Ben Terris has a long story in New York Magazine this morning about Senator John Fetterman (“John Fetterman’s Struggle”, via paywall-free Archive.is). It reports stories from current and past staffers who are deeply concerned about Fetterman’s mental health and his ability to continue in his role. It is by turns sad and infuriating. If the reporting is accurate, it sounds as if Fetterman’s problems run deeper than post-stroke auditory processing issues and hardcore Zionist support.
Here’s an excerpt, detailing an e-mail his former chief of staff Adam Jentleson sent to Fetterman’s chief doctor at Walter Reed last year:
“I think John is on a bad trajectory and I’m really worried about him,” the email began. If things didn’t change, Jentleson continued, he was concerned Fetterman “won’t be with us for much longer.”His 1,600-word email came with the subject line “concerns,” and it contained a list of them, from the seemingly mundane (“He eats fast food multiple times a day”) to the scary (“We do not know if he is taking his meds and his behavior frequently suggests he is not”). “We often see the kind of warning signs we discussed,” Jentleson wrote. “Conspiratorial thinking; megalomania (for example, he claims to be the most knowledgeable source on Israel and Gaza around but his sources are just what he reads in the news — he declines most briefings and never reads memos); high highs and low lows; long, rambling, repetitive and self centered monologues; lying in ways that are painfully, awkwardly obvious to everyone in the room.”
Not ideal! There are also stories that give color to rumors about trouble in Fetterman’s marriage. Per staff, the senator and his wife Gisele have had heated arguments about Israel’s relentless attacks on Palestinians – Fetterman allegedly said in a meeting that they should all be killed – about his apparent inability or unwillingness to adhere to his treatment regimen, and about the visit to Trump in Mar-a-Lago right around the inauguration. She did not want to go:
Gisele, however, wasn’t so keen on traveling with him. “It was a whole saga,” said a former staffer. “She wasn’t going to go, and they had fights about it.” To convince her, Fetterman told her to think of this as an opportunity to showcase what a model Dreamer looked like in an effort to get the president-elect to soften his views on illegal immigration. If she didn’t go, Fetterman said, she’d lose the right to complain about whatever he did as president. “He said in a small group with senior staff, ‘I told her to put up or shut up,’” the staffer recalled. “‘If she doesn’t go, I don’t want to hear about it.’”
She did wind up going, and for now, per a statement quoted in the article, she’s standing by her man and blaming Jentleson for telling lies about Fetterman’s condition. But man, I don’t know. There are e-mails and group texts and other accounts in this article that describe a man who is struggling to work his treatment program and seems to be in denial that anything is wrong. That’s the sad part. They also describe a man who is hideously racist towards Palestinians, which is the infuriating part.
Again, this is all a he-said, they-said story, and it’s possible it’s not true. But if it is, this Pennsylvania voter thinks Fetterman should resign, stick to his treatment, and live as a private citizen from here on out. His constituents and his family deserve better.
Open thread.
Taking a Break from the News
hells littlest angel
Fetterman is going to make us miss Manchin and Sinema.
rikyrah
It’s phucking illegal. A law put in place after NIXON says it’s illegal.
ABC News
@ABC
BREAKING: Pres. Trump on Friday said he is “taking away” Harvard’s tax exempt status.
“It’s what they deserve,” he said in a Truth Social post.
The decision will likely face legal challenges.
Read more: https://abcnews.link/UdqwTjO
https://x.com/ABC/status/1918274539777151267
Baud
This is a tragedy. So much promise at the start.
Rose Judson
@rikyrah: My day job is in (mostly) US higher education marketing and oh god, I feel another wave of press release requests coming my way seeing that news.
Rose Judson
@Baud: Yes. He was never going to the White House, but he could have been so much more than he is. I think I actually first heard of him here, when Cole wrote about him.
Melancholy Jaques
@Baud:
Was it the stroke? Or did we overlook things? I don’t really know because I didn’t follow it closely & know almost nothing about Pennsylvania politics.
Lord Fartdaddy (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
Well, that sucks. Sucks for everybody, all around. But, yeah, if he isn’t taking care of himself, then he can’t do the work Pennsylvania sent him to do.
SpongeBobtheBuilder
Paging Jason Kander. Call Fetterman and explain how life is better after mental health treatment and getting out of political office/elections.
Betty Cracker
I read that this morning, and wow. This part about Fetterman’s admission for inpatient treatment:
I basically came to the same conclusion you did. For his own sake and the sake of his family, he’d be better off resigning.
Aimai
He’s decompensating and everyone around him knows it but is unable or afraid to act. Really scary stuff: paranoia, megalomania, failure to be able to reality test, ‘high highs and low lows’—its bad.
EdTheRed
Total non sequitur, but it always kinda blows my mind that my friends who permanently reside overseas get to vote for a representative and two senators, but I’m stuck with one non-voting delegate in the House while living less than five miles from the Capitol building.
mardam
IANAD. But something happened to him, maybe related to the stroke. I’m from Pittsburgh. Known about him and been impressed since he came on the scene there. He’s different now.
oldster
@rikyrah:
If he can do it to their school, he can do it to your church.
What, you don’t worship at the Church of Trump? Then no tax-exempt status for you.
Rose Judson
@mardam: It sounds like the stroke itself caused damage, and the stress of having to appear to be recovered from the stroke to keep his job has caused even more.
prostratedragon
@Aimai: As is not taking meds, if true. We certainly are all familiar with insidous whispering campaigns and exaggerating things or taking them out of context, but these reports do line up sadly well with what we see in public. Might have to get him stabilized somewhat before he can see that he should resign.
MisterForkbeard
Yikes. Fetterman clearly needs help, and he might be best served by getting out of office for his own health reasons.
Was anyone else struck by the fact that many of the allegations are basically “This guy has similar behavior to what has been publicly observed of Trump for the past 8 years”? Too much McDonalds. Obvious lies and decompensating. Insisting he’s the expert. Refusing to have briefings. Bullying. Being racist towards Palestinians.
Juju
@rikyrah: Governing by hissy fits that are typically illegal.
CaseyL
Horribly sad, because I’m not going to retcon Fetterman’s current troubles into any kind of “What He Was Really Like Before the Stroke” – it is painfully obvious he isn’t the same guy. Fetterman pre-stroke wouldn’t have given Trump or any of his minions the time of day (he would instead have given them the back of his hand.)
I had wondered, fearfully, what was going on with Gisele. She was a constant presence during the Senate campaign – and, near as I can tell, a constant presence in his everyday life – but had pretty much vanished from media reports in the last few months. To hear about the rift between them is just awful.
Leto
@Aimai: we’ve watched other sitting members of Congress, as well as members in other branches, do the same, and unfortunately there’s shit all we can do. Just ride it out and vote him out when the time comes.
@rikyrah: here’s another one that is just driving me up the fucking wall: Army’s Massive Parade for Trump’s Birthday Includes Plan for 6,600 Troops
I hope there’s pushback on this tinpot dictator parade, but considering how fast the military is capitulating to every dictatorial whim, idk…
Steve in the ATL
@MisterForkbeard: my thought as well! This is totally trump:
Matt
“Dear <MINORITY>: perform your role as set-dressing exactly as I have specified or else I’ll stop caring about your rights” is already grotesque when “centrists” like Fetterman deploy it against random folks. Dropping it against his SPOUSE is incredible.
terraformer
Well, this is sad and might explain the Fetterman we have vs the one (must of us, I’d say) thought we had
If true, I hope he gets the help he needs, soon.
rikyrah
@oldster:
That’s why the law was created.
rikyrah
@Leto:
it’s ridiculous, Leto.
I’m back to where it’s all about White Supremacy.
