Matt Disaster
@mattdisaster.bsky.social
He/Him, punk rock never stop but also my back hurts and I need to sit down. but you kids have fun.
Reposted by Matt Disaster
My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power
February 4, 2026 at 7:40 PM
My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power
Reposted by Matt Disaster
We gotta come up with a better system than “everything rests on whether these twelve billionnaires are nice”
February 4, 2026 at 7:41 PM
We gotta come up with a better system than “everything rests on whether these twelve billionnaires are nice”
Reposted by Matt Disaster
Voter intimidation isn’t new, and the counters to it are well established. Black voters in the south, for example, faced some at various times.
Ideally, use early voting to make intimidation harder. Otherwise, show up to vote on Election Day, braving whatever they try.
Not sexy, but it works.
Ideally, use early voting to make intimidation harder. Otherwise, show up to vote on Election Day, braving whatever they try.
Not sexy, but it works.
I’ve been getting tired of the drumbeat of warnings without any analysis to what is feasible and what are our countermeasures. All it does is scare the shit out of me and a lot of other pro-democracy folks. Yes, we should be concerned but what are our real vulnerabilities and what do we do?
February 4, 2026 at 8:05 PM
Voter intimidation isn’t new, and the counters to it are well established. Black voters in the south, for example, faced some at various times.
Ideally, use early voting to make intimidation harder. Otherwise, show up to vote on Election Day, braving whatever they try.
Not sexy, but it works.
Ideally, use early voting to make intimidation harder. Otherwise, show up to vote on Election Day, braving whatever they try.
Not sexy, but it works.
Reposted by Matt Disaster
I expected the cuts would be bad but I'm honestly stunned and sickened seeing how many great journalists the Washington Post just lost. People who nailed huge investigations, documented war zones, exposed horrific crimes, dropped all at once for failures they did not cause.
February 4, 2026 at 4:29 PM
I expected the cuts would be bad but I'm honestly stunned and sickened seeing how many great journalists the Washington Post just lost. People who nailed huge investigations, documented war zones, exposed horrific crimes, dropped all at once for failures they did not cause.
Reposted by Matt Disaster
"Those who were laid off include Caroline O’Donovan, the Post’s beat reporter covering Amazon"
Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post Cuts 30% of Staff, Laying Off More Than 300 Employees Including Amazon Beat Reporter
The Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is enacting layoffs that will eliminate "hundreds" of jobs.
variety.com
February 4, 2026 at 5:12 PM
"Those who were laid off include Caroline O’Donovan, the Post’s beat reporter covering Amazon"
Reposted by Matt Disaster
🧵 1/ We’re devastated about the layoffs at The Washington Post, which are gutting D.C. reporting. These journalists are an incalculable loss for our city. The 51st’s mission has always felt urgent, but now we know it needs to kick into high gear.
February 4, 2026 at 7:21 PM
🧵 1/ We’re devastated about the layoffs at The Washington Post, which are gutting D.C. reporting. These journalists are an incalculable loss for our city. The 51st’s mission has always felt urgent, but now we know it needs to kick into high gear.
Reposted by Matt Disaster
It's really important for people to internalize that, in the eyes of Washington DC's foreign policy establishment, the biggest sin of the Obama presidency was concluding a deal with Iran that objectively satisfied the demands that Washington DC pretends to believe in.
February 4, 2026 at 8:19 PM
It's really important for people to internalize that, in the eyes of Washington DC's foreign policy establishment, the biggest sin of the Obama presidency was concluding a deal with Iran that objectively satisfied the demands that Washington DC pretends to believe in.
Reposted by Matt Disaster
Why do I care about Ukraine correspondents who were left hanging out to dry? Because I sent one out to Kyiv and Lviv *twice* last year.
These international desk cuts create an irreversible domino effect that endangers journalists and fixers on the ground:
www.thexylom.com/post/ukraine...
These international desk cuts create an irreversible domino effect that endangers journalists and fixers on the ground:
www.thexylom.com/post/ukraine...
Exclusive: Inside A Ukrainian Burn Unit
Ukraine is by far the country most hard hit by cuts to USAID. With the end of the Russian invasion nowhere in sight, doctors have to make use of the dwindling resources at their disposal to save as ma...
www.thexylom.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:27 PM
Why do I care about Ukraine correspondents who were left hanging out to dry? Because I sent one out to Kyiv and Lviv *twice* last year.
These international desk cuts create an irreversible domino effect that endangers journalists and fixers on the ground:
www.thexylom.com/post/ukraine...
These international desk cuts create an irreversible domino effect that endangers journalists and fixers on the ground:
www.thexylom.com/post/ukraine...
Reposted by Matt Disaster
"One of her 4-year-old twins screamed at the sight of someone holding spray-on deodorant, mistaking it for pepper spray." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/u...
What the Crackdown Has Done to Minneapolis Children
“It’s like living in fear all the time,” a teenager said about the federal raids that have shattered families.
www.nytimes.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:30 PM
"One of her 4-year-old twins screamed at the sight of someone holding spray-on deodorant, mistaking it for pepper spray." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/u...
