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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Some Good Clips

Some Good Clips

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This post is in: 

TRUMP: The NCAA has complied immediately. That's good. But I understand Maine — is the governor of Maine here?

JANET MILLS: Yeah I'm here

TRUMP: Are you not gonna comply?

JM: I'm going to comply with state and federal law

T: You better do it bc you're not gonna get any federal funding at all

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) February 21, 2025 at 12:01 PM

Mills, who is 77 and term-limited, told Trump “See you in court”. Thanks to reader T for sending this in.

The leader of the opposition is still leading. By the way, she’s someone who gets a shit ton of death threats and is still speaking out:

Medicaid is not for sale.
NASA is not for sale.
The Post Office is not for sale.
America is not for sale.

We have an obligation to resist kings. We outnumber them. And they can be overwhelmed.

[image or embed]

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@aoc.bsky.social) February 21, 2025 at 12:19 PM

I think this constituent at Rep Paul Tonko’s (D-NY-20) town hall speaks for many of us:

Teachers teach. We need a leaderful movement, and there are leaders all around us.

[image or embed]

— Anil Dash (@anildash.com) February 21, 2025 at 7:02 AM

Here’s Chris Kluwe, former Minnesota Viking punter.

Post whatever else you’ve seen that’s good in the comments.

Reader Interactions

289Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    The nice thing about the Mills video is that she is in the room with him, telling it to his face.

    Also, too, he does look pretty wiped out. But he’s not a Dem so no one cares about his age.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    Via reddit, maybe something to keep in mind to remind people of.

    83 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons: Poll

    It’s hard when there’s so many terrible things going on.

  3. 3.

    MazeDancer

    Trump’s “We are Federal Law” is disgusting, of course.

    No, no you are not.

    And those constituents in Roswell, GA, screaming at their GOP Rep, don’t think so either.

  5. 5.

    Jeffro

    hey, our snooze media might, just MIGHT, be learning (and maybe even finding part of a vertebrae): Fox News, CNN, others in WHCA write to White House urging trumpov to drop AP ban over ‘Gulf of Mexico/America’ kerfuffle

    Dozens of major news organizations, including CNN, The Washington Post and Fox News, wrote to the White House this week urging the Trump administration to immediately lift its ban on The Associated Press, which had been prohibited from attending a number of official press events over the past week.

    The White House has said it is blocking reporters from the news service because the outlet refers to the Gulf of Mexico in its articles, rather than “Gulf of America,” as decreed by President Trump in an executive order on Jan. 20.

    The letter, which was coordinated by the White House Correspondents’ Association and delivered on Monday, was signed by 40 outlets. It said the decision to bar The Associated Press was “an escalation of a dispute that does not serve the presidency or the public.”

    “The First Amendment prohibits the government from asserting control over how news organizations make editorial decisions,” the letter said. “Any attempt to punish journalists for those decisions is a serious breach of this constitutional protection.”

    He’s really, really weak.  Keep calling Congress!

  9. 9.

    clay

    “We are federal law.”

     

    Guys, this may be shocking, but I don’t think Trump knows what a law is!

  10. 10.

    sixthdoctor

    I hope when Donald Trump lies in state in the Capitol building the organizers have the foresight to set up pissing and non-pissing lines.

  12. 12.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @Jeffro:

    You know what would be the best move by our White House press?

    Not to show up to White House mis-information briefings at all

    That would send all of the maga minions a spineful message.

  16. 16.

    Jeffro

    @sixthdoctor:I hope when Donald Trump lies in state in the Capitol building the organizers have the foresight to set up pissing and non-pissing lines.

    the pissing line is going to stretch out to the Maryland suburbs…

    …every day for a month

  17. 17.

    Jeffro

    @HopefullyNotcassandra: boycotting is good!

    I hope the Dems boycott the SOTU en masse.  Let America see the MAGAts, and only the MAGAts, in attendance.

    It’ll throw Mr. Wonderful off his game, that’s for sure

  27. 27.

    Ohio Mom

    @BobbyK: I don’t think there will be much enthusiasm for another minority woman running for president, at least in my lifetime.

    More importantly, I think AOC is remarkably effective right where she is. It’s a safe seat, she can get re-elected over and over, and one thing Nancy Pelosi taught us, you can accomplish a lot as a mere Representative.

  33. 33.

    Rabble Arouser

    To quote Fiona Apple, “the ants weigh more than the elephants”. It’s gonna be a big lift to get folks to see that and then take action, but I remain hopeful they will eventually do so.

  34. 34.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Saw on Reddit that the mods of the r/USPS subreddit locked it down due to so many people calling for a wildcat strike if Trump’s EO on the postal service is implemented

  37. 37.

    TBone

    The Contrarians Undaunted Hero of the Week:

    At a time when Democrats need not only strong voices, but effective ones to reach Americans who may have given up on Democrats, Beshear provides a powerful example of successful governance and strategically smart rhetoric. We at The Contrarian believe that such courage is contagious.

    Today, we honor Governor Beshear for remaining Undaunted in his defense of democracy and of the health and well-being of his constituents.

    The article lists many reasons he’s been chosen for his Undauntedness:

    https://contrarian.substack.com/p/undaunted-courage-is-contagious

    I would give co-awards with Gov. Mills if I were the chooser!

  38. 38.

    A Ghost to Most

    The woman who sang the Canadian National Anthem last night at the 4 Nations final tweaked the words for Lumpy.

    “True patriot love, from all of us command.” Became “…, that only us command.”

  39. 39.

    sixthdoctor

    I imagine Tim Walz is talking to his AG and using the language we know he wanted to use on the campaign trail.

    NEW: The Trump administration has locked Minnesota out of $200 million in federal food and climate grants awarded last summer. Projects breaking ground this year were depending on that money. minnesotareformer.com/2025/02/21/t…

    [image or embed]
    — Chris Ingraham (@cingraham.bsky.social) February 21, 2025 at 5:06 PM

  45. 45.

