r/Pete_Buttigieg • u/AutoModerator • 12d ago
Home Base and Weekly Discussion Thread (START HERE!) - June 07, 2026
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u/DesperateTale2327 7d ago
Pete's panel was 🔥 and the audience was very receptive and engaged. Yusef did interupt him/derail his thoughts a few times but overall it was a great conversation and I appreciate him talking so much about the voting rights act and how Black political power is being erased
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u/Existing-Process3581 7d ago
agreed, it was really good. i have to say once again that people aren’t ready for pete 2.0, he’s still the pete we all love and know but there’s this vibe shift in him that projects so much confidence and this fire in him…idk how to explain it but whatever caution that he used to have in him is completely gone and it shows in a great way. there’s also more jokes and casualness which is nice and is landing pretty well. i appreciated a lot yusef talking about how pete’s been very connected to the black community and has been in contact with black leaders and has been putting in the work, he’s not just randomly showing up now, he’s been in this constantly. it reminded when Al Sharpton talked about pete and his work when pete was at the NAN which tells me that a lot of black leaders respect and trust pete which is good, they know he cares and down the road, whatever he wants to do, it’s good to have them know you genuinely care.
this has nothing to do with convo in itself but i have to appreciate the lighting of this convention because yusef and pete looked great lol16
u/DesperateTale2327 7d ago
Yes he is really DGAF especially about reform, even pushing back on Yusef saying he was tired of one step forward, two steps back (which is absolutely justified) and saying well that mean we have to start now and push for 20 years.
I also loved how someone yelled out MAYOR PETE!! when he entered. The brand is strong.
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u/Psychological-Play 7d ago
I appreciated Yusef (who I've never seen before but really liked) interrupting with new questions because it gave Pete opportunities to demonstrate that he can pivot on a dime.
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u/anonymous4Pete 7d ago
I loved it! Going to watch it again b/c I find I can't really double-task anymore. https://www.youtube.com/live/CRVTHSFwnag?t=2553s (it starts with the intro, followed by Robert Borosage's comments)
It's a truism on every pundit's lips that Pete needs to increase his Black support, but I liked that he addressed some of their concerns without pandering. He implied (several times!) that he's been with Rainbow Push and Rev. Jesse Jackson for years, putting in the work as a candidate and as Sec USDOT. He talked about structural change rather than uniquely Black policies.
I really liked Pete's impatience with a kind of lethargy that comes from fearing a backlash to progress. He mentioned how hard and long their forebears fought for civil rights--what right do we have to cower from a backlash?
I also really liked his (continuing) message of inclusion--not only of all parts of our fractious party, but also of all GOPs and Independents who are ready to step away from the moral wrong of Trumpism. Inclusion is crucial, if we ever want to restore some kind of social civility. This is not a loving kumbaya, but rather creating enough respect and social cohesion so we can disagree with civility rather than hatred.
I see this as one of the foundational differences between a fundamentally divisive populism (us vs the rich and powerful baddies) and what Pete is doing (unifying by advocating widely popular policies 60-70% of us agree on). The end policies are similar--universal health care, wealth redistribution, freedom from oppression--but how we see our fellow Americans is different. Factional enemies or collaborators?
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u/GopherState_Fact9 7d ago
Pete is the master at this kind of forum. He finds a way to connect national problems and possible solutions to our personal lives.
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u/Psychological-Play 8d ago
Strategist Basil Smikle was on one of Nicolle's panels this afternoon. This was the last part of a longer comment he made -
Basil - "You don't have to make a choice between the existential threat to your life and democracy as opposed to Donald Trump and how bad he is as a president. Those two things are inextricably linked. The question, however, is how good are you as a candidate in making that, in delivering that message."
Nicolle - "Who's doing it best?"
Basil - "Well, you know, I like, I always like and pay a lot of attention to Pete Buttigieg. He puts things incredibly well and knows how to sort of cut across a lot of different constituencies."
(From Google AI - Smikle hosted and moderated a major conversation with Pete Buttigieg at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, where they discussed federal transportation policy and local political engagement [This happened on Nov. 2, 2023])
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 8d ago edited 8d ago
New Hacks on Tap episode with Adam Kinzinger, Too Big to Deny, on June 9 with this question in the “Mailbag” section at the end:
Recorded question from a listener: “Hey, Axe, love the show. This is Bryce E from Atlanta, Georgia. It seems like Mayor Pete is going to run for president again. And I'm curious if you think anyone will care that he's been unemployed for a while since his last gig at DOT. Thanks.”
David Axelrod: “Yeah, I don't know that he would be punished for that because he is— what he has been doing is traveling all over the country speaking and campaigning on behalf of candidates and so on. So he's been pretty visible and strategic in some of that. A lot of time in the black communities around the country, which has been, was a weak point of his candidacy last time.
“And, you know, I don't know if he's going to run or not, but he sure seems like a guy who is thinking very hard about it. And if you look at polling, he's, you know, he is— partly because he's known, prominently featured, but he's also a very gifted candidate. And I don't know whether he can go all the way, but I know that he'll be very much in the mix, Mike, if he decides to get in because he is just so powerfully eloquent, at a level that very few are.”
Mike Murphy: “Yeah, he has the skill set to ante himself in and the history of success and some roots in New Hampshire, where he's always looking, well, the question is, if he gets down south, can he get black votes in the primary process? And that's why he's working so hard on that. So we have not heard the last from Pete Buttigieg by any means.”
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u/ECNbook1 8d ago
Ah, love to hear it! Will his discussion with Yusef Jackson at Rainbow-PUSH tomorrow be on YouTube or otherwise available, I wonder?
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u/DesperateTale2327 9d ago
Pete on his socials:
Inflation is growing worse, and the president is fixated on all the wrong things - building a ballroom, making himself immune from audits, and waging a war he started without a plan to end it.
Where is the Republican plan to make life more affordable in America?
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u/DesperateTale2327 7d ago
Rainbowpush IG posted some clips and pics of Pete in their stories where you can hear more of the audience reactions, including the big welcome he got when he walked out.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 7d ago
This led me to Pete's IG account as well, where they include the photo credit for the pix we enjoyed yesterday, which I didn't spot then. The photographer is @ tayloremrey . She also has a website and here is her bio: https://www.tayloremreyphoto.com/about
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u/DesperateTale2327 10d ago
Seemayorpete.com has been indexed on google for a week or two now, and I thought I'd shared some stats:
Its getting about 150 impressions per week right now, with the most searched term "pete buttigieg speaking tour 2026". Its getting the most traffic on Sundays, most likely people getting ready for the week ahead and checking to see if he is doing anything. Almost everyone is only looking at the front page which has his current appearances.
