Rob Bresnahan is a freshman Republican who represents Pennsylvania’s 8th district, which covers the Poconos. It’s where I vote and where my parents live. I like to think our persistent emails and calls had something to do with this:
Dunno which part of NEPA he came from where “people keep their word.” A great many residents of the Poconos came from NYC or New Jersey at some point; simple “grown-from-the-land” types are outnumbered. And even natives aren’t above a little deception: at least one Gen-X white dude I know who has been calling Bresnahan has been pretending to be a MAGAt concerned about how much influence Musk has over the president’s agenda.
Regardless, I like that Bresnahan’s saying this. Have you sent your GOP congressperson a valentine yet? It’s not too late.
Tim C
I keep emailing mine to say good work and keep resisting. It’s a super-blue district, but I’ll give big support when I can.
Baud
He probably means “my neighbors” in the most literal sense.
trollhattan
Thank god I do not have one of those, but a pig heart in a red box sounds apt.
sixthdoctor
Did my 5calls for my local reps (all good Dems, but I need to get into the habit)…
Also need to stop doomscrolling but every now and then I can post useful crap to BJ:
scav
I have an uncommon reaction to reading NEPA. I instantly go to Never Expect Power Always (Naija for National Electric Power Authority). Made the whole above vastly more reminiscent of Monty Python somehow, which I’ll take.
Ron
Sorry to be pessimistic, but he’ll cave. They all do.
Princess
More like this please.
Baud
@scav:
In law world, it means National Environmental Policy Act.
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: as I quoted in an earlier thread: “Say, Jesus, in this whole love-thy-neighbor beeswax, what exactly do you mean by ‘neighbor’? Who counts? Just asking questions, trying to clarify things, you understand…”
trollhattan
Fascist says what?
alquitti
@Ron: Yup. After all the only repug with integrity in congress now is Mitch….nuff said.
tobie
Seems like the wheels are coming off the Trump train fast. He’s not a month in office yet but already he’s losing dozens upon dozens of court cases; Europe has given him the middle finger; civil and military planes and other vehicles are crashing; the fragile R coalition on Congress is dissolving; inflation’s up; and there are daily protests and even US military families booed the secretary of defense at a US base in Germany. I’m superstitious and I don’t want to jinx anything so I’ll just say I hope some Americans who sat out the last election or voted R are receiving this wake up call.
scav
@Baud: Which gets us to Never Expect Protection Always, a sort of grim Monty Python.
Old School
@trollhattan:
In this case “irresponsible and dishonest reporting” means referring to a body of water as both “Gulf of America” and “Gulf of Mexico.”
RevRick
Bresnahan, who ousted Matt Cartwright, and Mackenzie, who ousted Susan Wild in PA-7, just to the south, are in districts rated as tossups. And as freshmen their incumbency power is tenuous, and they know that the normal thermostatic reaction of politics makes them especially vulnerable. So, that is a hopeful sign, one worth sharing with the local media.
Eunicecycle
@Matt McIrvin: I think he did get that question, and his answer was the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Ksmiami
@RevRick: I want to make the GOP as toxic of a brand as possible, I want their future grandchildren and beyond to be ashamed, I want them fucking crushed
Nukular Biskits
Good afternoon, y’all.
Somewhat topical: How many of y’all have contacted you federal AND state legislators this week?
If you do call your members of Congress today, please ask them if it’s safe for Nukular Biskits to fly today, given Emperor Musk’s illegal firing of so many critical federal workers.
sentient ai from the future
TNR has marginally more detail for the jackaltariat re: chutkan/musk
newrepublic.com/post/191559/judge-tanya-chutkan-case-lawsuit-elon-musk
Matt McIrvin
@Eunicecycle: Yes, exactly. That guy just asking the questions in the framing narrative reminds me of so many people on the Internet.
tobie
Extortionion in the DOJ. Harry Litman posts the following:
Nukular Biskits
Adding “website” to the auto fill …disregard please
ArchTeryx
@tobie: So someone fell on their sword so the entirely of them didn’t get sacked. If that happened, he’d just put in syncophants that would do it anyway.
They’re dealing with a lawless, fascist regime. Sometimes you have to do morally grey things just to survive.
sixthdoctor
Throw him under the jail.
Lobo
Your Valentine Reminder:
Come to Jesus Moment: Musk is in control of the US, period. No constitutional crisis, that has passed. Musk is in control and no one voted for him.
Your Apocalypse Talking points to your House Rep. from TPM:
For the Senate:
-Deny Quorum
-Block Unanimous Consent
-Max Out Debate Time
-Blanket Opposition to all nominees.
For you: Imagine a better world. Peace.
