Ben Panko
@btpanko
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Chicagoan. Writer. #RVA native, Pittsburgh expat. Politics and Star Wars nerd, leftist, crazy cat guy. Same username on 🧵and 🦋. He/him.
Chicago, IL
Joined May 2014
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North Carolina
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Hurricane Helene
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FEMA
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Mets
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Braves
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#النصر_الريان
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They really thought this was going to win the election for them and now they’re so pissed lol
Just re-upping this in everyone's feed, if you don't mind
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They gave this random fucking skull that Luke Skywalker uses to kill the rancor in Return of the Jedi an entire backstory spanning multiple books and comics.
What is your most obscure piece of Star Wars knowledge?
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I like how JD Vance’s media team now has to ensure he never does an interview sitting on a couch.
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Lol they're so pissed at Harris' fundraising numbers
🚨🚨 Breaking: I sent this letter to ActBlue demanding answers. The integrity of our election is at stake.
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Literally every right-wing Chicago account on this site in a nutshell
@crampell
The stats say that crime is down, but the apps I look at on my phone show me more videos of crime than ever.
Therefore, crime is up.
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If Texas ever flips Dem in a presidential election, it’s going to be hilarious seeing these dumbasses start crawling away from this position.
I feel duty bound to keep pointing out that the electoral college is essential to the American democratic experiment, and people denying that simply want to undermine American democracy as it has always existed.
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The movie drought before The Phantom Menace resulted in some truly wild attempts to find new stories out of every single background detail from the original trilogy.
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Incredible to see how fast this guy's culture war shit is falling apart now that his presidential campaign brought him back to Earth.
BREAKING: Sexual orientation, gender ID can be talked about in Florida classrooms under lawsuit settlement
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There is some amazing work from the Legends era of books and media, but some of it just insanely granular and unnecessary.
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BREAKING: Mayor Adams, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban + NYPD Chief of Dept. Jeffrey Maddrey were initiated this weekend as Freemasons.
The ceremony — hosted at Gracie Mansion — was not disclosed on Adams' official schedule.
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@humanicebox
Trump forcing the director of it to resign seems like a decent sign of how scared that talk made him.
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In a parliamentary system we would be heading to new elections now.
This is a disaster for House Republicans. They are down 214-213 on the rule to begin debate on the pentagon spending bill.
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NYC - Eric Adams Approval:
Disapprove: 73%
Approve: 24%
Net: -49%
Manhattan Institute / April 11, 2024 / n=700
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1) Con a bunch of Republican rubes into backing you for speaker
2) Block right-wing constitutional amendments
3) Ram through special elections to get Dems their majority back
4) Resign
This guy had incredible game.
NEWS: Pennsylvania House Speaker Mark Rozzi (D., Berks) is stepping down as speaker effective immediatley, he told
@SpotlightPA
this morning. He plans to back Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton to replace him, making her the first woman to lead the 200+ year old chamber.
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under biden, in both brazil and guatemala, the CIA has been deeply involved in coup attempts against leftist presidents. the other way around.
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How do you do fellow nationalists worried about America’s low fertility?
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@vanillaopinions
The fact that is so poorly cropped makes it almost feel like Joe tried to post it himself.
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A lot of people earnestly responding to this tweet with data about circadian rhythms, and all I can say is if you don’t see why a guy trying to be VP talking about his sex schedule comes across as weird to most people, I’m not sure what else to say.
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The Democratic nominee in Illinois' 12th Congressional District (the reddest district in the state that's represented by Mike Bost) is a DUI attorney from Carbondale with no policy positions listed anywhere online.
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I love that deranged conservatives seem to think the U.S. can unilaterally fire the UN Secretary General.
If Biden weren't a senile fool, he'd demand Guterres' immediate resignation.
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This article actually does a great job of capturing how social media has affected many older Chicagoans' perceptions of crime, since when you look at the crime data, this city was far more violent in nearly every category of crime in the 1980s and '90s.
Robberies and assaults across Chicago make me afraid for the first time - Chicago Sun-Times In 40 years as a journalist, I visited every Chicago neighborhood. For the first time, I now fear for my safety. Andy Shaw
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Not to dunk on this guy specifically, but Jimmy Carter did a ton of things wrong.
The guy governed with massive and relatively progressive Dem majorities in Congress post-Watergate, yet spent most of his term feuding with them unnecessarily.
Joe Biden’s about to be our generation’s Jimmy Carter. A one term unpopular president who did everything right but got crucified for it anyways
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@RB0914532466938
@humanicebox
I’m not a registered Republican who hated immigrants like the shooter was.
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“Rachel Atcheson, a close adviser, told me, without complaint, that under Adams’s influence she now sleeps with her mouth taped shut, “in order to force myself to breathe through my nose.””
