David Dobbs
@daviddobbs.bsky.social
Writer for almost all the best places. Which, like so much else, is not as fun as it used to be.
“Expect the worse. It saves time.”
daviddobbs.co for selected work.
https://authory.com/DavidDobbs for all the work the algorithm could find
“Expect the worse. It saves time.”
daviddobbs.co for selected work.
https://authory.com/DavidDobbs for all the work the algorithm could find
Yo all, it’s great to see jetkocko writing — even though he’s one of the very best editors I know — because he’s also one of my favorite writers. His stuff always has bounce
Got a new story up, a profile of CA state senator and congressional candidate Scott Wiener, and a whole bunch of state housing politics and policy—to me, the totalizing political issue right now. Get people cheap housing near jobs and you fix *a lot*. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Scott Wiener defeated California’s NIMBYs. Can he fix America’s housing crisis?
By running for Nancy Pelosi's House seat, he's putting the abundance theory to the test.
www.motherjones.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Yo all, it’s great to see jetkocko writing — even though he’s one of the very best editors I know — because he’s also one of my favorite writers. His stuff always has bounce
Oy.
CIDRAP: New coronavirus subspecies with SARS-CoV-2–like mutation discovered in Brazilian bat
by Mary Van Beusekom
@cidrap.bsky.social
bit.ly/4hHRfam
by Mary Van Beusekom
@cidrap.bsky.social
bit.ly/4hHRfam
November 2, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Oy.
In George Springer we trust. Go Toronto!
November 2, 2025 at 12:03 AM
In George Springer we trust. Go Toronto!
This is a legit pairing. From a huge flea market in Maine.
October 25, 2025 at 9:13 PM
This is a legit pairing. From a huge flea market in Maine.
As Some Dems Run From Trans People, Zohran Mamdani's Latest Ad Shows Real Support
www.erininthemorning.com/p/as-some-de...
www.erininthemorning.com/p/as-some-de...
As Some Dems Run From Trans People, Zohran Mamdani's Latest Ad Shows Real Support
The 2 minute ad features Sylvia Rivera's story, Mamdani's commitment to transgender people, and even music from the legendary late trans artist SOPHIE.
www.erininthemorning.com
October 13, 2025 at 6:53 PM
As Some Dems Run From Trans People, Zohran Mamdani's Latest Ad Shows Real Support
www.erininthemorning.com/p/as-some-de...
www.erininthemorning.com/p/as-some-de...
Reposted by David Dobbs
👇🎯 University presidents, take note & start getting in front of microphones, en masse, now:
“Texas Democrats lost. But they drew attention to Republicans’ efforts to put their thumb on the scale, and demonstrated a valuable tactic for galvanizing their beleaguered party.
They lost, but they lost loudly. Losing loudly has been a crucial feature of successful political movements.” Gift:
They lost, but they lost loudly. Losing loudly has been a crucial feature of successful political movements.” Gift:
Opinion | Why the Texas Democrats’ Walkout Worked
www.nytimes.com
August 30, 2025 at 9:48 PM
👇🎯 University presidents, take note & start getting in front of microphones, en masse, now:
Reposted by David Dobbs
I had the chance to talk with @scottdetrow.bsky.social for “All Things Considered” about my belief that an important line was crossed in America this month: www.npr.org/2025/08/30/n...
August 30, 2025 at 10:58 PM
I had the chance to talk with @scottdetrow.bsky.social for “All Things Considered” about my belief that an important line was crossed in America this month: www.npr.org/2025/08/30/n...
Reposted by David Dobbs
Little kids with brain cancer.
That’s who Donald Trump and RFK Jr. are screwing over by cutting health care.
That’s who Donald Trump and RFK Jr. are screwing over by cutting health care.
August 30, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Little kids with brain cancer.
That’s who Donald Trump and RFK Jr. are screwing over by cutting health care.
That’s who Donald Trump and RFK Jr. are screwing over by cutting health care.
Reposted by David Dobbs
Small towns with few resources are struggling to respond. Local leaders are now echoing the calls that have come from Burlington for years: Vermont needs to take a larger role in managing what is a statewide issue.
Vermont Towns Struggle With Homelessness Without State Help
Each rollback of Vermont's motel housing program has pushed more people to the streets. With few resources, smaller Vermont towns are struggling to respond.
www.sevendaysvt.com
August 30, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Small towns with few resources are struggling to respond. Local leaders are now echoing the calls that have come from Burlington for years: Vermont needs to take a larger role in managing what is a statewide issue.
Reposted by David Dobbs
But it's the truth: the choice is between a small-d democratic coalition — one in which a majority either supports or is sympathetic to the causes we're talking about – and a fascist authoritarian regime that will use every tool at its disposal — including violence — to suppress vulnerable "others."
