David Atkins
@davidoatkins.bsky.social
13K followers 630 following 2.9K posts
Contributor @washingtonmonthly.com. Bylines @theprospect & elsewhere. Elected DNC Member from CA. Progressive reformist. Dad of two. I run a qualitative research firm.
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Reposted by David Atkins
chrismurphyct.bsky.social
I'm sorry but it's just wild we are in the middle of a government shutdown and the House Republicans are REFUSING TO SHOW UP FOR WORK so they can protect billionaire pedophiles and billionaire tax breaks.
Reposted by David Atkins
jamisonfoser.bsky.social
this is table stakes for anyone who enjoys seeing themselves as a leader of a political party or movement

you do not want to be running in a Democratic primary as the guy who was like "sure Trump has his flaws but let's not go overboard with our criticism." Not next year, not in 2028, not ever.
gregsargent.bsky.social
This is good, from Hakeem Jeffries. More of this please, in every conceivable forum:

"Sycophants who aid and abet the President’s vengeful schemes will not be able to hide from the serious legal consequences of their behavior. They will be held accountable."
Reposted by David Atkins
ndrew.bsky.social
what was stephen miller doing when trump was out of office? he was receiving more money than any of us could ever dream of to create legal bills for the dems while living comfortably and not having to worry about health insurance

thats why there isnt a stephen miller of the left
davidoatkins.bsky.social
Protest by mockery is, I think, one way the DSA wing and the Yglesias/Klein wing can get along.

Mass mobilize, yes. Defang the fascists, yes. But also don't do destructive things that turn off normies. Fighting makes them big. Clowning them makes them small.
thedailyshow.com
The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.
Reposted by David Atkins
tusk81.bsky.social
And as that bitter old man is targeting his perceived enemies bc he’s a bitter old man, he’s letting child predators and other criminals get away.

“FBI agents reassigned to round up immigrants have had to walk away from investigations into violent predators who target and exploit children online.”
Mass Deportations Do Not Make Us Safer
“FBI agents reassigned to round up immigrants have had to walk away from investigations into violent predators who target and exploit children online,” a new report reveals.
americasvoicecnn.substack.com
Reposted by David Atkins
normative.bsky.social
Dire as the stakes are, leaning into absurdist and lighthearted forms of protest seems like a great way to puncture the fantasy Trump & co are spinning to attempt to rationalize a violent crackdown.
jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
As the administration goes all in on an alternate reality about portland that bears no resemblance to fact and rule of law, continuing radical (and just plain funny, ridiculing) acts of the imagination along with other ways of getting out the reality on the ground may help curb their momentum.
fake film poster with a sunset and the portland frog protestor with words The Portland War, A Film by Ken Burns
Reposted by David Atkins
newyorkstateag.bsky.social
This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.

I am not fearful — I am fearless.

We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights..
Reposted by David Atkins
helldude.bsky.social
ill keep saying it and theyll keep doing it: podcaster occupied government
newrepublic.com
Justice Department lawyers reposted President Trump’s statements and may have inadvertently endangered their prosecution of Luigi Mangione, violating the judge’s explicit orders that DOJ employees refrain from public comment about the case. trib.al/b9U7CY1
DOJ in Trouble After Lawyers Reposted Trump Rants on Luigi Mangione
The Justice Department’s case against Luigi Mangione just hit a major obstacle.
trib.al
davidoatkins.bsky.social
And huge overperformance in special elections, including recently in Fairbanks
Reposted by David Atkins
mjsdc.bsky.social
This is why I think the next Democratic president needs to use the EXACT tools that SCOTUS has handed Trump. Don't leave room for any distinctions.

Impound funds for deportation. Give ICE the USAID treatment. Refuse to collect government-backed debt. Purge MAGA loyalists from the executive branch.
Reposted by David Atkins
asharangappa.bsky.social
As I observed in my Substack Round Up this past week, the endgame of the military strikes against drug cartels in international waters is to lay the groundwork to use lethal military force against Americans at home. Pay attention open.substack.com/pub/asharang...
Reposted by David Atkins
darthbluesky.bsky.social
"we are going to murder americans without due process"
~pam bondi, US attorney general
premthakker.bsky.social
My gosh. After the US bombed multiple boats in the middle of the ocean, murdering people on grounds that they were allegedly "carrying drugs," the US Attorney General says "Just like we did with cartels, we're going to take the same approach, President Trump, with Antifa."
Reposted by David Atkins
nslayton.bsky.social
Coming around to the theory that they're Truman Showing him
davidoatkins.bsky.social
Oh I see, on Fox. Yeah.
davidoatkins.bsky.social
Trump: "we took the freedom of speech away"

Yeah. So there it is.
atrupar.com
Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds."
Reposted by David Atkins
washingtonmonthly.com
After 30 years of publication, the U.S. Department of Agriculture abruptly canceled its annual report on the prevalence of hunger in America. The USDA’s press release condemned the report as “politicized,” “subjective, liberal fodder” that did “nothing more than fear monger.”
An American Hunger Crisis Is Coming
Trump’s cruel and disastrous policies—slashing food stamps and hiking inflationary tariffs—are creating an American hunger crisis.
washingtonmonthly.com
davidoatkins.bsky.social
I think he cares if they are underage, as that would be proof of a horrific crime.
davidoatkins.bsky.social
It also makes Republican panic about releasing the Epstein files make more sense, as well as the rush to use ICE protests as am excuse to make Trump dictator right now.

They also cant throw Trump over for Vance because MAGA won't follow him, and Miller can't use him as a empty prop.
davidoatkins.bsky.social
There is something extremely dark about the fact that, if this is true, photographic proof of Donald Trump's criminal pedophilia and rape of children cannot be released because the photos themselves are child sexual abuse material.
wyrdsofpower.bsky.social
I’ve seen the pictures of Trump with Epstein’s girls. Here’s what’s in them - @michaelwolffnyc.bsky.social
Reposted by David Atkins
wyrdsofpower.bsky.social
I’ve seen the pictures of Trump with Epstein’s girls. Here’s what’s in them - @michaelwolffnyc.bsky.social
Reposted by David Atkins
whstancil.bsky.social
This might be the worst ICE video yet, because it’s literally random dudes hanging around, and then a bunch of heavily armed thugs running them down completely out of nowhere, because they’re brown. It’s a nightmare that would have seemed excessive in Jim Crow. Everyone in America should see this.
esqueer.net
ICE is not only chasing down every random brown person in Chicago, they have a cameraman following them to film this for social media. Cruelty and inhumanity as content.
Reposted by David Atkins
ddayen.bsky.social
So this is funny.
The administration just issued a rule slashing foreign agricultural worker wages. And to justify it, in a public filing, Trump's Labor Department alleges that Trump's immigration enforcement has devastated the Ag workforce and caused a "risk of supply shock-induced food shortages."
Trump Labor Department Says His Immigration Raids Are Causing a Food Crisis
In a filing in the Federal Register, the Labor Department argues there are “immediate dangers to the American food supply” due to a lack of migrant agricultural workers.
prospect.org
Reposted by David Atkins
kenwhite.bsky.social
These people are evil. Never stop saying so. Don’t be intimidated into shutting up.
flglchicago.bsky.social
Here’s video of the incident
Reposted by David Atkins
nicholasgrossman.bsky.social
The First Amendment explicitly guarantees:

-the right of the people peaceably to assemble
-to petition the Government for a redress of grievances
-the free exercise of religion
-freedom of speech

If this priest had also been press, ICE would have violated all five 1A freedoms at once.
flglchicago.bsky.social
Here’s video of the incident