You wanna tell me that if OBAMA had asked for this…the military wouldn’t find a way to shut that shyt down?
lowtechcyclist
@Leto:
From the link:
I bet we can get WAY more than that many protesters.
rikyrah
Horseshoe Crab![]()
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(@eiralaVpr7) posted at 8:13 AM on Thu, May 01, 2025:
I just want to say this and then I’m off of this app today: If we allow white supremacy to scare us into not wanting our Black people in leadership, then we will never see another Black person in power again. Some people are chosen and tested because of their strength & endurance
(https://x.com/eiralaVpr7/status/1917930402485883281?t=r-stmRBHwOsQvYmnNCdV4g&s=03)
lowtechcyclist
@rikyrah:
I remember that the military resisted President Clinton for years when he wanted them to intervene in the Balkans.
rikyrah
Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) posted at 1:05 PM on Thu, May 01, 2025:
On Thursday, the US Department of Veterans Affairs ended a new mortgage-rescue program that so far has helped about 20,000 veterans avoid foreclosure and keep their homes. https://t.co/ra7tzbW4jt
(https://x.com/girlsreallyrule/status/1918003933487710390?t=Rt00mpEuJy1aP8BT5rKGOg&s=03)
Baud
@lowtechcyclist:
Hopefully, it’ll lower his approval even more.
rikyrah
UH HUH
UH HUH
ABC News (@ABC) posted at 0:59 PM on Thu, May 01, 2025:
The World Trade Center Health Program can no longer certify illnesses, enroll new members or approve life-saving treatments like chemotherapy or lung transplants, leaving some critically ill 9/11 responders without care. https://t.co/iUsWTmIP9l
(https://x.com/ABC/status/1918002249336226163?t=ZI9dSeK3nwrwUAcILuH62g&s=03)
lowtechcyclist
I have a lot of respect for Adam Jentleson, so unless they’re totally misquoting him, Fetterman needs to be persuaded to resign. Gov. Shapiro would appoint his replacement until the next PA general election.
rikyrah
Chris Murphy![]()
(@ChrisMurphyCT) posted at 3:45 PM on Thu, May 01, 2025:
Trump just shut down all the school mental health programs and neighborhood anti-violence programs funded by the 2022 gun bill. Millions of kids just lost their mental health worker or after school program.
It’s inhumane, illogical and illegal.
You need to hear this story. https://t.co/3eyS79vsV8
(https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1918044171195093011?t=2FbgudhGyyY3kT644lUarg&s=03)
They Call Me Noni
@lowtechcyclist: Precisely my first thought when I read about it last night.
prostratedragon
@rikyrah: They did shut it down during the 45 term.
rikyrah
Bill Madden (@maddenifico) posted at 9:45 PM on Thu, May 01, 2025:![]()
![]()
https://t.co/aipctWOcds
Knowing empty shelves are coming, members of the fascist authoritarian Trump regime are stocking up on items that will soon be unavailable.
(https://x.com/maddenifico/status/1918134764055244930?t=YLS7TyZGyi2gnShBfe2TFg&s=03)
prostratedragon
Speaking of killing them all,
frosty
I’m in. I’m within driving distance. I’ll go through Adam’s list and start shopping for a burner phone.
trollhattan
@lowtechcyclist:
Jesus, this Putin-Kim clone experiment has really gone off the rails.
Thank god Trump doesn’t have horses. Can a golf cart become a member of the US Senate?
rikyrah
The United States versus Elon R. Musk (@Needle_of_Arya) posted at 11:50 PM on Thu, May 01, 2025:
rather than argue whether or not Tim Walz is a “beta” who should have been or perceived be an “alpha,” widen the focus to examine why kind, compassionate straight men are often vilified as “weak” because they’re neither sociopathic, bullies nor cruel to anyone
(https://x.com/Needle_of_Arya/status/1918166132697309314?t=ZpKhrr2j6Bmidr04U-avEg&s=03)
rikyrah
Will Ragland (@citizenwillis) posted at 8:59 AM on Thu, May 01, 2025:
AXIOS: “Hospitals across the country are starting to reckon with the effects President Trump’s tariffs are having on medical supplies like syringes and PPE, and in some cases freezing spending and making other contingencies.”
(https://x.com/citizenwillis/status/1917941833906229635?t=wc-V0Q3zmh5LdHn_SjPTrw&s=03)
tam1MI
@Leto: Just ride it out and vote him out when the time comes.
Does Pennsylvania not have a recall process?
Juju
@rikyrah: It’s always been about white supremacy. I remember when Obama called arresting Professor Henry Louis Gates on his own front porch stupid, which it obviously was, and Obama had to apologize for making the police department feel bad. If Obama had asked for a military parade in honor of his birthday, I don’t think Obama would have made it through his first term.
Baud
The Audacity of Krope
But I thought that was the central problem that needed to be addressed with respect to school shootings and other school violence.
It’s almost like they don’t really believe what they say.
rikyrah
The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) posted at 0:33 AM on Fri, May 02, 2025:
The president was speaking in front of graduating students at the University of Alabama on Thursday when he boasted that Musk—and his Silicon Valley colleagues—have started “kissing my a–.” https://t.co/qHxMbBamxv
(https://x.com/thedailybeast/status/1918176885101445129?t=FXi98GAJHnr9-43quLM4IQ&s=03)
rikyrah
@prostratedragon:
All those folks have been fired.
WaterGirl
@EdTheRed: I don’t blame you for feeling whatever it is you feel. Anger, frustration, whatever. It’s just not right.
Suzanne
I have been really mad at Fetterman, and I continue to be, of course….. but overall, the feeling I have right now is incredibly sad.
Mai Naem mobile
I looked up Jentleson after Fetterman starting making the crazy statements about Gaza and other stuff and he wasn’t with Fetterman anymore. It all makes sense now. Jentleson is a former Reid guy. The Reid alums are usually smart people not involved with crap like fhis.
JiveTurkin
@rikyrah: The president was speaking in front of graduating students at the University of Alabama on Thursday when he boasted that Musk—and his Silicon Valley colleagues—have started “kissing my a–.”
We all bitch about the number of lies Trump tells on a daily basis. No reason to criticize him on those rare occasions when he tells the truth.
Geminid
@Melancholy Jaques: There was the incident when Fetterman heard a loud noise that may have been fireworks and Black man jogging nearby. Fetterman grabbed a shotgun, drove after the jogger and then held him at gunpoint until police arrived.
Nothing came of this at the time, even though Fetterman likely violated Pennsylvania law by driving with a loaded shotgun. A few yesrs later, Fetterman’s detractors raised this incident repeatedly in the months before the Senate primary, but the issue never got traction.
Many of Fetterman’s supporters saw in him what they wanted to see and dismissed what they did not want to see. That was apparent the day after the Senate, when the organization Democratic Majority For Israel endorsed Fetterman and he warmly accepted. I saw one “progressive” supporter on Twitter go from, “Ahh. The smell of Centrist tears in the morning…” to “What? Nooo!.”
But Fetterman never hid his support for Israel, and DMFI only held off on the endorsement because they liked Conor Lamb’s position on Israel also. But Lamb had a voting record in this area while Fetterman did not, and that was one advantage an “outsider” politician like Fetterman could benefit from: the emptier the slate, the easier it is for people to project their hopes and desires onto it.
There must have been all kinds of people doing the projecting in Fetterman’s case; he won easily against two capable primary opponents, one a moderate U.S. Congressman and the other a liberal state Senator.
Omnes Omnibus
Had I been a PA voter, I probably would have voted for Lamb in the primary. But I am not and I listened to the PA residents who said Fetterman was the real deal. Was it the stroke or was the chasing down the Black guy an indicator of who Fetterman is? I wonder.
brendancalling
I knocked on doors for that irresponsible, demented fuckwad. In Philadelphia’s Latino neighborhoods, where I told potential voters—in Spanish—to vote for him as a friend to immigrants.
