Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about it’s history.”

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

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

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

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

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

So many bastards, so little time.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

In my day, never was longer.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Saturday Morning Open Thread: Democrats Speaking Up

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Democrats Speaking Up

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And not just the Democrats, either:

Actually think this is kind of meaningful. Fox, Newsmax, etc. pushing back in anyway (signing the "bring back to the AP letter," having less fawning coverage… whatever the fuck this is) is going to break through Trump's little bubble because he's addicted to cable news.

[image or embed]

— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) February 21, 2025 at 11:54 AM

THR: “.. Paramount now signaling that it’s prepared to go on the offensive .. leveraging the threat of uncovering information about Trump’s financials, including with respect to his social media company .. and the cryptocurrency he launched, in discovery.”
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus…

[image or embed]

— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) February 20, 2025 at 7:28 PM

Josh Marshall, at TPM — “INFLECTION: The Backlash Begins As Elon Goes Wild”:

Against the backdrop of a month of chaos and destruction, something began to shift more or less in the middle of this week. I don’t want to overstate what it portends in the short term. Elon Musk remains firmly in the saddle. And even as many of Trump’s advisors grow concerned about the impact of Musk’s rampage, Donald Trump himself appears to be maintaining his support…

But there’s something else going on — not so much the tide turning as a certain battle being joined. Beginning this week, local TV stations around the country have begun running human interest stories about veterans, members of military families or Trump supporters getting fired as part of Elon’s purge. Meanwhile, we can see a growing cleavage between what congressional Republicans are saying in Washington and what they’re saying back in their districts.

The tenor of the moment first registered in a series of polls which came out midweek showing the first signs of Trump’s approval rating dipping into negative territory. I don’t think we should make too much of those poll numbers either way. Trump’s aggregate approval numbers had already dropped about five points just over the last month. And some of that is simply the inauguration support subsiding. What the polls did was puncture the impression within the mainstream media that political gravity has been suspended or canceled along with all the government contracts DOGE has left in its wake. Meanwhile, you’re seeing House Republicans in all but the most MAGA districts get nervous about what this titanic battle was always going to come down to: your health care coverage for Elon’s tax cuts…

i don't really care do u

[image or embed]

— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) February 20, 2025 at 6:02 PM

they can panic all the way to the shutdown, i don't give a shit, they've abandoned their posts and broken their oaths, panic is the very, very least of what they deserve

— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) February 20, 2025 at 6:03 PM

it’s not even a real carrot, the likelihood that they can actually execute on it is approximately nil, it’s just musk’s typical “lie about the carrot, continue beating with the stick” approach to everything

[image or embed]

— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) February 20, 2025 at 2:27 PM

i agree that they’re beginning to worry this is unpopular, though, musk doesn’t give a shit, but musk isn’t a congressman whose office has fielded more angry calls in the last three weeks than in their last three terms combined

— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) February 20, 2025 at 2:29 PM

Reader Interactions

261Comments

  2. 2.

    danielx

    I have long held that Felonious Orange doesn’t have policies, he has impulses.Those governed by who he is happy with, who he is unhappy with (both could change at any given moment), and whoever he talked to in the last twenty minutes.

    So yeah, Policy as such ain’t in it.

    I have not been able to sleep the past night, feeling like fight or flight reaction.

  3. 3.

    lowtechcyclist

    Good morning, y’all.

    I do love Rev. Sen. Warnock.

    And this, from above:

    having a White House by a random assembly of the biggest wackos you could find, led by a guy who transparently doesn’t care and isn’t paying attention, makes it a bit hard to have a consistent policy approach

    I love a good understatement, and this one fucking nails it.

  6. 6.

    Rusty

    So Trump is praising a rise in defense spending, while simultaneously unilaterally cutting the defense budget 8%.  Time for the NYT to write another editorial praising Tumps innovative leadership.

  8. 8.

    danielx

    @Baud:

    Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all, As the weird women promised…

    Defense, Justice, Intelligence, Congress, Supreme Court. Fuck me running, he’s running the table and this is all preparatory to the second thing he wants. That being revenge on everybody he perceives as an enemy, which is a pretty goddamn large universe statically speaking. First thing he wants being money but he’s already making coin hand over fist through grift and Bibles so that particular taste is being satisfied. But now, now, he has control of all the elements of the government that have guns.

    Sorry, feeling a little overwrought at the moment.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    @danielx:

    I doubt we’ll get through the next four years without people getting hurt or killed.  I’m skeptical that whatever awful thing he does will work out to his benefit though. I’m fairly confident he will fail, but more unsure of the amount of damage he will do on his road to failure.

  10. 10.

    tokyocali (formerly tokyo ex-pat)

    My son sent me a tweet that DOGE canceled Westlaw Reuters for the SEC because they’re idiots who saw the Reuters and figured it was connected to the media agency. Except it’s a legal service that allows the SEC folks to look up the law. They’re incompetent and in a normal business with rules and laws and a proper HR, they’d be fired, if they’d ever been hired in the first place.

  13. 13.

    tokyocali (formerly tokyo ex-pat)

    @Baud: I am afraid that you may be right. I know my two older sons are looking at Japan and thinking despite the problems here, it’s probably better to stay than try to move to the states. My youngest might be sent by his company to work in the US, likely Texas, and to say I’m concerned is an understatement.

  15. 15.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Baud: Unfortunately too many people in this country didn’t understand that being a responsible American citizen means paying attention to what’s going on politically, locally and nationally. People are going to learn the hard way that saying “I don’t care about politics” is whistling past the graveyard because politics is going to impact their lives whether they like it or not. The tax for American’s stubborn, self-inflicted myopia is going to be huge.

  16. 16.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Baud: already so much damage.

    even if all these court cases and etc make the dismantling stop, and we get back our data and put things back where they were, the world knows there are persons just waiting to kick the door down again. So trust, respect, soft power, I don’t see how that can recover.

    I wish I could understand why it’s taken so long, a whole month, to start getting some effective push back, to fight and stop all the undoing. It’s been obvious since day one, that it was crazy and non-legal, the things he was unplugging.

    danielx: overwrought is a good word choice. I relate. Fury, fear, deer-in-the-headlights all at once. I’ve been up all night for months.

  19. 19.

    Baud

    @tokyocali (formerly tokyo ex-pat):

    It’s pretty clear now that there’s a big cultural rot in the US that predated Trump. Something terrible probably has to happen to change the trajectory. We’ve tried the steady progress approach since 2008, and it didn’t work to change hearts and minds. Now it’s out of our hands, and we’ll have to fight to be the ones in charge of rebuilding at the end of this.

  20. 20.

    Jeffro

    “the cuts and the chaos are happening to pay for the ultra-wealthy’s NEXT feast” isn’t a bad unifying message

    also: Buttigieg, Warnock, and Warren all in a row like that makes me especially proud of our very deep bench…also thinking of you all, AOC, Moore, Alsobrooks, Pritzker, Raskin, Crockett, Stansbury, and more…GO TEAM BLUE!!!

  21. 21.

    TBone

    Dems Speaking Up per the Inky:

    Shapiro joins the council at a challenging time for governors — particularly Democratic ones — as Trump’s administration tries to slash the size of the federal government and freeze federal funds that states depend on, meaning more responsibilities will fall to the states. Shapiro’s appointment comes less than a week after he challenged the Trump administration in court over its freezing of federal funds already approved by Congress, most of which are for environmental or energy projects.
    Shapiro is one of five Democratic governors appointed by Trump to the Council of Governors to a two-year term.

    Don’t you DARE bend anything except his ear, Guv!

    https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania/trump-appoints-shapiro-governor-council-20250220.html

    With the NCAA bullshit yesterday, I’m counting on some serious pushback, Governor.  If Governor Mills has to come over there and reinforce your spine, I will be trolling you for the rest of your term!

    🎶

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxSSUX3MEJM

  23. 23.

