Daniel Lerch
@daniellerch.bsky.social
1.1K followers 210 following 280 posts
Education & Publications Director at Post Carbon Institute postcarbon.org. Co-founded APA Sustainable Communities Division & The City Repair Project. Back in Portland 🇺🇸 after 9 years in Guadalajara 🇲🇽 as of July 2025.
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Reposted by Daniel Lerch
Remember April 2009 when about 250,000 people took to America’s streets in Tea Party rallies and the media was like “oh man, the Dems are in trouble?” Approximately 28X as many people took to the streets to protest Trump yesterday. Didn’t even make the NYT front page.
In April of 2009 I observed the Tea Party rally in Salem. As this front page story says, there were a couple hundred people there. This past weekend in Salem there were roughly 2-3000 people at the Hands Off rally. Yet the Tea Party coverage seemed to take that event far more seriously.
Reposted by Daniel Lerch
Reposted by Daniel Lerch
Three things to do to support Wikipedia:

1. Dump Google. Make DuckDuckGo with AI turned off your default search.

2. When the information you want is not in Wikipedia and you find it elsewhere leave a comment on an article talk page pointing to it.

3. If you have the means, donate time or money.
Reposted by Daniel Lerch
Hi, I'm the ProPublica reporter who's been tracking an unusual stat: U.S. citizens grabbed by immigration agents.

I did it because the government isn’t.

This is what I found.
Reposted by Daniel Lerch
My father-in-law gave me “Rules for Radicals” for Christmas a couple years ago and the biggest surprise to me was how much Alinsky’s advice to radicals was “don’t scare the normies because you will need them.”
In fairness I think people forget that the last chapter of “Rules for Radicals” is all about the need to appeal to the conventionally-minded white middle class.
Reposted by Daniel Lerch
Thousands of riders streamed onto the street as federal troops held long guns on the roof above, police officers on bikes looked over their shoulders nervously while holding back crowds on the sidewalk, and a brass band played what felt like a hero's march.

bikeportland.org/2025/10/13/p...
Presence as power marks massive pedaling protest against Trump
Thousands of Portlanders showed they are unafraid by making themselves as vulnerable as possible.
bikeportland.org
Reposted by Daniel Lerch
All of this is to say that Portland political humor, which often makes the national stage via absurdist protests (like right now) or statements of solidarity that other groups find baffling (like the Wall of Moms during the BLM protests), is steeped in this same sense of creative frustration.
Reposted by Daniel Lerch
The lies' laughable implausibility is a feature, not a bug.

They're not trying to convince discerning, skeptical, fact-based people. They're trying to give supporters a fantasy that validates their feelings and creates a sort of loyalty test, while flaunting the absurdity in everyone else's faces.
Kristi Noem: "I do know that LA wouldn't be standing today if President Trump hadn't taken action."
Reposted by Daniel Lerch
I often talk about the fact that MAGA does not access the same news as the left wing. I present to you Exhibit A.

Dr. Daskalakis’ resignation letter excoriated RFK Jr. and shared that RFK Jr. was lying to the public, manipulating data, and ordering unethical actions.

This what Fox News served.
Reposted by Daniel Lerch
Correction: "We" aren't afraid. Conservatives are, and they force their fear on all of us to soothe their panics. Their only response to risk is imposing greater threat, hence more guns, not less. They've convinced themselves this is wisdom when, in fact, it's cowardice masquerading as strength.
"We have compromised, and we are prepared to compromise further"
- Sen. John Kerry, or the Dem Party motto, I forget which
Reposted by Daniel Lerch
One of the firefighters arrested is an Oregonian. My office has been in touch with his lawyer who says he can't locate his client. My office is working to get more information on his whereabouts ASAP.
Arresting firefighters putting their lives on the line to protect our communities doesn't make us safer. This evil stunt is putting families in harm's way just so Donald Trump can score a Fox News hit.
Federal agents arrest firefighters working on WA wildfire
Federal agents showed up northeast of Lake Cushman to check identification of crew members fighting Washington's largest active wildfire.
www.seattletimes.com
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That means our job is to collectively awaken the 90% to organizing as opposed to collectively educating 90% out of conspiracy theories.

that seems a LOT easier to me.
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in any given state even the most anti-vaxx polls show vaccine rates in the mid to high 80s *at lowest*. that means that at the *worst* there is 85% or higher support of vaccines and public health. most areas are between 90-95% at this point.
Reposted by Daniel Lerch
16. In other words, Jeffries is doing what Schumer was doing, which is what all centrist Dems do: accept as valid the premise of the lies in order to make themselves seem moderate, and as such, portray themselves as honest brokers who care about “what’s really important to the American people.”
Reposted by Daniel Lerch
This is how organizing works. You start off as one single person but you don’t stop. And then people that already agree with you join you. And then people that never heard of any of it before, but you talked with join you. And then…etc.
New Quinnipiac Poll — 50% of voters say Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Includes *77%* of Democrats, 51% of Independents, and 20% of Republicans.

60% of voters oppose sending more military aid to Israel.
Includes 75% of Democrats, 66% of Independents, and 37% of Republicans.
Reposted by Daniel Lerch
The Oath Keepers or Proud Boys or whatever new group is popular these days will play the role of the Volunteer Guards during the Bosnian War or the West Bank settlers today: Provoke violence, even if it costs you your life, so that the army can come in.
Reposted by Daniel Lerch
Trump is deploying the military into DC and perhaps other cities in order to instigate violence that can trigger the GOP Congress and SCOTUS to suspend civil liberties and possibly elections. If it doesn't work, I'd expect him to recruit GOP paramilitaries like the Oath Keepers within the next year.
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Until there are Nuremberg level trials and punishments for the architects and enablers of Trumpism, we'll keep playing this game until America is just another third world autocracy.
Fire literally everyone in one of these units and blacklist them from all government service forever the moment we retake the White House. Yes, some poor dumb kids who didn’t know what they were signing up for will be collateral damage. No, there is no other way to be safe.
Trump signs an executive order tasking Hegseth to establish "specialised units" within the National Guard to "deal with public order issues" across the US.

Using the US Military against the American public.
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Pritzker doing a press conference after trump's press conference. something congressional Ds should've been doing.

and it should be on every single fucking Ds lips that this is unconstitutional and illegal. unconstitutional and illegal.
Reposted by Daniel Lerch
The Republicans are not anti-crime. They are pro-control.