I hate that he treats his wife like that. I feel bad for the guy—obviously he’s got some real issues. But that’s really shitty behavior.
RevRick
@Baud: It’s so sad and tragic. As a Pennsylvania Democrat I debated supporting him in the primary, but did so on the basis of his greater Commonwealth wide visibility. For me, the choice between he and Connor Lamb was close. The stroke clearly has had a profound negative effect on him.
Geminid
@tam1MI: There are no recalls for U.S. Representatives or Senators. That’s probably a good thing, because if there were we’d probably have a hundred every year.
prostratedragon
@rikyrah: As a poet said, that has made all the difference.
I seem to recall many people saying last summer and fall that re-electing him would prove worse for lack of even the pretense of adult supervision. But, you know, something or other was more important.
Bupalos
@Geminid: Incorporating populism and an understanding of the attention economy into our party is something we have to do, but it’s going to be a heavy lift and rife with potential disasters like Fetterman.
Jasmine Crockett is my #1 draft pick here, AOC is a first-rounder too. But there just isn’t a lot of depth in the current class.
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: We needed a guy like Fetterman, but the reality is that folks who play well in the attention economy are always going to be at least a little volatile. And many of them will prove to be disasters.
They Call Me Noni
@Bupalos: Anyone promising in the portal?
Omnes Omnibus
@Bupalos: And I am going mention my evergreen warning that populism all too frequently turns nativist and nasty.
Archon
Based on apparently what voters want its reads like Fetterman might be our next President.
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: Indeed. It’s playing with fire.
And we’re going to have to figure out how to play with fire.
Paul in KY
@Baud: He appears to be alot more Likud-Israel supporting/curious than I ever thought. I had him pegged as ‘non-religious’. He’s still better than the New Jersey Crudite, but now only a little bit better.
It is sad. The stroke might have made permanent changes to brain/personality.
Paul in KY
@Betty Cracker: Sounds like they had him on Haldol or something like that. You don’t ever want to be on Haldol.
Professor Bigfoot
@rikyrah: White Christian Male supremacy.
Paul in KY
@EdTheRed: If you guys could somehow BS the GQP into thinking you’d elect 2 GQP senators, then you’d get that state pronto.
Good luck on that…
Suzanne
@Omnes Omnibus: The thing that freaks me out is, from my POV, PA would reelect Fetterman today, if he ran.
He really did attract enough of the white rural and white union cohorts to put together a comfortable win. The Carhartt schtick was successful.
Steve LaBonne
@Suzanne: Also the pulling a gun on a Black guy shtick.
Paul in KY
@CaseyL: The Fetterman who mercilessly and hilariously trolled Dr. Oz (pre-stroke) is the Fetterman I’d like to remember.
prostratedragon
From Krugman’s brief overview:
Paul in KY
@Juju: Pres. Obama should never have apologized to those assumed-to-be-jerks. It was stupid (and racist)!
RevRick
@tam1MI: No
geg6
@mardam:
Same. This is not the guy who we saw for years. That stroke did a number on him.
RevRick
@rikyrah: That was some “Commencement Address,” but then it was the University of Alabama, where white folks are still fighting the Civil War.
Bupalos
@They Call Me Noni: Ah I forgot about that! Dan Osbourne?
Geminid
@Paul in KY: I thought Mehmet Oz was a fortunate opponent for John Fetterman. Even with Trump’s endorsement, Oz barely squeaked by primary opponent Dave McCormick, the Republican who unseated Bob Casey Jr. last year. McCormick would have been much tougher for Fetterman to beat.
rikyrah
Just gutless.
Rep. Becca Balint (@RepBeccaB) posted at 3:14 PM on Thu, May 01, 2025:
Republicans will tell you behind closed doors they are afraid. Afraid of their families being targeted, of Trump or Elon tweeting about them. They’re keeping their heads down so no one will notice.
Well here’s the deal: this isn’t going away. It’s not going to just fade away. https://t.co/kMYGZO2J25
(https://x.com/RepBeccaB/status/1918036213920936311?t=3iJlOnTNzDstJDUIS1rlXA&s=03)
prostratedragon
Mo-om!!
rikyrah
Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) posted at 6:55 AM on Fri, May 02, 2025:
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has forcefully condemned Trump’s attacks on judges.
“The attacks are not random. They seem designed to intimidate those of us who serve in this critical capacity. … The threats and harassment are attacks on our democracy, on our system of government. And they ultimately risk undermining our Constitution and the rule of law.”
(https://x.com/kylegriffin1/status/1918273049884791248?t=Z7ubyrV-RdLvWH81XwpFXg&s=03)
matt
sounds like nature made his brain into dumpster juice.
RevRick
@rikyrah: They’ve fully armed our nation’s Brownshirts and are now facing the possibility of those guns being turned on them.
rikyrah
Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) posted at 11:16 AM on Fri, May 02, 2025:
Donald Trump and Elon Musk are turning our government into their own slush fund.
Attempting to cut Medicaid and Social Security, all while chopping up essential departments and agencies — just to make themselves and their friends even richer.
(https://x.com/GovPritzker/status/1918338901892325879?t=HDd818sonPKA40rncF5W-w&s=03)
rikyrah
Greg Sargent (@GregTSargent) posted at 7:23 AM on Fri, May 02, 2025:
What if MAGA’s lust for a grand confrontation with SCOTUS, in which Trump openly defies them in a final, decisive way, is leading them to provoke the court in a way that overreaches?
@leahlitman is very plausible in this exchange.
Transcript link: https://t.co/ZvBCyYolWO https://t.co/HB71WbFmS4
(https://x.com/GregTSargent/status/1918280144193454399?t=qSjQoHQaHOfDYH8HxYjtSA&s=03)
Marc
@Bupalos: We needed a guy like Fetterman
White people needed a guy like Fetterman. My (black) relatives in PA were pretty clear on who they weren’t voting for. May not mean much to a lot of folks, but to us, holding an unarmed black guy with a shotgun is a tell.
rikyrah
Sophia A. Nelson (@IAmSophiaNelson) posted at 10:14 AM on Fri, May 02, 2025:
This is serious. They are quietly and very intentionally targeting any civil rights laws, any integration laws, any laws that undid 100 years of Jim Crow and moved us toward racial equality. Where is Congress? Where is the Justice Department? NAACP? https://t.co/pUtZugGr1A
(https://x.com/IAmSophiaNelson/status/1918323213261570499?t=xT-uzdcAqNIIGuNToHwkvw&s=03)
brantl
@lowtechcyclist: That should be the goal! Stumpy would eat his own liver, if there was a drowningly high ratio of protestors to troops. It would be nice if a few of the troops popped up protest signs, too
If I were one of the troops, I’d show up in my civvies, since a parade for the president’s birthday is hardly a military requirement.
Bupalos
@Suzanne: People are measurably getting stupider as we outsource our brains to devices. We’ve always had to find candidates that speak to the lowest common denominator, but we’re in one of those periods where that low is getting lower. Fetterman is from the breed of politicians that know how to do that. Hopefully we find some better versions.
prostratedragon
@rikyrah: And she has attracted a swarm like the WSJ reporters.
Princess
@Mai Naem mobile: Jentleson is a smart and trustworthy guy.
It doesn’t sound like Fetterman will leave, or be persuaded to leave if he doesn’t want to go. It sounds like PA needs a primary.
I don’t care at this point if this was stroke-induced or if aspects of this were always there. Brain injury does transform people. I just want him out of there.
rikyrah
LongTime🤓FirstTime👨💻 (@LongTimeHistory) posted at 10:01 AM on Fri, May 02, 2025:
ICE deploys armored convoy to arrest 1 student who may have put up protest flyers in California—sent drone footage to Fox News.
A “military-style brigade” stormed the suburb as part of investigation into posters placed around Los Angeles.