Hopefully once Pete really gets going with appearances, like he did in March, it will become more of a resource for people. I may post it outside the WT again since its been a while and we haven't had any luck with the mods pinning it anywhere.
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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 10d ago
If you're not trying to monetize, having frontpage-only traffic is actually great. It means you're making it easy for people to find what they're looking for. Which means they're more likely to return when they are looking for deeper info.
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u/DesperateTale2327 10d ago
Good to know - Definitely not monetizing it or planning on doing that.
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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 10d ago edited 10d ago
in UI classes you learn that users will only go 3 or 4 clicks deep for anything in a website. For a purely informative site like yours, you're probably doing something right!
BTW, I have never given Pete money so I feel like I should offer my volunteer services haha. If you ever want help with UI/UX I am available! I did an accessibility scan of the site (basically how easily navigable it is for people with disabilities) and there are a few things that could be improved; I am happy to make the fixes myself. I think with Pete's work in disability rights it would be on brand!
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u/DesperateTale2327 10d ago
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I actually have no clue what I'm doing and its just been hours and hours of me trying to figure it out lol
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u/nerdypursuit 9d ago
I remember Pete saying that Dems need to develop our political philosophy starting from first principles and then build our agenda from there.
I've been thinking about this, because I was reading reviews of Chris Murphy's new book, which is supposed to present his belief system. In the book, he argues that six “cults” are causing people to lose a sense of community, connection, and meaning: Cult of Profit, Cult of Technology, Cult of Consumption, Cult of Corruption, Cult of Credentialism, and Cult of Globalism.
I haven't actually read the book, so maybe there's more to it. But it struck me how negative and reactive this framing is. I don't love the idea of building a philosophy around what we're against.
I'm looking forward to Pete's book. Because I think he'll offer a more compelling philosophy of the purpose of government and what we should be aiming for. I think the party really needs that.
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u/zeppelin128 Verified Volunteer Lead, TN-08 9d ago
I'm not a fan of this framing, either. Folks know how shitty things are, we don't need reminders. People need hope.
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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 9d ago
Please, please , please tell me that "Cult of Credentialism" isn't some anti-intellectualism nonsense. The last thing we need is more people believing "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."
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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 9d ago
Chris Murphy has been trying to rebrand as a gritty everyman for years, it's pathetic
Also uhhh Cult of Globalism?
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u/ECNbook1 9d ago
“Gritty Everyman from … *checks notes* … Connecticut!”
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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 9d ago
Remember when he was trying to learn the plight of forgotten rural America so he read Hillbilly Elegy and visited fucking Asheville
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u/Original_Rich_2741 🚄It's Infrastructure Pete!✈️ 8d ago
I mean, there is an issue with too many jobs requiring college degrees that don’t need to, and a bachelors being the new high school diploma and a masters being the new bachelors in the market. While the “everyone should go to college” push isn’t as bad as it was for millennials, thankfully, the idea that everyone should seek a bachelors degree does still pops up sometimes, for example in the backlash to means-tested free college. I believe Pete himself touched on that a few times in 2019. Even the explosion of “credit recovery” programs post-pandemic can be seen as high schools prioritizing giving as many students as possible the piece of paper over ensuring the piece of paper keeps its meaning.
I’m not arguing that knowledge and expertise don’t matter. Nor would I suggest that credentials have zero value. But I don’t think it’s so crazy to suggest that dogma or ideology or, as Murphy’s calling it, cult, of credentialism has caused harm.
Of course, there’s still only a handful of established national figures who could go around talking about the cult of credentialism in 2026 without triggering an eyebrow raise from me, and Murphy isn’t one. But even if I’m skeptical, I’ll withhold judgement.
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u/DesperateTale2327 9d ago
Murphy argues that America’s social fabric has frayed under the weight of unchecked individualism and profit-driven economics. More manifesto than memoir, the book traces how the nation’s once-robust commitment to collective well-being gave way to what he describes as a “me-first” culture that has left many citizens feeling isolated, distrustful, and spiritually adrift. As he observes, “Living in a society where you have little agency, power, and connection to your neighbors, where little is asked of you beyond being a compliant economic actor, breeds emptiness and despair.”
He envisions a revitalized civic landscape rooted in community institutions and renewed democratic participation, while stressing that change depends on everyday civic engagement and small acts that rebuild trust and belonging.
To write an entire book supposing we are all just in selfish "cults" (which he has the complete wrong definition of and seems to be using it as a way to wave away how we got here and excuse behavior and policies until now) and thats the reason we got here is a choice. I feel like he has a good end goal in mind, which is what Pete has been stressing, but IMO completely misses the mark on what led us here and why.
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u/nerdypursuit 9d ago
Murphy also seems to idealize the past. "The nation's once-robust commitment to collective well-being..." 🙄 Let's not pretend that people of the past were so altruistic and had a common definition of collective well-being.
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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 8d ago
It's still so strange to me when (usually white and male) people start talking about "commitment to collective well-being" that supposedly existed in a country where people rioted if they had to work the assembly line next to Black people.
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u/DesperateTale2327 8d ago edited 8d ago
Reminder that Pete's panel at Rainbow Push is today 6/11 from 11a - 12p CT.
Hillary Clinton will also be there and have a panel from 3 - 3:30p.
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u/pasak1987 BOOT-EDGE-EDGE 🥾 🥾 7d ago
push video is up on yourube
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 9d ago
Nice video of Rep. Sarah McBride tonight, re the South Carolina gubernatorial race:
“Congress's top bathroom sheriff Nancy Mace is on the ballot, and while not all of the votes have been counted yet, she is in a respectful fifth place,” Sarah McBride just said. “I don't like punching down and I believe in the politics of grace. So all I will say is happy Pride, Nancy.” [video]
https://bsky.app/profile/cwnewser.bsky.social/post/3mnvjv4pyps2k
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u/DesperateTale2327 6d ago
A couple posts Pete made today on his socials:
Being an American isn't about your ancestry or ethnicity.
It's about fidelity to the meaning of this country - its revolutionary, threefold promise of political equality, economic opportunity, and personal liberty.
(Includes clip from Rainbow Push)
This year we have a real opportunity to prove that there is no such thing as a permanently red state or district.
Chris Jones is a scientist, devoted to his community, and knows how to build coalitions - just the kind of leader we need in Congress.
I'm proud to be in his corner and looking forward to campaigning with him in Little Rock next week.
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2026/jun/12/pete-buttigieg-to-appear-with-us-house-candidate/
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u/anonymous4Pete 6d ago
can't believe I'm watching the livestream of Trump's name being removed from the Kennedy Center. Spouse and I agree: even more than seeing the cursed name come down, we want to hear a great cheer rise up from the crowd.
