupt they are?
3. because democrats are quite corrupt they aren’t credible messengers; contrast insufficient
February 13, 2026 at 11:58 PM
there’s confusion here between:
1. in what ways and to what degree are democrats vs republicans corrupt as a descriptive matter?
2. how do people form their views of who is corrupt and how corrupt they are?
3. because democrats are quite corrupt they aren’t credible messengers; contrast insufficient
1. in what ways and to what degree are democrats vs republicans corrupt as a descriptive matter?
2. how do people form their views of who is corrupt and how corrupt they are?
3. because democrats are quite corrupt they aren’t credible messengers; contrast insufficient
> Given the substantial functional impairment and distress associated with PASC, prioritizing strategies that limit reinfections should remain a central public health objective.
February 6, 2026 at 11:56 PM
> Given the substantial functional impairment and distress associated with PASC, prioritizing strategies that limit reinfections should remain a central public health objective.
> Overall, our findings indicate that SARS-CoV-2 reinfection is associated with an increased risk of receiving a long COVID diagnosis compared with primary infection, underscoring the importance of preventive measures, including vaccination, to reduce the total burden…
February 6, 2026 at 11:56 PM
> Overall, our findings indicate that SARS-CoV-2 reinfection is associated with an increased risk of receiving a long COVID diagnosis compared with primary infection, underscoring the importance of preventive measures, including vaccination, to reduce the total burden…
it’s not accurate to characterize .16% as the “worst-case rate”. from the study:
> As a result, only a fraction of individuals experiencing post-acute sequelae are likely represented, underestimating the true risk of sequelae following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
> As a result, only a fraction of individuals experiencing post-acute sequelae are likely represented, underestimating the true risk of sequelae following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
February 6, 2026 at 11:55 PM
it’s not accurate to characterize .16% as the “worst-case rate”. from the study:
> As a result, only a fraction of individuals experiencing post-acute sequelae are likely represented, underestimating the true risk of sequelae following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
> As a result, only a fraction of individuals experiencing post-acute sequelae are likely represented, underestimating the true risk of sequelae following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
> As a result, only a fraction of individuals experiencing post-acute sequelae are likely represented, underestimating the true risk of sequelae following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
February 6, 2026 at 11:53 PM
> As a result, only a fraction of individuals experiencing post-acute sequelae are likely represented, underestimating the true risk of sequelae following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
is overthrowing white supremacy symbolic or material though? sure the obamas are a kind of symbolic representation or embodiment of a new social order, but that change in the social order is very tangible and material.
February 6, 2026 at 3:00 PM
is overthrowing white supremacy symbolic or material though? sure the obamas are a kind of symbolic representation or embodiment of a new social order, but that change in the social order is very tangible and material.
and what does the hard version of your argument even get you?
you don’t need to argue that material reality doesn’t matter at all in order to make the same core (and correct) point that it’s all mediated and attenuated and people don’t experience or apprehend reality directly.
you don’t need to argue that material reality doesn’t matter at all in order to make the same core (and correct) point that it’s all mediated and attenuated and people don’t experience or apprehend reality directly.
February 5, 2026 at 2:39 AM
and what does the hard version of your argument even get you?
you don’t need to argue that material reality doesn’t matter at all in order to make the same core (and correct) point that it’s all mediated and attenuated and people don’t experience or apprehend reality directly.
you don’t need to argue that material reality doesn’t matter at all in order to make the same core (and correct) point that it’s all mediated and attenuated and people don’t experience or apprehend reality directly.
does material reality have no influence on these shared beliefs? you’re arguing there’s no relationship at all, which is a silly and unconvincing argument when you can just acknowledge there’s some interplay but that social beliefs are super important and can often diverge from material reality.
February 5, 2026 at 2:37 AM
does material reality have no influence on these shared beliefs? you’re arguing there’s no relationship at all, which is a silly and unconvincing argument when you can just acknowledge there’s some interplay but that social beliefs are super important and can often diverge from material reality.
you’re saying it’s a coincidence that inflation was a major political issue in 2024, when there was in fact elevated cumulative inflation, and not in 2020 or 2016 or 2012 or 2008 or 2004 or 2000 when inflation was in fact lower.
