Hank Hoffman

@hankhoffmanct

Music—psychedelia, punk, garage rock, roots reggae, jazz, '60s soul, Beatles. Left/lib politics, NY Mets. 1950s cars w/ tailfins, midcentury modern design. Film noir, EC Comics. If you follow me & your feed makes me wonder why, I'll probably block you.

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Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· 3d

I ran into Ross at a Barnes & Noble in North Haven. He wasn't being eaten by zombies as far as I could tell. Also, our civics and education are in need of improvement—where isn't that true?—but hardly in a state of collapse.

Image of New York Times columnist Ross Douthat on a cellphone in a bokstore.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· 16d

Post a perfect album from the 90s.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· 16d

Post a perfect album from the 90s.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· 16d

Post a perfect album from the 90s.

The cover of the record Overcome By Happiness by Pernice Brother’s.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· 16d

Post a perfect album from the 90s.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· 28d

F*ck this idiot. I’m in Canada now and made this button to wear up here to disassociate myself from Trump’s BS. It gets appreciation from Canadians who read it.

Shows a political button on a beach towel. The button reads:

“I’m from the USA
I OPPOSE TRUMP
I LOVE CANADA
#RESIST

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· Jul 1

The word "THIS" in large red and blue block letters on a yellow background.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· Jun 26

Expand the Supreme KKKourt. Any Democrat who isn't vocally on board with radical court reform doesn't deserve election to the House or Senate.

Official photograph of the Supreme KKKourt, except the Republican (in)justices are wearing Ku Klux Klan hoods.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· Jun 19

Great point from @brianbeutler.bsky.social Substack: The rank dishonesty of Trump nominees about who won in 2020 would stand out EVEN MORE if senators followed up by asking about 2016 and 2024. What would those nominees say? Refuse to say Trump won? I doubt Trump's ego would tolerate that

Screenshot from Brian Beutler Substack column responding to reader questions.

Reads:

SS: Hi Brian, although I appreciate watching the Dems and media expose the bad faith of every Republican and Trump admin member/nominee who deflects or hedges on the 2020 presidential election winner, I wonder why more don’t ask them more forthrightly about the 2016 or 2024 winner and then skewer them more clearly to explain the difference?

I also wonder this! It’s why I was inordinately excited to see Tim Kaine take this tack, a bit clumsily, at a confirmation hearing just this week. As far as I know, I’m the only commentator who’s proposed this idea, so I’d like to think that Off Message played a role here. But if they made this more expansive line of questioning standard for all nominees, and voted unanimously against everyone who promotes the Big Lie through innuendo in this way, it’d expose the bad faith more clearly, and set the stage for rejecting the nominees outright, if Democrats retake the Senate in November.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· May 29

From @joshtpm.bsky.social, opining on how a Dem "Project 2029" can't be just a laundy list of different interest groups' policy hobbyhorses. It must be a *fighting* reform document that proposes tearing out right wing corruption & bad faith root & branch. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/what-...

Screenshot of paragraph from Josh Marshall's TPM post titled, ""What Exactly Should a Project 2029 Be?"

The paragraph reads:

"The American right built the current corrupt Supreme Court because they were confident that the center-left had no appetite or ability to fight back or require accountability and reform in response. They were mostly right. Supreme Court reform is important because you can’t have democratic self-government in this country with this Court’s corruption. That’s the main reason to do it. It also teaches a lesson. Don’t spend too much time creating a big corrupt shiny object. Because the Constitution creates the tools to break it. And we’ll break it. Say goodbye to your constitutional golden calf. Sucks to be you. It’s critical for Democrats to demonstrate that they’re just as able to use political power as Republicans, ready to be just as audacious, not just because it’s critical that they do so but because it’s the only real path back toward some kind of constitutional equilibrium."

These sentences are highlighted:

Supreme Court reform is important because you can’t have democratic self-government in this country with this Court’s corruption. That’s the main reason to do it. It also teaches a lesson. Don’t spend too much time creating a big corrupt shiny object. Because the Constitution creates the tools to break it. And we’ll break it. Say goodbye to your constitutional golden calf. Sucks to be you.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· May 23

Ultimate Enshittification.

Meme about search engines. Column on left headed by "...THEN". Underneath it reads, "SEARCH RESULTS." Beneath that, in a blue box with a black border, it reads, "THE THING YOU WANT."

Column on right headed by "...NOW." Underneath it says, "SEARCH RESULTS:"

Then in boxes below it reads:

"AI NONSENSE..."
"SPONSORED RESULT"
"SPONSORED RESULT"
"SPONSORED RESULT
"PEOPLE ALSO ASK"
"VIEW PRODUCTS"

Then beneath that is a blue box with a black border but it's buried so deep we can't read what it says.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· May 17

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· May 12

I'd say 1966, but for sure 1965 had a lot going for it. Such as the songs on this Top 40 from 9/18/65. You might like this site, which has PDFs of most issues of KRLA Beat, which was published 1964-68: krlabeat.sakionline.net/issues.html

Top 40 songs from LA AM radio station KRLA as printed in music newspaper KRLA Beat's September 18, 1965 issue. Number one is Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone."