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Gotta love that Illinois has this random devoted Downstate Dem farmer named Dick Bigger Jr.
Gov. J. B. Pritzker signs baseballs for Dick Bigger Jr., of Biggsville, during Governors Day at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Bigger has politicians sign baseballs every year he attends the fair and has a ball signed by fmr. President Obama.
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“[X city] wasn’t like this when I was young!”
It was worse actually, but you didn’t spend hours each day consuming content from people monetizing your fear.
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I didn’t follow whatever tantrum he posted and deleted, but crowning a 19-year-old nepo baby “a once-in-generation journalistic talent” is hilarious.
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Inbox: Just 28% of NYC voters approve of Mayor Adams' job performance, compared to 58% who disapprove, per new Quinnipiac poll.
This is the the lowest job approval rating for an NYC mayor since Quinnipiac began polling registered voters in the city in 1996.
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Gorsuch's dissent is 26 pages long, the opinion is only 12 pages. Gorsuch ends his dissent:
"As they did at Bosque Redondo, they must again fight for themselves to secure their homeland and all that must..come with it. Perhaps...some measure of justice will prevail in the end."
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It’s actually incredible this woman still has this position in such a hard right state.
Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborn (R) condemns State Sen. Tom Woods (R-OK) for calling the LGBTQ community “filth”:
“Don’t tell me CEOs don’t see the huge amount of slanderous and horrifying bills … and say, ‘They were on my shortlist; I’m taking them off.’”
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@vanillaopinions
I mostly avoid ever listening to this man talk so I'm always stunned at how nasally and annoying his voice is.
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The fact that these crime-obsessed right-wing accounts never seem to grapple with is that there were way, way more shootings and homicides (and all other violent crime) in Chicago in the ‘90s when good old boy Daley ensured there were no “gloves” on the police.
There were 37 people shot in Chicago in less than 24 hours. (Source
@w_h_thompson
)
At what point does the mayor start focusing on things happening in Chicago? At what point does he take the gloves off the police and allow them to be the police?
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I hate that we all know how mad this will make him.
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I’ve seen levels of cope you people wouldn’t believe
The thing that's getting the most views thirty-six hours later is Trump's line about eating pets. Is that a win for Harris? How would you even determine that?
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Jesse Jackson was basically the only guy carrying the torch through that time.
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@Hanasaku_Yuri
Reminds me of this Strom Thurmond line Biden keeps bizarrely quoting:
“I’ll come campaign for you or against you—whichever will help the most.”
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@BaruchSandhaus
@yaakovkatz
@SenSchumer
That would be awesome. Please stop making us send you weapons and aid.
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I’m out of town this week but am hearing word that not only did Chicago not burn down like freaks on here predicted, but it made an incredible impression on guests from around the country.
Shocking news.
After five days in Chicago, now I fully understand why people from Chicago are *obsessed with being from Chicago.
A spectacular city.
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Incredible how these guys have watched transphobia flop again and again electorally yet are still convinced that any Republican who’s moderate on the issue must be purged.
Mike DeWine is why Donald Trump is in charge of the Republican Party now. Want to get rid of Trump? Get rid of the Mike DeWines of the world and there won't be any need for Trump.
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Amazing how many tourists I’ve encountered and hosted who never say this about downtown Chicago.
@asymmetricinfo
What most foreigners miss about America is how most Americans actually live.
The tourist comes to Chicago, stays downtown, and sees a lot of disorder. While the average Chicagoan is living in NorthShore/Western Suburbs with no crime or disorder, but no tourist visits there.
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No wonder Fetterman is freaking out
“As vice president, Harris privately expressed that the Biden administration needed to take a stronger stance against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the civilian death toll mounted in Israel’s war against Hamas.”
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Watching Law and Order clips from the '90s is fun because all of a sudden there will be an episode where they cast a member of Congress as a judge.
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Always important to understand the sole animating principle of the modern American Right is “Look what you made me do.”
Republican officeholders who don't think like this will cease to be Republican officeholders, whether anyone likes it or not.
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GOP elites falling in love with this guy who has some of the shittiest political instincts imaginable has been an underrated lucky break for the Dems lately.
Mitt Romney does not understand why political opinion shifted dramatically between 2015 and 2020—which is why he is on the way out and JD Vance is on the way up.
And Romney's parting shot is absurd: I met with JD this morning and he is still thoughtful, smart, and authentic; he
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starting to think that the rest of the world was actually fine in Children of Men and Britain just chose to be like that
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Hilarious. They're really going to try to blame DeSantis' lack of charisma and terminally online trainwreck of a campaign on anyone but him.
