James Vasconi
@jamesvasconi.bsky.social
Thoughts on social science, music, and life. Second-most famous @baldwinwallace.bsky.social alumnus named Jim (after Tressel). Center-left Democrat. Northwest Pennsylvania.
Reposted by James Vasconi
If you think Trump's bad polling doesn't matter, I hope you reconsider after tonight's elections. Maybe his unpopularity doesn't affect *his* behavior, but it definitely impacts tons of other people—including many GOP voters who are either switching sides or staying home.
December 10, 2025 at 3:13 AM
If you think Trump's bad polling doesn't matter, I hope you reconsider after tonight's elections. Maybe his unpopularity doesn't affect *his* behavior, but it definitely impacts tons of other people—including many GOP voters who are either switching sides or staying home.
Reposted by James Vasconi
Congrats to this Queen! Can't wait to see the great things she'll do for the people of Miami!
Rooting for you, Mayor-elect Higgins! ❤️
Rooting for you, Mayor-elect Higgins! ❤️
December 10, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Congrats to this Queen! Can't wait to see the great things she'll do for the people of Miami!
Rooting for you, Mayor-elect Higgins! ❤️
Rooting for you, Mayor-elect Higgins! ❤️
Reposted by James Vasconi
something you have to understand about Trump & his weird comments about the economy is that the dude hasn't paid for anything like a normal person in decades - never pumps gas, never buys groceries - so he's completely & utterly out of touch with what life is like for most of us
December 9, 2025 at 5:46 PM
something you have to understand about Trump & his weird comments about the economy is that the dude hasn't paid for anything like a normal person in decades - never pumps gas, never buys groceries - so he's completely & utterly out of touch with what life is like for most of us
Reposted by James Vasconi
The Supreme Court is working hard to turn this country into a despot's dreamscape—while making it nigh impossible for good people to make lasting change for the better.
Those of us who begged folks (and national media) to put SCOTUS before everything else in 2016 are in an endless Cassandrian hell.
Those of us who begged folks (and national media) to put SCOTUS before everything else in 2016 are in an endless Cassandrian hell.
December 8, 2025 at 6:54 PM
The Supreme Court is working hard to turn this country into a despot's dreamscape—while making it nigh impossible for good people to make lasting change for the better.
Those of us who begged folks (and national media) to put SCOTUS before everything else in 2016 are in an endless Cassandrian hell.
Those of us who begged folks (and national media) to put SCOTUS before everything else in 2016 are in an endless Cassandrian hell.
Reposted by James Vasconi
They’re clearly plugging this dude into an IV regularly and, if this were Biden, there would be demands for weekly hour long press conferences from his doctors on his health. But that’s not how authoritarianism works so stop asking questions already.
Trump last night had the complexion of a Thanksgiving turkey that was left in the oven too long and bandages were again visible on the back of his right hand
(photos via Getty and by Aaron Schwartz and Paul Morigi)
(photos via Getty and by Aaron Schwartz and Paul Morigi)
December 7, 2025 at 9:48 PM
They’re clearly plugging this dude into an IV regularly and, if this were Biden, there would be demands for weekly hour long press conferences from his doctors on his health. But that’s not how authoritarianism works so stop asking questions already.
Reposted by James Vasconi
"I was a stranger and you welcomed me." -Matthew 25:35
December 6, 2025 at 3:40 AM
"I was a stranger and you welcomed me." -Matthew 25:35
Reposted by James Vasconi
This is why I hate when Dems crap on Biden. Yeah maybe he wasn’t perfect but you have to have negative iq if you believe that Biden’s unpopularity was all a product of his policies.
It was an organized nonstop attack by the MSM.
Dems need to realize that the MSM is not their friend
It was an organized nonstop attack by the MSM.
Dems need to realize that the MSM is not their friend
Jake Tapper doing an amazing job providing proof that his biden complaints were fueled by anger at being called out about being vulture in regards to Beaus death.
Biden never slept through meetings but Jake Tapper wrote a whole book about how he was too old.
December 6, 2025 at 12:19 PM
This is why I hate when Dems crap on Biden. Yeah maybe he wasn’t perfect but you have to have negative iq if you believe that Biden’s unpopularity was all a product of his policies.
It was an organized nonstop attack by the MSM.
Dems need to realize that the MSM is not their friend
It was an organized nonstop attack by the MSM.
Dems need to realize that the MSM is not their friend
Reposted by James Vasconi
Reposted by James Vasconi
Trump has been trying to go full dictator this entire time, if he could just do it he already would have. His public support plummeting isn’t going to make the task easier
Reality Time:
If Trump truly intends to go full dictator, it'll happen in the next 11 months. The way he's destroying the country, there is a full on GOP bloodbath coming next Nov, and when that happens and Dems take ALL of Congress, he knows he's going to be impeached, removed, and jailed.
