Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

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

… gradually, and then suddenly.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

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

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

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

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

Peak wingnut was a lie.

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

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

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

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Let’s Make Sure He Can’t Buy This, Shall We?

Let’s Make Sure He Can’t Buy This, Shall We?

by | 50 Comments

This post is in: ,

President Musk thinks he can buy everything.

BREAKING: Elon Musk is now trying to buy Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court majority.

Election is on April 1—the first statewide election of the new Trump/Musk era. Musk wants to own state-level courts to thwart any possible check on their coup. Help us fight back. secure.actblue.com/donate/wisde…

[image or embed]

— Ben Wikler (@benwikler.bsky.social) February 17, 2025 at 2:51 PM

Let’s
do
our
part
to
make
sure
he
can’t
buy
the
Wisconsin
Supreme
Court.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

50Comments

  2. 2.

    Quinerly

    OT
    The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum closed abruptly Tuesday afternoon at 2pm due to mass firings of probationary employees at federal agencies across the government. 5 employees affected. They  “were the ones that were responsible for greeting visitors, the visitor experience … education, outreach, some of the rental activities and such that are revenue generating.”
    More at the Politico link. The good news is looks like it will reopen soon.

    https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/18/kennedy-library-closed-boston-doge-00204790

    Now, I am wondering what is happening with all the other presidential libraries. They are all under the National Archives. The head guy there quit. Read last week that Trump is considering putting either Hugh Hewitt or John Solomon in charge.

  3. 3.

    Shalimar

    Musk is becoming so unpopular that just running ads saying “Elon Musk owns this asshole” could be enough to counteract the spending.

  7. 7.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Kristine: Me too! I’m requesting more addresses tomorrow.

    The ink is still drying on my current batch. There was almost a tragic fountain-pen accident, but the ink got all over me instead of all over my 99%-completed cards….

  8. 8.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Kristine: ​I need to order another batch of postcard addresses.

     If anyone would like to join Kristine and me in our mighty GOTV effort, you can sign up here with Postcards To Voters:

    Join@TonyThe Democrat.org

    Minimum is 4 addresses. If you’re strapped for time, ask for addresses on a Thursday. They won’t be due in the mail until Monday!

  9. 9.

    Quinerly

    OT From “The Forward”
    “A children’s picture book on Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been pulled from the shelves of U.S. military schools.
    No Truth Without Ruth: The Life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg was just one of several books removed from the shelves at Pentagon schools last week. Freckleface Strawberry, a picture book by actress Julianne Moore about a girl who struggles to accept her freckles, was also pulled, as was Becoming Nicole, a biography of transgender activist Nicole Maines.”
    And

    “One might expect a book about Ruth Bader Ginsburg to be safe from bans because she’s Jewish — but the actual story of her life is not allowed, thanks to its forbidden themes of sexism and patriarchy. The administration’s commitment to fighting antisemitism is, apparently, a lower priority than eradicating discussion of diversity and discrimination. Antisemitism may be forbidden, but discrimination against Jews is allowed on the basis of other identities and experiences Jews might also hold. Like encountering misogyny. Or even having red hair.”

    https://forward.com/culture/697417/ruth-bader-ginsburg-trump-book-ban-executive-order-diversity-ideology/

  11. 11.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Thanks for the heads up, WG. I plan on postcarding for this election. I have some leftover post cards and stamps

  12. 12.

    mvr

    I’ve been making recurring donations but just put in one through the thermometer as well.  There was just and important voting rights decision in WI today that was 5-4 the right way.

    Can someone put up the postcards info again. I have a bunch of postcard stamps to use.

  13. 13.

    hedgehog the occasional commenter

    I’ve got a batch of 200 postcards from Postcards to Voters—thanks for the nudge to get going on the writing! Will also donate at the link. Fuck that ketamine fueled asshole.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    As long as this is a quiet thread, here’s a link to the Balloon Juice mail chimp list so we have a way to communicate with everyone should the Balloon Juice site get disrupted in any way.