    Expletive Deleted

    Watching the officers rushing to restrain Kluwe is so depressing. Like seeing the ones that were guarding the doors of the Treasury building. Not surprised but it makes me very worried about how it will play out if/when they get around to using military force :/

  46. 46.

    Old School

    Here’s good news.  Trump has found the solution to drug abuse:  an ad campaign!

    Trump: “We have now hired a couple of the best agencies and we’re gonna spend about $150m, maybe $200m, on advertising saying that when you take certain drugs — the drug fentanyl, etc – it destroys your skin, it destroys your teeth, it destroys your brain…I think we can drop it 50% by doing this”

    [image or embed]

    — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) February 21, 2025 at 1:21 PM

  47. 47.

    TBone

    @TBone: also too, much more Tiedrich treaure in that chest (DOJ):

    divine rule doesn’t get more divine than ‘I am the law.’

  52. 52.

    AM in NC

    That Kluwe arrest was all over FOX yesterday/this morning – and of course portrayed in a negative light.

    Only fascist football players and wife beaters are FOX approved.

    They can’t stand the idea that white football players are calling them out on their shit.  We need every decent white man standing up loud and proud and taking it to them in their faces.

  53. 53.

    John S.

    This just in from ABC News via TPM:

    Enrique Tarrio, the former chairman of the Proud Boys and who was recently pardoned by President Donald Trump, was arrested at the U.S. Capitol on Friday, according to authorities.

    Tarrio, according to the U.S. Capitol Police, allegedly struck a woman’s phone and arm when she allegedly put a phone near his face after a press conference wrapped up on Capitol grounds.

    Not only is pardoning these animals extremely unpopular, but they keep showing everyone that they are criminals.

  56. 56.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Expletive Deleted:

    I recall seeing video of Capitol Police forcefully removing disability activists from Congress in 2017:

    Capitol Hill Police have forcibly removed protesters in wheelchairs from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office on the same day Republicans released their latest healthcare plan.

    ADAPT, a disability rights organisation, staged a “die-in” outside Mr McConnell’s office to protest the legislation, which would generate cuts to the Medicaid services used by many disabled individuals.

    Approximately 60 protesters – many of them in wheelchairs – flooded Mr McConnell’s office around 11 am on Thursday. Some made their way inside the office, lifting themselves out of their chairs to lie across the Senator’s floor.

    Republicans finally unveil their Obamacare ‘repeal and replace’ bill

    The purpose, according to an ADAPT press release, was to “dramatise the deaths” they say the American Health Care Act (AHCA) will cause.

    “We’re hanging out there like a ripe cherry to be plucked,” Mike Oxford, one of the protest organisers, told The Independent of the disabled community. “Not only will people lose their freedom, but people will die if they do this.”

    Mr Oxford said Capitol Police began following the protesters soon after they entered the Capitol.

    “Sixty people in wheelchairs are pretty noticeable,” he said.

    Soon after they reached Mr McConnell’s office, Mr Oxford said, officers threatened to arrest those who did not leave of their own volition. When the protestors did not comply, officers began wheeling them out of the area.

    One person being rolled out by a police officer called out, “Don’t mess with my Medicaid!” Another walked out of the officer with her hands tied behind her back, followed closely by an officer.

    Yet another was pulled from her chair by police officers trying to remove her from the area.

    Capitol Police said forty-three protestors were arrested and charged with crowding, obstructing, or incommoding.

    All I could think to myself when watching clips of it was, “how could these assholes justify this to themselves”. If I was an officer and I was ordered to forcefully remove disabled people protesting for their medical rights, I’d refuse. It’d have to be at gunpoint for me to do it

  59. 59.

    Jay

    @A Ghost to Most:

    Chantal Kreviazuk
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Chantal Kreviazuk

    Background information
    Birth name Chantal Jennifer Kreviazuk
    Born May 18, 1973 (age 51)
    Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
    Genres Pop, pop rock, adult contemporary
    Occupation(s) Musician, singer, songwriter, vocalist
    Instrument(s) Piano, guitar, vocals
    Years active 1996–present
    Labels Columbia, Sony BMG, MapleMusic, Warner Music Canada
    Website chantalkreviazuk.com Edit this at Wikidata
    Chantal Jennifer Kreviazuk CM (/ʃɑːnˈtɑːl ˌkrɛviˈæzək/ shahn-TAHL KREV-ee-AZ-ək; born May 18, 1973) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, composer, and pianist. Born in Winnipeg, she played music from a young age before signing with Columbia Records in the 1990s. Her debut studio album, Under These Rocks and Stones, was first released in Canada in 1996 and saw commercial success before being issued in the United States the following year to critical praise.[citation needed]

    Kreviazuk released two more studio albums with the Columbia label, Colour Moving and Still (1999) and What If It All Means Something (2002), both of which brought moderate commercial success worldwide. She signed with Sony BMG for her fourth album, Ghost Stories (2006), which reached number two on the Canadian Albums Chart.

    Since 2003, Kreviazuk has co-written and composed numerous songs for other artists as well as film soundtracks, and has appeared in several Canadian independent and short films. Her fifth album, Plain Jane, was released by Canadian independent label MapleMusic Recordings in 2009. Her most recent albums, Hard Sail and Get To You, were released by Warner Music Canada in 2016 and 2020, respectively. She also released a Christmas album in 2019, called Christmas Is A Way Of Life, My Dear.

    From the beginning of her career to 2016, Kreviazuk was the 51st best-selling Canadian artist in Canada.[1]

    Kreviazuk is a three-time Juno Award winner and she has collaborated with several other musicians, including Drake, Pitbull, Christina Aguilera, Carrie Underwood, Kendrick Lamar and Pink.

    Another lyric change that a lot of Canadian singers do is change “our home and native land” to “our home On Native Land”.

  61. 61.

    Jackie

    @Ohio Mom:

     I don’t think there will be much enthusiasm for another minority woman running for president, at least in my lifetime.

    Sadly, but realistically fixed.