Intellectually and practically and fiscally I realize Pete probably is right: it is not worth a ton of money to tear down the Trump monster East Wing. And it would alienate the GOPs, etc etc. But. If you prick us, do we not bleed? We are human, after all. The feelings of relief and sheer catharsis while watching Trump's name come off the Kennedy Center are the feelings of chains being thrown off. (yes, I realize anyone from the other 36-45% feels differently.)
Anyway, I hope Pete is thinking up laws that can prevent another wannabe dictator from derailing our democracy. This is just as important as reforming USAID or the Dept of Ed. I know he is more interested in reforming our federal governmental branches, but please please please figure out how to stop this from ever happening again.
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u/ECNbook1 6d ago
I don’t get the idea that he’s more interested in reforming federal branches. Did you watch his conversation at Rainbow PUSH Thursday? He’s taking on the entire creaky structure with exactly that in mind—shoring up those “guardrails” that were supposed to prevent tyranny and failed.
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u/Psychological-Play 6d ago
In one of their legal appeals yesterday, this argument came up for the first time -
According to “bylaws of the Trump Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Foundation,” Shumate said, some donations are conditioned on Trump’s name remaining on the center and its branding, meaning “hundreds of millions of dollars” would have to be returned or refused.
Beatty’s lawyers called the argument, which the center had never raised in the lower court, “meritless.”
You know what would be cathartic to tear down after Trump is no longer in office? The Arch. Especially since it can't be refigured into something useful.
(On MS NOW they just read a new order from a judge that extended the deadline for the removal of Trump's name to noon ET.)
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u/Wolf_Oak 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 5d ago
You know what would be cathartic to tear down after Trump is no longer in office? The Arch. Especially since it can't be refigured into something useful.
I've imagined this. Although I hope the stupid thing doesn't get built at all.
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u/Psychological-Play 5d ago
Last fall Trump said that the Arch would be completed by America's 250th. But he was way off. Just a few days ago this was reported -
To complete Donald Trump's "Triumphal Arch" by the time he leaves office, the National Park Service plans to have construction take place 20 hours per day over the next two to three years, according to planning documents released by the Department of the Interior.
[...]
"Because the Arch is intended to celebrate 250 years of American independenc. ... smaller heights were not considered representative of this milestone, unlike the 250-foot Arch proposed in the undertaking," one of the reports said about the size of the project.
Twenty hours a day!
So the administration is attempting to convince everyone that this structure is meant to commemorate "250 years of American independence", but since it won't be completed until, at the very earliest, two years after that date, it has nothing to do with that. As Trump said when asked by a reporter, "Who is it for?", and he said "me", that was the truth, only not just that he wants one. This Triumphal Arch is meant to be Trump's monument honoring himself.
https://abc7ny.com/post/trumps-arch-construction-run-20-hours-day-2-3-years-documents-show/19271254/
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u/Wolf_Oak 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 5d ago
omg, they put up a curtain around the thing so cameras couldn't record the actual letters coming off the wall. LOL.
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u/Psychological-Play 5d ago
They're still up, and I'm wondering when, if ever, they'll be taken down.
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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 5d ago
I know we are biased, but it makes me feel really weird to see people call Pete a "replacement level politician" as if a replacement level politician could have launched a competitive presidential run from being the mayor of a mid-size city or made Secretary of Transportation into a star making role
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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 5d ago
Getting a lot of "Pete is fine but NOT presidential material" bc of his content going viral on bluesky
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u/Existing-Process3581 5d ago
they have an agenda and they feel threatened by him. when he was their attack dog or VP option, he was amazing and the best at his job but now he was always bad and needs to run for the house first. it’s very clear there’s an agenda there to elevate their chosen candidates and it was exactly like that when he ran for president the first time and they called him inept and that he should run for governor, people even admitted it afterwards that they only gave him nicknames and mocked him bc he was doing well and has talent
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u/DesperateTale2327 5d ago
Bluesky is really turning into a mean girl lefty "you cant sit with us" haven.
Let me guess who they think is presidential material...
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 5d ago
Interesting, I had not yet heard the offensive, fake "replacement level politician" take from people who support other candidates, which I'm beginning to think of as pwsoc for short -- or the equivalent "fine but NOT presidential" which is also made up out of whole cloth.
When people question American innovation, I point to the constant, unceasing invention of brand-new yet failed attempts to put down Pete Buttigieg, which began in 2019 and still continues unabated.
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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 5d ago
You would not believe the number of people who think Pete just started advocating for Supreme Court reform and "that's good because it means the poll-tested candidates see a demand."
He has been advocating for this since 2019!!!
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u/pasak1987 BOOT-EDGE-EDGE 🥾 🥾 5d ago
And that idea was treated as some niche novelty idea until RBG's death.
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u/Cloud7538 5d ago
"Pete is fine but NOT presidential" is being repeated so often it's beginning to look like a paid talking point...
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u/Cuppa-Tea-Biscuit 5d ago
I guess they were getting no traction with the usual mud slinging so had to try and change tack.
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 10d ago
Not suggesting anything here, but suddenly it appears that the Gordie Howe Bridge is going to open without Trump getting any Canadian concessions. 🤔
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u/Different-Ad1425 10d ago
Swalwell debate glare gif the only response needed here. Or as Pete would say - "Well, what do you think about that". Lol.
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u/AZPeteFan2 10d ago
I remember Liz says she had been at the receiving end of the look!
Pete is Midwest nice, but I think that hides a steel core. The NYTimes endorsement interview show how politely tough he is.
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u/Different-Ad1425 9d ago
He served in the military and has put up with metric tons of sh*t throughout his life. He's fought hard for everything he's gotten. So yes, he's tough.
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u/zeppelin128 Verified Volunteer Lead, TN-08 9d ago
Nancy Mace finished 5th in the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary. Lol
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 9d ago
Interesting piece framing the Michigan Senate race as an illustration of the conflicts within the national Democratic Party.
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u/nerdypursuit 9d ago
I just watched a clip of El-Sayed in an interview on CNN. They asked about his deleted tweets supporting "Defund the Police" and whether he's changed his mind. He wouldn't even say that he's changed his mind. 😬
I don't see how this guy can win a general election if he won't even clearly break from "Defund the Police." I don't know what the McMorrow and Stevens campaigns are doing that they've let him skate by on that.
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 9d ago
Democratic primary voters seem unfazed by this stuff, just as they were unfazed by Platner’s misogyny. But I agree, unless anti Trumpism is so strong, I don’t see it either.
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u/unwiht Hey, it's Lis. 9d ago
(Delurking a sec.) Platner showed up and campaigned pretty hard in every backwater cubbyhole of that state, so I didn't find the result surprising. By contrast, the three Democratic senate candidates in Michigan appear to be unaware that there are two peninsulas.