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    @mvr:

    Can someone put up the postcards info again.

    That’s a good reminder to me to look at the 2024 Activism page and use it to get a head start on the 2025 Activism page.  Postcard information is on there.

    edit: see comment #18 for updated information.

  16. 16.

    NaijaGal

    Chipped in something – thanks, WaterGirl.

    When this is over, there needs to be a revisiting of how the US constitution can be updated. I think enough people will understand its anti-majoritarian bias within the next two years and I hope enough will agree that leaving things as they are for the next Trump-wannabe is not wise. I hope.

  17. 17.

    Mousebumples

    Yay, Postcards and the April 1 SCOWIS race. Early returns for today’s Superintendent primary look good to me. Incumbent vs a Moms For Liberty “independent,” probably.

    I’m doing data work for my local WisDems office, and it’s nice to feel like I’m making an immediate difference, and hopefully leading to others getting involved, too. 😊

    I’m a pebble, making ripples that turn into a wave, for democracy. I only make a little difference, but together, we can do lots.

  18. 18.

    WaterGirl

    @mvr: Okay, I have the start of a 2025 Activism page in the menu bar up top.  It’s also available on mobile through the hamburger menu.

    I’ll have to see if one of the BJ postcard peeps will be willing to look at the Postcard page so we can update it for this year.

  21. 21.

    Mousebumples

    P.S. WaterGirl, I tried to email you a few weeks ago and bumped it up this am. I’m hoping it made it through to you, though I totally understand being swamped.

    I’m off to bed shortly, but thanks for all you do around here!

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    @Mousebumples: I saw it come through this morning, but I was on a work deadline all day.  But that’s done, so I will read it in the morning.

    Thank you for the nudge!

  23. 23.

    Mousebumples

    @WaterGirl: I voted for Underly. (incumbent) The 3rd challenger would have been fine… Liberal leaning (vs M4L) but he struck me as a complainy sort. This is bad, vs here’s what I’d do differently.

    Both came to speak to my local WisDems group (virtually) earlier this year.

    Results aren’t final, and I’d vote for him over the other challenger… But I prefer Underly.

  24. 24.

    Mousebumples

    @WaterGirl: no problem. Part of it was suggesting postcards tonight with election returns. So that’s kinda what this is maybe turning into, so I thought I’d check. 😅

  25. 25.

    BlueGuitarist

    repeating a lost comment from downstairs take the deal thread,
    my reply to AM in NC re
    the They’re eating the checks, they’re eating the balances” photo, with slight edit:

    In the post with your Raleigh rally photos, I added that photo from the Boston demonstration, having seen it on BlueSky and thinking it should get more attention.
    Heard that Musk is dropping $670k to corrupt the Wisconsin Supreme Court, glancing at the thermometer right here, and getting more postcard addresses; as Gandhi said, it might be seem insignificant but still important to do it.

    keep on keeping on…

  26. 26.

    WaterGirl

    I periodically go through some of the rotating tags to remove anything that’s past its sell-by date.   I was in tears doing that on Monday morning.  Some of them seem so quaint, being from the time when we had a functioning, though flawed, democracy.

    It’s like a neutron bomb has gone off, leaving structures in place but demolishing the rule of law, democracy, and all the remaining checks and balances.

    Heartbreaking.

  28. 28.

    Mousebumples

    Sounds like AP has confirmed Underly will advance to April’s election – https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-primary-education-schools-3e6458e7b2376e17e9a6e15711476c99

    Wisconsin’s Democratic-backed incumbent state schools leader advanced in Tuesday’s three-person primary, overcoming challenges from a union-backed superintendent and an advocate for private schools supported by Republicans.

    …

    Jill Underly, currently serving her first term as state superintendent, advanced to the April 1 general election. She will face either Republican-backed Brittany Kinser or Jeff Wright, who cut into Underly’s traditional base of support.

    …

    Wright is a two-time Democratic candidate for state Assembly. He won the endorsements of the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators and the Middleton-Cross Plains teachers union.

