Garrett Bucks

@garrettbucks

Writer/Organizer/Hopemonger. Read The White Pages (please) (). From Montana/now in Milwaukee. "We put on ZZ Top and turned it up, real loud"

268 Following1,932 Followers895 Posts

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Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· 4h

Begging national pundits to stop making broad pronouncements on local elections from a few viral clips (Hong's campaign was, in practice, more focused on joy and community than any I'd ever experienced). This is from @amandamarcotte.bsky.social but I'm seeing it in lots of places.

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· 1d

I mean, what did you expect?

sign that says "recycling center for strange objects."

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· 29d

Is this how I learn that Jersey Mike’s needs me to sacrifice one of my children?

An email from Jersey Mikes with the subject line “the hardest decision you’ll make today”

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Jul 9

If you actually give a crap about movement building, this is literally the last thing you should say to anybody (and that's before even laying on the gender/race dynamic, bc come on, a lot of white dudes in movement spaces don't need extra permission to be like "huh, maybe I AM the savior.").

The initial headhunters, Dan Moraff and Leanne Fan, and then a third out-of-state operative they called up to Maine — Morris Katz — told Mr. Platner he was “the one,” a “hero of the movement,” “a historical figure” who could be “leading a revolution,” according to half a dozen people with knowledge of their conversations.

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Jul 8

Listen, the only thing I know about this guy is a single profile, but based on only the information presently available to me I would very much like the guy having to figure out how Maine Dems are gonna pick a new nominee to be my new best friend. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/u...

Picture a Bernie Sanders supporting 70 year old Maine lawyer in a yellow LL Bean jacket, crossing his hands for a picture like a kindergartener. That's what you're seeing here. He's also in the woods on a fall day and it looks very pleasant! There's a river, I think. Pretty calm. Dude's got a camera. Probably pretty nice, given that he's a lawyer, but I also would bet a million dollars that he drives a 1987 Volvo.

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Jun 11

The real tragedy of media consolidation is that we don’t have investigative reporters for the moments we need them most- like figuring out all the logistics of Hargitay getting a shirt mid-game. How many extra novelty shirts does Taylor Swift carry at all times? Did she steal it from the 3rd Haim??

Hargitay: NOT IN A MATCHING HAIM SISTER SHIRT

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Jun 3

Fox News drops this bombshell report that @francescahongwi.bsky.social is cool as hell

A list of rad policies that Francesca Hong supports, on Fox News

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Jun 3

So, The Free Press has recently started its own reader forum/message board and you know what, may we all be blessed with fans who support us despite all logic, reason and facts to the contrary.

Two posts from The Free Press message board, the first begging Bari to start an NPR alternative, the second saying good riddance to bad rubbish (Scott Pelly)

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Jun 3

But it has been working! My God!! It's absolutely accomplished what oppositional mass mobilizations should! And yet, every few months, out of nowhere, there's another criticism of it in a major outlet for fully vibes based reasons.

THE OPINIONS: Why No Kings Isn't Working

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Apr 28

Man, I agree with everybody who loathes both this and every weird New York Times focus group article but also John's kind of a real one for this reflection specifically.

John, you said “apathetic.” Tell me why.

John, 62, Md., white, Republican, packaging specialist
I think the government is apathetic and not necessarily in tune with our concerns as citizens. But then I’m somewhat apathetic in that same regard because I’m just a guy. I vent with my friends, I vent with my family. In the scheme of things, is it going to move the needle? Probably not, but it’s nice.

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Apr 14

"I mean, we're not saying this, because that would be cruel, but also we're absolutely saying this."

On immigration, which has shaped recent elections around the world, Mr. Magyar called for even tighter restrictions than the Orban had government imposed. He said he would keep a border fence, repeal a guest-worker program and allow no guest workers from outside the European Union. Tisza’s party platform claimed that guest workers “drive down wages, inflate real estate prices and cause social problems.” (Unlike in the United States, crime rates among immigrants in Europe tend to be higher than among native citizens.) Immigration is vital to electability in many countries because it is the issue on which mainstream politicians have most sharply diverged from public opinion, permitting many more arrivals than voters want.

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Apr 14

[Hank Williams Jr. Voice] "ARE YOU READY FOR... the inevitable fire hose of reactionary centrist takes about how Hungary teaches us that the ONLY way to defeat fascism is to throw people under the bus?" www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/o...

The second lesson may be harder for Democrats — and center-left parties in Europe — to absorb. Mr. Magyar, who identifies as center right, won partly by avoiding the social progressivism that dominates elite left-leaning circles and alienates many voters. He ran as an economic progressive and a cultural moderate if not conservative.

He used patriotic symbols like the flag and benefited from having a last name that means “Hungarian.” (Imagine a candidate named “Joe American.”) He portrayed himself as a nationalist and suggested he might expel Slovakia’s ambassador over its treatment of Hungarians living there. He campaigned in rural areas that Mr. Orban’s previous challengers had overlooked. Mr. Magyar promised not to send troops or weapons to Ukraine. He declined to attend a Pride march in Budapest, making it harder for Mr. Orban to paint him as captive to L.G.B.T.Q. activists.

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Jan 30

Milwaukee rally right now. Neighbors passing around hand warmers. Restaurants passing out burgers and sandwiches. Beautiful.

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Jan 28

Well, even AI only thinks my writing is "solid," but they do think I'm building something real.

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Jan 24

It bears repeating. It’s easy to look at yesterday’s awe inspiring general strike being immediately followed by another murder and get discouraged, to assume that nothing we do matters because they have the guns. And yes, they have the guns. Tragically, they will keep using them, because that’s all they have. We will have to mourn again, goddamnit, but that doesn’t mean we’re not winning. They have no more moves. They’re losing support by the day. And this movement of millions of neighbors worldwide isn’t going anywhere. Keep mourning. Keep loving. Keep organizing. Take turns when necessary. Remember there are roles for everybody- some on front lines, some as support. Yes, they can do the worst to us, and they will. But it’s still true. They wish they had what we have. They have the guns, but we have each other.