    Percysowner

     

    Speaking of Medicare, Trump has abolished telehealth visits unless you are in a rural area

    Telehealth Through March 31, 2025, you can get telehealth services at any location in the U.S., including your home. Starting April 1, 2025, you must be in an office or medical facility located in a rural area (in the U.S.) for most telehealth services. If you aren’t in a rural health care setting, you can still get certain Medicare telehealth services on or after April 1, including:

    Monthly End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) visits for home dialysis
    Services for diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment of symptoms of an acute stroke wherever you are, including in a mobile stroke unit
    Services for the diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment of a mental and/or behavioral health disorder (including a substance use disorder) in your home

    This is going to be very inconvenient for me, since my hours to see my doctor are limited by the daycare schedule of my grandkids, I’ll do my best to work around the schedule and hope I can continue to drive safely for 3.5 years, when the youngest will actually be in full time school. My ex, OTOH, can’t safely drive and needs psychiatric help. I don’t know if he is in therapy now, but if he is, it has to be televisit. My kids already have to lug him to all his in person appointments and it is killing their sick time. I may end up lugging him around, because I want him as well as he can be, but this is going to really impact a LOT of seniors.

    Thank you fellow Baby Boomers who voted to return our country to the days of your youth, the 1950s. Trumps gratitude has been shown by making it harder to get medical help and trying to kill us off! [/sarcasm]

  24. 24.

    Nukular Biskits

    Good mornin, y’all!

    Lemme get the nagging out of the way:  HOW MANY OF Y’ALL WITH CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICAN “REPRESENTATION” CALLED/WROTE/EMAILED THEM THIS WEEK?

    Oh, and don’t forget to share your views and demand answers from Trump-supporting local/state Republicans as well.  In fact, I’d argue they bear closer watching now than ever before.

    /nagging.

    Today should be a little warmer on the Coast, but not much.  I’m gonna try to pick up compost to spread in the yard … supposed to rain again tomorrow morning, so today would be a good day to do that.

  25. 25.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Jeffro: What’s encouraging about the new generation of Democrats is these are politicians that came of age where the Republicans have always been crazy, so they know “bipartisanship” is a absurd pipe dream that even a crackhead wouldn’t touch.

  26. 26.

    p.a.

    @Baud: 2 steps forward 1 century back is hard to overcome.

     

    It won’t help me any (I’m retired and don’t want to have to get a job) but more of this week’s Dow- down 2.9%- will get somebody’s attention.  The question is will the somebodies be able to rein in the god-botherers and Musk-rats really running things while donnie golfs.

  27. 27.

    satby

    @The Thin Black Duke: Hard agree. As did the great Molly Ivins, who I quote IRL often:

    What stuns me most about contemporary politics is not even that the system has been so badly corrupted by money. It is that so few people get the connection between their lives and what the bozos do in Washington and our state capitols.

    • Politics is not a picture on a wall or a television sitcom that you can decide you don’t much care for.

  28. 28.

    eclare

    @Nukular Biskits:

    Going to call my two worthless senators (TN) on Monday.  My rep is a good, strong D.

    Also, since I’m in Memphis, all of my state representation is D.  Not that it matters in this state.

  31. 31.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Baud: Ironically, that’s one of the pitfalls of living in a civilized society: people often take their safety and peace of mind for granted, not understanding that there are always barbarians at the gates who, for whatever reason, want to take those comforts away. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty and all that.

  32. 32.

    tokyocali (formerly tokyo ex-pat)

    @Baud: I’ve always felt that those of us who came of age in the late 1970s onwards were fortunate. We never had to make the sacrifices that previous generations had for war, for civil rights, or for labor rights. Minority communities, yes, still had to fight for dignity, respect and equality, (and still are!) but the white population, overall, could focus on getting a bigger house and another car to fill the garage. I don’t know where this will lead. The pollyanna in me wants to hope that the laws will hold and that with enough pushback, the bullies will slink back into the darkness, but there are a lot of people with guns out there who are very loosely tethered to reality. This could get ugly very fast and I’m not sure how we would know who is on which side.

  33. 33.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Baud: Im reminded of what Tim Walz said, you might not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you.

    Also, many in the USA have been lulled into a state of complacent numbness. It was glaringly obvious when I returned from another country decades ago. In the midst of reverse culture shock, that was one of the things.

  34. 34.

    Shalimar

    @Rusty: Does Trump even know Hegseth has ordered military spending cut by 34% over the next 5 years?  This could very well be something Vought and Musk agreed on without informing Trump.  If whoever prints out news articles didn’t include that one then Trump very well might not be aware.  We know he isn’t the one deciding general policy directions beyond his verbal diarrhea of the day.

  36. 36.

    hells littlest angel

    A growing number of congressional Republicans are desperately trying to back-channel with White House officials as Trump’s DOGE ramps up its slash-and-burn firings of federal workers.

     

    This is not a good thing. I’m afraid they’ll work out some methods for limiting the suffering to blue states and registered Democrats.

  39. 39.

    tokyocali (formerly tokyo ex-pat)

    @TBone: It’s symptomatic of how they operate. They don’t bother to learn or study. They just go in and break stuff.

  40. 40.

    Danielx

    @Ksmiami: Over time not a doubt.  It sooner or later he will do something that results in mass scale death suddenly. Which of course will not be his fault.

  41. 41.

    satby

    @hells littlest angel: Blue states are blue because of larger populations, but their Republican and non-voting groups outnumber a lot of red states total population. That isn’t sustainable for the continued popularity of the Trusk regime.

  44. 44.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Baud:

    I doubt we’ll get through the next four years without people getting hurt or killed. I’m skeptical that whatever awful thing he does will work out to his benefit though. I’m fairly confident he will fail, but more unsure of the amount of damage he will do on his road to failure.

    Again I ask (rhetorically, in case my personal FBI agent is reading this …):

    At what point do the American people rise up and take arms against tyranny?

    And I’m again reminded of that question after seeing the meme (Or was it an The Onion article?) showing the NRA has forgotten to do the one thing it has been claiming for years.

  47. 47.

    Gvg

    @Baud: I think a large part of it is prosperity and safety for quite a long time. Even our recessions haven’t compared to the type that happened before the FDR banking reforms. And I don’t think Covid killed as many as prior great pandemics did here in the US. The vaccine was developed much faster than I had believed possible, and there really are people who don’t know anyone personally who died. People don’t know how systems work that they depend on because they happened over generations and have been in place for about 3 now. Even the Vietnam draft is a distant memory. I have not seen one protest about Trump that mentions not being willing cannon fodder to attack Greenland Canada or Mexico to conquer them and steal their minerals, plus keep occupying a hostile population…..It’s illegal and we have fought wars to prevent other countries doing it and it’s stupid, would destroy us economically. We are built on trade and we also sell monetary stability which Trump and the cryptos are trying to destroy.

    In a lot of ways Trump is an anti businessman.

  48. 48.

    whatsleft

    @Nukular Biskits:

    HOW MANY OF Y’ALL WITH CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICAN “REPRESENTATION” CALLED/WROTE/EMAILED THEM THIS WEEK?

    Me – this week was calling my R congressperson (formerly sheriff with many allegations of racism) in a highly gerrymandered R district to very emotionally protest the FAA cuts as my daughter, son-in-law and toddler granddaughter were on a flight right then and I was terrified.  Interns answering phones at local and DC offices were very sympathetic and had no response to how things are worse, not better.

    Last week was why were hackers allowed to look at our private information.  Also called my worthless senators, but only got answering machines and no response.

  49. 49.

    Baud

    @Nukular Biskits:

    The rhetorical answer is that we’re a long ways off from that. I think we should focus on the present and near future and not spend time trying to predict how things will play out in the distant future. But I’m averse to augury.

  50. 50.

    Hildebrand

    @Gloria DryGarden: Too many needed to feel it before they recognized it.  They never thought it would affect them, so they continued to marinate in their complacency.  Now that they are feeling it, it has finally become real.

    This is true of regular folks, as well as elected officials.  The media will take even longer.

  51. 51.

