Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

People are complicated. Love is not.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Fight them, without becoming them!

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / A Bunch of Pre-Superbowl Reads

A Bunch of Pre-Superbowl Reads

by | 140 Comments

This post is in: 

Let’s check in on the obliteration of trans identity under Trump:

First, Rep Mary Miller, an election denier, misgendered Rep Sarah McBride when recognizing her for a speech on the House floor.  McBride took it in stride and delivered a barnburner.  Miller got her Fox News hit.  Fuck her.

Second, Erin Reed has a good piece calling out the New York Times for saying, now, that Trump’s attacks on trans people are “shameful”, while consistently platforming anti-trans “just asking questions” views.  Fuck them.

Next, Garrett Graff has another update from the perspective of what the US press would write about a foreign country:

Two weeks into a fast-moving coup by a South African tech oligarch, the United States — which was already deep into planning for its 250th birthday next year — hangs suspended this weekend in a liminal state somewhere between the constitutional republic it has been for 249 years and an authoritarian regime akin to Europe’s infamous fallen democracy, Hungary.
Following the alarming purges of the security services last week and the successful capture of the national treasury and other federal agencies by technical junta forces loyal to centibillionaire Elon Musk, the country’s constitutional system seemed to awaken from slumber this week.

Although by Monday Musk reigned unquestioned as head of the government, he appears content to allow the country’s elected president, Donald Trump, to remain the ceremonial head of state, and overall the political situation seemed to stabilize as the week progressed. Amid widening protests by opposition leaders and the public, damning media reports, and a flurry of court orders that blocked or slowed some of the most controversial power grabs, the country even appeared — at least temporarily — to pull back from the abyss.

There’s a new Substack organized by Judd Leglum called Musk Watch that is pretty good. Here’s the This Week in Musk update.

I watched a couple of AOC’s stories on Instagram last night — they’ve disappeared now (that’s how they work) but she said that in her experience, calls to her Republican colleagues are noted, even if they pretend they’re not. So keep calling, even if your rep is a R.

Finally, thanks to commenter Walker for pointing out that the cut to the NIH grant indirect costs is already against the law after Ceremonial President Trump tried it in 2017.   I also forgot to mention this as one indicator that King Musk is going to defy court orders:

After a NY judge blocked DOGE access to Treasury data, Elon Musk just reposted a user who implied that the judge’s order should be defied ⬇️ 👇

“I don’t like the precedent it sets when you defy a judicial ruling, but I’m just wondering what other options are these judges leaving us…”

[image or embed]

— Anna Bower (@annabower.bsky.social) February 8, 2025 at 7:02 PM

Open thread.

(Edit: Forgot one — an examination of RFK Jr’s relationship with lifting and steroids. Such a fucking weirdo.)

(Edit2:  Forgot another one:  Marisa Kabas reports that the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children removed LGBTQIA+ materials from their site under a threat from King Elon’s administration.)

Reader Interactions

140Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    Elon Musk just reposted a user who implied that the judge’s order should be defied

    It’s good to raise awareness about what they’re talking about, but I hope we’re wary about being led to waste time and resources contemplating what they might do.

  2. 2.

    MomSense

    Like I said in an earlier thread. They already have access and we don’t know what they’ve already done with that access.
    Also there are a lot of rumors about what other access they have to other highly sensitive systems. We need a new type of blogroll for reliable sources of information.

  3. 3.

    E.

    @Baud: Mostly I agree, but this is a lawless group and I would like some space to talk about how we respond if they do simply defy court orders.

  7. 7.

    Starfish (she/her)

    Can some judge block Elon Musk from posting on Twitter or put more constraints on what he can say making him choose between being part of DOGE and shitposting? But I would like to see Musk die of Twitter withdrawal so banning him from posting would be best.

  8. 8.

    Baud

    @E.:

    That’s fine. IMHO “some space” often ends up resulting in dominating attention. That’s what I’m concerned about.

  10. 10.

    Will

    This feels more and more like the MisterMix personal blog with constant the sky is falling vibe.

    Not a good look for Democrats.

  12. 12.

    hitchhiker

    I’m just wondering what other options are these judges leaving us …

    How about you use the tools designed for making change (pass legislation!) instead of barging in with a buzzsaw?