Old School
@sixthdoctor:
Lobo
@tobie:
Judge should reject this.
West of the Rockies
Did Omnes announce a sabbatical from BJ? I miss his steady, if occasionally cranky presence.
Betty Cracker
@Lobo: Can they do that? (Not a lawyer; don’t know how this shit works.)
Jeffro
I’ve been calling my ultra-nutso MAGA rep here in VA-05, reminding him that I’m a constituent too and that he (and the rest of Congress) need to collectively get their shit together: full payments, full funding.
ArchTeryx
@West of the Rockies: I absolutely do not blame him for doing so. Perpetual doomscrolling and circular firing squads and an endless tsunami of bad news would wear down anyone. I’m only here because I’ve nothing else to do at the moment.
Sister Golden Bear
@tobie: Saw something this morning about one of Trump’s spokesbimbos whining that “how is the president expected to bear” the numerous lawsuits. Of course she was implying that he’ll just ignore the courts.
WTFGhost
@alquitti: Oh, bullshit. He’s just tantruming in a different direction.
@tobie: there’s an old joke about a man with diarrhea forced to take a dump, unbeknownst to him, over a bear trap. Snaps shut, right on his balls. “Surely, that was the worst pain ever!” goes the joke. “Oh, no… the worst pain was when I hit the end of the chain!”
(Bear traps are anchored with chain, you see.)
I’d love to think there *are* wheels coming off, but even if the injury seems the ultimate self-inflicted injury *ever*… we’re still going to have to wait for Trumpie-and-the-Rs to come to the end of their chain. Disrupting payments could take a month or more to really start fouling things up, and then, you need the CEO class to realize “holy shit, Trump is an effing moron. There WAS no plan!” That might be likely, before we get to the end of that blasted chain!
@scav: Stand Your Ground already violates equal protection – your right to life is lost if someone feels vewy vewy scawed. The fear doesn’t even have to be *rational*, in some states.
@Ksmiami: the best way to do that is to catalog what you know, what angers you, as if you were going to be paid someday for presenting the cold, hard, facts of Republicanism in the US. Save links; print important articles to PDF, and leave notes as to why they are important. The truth is necessary – they *will* lie, in the tradition of “our valiant struggle to keep labor and sex slaves under human bondage with no rights to anything but torture.
Hey, how *do* you think white child molesters got their jollies! No need to hide it, if it’s a slave girl, right? Or a slave *boy* for that matter!”I don’t remember the actual name the “War Between The States” morons use, so I substituted my own. I think I deleted the dark stuff most white folks don’t think about.
I know, I know, “tell us how you really feel.” I *used* to love ridiculous understatement. Nowadays, hyperbole is ruined, and understatement is dangerous.
PS: delete if it’s too dark – my light meter was calibrated in the deepest pits of hell, and I still can’t get a sound measurement.
Nukular Biskits
Sitting here at IAH waiting for my flight (backwards in time) to Gulfport, MS.
Reading about the latest Trump-affliliated/-created shitstorms.
Since calls don’t seem to be cutting it, I will be visiting the local offices of my US Rep, Mike Ezell, and Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith next week.
I don’t expect anything more than the usual “________ hasn’t expressed an opinion on _______” and “_______ really values your concerns” bullshit but it’s time to put more pressure on my congressional representation.
JetsamPool
I’ll be sending emails to my senators and state-level reps, because it is practically impossible to get through and I hate leaving messages. Any suggestions for the email to the governor? I was going to ask if the state was doing anything to resist the lawlessness and protect voters. What can the state do in case all federal payments stop and a recession ensues? Where can one find status reports on lawsuits? Will there be criminal investigations against whoever does not have immunity? Will there be a need to secure supply chains? Will there be resources for people who lose their jobs?
Not sure that anyone will be willing to answer, but I would like to know they are considering these possibilities.
Frank Wilhoit
I got lost in the Poconos once. I think I was trying to get to Boston. Anyhow I would up creeping north on 209 for a couple of hours. At one point a huge white stretch limo with tinted glass came flying down the other lane, with a motorcycle outrider at each corner. Everyone was giving them a wide berth.
WTFGhost
@West of the Rockies: Several people have noticed Omnes absence. I haven’t *seen* a “proof of not wanting to post right now, but fine otherwise.” I have seen at least three queries (unless they all came from you…).
Quiltingfool
@Nukular Biskits: I sent an email to my Rep (Mark Alford, R-MO) and both R Senators (Schmidt and Hawley) about Musk. Hawley acknowledged receipt, Schmidt did not and Alford sent the most Musk butt-licking reply ever. He assured me that DOGE was completely transparent and that my private info was super safe.
