Darin Self
@darinself.com
Assistant Professor of Political Science -- Researching democratization, autocracies, the military, and political parties.
Chair of Utah County Democratic Party -- making democracy work locally:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/utcountydems
Chair of Utah County Democratic Party -- making democracy work locally:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/utcountydems
Pinned
Darin Self
@darinself.com
· Sep 10
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This year I became the chair of the Democratic Party in Utah's second largest county.
I'm working to build a real party from the neighborhood up, but we don't get support from the national party.
If you want to help, you can donate here:
secure.actblue.com/donate/utcou...
I'm working to build a real party from the neighborhood up, but we don't get support from the national party.
If you want to help, you can donate here:
secure.actblue.com/donate/utcou...
Probably not representative, but I'm seeing quite a few pickups for sale around my town.
Man with a truck, standing at the pump just now, looked like he was about to cry actual tears.
September 21, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Probably not representative, but I'm seeing quite a few pickups for sale around my town.
The Trump team thinks they won 2024 because they attacked trans people rather than realize they performed worse against the incumbent than basically every challenger party in the world.
So yeah, run the same playbook while being the incumbent party that has made everyone worse off.
So yeah, run the same playbook while being the incumbent party that has made everyone worse off.
These guys are trying to run the 2024 culture war playbook at a time when ~80% of the American public says the administration does not have the right priorities and are neglecting affordability (which Trump called a hoax at the GOP "convention"). This is a losing strategy
JD Vance: "Why would a kindergartener ever need a preferred pronoun unless somebody else in their life is a sicko"
September 21, 2026 at 6:50 PM
The Trump team thinks they won 2024 because they attacked trans people rather than realize they performed worse against the incumbent than basically every challenger party in the world.
So yeah, run the same playbook while being the incumbent party that has made everyone worse off.
So yeah, run the same playbook while being the incumbent party that has made everyone worse off.
Reposted by Darin Self
Nuremberg is the 13th largest city in Germany, so trials should be held in San Jose, the 13th largest city in the USA
September 21, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Nuremberg is the 13th largest city in Germany, so trials should be held in San Jose, the 13th largest city in the USA
Nuremberg 'em
September 21, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Nuremberg 'em
Man, the Nobel Prize woke up and just wanted to trash Political Science
When Elinor Ostrom applied for a PhD in economics she was turned away. She took on a different doctorate and in 2009 was the first woman to receive the prize in economic sciences.
Find out who will receive this year's prize in economic sciences on 12 October.
Find out who will receive this year's prize in economic sciences on 12 October.
September 21, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Man, the Nobel Prize woke up and just wanted to trash Political Science
There was no internet in the 90s uhhhh excuse me have you met geriatric millennials?
I guess that explains Goldstein too. It was the nineties and Jews simply did not exist in the UK. There was no one to ask.
September 21, 2026 at 4:08 PM
There was no internet in the 90s uhhhh excuse me have you met geriatric millennials?
All of these are bad ideas especially when you're a member of the party that has a majority and could constrain the behavior of the president that caused these conditions.
September 21, 2026 at 4:04 PM
All of these are bad ideas especially when you're a member of the party that has a majority and could constrain the behavior of the president that caused these conditions.
One major challenge is getting parties to understand this so they change their long-term strategic thinking.
Rather than move money out of the party towards consultants, they can invest that money into changing the structural/institutional conditions that have a larger effect on electoral outcomes
Rather than move money out of the party towards consultants, they can invest that money into changing the structural/institutional conditions that have a larger effect on electoral outcomes
a lightbulb went on for me when @gelliottmorris.com (I think) pointed out that the problem for consultants with broad structural explanations of electoral outcomes is that you can’t control those factors so there’s not much for a consultant to do
bell curve meme where the gibbering moron and the wizard correctly identify "it's the economy stupid" vs the idiot consultant and substacker class feverishly trying to explain how the GOP is actually right about culture war issues
September 21, 2026 at 3:50 PM
One major challenge is getting parties to understand this so they change their long-term strategic thinking.
Rather than move money out of the party towards consultants, they can invest that money into changing the structural/institutional conditions that have a larger effect on electoral outcomes
Rather than move money out of the party towards consultants, they can invest that money into changing the structural/institutional conditions that have a larger effect on electoral outcomes
Sorry, we're not 38 anymore, we're all 40 (tomorrow for me)
Everyone on Bluesky is the target demo for this piece, because everyone on Bluesky is 38.
September 21, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Sorry, we're not 38 anymore, we're all 40 (tomorrow for me)
Gonna need some water for that burn, but all he's got is algae
President Trump is 0-2 against pools.
BREAKING: TV pool will not be providing coverage of presidential events until further notice b/c of CNN's ban, pool chair and FOX News Washington Bureau Chief Bryan Boughton said.
It's effectively a boycott by the fellow members — ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX:
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
It's effectively a boycott by the fellow members — ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX:
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
September 21, 2026 at 2:47 PM
Gonna need some water for that burn, but all he's got is algae
Reposted by Darin Self
President Trump is 0-2 against pools.
BREAKING: TV pool will not be providing coverage of presidential events until further notice b/c of CNN's ban, pool chair and FOX News Washington Bureau Chief Bryan Boughton said.
It's effectively a boycott by the fellow members — ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX:
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
It's effectively a boycott by the fellow members — ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX:
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
September 21, 2026 at 2:36 PM
President Trump is 0-2 against pools.