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· May 12

Hands down, 1966. The greatest year in pop music. A time before the splintering of radio into tightly controlled & segmented genres, when the top 40 was integrated & diverse. Look at this Top 40 chart from 6/4/66. C'mon. It doesn't get much better than that!

Top 40 published in the music of LA AM station KRLA Beat for the week June 4, 1966 featuring dverse array of Black and white pop music by such performers (starting at #1 through #40) as The Mindbenders, Percy Sledge, The Rolling Stones, The Association, The Leaves, Love, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Mama & The Papas, Danny Hutton, The Walker Brothers, Bob Dylan, The Hondells, James Brown, The Animals, Herman's Hermits, The Supremes, Simon & Garfunkel, Same & Dave, The Palace Guard, Ike & Tina Turner, Chad & Jeremy, Gary Lewis & The Playboys, The Satisfactions, Jimmy Smith, Brian Wilson, The Kinks, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, Peter & Gordon, Dusty Springfield, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Jackie DeShannon, Bob Lind, The Four Seasons, The Standells, Robert Parker, Thee Midnighters, The Temptations, Roy Orbison, Spencer Davis Group, and Karen Small. Just a week or two before The Beatles's "Paperback Writer"/"Rain" proto-psychedelic 45 entered the chart.

C'mon. It doesn't get much better than that!

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· May 11

Got to be LBJ. Easily. Here I offer one week's worth of evidence, music-wise. The KRLA AM station's Top 40 for July 9, 1966. An incredible diversity of incredible pop music.

JPEG from the KRLA Beat music newspaper of the "KRLA Tunedex," the top 40 chart for Los Angeles AM radio station, KRLA on July 9, 1966. Flanked on ether side by KRLA DJs. The chart comprises adult contemporary (Frank Sinatra's "Strangers In the Night"), southern soul (Percy Sledge's "When A Man Loves a Woman"), Motown, proto-psychedelia (The Beatles' "Paperback Writer" and "Rain"), garage rock, doo wop, folk rock, British invasion, sunshine pop, girl group, frat rock, and more. Underneath the Top 40 chart is a clippable subscription form to the KRLA Beat.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· May 10

Share a horror movie that isn’t talked about enough.

Graphic for the Melania documentary. In black & white against blank white background, shows First Escort Melania Trump in a black pantsuit and stiletto heels sitting on a chair.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· May 8

Well, my parents bought Meet the Beatles for me and my younger brothers. But the first one that was MINE alone was The Beatles' Second Album.

Image of the front cover of the mono version of The Beatles' Second Album on Capitol Records.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· May 5

I've deleted my sarcastic post Charles took exception to. I post the screenshot here so folks following this thread understand what pissed him off. My sarcasm was in response to an anti-Platner post by Gaba that I unfairly took to mean he would prefer Collins winning if Platner is the nominee.

Since-deleted Bluesky post sarcastically asking of Charles Gaba "Have you contributed to Susan Collins's campaign?"

My unfair sarcasm was in response to an anti-Platner post by Gaba that I unfairly took to mean he would prefer Collins winning if Platner is the nominee.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· May 4

Republicans accusing their opponents of doing what Republicans are doing.

Meme of Buster Keaton in the silent comedy film The Projectionist with text, " Are you in the Projectionists Union? Because you do a lot of projecting.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· Apr 30

Hey, Connecticut peeps! Yesterday's Jim Crow Supreme Court decision gutting the Voting Rights Act is just another reason—one of far too many—to get out to May Day demonstrations tomorrow! No work! No school! No shopping!

Meme for May Day demonstrations in Connecticut. Across top, it reads No work • No school • No shopping.

Underneath that, "Connecticut May Day 2026"

Then, "Mobilize with us on May 1"

Beneath that are the times and locations for the three primary protests, Hartford (Bushnell Park, 10 AM), Willimantic (Jillson Square, 5 PM), and New Haven (Green, 12 PM Festival, 3 PM Speeches, 5 PM March).

Underneath that are the logos of dozens of sponsoring organizations.

At the bottom, it reads: More Info: linktree.ee/ctmayday

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· Apr 25

A few photos I shot at the Lemon Twigs performance at Westport Public Library in CT in April, 2024.

Color photo of the Lemon Twigs at Westport Public Library in CT April, 2024.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· Apr 22

Photo of 1958 Studebaker Golden Hawk in white with gold trim.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· Apr 14

When my son was young, he was an avid follower of Calvin & Hobbes. He would clip the strips regularly and keep them in a 3-ring binder. When Watterson ended the strip, Matt (@hoffmatthews.bsky.social) wrote a letter to the Hartford Courant newspaper lamenting the loss.

Photo of news clipping by 7-year-old child Matthew Hoffman lamenting the end of the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.

Under the heading "Comics for kids", he writes:

I am 7 years old and a big fan of "Calvin and Hobbes." I loved "Calvin and Hobbes" from the time Calvin used alien leaves for his leaf collection to the time he fought snow goons.

I have the books "Calvin and Hobbes" and "Something Under the Bed Is Drooling,' among others.