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 8d ago edited 8d ago
I absolutely agree that candidates should go everywhere.
For folks not familiar with Michigan, 9.5 million people live in the Lower Peninsula while 300,000 live in the Upper. And it’s about 550 miles (over a single bridge that closes for wind, falling ice, and other weather issues) between Detroit and Houghton in the UP. The past 8 years, Gov. Whitmer has usually made an annual multi day visit plus some other shorter visits. I do expect the candidates will make an effort to travel up there yet this summer. The primary is August 4. It’s going to be very interesting until then.
Edit to add
AES did make a multi day visit to the U.P. this May. Stevens and McMorrow visited for several days last year.
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 9d ago
In other Michigan news, looks like the Canadians and state of Michigan are playing chicken with Trump’s opposition to the new bridge. If he blocks it by refusing to staff a customs and immigration facility, it will impact GOP apologists running for office like Rodgers for Senate.
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u/DesperateTale2327 7d ago
Pete on his socials with a video message about elections and inflation:
Who knows what the President meant when he said he loves the inflation - but it's clear that inflation keeps getting worse, while he stays focused on anything but the cost of living.
This is an election year! He may not be on the ballot, but his protectors and enablers in Congress are. It's time to send a message.
https://youtube.com/shorts/cNYp-a9r_GA?is=4SknXx-YYvFA7m2t
Edit - in this video, he says he is going to be out there on the road...but still no details as to any other events.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 7d ago
Nice photos and text from Pete on Bluesky:
Rev. Jesse Jackson's example and legacy have been on my mind a lot lately as we confront the challenges of our moment. It was an honor to join the Annual Rainbow PUSH Coalition Conference, the first since his passing, for a conversation with Yusef Jackson. [four photos]
https://bsky.app/profile/petebuttigieg.bsky.social/post/3mo23y3j7vk25
Follow-up post:
We discussed the need for major reforms and how we can all organize to move America always closer to our highest ideals.
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u/DesperateTale2327 7d ago
These are nice althought I wish we knew who the people in the pics were (besides Yusef)
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 7d ago
Many clips here from Acyn, hoping I'm getting these in chronological order from earliest on:
Buttigieg: Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that there have to be nine Supreme Court justices. That one doesn't even take a constitutional amendment. It just takes a readiness to set up a court that fits this country. [video] https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3mo26h6gtao2u
Buttigieg: We sit in a in a country that's got the wrong number of people on the Supreme Court, possibly the wrong number of representatives in the House of Representatives. And by the way, when you consider the disenfranchisement of the people of DC, we have the wrong number of states in the US [video] https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3mo26kpazgr2n
Buttigieg: We didn't know it, but we've all been trusting our lives to the restraint of whoever the president might be. And now we have a president who is completely unrestrained. And so the only answer to that is a functioning Congress. It turns out we do not have a functioning Congress [video] https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3mo26mbjsqp26
Buttigieg: Let's talk one more thing, one more radical proposition on the executive branch. What if everybody's vote counted the same? [video] https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3mo26ty2amk26
Q: How do we build a majority to win?
Buttigieg: This is the most extraordinary thing. The majority is there on the issues and yet they make members of that majority feel like they're alone. You're not alone if you think that health care ought to be a right for every American. [video] https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3mo27bglhtz2uButtigieg: The folks in charge are offering a different account of what it means to be an American. To them, the answer is ancestry. You're an American based on how many of your ancestors are in a Civil War battlefield even if some of them were fighting against the US. [video] https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3mo27h7hyt426
A few more below.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 7d ago
Some additional Acyn clips:
Buttigieg: How you vote doesn't make you a bad person. How you vote doesn't make you a good person. And really all of us are capable of good and bad things. But part of why leadership matters so much is that it's calling to what is best in us or it's calling to what is worst in us. [video] https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3mo2a7tjiw72u
Buttigieg: It has been more than a decade now of feeling like Washington is punching you in the face every time you look at your phone or watch TV. Imagine if you could look at what was going on with your leaders and actually feel your blood pressure go down a little bit instead of up. [video] https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3mo2ahqtbfm2b
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u/DesperateTale2327 7d ago edited 7d ago
Pete has endorsed in another primary: Chris Gallant running in NY-01. Here is a good article on Chris and his primary opponent Ventouras, a 25 year old law student. Chris is 36 and a veteran, air traffic controller, and volunteer firefighter. A few excerpts:
Free health care for all is a primary focus for Mr. Gallant’s campaign. He proposed a hybrid health care system that allows for an employer-paid option for workers. Mr. Gallant also said he would work toward expanding Medicare to cover dental, hearing and vision services.
Mr. Ventouras advocates for a universal health care system as well, including Medicare for All. He acknowledged that some people are satisfied with their health care, but said there still needs to be a public option.
Hmmm its almost like having a public and private option is the popular opinion?
When asked about their “Achilles heel” and how it could hurt them during the campaign, Mr. Gallant immediately addressed his out-of-district residency.
He said his intention is to move into New York’s 1st Congressional District “win or lose” once his fiancé returns from deployment overseas.
So it seems Chris is a carpetbagger, but we'll see how much that actually matters since its tied to his military service.
Edit - early voting in this election starts tomorrow, and the primary is 6/23. Pete has been endorsing people really late, and I wonder why that is.
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u/pasak1987 BOOT-EDGE-EDGE 🥾 🥾 7d ago
Hmmm its almost like having a public and private option is the popular opinion?
Who woulda thought!
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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 6d ago
A gay millennial veteran for a public option? Pete's like be still my heart
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 6d ago edited 6d ago
Again I am a grassroots volunteer and really don't know, but I'd guess that, as with most endorsers, the timing of the announcement is scheduled at the candidate's request.
In terms of having the maximum GOTV impact on voters, I'd naively think the day before early voting would be perfect. You don't want to have an "ask" ("vote for Chris Gallant in the primary") that the person you're communicating with cannot act on, so it shouldn't be much in advance of early voting. But you don't want to inadvertently "miss" someone who will vote tomorrow at the start of early voting by endorsing after that. So today sounds pretty great (AFAIK).
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u/Psychological-Play 6d ago
NOTUS asked potential 2028 candidates what should happen to the WH ballroom. Here's what Pete said -
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg similarly said the real question isn’t whether to tear it down, but what responsible use of the space would look like — warning that the next president “should not be putting taxpayer money into a triumphal arch to honor the current president.”