February 5, 2026 at 2:30 AM
you’re saying it’s a coincidence that inflation was a major political issue in 2024, when there was in fact elevated cumulative inflation, and not in 2020 or 2016 or 2012 or 2008 or 2004 or 2000 when inflation was in fact lower.
the implication of this argument is that inflation narratives would be just as effective when inflation is at 1% as when it’s at say 20%, which is obviously false
February 5, 2026 at 2:28 AM
the implication of this argument is that inflation narratives would be just as effective when inflation is at 1% as when it’s at say 20%, which is obviously false
the inflation narrative is effective largely because people connect it to real experiences they had and it rings true.
real wage increases during the same period don’t do much to mitigate because people don’t see that as something happening generally (to them) but something they personally earned.
real wage increases during the same period don’t do much to mitigate because people don’t see that as something happening generally (to them) but something they personally earned.
February 5, 2026 at 2:25 AM
the inflation narrative is effective largely because people connect it to real experiences they had and it rings true.
real wage increases during the same period don’t do much to mitigate because people don’t see that as something happening generally (to them) but something they personally earned.
real wage increases during the same period don’t do much to mitigate because people don’t see that as something happening generally (to them) but something they personally earned.
people did experience a relatively severe and sudden change for the worse: stimulus ending and prices increasing. these were even more salient because they accompanied pandemic disruptions.
the real wage increases that did also occur tend to be seen as a deserved reward for hard work by most ppl.
the real wage increases that did also occur tend to be seen as a deserved reward for hard work by most ppl.
February 5, 2026 at 2:22 AM
people did experience a relatively severe and sudden change for the worse: stimulus ending and prices increasing. these were even more salient because they accompanied pandemic disruptions.
the real wage increases that did also occur tend to be seen as a deserved reward for hard work by most ppl.
the real wage increases that did also occur tend to be seen as a deserved reward for hard work by most ppl.
the thing you’re not accounting for is: would narratives of inflation be as influential if people didn’t experience an actual price shock? cumulative inflation was what 3% 2019-20 and >13% 2021-22. you can also add in a reduction in purchasing power from elimination of covid-era safety nets.
February 5, 2026 at 2:16 AM
the thing you’re not accounting for is: would narratives of inflation be as influential if people didn’t experience an actual price shock? cumulative inflation was what 3% 2019-20 and >13% 2021-22. you can also add in a reduction in purchasing power from elimination of covid-era safety nets.
that’s fine, but i think you just have to carefully weigh the cost of keeping the issue live. i’m not sure dem leadership wants that though, because it galvanizes their base and means they have to do their jobs.
January 30, 2026 at 4:10 AM
that’s fine, but i think you just have to carefully weigh the cost of keeping the issue live. i’m not sure dem leadership wants that though, because it galvanizes their base and means they have to do their jobs.
trump cares about affective bigotry, he’s not an ideologue like miller who cares passionately about ethnic cleansing.
January 30, 2026 at 4:07 AM
trump cares about affective bigotry, he’s not an ideologue like miller who cares passionately about ethnic cleansing.
bigotry is not 1:1 with the kind of large scale deportation operations they’re doing right now.
January 30, 2026 at 4:06 AM
bigotry is not 1:1 with the kind of large scale deportation operations they’re doing right now.
trump’s DHS is executing americans in the streets, egregiously violating the constitution, breaking the law (including hundreds of court orders), building concentration camps, espousing explicit white supremacist views, and attempting large scale ethnic cleansing. how can dems vote for that?
January 30, 2026 at 4:06 AM
trump’s DHS is executing americans in the streets, egregiously violating the constitution, breaking the law (including hundreds of court orders), building concentration camps, espousing explicit white supremacist views, and attempting large scale ethnic cleansing. how can dems vote for that?
miller and trump’s anti immigrant messaging were also seen as winning trump the 2016 election and being popular. if it’s not popular anymore then trump will move on it to some degree. yes he’s a bigot but he cares more about his own ego than specific DHS policies.
January 30, 2026 at 4:01 AM
miller and trump’s anti immigrant messaging were also seen as winning trump the 2016 election and being popular. if it’s not popular anymore then trump will move on it to some degree. yes he’s a bigot but he cares more about his own ego than specific DHS policies.