Steve Olson
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steveolson.bsky.social
Steve Olson
@steveolson.bsky.social
Humble ad guy. potato influencer. whiskey & cephalopod obsessed. expat minnesotan. Novice wine drinker and bonsai... uh... keeper?

Sportsball: Vikings, Tottenham, Bath Rugby.
Pinned
Damn, "Hurricane Season" was dark.. A perfect book to kick off the 2025 Reading Season. I did struggle with how to feel about it, but reading @jcljules.bsky.social's 2020 review citing Marlon James' quote about the need to risk "pornography" in describing the impacts of violence helped. #booksky
Reposted by Steve Olson
If one Afghan nationalist shooter means all Afghan nationalists are evil, wait until I tell you about white male shooters.
November 27, 2025 at 11:04 AM
it’s fine. we gen xers are used to being ignored. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/b...
Gen X-ers Have Money to Spend. Why Are Retailers Ignoring Them?
www.nytimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:44 PM
It’s been a pretty decent year of growth for my giant sequoia bonsai, especially after moving to a house with full sun yard for him this June!
November 27, 2025 at 7:54 PM
I’m old enough to remember the 80s when we supposedly learned that maybe having our CIA training, equipping and running death squads in other countries was a bad idea. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/u...
D.C. Shooting Suspect ‘Could Not Tolerate’ the Violence of His C.I.A.-Backed Unit in Afghanistan, a Childhood Friend Said
www.nytimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by Steve Olson
Hey, congratulations to all of Olivia Nuzzi’s horny media critic defenders. Heckuva job!
November 26, 2025 at 10:19 PM
The best thing about the Nuzzi / Lizza / RFK Jr. story is about how literally ever player in it is like the worst person in the world.

I mean, look at Lizza's glasses?!

Oh, wait, is this why people watch reality TV?! It suddenly makes more sense...
November 26, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Apologies for my previous skeet about leopards eating Leavitt's face.

Even now, it hadn't occurred to me that these monsters would be so soulless as to have sicced the leopards on her brother's baby momma so he could get sole custody of the lil guy.

JEEBUS.
This article heavily implies that ICE is being used in a custody dispute to help Karoline Leavitt's brother get his son and have the mother locked up in ICE detention
"A woman with a family connection to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Revere, Massachusetts."

www.wcvb.com/article/karo...
November 26, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Big day for leopards eating faces, as Karoline Leavitt's nephew's mom was abducted by ICE. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
ICE Detains Woman With Family Ties to White House Press Secretary
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Reposted by Steve Olson
When I worked for Obama, I advised him on how to talk to Russian leaders. I never gave the Kremlin advice on how to talk to Obama (and I talked to Ushakov many times!).
November 26, 2025 at 5:33 PM
The executive is unitary, unless there are consequences, in which case the executive couldn't possibly have known what his underlings were doing.

IF ONLY THE TSAR HAD KNOWN!
Nothing about the conduct of the Trump II White House would suggest that Noem was running the Alien Enemies Act operation herself, let alone out there freelancing on her own. But we’re supposed to believe that the buck stopped with … Kristi Noem.
talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...
The Contempt of Court Buck Stops With … Kristi Noem?
Not Buying It For One Hot Second For the first time, the...
talkingpointsmemo.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Spent some quality time cleaning up Alan, this olive i acquired a couple years back, today. He’s much happier with the direct sun in our new yard, but got quite leggy in the shade at our old place. Need a plan to prune him to prepare him for Spring.
November 25, 2025 at 11:38 PM
I am extremely here for this sandwich fighting.

(FTR, Dalessandro's rules, and so does John's, but their roast pork is really the star there and that sandwich is imho shamefully underrated by non-philadelphians). #foodtok www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/d...
Michelin Honored the Cheesesteak. Not All Philadelphians Cheered.
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Reposted by Steve Olson
amen to this. fit it into a 20 second tiktok or a bumper sticker or gtfo.
I'll tell you what I want: Concise. I'm sure there are people who love Rachel Maddow taking 20 minutes to make a point but I do not. I also can do without articles that start out like novels describing scenery or some crap.
November 25, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Always has been.
November 25, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Steve Olson
"When Leavitt bragged about how extremely qualified Halligan is, she inadvertently revealed the biggest problem for Trump. Even the administration wins their appeal, they're stuck with the plethora of other Halligan missteps that warrant dismissal." — @snipy.bsky.social
Trump's lawfare takes a big L
The war isn't over but this battle was a rout.
www.publicnotice.co
November 25, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Reposted by Steve Olson
I mean, the guy’s afraid of Scouts. Don’t know what to tell you
November 25, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Steve Olson
In “every Trump accusation is a confession,” it says a lot about the current Pentagon that simply starting the longstanding, unambiguous, and nonpartisan rule “don’t obey illegal orders” sets Hegseth off on a spiral of “hey, don’t talk about our illegal orders!”
Mark Kelly: "I said something that was pretty simple and non-controversial, and that was that members of the military should follow the law. In response to that, Trump said I should be executed, I should be hanged ... it says a lot more about him than it says about me. I'm not going to be silenced."
November 25, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Babe, wake up. New reason to get off twitter just dropped: Drive-by Chotinings.
If Isaac Chotiner ever said this to me, I would move to the woods.
November 25, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Reposted by Steve Olson
“I refuse to pretend that both of us are dumber than we are” is a tour de force insult, simultaneously respectful and brutal
If Isaac Chotiner ever said this to me, I would move to the woods.
November 25, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Reposted by Steve Olson
we should make a new holiday focused on hand pies
November 25, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Reposted by Steve Olson
Campbell's soup VP caught on tape trashing his own brand. Oof. www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2...
November 24, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Reposted by Steve Olson
Refusing to defend what was right and allow Republicans to define the debate is the stain on our brand. People don't want to support weaklings who refuse to stand up what they supposedly believe in.
Even today, Carville claimed "the era of performative woke politics from 2020 to 2024 has left a lasting stain on our brand."

The peak of that was 2020... when we won POTUS and gained 3 Senate seats.

"We lost in 2020 because of woke" is not a sensible argument! We won! But he just breezes over it.
The thing about Carville's piece is that it's a perfect example of the way centrists can't write literally anything without getting in a few jabs at the left/minorities. It's entirely possible to run on "economic rage," sure. There's no need to go, "And remember what some people on Tumblr said??"
November 24, 2025 at 11:08 PM
honestly the most unbelievable thing here is that someone would inentionally invite Elon to a party.
Everything about this might be the saddest thing I’ve ever seen
November 24, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Steve Olson
the Pope is singing 'Clementine' by Elliott Smith
November 24, 2025 at 2:30 PM