    Nukular Biskits

    @eclare:

    Keep it up. Keep applying pressure. Remind them you want answers to  your questions, that you’re not calling just to vent.

    In my conversation with one of the staffers at the local office for Sen Hyde-Smith, I flat out told her that I was sick & tired of being ignored by the senator, to which the staffer replied, “No sir. She’s not ignoring you. We hear and log every call!”

    To which I replied, hearing constituents and logging their calls isn’t an acknowledgement of their concerns and doesn’t answer their questions.

    It’s quite obvious they do NOT want to hear from people like me and definitely don’t want to see them in person.  Tough shit.

  52. 52.

    tokyocali (formerly tokyo ex-pat)

    @Betty: @Gloria DryGarden:  I work with English instructors from Australia, NZ, England, India, the Philippines, Canada and they are very attuned to US politics. Maybe not all the details, but as they have said to me, what happens in the US impacts the world and their countries, so they pay attention. Since Trump, though, it’s been a look of disbelief that they have to be subjected to Trump v2.

  53. 53.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Shalimar:

    WRT defense cuts, it’s both sad and hilarious how my senior US Senator, Roger Wicker, uber-defense-hawk who hasn’t seen a NDAA that contained enough money for him, rolled over this week so Musk could scritch his tummy.

  54. 54.

    Spanky

    @Baud: 

    But I’m averse to augury.

    Well, there are plenty of chicken entrails available to be read. Might be a tad tainted, though.

  55. 55.

    Ohio Mom

    @Gloria DryGarden: It was obvious to me when I was in my young twenties and moved from New York City to Cincinnati. NY is a city of immigrants and people with international ties, whether through business and cultural connections, or family, or some other reason. All that gave a certain level of awareness of doings in the larger world.

    Cincinnati is insular, there’s that apocryphal Mark Twain quote, If the world was ending, he’d move to Cincinnati and get in another ten years.

    Even to my normie, under-informed ears, people in Cincinnati would make comments about news events that just floored me. I remember in particular someone insisting to me that Russians are just people like us. No awareness of history, culture, geopolitics, economics or anything else that might make a difference.

    I love living in peace and prosperity but I can see it numbs people.

  56. 56.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Gvg: Trump has removed the guardrails that protected him from his moronic decisions, so there’s nothing standing between Trump and the consequences of his actions. It’s guaranteed something bad is going to kick this country in the ass; there’s no if, it’s when, and when the inevitable happens, Trump’s constituents ain’t gonna wanna hear that it’s Joe Biden’s fault.

  57. 57.

    Geo Wilcox

    If I see any of those stories about Trump voters getting their eyes opened up, I click on every single one of them to boost the click rate for those kinds of stories. I want more and more of them to show up in the media and the only way to do that is to make sure they are popular and can reward the organization that put them out.

  62. 62.

    tokyocali (formerly tokyo ex-pat)

    @TBone: This worries me. I think we are close to seeing them ignore a court ruling and it’s anyone’s guess what will happen.

  63. 63.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Percysowner:

    Thank you fellow Baby Boomers who voted to return our country to the days of your youth, the 1950s. Trumps gratitude has been shown by making it harder to get medical help and trying to kill us off! [/sarcasm]

    The population of the US in the 1950s was about half of what it is today, so basically he’s doing a Thanos snap.

  64. 64.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Baud:

    The rhetorical answer is that we’re a long ways off from that. I think we should focus on the present and near future and not spend time trying to predict how things will play out in the distant future. But I’m averse to augury.

    I don’t disagree … but I see the timetable accelerating, based on the unprecedented destruction of norms, violations of law, etc, and the unwillingness of a Republican-controlled Congress to do a damned thing about it.

    Mind you, I’m not advocating for political violence but, should things continue on this path at this rate (or faster), I think it inevitable.

    And that begs the question as to where all the morans are who absolutely lost their minds when a black man tried to give them healthcare which they declared ZOMG TEH TEEE RAN KNEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!! They were handled with kid gloves and given VIP treatment by the GOP and our supposedly librul media.  Where are they now?

  66. 66.

    satby

    @The Thin Black Duke: It’s guaranteed something bad is going to kick this country in the ass; there’s no if, it’s when, and when the inevitable happens, Trump’s constituents ain’t gonna wanna hear that it’s Joe Biden’s fault.

    The ones who manage to realize, like my most RW cousin (FBI guy) , that they were lied to will be have the most bitterly angry reactions to that. My cousin’s turn came at Jan 6. Other people are slower learners. But all but about 27% will get there.

  68. 68.

    TONYG

    My question is exactly how much my terrible “Democratic Party” congressman, Josh Gottheimer, will be willing to kiss Trump’s ass.  My bet is: a lot.

  70. 70.

    Ksmiami

    @Spanky: I’m talking about Trumps policies like destroying healthcare, vaccines etc and the job losses and inevitable Depression that he will cause. Not to mention a war or political violence he will start.

  71. 71.

    Ohio Mom

    @Nukular Biskits: If you had asked me a few months ago if I thought the Pentagon budget could use some trimming, I’d be all for it. But in these through-the-looking-glass days, I’m all “Don’t touch that!”

    On the subject of Americans taking up guns and fighting, the ultra-right has been doing that for a long time, think of those sovereign citizens’ groups and the periodic but ongoing attacks on Planned Parenthood, then there are the mass shootings, yeah, I know, they are all disturbed individuals (s/, or is that /s?). We live with a lot of violence, really. Now will it be directed in concert against whatever, that is a different question I have no idea about.

  73. 73.

    Kay

    The WSJ has that Murkowski’s virtual town hall was flooded with complaints by Alaskan federal employees who have been arbitrarily fired. Still, she stuck it out for 90 minutes.

  74. 74.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Ohio Mom:

    What I fear is going to happen is isolated incidents of politically-motivated violence against “conservatives”/Trump-supporting Republicans will be carried out by angry/disturbed individuals who may (or may not) have ideological beliefs that align with those of us on the political left in this country.

    Of course, should (when?) that happens, Trump and his supporters will immediately declare that individual represents ALL Trump opponents, despite all evidence to the contrary.

    What will be so damned frustrating about that is for years, Republicans have been downplaying acts of politically-motivated violence by those with “conservative” (and note the quotes there) as “isolated”, “lone wolf”, etc.

    In other words, heads they win, tails we lose.

  75. 75.

    Ohio Mom

    @Geo Wilcox: That seems like an easy small good deed. You can always take that moment to do something else, I dunno, put yesterday’s paper in recycling, clip a hang nail.

  76. 76.

    pajaro

    @Baud:

    Whether it migrants at the Southern Border who were scheduled for appointments to enter the border when the app. was eliminated, or the Afghan refugees who were already approved for entry and who are left in dangerous situations, or the refugees legally in the country who have been left to fend for themselves because our refugee resettlement programs were cancelled by the government,  or the thousands of people who have already lost their jobs, people are already being hurt.  If, like me, you live in the DC area, you know you are one degree of separation from someone whose life has already been ruined.

  79. 79.

    p.a.

    @Matt McIrvin: The population of the US in the 1950s was about half of what it is today, so basically he’s doing a Thanos snap.

     

    Did none of the Avengers think to explain to Thanos the efficacy of birth control!?!? //s

  80. 80.

    pajaro

    @TONYG:

    Dear Tony,

    Forget your Congressman, who is one of the worst in Congress,  and reach out to your Senators, who are really trying to do their best.

  81. 81.

    satby

    @Ohio Mom: Long term right wing tracker David Neiwert agrees, with statistics:

    But those who were identifiable are 92% male and 51% White. A minority of plots and attacks (31%) involve Islamist extremists, while the majority (60%) involve those steeped in far-right ideologies, whether white supremacist, militia, anti-government Sovereign Citizen, or other forms of ideological racism and anti-Semitism.

  82. 82.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Baud: The damage he’s already done is immense and some of it permanent within the timeline of at least 20 years. It’s hard to understand all of the issues (I know enough to know that I don’t), but our betters in the legacy media choose to not even report on most of it.

    ETA: I see you clarified to physical harm.

