“Murders were at their lowest level in the first three months of 2026 compared to the first three months of any year in the city’s recorded history, with major crime also down citywide, the mayor and police commissioner announced Thursday.”
QUESTION: Do you agree with Matt Yglesias’ recent take in his mailbag (that mentioned you) and made the case that Mamdani’s goodwill among some moderates is attributable to the fact that he has moderated and addressed concerns that centrists have about him (re crime, schools, abundance) in a way that no other left factionalist has?
Social media seems to end up in a partisan death spiral. You’re dunked on for not agreeing with groupthink, so you leave, leaving like minded hyper partisans.
The good news is these morons can go and live on their own island away from the rest of us - with media still able to sustain itself.
The bad news - these irrational groups act as the activist base for our political parties. Driving them to make increasingly dumb decisions (points at the administration)
I feel as if Twitter/X when used correctly (HA!) is really useful for live sports, quick breaking political stories (usually regarding votes in Congress as they are happening), and breaking weather info. Beyond that... Well good luck.
Wow! Nice piece of writing; very informative. I did not know a lot of that, about engagement and being able to get to other media from various social media ---- or not.
"But at least when you look at the leaderboard of top Bluesky accounts, it’s fairly predictable: mostly reasonably prominent left-progressives, though almost nobody who is going to challenge Democratic Party orthodoxy from either the center or the left. The problems with Bluesky are less about the individuals who find success on the platform and more about the high school cafeteria behavior that follows when you put them all in a small, confined space together."
I'm glad you mention this; the progressive Left has been hostile to the heterodox for a while, and while it's trimmed some of its more egregious excesses (a lot of cancel culture, for one), it's still pretty hostile. The demise of The Liberal Patriot here on Substack is a great example. We'll see how Persuasion and Searchlight do, two other left-of-center Substacks I subscribe to.
However, on the Right the orthodoxy and related nastiness is increasing exponentially. MAGA kicked the libertarians and old-skool Republicans out of the tent, and now they have armed guards keeping them out.
I'm probably going to have to get an X account once I finally get off my ass and start PFMT in earnest. I haven't done so yet, because I pay the county to take the sewage out of my house, and I don't need someone pumping the sewage back in.
I had thought about a Twitter account way back when, to get color commentary on the teams I follow when I see games in person. But, I don't go to games to keep my nose in my phone.
Obviously lots of caveats but the NYC crime thing is funny considering https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2026/04/02/murders-at-lowest-level--in-recorded-history--over-first-three-months-of-2026--nypd-says
“Murders were at their lowest level in the first three months of 2026 compared to the first three months of any year in the city’s recorded history, with major crime also down citywide, the mayor and police commissioner announced Thursday.”
You're going to believe a left-wing woke Cultural Marxist organization like the ... NYPD?
yes
good decision (on crime statistics anyway ... not necessarily everything NYPD says)
QUESTION: Do you agree with Matt Yglesias’ recent take in his mailbag (that mentioned you) and made the case that Mamdani’s goodwill among some moderates is attributable to the fact that he has moderated and addressed concerns that centrists have about him (re crime, schools, abundance) in a way that no other left factionalist has?
Social media seems to end up in a partisan death spiral. You’re dunked on for not agreeing with groupthink, so you leave, leaving like minded hyper partisans.
The good news is these morons can go and live on their own island away from the rest of us - with media still able to sustain itself.
The bad news - these irrational groups act as the activist base for our political parties. Driving them to make increasingly dumb decisions (points at the administration)
I feel as if Twitter/X when used correctly (HA!) is really useful for live sports, quick breaking political stories (usually regarding votes in Congress as they are happening), and breaking weather info. Beyond that... Well good luck.
You got the ecological analogy exactly right.
The only defense against gross misinformation is to be informed yourself. NYC 1975 vs. now is a great example.
Another good tool against the lies the lying liars tell is knowing how to research issues and vet sources.
Wow! Nice piece of writing; very informative. I did not know a lot of that, about engagement and being able to get to other media from various social media ---- or not.
The social media phenomenon reflects the current state of the political parties.
QUESTION: Is there any serious likelihood of the Lodge shutdown leading to a change in Texas poker laws? Bonus question: Will UIGEA ever be repealed?
"But at least when you look at the leaderboard of top Bluesky accounts, it’s fairly predictable: mostly reasonably prominent left-progressives, though almost nobody who is going to challenge Democratic Party orthodoxy from either the center or the left. The problems with Bluesky are less about the individuals who find success on the platform and more about the high school cafeteria behavior that follows when you put them all in a small, confined space together."
I'm glad you mention this; the progressive Left has been hostile to the heterodox for a while, and while it's trimmed some of its more egregious excesses (a lot of cancel culture, for one), it's still pretty hostile. The demise of The Liberal Patriot here on Substack is a great example. We'll see how Persuasion and Searchlight do, two other left-of-center Substacks I subscribe to.
However, on the Right the orthodoxy and related nastiness is increasing exponentially. MAGA kicked the libertarians and old-skool Republicans out of the tent, and now they have armed guards keeping them out.
I'm probably going to have to get an X account once I finally get off my ass and start PFMT in earnest. I haven't done so yet, because I pay the county to take the sewage out of my house, and I don't need someone pumping the sewage back in.
I had thought about a Twitter account way back when, to get color commentary on the teams I follow when I see games in person. But, I don't go to games to keep my nose in my phone.