Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Their shamelessness is their super power.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

A fool as well as an oath-breaker.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

Is trump is trying to break black America over his knee? signs point to ‘yes’.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

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Proud Democrat Open Thread: Madam Vice-President

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Victoria Brownsworth, at Philadelphia Gay News — “Black History Month: White Democrats Have a Kamala Harris Problem”:

… Replacement theory — the concept that Western elites, sometimes manipulated by Jews, want to “replace” and disempower white Americans — is a prominent conspiracy among white conservatives, particularly MAGAs.

It is this panoply of racist theories and their historical foundational legacy that underpins so much political discourse in the U.S. It’s also, arguably, behind the ongoing demand among white male pundits and some Democratic strategists to get President Biden to step out of the 2024 campaign or at the very least, change vice presidents to a white man, like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, or even a white woman, like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Headlines like “Democrats have a Kamala Harris problem” and “Democrats’ weird answers on Kamala Harris” and “The Kamala Harris Problem” and “The Case for Biden to Drop Kamala Harris” abound — unprecedented in recent American politics.

The anti-Kamala caucusing has only escalated since 2020 when Biden was vetting vice presidential candidates. White male Democrats — the smallest voting bloc in the Democratic “Big Tent” — have not voted majority Democratic in any national election since LBJ passed that legislation, which was widely perceived as making him a “race traitor.” Yet, they still feel entitled to speak over and through Black women, who are the largest Democratic voting bloc.

The last all-white, all-male ticket in the Democratic party was in 2004 with John Kerry and John Edwards. That is also the first time Democrats have lost the popular vote since 1988…

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A place for everyone, and everyone in their place

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The Republican Party is more diverse than it once was, especially in places like Florida and Texas. But during a “thank you” call with supporters yesterday, failed presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said that while the party welcomes votes from racial and ethnic groups that fall outside the party’s solid vanilla core, those voters should be prepared stay in the back of the bus: (NBC)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told backers of his unsuccessful presidential bid Wednesday that former President Donald Trump should not play “identity politics” when picking a 2024 running mate.

“Now we have a diverse Republican Party. I want everybody in the fold, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t want people representing 10, 15% of the party being in the driver’s seat,” DeSantis said on a call with supporters, including those who had committed to serving as delegates for him at this year’s Republican National Convention, according to audio obtained by NBC News.

“So I would want somebody that, if something happened, the people that voted us in would have been pleased to know that they’re going to continue the mission,” DeSantis added. “I’m not sure that those are going to necessarily be the criteria that Donald Trump uses. … I have heard that they’re looking more in identity politics. I think that’s a mistake. I think you should just focus on who the best person for the job would be, and then do that accordingly.”

Wow. Okay, thanks for clarifying that.

NBC talked to one Republican who was on the call and who noted that invitees were people who had been recruited as DeSantis delegates for the 2024 convention. Given the timing, that person suspects DeSantis is keeping in touch in case the Trump campaign implodes before the GOP gathering in Milwaukee.

Could be! The Trump campaign wasn’t amused at the speculation:

“Ron DeSantis failed miserably in his presidential campaign and does not have a voice in selecting the next vice president of the United States,” Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in response.

On point for once. Open thread!

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On The Road – frosty – 3rd Annual National Park/COVID Challenge Part 2 – Lassen Volcanic National Park

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frosty

Here’s another visit where our travel schedule didn’t fit the National Park schedule. The scenic park road goes from 6,700 ft to 8,500 ft elevation and the park gets up to 30 ft of snow, so the road usually doesn’t open for traffic until June. There’s a loophole, though. Anything that’s plowed and passable is open to hikers and bikes. So we unloaded our eBikes and headed up (1,800 ft climb) for about eight miles.

Once we got past the first mile from the Visitor Center we only saw half a dozen hikers and five other bikes. And to be honest, even if we’d been there in summer we might not have done the visit much differently. Other than one nature trail there weren’t any hikes that we were prepared to tackle. So a traffic-free ride at our own pace was just as good or better.

