Grilled Cheese

ExploreLog inSign up

Derek Barker

@dwmbarker.bsky.social

582 Following1.7k Followers

Senior program officer for research initiatives, Kettering Foundation. Leads Kettering-Gallup Democracy for All Project annual survey. Studies democracy, virtue ethics, and Aristotle; Orioles fan. https://ketteringfoundation.substack.com/t/from-many-we

PostsRepliesMedia
@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 12, 2026, 1:51 AM

Deporting him would have a certain justice to it

@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 10, 2026, 11:24 PM

😲

@philipncohen.comOct 9, 2026, 12:42 PMReposted by @dwmbarker.bsky.social

Is America in a demographic crisis? Demographers don’t think so. I conducted a survey of U.S. demographers, and this is what I found: 3%: “The low birth rate is a demographic crisis” 25%: "serious concern” 53%: "should be monitored, but no intervention necessary” 20% :“not a problem at all.”

Fig. 1 The United States has a total fertility rate around 1.6. Which of these statements
comes closest to your view? N = 180

3.2

24.5

52.7

19.7

The low birth rate is a
demographic crisis

The low birth rate is a
matter of serious concern

The low birth rate should be
monitored, but no
intervention is necessary

The low birth rate is not a
problem at all

0.0

A rate below 1.6 would be
better

0

10

20

30
Percent

40

50

60
@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 10, 2026, 1:55 PM

Buying Russian diesel, sanctions on the International Criminal Court. US policy is now apparently to reward war crimes and make them harder to prosecute. Great day for Putin and Autocracy Inc. apnews.com/article/us-i...

@councilofdc.bsky.socialOct 9, 2026, 7:42 PMReposted by @dwmbarker.bsky.social

This is clearly not acceptable

859
@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 9, 2026, 7:55 PM

Having to import diesel from Russia due to the misguided war with Iran is just another data point illustrating America's decline (and Russia's rise) in global politics.

@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 9, 2026, 6:43 PM

Would boomers' pensions show up in their net worth mid-career though?

@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 9, 2026, 5:41 PM

Every member of Trump's family needs to be investigated with the same level of scrutiny and held to the same standard.

@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 8, 2026, 7:52 PMReposted by @dwmbarker.bsky.social

New on our blog: Kettering's Alex Lovit on how the Trump administration's third country deportations are trying to make the US an ethnostate, and why they will fail. ketteringfoundation.substack.com/p/third-coun...

@adamserwer.bsky.socialOct 9, 2026, 1:30 PMReposted by @dwmbarker.bsky.social

The takeaway from Bo French suggesting Asian students are “foreigners” and the tepid GOP response is that the Trump-era Republican Party is increasingly explicit about its belief that the only good immigrants, and the only real Americans, are white. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

The Afrikaner policy is illuminating, because it proves the catch-22 facing nonwhite immigrants: If you are poor, you are a moocher, and if you are gainfully employed, you are taking a job from a hardworking American. The only way to be a good immigrant is to be white and Christian.

Bo French, who is running for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, has taken this idea a step further, suggesting that the only way to be an American is to be white and Christian.
30
@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 9, 2026, 1:10 PM

Often you will also see a really well written article with a terrible headline. In my head there is a faction of resistance reporters communicating with each other on Signal figuring out how much they can get away with

@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 9, 2026, 12:47 PM

The comparison with ISIS is a great point.

@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 8, 2026, 7:57 PM

Also emphasized that he is a descendent of European Spaniards, with no mention of Cuba.

@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 8, 2026, 7:53 PM

More on our Substack: ketteringfoundation.substack.com/t/from-many-we

@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 8, 2026, 7:52 PM

New on our blog: Kettering's Alex Lovit on how the Trump administration's third country deportations are trying to make the US an ethnostate, and why they will fail. ketteringfoundation.substack.com/p/third-coun...

@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 8, 2026, 6:38 PM

So confused, I thought elites are bad.

@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 8, 2026, 6:15 PM

GOP might contest one or two close races. That is a far cry from refusing to seat an entire Congress, which isn't really thing and wouldn't be Johnson's job to do.

@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 8, 2026, 5:51 PM

Lazy journalism, tacit support, or a little of both?

@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 8, 2026, 3:45 PM

Also crazy that he talks about "the West" while everything the administration has done has been to systematically undermine cooperation with European allies and sabotage democracy in the US

@dwmbarker.bsky.socialOct 8, 2026, 2:13 AM

Yep. Smart move by the fascists to divide the liberal socialists and liberal capitalists from each other while capturing the illiberals from each. The new alignment is fascists vs liberals but the liberals haven't realized it yet.

Older posts
Terms of UsePrivacy PolicyCommunity StandardsHelpGet the app

Grilled Cheese is a product of Village Compute

Version devBuilt at: 2026-10-12 02:39:10 EDT