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nathankalmoe.bsky.social
Nathan Kalmoe (he/him)
@nathankalmoe.bsky.social
12K followers 3.6K following 610 posts
PoliSci/Comm @ UW-Madison via UMich. Views mine, ~90% right. US politics, votes, violence, history, psych. 3📚+1 in progress: How WE Make US Democracy. Dad w/ jokes. 🧙🏻. 🥏⛳🏆. Avid 🧗. Congress said I have "tremendous sway over SM platforms"😂 nathankalmoe.com
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nathankalmoe.bsky.social
Here's some #s on budget similarities & defunding:

I was a prof for 7 years at LSU. Recently, Louisiana contributed roughly the same share of LSU's budget (~10.5%) as Wisconsin for UW-Madison (11%) or California for UC-Berkeley (14%). In the 1990s, WI paid 35% & CA paid 50%.

Here's WI's defunding:
Chart showing decline of WI state funding for UW-Madison since the 1970s, going from 43% down to 14% in 2024.
November 26, 2025 at 3:34 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
Update!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_...
Controversies Converse's published work includes demeaning references to women voters. In his 1964 essay, he writes "The wife is very likely to follow her husband's opinions, however imperfectly she may have absorbed their justifications at a more complex level." And in his co-authored book The American Voter, they wrote "The wife who votes but otherwise pays little attention to politics tends to leave not only the sifting of information up to her husband but abides by his ultimate decision about the direction of the vote as well." The correspondence in vote choice between married couples is well-established, but it can also be explained by 1) women influencing their partners, by 2) both partners being influenced by the same external guides, by 3) people purposefully choosing politically like-minded partners, and by 4) people choosing partners based on non-political characteristics that correlate with political views.
November 25, 2025 at 6:52 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
And how.
Picture of musician Connie Converse superimposed over a pyrotechnic explosion at night, with red text on a black background that says "CONVERSED!"
November 25, 2025 at 6:16 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
(Rest of alt text)
Instead of allowing the president to believe that their attempts at silencing dissent and shows of force intimidate us, we will take to the streets and show them: Americans across the country will not cower in response to President Trump’s authoritarian takeover—we reject strongman politics and corruption and will fight until we get the representation we deserve. Alongside local organizers, partners, and communities across the country, we will demonstrate organized nonviolent people power that outpaces any authoritarian aspirations. At events, attendees will receive Know Your Rights cards, or instructions on how to download them, to empower us to keep demanding that our rights are respected. We’ll also use it to start a conversation about how we're going to fight back and care for each other with our communities.
November 25, 2025 at 3:28 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
Could be! But the messaging was all "stop regressing," not "we need new systems" or even "here are some modest improvements."
From No Kings website. WHAT IS “NO KINGS”? In June, we did what many claimed was impossible: peacefully mobilized millions of people to take to the streets and declare with one voice: America has no kings. And it mattered. The world saw the power of the people. President Trump’s birthday parade was drowned out by protests in every state and across the globe. His attempt to turn June 14 into a coronation failed, and the story became a rallying point for a movement rising against his authoritarian power grabs. NO KINGS is a peaceful national day of action and mass mobilization in response to the increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration, which they have doubled down on since June. Masked agents are targeting immigrant families, profiling, arresting and detaining people; gutting health care, environmental protections, and education when families need them most; rigging maps to silence voters; ignoring mass shootings at our schools and in our communities; and driving up the cost of living while handing out massive giveaways to billionaire allies, as families struggle. President Trump is currently eroding checks and balances by abusing his power in every way he can. We will not stand by as this happens.
November 25, 2025 at 3:27 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
A gen Z grad student made these posters and hung them around campus. Does that count?
Barbershop quartet with faces photoshopped. Ron Johnson, Trump, an alt right guy, Chancellor Mnookin. Labels say WI GOP, Trump admin, and Mnookin, alt right. They’re singing “we need more ‘intellectual diversity’ on campuses!” Bottom says tell uw not to give in to Trump’s intimidation. Say no to the “WI exchange institute.”
November 25, 2025 at 3:06 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
Also, Gen Z is getting gassed, beaten and shot by ice & cops at ice facilities. Where are the boomers?

They prefer safe action with the most modest aims. Young people are galvanized by calls for replacing irredeemable systems. And they take risks the olds aren’t willing to take.

We need both.
Protesters at broadview ice facility confronting an ice goon.
November 25, 2025 at 2:50 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
There’s lots to like from @brendannyhan.bsky.social here. I agree on demoralization. Also, normie Dem activism is always dominated by well-off retirees. They have more time comfort, & small aims.