August 30, 2025 at 8:10 PM
But it's the truth: the choice is between a small-d democratic coalition — one in which a majority either supports or is sympathetic to the causes we're talking about – and a fascist authoritarian regime that will use every tool at its disposal — including violence — to suppress vulnerable "others."
Reposted by David Dobbs
The extent to which ICE is ignoring all civil rights and due process is astounding — and indicative of a culture where they’ve been told they can do literally no wrong. Agency and admin leaders must face sanctions and legal consequences.
“ILLEGALS” MY ASS!
Green card holder Rami Othmane speaks out after being snatched off the street by ICE while driving to the grocery store.
He’s a documented immigrant and the husband of Dr Wafaa Alrashid, chief of staff at a local hospital. He was locked in detention for 13 days.
Green card holder Rami Othmane speaks out after being snatched off the street by ICE while driving to the grocery store.
He’s a documented immigrant and the husband of Dr Wafaa Alrashid, chief of staff at a local hospital. He was locked in detention for 13 days.
August 30, 2025 at 10:13 PM
The extent to which ICE is ignoring all civil rights and due process is astounding — and indicative of a culture where they’ve been told they can do literally no wrong. Agency and admin leaders must face sanctions and legal consequences.
Reposted by David Dobbs
If you don’t believe that Trump’s authoritarianism can be defeated, look at how scared MAGA is of chalk:
FHP also arrested a man at a crosswalk near Pulse in Orlando last night. The bizarre story of the arrest is related below by Fox35 Orlando.
This is so pitifully embarrassing for the state.
via www.fox35orlando.com/news/man-arr...
This is so pitifully embarrassing for the state.
via www.fox35orlando.com/news/man-arr...
August 30, 2025 at 9:53 PM
If you don’t believe that Trump’s authoritarianism can be defeated, look at how scared MAGA is of chalk:
Reposted by David Dobbs
there is no question in my mind that rfk jr is the most dangerous person in this administration and that his eugenicist ideology threatens the lives of millions of people www.advocate.com/politics/dem...
RFK Jr.’s damage to the CDC is ‘past the point of no return,’ Dr. Demetre Daskalakis warns
“The CDC you knew is over,” the infectious diseases doctor told The Advocate. “Unless someone takes radical action, there is nothing there that can be salvaged.”
www.advocate.com
August 29, 2025 at 8:53 PM
there is no question in my mind that rfk jr is the most dangerous person in this administration and that his eugenicist ideology threatens the lives of millions of people www.advocate.com/politics/dem...
Reposted by David Dobbs
Anti-vaccine myths surged on social media ahead of the CDC shooting. “On X, for example, verified accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers openly claimed in recent weeks that Covid vaccines act like ‘chemical lobotomies,’ which is false.” www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...
Anti-vaccine myths surged on social media ahead of the CDC shooting
Before the shooting, social media companies relaxed their protocols around misinformation.
www.nbcnews.com
August 17, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Anti-vaccine myths surged on social media ahead of the CDC shooting. “On X, for example, verified accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers openly claimed in recent weeks that Covid vaccines act like ‘chemical lobotomies,’ which is false.” www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...
Reposted by David Dobbs
Pretty sure the Gulag Archipelago was meant to be a cautionary tale, rather than provide a model to be emulated.
Exclusive: An internal planning road map obtained by The Post shows the strategy behind ICE’s breakneck expansion, a chaotic effort that has already triggered lawsuits and accusations of cruelty. wapo.st/41FWkck
August 17, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Pretty sure the Gulag Archipelago was meant to be a cautionary tale, rather than provide a model to be emulated.
Reposted by David Dobbs
Twenty-five years ago, and before, @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social and I would not have agreed on much.
He is entirely on the right side here.
These governors of SC and OH, whose urban crime problems are *worse* than DC's, should mind their own business.
He is entirely on the right side here.
These governors of SC and OH, whose urban crime problems are *worse* than DC's, should mind their own business.
There’s no longer any pretense this has anything to do with crime (there are cities or parts of cities in SC and Ohio that have higher crime rates than DC — send the troops there!). This is about establishing a precedent for Trump seizing control of the nation’s capital when he wants to.
WASHINGTON (AP) — South Carolina, Ohio also sending National Guard troops to DC in further escalation of federal intervention in Dem city.
August 17, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Twenty-five years ago, and before, @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social and I would not have agreed on much.
He is entirely on the right side here.
These governors of SC and OH, whose urban crime problems are *worse* than DC's, should mind their own business.
He is entirely on the right side here.
These governors of SC and OH, whose urban crime problems are *worse* than DC's, should mind their own business.
Reposted by David Dobbs
Democrats have so failed this moment in US politics.