  63. 63.

    John S.

    @Jackie:

    Probably not from our side. Although I do expect to see Katie Britt run for President of Gilead at some point. She has the tradwife vote locked up.

  65. 65.

    TBone

    @Old School: per Chris Hayes:

    Trump pardoned the sentence of arguably the single biggest drug trafficker in American history on his second day in office!

    https://bsky.app/profile/chrislhayes.bsky.social/post/3lipttvuej22e

    Ross Ulbricht, pardoned by Donald Trump, was a pioneer of crypto-crime” He founded the Silk Road, “the very first dark-web drug-trading network…Users could anonymously order parcels to their homes, without ever having to encounter a scary drug-dealer in person.” 1/

  66. 66.

    TBone

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): funny because it’s true!

    I got my first DUI in my own driveway when a guy with 4 or 5 prior DUIs swerved into my driveway and rear-ended me, smashing my car into my neighbor’s car.  No cop ever saw me in a vehicle – by the time they arrived, I was at my kitchen table drinking tequila shots.

  70. 70.

    Nukular Biskits

    Good evenin’, y’all!

    Okay, I’m being a nag but how many of y’all with Republican reps & senators have contacted them (email, snail-mail, phone call or visit to their office) to express your concern, anger, ask questions, etc?

    And, don’t forget:  A LOT of local & state GOP officials are part of the cult as well.  Don’t forget about them.

  71. 71.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    All of this withholding of federal funds, aside from being flat out illegal, are going to take a toll on the economy

    A new lesson in the true trickle down economics. Take away funds and paychecks and soon enough, your highways crumble, your once thriving business has fewer and fewer customers and your rentals are vacant.

  72. 72.

    mrmoshpotato

    @sixthdoctor:

    I hope when Donald Trump lies in state in the Capitol building the organizers have the foresight to set up pissing and non-pissing lines. 

    Non-pissing line?  Like if you just happen to have to take a dump at that moment and his fat, orange, DEAD, fascist face is right there?

  74. 74.

    Martin

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): If I was an officer and I was ordered to forcefully remove disabled people protesting for their medical rights, I’d refuse. It’d have to be at gunpoint for me to do it

    Which is why you didn’t choose to be a police officer. For professional careers, people pick the job they want to do – and if you want to beat up people, you become a cop.

  75. 75.

    AM in NC

    @Nukular Biskits:  I am calling my two fuckwad Republican Senators Every. Damn. Day.   I call my Dem Rep once a week to thank her.

    I call the state senate leader and state house leader about once a week to ask why they are letting their party fuck over our state six ways to Sunday, and what they intend to do to stop it moving forward.

    My women friends are all calling multiple times a week too.

    Wish the men would step up.

  76. 76.

    Geminid

    A clip posted by The Ebell sounds pretty good. The Ebell is a nonprofit women’s center located in Los Angeles. Its mission statement::

       Arts, Culture, Service, Education, Powered by Women.

    The YouTube clip is from an appearance at The Ebell last December 2nd by Hakeem Jeffries and Brian Tyler Cohen:

       Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries and Brian Tyler Cohen. Now on YouTube.

    Jeffries and Cohen discuss the themes expressed in Jeffries’ book, The ABCs of Democracy. Event organizers describe the book:

       Equal parts inspiring and urgent…paints an alphabetical road map for a brighter American future, and warns of the perils of taking a different path.

    The ABCs of Democracy is based on the speech Jeffries made on the House floor in January of 2023, after Kraven McCarthy’s prolonged Speaker election. Jeffries adopted a classic rhetorical device from Black Churche sermons by alphabetizing his presentation.

  77. 77.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Reading this thread 1st thing in the morning brought a smile to my face. Heartening & encouraging!

  78. 78.

    Nukular Biskits

    @John S.:

    83 percent of Americans disapproveof Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons: Poll

    That seems to be an easy issue to hammer Republicans on. Is anybody actually hammering them on it?

    I am. But I can’t seem to get an answer out of any of them.

    Which is why I’m demanding IRL meetings with staffers.  I’d rather confront these “law ‘n’ order” flaming hypocritical assholes at a town hall meeting but they’re too cowardly to hold any here in MS.

  79. 79.

    HopefullyNotcassandra

    @John S.:

    @John S.:

    of course it is.

    Who knows what words or actions will turn the present course ?  We know the course needs turned.  You have good notions.   Please share them widely.

  80. 80.

    Jay

    World·New
    Hunter Schafer says passport lists sex as ‘M’ after Trump executive order
    Actress said marker was changed even after she put ‘F’ on her application
    CBC News · Posted: Feb 21, 2025 3:12 PM PST | Last Updated: 22 minutes ago

    American actress Hunter Schafer said she was “shocked” to find the gender marker on her passport listed as male, a forced change that comes after the Trump administration declared it would only recognize two genders.

    Schafer, one of the most visible transgender actresses in Hollywood, said she picked up her new passport on Thursday to find the gender marker written as “M”, despite her having listed female on her application.

    “I was shocked. I was shocked. I don’t know … I just didn’t think it was actually going to happen,” she said in an eight-minute TikTok, holding up her new passport.

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/hunter-schafer-passport-m-gender-marker-1.7465534

  82. 82.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Jay:

    To my knowledge, that’s still supposed to be in the rulemaking process as a proposed rule change, still in the 30 day public comment period. That’s fucking bullshit

  85. 85.

    Nukular Biskits

    @TBone:

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): A bestie who is a paraplegic was arrested in his wheelchair for DUI.  Granted, the chair was motorized, but he was in a parking lot!

    Reminds me of a “defensive driving course” I had to take to get out of a ticket (speed trap … and I say that not because it’s a case of sour grapes but it was a real speed trap … story for another time).

    Retired cop is “teaching” the course and asked if you could be arrested for DUI while on a lawnmower while cutting grass. Everyone answered “No”. Turns out, we were wrong.