  83. 83.

    Matt McIrvin

    @satby: Most Germans who lived under Hitler, despite official repudiation, went to their graves thinking he was basically all right, pity he couldn’t win the war.

    Opinions about Presidents have existed within a narrow band determined by partisan loyalties ever since we had the temerity to elect a Black President. Trump’s approval floor during his first term, according to Gallup, was in the high thirties, about the same as Biden (it briefly got into the low thirties in the aftermath of the Jan. 6th mob attack, but MAGAs seem to have decided now that that was OK). I don’t think it gets lower than that. It might get higher if people start to perceive that it’s dangerous not to love Trump.

  84. 84.

    pajaro

    @Baud:

    Most of the law enforcement in this country is done by state and local officials.  There’s obviously potential danger from something like a declaration of martial law, but, for now, the dangers to our country are coming from other kinds of actions, in my opinion.

  85. 85.

    Nukular Biskits

    @pajaro:

    Forget your Congressman, who is one of the worst in Congress, and reach out to your Senators, who are really trying to do their best.

    I disagree.

    You should be reaching out to ALL of them.  Hammer the Republican representation with your concerns, criticisms, questions and demands for answers.  They desperately want any/all opposition and attempts to hold them accountable to go away.

    Continue supporting your Democratic representation.

  86. 86.

    p.a.

    @Nukular Biskits: What I fear is going to happen is isolated incidents of politically-motivated violence against “conservatives”/Trump-supporting Republicans will be carried out by angry/disturbed individuals who may (or may not) have ideological beliefs that align with those of us on the political left in this country.

     

     

    Cutting back/cutting off mental health assistance can lead to the Reichstag Fire that they’re looking for.  As I write this, I note that they’re successfully proceeding NOW is if there has already been a Reichstag Fire.😡

  87. 87.

    Kay

    So they’re firing all the high ranking Black people and women and we’re supposed to pretend this is somehow about “merit”?
    What a joke.

  88. 88.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Ohio Mom: Trimming? Yes. What we’re having now, though, is a purge with the goal of turning the armed forces into a machine for killing Americans. It’ll be useless for anything else (I don’t think the invasion of Canada is going to work–they have a real army).

  90. 90.

    satby

    @Matt McIrvin: The 27% is the well known crazification factor. And we’ll always have that segment, it’s human nature. As to “dangerous not to love Trump”; I think our fellow citizens’ natural contrarian inclinations will limit that.  This is not the homogeneous nation that other nations that have fallen into fascism have been. Not saying it can’t happen here, just acknowledging that it’s not a straight line of dominos that have to fall before it happens, and too many potential blocks available still.

  94. 94.

    satby

    For those as disgusted as I am about our current regime’s abandonment of Ukraine, United 24 is having a fundraiser to buy more armored evacuation vehicles here. For those who don’t know, United 24 is the Ukrainian government’s official fundraising platform for supporting the nation. Send what you can to let them know Americans are still behind them even if our homegrown traitors aren’t.

  95. 95.

    MomSense

    I’m still on a high from our Governor yesterday. Her subsequent statements on the announcement of the DOE investigation were also really good. She got tons of press and went viral on social media. The best thing is she said it to his damn face, interrupted his rant to tell him she would see him in court. What he doesn’t know is that she survived DV as a young woman and went on to become a prosecutor, first woman DA in our state, because of that experience. And something else that is relevant. Lots of comments on social media saying she has a steel spine or finally a Dem with a spine. She does in fact have a steel spine. Her scoliosis was so severe that she had to have a steel rod placed in her spine and then a painful and slow recovery.
    Bottom line is Trump fucked with the wrong woman and I hope everyone here will have her back because the assholes are going to go after her.

  96. 96.

    Ohio Mom

    @Matt McIrvin: Of course in my earlier, preTrump years, I was all for a judicious review of the Pentagon, they can never pass an audit. Probably everyone here would have agreed.

    And now everyone agrees, Trump is turning the Pentagon into his personal army.

  97. 97.

    RileysEnabler

    In order to be able to function somewhat coherently, I’ve been trying to do something every day- in my case, calling my reps. First steps: entering both craptastic senators (Texas) and my ODIOUS rep into contacts under “Politican” so I can call quickly and easily- both the DC and local offices. I was mining content from here and Bluesky until I found the 5 Calls app, which is easy and terrific.   When I started it was hard and scary but now it’s not. A great deal of the time I get voicemail, occasionally a live staffer – but more and more the voicemails are full and I can’t get through. This gives me hope that others are calling and giving them hell (politely but sternly) too.

    It helps me feel a little less out of control. I don’t know how much difference it makes here in Texas,  but at the least they know we are pissed. Every day.

  99. 99.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Nukular Biskits: Let me recommend “Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms” by Nicholas Johnson.

    Even in the midst of the non-violent civil rights movement, there was a place for armed self defense.

    A lot of our (white) fellow commenters are not comfortable with this; but absent armed self defense the entire Movement would have been murdered in its cradle by nightriders and Klansmen.

  101. 101.

    prostratedragon

    The surprise might not be true of an habitual culture-watcher, but indeed about the embarrassment:

    You never imagine the descent into despotism being quite this embarrassing, you know? You expect liberal democracy to fall to a Palpatine, not Biff Tannen.

  102. 102.

    RileysEnabler

    @satby: thanks for posting this. Done. Don’t feel much better about what we are doing to Ukraine as a country, but it’s good to have an avenue to help.

  104. 104.

    pajaro

    @Gloria DryGarden:

    I think people understood that there would be huge cuts that the Administration would want to impose, but I don’t think that people were prepared for Trump’s tapping the richest man in the world to deputize a bunch of bro coders to come into federal agencies and ransack them, that they, rather than actual agency heads would do the firings so no one even knew who was firing them, or that he would repeat some of the stuff that didn’t work for him last time, by issuing executive orders that were of such  incredibly dubious legality, that were likely or at least possibly going to be stopped.  We knew that there were going to be horrible appointees, but I don’t think people were prepared for the appointment of degenerate, racist, mentally ill, ignorant, incompetents, up and down the line. Having an HHS appointee who was in the tank for big Pharma?  Sure.  But having a drug addicted, mentally ill opponent of public health and vaccines, who was going to support policies that were going to actively increase the likelihood of disease outbreaks.  No.  People knew that he was likely going to abandon Ukraine, but publicly shaking them down for a half billion dollars?  We knew he was going to be bad on Israel/Palestine, but trying to work out how to  ethnically cleanse Gaza to set up a Trump resort?  The insanity of threatening Canada and Denmark.  The Vice President meeting with a Nazi party in Germany rather than the government of the country?  We knew we were going to have to deal with a would-be autocrat.  But I honestly don’t think people expected the scale of the illegality, vandalism, corruption, and stupidity.

  105. 105.

    New Deal democrat

    @Percysowner:

    Thank you fellow Baby Boomers who voted to return our country to the days of your youth, the 1950s. Trumps gratitude has been shown by making it harder to get medical help and trying to kill us off! [/sarcasm]

    Sorry, but this statement is simply wrong. A majority of Boomers voted for Harris. The demographic that vaulted T—-p over the finish line was Gen X.

    Here’s an article showing one such graph, but there are about half a dozen others that I have seen making the same point:
    https://apnews.com/article/election-harris-trump-women-latinos-black-voters-0f3fbda3362f3dcfe41aa6b858f22d12

    It was voters who formed their ideologies during the Carter (seen as a Dem failure) and Reagan (seen as a huge GOP success) years who have always viewed the fictional Alex Keaton as a role model, and have voted GOP ever since, who more than any other age demographic, did the deed.

    Seniors are primarily those Boomers born in the 1950s who have always trended slightly Blue.

  109. 109.

    p.a.

    Mocking may be marginally helpful politically, but more so psychologically.  Just saw a fbook post (DraftKings 🤢 I think) of a poker game with eggs being used as the chips.😉

  111. 111.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Matt McIrvin:

    It might get higher if people start to perceive that it’s dangerous not to love Trump.