Anti-ICE activists put up posters with information about agents working in the Los Angeles area.
“CAREFUL WITH THESE FACES,” the posters said in Spanish.
“They kidnap people from their homes and from the streets, separating families and fracturing communities.”
Agents were looking for Michael Chang who no longer lives at his parent’s house—but they took the family hard drive with family photos.
#DemVoice1 #wtpBLUE #DemsUnited
https://t.co/vkwxgcOUk8
(https://x.com/LongTimeHistory/status/1918319960763380180?t=eJ-L0QyLZZyDAehEhvo1cg&s=03)
brantl
@Bupalos: I expect for now Fetterman is just arguing with the other voices inside his head.
Warblewarble
“Kill them all” is all the ground for getting Fetterman and all zionists out of the Senate.
rikyrah
scary lawyerguy (@scarylawyerguy) posted at 9:01 AM on Fri, May 02, 2025:![]()
Another weekend on the golf course while taxpayers send money directly into his pocket by paying for his traveling party to stay at his resort, eat meals, and drive around in his golf carts. Media doesn’t even bother saying anything about it anymore
(https://x.com/scarylawyerguy/status/1918304753429430306?t=BjMh62udimXCrkFP4Hwjeg&s=03)
Paul in KY
@Geminid: I agree. Dr. Oz was a terrible candidate.
rikyrah
Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) posted at 8:52 AM on Fri, May 02, 2025:
House Republicans have been forced to delay two committee hearings on their extreme budget.
Keep the pressure on. It’s working. https://t.co/jiFnWeiRUb
(https://x.com/RepJeffries/status/1918302642851189166?t=9kNGUReu7cqmcNOpgSZRJw&s=03)
rikyrah
Greg Sargent (@GregTSargent) posted at 6:32 AM on Fri, May 02, 2025:
News: Four union leaders stand up for Abrego Garcia’s rights in new letter to El Salvadoran ambassador. Labor is ramping up its advocacy for this sheet metal worker.
“The erosion of due process for immigrants in the US is a direct threat to the rights of all working people.” https://t.co/Mm37xC3Yqi
(https://x.com/GregTSargent/status/1918267435968323590?t=OvHXXXzlqAaY5J8oj8y_Dg&s=03)
Marc
Hmm, looks like a fun hobby for those of us on the west coast.
Shalimar
@lowtechcyclist: Fat Tuesday has more participants than that during Mardi Gras. Not impressed.
Melancholy Jaques
@Omnes Omnibus:
Populists always seem to base their appeal on enemies.
Paul in KY
@brantl: The troops aren’t going to do anything like that. IMO, as a former officer, being ordered to parade somewhere on a certain day would be considered a lawful order and not obeying will cause repercussions for whomever disobeys the (stupid but lawful) order.
Professor Bigfoot
@Shalimar: The King’s Birthday is traditionally the time for him to hand out knighthoods and baronies and such, isn’t it?
Along with the Trooping of the Colours or some such?
rikyrah
Hasn’t really been reported, but the Orange Menace LOWERED the minimum wage for Federal Contractors..
from $17.00
back down to $13.30
RIDCULOUS.
Marc
@Marc: By the way, a little OPSEC tip for y’all. Color printers add faint “water marks” to each print that can be used to determine the make, model, and serial number of the printer. Monochrome printers do not. That is all.
trollhattan
File under N for Nothing matters.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/02/politics/gas-prices-trump-fact-check
Glad at least they’re not completely averse to reporting on what Trump does versus what Trump wants you to think he does.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@EdTheRed: your situation is not just. Talk about taxation without representation!
jowriter
@RevRick: Agree. Stroke has consequences. Depending upon which area of the brain is affected, so many things about the individual who has suffered this calamity can change, profoundly. My sister’s initial work as a nurse was with stroke unit patients, and the range of limitations a stroke can produce is vast.
I just remember Fetterman and his wife having meals on the road during his Senate campaign and the lovely things he posted about her–something profound has changed in him. He was always offbeat a bit, part of his charm, but these days he’s not so charming. It is truly sad to witness.
rikyrah
Trump Allies Sue John Roberts To Give White House Control Of Court System
A think tank founded by Stephen Miller sued Roberts and the office that administers the judiciary, claiming that the White House should run the federal courts.
By Josh Kovensky
|
May 2, 2025 10:42 a.m.
Close allies of President Trump are asking a judge to give the White House control over much of the federal court system.
In a little-noticed lawsuit filed last week, the America First Legal Foundation sued Chief Justice John Roberts and the head of the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts.
The case ostensibly proceeds as a FOIA lawsuit, with the Trump-aligned group seeking access to judiciary records. But, in doing so, it asks the courts to cede massive power to the White House: the bodies that make court policy and manage the judiciary’s day-to-day operations should be considered independent agencies of the executive branch, the suit argues, giving the President, under the conservative legal movement’s theories, the power to appoint and dismiss people in key roles.
Multiple legal scholars and attorneys TPM spoke with reacted to the suit with a mixture of dismay, disdain and laughter. Though the core legal claim is invalid, they said, the suit seems to be a part of the fight that the administration launched and has continued to escalate against the courts over the past several months: ignoring a Supreme Court order to facilitate the return of a wrongly removed Salvadoran man, providing minimal notice to people subject to the Alien Enemies Act, flaunting an aggressive criminal case against a state court judge.
The executive branch has tried to encroach on the power of the judiciary in other ways too, prompting a degree of consternation and alarm unusual for the normally-staid Administrative Office of U.S. Courts. As TPM has documented, DOGE has already caused disorder at the courts and sent out mass emails to judges and other judiciary employees demanding a list of their recent accomplishments. Per one recent report in the New York Times, federal judges have expressed concern that Trump could direct the U.S. Marshals Service — an executive branch agency tasked with protecting judges and carrying out court orders — to withdraw protection.
These are all facets of an escalating campaign to erode the independence of the judiciary, experts told TPM. The lawsuit demonstrates another prong of it: close allies of the president are effectively asking the courts to rule that they should be managed by the White House.
“It’s like using an invalid legal claim to taunt the judiciary,” Anne Joseph O’Connell, a professor at Stanford University Law School, told TPM.
“To the extent this lawsuit has any value other than clickbait, maybe the underlying message is, we will let our imaginations run wild,” Peter M. Shane, a constitutional law scholar at NYU Law School, told TPM. “The Trump administration and the MAGA community will let our imaginations run wild in our attempts to figure out ways to make the life of the judiciary miserable, to the extent you push back against Trump.”
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-allies-sue-john-roberts-to-give-white-house-control-of-court-system
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Leto: the parade is why this president is keeping the obviously incompetent nincompoop, Secretary Hegseth, in his position. Don’t you think?
I hope these silly persons are budgeting the full rebuild of all of our Capitol roads they are going to destroy with this North Korean-day parade.
Bupalos
@Marc: I don’t mean like Fetterman in any respect other than able to command the attention of an electorate that is increasingly resource-depleted and cynical about American politics. Politicians that can speak a language that passes the first tests of motivational speech- it has to be loud enough that your audience can hear it and in a language they are able to understand. I specifically mean like Fetterman there in the way that Jasmine Crockett is like Fetterman. Like Crockett, we also need them to be smarter and harder working, and then maybe they won’t blow up in our faces like this guy.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Matt: this behavior is consistent with someone intermittently taking blood pressure medications, or taking the wrong formulations, especially following a stroke. It is a tragedy for everyone involved every time it happens.
Omnes Omnibus
@HopefullyNotcassandra: The damage to asphalt that just one tracked vehicle can do is amazing.
Omnes Omnibus
@Bupalos: Quite the walkback…
Shalimar
That has been Daniel Dale’s job for a decade now and it got him hired by CNN. He is an outlier, and I would bet money all the MAGA assholes have been pressuring CNN to fire Dale.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@lowtechcyclist: what about if this president throws his North Korean sun-god Emperor parade and nobody comes to see it? No press, no audience, no nothing
that would be the most fitting American response I can think of to this stupid, boring, destructive to our roads nonsense.