    I dunno, fam. This feels like the whole ball game. The government is SUPPOSED to be a thing that takes time and effort and consensus and bargaining to change. It’s part of the bloody design. If we want — truly want — to give up on all that and just let it morph into a different system, let’s at least be honest about that.

    And let’s talk about the downsides of losing the whole “rule of law” concept.

  13. 13.

    sentient ai from the future

    @Will: yes, let’s focus on the personalities rather than the content. surely that will improve things. also, better “messaging” whatever the fuck that means.

  14. 14.

    sentient ai from the future

    @hitchhiker: if i cant just barge in with my failsonschtaffel and crowbar my way through, what good is it even to have a government, really?

  15. 15.

    Starfish (she/her)

    @Will: Your reply to this is saying that “Hey, I just don’t think trans issues are important.” Is that what you are trying to communicate?

  16. 16.

    Miss Bianca

    That article about RFK Jr and juicing, was pretty cool, actually. I appreciated it as a very, very low-level and laughably amateurish weight trainer myself.

    ETA: And also as someone who looks at juicing guys and botoxing women going, “you really, really don’t get that what *you’re* doing is *also* a form of ‘gender-affirming surgery’, do you?”

  20. 20.

    Jeffro

    I wonder if anyone’s told King Musk that one of his options is to comply with the law?

    Silly, I know, but it ought to at least be on the table.

  21. 21.

    Renie

    Read that Musk is spending $40million to run ads during the game. What a load of shyt those ads will be.

  23. 23.

    Elizabelle

    @@mistermix.bsky.social:  Pretty sure it’s Judd Legum (also of Popular Information)?  Or is there a Leglum out there too?

    “Glum” certainly fits the mood, watching Elon’s evisceration attempts.

    Thank you for the Musk Watch link.  Looks good.

    Substack is where accountability journalism is happening.  Strange, that.

  24. 24.

    sentient ai from the future

    @Will: so, is it that you think the information is important but the way it’s presented is distasteful somehow?

    i wonder if there’s a derisive term for that.

  26. 26.

    Will

    @sentient ai from the future: Nah, I just think his post makes us look like losers. I think it reinforces the fact we are losers.

    I say I don’t think the posts are a good look and I got a retard screaming at me that I must be anti trans when it was one of five topics MisterMix covered.

    Have a good rest of your day, I’m out.

  27. 27.

    Ten Bears

    50+ years of lifting weights, early 90’s Oregon State Champion, I never did go for steroids or any of those bulk-building powders, Mr Natural. But I’ve known plenty who did. It’s like meth (methamphetamine): it changes people, permanently. Not for the good …

  29. 29.

    ExPatExDem

    The second Iraq war forever destroyed any illusions I had about the NYT, WaPo, or really any legacy media being a voice for liberal values.  They are a pack of courtiers for the ruling class.

  31. 31.

    Citizen Alan

    @Will: I lol’d as the lack of self awareness  you show by using the word retard in a response to an accusation of anti trans bigotry before flouncing off like a petulant child.

  32. 32.

    RaflW

    I would love a clear eyed analysis of what, say, state Attorneys General could do to prosecute what sure looks like cybercrime. Haven’t Musk and “Bigballs” broken a bunch of state laws against data invasion, even if the computers in question are federal? The people whose data has been breached live in many blue-AG states that I sure hope have data privacy laws. IANAL so I don’t know wether federal law overrides state provisions in this situation.

    I’m legit freaked out that unvetted, unaccountable twerps have probably already accessed and illegally copied things like all our SSNs, other critical identification data, and our bank account numbers. It’s off the charts risky, and if the feds are all compromised, I want this prosecuted where ever possible. Do we have credible sources that can speak to this?

  34. 34.

    RaflW

    @Citizen Alan: I only (as of now) have three people pied. evers*re  (who maybe has skedaddled?), W*ll as of right now, and someone whose nym was ‘wil’. Are the latter two the same person, perhaps?

  36. 36.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    but she said that in her experience, calls to her Republican colleagues are noted, even if they pretend they’re not. So keep calling, even if your rep is a R.

    I’ve noticed some GOPers are getting positively whiny about it. That is a clear sign more calls are needed.

  37. 37.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @Will:

    Is this blog “The Democrats” such that people would come here to determine what “The Democrats” are all about?

    If that were true, this would be quite a bit more than an almost top 10,000 blog.