    Kinser, an education consultant and advocate for the private voucher school choice program, is backed by Republicans, including the state party, which has given her campaign $200,000 so far.

  29. 29.

    H.E.Wolf

    @WaterGirl: I’ll have to see if one of the BJ postcard peeps will be willing to look at the Postcard page so we can update it for this year.​

     The section on Postcards To Voters looks OK to me. I’d be glad to have someone else check also!

    Here’s the link (it says “2024” but the info is still accurate):
    https://balloon-juice.com/postcard-writing-for-2024/

    Updated by WG:

    Here’s the link.

    Here’s the raw link if you prefer: https://balloon-juice.com/postcard-writing-for-2025/

  33. 33.

    H.E.Wolf

    @mvr: Can someone put up the postcards info again. I have a bunch of postcard stamps to use.​

     Comment 29 has a link.

    Look at us all coming out of the woodwork. On Wisconsin!

  34. 34.

    H.E.Wolf

    [This was Mousebumples’ comment, I did something dumb with the reply function.]

     I’m doing data work for my local WisDems office, and it’s nice to feel like I’m making an immediate difference, and hopefully leading to others getting involved, too. 😊

    I’m a pebble, making ripples that turn into a wave, for democracy. I only make a little difference, but together, we can do lots.

    Amen.

  35. 35.

    H.E.Wolf

    @BlueGuitarist: glancing at the thermometer right here, and getting more postcard addresses; as Gandhi said, it might be seem insignificant but still important to do it.​

     YES.

  36. 36.

    WaterGirl

    @H.E.Wolf:

    Look at us all coming out of the woodwork. On Wisconsin!

    Also looking at possibilities for how we can help with the two special election House races coming up in Florida.  Stay tuned

  38. 38.

    H.E.Wolf

    @WaterGirl: Also looking at possibilities for how we can help with the two special election House races coming up in Florida. Stay tuned.​

     Very exciting – thanks!

    And now I’m going to quit monopolizing the thread. Best to all. Glad to be getting in good trouble with you!

  40. 40.

    Marc

    Oops, I’ve heard they actually broadcast the interview at the protest with myself, my daughter, and her friend on KQED radio.  Wish I had a better a better spiel prepared, but the kids did alright.  I guess we are all officially identified enemies of the state now.

  41. 41.

    SpongeBobtheBuilder

    I’ve known Susan Crawford for just over 40 years. She’s brilliant, articulate, and even-tempered, you could not ask for a better candidate for this seat.

  43. 43.

    karen gail

    @H.E.Wolf: Every time I see “On Wisconsin” the music starts playing in my head; now I have an earworm. (Too many years in band, too many pep rallies, too many hours of practice so could play without music.)

  45. 45.

    Gretchen

    @Kristine: Weird that the ActBlue tells us the name of the person Elon wants but not the person that we want- Susan Crawford. Postcards to Voters is doing cards for her.

  46. 46.

    Captain C

    In for $25/month.  Also down for $5/month for Abigail Spanberger and Blake Gendebien who’s running for Elise Stefani’s old seat.

  47. 47.

    Captain C

    Also, there was a fire at a warehouse down the street from me.  It smells kind of funky here right now.  Numerous emergency vehicles on scene, hopefully no one’s hurt.

  48. 48.

    Wolvesvalley

    Donated.

    Shalimar at #3:

    Musk is becoming so unpopular that just running ads saying “Elon Musk owns this asshole” could be enough to counteract the spending.

    I’d like to see that ad!

  49. 49.

    Debbie(Aussie)

    I apologise if this has already been mentioned. I can’t help think of the pair in this photo as dumb & dumber, really.

  50. 50.

    sab

    @lamh47: My niece is a Labor Department lawyer who was ordered back to work to her office which was leased out years ago. ??

    She is holding on for a week or so just to finalize her student loans being forgiven. Then she is out of there as a well trained labor lawyer hoping to fight for folks like you.

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