This mischaracterizes the nature of Hillary Clinton's electability problem. And DeSantis' favorability rating is -9 per 538, half of Trump's. His biggest problem is Alvin Bragg over, which he had no control. That's what really boosted Trump, and the polling has been static since.
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The right-wing authoritarians are apparently upset about the best thing about my alderman.
Taking the time to make a complete fool of himself,
@NewDayConway
bullies a group of anti-abortion demonstrators at a West Loop abortion factory.
This is theatrics to deflect from Chicago's real problems, but Mr. Conway needs to learn the art of gaslighting to run for mayor.
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@realtonysm1th
Yeah, like going on SNL in a sketch about it would help him a lot, but he doesn’t seem like somebody with the ease and timing to pull it off
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issuing correction on a previous post of mine, regarding Mando. you do not, under any circumstances, "gotta hand it to him"
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The spin campaign from the anti-anti-Trump conservatives to make it seem like the Dems should save McCarthy or feel bad has been funny to watch.
This isn't the Dems' problem, but it's the country's, and it has to be in the back of their mind as they consider whether to mobilize and take him out. There could be some political upside to the chaos, but it's hard to imagine anything ending up better.
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Apparently we send one guy to be the ambassador to 7 different Caribbean countries.
The
#Senate
confirmed the nomination of Roger Nyhus to be Ambassador to Barbados, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, and Saint Vincent & The Grenadines by voice vote.
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King shit
Rozzi said he never expected to become speaker. Elected in a GOP engineered to forestall a Democratic majority, Rozzi told
@SpotlightPA
that he knew when he was approached that he was being used, but decided that the GOP "were gonna pay for it.”
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I want a live shot of Glenn Youngkin reading this.
TWO WEEK SHUTDOWN: GOP lawmakers saying plan now is to spend next two weeks passing full year spending bills during a shutdown. Say Oct 13 paycheck for troops is the real deadline
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@Elmo_da_emo
@harrisondubay
The Barstool guy Dave Portnoy released a video when the Dobbs decision came out about how he hated that this shit made him have to vote for Dems like Biden, so no, most of the ones below 40 support legal abortions.
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@Convolutedname
Before the midterms last year, he thought that the Democrats’ position on abortion would hurt them.
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We love our aggressively progressive local hot dog shop, don’t we, folks?
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It feels rarer nowadays, but still kind of wild to see Sanders Derangement Syndrome being practiced when he’s basically good friends with Biden and has backed him on basically everything.
The Green Party is a scam, backed by Bernie and Republicans
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We have the biggest of Dudes here in Chicago.
PHOTO: Gov. J.B Pritzker, left, greets Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson outside Pritzker’s, Friday, April 7, 2023. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
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@Atlanticist_
Instead we just get to deal with the House not being able to pass anything for the next 14 months.
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It’s funny how everyone pretends Chicago didn’t have the DNC in 1996.
I know the choice was made a year ago, but whoever decided to have the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this summer seriously screwed up.
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Silver has said a lot of stupid shit, but it's honestly amazing how he put out one tweet that so perfectly encapsulates his transformation into the kind of vibes-based dumbass pundit he used to claim he was fighting.
It's probably foolish to think a NYC mayor will successfully translate into being a national political figure, but I still think Eric Adams would be in my top 5 for "who will be the next Democratic presidential nominee after Joe Biden?".
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@NickTagliaferro
If Francis holds on for another year and a half, he’ll get to replace Dolan, which I honestly think will cause some of the tradcaths to leave the faith.
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The fact that every single endorser of his has to ritually repeat the phrase "lifelong Democrat" is pretty telling on how well the Republican attacks are landing.
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@bendreyfuss
@WajahatAli
It must be so nice being a nepo baby and failing upward into that position.
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Eccentric opposition candidates in safe congressional seats are usually pretty wild, but I seriously think this guy might just be trying to sell cookware through this.
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He hasn't posted on his campaign's Facebook page since mid-January.
He is more active on his completely public personal page, where most of his posts are about his health issues or a combination heating/cooling tray he invented called "Chillware."
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@SaysSimonson
Sure must suck to have the “Welfare Queen” tactic turned back on you! Funny to see the squirming though.
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@alex_yarkosky
Failing on a supply bill is usually treated as a motion of no confidence in Westminster systems.
I guess the head of state could try to appoint someone else but doesn’t seem like anyone else could prove they can command the confidence of the House.
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@dog_starman
I am hearing that on his deathbed Michael Cera received the light of Islam and unhesitatingly recited the Shahada. Even now he looks down on the Ummah from the gardens of Jannah. Truly there is no god but Allah, and Mohammad is his prophet!
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@HeatherCherone
@FOP7Chicago
@jonathanweisman
@nytimes
@Brandon4Chicago
Did Catanzara actually think going on record saying this would be helpful to his candidate?
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