When I read that reply I saw red. I was already in a pissy frame of mind because of Ukraine, NATO and Europe, so I unleashed the dogs of war.
I called him and his fellow travelers traitors and noted he should feel shame, although I suspect he doesn’t have any. I also informed him that although I was his constituent, I didn’t vote for him, and that it would be a cold day in hell before I ever vote for a Republican Traitor.
I very much doubt I’ll hear from him again. Which is fine, I don’t appreciate being told I need to eat a shit sandwich and exclaim how good it tastes. He will be hearing from me.
Next up is phone calls. I need a script. I get worked up and start jibber-jabbering and that’s no good!
TONYG
Well, good. But even if Bresnahan is sincere, there’s the minor problem of Trump and Musk lawlessly bypassing Congress. That is the problem
Leto
@trollhattan: Dr Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s substack has been very clear-eyed on what’s going on:
Out of Chaos and Corruption, a Revelation and a Reckoning
More at the link. It’s a hopeful piece but she understands that it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
Eunicecycle
@tobie: I hope he or she then resigned.
Sister Golden Bear
BTW, for those who’ve expressed concern about my Monday trip to the ER and then overnight hospital stay for extremely high blood pressure and racing pulse, I did another follow up appointment today. The various tests done came out OK, so they’re leaning towards stress and anxiety as the likely cause. (Who would’ve thunk?*) Have an emergency visit with the shrink this afternoon and will probably increase meds — while I can still get them — and then my first meeting with the cardiologist on Tuesday.
Trying to channel my near constant “fight or feeling” into angry and action. Calling my Congress critters again today to talk to them about the NPS literally erasing trans women from the Stonewall National Monument (a reminder that two trans women and butch lesbian who performed as a drag king) started the Stonewall riot.
*Another trans woman I know went to the ER last week with similar symptoms.
Nukular Biskits
@Quiltingfool:
Keep it up.
And don’t forget to put your state senator/rep on the spot as well, if necessary.
ArchTeryx
@WTFGhost: Go watch Made in Abyss and calibrate your light meter at the bottom of the Final Maelstrom. Just be sure to do it remotely. Those that go down too deep die horribly on the way back up
ETA: The titular Abyss makes Hell look like a tropical vacation spot. Even high up are creatures that will quite happily eviscerate you, and they get far far worse as you go down. Did I mention that kids do a lot of the upper-levels exploring, because they are expendable? The lucky survivors win the right to… grow up and keep going deeper until they disappear forever. Yeah, it’s that kind of show.
Baud
@Sister Golden Bear:
Missed it. I’m sorry you have to go through this.
West of the Rockies
@ArchTeryx:
My thoughts, too. I’ve stepped back a bit because of that. My thoughts though? Similar to “seek out the helpers”, look for the hopeful.
I know things are scary and shitty. Here we are again like in ’16, but it’s worse. Like then, we must buck up and plow through.
H.E.Wolf
@sixthdoctor:
I’d already called my Senators, so today I called our state’s Attorney General, who was part of that lawsuit.
The person who answered the phone was audibly flustered that I was calling to say “Thank you!”… so I added, “and my thanks to all the support staff who make the place run”. Then she was REALLY flustered, but in a good way.
Geminid
@Nukular Biskits: Senator Wicker figured in this morning’s Politico Playbook. Evidently Wicker is at the Munich Security Conference, and he had some critical things to say about Defensh Shecretary Hedgseth. Might be worth looking up if you’re killing time.
There’s a lot more about the Conference, and on other matters as well. I have found Politico Playbook to be a good news resource generally.
tobie
@sixthdoctor: @Lobo: @Sister Golden Bear: I’ve called my Republican Congressman twice today about various outrages. I don’t know how I’m going to fit all these clusterfucks in the single short letter I write every weekend as a template for my local Democratic Club.
Right now I have
a vicious Republican budget
doubts about airplane safety
firings across the US govt including 300 at the Natl Cancer Institute
Quid pro quo with Eric Adams
DOGE data violations and leaks and Musk publishing classified info
Alienating our Euopean allies
Please let me know if I missed any other big ticket items. All this is unbefuckalieavable
Lobo
@Betty Cracker:
It seems that it was coercive and dropping it was done under corrupt purpose.
Geminid
@Frank Wilhoit: I wonder if that was Fethulluh Gulen, the Sufi religious leader. Gulen was in exile from Turkiye and lived in a compound in the Poconos until he passed away a few months ago.
Ed. Gulen headed up a large religious organization with followers and schools in many countries. He could afford a white stretch limousine with a motorcycle escort.