Spanky
@rikyrah: “Separation of Powers”? Never heard of it!
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Marc:
Exactly. And the comments in here during his primary campaign and run reflected exactly that and as was said above, a lot of projecting onto him.
I network with a number of black activists based in Philly. Normally it’s very specific issue based but the shotgun/black guy incident was a deal breaker for them and the black folks they networked with. In their estimation, while they weren’t gonna vote for his opponent, his selection out of the primary might have dampened black voter turnout. Haven’t checked up on that tho.
Sure, perhaps he’s “changed” since the stroke but perhaps it’s only brought out all the stuff he telegraphed during the primary and election.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@rikyrah: there are no alpha male wolves in the wild. Alpha and beta wolves only exist in captivity. I kid you not.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-the-alpha-wolf-idea-a-myth/
The whole alpha/beta wolf thing is like what we find in human prisons. It is not how free people or free wolves behave.
prostratedragon
@HopefullyNotcassandra: That was my first thought, and I might stick to it. Has to be all or nothing, anyway.
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: I’m genuinely confused as to how that can be read as a “walk back?”
JoyceH
@HopefullyNotcassandra: People are getting used to going to protests now so I don’t think the parade will be shunned. I’d like to see a huge turnout with everyone armed with their best and funniest anti-Trump sign. Goal is to make it so it is literally impossible to take a picture of the parade or the parade attendees without a good sign visibly legible in the photo.
prostratedragon
My emphasis. Every now and then they let it slip that to them, “DEI” means simply “involves Black people.”
Miss Bianca
@Melancholy Jaques:
Nailed it.
Jeffg166
I vote for him with high expectations. Time for him to resign and let Shapiro appoint a real progressive.
lowtechcyclist
@prostratedragon: It’s another of those “if he were a Russian agent, what would he be doing differently?” actions.
Even the Republicans should’ve voted against confirming this nutcase. Whether to confirm RFK Jr. should’ve been well past the line where common sense should’ve overruled party loyalty.
AFAIAC, this fucker is committing treason. (Along with a whole bunch of other fuckers in this Administration from Trump on down.) How is disabling our defenses against disease not “levying war against…the United States”?
brantl
@Paul in KY: I would want out of this asshole’s army in the worst possible way. You think there won’t be one trans person in there, who’s going to be screwed anyway?
HopefullyNotcassandra
@rikyrah: most of the civil rights division of the department of justice resigned.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/exodus-doj-civil-rights-division-official-100-attorneys/story?id=121257205
WTFGhost
@prostratedragon: Well, technically, the program was an environmental justice program. The reason they got the funds, was, no one had bothered to fix their problems, because they were poor and minority.
Biden finally started to fix problems like that, so Trump had to shitcan it. Remember: Trump likes to hurt people.
Zelma
Has anyone else noticed something about the people serving as the backdrop for Trump both at Alabama and also at some army base. Not a woman or a minority in sight. Take a look. Or is it my imagination?
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Paul in KY: almost every gop candidate is a terrible candidate these days.
brantl
@Omnes Omnibus: and walking backwards with your ill-defined foot in your mouth is quite a trick.
brantl
@HopefullyNotcassandra: Nope, a great big boisterous protest is what it deserves.
Bupalos
@Miss Bianca: I’d say this ends up being basically true, though I’d define populism itself as simply a mode of politics in which you speak in the ‘everyday language’ of the voter you are addressing. The fact that populism (both left and right) ends up often focussed on enemies and ‘those who did this’ is because it’s a mode of politics that tends to arise in response to depletion, fear, and anger.
I’d say we probably better get used to it and figure out how to use it effectively and responsibly. Because coming decades are almost certain to be dominated by depletion, fear, and anger.
brantl
@Bupalos: You could’ve best stopped at “You’re genuinely confused.”.
Omnes Omnibus
@brantl: No offense, but if I, when I was an army officer, order my soldiers to dig holes and then fill them in or paint rocks in the motor pool, those would be legal orders a as nd disobeying would be UCMJ violation. Soldiers will show up in the correct uniform and do the parade if they are told to do it. If they are ordered to shoot at peaceful demonstrators, there you have a probably illegal order and a reason to say no or at least question it.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Omnes Omnibus: no doubt!
Omnes Omnibus
@Bupalos: How you would define populism isn’t really germane.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@prostratedragon: it would demonstrate clearly that we do not care for military parades.
JMG
Stocks up big again today. The finance world, deep down, just does not believe Trump will impose big tariffs, because it’s so obviously stupid and self-destructive. I remember feeling the same way about the 2024 election. Now it is true Trump has backed down from confrontations where he can’t be the bully, but if Wall St. is wrong, a great many people are going to lose a great deal of money very quickly at some point in the near (six months or less) future.
prostratedragon
@lowtechcyclist:
Agreed! Missed the edit window, but wanted to emphasize that this is Lowndes County in Alabama.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@JoyceH: that would make for great ratings. I still think the best way to demonstrate our disgust is to ignore it entirely and then rage about our destroyed roads (destroyed to satisfy megalomania) after the fact.
If we never want to see another North Korean sun-god emperor parade nonsense, we ignore it entirely imho
trollhattan
@JMG:
I’d call that whistling past the
graveyardcontainer port.Considerable damage to our economy and international relationships has already occurred and will roll out for months to come, even presuming Trump pulls back from his terriffs “plan” tomorrow. But then we’ve learned our financial geniuses aren’t super smart either, having supported Trump back into office. That stupidity is on display daily.
Bupalos
@brantl: I see one angle from which that can looks like a “walk-back.” The one I pretty consistently underestimate here. This is the hyper-identity framing invading space where it simply doesn’t belong. Go back to the start. The original context is quite clearly about a mode of relating to voters. But in hyper-identity terms, ethnic symbolism overpowers all other meaning.
brantl
@HopefullyNotcassandra: Or the assholes that require them.
Bupalos
@brantl: Well I’m not confused about the attraction of that kind of comment.
WTFGhost
I feel for Fetterman. It sounds like he’s got some of the same stuff I have going on, except, his is probably organic, while mine is affected by my pain. His also might be affected by pain, too.
It’s weird when my neurology starts mucking with my brain. There’s a slide between reality and fantasy, which kinda fits the “Palestinians are pure evil!” that would have been running everywhere once October 7th had happened. All of the bad Palestinian news would have hammered him then, and might have happened while his brain was painful, making it seem that much more noxious and evil.
You have to learn to unhook your emotions, so you can consider them later, and see if they’re based on anything real. This is something every public official should be able to do, but since 2001, we’ve celebrated the hotheads who preach hate, rather than good people who preach strength.
You have to acknowledge you can be wrong, because your brain will misfire more. Everyone’s brain misfires occasionally, and people autocorrect, but, with neuro issues, your brain can misfire more, and you need to recognize misfires.
One of the hardest things for some people to learn is “if I think it, it might be total garbage.” I mean, normally, our reasoning isn’t garbage, right? But when you’re having neuro issues, you can think something really stupid, and your brain doesn’t auto-reject it, so you can consider it further, and it still seems reasonable. It is then very hard for someone to recognize when someone points out it’s garbage thinking. “No, it’s not garbage! I thought about this! For a long time! It can’t be garbage, or… it’s not garbage!!!”
It’s really effing hard, especially if you’ve been a smart, reasonable, person all your life, if you’ve always been calm and collected enough that your brain autocorrects on its own, and suddenly, you have to autocorrect *manually*. Which means you have to admit you’re BRAIN DAMAGED.