If Trump truly intends to go full dictator, it'll happen in the next 11 months. The way he's destroying the country, there is a full on GOP bloodbath coming next Nov, and when that happens and Dems take ALL of Congress, he knows he's going to be impeached, removed, and jailed.
December 3, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Trump has been trying to go full dictator this entire time, if he could just do it he already would have. His public support plummeting isn’t going to make the task easier
Reposted by James Vasconi
Look, let me just put it this way.
Trump won Louisiana by 22 points in 2024. That's the same margin as he won TN-07.
The fact they haven't been able to call this race, well over an hour after polls have closed, gives you an idea of what we're looking at here.
Midterms gonna be fun!
Trump won Louisiana by 22 points in 2024. That's the same margin as he won TN-07.
The fact they haven't been able to call this race, well over an hour after polls have closed, gives you an idea of what we're looking at here.
Midterms gonna be fun!
December 3, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Look, let me just put it this way.
Trump won Louisiana by 22 points in 2024. That's the same margin as he won TN-07.
The fact they haven't been able to call this race, well over an hour after polls have closed, gives you an idea of what we're looking at here.
Midterms gonna be fun!
Trump won Louisiana by 22 points in 2024. That's the same margin as he won TN-07.
The fact they haven't been able to call this race, well over an hour after polls have closed, gives you an idea of what we're looking at here.
Midterms gonna be fun!
The 2004 and 2006 elections were, respectively, the first presidential and midterm cycles in which I was eligible to vote (and I also voted in 2003).
December 3, 2025 at 2:12 AM
The 2004 and 2006 elections were, respectively, the first presidential and midterm cycles in which I was eligible to vote (and I also voted in 2003).
Reposted by James Vasconi
If Trump & co generally have to work hard to defend R + 20 districts, that’s indicative of an underlying problem for them. And while winning the district would be great, we can’t let the W or L obscure the broader underlying dynamics
December 3, 2025 at 12:21 AM
If Trump & co generally have to work hard to defend R + 20 districts, that’s indicative of an underlying problem for them. And while winning the district would be great, we can’t let the W or L obscure the broader underlying dynamics
Reposted by James Vasconi
Reposted by James Vasconi
This is more astute analysis of the American voter then you’d see from most “professional” political observers
Trump has exploded the cost of healthcare and groceries, ordered extrajudicial killings, destroyed the CDC, lined his pockets with bribes, and pardoned hundreds of unrepentant criminals. But for American voters, the alternative was unthinkable: a raspy-voiced president who wore Hoka sneakers.
December 1, 2025 at 3:29 PM
This is more astute analysis of the American voter then you’d see from most “professional” political observers
Reposted by James Vasconi
This rhetoric is indistinguishable from the stuff you hear coming out of white nationalists. Completely identical language.
Trump: “I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries … denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.“
November 28, 2025 at 4:52 AM
This rhetoric is indistinguishable from the stuff you hear coming out of white nationalists. Completely identical language.
Reposted by James Vasconi
Meets Zohran on Friday, dressing like an East Village poet who wrote something called "A Fairest Autumn" by Saturday.
November 22, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Meets Zohran on Friday, dressing like an East Village poet who wrote something called "A Fairest Autumn" by Saturday.
Reposted by James Vasconi
A recent Fox News poll asked:
Do you think President Trump cares about you?
63% of respondents said "no."
For my part, the goal isn't just to get that number higher. The goal is to get more people to understand that Trump CAN'T care about them.
Not that he WON'T but CAN'T.
It's pathological.
Do you think President Trump cares about you?
63% of respondents said "no."
For my part, the goal isn't just to get that number higher. The goal is to get more people to understand that Trump CAN'T care about them.
Not that he WON'T but CAN'T.
It's pathological.
November 22, 2025 at 9:31 PM
A recent Fox News poll asked:
Do you think President Trump cares about you?
63% of respondents said "no."
For my part, the goal isn't just to get that number higher. The goal is to get more people to understand that Trump CAN'T care about them.
Not that he WON'T but CAN'T.
It's pathological.
Do you think President Trump cares about you?
63% of respondents said "no."
For my part, the goal isn't just to get that number higher. The goal is to get more people to understand that Trump CAN'T care about them.
Not that he WON'T but CAN'T.
It's pathological.
Reposted by James Vasconi
People think tyrants rage because they're strong.
But the truth is they only rage when they know the room will absorb it.
Mamdani didn't absorb it.
So Trump didn't rage.
Fear is the oxygen of authoritarianism.
Take it away, and even a strongman starts to sound like a man.
~ Bruce Fanger ~
But the truth is they only rage when they know the room will absorb it.
Mamdani didn't absorb it.
So Trump didn't rage.
Fear is the oxygen of authoritarianism.
Take it away, and even a strongman starts to sound like a man.