Gaza protests against genocide were Gen Z’s antifascist action. (BLM too.) Where were boomers then?
Pro-Palestine/anti-genocide protest in Sacramento.
November 25, 2025 at 2:46 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
And we know we shall win
As we are confident
In the victory of good
Over evil
Pope Leo speaking into a microphone. Pope singer meme.
November 23, 2025 at 3:04 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
Here are pics from the web showing the combined race-class focus & the pivotal role of labor unions in organizing.

This the model we need to rebuild.
Marchers with sign : “MARCH WASHINGTON FOR JOBS & FREEDOM WED. AUG 28” Marchers with signs for ending police brutality, for voting rights, for jobs. Marchers with signs “uaw says end segregated schools,” “UAW says before we’ll be a slave we’ll be buried in our grave” Marchers with sign: UAW [obscured] Council “there is no halfway house on the road to freedom” Walter Reuther, UAW president
November 21, 2025 at 2:17 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
I celebrated my aunt & uncle’s 80th birthdays last weekend. Both have done social justice their whole lives. My uncle was a SNCC vote registerer in MS 1965, & he was at the March in Washington.

People forget it was a march “for jobs & freedom.” Race-class.

Here are pics from the original program:
MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR JOBS AND FREEDOM AUGUST 28, 1963 LINCOLN MEMORIAL PROGRAM 1. The National Anthem 2. Invocation 3. Opening Remarks 4. Remarks Led by Marian Anderson. The Very Rev. Patrick O'Boyle, Archbishop of Washington. A. Philip Randolph, Director March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, Stated Clerk, United Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A.; Vice Chairman, Commission on Race Relations of the National Council of Churches of Christ in America. Mrs. Medgar Evers 5. Tribute to Negro Women Fighters for Freedom Daisy Bates Diane Nash Bevel Mrs. Medgar Evers Mrs. Herbert Lee Rosa Parks Gloria Richardson 6. Remarks 7. Remarks 8. Remarks 9. Selection 10. Prayer 11. Remarks 12. Remarks 13. Remarks 14. Selection 15. Remarks 16. Remarks 17. The Pledge 18. Benediction John Lewis, National Chairman, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Walter Reuther, President, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Wokers of America, AFL-CIO; Chairman, Industrial Union Department, AFL-CIO. James Farmer, National Director, Congress of Racial Equality. Eva Jessye Choir Rabbi Uri Miller, President Synagogue Council of America. Whitney M. Young, Jr., Executive Director, National Urban League. Mathew Ahmann, Executive Director, National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice. Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Miss Mahalia Jackson Rabbi Joachim Prinz, President American Jewish Congress. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President, Southern Christian Leadership Conference. A Philip Randolph Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, President, Morehouse College. "WE SHALL OVERCOME" Statement by the heads of the ten organizations calling for discipline in connection with the Washington March of August 28, 1963: «The Washington March of August 28th is more than just a demon- stration. «Tt was conceived as an outpouring of the deep feeling of millions of white and colored American citizens that the time has come for the government of the United States of America, and particularly for the in citizenship to the Negro minority of our population. Congress of that government, to grant and guarantee complete equality "As such, the Washington March is a living petition-in the flesh-of the scores of thousands of citizens of both races who will be present from all parts of our country. "It will be orderly, but not subservient. It will be proud, but not arrogant. It will be non-violent, but not timid. It will be unified in purposes and behavior, not splintered into groups and individual competitors. It will be outspoken, but not raucous "It will have the dignity befitting a demonstration in behalf of the human rights of twenty millions of people, with the eye and the judgment of the world focused upon Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. "In a neighborhood dispute there may be stunts, rough words and even hot insults; but when a whole people speaks to its government, the dialogue and the action must be on a level reflecting the worth of that people and the responsibility of that government. "We, the undersigned, who see the Washington March as wrapping up the dreams, hopes, ambitions, tears, and prayers of millions who have lived for this day, call upon the members, followers and wellwishers of our several organizations to make the March a disciplined and purposeful demonstration. "We call upon them all, black and white, to resist provocations to disorder and to violence. "We ask them to remember that evil persons are determined to smear this March and to discredit the cause of equality by deliberate efforts to stir disorder. "We call for self-discipline,… Rabbi Joachim Prinz, President of Industrial Union Department, AFL- the American Jewish Congress. CIO. A. Philip Randolph, President of the Negro American Labor Council. Coy Wilkins, Executive Secretary oj he National Association for the Ad Walter Reuther, President of the vancement of Colored People. United Automobile, Aerospace and Whitney M. Young, Jr., Executive Agricultural Implement Workers of Director of the National Urban America, AFL-CIO, and Chairman, League. In addition, the March has been endorsed by major religious, fraternal, labor and commonts orcantzations. A full list, too long to include here, will be bublished WHAT WE DEMAND* 1. Comprehensive and effective civil rights legislation from the present Congress-without compromise or filibuster-to guarantee all Americans access to all public accommodations decent housing adequate and integrated education the right to vote 2. Withholding of Federal funds from all programs in which discrimination exists. 