    “If we don’t make it dangerous to be a Nazi, they will make it dangerous not to be.”

    And here we are.

  113. 113.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Nukular Biskits:

    And that begs the question as to where all the morans are who absolutely lost their minds when a black man tried to give them healthcare which they declared ZOMG TEH TEEE RAN KNEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!! They were handled with kid gloves and given VIP treatment by the GOP and our supposedly librul media. Where are they now?

    I can tell you where they are now. I have to associate with some of them. They’ve gone back to not paying attention, or, at most, cheering on the firings of lazy gubmint workers. But mainly, they’ve just gone back to not paying attention.

    As a former GOP strategist said, they’re just reprogrammable meat sacks. They will start paying attention to something again when they are told to start paying attention and told what that something is.

  114. 114.

    oldgold

    @Kay: Just like welcoming the Afrikaners while tossing out the Haitians.

    It is right there for everyone to see – rancid racism.

  115. 115.

    MomSense

    @New Deal democrat:

    Yup. I went to school with them. There were only 2 of us in the Young Democrats Club. I sported a “Jane Wyman was right” pin on my backpack every day of high school.

    I heard a few years ago that James Spader turned down the Alex P Keaton role and I sometimes wonder how different things might have been if he had played that part. Keaton was an arrogant sociopath but Fox is so damned, inherently charismatic and likable.

  116. 116.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Nukular Biskits: Of course I know about that… IN CALIFORNIA.

    You also don’t have the majority of the civil rights movement happening there. Besides, that was perceived as a “threat of political violence,” and only white men can do that.

    I’m talking about armed self defense that kept so many of those civil rights workers alive and didn’t succeed in the case of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner.

    (Andy Goodman and Micky Schwerner were Jews, by the way, may all their memories be a blessing)

    I would also recommend “Negroes with Guns,” by Robert F. Williams.

  117. 117.

    Ohio Mom

    @RileysEnabler: When I can’t get through by phone, I got to my congresscritter’s website, scroll down to the “contact us” and type in a quick note.

    It doesn’t have to be a dissertation, just a line or two, for example, “Hands off my mom’s Social Security! She worked hard for that!”

    You aren’t convincing them, just giving them another hatch mark under the column titled we“Against Social Security cuts.”

  120. 120.

    RaflW

    Probably mentioned, but the WaPo poll (seen via The Hill) saying 83% of Americans disapprove of Trump pardoning the J6ers is remarkable. You can’t even get 83% of Americans to say apple pie is good.

    Does this mean that MAGAs are only 17% of the public?

  121. 121.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Gloria DryGarden: In order to sleep, I’ve had to stop watching the news, even from people like Maddow who’s on our side. I can’t even watch comedians make fun of Trump. It’s not funny. And I’ve had to limit the time I spend on politics online. Thus I’m here less often, which makes me sad.

  122. 122.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Nukular Biskits: Lots more Black folks taking up arms now; Black gun club memberships are growing once again.

    l personally believe that for us, the danger is much less the uniformed security services (the army, the cops) than it is the potential for red-hat night-riders; or attempts to destroy Black neighborhoods as they did in Tulsa in 1921.

    I may prove to be mistaken in that belief, but it at least aligns with history.

  123. 123.

    TBone

    @New Deal democrat: as usual, this Gen Xer turned out exactly opposite of your description.  Always an outlier outlaw.

    …who formed their ideologies during the Carter (seen as a Dem failure) and Reagan (seen as a huge GOP success) years who have always viewed the fictional Alex Keaton as a role model…

    When we had our family TV allotment time, my family ALL made fun of Alex Keaton.  Mom laughed at him the hardest, most obnoxiously.

  124. 124.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @TBone: At that point I think it becomes acknowledged that the 1798 Constitution is finally dead— there are no more “checks and balances,” Congress no longer has the power of the purse, and the courts have no mechanism to enforce their decisions.

    Scares the FUCK outta me.

    Edit: Republicans could end this by asserting their power in Congress. They could have ended it years ago by impeaching that treasonous motherfucker.

    Conservatives will overthrow the Constitution they claim to revere because it permitted a Black man to become President. 

    And it appears they have.

  125. 125.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @The Thin Black Duke: It’s guaranteed something bad is going to kick this country in the ass; there’s no if, it’s when, and when the inevitable happens, Trump’s constituents ain’t gonna wanna hear that it’s Joe Biden’s fault.

    I’ve been feeling the same way.  When it blows up on Trump, it’s going to be were no one expects.

  126. 126.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Last night we had dinner with my boss and his lady friend.  We get along well but I suspect he’s a Republican so I try to avoid any talk of politics, race, gender etc.  His lady friend used to live in Pasadena and said she used to come up to Altadena for some sort of door-to-door surveying of residents as part of her job.  She made a couple comments giving the impression that it was a scary experience because of the higher crime compared to Pasadena.  It was definitely giving a whiff of Fear of a Black Planet/Those People sentiment that is all too common with older, white people.  We steered the subject elsewhere and I even mentioned that one of the biggest tragedies of the fire is all the Black Homeowners who lost generational wealth and probably won’t be able to afford to rebuild.  Anyways, one of the things I don’t like about Taos is how painfully-white it is.  Altadena was special because not only did we have a wonderful culture of Blackness everywhere you looked, but even the white (an other non-white) people had to have some level of respect, comfort and appreciation for our black neighbors.  Anyways, between that and the fact that I work for the school so I can’t really be too political, I feel like I can’t really open up and be myself yet.  I also have to bite my tongue when people tell me proudly that they are from Texas.  I wanna joke “I’m so sorry” (or something even worse).

  127. 127.

    Ohio Mom

    @New Deal democrat: I can vouch for this. I was an older first-time mom, had Ohio Son when I was 42. The other moms I met through his school years — parents of both typically-developing and disabled kids — were on average, 10 years younger. All solidly Gen X.

    And ninkenpoops. It has been mildly amusing watching the Gen X autism moms slowly have their consciousnesses raised, as they realize what side their kids’ bread is buttered on.

    My neighbor, the V.A. Pharmacist, has been crying. Good for her, cognitive dissonance is hard to experience, she’s being brave. And good for me, I squash my “I told you so.”

  128. 128.

    narya

    I know this sounds like (is) “not all white people,” but I also don’t think every cis-het white guy in the military is going to be onboard with the current purging. I just don’t think replacing extremely highly qualified men and women with people whose main “qualifications” are “white,” “male,” and “FFOTUS suck-up” is going to go over with everyone. Military folks, feel free to correct me!

    Also, too, and it’s been said here before, the highly qualified people being purged are highly qualified by the military. They seem to think that purging people is the equivalent of getting rid of characters in a video game, that they just go away. That isn’t what happens in meatspace.

  132. 132.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @narya: Thank all the gods, we know it ain’t ALL white people, and in that vein I hope and pray you’re right.

    I want to believe that there are white men and women of honor and courage in the American military who will at least try to do the right thing, try to mitigate the damage.

    May those white people find all the MF success in the world in their efforts.

  133. 133.

    TBone

    @Professor Bigfoot: come meet me in DelCo, in a location close to Philly with a bunker-like basement, where we are prepared to hold the line.  More than that I will not say in public.

    Except DO NOT bring a cell phone!

  134. 134.

    Starfish (she/her)

    @UncleEbeneezer: Texas is a very large place, and there are a lot of things that go on there. I wouldn’t want to live there, and I am not sure what their cultural identity is going to be with the Hooters bankruptcy.

  135. 135.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @UncleEbeneezer: Biggest reason I quit working when I did— I realized I couldn’t be polite to my typical-white-male-douchebag customerbase and pretend I was “one of the good ones” to keep a paycheck.

    I was close enough that I could make it work; but all I have to do is remember some of those guys to grind my molars down some more.

  137. 137.

    Ohio Mom

    @pajaro: I once heard this is why we have prophets and artists, because they have better imaginations than the rest of us about how awful and maybe how wonderful things could become.

