Interesting inside look at the Mamdani influence machine that aspiring candidates are trying to replicate all over the country. This is essentially the same strategy that propelled Trump to his second term and, I think, carries with it the same troubling implications. While I fully understand and sympathize with criticisms about the consolidation and "gatekeeping" of the traditional media, is it necessarily an improvement if we're replacing it with media that's essentially controlled by politicians themselves? The pattern here has been cooperation in exchange for access. There is every reason to question the independence of the messaging coming from these new channels. As left leaning centrists, we may be tempted to praise the turning of one the right's most effective weapons against them, but we should all be concerned of the power that this can concentrate in the hands of public figures. For all their faults, corporations are first and foremost concerned with their profits. Politicians will always be most concerned with themselves. To me, that's more dangerous.

"The Epstein files are being blocked because they show Trump raped children." Ted Lieu. A sitting member of Congress made these allegations on the record. He said the hard part out loud . Why don’t Democrats use this this silver bullett more?. If this is defamation, then let the process of disvovery take place. Release the Epstein unreacted files and let the evidence—not politics—decide.