The fact that every congressional Dem is not out in the streets of DC leading protests, organizing mass strikes, and holding daily press conferences for the world press to rail against these new Gestapo speaks volumes as to why we also need a new Dem party should we ever get out of this mess.
August 17, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Democrats have so failed this moment in US politics.
Reposted by David Dobbs
How many euphemistic headlines and ledes have we seen like this:
"pushes the bounds" - vague suggestion of stretching limits of power
"a debate has emerged" - passive voice, unclear on who is objecting or the merits of those objections (suggests 50/50)
"pushes the bounds" - vague suggestion of stretching limits of power
"a debate has emerged" - passive voice, unclear on who is objecting or the merits of those objections (suggests 50/50)
As President Donald Trump pushes the bounds of military activity on domestic soil, a debate has emerged over a nearly 150-year old law that regulates when federal troops can intervene in state issues.
Trump's domestic troop deployment tests the limits of a nearly 150-year-old law
President Donald Trump's recent actions have sparked debate over the Posse Comitatus Act, a law from 1878 that limits military involvement in domestic affairs.
bit.ly
August 17, 2025 at 4:03 PM
How many euphemistic headlines and ledes have we seen like this:
"pushes the bounds" - vague suggestion of stretching limits of power
"a debate has emerged" - passive voice, unclear on who is objecting or the merits of those objections (suggests 50/50)
"pushes the bounds" - vague suggestion of stretching limits of power
"a debate has emerged" - passive voice, unclear on who is objecting or the merits of those objections (suggests 50/50)
spot on
the message from the white house is that you live in a city run by people the president doesn't like, you will be occupied like you are an enemy of the state.
August 17, 2025 at 9:35 PM
spot on
Reposted by David Dobbs
The same applies to antisemitism and problems in higher education and the media. Trump has shown again and again that his actions are pretextual.
it is incredible to see the extent to which the Sensible Centrists are simply incapable of grasping the very simple and obvious fact that the president's concern with crime is a pretext, and that to deny claims of a sudden epidemic in crime is not to say that crime is nonexistent.
Also on his feed
August 17, 2025 at 9:32 PM
The same applies to antisemitism and problems in higher education and the media. Trump has shown again and again that his actions are pretextual.
Reposted by David Dobbs
Cracks me up to see enviro groups blaming a certain bestseller (hint: rhymes with Schmabundance) for slapping an intellectual veneer on standard-issue environmental deregulation. I don’t disagree!
July 25, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Cracks me up to see enviro groups blaming a certain bestseller (hint: rhymes with Schmabundance) for slapping an intellectual veneer on standard-issue environmental deregulation. I don’t disagree!
Reposted by David Dobbs
Bookshop.org’s 100 Bestselling Books of 2025 (So Far). Lots of folks reading about how to reckon with our new reality (On Tyranny, Parable of the Sower, Let This Radicalize You, How Fascism Works, etc.) [kottke.org]
Bookshop.org’s 100 Bestselling Books of 2025 (So Far)
Online bookseller bookshop.org recently released a list of their bestselling books of the year (so far). The list is quite a bit different than what you might see from larger booksellers and looks more like what your l
kottke.org
July 7, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Bookshop.org’s 100 Bestselling Books of 2025 (So Far). Lots of folks reading about how to reckon with our new reality (On Tyranny, Parable of the Sower, Let This Radicalize You, How Fascism Works, etc.) [kottke.org]
Reposted by David Dobbs
The Sick Times: 'Between two crises: Living with Post-COVID Vaccine Syndrome in a Long COVID world'
Content warning: This story includes details of medical dismissal and disability from Post-COVID Vaccination Syndrome (PCVS) and Long COVID.
thesicktimes.org/2025/07/25/b...
Content warning: This story includes details of medical dismissal and disability from Post-COVID Vaccination Syndrome (PCVS) and Long COVID.
thesicktimes.org/2025/07/25/b...
Between two crises: Living with Post-COVID Vaccine Syndrome in a Long COVID world - The Sick Times
What I thought was a minor reaction became Post-COVID Vaccine Syndrome (PCVS), a condition I now live with alongside thousands of others. PCVS shares symptoms with Long COVID, including nerve pain, dy...
thesicktimes.org
July 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM
The Sick Times: 'Between two crises: Living with Post-COVID Vaccine Syndrome in a Long COVID world'
Content warning: This story includes details of medical dismissal and disability from Post-COVID Vaccination Syndrome (PCVS) and Long COVID.
thesicktimes.org/2025/07/25/b...
Content warning: This story includes details of medical dismissal and disability from Post-COVID Vaccination Syndrome (PCVS) and Long COVID.
thesicktimes.org/2025/07/25/b...