3. Desegregation of all school districts in 1963. 4. Enforcement of the Fourteenth Amendment-reducing Congressional representation of states where citizens are disfranchised. 5. A new Executive Order banning discrimination in all housing supported by federal funds. 6. Authority for the Attorney General to institute injunctive suits when any constitutional right is violated. 7. A massive federal program to train and place all unemployed workers-Negro and white-on meaningful and dignified jobs at decent wages. 8. A national minimum wage act that will give all Americans a decent standard of living. (Government surveys show that anything less than $2.00 an hour fails to do this.) 9. A broadened Fair Labor Standards Act to include all areas of employment which are presently excluded. 10. A federal Fair Employment Practices Act barring discrimination by federal, state, and municipal governments, and by employers, con-tractors, employment agencies, and trade unions. •Support of the March does not necessarily ind… Map of site. LINCOLN INE/ORIAL BUs PARKING ZONE 3 ZONE 1 CONSTITUTION AVE. BEGINS REFLECTING POOL ASSEIABLY INDEPENDENCE AVE. Bus PARKING ZONE 2 IVASHINGTON INONUINENT Bus PARKING ZONE 4
November 21, 2025 at 2:06 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
Wham!
Photo of political scientist Phil Converse -- old white guy with glasses, beard, & suit. Superimposed over an explosion, next to text that says "Conversed!" Context is his 1964 essay on the lack of ideological thinking, lack of stable & coherent policy views, and non-ideological vote choice for most people, titled “The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics.
November 20, 2025 at 2:37 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
😂 can never be too careful…
Not saying it’s aliens meme, but with ghosts
November 20, 2025 at 2:02 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
Reaching across the aisle…to strangle.
Butterfly meme: is this bipartisanship?
November 20, 2025 at 12:39 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
You mean this diag? As an alum, fuck you, Michigan.
Riot police occumpying Univ of Michigan's diag with a large Gaza encampment sign seen behind them.
November 17, 2025 at 2:04 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
Same with this one!
Picture of Hokies mascot at basketball arena
November 16, 2025 at 8:33 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
Cover of upton Sinclair the jungle with images of a skyline and pig body parts.
November 14, 2025 at 12:23 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
Here's similar for support gov't trying to reduce income differences, 2012 to 2020. Big increases among Dems, some among Inds, and big reduction in Reps strongly opposing it at least.
Text explains point of these 3 survey charts, one for each part.
November 10, 2025 at 4:08 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
Independents & even some lower-income Republican voters are moving left on economics too. This is for gov't guaranteed job & basic standard of living.
Chart showing public opinion on gov't seeing to job & basic standard of living vs. each person on their own, 1972 to 2024. Big increases in gov't support among Dems, some among Independents, steady among Reps.
November 10, 2025 at 4:04 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
This is also why I decline their interview requests. I’d add that they’re an enemy of higher ed & actively harmful to democracy on a host of other dimensions.
On the one hand, like a lot of my friends and peers I think it’s wise to decline speaking to the Times on principle. The reasons aren’t especially obscure: Palestine superabundantly, but also decades of hyper-sensationalizing crime reporting, the neverending centrist stooge’ing, all the unparody-able rest
November 9, 2025 at 1:03 AM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
Yes! Let’s make all the heavy lifts to lift everyone up.
Flexing bicep
November 7, 2025 at 6:26 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
John Lewis & company chose to use media to expose the brutality of white supremacy. They chose police forces they knew would be the worst for that reason. Avoiding state violence is not the goal. Having ISP at Selma to be somewhat less violent isn’t an improvement.
November 6, 2025 at 10:44 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
Reminds me of this
November 6, 2025 at 2:31 AM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
Men, what's keeping you from looking like this?
Poster of an 1860 Wide Awake member with a mustache, wearing a cape with red trim and a small hat with red trim, holding a red lantern..
November 5, 2025 at 9:04 PM
nathankalmoe.bsky.social
"Is this what New York City wants for its children?!"
Thomas Nast anti-Catholic cartoon from the late 1800s. "The AMmerican River Ganges" with bishops in their hats are made to look like crocodiles, menacing American children protected by an adult man. Vatican in the background.
October 31, 2025 at 5:40 PM