In the name of all who’ve been victimized, let’s keep loving each other harder than they could ever hope to hate us.

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Jan 3

Hundreds out in Milwaukee with just a couple hours notice and ten degree temps.

A war is not the answer sign in front of a crowd of protestors with Palestinian and Venezuelan flags and various anti war signs. There’s snow on the ground and everybody looks super cold but there in solidarity

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Nov 25

thewhitepages.net/p/we-still-d...

The world remains unnecessarily cruel and imperfect, but not because the steps to build a better one are beyond our collective imagination. That’s just the lie we’ve been told. What Pink Poster Club is doing is all any of us need to do. Find your people. Hold them close. Encourage them to care for something beyond themselves. Make it easy for them to do so. Thank them when they show up, and reissue the invitation when they don’t. Keep moving forward, your arms outstretched.

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Nov 5

Flyover country loves socialist policies! And we have for a long time! thewhitepages.net/p/wherever-y...

Speaking of big ideas, do you know who isn’t actually afraid of free buses, universal childcare and publicly run grocery stores? Residents of the heartland. Across flyover country, there are communities actively experimenting with each and every one of those polices. I mean, my goodness, North Dakota still has a state run bank. My city, Milwaukee, kept electing socialist mayors in the midst of Mcarthyism (and we’re still deeply proud of the institutions those socialists built). Virtually every time a red state is given the opportunity to vote for a social democratic policy (like Medicaid expansion) through direct referendum, it passes easily. The problem isn’t that my neighbors are too racist and sexist and addicted to “voting against their interests” to deserve nice things. It’s that, when it comes time for high stakes elections, those nice things are rarely on offer. In fact, in many rural areas, there aren’t even any Democrats on offer at all. The party just doesn’t bother contesting seats.

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Oct 13

If you are wondering "is Woody Allen's tribute to Diane Keaton in The Free Press as cursed an artifact as I'd expect?... it's, um, worse? [TW: extremely insensitive discussion of eating disorders]

During the few years we lived together, she taught me so much. Example: Before I met her I never heard of bulimia. We’d go to Knicks games and after to Frankie and Johnnie’s for a steak. She’d put away a sirloin, hash browns, marble cheesecake, and coffee. Then we’d get home, and moments later she’d be toasting waffles or packing a huge taco with pork. I would stand there, stunned. This slim actress ate like Paul Bunyan. Only years later when she wrote a memoir did she describe her eating disorder, but when I was experiencing it, I could only think I’d never seen anyone eat like that outside of a documentary on whales.

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Sep 16

Hey fam, I'd love your feedback. Today was my first day on the job as the guy in charge of making JD Vance look and sound, like, extra fascist. Like cartoon Mussolini. The stakes were high, what with all the fascism we had to roll out today. How'd I do? Does he look craven and vainglorious enough?

JD Vance, sitting in front of a super creepy gilded fireplace and outstretching his hands like he wants to destroy a peasant village.

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Sep 15

All right, so we just crunched the numbers over here at the "what kind of regimes do stuff like this?" factory and the bad news is that our machine just preemptively fled the country.

“With God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, eliminate and destroy this network and make America safe again for the American people.”

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Sep 12

Whatever we have been through as a nation, I think we can all agree that what is most important is that we come together for fall pumpkin season

A tv screen with a picture of a broken barn and the Chet on “preparing for the fall pumpkin season after extreme weather challenges”

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Sep 9

I'm sorry, this is the first I am hearing that my beloved friends Clare Delish and Nigel Thistledown are "not real." Please respect my privacy during this difficult time for me, a dumb person.

Not real: The AI generated podcast hosts Clare Delish, Oly Bennett and Nigel Thistledown

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Sep 5

Trump to sign order renaming Defense Department as Department of War Peppa Pig to sign order renaming Cincinnati to Jacksonville Department of War signs order renaming Football to Physics

Trump to Sign Order Renaming the Defense Department as the Department of War
The president is turning back the clock to the name the agency held until shortly after World War II.

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Aug 29

Pretty sick quotes here.

He still thinks of community organizing as the ultimate test of endurance—the same long-haul, no-glory, high-pain threshold ethos that drew him to both punk rock and the Marines. “I know people who organized against the Vietnam War and today they live in a world that is in some ways objectively worse.”

“And they’re not bitter,” he says. “If you believe in a better world, you need to get right with the fact that you may never see it.” At this point, he sniffles. “And now I’m going to cry a little. I can do that because I’ve had a lot of therapy.”

“You have to build things for people to access. You have to build the apparatus for change, even if no one else shows up. If you don’t build the movement, it won’t be there when the day for action comes. It’s thankless. People live their entire lives building something they may never see succeed. And you do it anyway.”

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Aug 16

Wake up, babe. New Madonna/Whore dichotomy just dropped.

Grocery store magazine racks. The pioneer woman on the left, witches on the right

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Aug 11

Put your make-up on Fix your hair up pretty And meet me tonight At Mankato, Minnesota’s Abandoned

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Aug 6

Just imagining entire city blocks crammed with millions of cops, shoulder-to-shoulder, crammed on top of one another, and a GOP lawmaker being like "Ope! Looks like we can probably fit a couple more in there."

Headline saying "Republicans urge 'maximum' police officers on Milwaukee streets

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Aug 6

Hustle culture so bad I'm even getting pressured by the spam texters.

A spam text that reads "what have you been up to lately?"

Garrett Bucks@garrettbucks· Aug 5

Reader, I did in fact win