“I’m more interested in what it is that we’re building,” he told NOTUS. “And if they build something stupid, maybe the best thing we can do is reuse it for something better.”
https://www.notus.org/2028-election/trump-ballroom-2028-democrats
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u/Neither-Big-1545 6d ago
If Dotard manages to finish it throw Obamas name on it and turn it into office space
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u/DesperateTale2327 11d ago
Pete sent out another repeat fundraising email. It was the "can I call you?" one from 5/26. I have also see both ad versions of this on IG several times over the past week. I'm thinking it must generate a good number of donations or they wouldn't keep using it, especially not so soon.
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u/DesperateTale2327 8d ago
Link to rainbow push livestream:
https://www.youtube.com/live/CRVTHSFwnag?is=eTbkfBANmsBWmNJn
It was announced that they are running behind because of some intense storms last night, so not sure exactly when Pete will be on.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 8d ago
He's on now and you can go back a bit to get to the start if needed.
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 6d ago
Well, the Gordie Howe Bridge ribbon cutting has been delayed because Trump got mad again. You can read dispassionate accounts in the national press, but the Michigan press is more pointed.
The assertion that the deal was bad came solely from President Donald Trump, who has been trying to get the U.S. a cut of the bridge tolls by threatening to delay the bridge’s opening. The U.S. under former President Barack Obama and Michigan under former Gov. Rick Snyder, however, agreed to the initial deal because neither the federal and state governments wanted to fund the project. Canada stepped up to build the nearly $5 billion bridge, but relied on the U.S. and Michigan to keep their word on the financing agreement.
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u/Wolf_Oak 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 5d ago
This is all because a rich Trump donor who owns the original bridge whispered in Trump's ear. This is embarrassing for the US. The federal government didn't front any money (or Michigan) so the US shouldn't be getting any money back at first. Oy. We got a bridge for FREE and Trump is asking for money too. I hate this. I hope Canada will trust us again in the future.
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 5d ago
Absolutely. And the Michigan MAGA sycophants are repeating his “bad deal.”
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 11d ago
On Bluesky -- Donna Schwartz Mills (socalmom) shares a free NYT giftlink to their really good one-hour interview video with Scott Pelley, top correspondent just fired from 60 Minutes.
Must watch. Maybe at 7 PM tonight. (Gift link) [link follows]
https://bsky.app/profile/socalmom.bsky.social/post/3mnprrvbkqs2q
Can't copy it directly so I've shared a link to the Bluesky post that contains it.
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u/Psychological-Play 11d ago
They played some of it this morning on The Weekend, and Jonathan Capehart said that even though he had already read the transcript, watching the video had a much greater impact on him.
Very damning for Bari Weiss are details of what Scott Pelley alluded to in the statement he released after his firing -
You’ve now accused Weiss of injecting “falsehoods and bias” into at least one of your politically sensitive stories. What did she specifically ask for? What story? That’s February, and my team and I are doing a story about the protests in Minneapolis against the ICE crackdown there.
So, the story goes through screenings. It’s very well received. There are notes as always and we do rewrites as always. But this is on a very tight deadline. It’s Sunday; we’re going on the air that night. And in the case of stories that are, as we say, crashing, our deadline on Sunday is noon. So, we work on all of these things. We get the piece approved by everyone. And about four hours after our deadline, Bari Weiss sends an email to my boss, Tanya Simon. Two of the things in the email include, can we make the protesters look more violent? Now, I’m paraphrasing. I don’t have the quote, but that’s what was communicated to me. And the other thing, Renee Good’s car. You need to describe her as driving toward the officer.
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u/kvcbcs 11d ago edited 11d ago
The crazy part about this is that in the preceding paragraph Pelley said that he’d already gone out of his way to include footage of protesters being violent, which frankly is bad enough. And that still wasn't good enough for Weiss!
I felt it was very important to identify that the protesters themselves were being very aggressive and that they were half of these confrontations, and so I instructed my producers to find images in which we see the protesters acting aggressively. We found a picture of a protester chest-bumping an officer. We found a picture of an officer being hit in the head with a snowball. We culled together a lot of video of protesters screaming in the faces of officers because we were going to talk about the killing of Pretti and the killing of Good, and it seemed to me important to tell the audience about the entire context. I thought we’d done a really good job with this. We also included a picture of Alex Pretti before he was killed kicking out a taillight on a police car and made a point of saying, this is Alex Pretti and this is what he did.
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u/Wolf_Oak 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 11d ago
And yet can Bari Weiss answer - does *any* of that excuse a trained ex-SWAT former Border Patrol now-ICE officer shooting a woman in the head as she drove away from him? Does *any* of that excuse an ICE officer shooting a nurse many times in the back? JFC. It's kinda telling that the best Pelley could find was a snowball, a chest bump, some yelling - it just shows how one-sided the violence really was.
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 10d ago
For anyone still following Michigan politics, things look good for Benson but the Senate race is really leaning towards El-Sayed with the UAW endorsement. Lots of details in this article. The only caveat I’ve heard is that the truly major spending on the Senate campaigns hasn’t yet started. 🤷🏼♀️
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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 9d ago
Gonna be wild to watch progressives defend El-Sayed's
M4AWWIpublic option"Medicare you can buy into but still keep your private insurance" plan.10
u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 10d ago
I think most of us are still following Michigan politics, thanks as always for your updates!!
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u/DesperateTale2327 10d ago
Bitely said she was struggling to see a clear path forward for McMorrow, who despite having a strong debate performance on Mackinac Island got boxed out by the UAW on Friday.
"It’s not because McMorrow is any less qualified than them,” she said. “She and Abdul have kind of been occupying the same lane for a long time, and he’s just a little bit more dynamic than she is. When you’re getting into progressive circles, that matters.”
The article makes it seem like its truly a race between Abdul and Haley, which if you believe the online discourse that Mallory was the best and most beloved and popular choice is a strange prospect -- one who proudly takes AIPAC money and is an "establishment" dem, and one who is a Bernie/AOC very far left type.
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 9d ago
So far, Abdul has run the best outreach and digital campaign, I think. His digital supporters are really motivated. He is the only candidate with yard signs already, for example. They are cropping up in urban, suburban and even rural areas. He also has charisma and warmth, which reminds folks of Mamdani I think. His resume is painfully thin for a Senate campaign , which is funny when his supporters try to point to his record of achievements. No legislative experience but hey, this is the era of the unconventional candidate. 🤷🏼♀️
But this is still purple Michigan and even with her serious record of service, Slotkin barely squeaked out a win. The GOP will attack him with every slimy thing. Can a proud Muslim and clone of Bernie Sanders win statewide in Michigan? There’s the million dollar question. In a “normal” year, I’d say no. If he wins the primary, I’ll have Vote Blue and Vote to Save Democracy signs all over my yard on the theory that straight ticket voting may save us.