    Guys got in an altercation with his wife. Went out to cut grass while drinking beer. She called cops, they showed up, arrested him and charged him with, among other things, DUI.  He fought the charge but lost in court because he was A) on a motorized vehicle and B) driving said vehicle and C) while under the influence.

    That’s MS for you.

  88. 88.

    Nukular Biskits

    @TBone:

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): funny because it’s true!

    I got my first DUI in my own driveway when a guy with 4 or 5 prior DUIs swerved into my driveway and rear-ended me, smashing my car into my neighbor’s car.  No cop ever saw me in a vehicle – by the time they arrived, I was at my kitchen table drinking tequila shots.

    Sure, Jan,  ….

  91. 91.

    frosty

    @Ohio Mom: ​
     But at least PA is not. We have a new Republican AG. I’m heartened that maybe he’s not full MAGA. My friend who knows him doesn’t think so.

  92. 92.

    John S.

    @Nukular Biskits:

    For the most part, I haven’t been too disappointed with my elected officials. Sen. Murray has been great, and at least Sen. Cantwell stopped voting for Trump nominees even if she is light on answers or explanations for her actions.

    Rep. Schrier seems to keep falling for the poison pill votes (e.g. Lakan Riley Act), but I keep calling to help stiffen her spine and let her know to keep fighting.

  93. 93.

    NotMax

    FYI. What about the terms “General” and “Services” don’t they grok?

    The General Services Administration (GSA), which manages buildings owned by the federal government, is planning to shut down all of its electric vehicle chargers nationwide, describing them as “not mission critical.” The agency, which manages contracts for the government’s vehicle fleets, is also looking to offload newly purchased EVs.

    The GSA currently operates several hundred EV chargers across the country, with approximately 8,000 plugs that are available for government-owned EVs as well as federal employees’ personally owned vehicles. Source

  94. 94.

    Nukular Biskits

    @John S.:

    Good.

    I had a long and contentious discussion with the local staffer for my junior senator (and Confederate apologist) Hyde-Smith.  They’re trying everything they can do to placate constituents … without actually doing anything substantive.  IOW, lip service.

    I have an “appointment” Monday with the local office here in Gulfport to express my dissatisfaction with Senator Hyde-Smith and demand answers including, but not limited to, why she has refused to hold town hall meetings.

  95. 95.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Martin:

    Which is why you didn’t choose to be a police officer. For professional careers, people pick the job they want to do – and if you want to beat up people, you become a cop.

    You’re right, I’d probably never make it as a cop. I’d never cover for those Cincinnati cops who tried to hide the identities of the literal Nazis from their body cams

  96. 96.

    A Ghost to Most

    @Jay: Since the American Pledge of Allegiance was bastardized in 1954, I always change the inserted “under gawd” to “fuck yer gawd”.

  97. 97.

    frosty

    @Nukular Biskits: ​I have a R rep and Senator, and yes, I’ve contacted them but not in the last few days. The Shit Tsunami wore me down. I’ll try again tomorrow even though it’s not a work day for these MFs.
    My Rep, last time I checked, has voted 100% for every Ukraine-adjacent bill. If he’s still doing it I have to thank him then berate him to stop the Muskovites.​

  99. 99.

    Jay

    @Steve LaBonne:

    They rescinded the offer, then sent them the “underperforming” letter.

    and a Judge will possibly rule in 4 years, and after that it goes to the White Supremacy Court.

    But it’s cute that you still have faith in norms, traditions, institutions and laws.

  100. 100.

    Alce _e_ardillo

    Perhaps we are asking the wrong question.  The Schumers and Jeffries are not going to rise ( I think) to the occasion, because they were leaders for yesterday’s crises. AOC, Jasmine Crockett, Brian Schatz are the new leaders, and we need to celebrate them.

  103. 103.

    Nukular Biskits

    @frosty:

    They’re counting on us giving up.

    Don’t.

    I know it’s not easy and, if you’re like me, you don’t have a lot of time to spare for this bullshit.  But … if we don’t do it, I really fear for the future of this country.

  105. 105.

    Geminid

    @frosty: From the little I see on Republican-adjacent social media sites, Trump’s Ukraine policy is controversial among Republicans. One guy I follow because he’s a good aggregator of “Open Source Intelligence” news has taken a firm stand against Trump on this issue, despite having voted for Trump. His replies are a mix of ageement and vehement hostility, but he’s standing his ground.

  108. 108.

    WTFGhost

    It’s funny. In 2020, Trump helped cause the deaths of 400,000 people, but, now he’s taking crap for firing a lousy 10,000.

    This country is in a very strange place.

  109. 109.

    FelonyGovt

    I have been taking a break from Facebook and it’s been delightful, but I can see that I need to be back on it and start posting about all of this. It’s the only place where I can reach others who may be normies, or oblivious, or even MAGA (I’ve purged my friends list pretty well but I think a few are lingering).
    I’m getting a hip replacement on March 4 but it won’t affect my typing fingers.

  110. 110.

    WTFGhost

    @Expletive Deleted: Teaching the officers to blindly obey orders is what fascists do. As you say, in the end, they want an excuse to use military-style force, claiming a deadly insurrection happening right under our noses.

    @Jeffro: Some people are more skilled at using the voices in their head, by paralyzing their vocal cords to *avoid* speaking the obvious out loud.

  112. 112.

    Ohio Mom

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): When you sign up to participate in a non-violent sit-in, it’s you who are promising to be non-violent, the subtext is that the authorities won’t be.

    That’s what gave me cognitive dissonance about January 6th, I can’t think of another time I was on the cops’ side against protesters. Fortunately, I can deal with cognitive dissonance, even chuckle at it.

  113. 113.

    Another Scott

    @HopefullyNotcassandra: Disagree.

    It’s important to show up.

    But it’s not important to take the propaganda seriously.

    They could sit in their chairs and stare daggers at her.