  38. 38.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Renie: One should not that is Musk who brags about being above marketing, spending $40 million on Superbowl adds.

  40. 40.

    Starfish (she/her)

    @Will:

    Did you just call me a r-slur for asking you what your point was with what you were saying? It seemed like you were either axe grinding about Mr. Mix in general or didn’t like the topic of the post.

  41. 41.

    Starfish (she/her)

    @Melancholy Jaques: This blog had broader political viewpoints in the past, and I think that having Mr. Mix here creates spaces for more political view points on the left. There are people here that try to police the left side of the left for being uncomfortable to them.

  44. 44.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    I heard part of an interview with a Dem rep (on MSNBC or CNN) while driving home yesterday and she referred to President Musk and First Lady Donald Trump, which is just about right, and I think more Dems should use this phrase. Maybe along with the Time magazine cover, Trump will get fed up with Musk. One can only hope.

  46. 46.

    Starfish (she/her)

    Here is an interview with Judith Butler. Lately, in interviews, her stuff is more accessible and less post-modernist.

    Q. It wasn’t just Trumpism. Some Democratic voices say it’s time to move beyond the issue of trans rights in areas like sports, which affect very few people.
    A. You could say that about the Jews, Black people or Haitians, or any very vulnerable minority. Once you decide that a single vulnerable minority can be sacrificed, you’re operating within a fascist logic, because that means there might be a second one you’re willing to sacrifice, and a third, a fourth, and then what happens?

  47. 47.

    Shalimar

    @Will: The sky is falling.  How do we deal with it?  I think mistermix’s posts continually focus on what we can do.  Also, too, who gives a shit about what a “good look for Democrats” is?  This isn’t a beauty contest.

  49. 49.

    ExPatExDem

    I can’t remember if I read this from someone here or somewhere else, but it really feels like we’re in the Back to the Future timeline where Biff stole the sports almanac.

  50. 50.

    BC in Illinois

    A pleasant surprise for Superb Owl Sunday.

    I am out of town, visiting Texas-based relatives. G’children and others are taking naps. Three of us in the living room, each at their own computer, carrying on random conversations and half-watching the Puppy Bowl. The Felon comes on, being interviewed by someone or other. I’m not sure whether to speak up or not; the moment’s going to pass soon anyway.

    The host relative looks up, says “Wait. Did someone change the channel? Oh, yeah — it’s Fox Sports.” And he immediately mutes the sound. A fine host-like move. And we go back to random conversations about concerts of the past.

  53. 53.

    Baud

    @Starfish (she/her):

    Some Democratic voices say it’s time to move beyond the issue of trans rights in areas like sports, which affect very few people.

     

    There was an actual vote on this very thing in the House. Two Texas Dems voted for the restrictions. Every other Dem voting voted against it. There’s your “some.” (At least at the federal level.)

  56. 56.

    Baud

    @BC in Illinois:

    I hate the presidential interview during the Superbowl even with good presidents.

    The president as head of state doesn’t work well with our current intense polarization.

  57. 57.

    Baud

    @zhena gogolia:

    It’s what tempers my anger at everything Trump and Musk are doing. No matter how bad things are, liberals and leftists continue to consume “both sides” content like its ambrosia.

  58. 58.

    Geminid

    Rep. Mary Miller first won election to Illinois’ 15th CD in 2020. After redistricting, she won a primary against 13th CD Rep. Rodney Davis. Springfield Democrats had redrawn the 13th to favor Democrats, and Rep. Nikki Budzinski took Davis’s place.

    That was some slick gerrymandering by Illinois Democrats. The new 13th CD stretches one or two counties wide from East St. Louis through Springfield to Champaign, 180 miles away. The new 15th CD runs from.the Mississippi River north of St. Louis all the way to the Indiana border, turns south and then returns to the Missippi south of St. Louis. It wraps around the 13th CD like a horseshoe.

    New York Democrats tried a far less severe gerrymander that same year, but got jammed by the state Court of Appeals. But Illinois had a different court, and the underlying districting law may have been different as well.

    Nikki Budzinski is one of the Democratic Representatives who has not developed a national reputation and has not tried to. But she was a key player in Jay Pritzker’s first campaign and his first administration. Budzinski was Chief of Staff for Biden’s OMB director when she resigned to run for Congress. At the time, Republicans complained that Springfield Democrats had drawn the district with Budzinski in mind, and they probably were right.