Being called “brain damaged” isn’t a big deal, but realizing, because you had a stroke, you are, in fact, brain damaged, is scary, and something prone to denialism (or so I’d imagine). Plus, you might be doing your absolute best, and absolutely KILLING YOURSELF
(Let’s remember WTFGhost is one of the top contenders for “most frequently suicidal poster” before we ignore the words KILLING YOURSELF in all caps)
… doing your absolute best, and absolutely KILLING YOURSELF trying to do better, and knowing you can’t.
You need to understand, the answer is, “you can’t, yet, but hopefully, soon, if we work on it.”
“We” is essential. It’s nearly impossible to do it alone. Even I get completely crazy sometimes – there’s a reason I’m on my fourth or fifth nym here.
The reason you can’t do it alone, is, you can’t tell when your own brain is misfiring. You need someone whom you love and trust enough that you’ll go take a nap, re-think a problem, discuss why your ideas are bad, and then, reformulate new ideas, even if they strictly contradict some of your broken thoughts.
That is really not easy.
So: yes, I feel for the man.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@WTFGhost: the program was funded by the bipartisan infrastructure act recently signed by President Biden into law.
This president truly enjoys to illegally impound funds authorized by Congress and congressional republicans certainly seem to endlessly enjoy bending over while saying “please, sir, can we have some more?” The whole display of obsequiousness is about as un-American as anything else these silly persons are doing.
brantl
@Bupalos: Verbosity for it’s own sake is indistinguishable from pomposity.
lowtechcyclist
@Omnes Omnibus:
In the past several years, I’ve seen ‘populist’ largely used to describe Republicans, and it always seems to mean nativist and misogynist. I think the term’s been corrupted to the point where it’s probably too late to rescue it. Other words need to be found.
JoyceH
@HopefullyNotcassandra: If we ignore it entirely, then only MAGA shows up to cheer wildly and convince Trump and themselves that he is actually extremely popular. No, attend with signs. Plenty of the signs will mock the parade itself (“Trump’s Ego On Parade!”) and make it less likely he’ll want to make it an annual event.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@brantl: that should make this president’s day. I do believe a big protest will guarantee future marches.
What would happen if this president showed up to lie and nobody was there to write the lies down?
scav
@prostratedragon: I’d suspect more they have drained content from words entirely, needing only the residue definition of good! (for my team) and bad! (anything & everything else). DEI, woke, liberal, communism, secular, marxist, gay, transsexual, feminist, et al are entirely interchangeable and pulled at random out of a bag. Black people certainly catch the bulk of it, but often they’re getting all the swipes at poor people as well (no help for you Alabama), and the same words are hurled at Amazon, Harvard etc. Bullshitters are post-content.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Bupalos: think you are correct.
I also think President Obama’s first campaign was populist and not in any kind of destructive way. It can be done. It cannot be done by a megalomaniac desperate for any kind of attention.
JMG
@HopefullyNotcassandra: Americans like parades with pretty girls standing on colorful floats. Our military parades have been reserved for troops coming back from winning wars.
Of course, what Trump would like most is a ticker tape parade up Broadway like Lucky Lindy, but sadly for him, ticker tape doesn’t exist anymore.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@JMG: this whole economic/tariff whirlwind feels like a classic boiler room pump and dump scheme to me.
brantl
@HopefullyNotcassandra: You expect that the press will forego this event, because the protestors do?
HopefullyNotcassandra
@brantl: I am still advocating for ignoring the whole event which would confuse the short-fingered vulgarian bigly.
Sasha
I’ve seen people go from pro-Israel to just straight up anti-Palestinian. It’s never pretty.
trollhattan
@JMG: I’m really liking the idea of Trump riding in the back of a convertible driving up Broadway.
Can we make this happen? Soon? Give him a few laps for good measure.
They Call Me Noni
@Bupalos: After a quick google search he looks promising. Independent in a deep red state, supports abortion rights and common sense gun laws among other things. Union leader.
Omnes Omnibus
@Bupalos: “We need someone like Fetterman.” “Well, we really need someone like Crockett.” Yeah, no walkback there unless you apply your weird little lens. Okay, sure.
Melancholy Jaques
@lowtechcyclist:
It’s one of the many euphemisms for the white supremacist revanche that has defined our politics since Reagan. Racism/Misogyny are the two driving forces of every Republican campaign since then. They could not hope to compete if they didn’t have both.
They Call Me Noni
@Princess: Perhaps David Hogg is looking into it?
lowtechcyclist
@RevRick:
Funny how you never hear about Dem Congresspersons fearing their own supporters.
There’s one end of the spectrum that’s politically toxic, and they’re it.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@WTFGhost: well explained. I have witnessed brain damage. Hang in there. Keep on doing what you are doing. I don’t know much about much, no doubt. I do know recognition is a critical step toward any kind of healing.
Know this too. I am glad you exist in this world. You help me see things more clearly, even though the glass I see through is still too dark and cloudy.
wonkie
I think he should resign, but given the symptoms he’s displaying I don’t think he will. maybe a recall? We can’t afford to have a R get his seat.
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: I think it is germane to the phenomena. Populism is speaking in the voters’ native tongue, politicians do that when there is political energy to tap from the voters, and that energy generally comes from fear and anger. That’s how it ends up linked to a politics often more focussed on enemies, always described as the elite. It’s the most effective route to tap the political energy of the masses. FDR directed it at bankers and economic elites out to steal everything, and that’s how we got the great society reforms that transformed the United States economically into what we know it as now. It’s a source of energy that doesn’t have to be as destructive as what Trump or Hitler did.
Omnes Omnibus
@JoyceH: When I lived in Columbus, that was always the debate about protesting the occasional Klan rallies that happened there. Protest and give them the attention they craved or ignore them and let them think they aren’t hated. I really don’t know which approach is best.
JoyceH
@HopefullyNotcassandra: Do you genuinely believe that if the protesters didn’t show up, no one would show up?! You don’t think Trump supporters would be there?
HopefullyNotcassandra
@JoyceH: maybe. I still think denying this president attention would be highly effective since attention is obviously what he seeks most. Some, I know, think if he was ignored he might start WWIII. That weighs on me, too.
They Call Me Noni
@Professor Bigfoot: I think QE2 used to ride a horse in her Trooping of the Colors. I suppose DJT will ride a golf cart.
Omnes Omnibus
@Bupalos: It already has a definition. Your personal one doesn’t matter.
trollhattan
@wonkie:
What powers, if any, does the Senate Democratic Caucus have? Can they compel him to resign? Big Chuck can do this!
Recalls are long, painful, expensive, impossible to control, and would put the senator on an iceflow during the entire process. Who knows what he might do? Maybe switch parties or some other kind of Sinema hijinks.
Baud
@Bupalos:
🤞 for massive economic devastation that is left unaddressed for three years.
WTFGhost
@Suzanne: Well, I read the main concerns as medical. He hasn’t gone crazy or started drooling or anything. I would expect him to win re-election handily right now, because but for some possibly scurrilous rumors, I imagine he’s working without any obvious signs of problems.
Trump is sundowning, and they keep him looking semi-normal, sometimes for 30 minutes at a time, or more! I’m not surprised Fetterman isn’t being rejected. I’d have a hard time rejecting him for a Republican, but I’d have an easier time if there really were sane Republicans any more.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@brantl: no. I don’t expect the press to do anything but react. It would be effective if the press did ignore him is my larger point.
The press did not ignore his inauguration. Most of America did. That was actually effective imho. Right now nearly everything everyone does is a reaction to this regime. That feeds this president I think.
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: I’ll assume you missed where this started and won’t remain committed to the bit:
Comment #57 where I first used the “like Fetterman” thing that you’re running this hyper-identity play on:
”
@Geminid: Incorporating populism and an understanding of the attention economy into our party is something we have to do, but it’s going to be a heavy lift and rife with potential disasters like Fetterman.