    Or, if they’re willing to live off book royalties and accept the consequence of being banned from the White House, they could ask questions like “How can you live with yourself, lying to the American people every day?  Aren’t you ashamed?  Don’t you ask yourself why the tyrant Putin loves your boss so much?  Why don’t you tell your boss that we don’t have kings in this country, no matter how badly he wants to be one?  Do you think he will resign before he is impeached the 3rd time?”  Etc.

    Grr…

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  114. 114.

    Old School

    @Jay:

    JD Vance’s ‘Hilbilly Elegy’ Deemed Too Woke By The Department of Defense

    I assume it’s due to all the couch fucking.

  115. 115.

    Betty

    @Ohio Mom: I have seen several positive stories this week on Andy Beshear. He checks all the boxes – white, straight, Christian man, won a statewide race in a red state.  And nice looking.

  116. 116.

    Heidi Mom

    @FelonyGovt: My informal support group for these troubled times is on Facebook.  Not only that, but I decided to try a charity fundraiser for my birthday, asked for $250 for The Trevor Project, and raised $372, thanks to a friend who donated and sent my request to his friends.

  117. 117.

    FDRLincoln

    Today’s round of phone calls to my useless GOP congresspersons resulted in “full voice mail” to both senators.

    Got through to the congressman. Today’s message to his staff was about the NIH Alzheimers and Autism research cuts.

    Monday we will go back to DOGE  job cuts crushing the economy.

  118. 118.

    Sister Golden Bear

    At least some of our media betters are starting to change the narrative:

    Axios reports:

    Local LGBTQ-serving community organizations are among nine nonprofits that sued the Trump administration Friday over executive orders targeting transgender and nonbinary people. President Trump ran his campaign on an incendiary anti-trans platform that promoted false claims about the community, which make up 1.3% of U.S. adults.

    Meanwhile, maybe DOGE can take a look at the massive waste and inefficiency involved with HHS’s memory holing any references that LGBTQ+ people exist.

    HHS is wasting workers’ time and taxpayer dollars on “a witch hunt to find any content deemed ‘bad.” Specifically, people who work on HHS websites are spending days scanning those sites and any documents they share in search of a list terms like “gay,” “sexuality,” “non-binary,” “inclusion,” “queer,” and “gender,” potentially so they could be later removed to comply with Trump’s executive orders attacking DEI in the federal government.

    “The most obvious issue to me about this list is that it’s being done in the name of ‘efficiency and saving money.’ It is not efficient to take engineers off their work to scan old content for any keywords this new administration hates. The bigotry is astounding,” the source who is familiar with the work and who asked to be anonymous because they were not permitted to speak to the press, told me.

  119. 119.

    FDRLincoln

    Today a MAGA acquaintance broke with Trump about Ukraine and Putin. He was also unhappy about “reckless” DOGE cuts.

    This guy was 100 percent MAGA but the Ukraine betrayal and the veteran layoffs turned him. He will never be a liberal or Dem of any sort, but he says Trump has gone too far and seems genuinely unhappy.

  120. 120.

    Jay

    Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand informed the provinces and territories Friday that Ottawa will remove more than half of federal internal trade barriers in a move to make Canada less reliant on the United States.

    Anand made the announcement at an informal, virtual meeting of the Committee on Internal Trade, which is responsible for implementing the Canada Free Trade Agreement (CFTA).

    Ottawa is removing 20 of the 39 remaining federal CFTA exceptions related to government procurement to encourage more trade and opportunities for Canadian businesses across the country.

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/anand-ottawa-removing-cfta-exceptions-1.7465125

  121. 121.

    TBone

    @Nukular Biskits: that’s what the cops & the judge said too.  The best part: Victims Services of DelCo awarded me over $5,000 in restitution from the guy who hit me.  About two years into the biweekly payments, checks from DelCo Financial Svcs. Dept. (which was also in charge of things like child support) stopped coming.  The Director of Financial Services was found guilty of embezzlement and I didn’t get the rest of the restitution!

  122. 122.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Jay: They’re doing exactly what they promised to do. Cruelty — and making us trans people legally non-existent — is the point.

    And if trans people don’t legally exist, then there’s no legal basis for fighting anti-trans discrimination. And if trans people don’t legally exist, who’s to stop them from finding a solution, a final one you might say, to ensure we don’t exist at all.

  131. 131.

    Jay

    @Jay:

    That’s an $80 billion dollar savings to Canadian Consumers, and some things that individual Provinces have to buy or sell to and from the US, to the tune of $140 billion dollars, will now be able to be purchased, from Services to Energy, from other Provinces.

  132. 132.

    FDRLincoln

    @Jay:  50? He’s in his early 70s. Always extremely conservative but still has cold war feelings about Russia. He thought the Russiagate stuff was a liberal hoax but Vance’s speech at Munich and the betrayal in Saudi Arabia has suddenly convinced him that Trump was a Russian asset all along

    To be fair, he voted for the libertarians in 2016 because he thought Trump was too stupid, but he was full MAGA by 2019.

  133. 133.

    Another Scott

    In the continuing saga of the delayed popcorn shipment with USPS, …

    I received it today!!  Safe and sound!

    Woot!

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  134. 134.

    FelonyGovt

    @FDRLincoln: It’s easy to be snarky about him (what took him so long?) but every realization like his hopefully pulls one more voter away. And once a person realizes they’ve been conned, they start re-examining everything.

  138. 138.

    Jay

    @TBone:

    First Name, your first pet’s name,

    Last Name, first street you lived on.

    Yeah, it’s the same as the porn name generator,

    hopefully your first street wasn’t Martin Luther King Bvld.

  145. 145.

    Jay

    @Starfish (she/her):

    Maybe,

    Because he was a probationary full-time employee, Chmura’s job is not among those being restored. But he holds out hope that pressure from the public, and elected representatives, might turn the tide in his favor, too.

    Meanwhile, for parks supervisors, the uncertainty continues. Two who asked for anonymity because they fear retaliation said they had received permission to start rehiring seasonal employees. They said they are trying to act fast, because nobody knows when the guidance from the administration might suddenly change again.