  62. 62.

    zhena gogolia

    @Baud: It’s what got us here.

    I’m not feeling the “resistance” this time. All we had to do was stay strong from June to November. That was too hard.

    ETA: Nevertheless, I’m grateful to elected dems like Murphy and Crockett who are speaking out. There are a lot of them. It’s just hard for them to do anything without the levers of power. Which we denied them.

  63. 63.

    different-church-lady

    @Will: Guess who lost the last election, pal.

    Guess who’s gonna lose the next one (should there be one) if we don’t figure it out.

  65. 65.

    Lapassionara

    I would like to be a better ally of trans people, but I don’t think I have enough information to jump into arguments and be effective. I am reluctant to start looking without guidance. Can anyone give me some ideas about where to start?

  69. 69.

    Elizabelle

    @Nukular Biskits:  Hello there.

    We had quite a discussion of the pronunciation of   word “nuclear” in the morning thread.  There turns out to be a Wiki entry for “Nucular.”  Who knew?

  72. 72.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    @Renie: My lunatic book of faces follow seems to think the commercials will highlight all the corruption doge has found.

  73. 73.

    Will

    @Starfish (she/her): Yes, I called you a retard because I found your reaction to be stupid. You accused me of be anti trans, for what? Saying I think the blog is overplaying the sky is falling angle the first two weeks of the next four years. People are already burned out and turning the dial to 11 right now just makes people leave the party.

    I believe in women’s rights, I believe the color of your skin should have nothing to do with how you are treated, I think labor needs to be strong in the face of over greedy CEOs, and I liked to call people that say stupid things, retard . Get used to it folks. There’s tens of thousands of white guys like me in states like Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina, and Arizona. You can either be a retard about it or get over it and win.

    Your choice.

    edit by WG: racial, ethnic, and other slurs, including the one you used, are not acceptable on Balloon Juice.

  74. 74.

    zhena gogolia

    @Lapassionara: I don’t really get what extensive education you need to defend the rights of every human being to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

    ETA: I’m not trying to be combative, but this just seems simpler to me than it does to you.

  76. 76.

    Dangerman

    Is the POS D-I-L doing anthem? Whole Family couldn’t spell sham or shame if you spotted them the s, h, a, m (and e). My guess? They suck at Scrabble.

  79. 79.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    My contribution to any Super Bowl discussion is that my DIL’s co-worker’s son (Trevor Keegan) is on the Eagles team as a rookie. His mom is the school nurse where my DIL teaches. She’ll be at the game because family gets tickets. Trevor mostly rides the bench but my son tells me that if the Eagles win, Trevor will be the first person to be on the National Championship team (Michigan) one year, and the Super Bowl winners the next year.

  80. 80.

    Miss Bianca

    @Will: Figures that a white guy would feel like he was entitled to throw around a word like “retard” here to describe another commenter. Get stuffed, asshole.

    And if your next predictable move is to whinge about being called an asshole, spare us.

  81. 81.

    frog

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    Agreed. But my point (admittedly implicit) was that if Vance is saying it today, Trump will be acting on it tomorrow.

    This is bending very sharply toward rebellion against the Constitution.

  82. 82.

    Jeffro

    @Sister Golden Bear: Vance seems to (purposefully) not understand that if he doesn’t like a judge’s ruling, he can appeal it…potentially all the way up to SCOTUS.

    But dismissing it out of hand?  As Liz Cheney put it on BlueSky earlier today, “You don’t get to rage-quit the Republic just because you are losing. That’s tyranny.”

  86. 86.

    Lyrebird

    @Lapassionara:

    transequality dot org and this substack from Erin Reed both have what seems to be very carefully checked info.

    I am just another random commenter, so who knows…  I do also appreciate Gov. Cox of Utah, highly conservative person who gives a fk about actual kids, who wrote this.

  87. 87.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @WaterGirl: That’s outstanding, WG!

    I have advocated that each of us has to cultivate our own credible sources and resources; to listen to those people and outlets whose judgement we trust.*

    *This isn’t digital, on or off… it’s very much a spectrum that changes based on the topic at hand

  89. 89.

    sentient ai from the future

    @Will: ah, so you were indeed trying to throw vulnerable people under the bus, you just were uncomfortable about making that too obvious. Thanks for the clarification, chupamierdando basura

  92. 92.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Starfish (she/her): Thank you for that link, I shall be looking for more of their work.