Old School
@WTFGhost:
He’s posts on BlueSky (mostly reposts). The most recent one is from today.
WTFGhost
@JetsamPool: Just *doing* something is enough, in part. “Constituent concerned about Tusk-and-the-R-Blew-croo” is what a staffer will report to the higher ups.
Now, for a D, that’s good enough – they have that much more pressure to go forward. For an R, it would be better if you knew a few things that are R-priorities to get them to notice, e.g., “USAID buys billions of dollars of American agricultural products!” “Our farmers want SALES, not WELFARE payments!” Hey – if USAID provides family planning, call out how FEWER CONDOMS = MORE ABORTIONS.
I don’t know – but, just making noise is good, if the politician is well aligned. The more important the subject, the more you need to know about it, in case you get called, “what are your specific concerns?” So if you’re worried about wells with recent toxic water tests, learn about groundwater and fracking, so you sound like someone who isn’t just “scared by activists inventing bogeymen”.
Does any of that make sense? I don’t know the specific *departments* but all state reps, and all city reps, the mayor, the governor, and the Attorney General’s office, makes your voice heard, at least as one droplet in a flood. It’s infinitely better than nothing.
I’ve heard media can matter – a fax, or e-mail, might not constitute real engagement, or, might be too slow to get through, so a call *may* be better.
If you hate talking on the phone, you might not have realized it’s a skill you can practice. If you get tongue-tied, write down your main points (if that’s enough), or write the script (if main points isn’t enough). Practice it at least 2-3 times. Remember, be prepared with “please, let me finish,” and, “when is it my turn to speak?” if someone tries to talk over you.
You can role play that, if you have the right friends. It’s *amazing* how much easier it is to say, “listen, you rude person, stop talking over me!” when you’ve practiced saying “Back off mother-effer, or with the Lord as my witness, I will END your useless political career!”
(You don’t have to love melodrama the way I do, so you’ll probably practice with something way cooler.)
Lobo
Authoritarianism, at its core, is about restricting or eliminating the rights of the many and giving vast new liberties to the very few.
Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.
Welcome to our world.
Ksmiami
@tobie: an anti vaxxer hhs head who will destroy medical science and public health in the USA
Nukular Biskits
@Geminid:
Yeah,I saw that on Bluesky and commented.
Wicker is a liar and trying to gaslight people into believing he offered at least principled opposition to Hegseth
Baud
@Nukular Biskits:
He’s on blue sky?
E.
My congressman is Tim Burchett, who is at least in the top ten percent of insane people in congress, so it has been awhile trying to think of something we might agree on at all, even after many years talking with each other, but I settled on Trump’s pardon of that dark web crypto pirate dude who was in prison for a murder for hire scheme.
I had a nice chat with his aide, who said the Right Honorable Congressman did not have a position on murder for hire, but he would relay my concern nonetheless.
I guess this stuff helps. It helps, right?
tobie
@Ksmiami: Thanks…I repressed that development but it needs to be part of the list.
Sister Golden Bear
@JetsamPool: FWIW, emails are traditionally given far less weight than phone calls. So when I’ve needed to do that, I start the letter saying that I know they’re usually given less weight, but I’ve been unable to reach them by phone. Not sure if that’ll have any real effect when the constituent feedback is tallied, but it doesn’t hurt.
JetsamPool
Not sure how to link to specific comments and my last attempt to @ a nym didn’t exactly work, so I wanted to thank WTFGhost for your encouragement. I’ll keep trying to reach out. Since I live in Colorado, my efforts are directed toward encouraging my elected reps to keep up the resistance. There is to much going on to easily narrow my focus, so I’ve been focussing on the coup since I consider that the most important.
Nukular Biskits
@Baud:
Hardly. But, if he was, that would be one less reason to keep my Twitter account.
Someone cited a politico article quoting wicker …can’t find it right now, but Wicker was claiming to be mystified why the new SecDef he championed would say such things.
Starfish (she/her)
@Sister Golden Bear: Oh, I am so sorry. Trans people are being treated terribly by this administration, and I would like to see some folks start suing on the passport issues.
WTFGhost
@ArchTeryx: I’ll check it out.
Ksmiami
@tobie: tbh in my darker moments, I’m hopeful that a bad pandemic kills off more Republicans.
WTFGhost
@Old School: Thanks!
rikyrah
@Lobo:
That is how to obstruct
Steve LaBonne
@sixthdoctor: If a Federal crime is committed and a corrupt Justice Department doesn’t care, is it really a crime?
Rose Judson
@Geminid:
@Frank Wilhoit: Geminid’s guess is a good one, especially given that you were on route 209, which passed close to where Gulen lived. Not sure if he or his entourage were in the habit of driving a white limo, but I can ask the locals.