    “Human resource officers in federal agencies, and particularly the parks, probably have the worst job in America right now,” said Tim Whitehouse, executive director of the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “They’re dealing with unprecedented levels of chaos.”

  146. 146.

    Origuy

    @TBone: I was on a jury about something like this. A contractor is working on some paperwork on a Saturday when a burglar alarm goes off. Police responded, found out that an employee had triggered it accidentally. Contractor has been having a few drinks in the office, so they tell him not to drive. He promises not too.

    Cops go across the street to do the paperwork for the call and see the company van drive away. They follow it and arrest the guy standing at the counter of a pizza place. He said that the employee drove the van there and he rode his bike there. Even produced a witness who saw the guy riding his bike, somewhat unsteadily. We acquitted.

  147. 147.

    Baud

    Official statement via Reddit

    OFFICIAL WRITTEN STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR MILLS

     

    “If the President attempts to unilaterally deprive Maine school children of the benefit of Federal funding, my Administration and the Attorney General will take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides. The State of Maine will not be intimidated by the President’s threats.”

  148. 148.

    RSA

    @Jay:

    Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency put a $1 spending limit on most credit cards belonging to employees and contractors of the General Services Administration—a critical agency that manages IT and office buildings for the US government—along with at least three other federal agencies. Similar restrictions are expected to roll out to the entire government workforce soon, according to several sources familiar with the matter.

    Yeah, this is fucked. It’s aimed at humiliating federal workers, pretty obviously.

    When my relatively tiny agency sent out email telling everyone to cancel their travel to headquarters next week, I didn’t know why. Then I read the news. I infer that the travel cancelation is a precautionary measure from our leadership, so that travelers won’t be stranded.

    Our government’s executive branch is being run by unserious people. They belong in jail.

  149. 149.

    Lily

    “And enjoy your life after Governor because I don’t  think you’ll be elect in politics” (sic) he threatens, trying to get the last word.

    Btw, “You won’t get any federal funding” + “I did pretty well in your state” — copping to how he’ll punish her AND those who voted for him.

  154. 154.

    Old School

    Apple’s new sci-fi series “Murderbot,” starring and executive produced by Alexander Skarsgård and hailing from Chris and Paul Weitz, to make global debut May 16, 2025

  158. 158.

    different-church-lady

    Maybe I’m just being irrationally hopeful, but I’m sensing that the (fuckin’) MSM is starting to think that anti-Trump is more entertaining that Trump.

  159. 159.

    Baud

    @Old School:

    A new bat coronavirus that has the capacity to spread to humans, similar to the one that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, has been discovered

     

    Why the hell do they let bats work in a lab?

  160. 160.

    YY_Sima Qian

    At this point, any kind of anti-Trumper & anti-MAGA is helpful, no matter their motivations, even if they are unreconstructed reactionaries on every issue other than Trump or that they were completely obtuse for thinking Trump would be donging anything other than what he has done (or enabled others to do) after his election.. We should just be open-eyed that this is merely a temporary alignment on narrow issues. They are not allies, but enemies of enemies.

  161. 161.

    Marc

    @Geminid:  I saw that Trump has fired Joint Chiefs Chaiman General C.Q. Brown.

    Oh my, just what was it about him that convinced Trump to fire him?

  167. 167.

    different-church-lady

    “MAGA stands for trying to erase trans people from existence. MAGA stands for re-segregation and racism. MAGA stands for censorship and book bans. MAGA stands for firing air traffic controllers while planes are crashing. MAGA stands for firing the people overseeing our nuclear arsenal. MAGA stands for firing military veterans and those serving them at the VA, including canceling research on veteran suicide. MAGA stands for cutting funds to education, including for disabled children. MAGA is profoundly corrupt, unmistakably anti-democracy, and, most importantly, MAGA is explicitly a Nazi movement. You may have replaced a swastika with a red hat, but that is what it is.​

    Fuckin’ tell it!

  170. 170.

    different-church-lady

    I know I’m flooding but I’m just going to say it, and fuck Kash and whatever goon might be monitoring this board…

    If Trump meets any other end than being dragged from the White House and beaten to death, then history and fate will have treated him too kindly.

  171. 171.

    Marc

    @Jay: he’s not a white man from Central Casting?

    Appointed by President Joe Biden?

    I’d add: will refuse to obey an illegal order

  172. 172.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @frosty: My ex-nephew the ex-cop told me once that about a third of cops join because they genuinely care, they really want to help people.

    Another third because it’s a good civil-service type job, a union job that only requires a high school diploma.

    But that last third are all the worst bastards you’ll ever run across.

  178. 178.

    eclare

    @Jay:

    I remember when he played for the Vikings.  He was very outspoken on social issues, especially marriage equality.

  179. 179.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Geminid: Also Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti. That’s 2 out of the 4 members of the JCS. The other 2 should resign in protest.

  180. 180.

    different-church-lady

    Because some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

  181. 181.

    different-church-lady

    @YY_Sima Qian: I keep having a problem with the good guys who still have power resigning “in protest”. What fuckin’ good does the protest do?

  185. 185.

    Geminid

    From Clash Report:

       Republican Senator Thom Tillis breaks harshly from Trump’s Ukraine policy, cslling Vladimir Putin “a cancer, and the greatest tgreat to Democracy in my lifetime.”

    The post includes a 57 second clip from Tillis’s speech on the Senate floor.

    Clas Report is based in Ankara, but they’ve been giving the Trump administration’s foreign policy actions a lot of attention. They’re not fans.

  186. 186.

    Jackie

    @Geminid:  More details:

    President Trump fired the country’s senior military officer on Friday after weeks of turmoil at the Pentagon, injecting a political element into selecting the nation’s top military leader,” the New York Times reports.

    “Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., a four-star fighter pilot known as C.Q. who became only the second African American to hold the chairman’s job, is to be replaced by a retired three-star Air Force general, John Caine, who endeared himself to the president when they met in Iraq six years ago.”