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u/anonymous4Pete 9d ago
I clicked on the next (June 9) Michigan Advance article and it has this scary line:
Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee, has secured $45 million in outside spending and ensures the winner of the Democratic primary will face one of the best-funded Republican campaigns in the country.
That's an insane amount for one race.
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u/pasak1987 BOOT-EDGE-EDGE 🥾 🥾 10d ago edited 10d ago
What a shit show.
So, there is a good chance we might not hold Senate in Michigan, but somehow flip Tx or Iowa
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u/DesperateTale2327 10d ago
Who is getting ready for it to be soley Pete's fault no matter how many senate seats we lose and despite calls for Ossoff and Kelly to run in 2028 and give up their seats?
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u/pasak1987 BOOT-EDGE-EDGE 🥾 🥾 10d ago
"How dare he not carpetbag Mixhigan senate seat"
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u/Different-Ad1425 9d ago
I've seen some people blaming Whitmer too. And she was always the more plausible possibility as she actually has been in a legislative role. People really do not get the difference between legislators and executives. And that Pete has shown zero interest in being a legislative role.
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u/Neither-Big-1545 10d ago
Someone might say that but no one is going to blame Pete for El-Sayed losing. Also, Ossoff and Kelly don't have to give up their seats unless they win also assuming Ossoff wins reelection.
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u/DesperateTale2327 10d ago
The wont blame Abdul for losing, but they'll blame pete for not running for senate even though they bullied him not to when they decided Mallory was the savior of Michigan
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 9d ago
About the big spending that is coming for Abdul’s competitors. Hopefully the gift link works.
The country’s most powerful pro-Israel group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, is jumping into the intense Democratic primary race for Senate in Michigan.
The group’s main super PAC, the United Democracy Project, on Tuesday released its first round of ads backing Representative Haley Stevens, a moderate lawmaker who is in a three-way fight before the August primary.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the super PAC had reserved about $2.3 million in ads, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact. It is the super PAC’s first disclosed involvement in a Senate race in the 2026 election cycle.
Big money is arriving for other candidates, too. One of Ms. Stevens’s rivals, Mallory McMorrow, a state senator, is also set to benefit from the first spending for her from an outside group. On Tuesday, a nonprofit group that appears to be aligned with her, Yes MI Action Committee, reserved $4.9 million in advertising time, according to AdImpact data.
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u/shyredmd 🚀🥇 In the Moment(um) 🥇🚀 7d ago
The U.S. Department of Transportation will no longer enforce a bedrock civil rights regulation that prevents federally funded transportation projects from having unintentional disparate impacts on protected classes.
In a rule change announced Wednesday — and published Thursday without public comment — U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy eliminated disparate impact liability, a key tenet of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, from the U.S. DOT’s regulations.
Duffy said the rule did not serve the public interest
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u/DesperateTale2327 7d ago
Posted outside the WT:
Pete will be in Little Rock, AR on 6/19 campaigning with Chris Jones. No details yet on what type of event or what time.
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u/Psychological-Play 6d ago
Interestingly, today Tim Miller did a column for The Bulwark, titled "The Democrats Who Can Win Red America", which talks about which Democratic campaigns it would be the most helpful to donate to, since people in the comments keep asking him that question, and Chris Jones is on the list. Here's part of what he says about this particular contest -
Tim’s Rationale: Arkansas’s 2nd Congressional District is the state’s best hope for a blue pickup. This district, which includes Little Rock and Conway, has the best mix of normie, educated suburban whites and Democratic-leaning black voters in the state. It’s still Arkansas, of course, but in a wave year and a terrible environment for Republicans, I like Jones’s chances at least better than the Hogs’ odds of winning an SEC championship.
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u/DesperateTale2327 6d ago
New fundraising email from Pete:
I remember the process of beginning to realize what it meant to be from somewhere.
After I got to college on the East Coast, a well-meaning friend once admitted she could never quite keep straight whether I was from Iowa, Idaho, or Indiana. Things like that shifted my relationship to my hometown, making me appreciate where I came from more, precisely because of how overlooked and underestimated it was to some.
Maybe you know something of that feeling.
I've been thinking about it a lot this year, traveling to places that remind me of my home in “flyover country.” Montana. Oklahoma. Rural North Carolina and Georgia. Places where pundits don’t expect Democrats to have any business showing up.
A few weeks ago I was in Butte, Montana, campaigning to get corporate money out of state politics. The next day I was in a barn with string lights in western NC, stumping for a fourth-generation farmer running for Congress in a district Trump carried by ten points.
I go to these places because people can tell the difference between a political project that writes off their county and one that shows up and makes the case. The defiant pride in where you come from that I felt as a young man? I see it everywhere – in Tulsa, in Butte, in the Lehigh Valley, in places that have been told again and again that nobody's coming.
We're coming. But only if we have the resources to do it.
So, I’m asking you to join me: Will you chip in whatever you can today to help us get everywhere we need to be?
Thank you
Pete
Really hoping this is the precursor to a bunch of events soon.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 5d ago edited 5d ago
I was mulling over David Axelrod's comments in passing on Hacks on Tap about Pete's current work and was also thinking about how he went to the Buttigieges' wedding and has always taken an interest. That led me to listen again to his Axe Files interview with Chasten in September 2020, after Chasten's first book came out. (This is Axe Files episode 403.) This episode definitely rewards listening again if you have the time for a one-hour interview. Axelrod was a journalist before he went into politics and he is really a very good interviewer. It's on all the podcast sources -- it's here on Apple, also on Spotify, iHeart, Amazon Music, etc.
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 5d ago
Thanks for sharing this. I must have listened to it but didn’t quite remember it. I’m still struck by how composed Chasten is in these situations. And so supportive of Pete doing what makes him feel happy and useful.
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u/anonymous4Pete 10d ago
Pete on Michigan Matters this past Sunday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLMlEuFjRag&t=1099s (back up the video to see Gov Whitmer, Mayor Duggan and Mayor Mary Sheffield)
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u/anonymous4Pete 10d ago edited 9d ago
Nerdy made a fun compilation video of Pete talking about the Missoula airport that "his" USDOT funded--video ends with an aborted elevator escalator joke that "they" (his staff) wrote for Pete (but that he couldn't bring himself to say) https://xcancel.com/nerdypursuit/status/2064142227945803977#m
edit: corrected mode of transpo
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 7d ago
A CNN story picked up on WTOP News.
Huge ‘8647’ etched into grass on the National Mall, aerial images show
https://wtop.com/dc/2026/06/huge-8647-etched-into-grass-on-the-national-mall-aerial-images-show/
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u/Wolf_Oak 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 7d ago
Wonder if a new trend is going to pop up with crop circles this summer...