    You might as well rue not being an Olympian, not having that robust an imagination. Just be open to hearing from those who do and appreciate their gift.

  139. 139.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Ohio Mom: You’re so much better a person than I.

    Every time I’m in Marc’s or Giant Eagle and I go past the eggs I say, loudly, “But I was ASSURED egg prices were going to drop! ASSURED!”

    I then laugh maniacally, and move on.

    Petty, but satisfying. ;)

  140. 140.

    RaflW

    @Ksmiami: If I die in a plane crash (Delta, msp-atl this coming Wed, atl-den Sun the 2nd), I ask that every jackal on Bsky find all my recent FAA skeets on Bsky and just relentlessly use them to attack Sean Duffy. Chase him out of the Admin, since he’s opened the FAA’s systems to the hacks who keep crashing space rockets.

    To your larger point, if (when) bird flu jumps, or the novel Corona in China gets loose, we’ll have a repeat of Trump I. Wasn’t that 1M dead? And just four f’king years later that was completely forgotten and damn near half the voters said, “Yep, that guy.”

  142. 142.

    BC in Illinois

    @Gvg:

    In a lot of ways Trump is an anti businessman.

    He is certainly the Anti-President.

    At one time I thought that his biography would be FAILURE: The Donald Trump Story.  [Ch 1, childhood; Ch 2, education and the draft; Ch 3, business; Ch 4, relationships; Ch 5, marriages and family; Ch 4, legal history; Ch 5, Russia; Ch 6, reality TV and reality; Ch 7, racism and birtherism; Ch 8, Russia, Russia, Russia; Ch 9, impeachments and Covid; Ch 10, the Felon; Ch 11, second term and corruption; Ch 12, Downfall (and Trump’s Rant); Ch 13, the end; Ch 14, the erasure]

    Now I think he will be remembered as Trump: The Anti-President.  There will be a historians ranking of Presidents, from best to worst. He will have a category all his own.

    But first we have to get through these days. Macbeth, Act 3, Scene 1 is correct:

    Thou hast it now—king, Cawdor, Glamis, all
     As the Weïrd Women promised, and I fear
     Thou played’st most foully for ’t.

    But the witches also said he would have no posterity.

    But . . . many people died before that happened.

  145. 145.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Nukular Biskits: Agreed, but if the only institution that can exercise that power refuses to do so, does it still exist?

    Given the “unitary executive” theory that we’re watching being implemented right now, I’m not sure, once they give it up, they can ever take it back again. As in, “Mr Jeffries has made his demands, now let him enforce them.”

    (FTR— dear Gawd I hope we can bring the 1798 back to life somehow… but brother, I worry. )

  147. 147.

    New Deal democrat

    @Professor Bigfoot:

    @Nukular Biskits:

    It is correct that the GOP Congress is willfully letting T—-p override their power of the purse. Because they mainly think they will like the results.

    But it begs the question: how do they enforce the power of the purse if T—-p simply refuses to go along? The Courts can issue orders, which T—-p is likely to evade for as long as possible.

    One solution that would not require a Constitutional Amendment is to return the Treasury Department (and for that matter the Postal Service) to the Legislative Branch where they started out. And for Congress itself to appoint the person who disburses the money.

    And, by the way, Congress could also amend regulatory statutes to allow itself rather than the President to appoint the bureaucrats responsible for formulating the regulations at administrative agencies. Over the long term, Congress has ceded this power to the President, just as it has ceded its inherent contempt power to the Courts. Because career legislators don’t want to take responsibility for actual, you know, actions.

  150. 150.

    Montanareddog

    I was just cycling along a narrow street, with a row of parked cars, to my right, when a car pulled out of its parking space without looking, a few feet in front of me. I slammed on the brakes and just stopped in time. The fuckwit carried on without stopping. 2 cyclists coming in the opposite direction stopped, shaking their heads and glaring at the driver.

    No big deal except, of course, it was a fucking Tesla (a Model 3, not a tossertank).  It looked new to me so we know the mentality of the owner.

  152. 152.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Nukular Biskits: Exactly, only far more pithily put.

    But New Deal’s thoughts in comment 147 strike me as an excellent point to start the discussion.

    The 1798 incorporates mechanisms to amend it, so maybe…

  153. 153.

    schrodingers_cat

    I don’t want to read endless articles about how elected Rs don’t like what’s going on. I judge them by their actions. They have abdicated all responsibility and become rubberstamps for T.

  157. 157.

    New Deal democrat

    @Professor Bigfoot: Thanks.

    Btw, I try not to be pedantic, but in this case I think you mean the 1789 Constitution? I think the only noteworthy thing that happened in 1798 were the Alien and Sedition Acts.

  158. 158.

    schrodingers_cat

    Speaking of messaging, I think the economic angle is not enough to take on the Republicans. Their message at its core is emotional, Ds should engage with them on that. What dodgy boys are doing is going to make USA a second rate power like Russia.

  159. 159.

    Geminid

    I ran across another good article in New Lines Magazine, by Capetown-based Joseph Dana:

    The Worldview of the South African Diaspora Haunts the US

    Elon Musk and other tech moguls with roots in apartheid-era South Africa have been shaped by the history of right wing white nationalism.

    New Lines Magazine’s articles typically are long; this one is said to be an 11 minute read.

    I will attempt a link. If it doesn’t work (mine often don’t) New Lines is worth looking up for this and their many other in-depth articles on a wide range of topics.

    https://newlinesmag.com/argument/the-worldview-of-the-afrikaner-diaspora-now-haunts-the-us/

    Shazaam! It works.

  160. 160.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @schrodingers_cat: Abdicating their Constitutional duties, abrogating their Constitutional oaths, acting like there’s really no Constitution at all. 

    We’ve talked for the last idunnohowlong about trying to save “our democracy,” but the only way to do that is to save our Constitution.

    Conservatives always act like it was handed down by Jesus himself, but then they just ignore it… hmmm, rather like they ignore the actual Jesus parts of their Bibles.

  161. 161.

    Mike E

    @schrodingers_cat:  Then they go on to rehabilitate their image on MSNBC, they’re all shocked SHOCKED it has come to this! Nicole Wallace is the poster child of this repub laundering.

  163. 163.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @New Deal democrat: You’re right, it’s the 1789. Sheesh, y’know when there’s an alarm going in the back of your head (“somethin’ ain’t right about this…”) but you keep steaming full speed ahead anyway? ;)

    Thanks!

  168. 168.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Starfish (she/her): We liked Denton and Deep Ellum section of downtown Dallas (basically, the college towns and places with diversity), but pretty much everywhere else in the Dallas was MAGA/Shithole-Country, to us.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s some pretty scenery, architecture etc., but everything is so painfully-white and all the cowboy cosplay kinda made me wanna vomit.  The hill country during wildflower season was pretty.  Austin seemed cool but super-crowded.  Have heard good things about Houston but never been there.  But the whole Texas pride attitude that so many exude is really repellant.  Like I’ll put CA up against any state, but I don’t have to launch into a speech about it’s greatness every time I tell someone we were from there.

  173. 173.

    AM in NC

    @Professor Bigfoot: I’ve started putting up post-it notes with “I didn’t vote for higher prices, did you?”   Or “I didn’t vote for empty shelves, did you?”  in the egg area.

    Kill them with quiet knowledge that chips away the bubble of lies.  As much as I want to mock and laugh (and I do, believe me) – I want to have the scales fall from some eyes too.

    But it is really hard not to point and laugh or point and RAGE at these people.

  175. 175.

    AWOL

    @pajaro: Somehow I knew.

    As a Jewish Atheist born born 14 years after Christian savages sent 50,000,000 of their own to themselves to get rid of my ancestors, most of whom were living in shacks.

    Fuck them

    Soon they’ll be forced to kill perceived sexual deviants, Blacks, and secular Jews for not being sufficiently pure for them.