    “Joint Chiefs chairmen traditionally remain in place as administrations change, regardless of the president’s political party.”

  191. 191.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Kelly: Makes me wonder if Trump, or more specifically the Project 2025 crew, wants to leverage personnel from the National Guard (especially from R states) to sideline/hallow out/subvert the professional military.

  192. 192.

    Marc

    Y’all picked up on the fact that Big Balls just happens to be the grandchild of a turncoat KGB spy (like, I suppose, most meritorious white kids)?  I guess turnabout is fair play.

  198. 198.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @different-church-lady: As the Trump 45 term proved, the “good guys” who stayed to “prevent/dilute the worst” end up getting tainted or corrupted, & are forced to become complicit in all kinds of of wrongdoing & terrible policies. They either end up resigning anyway, or are repeatedly subject to humiliation & have their reputations ruined.

    The current crew is orders of magnitude worse than that bad bunch of the 1st 2 years of Trump 45, much worse even than the absolutely terrible bunch at the end of the 1st term. w/ the way DOGE has blitzkrieged through USG, I don’t think any conscientious type (especially in natsec roles) can do any good from the inside.

    I prefer they resign, become radicalized & militant, and resist from the outside.

  203. 203.

    Jay

    @different-church-lady:

    How did the “We Can Moderate His Worst Impulses Crew” do during his first term.

    Oh yeah kids in cages, families separated and over 4’000 illegally adopted by the scum of the earth.

    Where do you think his Daddy Vlad got the idea of stealing over 20,000 Ukrainian children, and through abuse and brainwashing, turn them into “good little ruZZian soldiers” from?

    And that was just one of many..

    Under Dolt 47 your choices are resign, (and maybe get charged by the DOJ), or cave, and be hung eventually as a war criminal.

  205. 205.

    different-church-lady

    @Jay: ​I don’t think they can do anything by staying, and they’ll be fired anyway. I’m only saying the “protest” is utterly ineffective. You don’t even get to undermine from there.

  208. 208.

    different-church-lady

    @MomSense: ​She’s only right if enough people agree.

    Otherwise we do now have a king.

    (ATA: I also feel very proud of her. Nonetheless my comment is a practical observation.)

  211. 211.

    Jeffro

    @Geminid: the pro-Putin moves are registering with the Republicans who aren’t completely bought…”hey, this could end up endangering the US, in a big way!”

    (duh)

    when the crack becomes a fissure becomes a complete rupture, it will be something to behold

    (but what did they THINK Putin’s puppet was going to do?  just sit back and dilly-dally while Vlad needs saving from his own misadventure?)

  212. 212.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @different-church-lady: But you also don’t lend legitimacy to the regime by keep working for it. The Trump regime has to be delegitimized in the eyes of a large majority of Americans, preferably a large majority of American voters.

  213. 213.

    different-church-lady

    @YY_Sima Qian: ​

    But you also don’t lend legitimacy to the regime by keep working for it.

    That is only true if you agree that the President has the only power in this country.

  214. 214.

    MomSense

    @Professor Bigfoot:

    Thats why our little state, smallest population in the Union, is bringing this battle to a head. We are defending not only the rule of law and our constitution but we are also defending the trans community from the most disgusting attacks. Let’s all get behind our Governor and our little state. Let’s stop this fucking bullshit right fucking now.
    Any jackals who want to come here to organize, fundraise, join the legal battle, make calls I’ll house you or find housing for you.

  215. 215.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @different-church-lady: No one from the legislative or judicial branch should resign, but the Executive? If you are a mid-/low level bureaucrat, there may still be space to perform sabotage. At the senior leadership level, there is too much scrutiny for them to be effective saboteurs, in the meantime they lend legitimacy & become complicit.

  218. 218.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @YY_Sima Qian: Makes me wonder if Trump, or more specifically the Project 2025 crew, wants to leverage personnel from the National Guard (especially from R states) to sideline/hallow out/subvert the professional military.

    Their salaries are paid for by the states…

  220. 220.

    Jackie

    @Steve LaBonne:

    Military ordered to fire on protestors in 3,2,1…

    How about “Military lays down their arms in protest against the FFOTUS” instead?

    An American can dream…

  226. 226.

    Jay

    @different-church-lady:

    When the head of Treasury Security told the Dog Boys they couldn’t come in, who was escorted out by Treasury Security?

    Not the Dog Boys.

    The rot goes deep, in every institution.

    The US Marshalls just deputized a bunch of Apartheid Clyde’s bodyguards, so that they can carry weapons and have US Marshall’s power in DC, the Hill and everywhere.

    And it’s not that these MAGgot’s in the Fed are loyal to Apartheid Clyde’s Consort, they are loyal to Apartheid Clyde.

  228. 228.

    ColoradoGuy

    I was idly thinking if Vladimir offered Trump a cheap gold-plated copy of Czar Nicholas II’s crown, Trump would gladly take it, pose for selfies on Twitter, and hand over Alaska to Russia.

    The remaining Alaskan Republican Senators and House members might need to learn Russian, but they’d still be loyal to MAGA.

  229. 229.

    Kelly

    @YY_Sima Qian: Subverting the military has been one of my preeminent worries. I don’t think he’s reaching into the National Guard more that particular retired officer is malleable.

    The JAG officers seem like a more pernicious problem

  230. 230.

    Quiltingfool

    One of my asshole senators (Schmitt, R-Mo) sent a reply to my email.  It was a pile of self-serving bullshit.  I replied back and I was not nice.  Honestly, I could have saved some time and just wrote “Fuck you, you traitorous asshole,”  but I do so love to give a verbal beat down.

    In my last sentence, I told him to save his interns’ time and not send me a reply that insulted my intelligence.  But I did say I was not done with him.

    I also expressed my hope that he was a one-hit wonder.

  233. 233.