Reposted by Matt Disaster
It’s just racism. There’s no immigration problem
The US immigrant population generated more in taxes than they received in benefits from all levels of government every year from 1994 to 2023.
The Cato study provides the first-ever 30-year analysis of the fiscal effects of immigration on government budgets.
https://ow.ly/jy8a50Y8kM3
The Cato study provides the first-ever 30-year analysis of the fiscal effects of immigration on government budgets.
https://ow.ly/jy8a50Y8kM3
February 4, 2026 at 1:29 PM
It’s just racism. There’s no immigration problem
Reposted by Matt Disaster
RFK, jr. is the worst person you ever met at a party in california, patel is the worst guy you ever encountered at the gym, bondi is the worst person you ever met at church, bessent is the worst person you have ever met at a conference, all these people are the worst versions of every stereotype
they made the entire administration out of the worst person you have ever known in every situation, vance is the worst person you ever met in college
February 4, 2026 at 6:11 PM
RFK, jr. is the worst person you ever met at a party in california, patel is the worst guy you ever encountered at the gym, bondi is the worst person you ever met at church, bessent is the worst person you have ever met at a conference, all these people are the worst versions of every stereotype
Reposted by Matt Disaster
"Through the Board of Peace—in which the US presides over weak & corrupt sycophants—Trump has conjured a fantasy. Rather than adapt to the multipolar world that exists, he is maintaining the illusion of American supremacy by fashioning an illusory world." @peterbeinart.bsky.social
Trump’s Imperial Fantasy Begins With Gaza
As his Board of Peace bids to become an alternative United Nations, the president plans to rule the Strip and reap the profits.
jewishcurrents.org
February 4, 2026 at 6:34 PM
"Through the Board of Peace—in which the US presides over weak & corrupt sycophants—Trump has conjured a fantasy. Rather than adapt to the multipolar world that exists, he is maintaining the illusion of American supremacy by fashioning an illusory world." @peterbeinart.bsky.social
Reposted by Matt Disaster
DHS is tracking people who protest using biometrics and entering them into databases; hunting people who send emails on behalf of asylum seekers; tracking neighbors who help immigrants w/ facial recognition and license plate readers, and Hakeem Jeffries wants more surveillance tech for every agent.
February 4, 2026 at 3:05 AM
DHS is tracking people who protest using biometrics and entering them into databases; hunting people who send emails on behalf of asylum seekers; tracking neighbors who help immigrants w/ facial recognition and license plate readers, and Hakeem Jeffries wants more surveillance tech for every agent.
Reposted by Matt Disaster
The big tech founder whose 417-foot, $500 million superyacht needs a 256-foot, $75 million superyacht to "shadow" it -- because the bigger yacht lacks a helipad -- had to cut his paper's newsroom almost in half, for reasons
NEWS: The cuts were so severe that at least one department head asked to leave The Post rather than be included in the planning.
Peter Finn, The Post's international editor, requested that he be laid off once he learned about the scope of the cuts to his section.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/b...
Peter Finn, The Post's international editor, requested that he be laid off once he learned about the scope of the cuts to his section.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/b...
Washington Post Begins Sweeping Layoffs
www.nytimes.com
February 4, 2026 at 4:05 PM
The big tech founder whose 417-foot, $500 million superyacht needs a 256-foot, $75 million superyacht to "shadow" it -- because the bigger yacht lacks a helipad -- had to cut his paper's newsroom almost in half, for reasons
Reposted by Matt Disaster
My wife has pancreatic cancer. Our son is 12. Maybe this wouldn’t save her but it would save some future 12 y/o’s mom. MAHA is objectively pro-death.
My mother died from cancer in 1992. She was 37. I was 8.
These trials offered hope that fewer 8 year old boys would bury their 37 year old mothers due to cancer.
These trials offered hope that fewer 8 year old boys would bury their 37 year old mothers due to cancer.
February 4, 2026 at 2:59 PM
My wife has pancreatic cancer. Our son is 12. Maybe this wouldn’t save her but it would save some future 12 y/o’s mom. MAHA is objectively pro-death.
Reposted by Matt Disaster
"The pretext for this war has always been a bogus premise. Yet federal agents treat it with the dogma of settled fact: They dress for the war they want. Agents march into town in the costume of a foreign invasion."
February 4, 2026 at 6:46 PM
"The pretext for this war has always been a bogus premise. Yet federal agents treat it with the dogma of settled fact: They dress for the war they want. Agents march into town in the costume of a foreign invasion."
Reposted by Matt Disaster
worth noting that the second rich people stopped being afraid of mobs tearing them limb from limb, they stopped building libraries and opera houses and stuff and started ripping the copper wiring out of the walls of society instead
February 4, 2026 at 4:44 PM
worth noting that the second rich people stopped being afraid of mobs tearing them limb from limb, they stopped building libraries and opera houses and stuff and started ripping the copper wiring out of the walls of society instead
Reposted by Matt Disaster
The SAVE Act is far more dangerous than ICE trying to intimidate voters at the polls, and this might be a rare instance where I think "distraction" is exactly what they're going for: get a news cycle and a faux "retreat" while *legally* stripping millions of the right to vote.