~ Bruce Fanger ~
November 22, 2025 at 3:45 PM
People think tyrants rage because they're strong.
But the truth is they only rage when they know the room will absorb it.
Mamdani didn't absorb it.
So Trump didn't rage.
Fear is the oxygen of authoritarianism.
Take it away, and even a strongman starts to sound like a man.
~ Bruce Fanger ~
But the truth is they only rage when they know the room will absorb it.
Mamdani didn't absorb it.
So Trump didn't rage.
Fear is the oxygen of authoritarianism.
Take it away, and even a strongman starts to sound like a man.
~ Bruce Fanger ~
I have to admit that I was perplexed by Mamdani willingly meeting with Trump, and thought he was walking directly into a wood chipper. Instead, Mamdani brilliantly defanged the man.
Q: Are you affirming that you think President Trump is a fascist?
MAMDANI: I've spoken about--
TRUMP: That's okay. You can just say yes. I don't mind.
MAMDANI: I've spoken about--
TRUMP: That's okay. You can just say yes. I don't mind.
November 22, 2025 at 2:30 PM
I have to admit that I was perplexed by Mamdani willingly meeting with Trump, and thought he was walking directly into a wood chipper. Instead, Mamdani brilliantly defanged the man.
Reposted by James Vasconi
Pretty much everything coming out of the White House recently—from the ongoing wars on SNAP/ACA/vaccines to the re-classification of fields dominated by women and minorities as "non-professional"—is an effort to cut off a dignified future to anyone not born wealthy, à la Trump and RFK-the-Lesser.
November 22, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Pretty much everything coming out of the White House recently—from the ongoing wars on SNAP/ACA/vaccines to the re-classification of fields dominated by women and minorities as "non-professional"—is an effort to cut off a dignified future to anyone not born wealthy, à la Trump and RFK-the-Lesser.
Reposted by James Vasconi
it just seems plainly clear to me that if you serve the country in any capacity, civil or military, and you are not a conservative white man, the Trump administration wants to make the workplace as hostile an environment as possible so you remove yourself
November 20, 2025 at 11:42 PM
it just seems plainly clear to me that if you serve the country in any capacity, civil or military, and you are not a conservative white man, the Trump administration wants to make the workplace as hostile an environment as possible so you remove yourself
Reposted by James Vasconi
I think the Kids writ large are mostly All Right. but a specific male slice of them are mostly not.
and, yeah, as a father of sons I’m pretty worried about this.
and, yeah, as a father of sons I’m pretty worried about this.
November 20, 2025 at 9:16 PM
I think the Kids writ large are mostly All Right. but a specific male slice of them are mostly not.
and, yeah, as a father of sons I’m pretty worried about this.
and, yeah, as a father of sons I’m pretty worried about this.
Reposted by James Vasconi
one thing I am pretty convinced of is that the sons of the aristocracy that in another era might have been limousine liberals or Rockefeller Republicans or even Mitts Romney are now mostly fash
Nalin Haley: "It's irresponsible to have legal immigration."
November 20, 2025 at 9:13 PM
one thing I am pretty convinced of is that the sons of the aristocracy that in another era might have been limousine liberals or Rockefeller Republicans or even Mitts Romney are now mostly fash
Reposted by James Vasconi
the nuzzi story is fun and all but at the center of it is the elevation of a man who has dedicated his life to making children catch preventable diseases to a position where he can enact harm at enormous scale
CDC has overhauled its website to assert that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim”
November 20, 2025 at 3:19 AM
the nuzzi story is fun and all but at the center of it is the elevation of a man who has dedicated his life to making children catch preventable diseases to a position where he can enact harm at enormous scale
Reposted by James Vasconi
a big runoff last night, in New Orleans:
Calvin Duncan was exonerated after spending *28 years* in prison; he tried to get his own case records from the New Orleans city clerk—but the office dragged its feet.
So Duncan ran to become city clerk himself, and yesterday ousted the incumbent.
Calvin Duncan was exonerated after spending *28 years* in prison; he tried to get his own case records from the New Orleans city clerk—but the office dragged its feet.
So Duncan ran to become city clerk himself, and yesterday ousted the incumbent.
Calvin Duncan wins Orleans clerk of court race - Verite News New Orleans
Duncan, a political newcomer and former prisoner, defeated incumbent Darren Lombard by a wide margin in Saturday's runoff.
veritenews.org
November 16, 2025 at 4:09 PM
a big runoff last night, in New Orleans:
Calvin Duncan was exonerated after spending *28 years* in prison; he tried to get his own case records from the New Orleans city clerk—but the office dragged its feet.
So Duncan ran to become city clerk himself, and yesterday ousted the incumbent.
Calvin Duncan was exonerated after spending *28 years* in prison; he tried to get his own case records from the New Orleans city clerk—but the office dragged its feet.
So Duncan ran to become city clerk himself, and yesterday ousted the incumbent.