Sister Golden Bear
@Starfish (she/her): Lawsuits have already been filed on the trans passport restrictions, as well as all of the other anti-trans EO I believe.
AM in NC
@tobie: The firing of 1,000 employees at the VA. “Why is Senator X harming our Veterans and taking resources from them so the richest man in the world can gobble up even more of our treasury?”
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Ksmiami:
Edited for those of us who are nothing but darker moments.
Mick McDick
Wikipedia says Bresnahan is from Kingston, across the river from Wilkes-Barre; close to Scranton, Joe Biden’s hometown and mine as well. It would make me proud if he does the right thing. Time will tell.
Gloria DryGarden
@Old School: for some really great dishonest inaccurate reporting, consider which media sources are now assigned and allowed to report in pentagon matters. I don’t know about huff post, but the rest of it is garbage, poor “journalism.” Unreal slanted subjective junk.
Ksmiami
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: I’m there too. Working on a Trading Places trade to bankrupt a bunch of Republicans…
JMS
In a better universe Susan Wild (and Bob Casey) would still be in office and we wouldn’t have to deal with this guy. But it is what passes for a swing district and as a freshman, he’ll be vulnerable—assuming there will be more elections in the world. So I don’t think he’s saying this because he’s a good person. But pressure is pressure. Keep it up. Also John Fetterman needs to grow a spine or something.
Gloria DryGarden
I’m in the dark, here. If someone could explain? It’s hard to know how forcefully or understatedly one should be. I don’t think this will become clear by googling.
Sometimes I read something I wrote later, having thought I was sharp enough, and find it sounds limp and understated.
of course there are many ways to be ignored, and many ways to come under attack, even within “safe “ circles of “peers” and supposed allies on the “ same side”.
evodevo
@tobie:
I dunno…sounds like a typical corporate HR move to me. Mr. Evodevo’s cousin worked for Carnation feeds for awhile, and they promised him a promotion, but said he had to personally fire his predecessor in order to get it. He told them to get bent.
Miss Bianca
@West of the Rockies: me too. :(
WTFGhost
@Gloria DryGarden: Well, that’s the problem – I have a hard time telling. That said, as silly as it might sound, Toastmasters might help – giving a great toast means learning to avoid overstating, and how to find punchier language, and how to recognize *where* the “punchiness” goes.
Because a lot of people read like they listen – in fact, you’ve already caught several of my puns based on homonyms, because I often have to “speak” my writing in my head. Well – my brain is scattered, so, too, is my writing. Embarrassing, but, well, meh.
But if you can learn to speak, or, just write a short speech (like a big toast, e.g., best man for the groom), that’s the sort of things I’ve heard Toastmasters does for people, and it mostly translates to your writing. Then, you can see your stuff with new eyes, and maybe say “ooh, too much talk about (weak point), but I should have punched harder on (strong point),” etc.
For me, there was a bit of magic once I started understanding “grammar” versus “style”. Style just seemed like a way for your English teacher to complain about your writing without saying what was wrong. Once I got what it meant, I realized you could learn more good writing rules, and work with those that work for you, and release the ones that inhibit you.
Just remember: sometimes the rule you *hate* is the one you most need to follow – our brains *hate* doing hard things when there’s an easier way. Hopefully, your brain is less… rude, shall I say, than mine :-)
Gloria DryGarden
useful guidance on bluesky, reposted by our friend omnes
Gloria DryGarden
@WTFGhost: thx
Frank Wilhoit
@Rose Judson: This would have been in 1992 or 1993.
Geminid
@Frank Wilhoit: Then it wouldn’t have been Fethulluh Gulen. I think Gulen moved to Pennsylvania around 2008, after he and then-Prime Minister R.T. Erdogan fell out. Gulen and Erdogan had been political allies.
Later, Erdogan blamed Gulen’s organization for the attempted military coup of July, 2016. That might have so, but Gulen denied it. Erdogan pressed the U.S. to extradite Gulen, but to no avail.
Gloria DryGarden
@WTFGhost: tell you what. Can’t tell if you were saying hyperbole was dangerous, or understatement. Can’t tell if you’re talking about your writing, and process, or mine.
if it’s mine, you’re welcome to Ask a front pager for my email.
send me notes, a rewrite, style suggestions, where you’d make it stronger, where you make it softer.. could be interesting. Oh you know, in our free time.
I sense that my writing has gotten better as I’ve been commenting on this blog. (Like many others, some people like what I write, others find me tedious… Whatever) But your answer went in a different direction than I was expecting, a surprise. Willing to explore.