    What they say there is such a simple thing; but it should be a bedrock principle.

    We abandon no one. Even if that’s the only way for the Democratic Party to get more of the white vote.

  93. 93.

    different-church-lady

    @frog:

    This is bending very sharply toward rebellion against the Constitution.

    Already in the rear-view mirror.

  94. 94.

    different-church-lady

    @Jeffro:

    “You don’t get to rage-quit the Republic just because you are losing. That’s tyranny.”

    The problem is they didn’t lose.

  95. 95.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @RaflW: there should generally be state data protection laws as well as federal (this is not quite my area of legal expertise but I think it’s the sort of law where you can have both state and federal laws applicable, and could sue in either state or federal court).

    The tricky thing is that you could file the lawsuit in state court and the defendant could try to get it transferred to federal court (have to have defendant and plaintiff being citizens/incorporated in two different states and have to have a threshold dollar amount if it’s a civil case, or the federal law has to explicitly preempt state law) So if you are a resident/citizen of a blue state or you say, have a bank account with a blue state credit union, or own property in a blue state, you would be able to sue in state court where you reside or hold property or have the bank account. Note that federal courts have a crowded docket and they are generally more than happy to kick the ball back over to the state court to sort out.

  96. 96.

    Miss Bianca

    @Elizabelle: No, he’s an asshole, and as far as I’m concerned, he’s apparently itching to be ban-hammered. I wonder if one of the front-pagers would be so kind as to oblige him.

  97. 97.

    ArchTeryx

    @Elizabelle: No, just another fucking troll. They always show up to mock us when we’re down because that’s all the modern Right knows what to do.

    And too many of us fall for it rather than just pie or banhammer the shitbirds.

  98. 98.

    different-church-lady

    Hmmmm… I seem to remember there was a policy document posted here not to long ago…

  99. 99.

    Will

    @sentient ai from the future: I love the username, I use Your Future Robot Overlord in some games. Could you tell me who am I advocating throwing under the bus?

    Every time I step into the comments section it proves fascinating. It’s not like dunking on MAGAtards on Twitter, but it does produce similar feelings.

  100. 100.

    different-church-lady

    @Will:

    Could you tell me who am I advocating throwing under the bus?

    You seem to be working on yourself at the moment.

  101. 101.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Lapassionara: “How does a trans persons mere existence negatively affect your life? How does the mere existence of anyone negatively affect your life?”

  103. 103.

    Lily

    (can’t seem to fix the spacing on this)

    Mr. Backlash, by Nina Simone.   

    Lyrics by Langston Hughes

    Mr. Backlash, Mr. Backlash
    Just who do you think I am
    You raise my taxes, freeze my wages

    And send my son to Vietnam

    You give me second class houses
    And second class schools
    Do you think that all the colored folks
    Are just second class fools

    Mr. Backlash, I’m gonna leave you
    With the backlash blues

    When I try to find a job
    To earn a little cash
    All you got to offer
    Is your mean old white backlash

    But the world is big
    Big and bright and round
    And it’s full of folks like me
    Who are black, yellow, beige and brown

    Mr. Backlash, I’m gonna leave you
    With the backlash blues
    Mr. Backlash, Mr. Backlash
    Just what do you think I got to lose
    I’m gonna leave you
    With the backlash blues
    You’re the one will have the blues
    Not me, just wait and see

  104. 104.

    caphilldcne

    @Miss Bianca: per my earlier comment, I actually found the comment policy revised in September and followed the policy and have reported to WG the terms this commenter has violated and doubled down on. And I’m sure she’s noted him already. Per the policy, WG I’m sure will bring it up with Cole who has the final decision. I believe the commenter to be a troll and at this point feel like the way to respond is to grey rock the commenter.

  105. 105.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @zhena gogolia: Right witchu.

    ”Every sophont* has the inherent right to self defnition and self determination.”

    (*currently humans, but I think the great cetaceans and the great apes and quite probably alien-ass octopuses are sophonts whose rights should be observed)

  107. 107.

    Will

    @caphilldcne: I’m not going to cry if I get banned from wading into the comments five or six times a year.