Oil is down 5% today because it can only good happen
* UKMTO: RECEIVED A TIME LATE REPORT OF AN INCIDENT INVOLVING LPG TANKER TRANSITING OUTBOUND OF STRAIT OF HORMUZ
* UKMTO: A MASTER HAS REPORTED AN LPG TANKER HAS BEEN HIT BY DEBRIS FROM UNKNOWN PROJECTILES
@reuters.com
* UKMTO: A MASTER HAS REPORTED AN LPG TANKER HAS BEEN HIT BY DEBRIS FROM UNKNOWN PROJECTILES
@reuters.com
September 21, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Oil is down 5% today because it can only good happen
MBS got everything he paid for
NYT: “For now, Trump decided not to join Saudi strikes on Yemen”
September 21, 2026 at 2:14 AM
MBS got everything he paid for
Reposted by Darin Self
congratulations to everyone on reinventing Worse Cable
Disney+ has altered its user agreement to clarify that ads will be allowed on all subscription tiers. https://bit.ly/4hhOjBo
September 21, 2026 at 12:52 AM
congratulations to everyone on reinventing Worse Cable
Yeah, you touch that stove. Both hands.
September 20, 2026 at 6:22 PM
Yeah, you touch that stove. Both hands.
Reposted by Darin Self
no amnesty
It’s not “third-country deportation,” it’s an extraordinary rendition, complete with torture and enforced silence by the “host” country’s thugs. And it’s a direct consequence of never imposing punishment on the CIA for doing this during the War on Terror.
A Central African Hotel Has Become a Nightmare Prison for U.S. Deportees
Witnesses say men were hooded and beaten in Equatorial Guinea. The autocratic government there is a partner in President Trump’s deportation program.
www.nytimes.com
September 20, 2026 at 2:58 PM
no amnesty
Hah, this is slide #1 in my qualitative methods course
Assessing causes of effects and assessing effects of causes are not the same question
September 20, 2026 at 2:46 PM
Hah, this is slide #1 in my qualitative methods course
Reposted by Darin Self
1) Every damn things he's built without Congressional authorization gets demolished on the first day.
2) Christ, he's like a 7-year old. "Oh yeah? Well MY arch is going to be a FORTRESS with GUNS and DRONES and LASERS, you'll be able to CONTROL THE WHOLE CITY from there."
2) Christ, he's like a 7-year old. "Oh yeah? Well MY arch is going to be a FORTRESS with GUNS and DRONES and LASERS, you'll be able to CONTROL THE WHOLE CITY from there."
September 20, 2026 at 12:00 PM
1) Every damn things he's built without Congressional authorization gets demolished on the first day.
2) Christ, he's like a 7-year old. "Oh yeah? Well MY arch is going to be a FORTRESS with GUNS and DRONES and LASERS, you'll be able to CONTROL THE WHOLE CITY from there."
2) Christ, he's like a 7-year old. "Oh yeah? Well MY arch is going to be a FORTRESS with GUNS and DRONES and LASERS, you'll be able to CONTROL THE WHOLE CITY from there."
So, just more bombing? That'll surely do it this time.
CNN: US is preparing a large-scale military operation against Yemen's Houthis in retaliation for their strikes on Saudi Arabia, with the Camp David meeting held to review Yemen strike options, shortly before Trump left for the White House.
September 20, 2026 at 4:23 AM
So, just more bombing? That'll surely do it this time.
Reposted by Darin Self
I guess this is what happens when you spend $2B buying a US president without reading the reviews that would have told you it was unreliable and likely defective.
Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed that they hit “sensitive sites” in the Saudi capital, as a plume of black smoke was seen coming from near Riyadh’s international airport.
Houthis claim attacks on ‘sensitive sites’ in Saudi Arabian capital
Video footage showed a large plume of black smoke rising from an area near Riyadh’s international airport.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 19, 2026 at 10:47 PM
I guess this is what happens when you spend $2B buying a US president without reading the reviews that would have told you it was unreliable and likely defective.
Reposted by Darin Self
You're in charge of a war that you're losing, the Houthi are on the march to Riyadh, you've run the Navy ragged, you've lost almost all your bases in the Middle East, you're out of missiles (mostly) that you need in case China steals a march on Taiwan...and you're at a fucking football game.
September 19, 2026 at 11:01 PM
You're in charge of a war that you're losing, the Houthi are on the march to Riyadh, you've run the Navy ragged, you've lost almost all your bases in the Middle East, you're out of missiles (mostly) that you need in case China steals a march on Taiwan...and you're at a fucking football game.
Pete Hegseth, constantly getting the powerful to fail against inferior opponents
September 19, 2026 at 10:46 PM
Pete Hegseth, constantly getting the powerful to fail against inferior opponents
Remember folks, causal inference always requires comparison to the appropriate counterfactual.
Comparative and counterfactual analysis are good antidotes to the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy.
September 19, 2026 at 2:14 PM
Remember folks, causal inference always requires comparison to the appropriate counterfactual.
Reposted by Darin Self
Comparative and counterfactual analysis are good antidotes to the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy.
September 19, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Comparative and counterfactual analysis are good antidotes to the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy.
Just trying to imagine what the GOP would have done if Biden or Obama had lost the most expensive piece of military equipment to China.
September 18, 2026 at 8:13 PM
Just trying to imagine what the GOP would have done if Biden or Obama had lost the most expensive piece of military equipment to China.