🚨BREAKING: Steve Bannon said Tuesday that the federal government is planning to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to patrol polling stations during this year’s midterm elections. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
Steve Bannon says ICE will ‘surround the polls’ as Trump doubles down on taking over elections
Trump doubled down on his comments to nationalize voting Tuesday during an Oval Office press conference. “If you think about it, a state is an agent for the federal government in elections,” Trump sai...
www.democracydocket.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:44 PM
The SAVE Act is far more dangerous than ICE trying to intimidate voters at the polls, and this might be a rare instance where I think "distraction" is exactly what they're going for: get a news cycle and a faux "retreat" while *legally* stripping millions of the right to vote.
Reposted by Matt Disaster
if the whole genocide thing wasn't enough for you, another good reason to get AIPAC money out of democratic politics is that the organization now exists to move republican donor money into democratic races to sow chaos and get the most republican-friendly democrat elected
Punchbowl has AOC quoted saying the same thing that I've been saying for the past few weeks re: AIPAC spending against pro-Israel Tom Malinowski.
“It’s quite shocking how moderate of a stance that they are mobilizing against. We’re not even talking about them targeting the left,” Ocasio-Cortez said
“It’s quite shocking how moderate of a stance that they are mobilizing against. We’re not even talking about them targeting the left,” Ocasio-Cortez said
AIPAC’s first 2026 test
A Thursday special primary election will reveal whether Malinowski can survive a spending onslaught in a new era of anti-AIPAC sentiment among Dems.
punchbowl.news
February 4, 2026 at 6:25 PM
if the whole genocide thing wasn't enough for you, another good reason to get AIPAC money out of democratic politics is that the organization now exists to move republican donor money into democratic races to sow chaos and get the most republican-friendly democrat elected
Reposted by Matt Disaster
WaPo laid off one of the journalists who won a 2022 Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
February 4, 2026 at 6:16 PM
WaPo laid off one of the journalists who won a 2022 Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
Reposted by Matt Disaster
Working theory: If one had a chance to improve society by injecting just one piece of knowledge into every human — so that they truly UNDERSTOOD it, not just knew it on a surface level — "the difference between a million and a billion" would be pretty high in terms of return on investment
again we do not really do a good job of explaining how wealthy people like Jeff Bezos are
his net worth is $253.2 billion.
so he could take one million dollars, and just light it on fire
and then do it again tomorrow
and again the day after that
and then do it every day for 693 years and 8 months
his net worth is $253.2 billion.
so he could take one million dollars, and just light it on fire
and then do it again tomorrow
and again the day after that
and then do it every day for 693 years and 8 months
February 4, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Working theory: If one had a chance to improve society by injecting just one piece of knowledge into every human — so that they truly UNDERSTOOD it, not just knew it on a surface level — "the difference between a million and a billion" would be pretty high in terms of return on investment
Reposted by Matt Disaster
in general, loyalty to your employer goes one way
I’m reminded of the time I got laid off by email right before moving out to L.A., right after getting approved for remote work, and right after signing a mortgage, with nothing more as an opportunity for closure than a self-organized happy hour and a calendar invitation to get my things.
Friends at the Post say they have been asked to sign up for two hour times slots to come pick up their things after getting news of their jobs being gone
February 4, 2026 at 6:41 PM
in general, loyalty to your employer goes one way
Reposted by Matt Disaster
This is the piece of the puzzle people are zooming past that I think bears repeating. There will be violence. People will be hurt or worse. At scale? No. But even the death of one person just trying to vote should be an unacceptable number. Dismantling ICE immediately stops this from being a concern
To be clear: I think the regime's plan to steal the election is doomed to fail. I don't think they're going to pull it off. We can win by voting in huge numbers and mass civil resistance against their crimes.
But, we're much more likely to succeed if we are prepared for their attempt.
But, we're much more likely to succeed if we are prepared for their attempt.
February 4, 2026 at 6:33 PM
This is the piece of the puzzle people are zooming past that I think bears repeating. There will be violence. People will be hurt or worse. At scale? No. But even the death of one person just trying to vote should be an unacceptable number. Dismantling ICE immediately stops this from being a concern
Reposted by Matt Disaster
They are
Believe all these guys when they act like they’re in a war against America. They think they are.
Kash Patel refers to FBI agents who raided the Fulton County elections office as "my troops on the ground"
February 4, 2026 at 6:56 PM
They are
Reposted by Matt Disaster
I got in SO MUCH trouble for this hugely viral tweet back in 2018 (from MAGA types mostly) but I stand by it (and in fact at the time the Auschwitz Museum defended me when people yelled at me that Auschwitz was a “death camp” not a concentration camp). My DENTIST congratulated me for this one
February 4, 2026 at 5:40 PM
I got in SO MUCH trouble for this hugely viral tweet back in 2018 (from MAGA types mostly) but I stand by it (and in fact at the time the Auschwitz Museum defended me when people yelled at me that Auschwitz was a “death camp” not a concentration camp). My DENTIST congratulated me for this one