  176. 176.

    kindness

    These stories about Red staters who are upset because of what Trump is doing….I have no sympathy for them.  Trump openly ran on doing exactly what he’s doing.  Those farmers and business types just thought the pain and burden would be borne by Democrats and liberals, not themselves.  I don’t feel any pleasure in seeing their shock that their faces are getting eaten by the leopards too.  They are selfish, entitled stupid mofos and deserve everything they voted for.  We don’t though.  I wanted a black woman to be my president.

  177. 177.

    sentient ai from the future

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: frequent agreement with bloody bill kristol over the last almost-decade has made things a little less overtly weird and a little more of “a fait accompli if we’re to defeat fascism” for me

  178. 178.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @AM in NC: I know this sounds terrible, but the very best I can do for them is point and laugh.

    White people can try to drop the scales from their eyes, but I’m still stuck at “fuck ’em, the dumb sonsabitches.”

    I hope to get past that one day.

    That day is not today, however.

  179. 179.

    schrodingers_cat

    Has anyone in the media or the Democratic party offered a robust defense of the post WWII order that the US helped create? I know Fareed Zakaria has written about it before. And that its an anathema to both sides of the horseshoe, the MAGAs and the tankies.

  182. 182.

    Reboot

    @Percysowner: Guess I jumped straight to the last part of your comment and missed the //.  Along with the bulk of your comment, which, I am so sorry, and you are right–it’s going to impact tons of people. Not sure I can say, reading comprehension, how does it work, when I basically wasn’t reading.

  184. 184.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud: Agreed. The cult of cool is going to kill us all. Biden was not cool. That’s why all his achievements were downplayed by the cool vocal lefties in spaces like this one.

    Heh so what if Biden achieved what was considered impossible, low inflation and a full employment economy, I can’t get housing that I want at the price I want so the economy is shitty.

  185. 185.

    Geminid

    @Geminid: One interesting item from the New Lines article: in the 1930s, Musk’s grandfather, Joseph Haldeman was an adherent of the Teknocracy movement. The Teknocracy movement advocated expert management of society in place of democracy.

    At the end, Dana quotes Johnny Steinberg, who profiled Elon Musk’s beliefs in an article for Business Day:

      “Apartheid’s deepest ideas are back. They are circulating in the Western world. They have purchase.”

  186. 186.

    satby

    @narya: >Military folks, feel free to correct me!

    Spoke to a former military guy yesterday about this and his response was not encouraging. He felt (paraphrasing, he may correct me later here) that he’s seeing too much cowardice in all facets of the government to think that the military will do much about the potential purges of senior officers. We’ll see, but what a state of affairs that some of us are starting to think a military coup would be a positive thing.

  187. 187.

    cmorenc

    @hells littlest angel:

    I’m afraid they’ll work out some methods for limiting the suffering to blue states and registered Democrats.

    Such as…prioritizing spending in districts with the highest birthrates.  Or whatever other arbitrary demographic distinctions can be used to create discriminatory spending distinctions against blue states.

  188. 188.

    Elizabelle

    @satby:  Thank you.  Donated with pleasure to Ukraine24. Will try to make it monthly.

    Left this message for them:

    I support the brave Ukrainians.  Slava Ukraini! Glory to her heroes.  I and others will do everything in our power to thwart Trump and other foes of democracy  Your courage gives us strength.  Thank YOU.

  189. 189.

    Josie

    @satby: ​ Thanks for this information. I donated a small amount and plan to do so again when I can, It’s important that the Ukrainian people know that many Americans support them.​

  190. 190.

    Elizabelle

    @narya:  I have been wondering if, under the sane Biden Harris administration, military commanders did a review of ethics and refusing an illegal order with their troops.  (Also, what specifically constitutes an illegal order.)

    I know that a lot of the commanders are concerned with the level of disinformation circling among their troops.  Outright miseducation.

  192. 192.

    Elizabelle

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:  Suspect a lot of jackals are in your boat.

    And, it makes me happy to see that media is getting less clicks and subscribers, now that their golden calf is back for round two.

  193. 193.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @schrodingers_cat: I don’t think they’ve written it, but I’d say that this is basically the view of Biden, Harris, Hillary, Obama (from interviews, speeches etc., on foreign policy) and they were all punished, mercilessly, for it.

  195. 195.

    Geminid

    @Elizabelle: I see North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis got up on his hind legs for a change. From Clash Report:

       Republican Senator Thom Tillis breaks harshly with Trump’s policy on Ukraine, calling Vladimir Putin “a cancer, and the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime.”

    Clash Report is a news aggregator based in Ankara, and I follow them mainly for Middle East news. They’ve been very attentive recently to developments like Tillis’s speech and the sacking of Joint Chiefs Chairman General C.Q. Brown. Turkiye is a Nato member and the country has a lot riding on the outcome of the war in Ukraine.

  196. 196.

    Elizabelle

    @UncleEbeneezer:  I am glad to hear that you and the Mrs. are finding your feet in Taos.

    Do you hear much from your former neighbors?

    We are all living through history, but you all really got whacked this year.

  198. 198.

    schrodingers_cat

    @UncleEbeneezer: Indeed. Both tankie left and MAGA are mirror images of each other, nurtured by Russia which takes aim at the heart of the post WWII American project. The takeover of Republican party by MAGA is complete. The Democratic party has a strong tankie contingent, which has continued to undermine Democratic Presidents and leadership and is popular among white people and the media.

    Two D leaning groups, mainly the Jewish people and Black people have held strong and not fallen for the Russian propaganda.

  199. 199.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @schrodingers_cat: Biden was cool!  Remember all the sunglasses and Camaro memes and “malarky.”  The problem is they get into a position of power, whether it’s Biden, Harris, Obama, Hillary etc., now they are the enemy and must be torn down.  They would do the same to Bernie, AOC, Warren etc.  We only elect and lift up Dems so we can then knock them down.  We probably would’ve ended up impeaching Hillary or Kamala had they won.  It’s a fucking sickness on our side.  And it’s helping destroy everything good in America.

  201. 201.

    schrodingers_cat

    @UncleEbeneezer: Not we, its the tankie left.

    Also the party elders, I am looking at you Nancy Pelosi and to some extent Obama not standing firmly behind Joe Biden after the June debate has lead us to where we are right now.

    All the Gaza protests have died down. The ratfucking op worked.

  203. 203.

    Anyway

    I am still shocked, mad, verklempt over the arbitrary firing of Gen Brown, CNO, JAGs — it’s unprecedented. Can’t get over it.

  204. 204.

    Soprano2

    @Baud: I think it’s fear of the demographic change people know is coming. The majority of white voters decided they’d rather destroy the government than share it with non-white people. I think for some of them it’s not a conscious impulse, but it’s what’s behind the complaints about “too many black people in commercials”.

  205. 205.

    narya

    @satby: I’m not thinking coup, exactly, more slow-sand-in-the-gears stuff. Or fragging, I suppose, though I very much desperately hope it does NOT come to that.

  209. 209.

    TBone

    @Baud: I posted that twice today in both threads below, but got no traction.  It is excellent, well worth the few minutes!

    However, I took liberties with its title in my comments, adding “Ukraine.”

    PS here it is without closed captioning, which drives me nuts when we’re listening to English speakers.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk0nUUqG_Ag

  210. 210.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @TBone: yeah, one of the latest cases about AI copyright infringement involves Westlaw as the plaintiff. The district court judge in Delaware is finally seeing the light that AI is a copyright infringement machine. I believe that the judge’s comments were that none of the defendant’s arguments held any water

  211. 211.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Elizabelle: We didn’t like most of our closest neighbors, lol.  But yeah, we keep in touch with some other people in the area who we did like.  Most were in Pasadena though, and didn’t lose their homes so there’s only so much overlap in our experiences.  I reached out to several Altadena friends during/after the fire.  But haven’t really followed up with them since.

    I keep more in touch with friends in other parts of Los Angeles (Santa Monica, El Segundo, Crenshaw, Downtown etc.) just because we had more significant friendships/histories.

  215. 215.

    different-church-lady

    “Oh, uh, gosh, this Frankenstein Monster thing we sent down to the village for milk and the paper… he seems to be doing things we hadn’t thought he might…”

  217. 217.