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On The Road - frosty - 3rd Annual National Park/COVID Challenge Part 2 - Lassen Volcanic National Park 9
Lassen Volcanic NP, CA

Sulphur Works. Fumaroles, mudpots, and boiling springs, driven by groundwater heated by magma. This picture is one of the mudpots.

Late Night Open Thread: The Haley 2028 Campaign

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This is, IMO, an acceptably anodyne GOP response to the Alabama ruling. Whatever the retrograde revanchists might choose to believe, for every LGBT+ couple or unacceptable older woman trying for a family they ‘don’t deserve’, there are at least a dozen anxious normie couples who’ve cleaned out their 401ks, mortgaged their homes, and GoFundMe’d their families. The original petition was brought by three couples who wanted compensation for the accidental loss of their stored embryos. The ruling is already screwing up the plans & the lives of Alabama residents and their doctors, but insisting that frozen embryos are not just tissue is not a stance that will harm Haley’s chances, especially among Republican voters.

This remains the real problem for Haley, during this particular electoral cycle:

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War for Ukraine Day 728: President Zelenskyy Issues a Call for Unity

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A screen shot of NEIVANMADE's painting commemorating the Holodomor. The painting is of a loaf of brown bread with a candle in its center on a table or ledge in fromt of a window. Outside the window it is dark, but the shapes of people can be seen through the glass. "1932 - 1933" is above the top of the window. Below the table is the word "GENOCIDE".

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Just two quick housekeeping notes. First, today was a very long day, so tonight’s update will be brief(er). Second, almost every night for the past week someone in comments has asked if I’ve covered something or linked to it with an excerpt after asking if I’ve covered it. Every one of these was dealt with in a preceding update. I realize there’s a lot of material crammed into each of these updates and it is easy to lose something in the deluge, but please check before doing this. Also, if I’ve not covered something, it’s because I’m either saving it for another night or waiting to see further confirmation.

Splash one more Russian bandit:

There was a question last night about what weapons system Ukraine is using to bring down these Russian fighters and fighter bombers. The most likely answer are the Patriot batteries, which I think is what Jay suggested in a reply comment last night. If you all remember back to 2003 and 2004 in Iraq the US led Coalition Patriot batteries took out about a dozen F-16s in the space of a year and a half. I don’t remember the exact number. The reason for this was a flaw in the targeting software that made it impossible for the system to distinguish between an incoming enemy missile and a F-16. They eventually got a software patch and that solved the problem. But the system is certainly capable of being used as an anti-aircraft platform.

In his daily address today President Zelenskyy issued a call for unity to the leadership of Poland and Europe. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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Wednesday Evening Open Thread

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Not much news to report- perfect sunny day until about 4pm when it showered. Rain and the approaching sunset have me about ready for bed.

Joelle is feeling a bit better, thank you.

Really, that’s it. I would highly recommend this Rick Perlstein piece on Israel.

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Say It (Over and Over Again)

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I was browsing for a podcast to listen to at the gym and this turd popped up in my feed:

Say It, Over and Over Again

This is his second week on this fantasy topic.  I’ll help Ezra out with a few pictures showing how it would work.  One possibility:

Say It, Over and Over Again 1

Here’s another:

Say It, Over and Over Again 2

At this moment, the top two stories on the NYT’s website are about China and AI, and the possibility of a Russian nuclear weapon going into orbit.  At the Post, we have Trump’s plan for militarized mass deportation of immigrants,[gift link] and the death of a non-binary 16-year-old after bullying in Oklahoma [gift link].  One of these papers captures the moment we’re in.  The other is spending time on bullshit (China’s behind on AI – unsurprising and not top of front page material IMO.  Pure, unadulterated speculation on Russia’s nuclear activity – again, not  top of front page material.) Ezra has clearly internalized his role in the wank-industrial complex.

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