    Gretchen

    @Quiltingfool: Same from my asshole Senator Marshall (R-KS). I asked if he was going to oppose cutting the Roy Blunt Alzheimer’s Research Center since he served with Blunt. He replied with Debt, Deficit, Waste, Fraud. No response about the center at all. He also claimed that there were $250 billion of improper payments by the feds. Didn’t mention that these were mostly by the IRS, and cutting 7000 IRS agents probably wouldn’t help.

  234. 234.

    eclare

    Just signed up for a telephone town hall on Monday night with my US Rep.  He’s a strong D, voted against Lakin Riley Act (I called to say thank you), should be interesting.

    I’ll call my worthless senators on Monday:  Bill Hagerty and Marsha Marsha Marsha.  I’ll report back if anyone answers.  I may try calling their offices in East TN, Memphis is overwhelmingly D so contributes few votes.

  236. 236.

    sab

    @Nukular Biskits: Those “what constitutes driving” questions  were something we were introduced to the first week of law school 50+ years ago, to introduce us to the concept that there is no such thing as clear statutory language.

  238. 238.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Gretchen: The US Senate will be as much a rubber stamp for the Trump administration as the PRC’s National People’s Congress & the Russian Duma are. To the extent that the House will occasionally fail in this role it will be because the House R caucus is filled w/ fools, imbeciles, incompetents, & lazy bums.

  243. 243.

    eclare

    @MagdaInBlack:

    The first street address that I remember is also rural, so I would be Patches RD 4 Box 456.  We moved there when I was eight, I have no recollection of street names before then.

  252. 252.

    sab

    @Yutsano: I am counter sabotaging you. Don’t want to do it, but once again I am filing handwritten tax return, calculated carefully, documenting every calculation with an IRS worksheet.

    For newbies to filing your own taxes, the IRS has extremely excellent guidance. Instructions to the forms and general publications. Really excellent. Requires a lot of reading, but you cannot say they haven’t told you how to file correctly, because they have.

  259. 259.

    KRK

    @sab:

    My accountant retired last year so I’m venturing into doing my own taxes again after 25 years and…I thought it was fun. I’m using the IRS’s Free File Fillable Forms and it’s been so much easier and clearer than I was fearing. It’s so handy the way the necessary forms and instructions are linked from the main 1040 form and then the data from the schedules/worksheets gets populated back into the 1040 form. I’m not 100% sure I did it  all correctly (though I’m feeling confident), but it was just the kind of fiddly task that I enjoy.

  260. 260.

    Geminid

    @Grover Gardner: That’s like what happened to Georgia Rep. Rich McCormick Thursday night: hard questions, booing, a surprised Republican. McCormick’s district runs from Atlanta suburbs like Roswell north past Dahlonega. McCormick picked Roswell for his town hall, the more Democratic end of the district.

  264. 264.

    prostratedragon

    @eclare:  So my hunch was correct. (Haven’t been around much this evening, but heard another performance somewhere and it sounded so on point.)

  266. 266.

    Jackie

    @Geminid: After he was booed at that town hall – making national news – he was scheduled to appear on CNN last night. Apparently he cancelled at the last minute. So, he’s also a chickenshit coward.

  267. 267.

    prostratedragon

    @eclare:

    Isn’t that great?

    “Whisper Not,” Benny Golson

    In all the hubbub last fall I failed to notice Benny Golson’s passing in September. That leaves Sonny Rollins as the survivor of the “Great Day in Harlem” photo. There’s a nice, cozy documentary about that image from 1995 (!!).

    Afterword: Just found a ytube video . The full doc is just under 1 hour, then there’s a “making of” doc that also talks about the picture’s afterlife, one might call it. Benny Golson is among thse prominently featured in that segment.

    A Great Day in Harlem

  273. 273.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @TBone: I thought I swore like a sailor, but can out swear anyone with his fancy vocabulary.. Charming. And he can’t be kicked out..

  278. 278.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Baud: That telescope is a big deal.

    I think back on summer camp a few years back, when the Webb telescope had only gone up a few months before, and we were just getting those first astounding pictures. I showed some of the pictures to a group of four year olds, and one girl— her name was a cognate of “star”— exclaimed in wonder, “I never..”

    I loved telling her, “none of us have ever seen this. This is brand new for everyone.” We were joined in our wonder, in that moment of looking at those wildly detailed, unexpected photos sent back from the Webb.

    Terse version: cutting funds to the Webb matters in ways that might surprise us.

  282. 282.

    Miss Bianca

    I just fucking love how I’m basically being forced to get a Bluesky account if I want to see any Bluesky link the FPers post these days. Nothing like being forced to join the Freedom Platform!

  284. 284.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Miss Bianca: Is Bluesky locking out non-members from viewing posts now? I don’t really have an account, just a mirror of my Mastodon stuff, but I haven’t had a problem.

  285. 285.

    Miss Bianca

    @Matt McIrvin: Well, I don’t have an account and I can’t see most of the stuff that the FPers post, so…in the absence of any other evidence, I have to presume some connection between the two things.

  286. 286.

    Geminid

    @Matt McIrvin: Access to Bluesky has been hit or miss for. Sometimes  grt to choose between joining and “Not Now” so I hit not now and I’m in.

    Other times there is no “Not Now” option. I found a back door that seems to work. If I look up Ragnarok Lobster I might not be be able to access his current account directly. But I usually can access an older post and then get to his current account by hitting his avatar.

  287. 287.

    Another Scott

    @Matt McIrvin:  I don’t have a BSky account and I seemingly don’t have issues with our FPers stuff there.  (ABL’s feed occasionally has stuff reposted that requires an account, but most of it is account-free.)

    Dunno.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  289. 289.

    Lauryn11

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    79 million people are on Medicaid. The massive GOP cuts will cause hospitals and nursing homes to shut down nationwide and cause a major disruption to the insurance industry. EBT cuts will screw farmers and grocery prices will rise. Recipients will have to spend more of the rest of their income on food, consumer spending will fall. There will be a downward spiral of job loss over many sectors. It won’t be pretty. There will be no savings, it goes without saying.

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