    Anyway

    @Soprano2: I think it’s fear of the demographic change people know is coming.

    Agree – it wasn’t just Obama black president that got the attention of RThugs — that was the time many school districts in many states started having  non-white children in large numbers and the demographic trends were no longer abstract or far off.

  218. 218.

    different-church-lady

    @danielx: ​Or, as I put it a few weeks ago during the Tariff thing…

    “Or April 20th. Or tomorrow. Or yesterday. Or never. We don’t really know. All we really know is it’s going to change a bunch of times because Dumbfuck Hitler’s brain just rattles around in his skull like one of those little plastic toys with a ball bearing and a piece of cardboard. The only thing that’s certain is the ball bearing is going to bounce around and make a lot of noise before it settles into one of the little holes in the cardboard. If it ever does.”

  219. 219.

    different-church-lady

    @Baud: I think the turning point was the day a white cop got held to justice for murdering a black man. It turned into a silent white riot.

  220. 220.

    Scamp Dog

    @Baud: I clicked the link, and that video has been removed. Do you have an alternate source, or could you give us some information to find it elsewhere?

  223. 223.

    Trivia Man

    @Nukular Biskits: i haven’t called my senator yet, with so many other things weighing on me this week i couldn’t face the futility. Ron Johnson is probably top 5 in the crazy caucus + second dumbest senator. Hi, Coach!

  224. 224.

    Ksmiami

    @UncleEbeneezer: I think you’re only seeing the tennis sort- South side Taos and Ranchos are where the real Taosenos live. It’s pretty diverse just less so the closer you get to the Ski Valley

  225. 225.

    leeleeFL

    @Ksmiami: If we are lucky, it will be that number. I am not feeling particularly lucky. I sleep at night, but, truthfully, not sure how!? This whole things is terrifying!

  228. 228.

    Citizen Alan

    @Elizabelle: a a lot of this should have been nipped in the bud decades ago by banning rush limbaugh and his ilk from radio stations in the work areas on military bases.

  229. 229.

    Elizabelle

    @Citizen Alan:  Totally.  As it is, Fox News Channel is channel 1 on a US Army base in Germany’s cable lineup.  Sickening does not begin to describe it.

    And then, a discussion of postwar Germany here a few weeks ago.  How many of the former Nazi regime’s supporters never were actually “denazified.”  They just died out.

  230. 230.

    Miss Bianca

    @Nukular Biskits: I don’t have any (thankfully) but I may just send an article I found about the proposed Medicaid cuts to my Trump-voting older brother, with a pointed reminder that he might want to contact *his* Republican representative if he doesn’t want our other bed-ridden, Trump-voting brother showing up on his doorstep after the nursing homes get shut down.

  231. 231.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Ksmiami: We spend most of our time on South side.  Definitely more diverse.  But still few if any Black (or Asian) People.  But yeah, the people we’ve socialized with are very much the ski-valley/tennis set so there’s definitely some truth to what you wrote.  My students (who I assume come from all over Taos) are almost all-white.  One or two Latino/a kids but 95% white.

  232. 232.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Sooooooo much what you said, sooooooooo much.

    Although like Uncle Ebeneezer, I thought Biden was cool in an uncool kind of way (if that makes any sense).  But what I thought didn’t matter.  You described everything else perfectly, especially the last part.

  233. 233.

    Ohio Mom

    @schrodingers_cat: Not all American Jews — about 20% of us are Republicans. A little less than the 27% of incorrigibles in the general population, but the bell curve remains a mysterious force in the universe.

  234. 234.

    kindness

    @different-church-lady:

    “Oh, uh, gosh, this Frankenstein Monster thing we sent down to the village for milk and the paper… he seems to be doing things we hadn’t thought he might…”

    Frankenstein saw the price of eggs and completely lost it.

  235. 235.

    Gretchen

    @Mike E: Yes. I hear that Joy Reid might not be around much longer – she’s so, uh, frank!. But they have endless time for the collegiality of Michael Steele and Rick Wilson, who got us into this mess in the first place.

  237. 237.

    Tazj

    Who would have guessed that all it took for Republicans to admit the economy is good, (sadly not for long) is for a Republican to be president?

    Here is Trump sycophant, and my horrible Congressman, Nick Langworthy’s comments on the Federal Government’s firings.
    “My heart goes out to anyone who loses their jobs right now, but it’s a very thriving economy. There’s a lot of jobs and not enough people want to take them. So I do believe anyone that wants a job in America can get a job right now.”

  242. 242.

    Ruckus

    @danielx:

    Try being someone who gets his healthcare from a government entity.

    Try being someone who served their country during a time of war, one that they did not agree with and which we failed at.

    Try to remain calm in the face of the most bullshit from any “political” entity I’ve seen in 3/4 of a century.

    Try to remain calm a the concept that we may lose our constitutional government to the world’s wealthiest asshole. Who seems to be working his way towards ALL ASS. Rapidly. Hell by the time I hit post he may have already arrived as the supreme ass of all time.

  244. 244.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @Kayla Rudbek: Bloody hell, that’s right!

    That’s the one Turtledove I haven’t been able to bring myself to read, because the very thought of that slaving son of a bitch winning was way too much.

    Came to meet him on Twitter, and I do love that guy <emphatic cough>😉

  245. 245.

    artem1s

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    not understanding that there are always barbarians at the gates

    that sound more like GOPer paranoia to me. The reason we are in this position is because no matter how secure they are economically or otherwise, there are people who insist on believing there are barbarian hordes lurking just out of sight who are scheming to take it all away. The problem we are having now is because the majority of the population has been indoctrinated to believe that it’s all just more ‘crying wolf’ unless they are seeing blood and rioting in their own back yard.

  251. 251.

    Bill Arnold

    @Professor Bigfoot:

    l personally believe that for us, the danger is much less the uniformed security services (the army, the cops) than it is the potential for red-hat night-riders; or attempts to destroy Black neighborhoods as they did in Tulsa in 1921.

    Glad you clarified this. Attacks on uniformed security services appear to be generally a bad strategic move historically, mostly because they unite said security forces against those they perceive as the attackers.
    Locals bigots (and other nutcases), organized and not, with guns absolutely need to be made to fear potential defensive gun violence.

  253. 253.

    BritinChicago

    @Gloria DryGarden: “what Tim Walz said, you might not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you.”

    It goes back to Pericles! The variant, using war for politics, is attributed to Trotsky, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s a lot older too.

    Auden says, about his “Unknown Citizen”, “When it was peace, he was for peace/ When it was war, he went.”

  254. 254.

    taumaturgo

    @TBone:

    Soft Nazi collaborators rejoiced when appointed by the party to a commission or bureau whose duties may have included transportation of “others” to “work camps.”

    This is not the time for any collaboration with a despotic felon, as you will be seen as being complicit and on the wrong side of history.

  255. 255.

    TBone

    @taumaturgo: my considerable knowledge of WWII & Nazis was brought by my Dad’s almost obsession (our house was filled with books on the subject and they were not kept from us as children). I am fully aware of that shitheel collaboration.  Kinda why I said he best not bend anything but his ear.  I also studied the German language from junior high through college.  Dad took us (his half Jewish stepchildren) to Hitler’s Eagles Nest and other sites in Germany as a way to spit in Adolph’s eye.

    Schreibtischtäter 

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desk_murderer

  256. 256.

    Elizabelle

    @TBone:  Thank you.  Only heard of that term/concept in the last year or two, and it’s an important one.

    Fascinated with German, which seems to have a word for everything.  (A lot of them unpronounceable by me.  At this time.)

  260. 260.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @Professor Bigfoot: I agree. I remember when MLK started to look good to the powers that be compared to the Black Panthers. Also that gun control laws were passed in CA because the idea of armed black men scared the shit out of them. You have to have a bad cop to balance the good cop.

  261. 261.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @pajaro: I feel like that character in Game of Thrones being told “if you think this will end well, you haven’t been paying attention”.

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