Jasmine Crockett is my #1 draft pick here, AOC is a first-rounder too. But there just isn’t a lot of depth in the current class.”
Was this unclear, is the timeline unclear, or did you just miss where the whole like Fetterman (with like in italics) came from?
lowtechcyclist
@Omnes Omnibus:
Let’s hope. I still remember a day 55 years ago this Sunday.
Omnes Omnibus
@trollhattan: The Dem Caucus has no power over his presence in the Senate. They could toss him out of the caucus, but that wouldn’t do much.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@JoyceH: There are not as many of his supporters as you suppose willing to travel to DC. His rallies are sparsely attended. His inauguration was held indoors to hide the lackluster attention. How many counterprotestors are out there?
We know how many this president managed for the infamous January 6 insurrection. Even with coordinated pre-paid travel arranged, the actual numbers were paltry compared to true mass movements in this country like Martin Luther King, Jr., the Hooverville protests or Vietnam war protests. He can pull a few thousand and then lie and lie and lie inflating the numbers.
It is all a clown show either way.
I am simply against giving this president the attention he so obviously craves (and which is never enough to satisfy him).
HopefullyNotcassandra
@They Call Me Noni: that is funny! That image will live forever in hilarity
WTFGhost
@HopefullyNotcassandra: Agreed, 100% – I just knew why they called it “DEI” rather than canceling it for another invented reason. They’ve had to live with this for generations already, and it’s such an easy issue for voters to ignore, so it’s that much more evil, and hence, infuriating.
Omnes Omnibus
@Bupalos: WTF is a “hyper-identity play?”
HopefullyNotcassandra
@trollhattan: you cannot recall a U.S. Senator.
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: It’s a much discussed term that people seem to have a hard time agreeing on in usage, so it’s probably worth us offering the way we see it, for perspective on what we’re saying.
But sure, do the “thanks but I have a dictionary” thing so we can just continue to bicker.
Now can I get a walkback on your walkback thing?
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Baud: ?? The massive economic devastation predated FDR by years. FDR improved things almost immediately by saving banks, increasing monetary flow and stopping foreclosures.
I am not certain I understood your point, though.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@lowtechcyclist: that was one horribly searing day.
JoyceH
@HopefullyNotcassandra: my thought is that this stupid parade is still in the planning stage. If it becomes clear to Trump that protesters will attend, he might cancel it (citing concern about cost and road damage). What he craves is attention, yes, but what he absolutely cannot stand is ridicule! And if it’s known that protesters will be there, that will cut back on the attendance of Trump supporters, who are terrified of DC or really any majority-black city.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@WTFGhost: No doubt! Sewage backup inside houses is also horribly unhealthy. !!!
Baud
@HopefullyNotcassandra:
That was my point. FDR could do what he did because the country had suffered through three years of economic calamity.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@JoyceH: I think he likes anti-protestors, actually. I think he even likes ridicule. I don’t think he cares what form the attention takes. When does this president turn to things like pet eating? He does so when folks like us and the press are focused on Kamala Harris and Mike Walz.
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: I’m interpreting your mistaken “walk-back” thing as you thinking me to have said “like Fetterman” to mean “grungy white dudes that appeal to racists,” which is the only way I can make sense of you thinking that introducing Jasmine Crockett as “like Fetteman” is a walk-back. My meaning of a hyper-identity play (I’d change it to “move”) is noted earlier in a response to the poster agreeing with you.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@lowtechcyclist: I remember too. I was in Ann Arbor at the time, returning for the summer half term.
Omnes Omnibus
@Bupalos: You are overthinking this as usual.
rikyrah
@HopefullyNotcassandra:
ProPublica (@propublica) posted at 4:23 AM on Fri, May 02, 2025:
New: The Trump administration is subverting the traditional priorities of the department’s decimated civil rights office by making discrimination investigations practically impossible — instead enforcing its own anti-diversity campaign. https://t.co/baBEwNUoR0
(https://x.com/propublica/status/1918234883673010458?t=4gNPRdBn1Doe9mpesRg7Iw&s=03)
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Baud: my apologies. Please consider my misplaced correction of your accurate statement retracted.
FDR has always fascinated me because everybody loved him. My Republican to the bone free soil ancestors loved him. My Jefferson-Jackson little d Democratic ancestors loved him.
Half of the houses had his picture on their walls he was so loved. They loved him in the cities and on the farms. Yet, there were these people, somewhere?, hiding?, who hated FDR and wanted to undo everything he had done. I never met a single one back then, though.
Here we are today under a regime stocked to the brim with FDR haters. The haters were real all along.
lowtechcyclist
@Omnes Omnibus:
In this case, I think the news media will give it the usual level of Presidential coverage regardless, so we might as well take advantage of the presence of the press corpse to demonstrate the level of opposition to Hair Furor.
With a Klan march, I’d say the best response is to make it as un-newsworthy as possible, and stay away.
WTFGhost
Since this is an open thread, I have to include this link, not because Tom (the poster) is super brilliant, but because there is what appears to be a middle finger raised, with a reflection of Trump in the fingernail, and I *so* want artwork like that on a t-shirt! (There are more obvious middle fingers raised by the crowd – wow, I hope I live my life so I never annoy the Swiss that much.)
https://digbysblog.net/2025/05/02/still-not-liked/
(Sorry Tom – it’s a fine post.)
Bupalos
@They Call Me Noni: Also a huge over performer in that race.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@rikyrah: Yes, I know. Destroying Lyndon Johnson’s legacy for no good reason because they can. The sadism is strong in these folks, sadly.
rikyrah
Prez (@PrezLives2022) posted at 11:15 PM on Thu, May 01, 2025:
Billionaire investor Ray Dalio is concerned that we are heading for something far worse than a recession.
“Right now, we are at a decision-making point and very close to a recession, and I’m worried about something worse than a recession if this isn’t handled well.”
A recession is usually 2 consecutive quarters of negative GDP, but Dalio is much more concerned about the breakdown of the monetary order.
Tariffs with high level debt and the rise in China could lead to “profound changes” in the world order.
This is a reminder of the 1930’s. After WWII, America became the world’s superpower and now we face the real risk of China replacing us as the world’s leading superpower.
Dalio says “destructive tariffs are like throwing rocks into the production system.”
If we don’t get the budget deficit down 3% there will be a supply/ demand issue for debt and we will face something worse than a recession.
Dalio is the guy who predicted the 2008 financial crisis so his words carry some weight
(https://x.com/PrezLives2022/status/1918157288566644806?t=EX9sR7JF2kKWd1HuzTdbWg&s=03)
.
Baud
@HopefullyNotcassandra:
He didn’t win four terms by accident.
But he also didn’t do all that much when it came to things like civil rights.* That was mostly tackled by the post-FDR coalition.
* WWII allowed him to do a few minor things, but also some infamous things.
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: OK. For the second time then, what did you mean by “walkback?”
Baud
@rikyrah:
Did he support Harris?
rikyrah
Fly Sistah![]()
(@Fly_Sistah) posted at 7:13 AM on Thu, May 01, 2025:
Companies are required to send out a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice before implementing mass layoffs. More than 120 employers are planning to let workers go in May, including Amazon, Starbucks, JP Morgan Chase & Mattel.
https://t.co/8RtezE8n8k https://t.co/DRUH79MYtw
(https://x.com/Fly_Sistah/status/1917915383513731218?t=jGvEOgx1Gmlae9AgtInJ7A&s=03)
Bupalos
@brantl: Well you’ve made yourself clear, despite the big fancy words.
lowtechcyclist
@trollhattan:
The Constitution (Article I, Section 5) says, “Each House [of Congress] shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns, and Qualifications of its own Members.”
IANAL and would welcome the correction of those here that are, but I read that as saying the Senate itself is the only body that can remove a Senator from their seat against their will.