Plus I have made my own "Calvin and Hobbes" books. I cut out every "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip from when I heard it was going to end to when it ended. Calvin will never be sent to the principal's office or travel back in time again. His days are over. As for Hobbes, he has given up on pouncing on Calvin and moved to the jungle. The real "Calvin and Hobbes" treasure is all of the comic strips.

So you can imagine my sorrow at seeing it leave. To kids like me, the funnies aren't funny anymore.

Good comics are being taken away and bad ones are being put in their place. Now I'm stuck with "Rhymes With Orange," and I can never understand it.

I demand you put comics that kids will understand and like in place of lost ones or else kids won't read the comics anymore.

Signed, Matthew Hoffman
Wallingford

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· Apr 8

Angry goose meme with goose saying in top panel, "WHO CONTROLS THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ?" and in the bottom panel, "WHO CONTROLS THE STRAIT RIGHT NOW?"

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· Apr 7

Hey, @nytimes.com, when Trump has issued a genocidal threat that "a whole civilization will die tonight", WHY isn't that genocidal threat at the top of your website in GIANT declarative letters spanning the width of your web page? This is sanewashing to the nth degree.

Top of the New York times website at 9:49 EDT on April 7, 2026, when Trump has issued a genocidal threat that "a whole civilization will die tonight." For reasons that eacape me, that info is only available in regular type off to the left side rather than bannered and in big letters.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· Mar 30

I was at the No Kings rally & march in New Haven & a few of my friends on FB have raised questions or critiques about the No Kings mass rallies. These screenshots are my response.

Screenshot of Facebook post reading:

This is my response specifically to the critique that other countries—say, France, to name one example—take more radical action.

Most of those countries have completely different political cultures from the USA. They have a tradition of militant protest, militant unions, and sizable left and far left political parties. For example, general strikes are a muscle that's been exercised in the French public's recent memory.

None of that is true in the US, which I think is something many people who are impatient and dismissive of the No Kings efforts are not taking into account. This isn't just a political organizing task; it's just as much a political education task.

There were many positive things about yesterday's No Kings event in New Haven but one of the key ones was emcee Leslie Blatteau's pedagogical efforts to get attendees to think about next steps and about connecting with local grassroots groups. (Not surprising—Leslie's a teacher and president of the NHFT.) To that end, there were representatives of groups going through the crowd distributing info with QR codes to connect to online resources.

Screenshot of Facebook post reading;

As Leslie noted repeatedly—repetition is a good thing in political communication—the next big event is May Day, which is just over a month away. And the idea for May Day is, led by unions, to take it up a notch in terms of economic non-compliance.

The No Kings protests are huge visibility events. They're excellent for showing in dramatic fashion the breadth of this anti-fascist opinion and for being a gateway for people who may not have been engaged in protest before. But they are FAR from all that's happening. There's a ton of organizing and actions going on around the country all the time.

Let me repeat that: There are protests and organizing happening EVERY DAY in the country. The resistance to fascism isn't just a one-day thing every three months. No Kings is, IMO, highly useful but to act like it's all there is to the pro-democracy movement is just plain false.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· Mar 28

Heading out to the New Haven Green this afternoon to demand No ICE! No war! No kings! (I actually prefer “No dictators” but that doesn’t fit as easily on a sign.)

Hand drawn poster board protest sign with a big “NO” on the left and “ICE!”, “WAR!”, and “KINGS!” on the right.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· Mar 26

Made my poster today.

Hand drawn poster with a large NO on the right and, on the left, top to bottom, ICE! WAR! KINGS!

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· Mar 21

Michelle Cottle, @jamellebouie.net, David French in conversation on Trump's recklessness haunting us for a generation. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/o...

Screenshot of transcript from New York Times conversation between Michelle Cottle, Jamelle Bouie, and David French.

Cottle: So, how is this sitting with our NATO allies, and are we going to see a permanent-ish shift with global alliances?

French: I’m so glad you brought up that word, permanent-ish — which should be a word if it’s not. It’s really important for people to understand that he is breaking things you can’t fix. One of the things he’s breaking is our relationship with our NATO allies. Think of it from this standpoint: If you’re a defense planner, defense planners plan on the 20- to 25-, to sometimes 30-, 40-year time horizons. And so, if you’re planning, can you count on the United States of America? If you know, even if Trump loses, you’re one election away from another Trump-like figure? You would need a generation of rejection of Trump-like figures before you could reincorporate a consistent America into your defense planning.

Because the one thing you know, it’s not — in the United States, it’s not just Trump. It’s Trump and the 77, 78 million people who voted for him. And if you’ve got that constituency out there, that means America is not reliable. That is the message that has been sent. It’s the message that’s being absorbed, and it’s going to haunt us for a generation.

Hank Hoffman@hankhoffmanct· Mar 20

Yesterday I saw @jahimes.bsky.social on @msnownews.bsky.social talking about the Iran clusterfuck & he was good. But one thing he didn't do—& Dems almost never do—is tie the entire GOP to it rather than just Trump. Trump couldn't do this shit w/o the enabling of the entire Republican Party. Say it!