    The loss is honestly yours. Just creates a blind spot to blinking warning lights on parts of the coalition. Hate me, loathe me, you will still need me every election.

  109. 109.

    Dman

    @Will: Wow nice usage of the r word. That will reinforce your opinion for sure.

    No apology for the use of the word is telling.

  112. 112.

    Ruckus

    I now have 2 in the pie filter.

    I also know that it works beyond just blocking them for me because if enough of us do it they do leave. But the most I’ve ever had in at one time was 4. And I’ve been here for quite a few years.

    The nice thing is that if I’m ready to block someone there are seemingly always a fair number of us doing so and they leave reasonably soon after.

  113. 113.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Will:

    @caphilldcne: I’m not going to cry if I get banned from wading into the comments five or six times a year.

    The loss is honestly yours. Just creates a blind spot to blinking warning lights on parts of the coalition. Hate me, loathe me, you will still need me every election.

    Definitely a white man.

    Only a white man could exhibit such cluelessness and such arrogant entitlement.

    No wonder 2/3rds of you voted for Trump.

    “Lord grant me the confidence of a mediocre white man”

  114. 114.

    Ruckus

    @Miss Bianca:

    As I’ve stated above this comment, I’ve pied very few over the years and they leave rather quickly if enough of us do so, because they can’t create the level of bullshit they want.

    It’s like a silent wave goodby.

    Or, think of it as the web version of the middle finger.

    Either way works.

  115. 115.

    Starfish (she/her)

    @different-church-lady: You and Baud latched onto this, but a lot of Democratic politicians were hedging on supporting gay marriage for a long time. There is no reason to expect them to be much better on trans rights, but I was happy to see what Baud posted about what House Democrats had done.

    Even if it was not the politicians, in the comments here, there have been various people strategizing about WHICH groups should be sold out so Democrats should win again.

    Given all that, I think the commenters here are more racially diverse than they have ever been.

  118. 118.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Will: is the sky Not falling?
    if the sky is falling, best to talk about it.

    denial is not a good look. Plenty of us see, have seen, what denial can do.

    Eta Oh, I see, you guys already addressed this. I’ll add in that name-calling and throwing negative insults at each other here, seems vile; only useful for venting about politicians and leaders.

    Time for pie.

  120. 120.

    Shalimar

    @Elizabelle: He’s either a Russian shit-stirrer trying to pit people against each other, or an ignorant buffoon.  I am not sure there is a difference that matters.

  121. 121.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @different-church-lady: such an apt point.

    I’m thinking of my cat, R.I.P., who played catch-release-catch with a baby bunny once, and we all heard the sounds the bunny made. We were kids, and we cried listening to it.

    Also, years later, my cat knew it was me holding the stick with the string and fake mousy, so he started going for my hand. Smart cat, not easily fooled. He knew what the game was, and wouldn’t play.

  123. 123.

    Soprano2

    @Sister Golden Bear: They’re being really, really open about the fact that they want to operate like a dictatorship. These same “scholars” didn’t say one word when the courts stayed Biden’s EO’s.

  124. 124.

    different-church-lady

    @Gloria DryGarden:

    my cat knew it was me holding the stick with the string and fake mousy, so he started going for my hand.

    Christ, if only our congress critters were that smart.

  126. 126.

    schrodingers_cat

    @zhena gogolia: Neither am I. He was elected even after letting people know what he wanted to do. For the second time. I am all out of outrage.

    I am also tired of the  non-stop Dem bashing. Yelling at the Ds to DO SOMETHING. But when they actually DO SOMETHING, its crickets. This is in supposedly liberal spaces.

  127. 127.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @different-church-lady: indeed. Although, we’re all trying to figure out which threats and (feinted) motions are shiny objects to distract us from the other actions or more import.

    If this were a novel I was reading, and this much happened in the first few pages,  would put it down and find something else to read. If the writer can’t respect me enough to provide clarity and decent pacing, I don’t want to pass the time with them.

    Its very sad that this is not fiction, and that they likely want us to turn away in overwhelm.

    For the poetry-inclined, I wrote a poem about this, over on blue sky, “67”.

  128. 128.

    kalakal

    Trolls are so predictable.

    Stamping his widdle feet with the ‘you need me more than I need you’

    I’m waiting on ‘Look what you made me do”

  129. 129.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Shalimar: amen. Well said. I read from the bottom, and bop around, so I missed your comment.