Whether and how the Senate can do that, I expect the Senate rules have something to say about, but that’s more digging than I feel like doing. But Schumer certainly can’t compel Fetterman’s resignation, nor can the Senate Democratic caucus as a whole.
chemiclord
Conor Lamb just didn’t have the right vibes.
WTFGhost
@lowtechcyclist: One thing that’s been on my mind, is, maybe the regular news should carry some of the Republican news from time to time, and report on it like ordinary, rational people would.
“The KKK wants to do a march.”
“Why?”
“To appear more mainstream – they think they have a chance now to insist that white people are superior to others, because Trump attracts people like that. Kind of a shame if you like Trump, but I don’t know of a white supremacist who hasn’t spoken out in favor of Trump.”
“And how many white supremacists do you know?”
“Just the list of people in our source-check room, but there are twenty I remember all calling for Trump.”
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Baud: true. Eleanor did push, push, push him, though. I should have said everybody loved the Roosevelts. The Eleanor love was just as strong.
JoyceH
@HopefullyNotcassandra: Are you KIDDING me?! He HATES ridicule! He obsesses over it, it eats at him! Spy Magazine called him a short-fingered vulgarian back in 1988 and he literally never got over it. He’s never gotten over never being accepted by the genuinely classy crowd in Manhattan, he’s sure they think they’re better than he is (and he’s right), and I’m convinced he ran for president in the first place, besides the ratings boost he imagined it would give his stupid show, because he was so jealous of all the respect that Obama got and he figured if he could take all Obama’s stuff, Marine One, the Resolute Desk, then he’d be respected too. One of the reasons he’s made some ham-handed attempts to bring both the wars in Gaza and Ukraine to an end is because he’s determined to get a Nobel Peace Prize. He’s a very damaged man and ridicule hurts him more than anything else.
Baud
@HopefullyNotcassandra:
Eleanor was amazing.
WaterGirl
@Marc: What if you print in black & white on a color printer? Guessing you also get the watermark?
Omnes Omnibus
@Bupalos: What do you think I meant by it?
Baud
prostratedragon
@JoyceH: Where’s that Trumpy balloon when we need it now more than ever?
Captain C
@JoyceH:
As are they.
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: I told you. I think you meant I originally meant “politicians who appeal to trumpish whites,” then offered a explanation about rhetorical style and Crockett as a “walkback”
Probably just missing the context from comment 57 not realizing that the political style and association with Crockett came earlier and was actually the where “like Fetterman” had come from. And making assumptions. What did you mean? And is there a reason we’re on the third asking of this now?
Omnes Omnibus
@Bupalos: Probably because you keep asking…
prostratedragon
The Social Security Act turns 90 years old on August 14.
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: One to ask, one to refuse to answer. I’ll just take this as the walkback, but I admit I was hoping for “quite a walkback.” NO CLOSURE FOR ME!
Professor Bigfoot
@They Call Me Noni: Yeah, Queen Lizbet had more badasserry in one of her toenails than that marigold MF could ever generate.
Omnes Omnibus
@Bupalos: If that makes you happy….
Professor Bigfoot
@Omnes Omnibus: Confront them.
Make them run to their brothers in blue for protection.
Bupalos
@Omnes Omnibus: I JUST SAID IT DIDN’T!!!
AM in NC
@oldster: That’s the point I made to both my Republican Senators when I just called about this. If Trump can do this to Harvard, are you OK with a Democrat doing this to Liberty U or to a church because they say something the POTUS doesn’t like?
I also asked if they’re OK with Trump doing this to UNC, NC State or ECU, attacking OUR STATE’S institutions?
Omnes Omnibus
@Bupalos: Learn to live with it.
prostratedragon
@WTFGhost: That Swiss thing was wonderful. And as I recall they got right to it soon after the inauguration [hawk/spit]. Spills over onto others in his orbit. It was no later than the convention, maybe before, when a family singing group in England, England I say, gave a complete breakdown in the song, “Vance VeePee.” People the world over, who are likely middle-of-the-road types, way, way do not like this crew.
Princess
@lowtechcyclist: Had there ever been a populism in the US that hasn’t been about white men?
Bupalos
@Princess: I’d say FDR’s version was not any more (and somewhat less) about white men than the general political current of the times at least. That is to say it was a hell of a lot less about white men than the forces that were opposing that populism.
Baud
Populism
Baud
Bupalos
@Baud: This is an interesting kind of irony.
It is worth thinking about the disconnect here and the ways that this also isn’t ironic. One of the prime social dislocations of our globalized economy is dispersal of families by generation. I think it echos in all their “lost children” rhetoric even anti-gay and trans stuff. The post-truth right-wing populists make a fair amount of hay off of the whole dynamic, and there is some populist content in this ridiculous offer. To our ears it sounds more like a promised dystopia, to angry gramps in retirement homes in Oklahoma who’s kids are in Germany and North Carolina, it’s a winner.
karen gail
@Baud: New model? Obviously he has never heard of mill towns or mining towns.
My grandfather worked in a papermill, the one his father was killed building, starting at age 14. My father and brothers worked in the mill during the summer when they couldn’t find work at farms; none of them wanted to work in a papermill no matter how good the benefits were.
Strangely, I now live in a mill town and much of what was once done by workers is done by automation. If the machinery needs repairs a crew comes in repairs and leaves again. That isn’t going to change, factories won’t keep on people to repair robotics they will hire a specialty crew to come in and do that work.
Factory towns with generations working in same places are a smoke dream of the past.
Baud
@Bupalos:
Yeah, I know what they’re getting at and who they’re trying to appeal to.
Omnes Omnibus
@karen gail: Even in the ‘70s, paper mill workers on the actual paper machines were sitting and reading books. If everything was running well, they weren’t needed. BUT the moment something went wrong they needed to be able to jump in immediately.
prostratedragon
@karen gail: I think they do know all of this, and are lying.
rikyrah
Why the Hell am I a Democrat? (@reesetheone1) posted at 10:58 AM on Fri, May 02, 2025:
Fetterman will switch parties before he resign…… dems better handle him with kid gloves.
He’s a hop skip and jump from becoming MAGA… like most Bernie progressives.
(https://x.com/reesetheone1/status/1918334284064031139?t=Z0rC5H9pwDU8xUpikHLFNg&s=03)
DanB
@HopefullyNotcassandra: Half the kids in my school who went to college went to Kent State. One 9f my brother’s ex girlfriends was there.
tsquared2001
@Princess: No.
StringOnAStick
@WTFGhost: uh, that reflection of Trump isn’t on a fingernail, that’s a penis. Clearly the international symbol for “dickhead”.
Booger
@WaterGirl: It takes advantage of the yellow pigment being very hard for the human eye to see when its by itself. Anti counterfeiting measure originally, IIRC.
Paul in KY
@HopefullyNotcassandra: That would be epic.
Paul in KY
@brantl: Me too! Can just imagine how woman and non-whites must feel! What a crappy time (for them especially) to be in the military.
Paul in KY
@HopefullyNotcassandra: Well duh on their positions and actions and probably personalities too.
I was talking about his campaign, tactics, lack of tactics, etc.
Paul in KY
@WTFGhost: Excellent and interesting comments. Thanks for sharing them.
Paul in KY
@Omnes Omnibus: With the Klan or those pathetic proud boys types, I think showing up and hopefully beating the crap out of them is best. Obviously can’t do that to Cheetolini, so in that case mockery works best (IMO).
Paul in KY
@HopefullyNotcassandra: I don’t think he likes ridicule. Especially from people in his perceived social/economic class.
Paul in KY
@HopefullyNotcassandra: The Know-Nothing types and spat-wearing richy-rich types despised him. The first schemed with the 2nds money and lawyers ever since 32 to undo his achievements.
Paul in KY
@karen gail: Also an evil dream of the future…