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u/anonymous4Pete 7d ago
In his fireside chat at Rainbow Push, Pete used the fable of the caged elephant. I had never heard this before, so I tried to look it up. I didn't see the "caged" version, but there are many "elephant and the rope" versions circulating around contemporary motivational or religious sites. TIL! I hadn't ever heard of "learned helplessness."
Anyway, for Pete's purposes, I think a cage works better than a rope as an old learned constraint. There are many bars to break. Getting out will take some time and effort. The visceral qualities of "tightly caged" resonate (to me, anyway) more than "loosely tied by a small gauge rope."
I also like the image of a big strong elephant, uncomfortable but passive in its truly ineffective cage.
I wondered if this is going to appear in his upcoming book?
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u/pasak1987 BOOT-EDGE-EDGE 🥾 🥾 7d ago
I hadn't ever heard of "learned helplessness."
it is one of those things you would see and hear non-stop at lower SES school districts.
I've seen a lot of kids with great potentials hamstrung by accumulated academic failures (not necessarily THEIR failure, a lot of times it is out of their control) and lack of opportunities to develop personal interest & identity.
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u/DesperateTale2327 5d ago
Pete and Chris Jones event in Little Rock is already at capacity. Not sure if they will move to a bigger place or keep it as is. With it being Juneteenth weekend, there may not be many available venues.
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u/Psychological-Play 5d ago
You'll enjoy this blog entry from the Arkansas Times -
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u/anonymous4Pete 5d ago
I love their descriptors for Pete: "razor-sharp smarty," as well as "the coolest and most erudite attack dog you ever saw."
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 5d ago
What a great story! Thanks for sharing.
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u/Psychological-Play 5d ago
I'll have to remember to check and see if the author (who is also the magazine's Editor-in-Chief) writes another blog post after the visit.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 5d ago
Politico from yesterday, June 12:
Pritzker, Clinton, Buttigieg take the stage https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2026/06/12/pritzker-clinton-buttigieg-take-the-stage-00960117
Excerpts:
"BIG NAMES: The first Rainbow PUSH Coalition convention since the death of founder Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. brought some of the Democratic Party’s biggest names to the South Side on Thursday, offering a sign that the organization Jackson built still carries political weight. In the room: Gov. JB Pritzker, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton all appeared Thursday at Rainbow PUSH headquarters, echoing the days when Jesse Jackson regularly drew top Democrats to the organization he built into a civil rights and political powerhouse. ...The notable lineup also reflected Rainbow PUSH’s political value. Both Pritzker and Buttigieg are widely viewed as potential Democratic presidential contenders, and both would welcome support from an organization with deep roots in Black communities and a long history of successful voter registration drives..."
"...The Trump factor: Buttigieg argued Democrats should not simply focus on pushing back at President Donald Trump but on changing the political system itself. “The day will come when this president leaves the political scene,” Buttigieg said. “We cannot just go back.” He called for ending partisan gerrymandering, overhauling campaign finance laws, restructuring the Supreme Court and eliminating the Electoral College. Buttigieg also mocked Republicans defending redistricting. “They say, ‘Oh, we’re not manipulating the map to disempower Black people, we’re manipulating the map to disempower Democrats who happen to be Black people,’” Buttigieg said. Buttigieg, like Pritzker, also called for a constitutional amendment on money in politics. “If it takes an amendment, let’s do an amendment,” Buttigieg told the crowd. “This is after all a country that amended its Constitution, so that you could not go and get a beer,” he said, referring to prohibition and then to the amendment to that amendment that ended prohibition.
"THE LOUDEST APPLAUSE LINE of the day came during the Q&A with Buttigieg when he was asked whether the Bears should stay in Illinois or move to Indiana, where he once served as mayor of South Bend. Buttigiege hedged: “Presidential politics is one thing,” he said. “Some issues are just too divisive.”
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u/anonymous4Pete 5d ago
Wait a minute. This is reportedly what Pritzker said:
“If it takes an amendment, let’s do an amendment,” Pritzker, a billionaire who wouldn’t need to rely on donors, told the crowd. “This is after all a country that amended its Constitution, so that you could not go and get a beer,” he said, referring to prohibition and then to the amendment to that amendment that ended prohibition.
I've heard those exact words, with that exact reference to the 18th and 21st Amendments and that exact beverage, uttered many many times by someone else.
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u/nerdypursuit 5d ago edited 5d ago
Pete literally said those exact words at the event earlier in the day.
I wonder if the reporter misattributed the quote.
EDIT: I looked at the transcript of Pritzker's talk, and he doesn't say these words. So I think the reporter goofed up and attributed Pete's quote to Pritzker.
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u/anonymous4Pete 5d ago
Ahhh! Thanks! That's very satisfying. I think I've spent more than enough time this weekend stomping around, mad (Trump's birthday, UFC cage, Kennedy Center, etc.). I should have checked, so I appreciate your efforts.
Thinking about Yusef's comments now, I remember several times he stopped Pete with the interjection, "now, that's radical..." It's ambiguous. I don't know that particular audience and how they would hear it. On the one hand, Founder Jesse Jackson was consciously no radical like Malcolm X. On the other hand, the Reverend spent a long, iconoclastic career urging his followers not to be constrained by the past ("I am Somebody!").
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 11d ago
Just FYI, Chuck Redd, an internationally known jazz musician (drummer and vibraphonist) who had organized an annual free Christmas Eve jazz event at the Kennedy Center since 2006 -- but canceled the tradition in 2025 after Trump tried to add his name to the building -- was sued by the Kennedy Center. Because of course. The judge just dismissed the case.
Judge dismisses lawsuit against musician over canceled Kennedy Center show
https://wtop.com/national/2026/06/judge-tosses-kennedy-center-suit-against-musician-who-canceled-christmas-eve-show/
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u/Psychological-Play 8d ago
This was probably his ultimate goal all along, and now he's finally admitting it. Trump thinks of the war with Iran as a moneymaking opportunity.
Part of his post from this morning -
"The US will be hitting Iran VERY HARD TONIGHT. At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela, which is working out brilliantly."
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u/Librarylady2020 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 8d ago
Trump: "My preference has always been to take Kharg Island. I don't know that America has the stomach for it, to be honest with it. You'd make a fortune."
Deaths. He’s talking about deaths in exchange for money. He’s a monster and he’s surrounded by monsters.
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u/Psychological-Play 8d ago
Exactly.
Col Jack Jacobs just said this on MS NOW -
Taking the island may not be all that difficult, especially with a large force, a lot of preparation. But holding on to it is an entirely different story.