    I so appreciate mister mix’s approach to what’s going on and what we can do. The diagnosis is not for bitching, it’s for finding solutions, clarifying next steps. There’s always a door from the room of naming and analysis, into a room of possibility.

  130. 130.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @zhena gogolia: hard…without the levers of power…

    (and without) wide-spread accurate media attention, so what they do and say get witnessed and appreciated, and built-upon.

  131. 131.

    VFX Lurker

    @Lapassionara: I would like to be a better ally of trans people, but I don’t think I have enough information to jump into arguments and be effective. I am reluctant to start looking without guidance. Can anyone give me some ideas about where to start?

    Small actions I’ve taken this past month, based on tips shared by fellow Balloon-Juice jackals:

    • Set up a monthly donation to the TRANSCEND Fund
    • Set up a monthly donation to Pink Haven
    • Support trans journalism by purchasing an annual subscription to Erin in the Morning
    • Ordered four boxes of Thin Mints online from one of the listings on Erin in the Morning’s Trans Girl Scouts to Order Cookies From! (Folks watching their calories can opt to purchase boxes for donation instead of consumption).
    • Posted about Erin’s Girl Scout list on BlueSky so that my two followers would know about it

    I’ve also had an ongoing monthly donation to the Trevor Project for years, because trans writer Magdalene Vissagio once requested donations to this worthy effort on social media. The Trevor Project helps all LGBTQ+ youth.

    I hope this list helps. See what resources you have, and see if you can direct some of them to help trans folks.

  132. 132.

    Kay

    The Super Bowl too now is about Donald Trump and Elon Musk.  They just inundate our entire lives, screaming “look at me, look at me!” So, so sick of Right wing man babies.

    But its 75 degrees and breezy in Miami Beach with a pretty sunset and I don’t care for sports so I’m going for a walk :)

  134. 134.

    Sally

    Just my opinion – worth what you’re paying for it. We need to (continue to) scream and republicans to do something. They are the ones in power. They could work with Dems to halt the worst, most illegal and most egregious of these moves.

    Republicans.

    It annoys me that we only look to Dems to saver us, to clean up after the feckless R’s. Make them, or at least try to, clean up their own damn rooms.

    Dems already know that what they are doing is illegal, wrong, destructive for the country. Scream at R’s to obey the law, work for America and Americans. What they supposedly were elected to do. Make the likes of Katie Britt do the work of undoing the harm her party wants to do.

    IMHO

    I guess the thread is dead.

  135. 135.

    Miss Bianca

    @schrodingers_cat: I even had to scold a friend of mine for her “But the Democrats are doing nothing!” bit the other night. She kept saying, “They need to fight!” and I kept saying, “How? *How* do you think they should be fighting?” Sounds like she’s getting to the “burn it all down” phase herself. Oy. That was a little tiring. But I think I got her to acknowledge that the best thing we can *all* be doing right now, regardless of stomach for “fight” or no, is keeping the pressure on our electeds by constant contact.

  136. 136.

    Ohio Mom

    @Will: “retard”?’!
    We don’t use that word anymore, it’s as disrespectful as any other slur you can think of.

    I’m giving you this one pass, after this, I will wave my metaphorical finger and say Shame on You!

  137. 137.

    Starfish (she/her)

    So I was MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS, reading my book that was more nerdy than political, and I hate to ruin the end of a book for you, but the end of the book is everybody loves Joe Biden.

  138. 138.

    cmorenc

    @MikefromArlington:

    Kinda hoping the Dems let govnt shut down and don’t support the Republicans.

    That is the kind of strategy that’s so crazy it might actually work, since Trump and Musk have now so thoroughly primed the public into viewing the Trump Administration as doing lots of actions already to shut down government function.  That might greatly accelerate the non-die-hard-MAGA portion of the electorate’s badly needed attitude adjustment.

  140. 140.

    WTFGhost

    Forgot another one:  Marisa Kabas reports that the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children removed LGBTQIA+ materials from their site under a threat from King Elon’s administration.

    *That* is a good and powerful story: Trump demands removal of information that could help protect innocent children. Blame parents of trans kids if you want to – shitting on the trans kids *because* you hate their parents is *vile*. These are *missing children*.

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