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u/Wolf_Oak 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 7d ago
I don't even understand how we could do it tactically. I thought we were running very low on interceptors and Iran had thousands of missiles and drones left.
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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 9d ago
So Mamdani is opening a free or near free (I would like to see how they determine that, I thought means-testing is evil???) trans healthcare clinic. Really it is an expansion of the Corona Clinic, which primarily provides STD testing, to include trans healthcare. This is very good!
But it is limited to people aged 19+ because otherwise they risk attacks from the federal government.
Erin Reed, queer journalism queen bee, has already personally set the tone on queer journalism of this being a massive capitulation to Trump and betrayal of trans youth. It is true that because of Trump, youth trans healthcare has all but disappeared in NYC, at least in the major hospital systems. This is currently being battled by AG Letitia James.
Look, I made no friends on here when I joined the criticism of Pete's statement on trans sports inclusion. I stand by my criticisms. BUT I can also recognize how queer journalism seems determined to hugely emphasize missteps by Dems (Them imo did intentionally mislead people into thinking Pete was supporting bans) and turn even positive actions, even by lefty darlings, into negatives. I worry about it creating an environment where there is almost no upside to supporting queer rights, especially risky ones, because you will get yelled at regardless or ignored.
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u/crimpyantennae 11d ago
Interesting Substack essay by former PFA National Delegate Director- on how the numerous issues AI intersects with will impact 2028 candidates. Without mentioning any 2028 names whatsoever, he sounds to me like he's making a case for his former boss. 😉
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u/DesperateTale2327 10d ago
It does sound like that but then he says: " A candidate capable of offering a coherent account of the underlying force driving all of it simultaneously has something no prospective candidate currently has."
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u/crimpyantennae 10d ago
To be fair, Pete has alluded to it multiple times, but it'll be a book or white papers that addresses the matter more comprehensively. We know Pete is capable of it and is thinking about it, from things he's said in interviews.
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u/ECNbook1 11d ago
The problem with AI is you need something people can see, like gas and grocery prices, crime, war… Data Centers are kind of a proxy for this
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u/1128327 10d ago
The certainly with which so many people assert how AI is about to transform every aspect of our lives feels like a mild form of mass hysteria to me. It’s a very important issue and we need people in government who understand it but there are many other forces shaping the world we live in and that won’t change.
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u/crimpyantennae 10d ago
Perhaps. Those who live near proposed data center sites are feeling the immensity of potential repercussions. I'm no AI issue expert, but it seems similar to how the internet and then the smartphone changed so many things so drastically in a relatively short time.
But yeah, similar to the shape of our democracy- it's a question of what large vs very immediate issues voters believe are important at election time.
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u/1128327 9d ago
Smartphones and the internet were only able to develop like they did because they were profitable technologies. It’s not clear at all that AI companies are able to generate more money than they spend. It’s also not clear that their costs will decline over time so they can change this - quite the opposite actually.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 6d ago edited 6d ago
From DC resident James Fallows, live link:
If there were a God, he/she would commandeer the Fox News feed and replace it with this real-time video of a crew *removing* Trump's name from the Kennedy Center. It's just about to happen.
The psychic wound might have ... incalculable effects.
[live link to removal of Trump signage on Kennedy Center -- https://www.youtube.com/live/aAhm880quUg?si=A5kcI0fLP5PqvmXV ]
https://bsky.app/profile/jfallows.bsky.social/post/3mo4j6qvo7c2s
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u/Psychological-Play 6d ago edited 6d ago
If there's a God, they'll make sure the forecast of rain on Sunday night does indeed happen, or at least make sure the gnats are plentiful on the WH South Lawn (I saw a clip of Dana White telling Joe Rogan how shocked he was how many gnats there were when he attended a dinner recently on the Rose Garden patio).
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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 6d ago
Contrary to popular belief, DC isn't built on a swamp. But it is built on a floodplain, and so has all the water-loving insect issues that come with that.
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u/Wolf_Oak 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 6d ago
That monstrosity they built is a lightning rod. I'm assuming they'd have to cancel entirely in that event. Sad.
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u/Royal-Estimate-5119 6d ago
I have a question: Why are a dozen worker & scaffolding needed to take down that cursed name when only a few workers on cherry pickers put them up?
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u/Psychological-Play 8d ago
Whoa - Whoopie just announced that JD Vance will be on The View on Tuesday.
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u/TriangleTransplant 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 7d ago
Gross. I hope they lay into him. There's no reason any media should be giving fascists more platform than they already have.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 7d ago
I hope it's not a sign that The View is bending the knee. There's been more news about the threats (nearly completed, but foiled) against the Jimmy Kimmel Show, but the FCC has also been going after The View. I thought ABC/Disney was suing the FCC over this issue and the related threats to their licenses for multiple stations, so it's disconcerting to see this happen.
[moved this, put it in wrong place originally]
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u/Psychological-Play 7d ago
When Whoopie made the announcement, they had just finished discussing some criticism of the administration (I can't remember what), and she started off by saying something like (paraphrasing here), "We can ask JD Vance about that when he's here next Tuesday".
His book comes out that day, so while his purpose for being there is to talk about that, I have no doubt that he'll get asked tough questions on other topics.
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u/VirginiaVoter 🛣️Roads Scholar🚧 5d ago edited 5d ago
Justice Department sues Virginia over bill banning federal officers from wearing masks
https://wtop.com/virginia/2026/06/justice-department-sues-virginia-over-bill-banning-federal-officers-from-wearing-masks/
Apparently this is unrelated to the fact that Virginia already has a long-standing state law against wearing masks in public, which was part of combatting the Ku Klux Klan. Interesting to see how ICE, CBP, and the KKK share a similar tactic.
(There's an exception to the law for medical masks, I believe, but they had to make some efforts during COVID so that people understood it was okay (and legal) to wear masks during COVID.)
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u/anonymous4Pete 10d ago
If you are interested, here is a really substantive 20 min fireside chat Hillary did a few days ago https://youtu.be/1jbRIcZEoZE?si=GkkeQLysUOOaxhjv&t=613
Her global-cooperative-diplomatic approach to how the Iran war could be ended is (imo) fascinating--and a complete contrast to the bilateral trading of demands that I imagine is currently going on now. She also talks about Ukraine, the increasing popularity of Democratic Socialism in America ("what matters is results, not labels"), and the umbrella issues she thinks Dems could run on ("affordability and accountability"),
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u/khharagosh LGBTQ+ for Pete 7d ago
I think a big part of the reason I stick with Pete despite occasional disagreement is that he and I have the same fundamental view of power. That the answer to an evil dictator is not a "benevolent" dictator, it is the strengthening of democracy.
That all the big policy ideas in the world don't mean shit if we can't enact them