We can learn a lot from one of our great senators who continues to do great work every single day. He has to be one of the hardest working Democrats in the Senate. At the same time, he is speaking out against the atrocities and calling it like it is. But he’s still doing the work.
Ossoff: Did anyone really think the sexual predator president who used to party with Jeffrey Epstein was going to release the Epstein files?
.
Today, Sen. Ossoff demanded RFK Jr.’s resignation after months of the Trump Administration’s attacks on the CDC.
— Ossoff’s Office (@ossoff.senate.gov) September 4, 2025 at 10:56 AM
.
“It’s not me, it’s the moment.” @ossoff.bsky.social talks with Jen Psaki about the unprecedented enthusiasm he is seeing from voters attending his events.
— The Briefing with Jen Psaki (@briefingwithpsaki.bsky.social) July 15, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Senator Ossoff, earlier this week:
Allow yourselves to feel hope. Allow yourselves to believe in victory. The only way that we don’t win these elections is if we lose faith in ourselves and our ability to shape the country’s future as citizens. We still have that power as bleak as it seems.
And we still have the power to build a country that we believe in and to present an agenda that can unite the country again.
But if we lose faith, that’s what worries me. So keep the faith, help me in Georgia, keep fighting.
If all we allow ourselves to mostly focus on the guy who was killed, we are contributing to the culture that assigns more importance to the death of this guy who was important to Republicans than it did to the MN elected official who was murdered along with her husband and her dog. More importance to him than to the school kids who were invaded on the same day. More important than Epstein, which is clearly their Achilles heel.
How can we focus all our energy on this one guy and still be doing the work we need to do to win? Because winning these elections is our best shot at getting out of this abhorrent timeline.
We cannot let the bastards win.
Update: I just saw this from Simon Rosenberg.
Trump is weak, not strong.
A failure, not a success.
A loser, not a winner.
An old ailing man, not a virile one.
A villain, not a hero.
And a clear sign of his weakness and decline is his inability, despite their extraordinary information superiority, to bring the country along with him on the things that matter most.
It’s a sign of how his powers are ebbing, why he has been so manic and desperate of late – for the country is growing more distant from him – and why we have to keep working as hard as we can.
Is it easier to be angry than it is to be hopeful?
Ramalama
…and Kirk is like AI.
Forced down our throats.
WaterGirl
@Ramalama: It’s all over the place, but we have agency. We can choose where we put our focus.
different-church-lady
Thank god someone isn’t just standing around hapless.
Baud
@different-church-lady:
I’ll have you know I’m full of hap.
p.a.
Can’t support him: his position on EV rebates is only close to 85% of mine.
//s if I need to say it…
MagdaInBlack
It is possible to be angry and hopeful at the same time. Jesus got pretty angry at some stuff.
schrodingers_cat
@Ramalama: You can mute words in my your timeline. I use that feature often.
trollhattan
Kilmeade has a word from management.
“What I meant to say was they should get free kittens. Who amongst us hasn’t made that mistake before?”
If you’d like your gob smacked, here are his thoughts, as expressed on air, live.
x.com/Matthewtravis08/status/1966829537628704886
Let us now give a moment remembering everybody fired for saying accurate things about Charlie Kirk in the last few days. Are there two separate rule books? Experts disagree.
Anyway
@Ramalama: First comment in a non-Kirk post is about him!
Hope Ossoff and the Ds can get the big W in November
Nukular Biskits
Good late mornin, yall.
Had to work last night, which is unusual. didn’t get home until about 0200 this morning.
Moving slowly …
And, thanks WG, for this post. It brings me blood pressure down after seeing my MS Republican asshats bloviate out of one side of their mouths on social media about “leftists” and Jeebus out of the other.
different-church-lady
@Anyway: I’m honoring his memory.
Suzanne
@trollhattan: Remember when they pretended to care deeply about cancel culture? I remember that. LAWL such pieces of shit.
eclare
Ossoff’s questioning of the postmaster general was brilliant. He had all the facts, DeJoy had none.
youtu.be/qEPS2KLXlpk?si=_dUFy7Hh8Trv2FPu
“We’ve been through this.”
different-church-lady
@trollhattan:
They totally agree there’s two different rule books.
BeautifulPlumage
I’m taking hope from the Dems and others standing up to this admin (Van Hollen, Pritzker, other Mayors & Governors). I also agree with Simon in that there’s a lot of bluster but taco Don has no juice at this point. I also enjoy seeing Steven Miller looking haggard and shouting defensively.
Charlotte Clymer has a good thread on DC media and politicians lying low to protect their “brand” (or social status) & earning power. It’s from July 30 2025:
bsky.app/profile/charlotteclymer.bsky.social/post/3lv64fcyu6c2l
piratedan
@trollhattan: but but but Charlie Kirk was a REPUBLICAN!!!!!!
why don’t you understand why THAT MATTERS!!!!!!!
if there is anything less tiring than a goddamn entitled Republican I have yet to come across its path.
WHY DO YOU THINK YOU DESERVE ALL OF THIS AND A BAG OF DONUTS?
have you cured Cancer? The Common Cold? Fed the hungry, healed the sick, housed the homeless? brought peace to people regardless of race creed or color?
goddamn they are tiring…
JaySinWa
@different-church-lady: The first rule of two rule books, you don’t talk about two rule books. OTOH there aren’t any real rule books, just imaginary calvinball ones.
H.E.Wolf
Each one of us gets to choose what and how we think and behave. This is not news. :)
For me, especially in dark times, actively working to make something better is more satisfying (and more fun!) than refusing to participate.
My good wish to you all is that you find one small, concrete action to do, and that it will be a happiness to you to do it.
Harrison Wesley
@trollhattan: “Just asking questions.”
Peke Daddy
Possible to be both. Anger is energy ready to be tapped to do applied hope. Cook it down to motivation.
MagdaInBlack
@Peke Daddy: yup. It’s all in how you choose to use it. Productive or destructive is up to you.
True Blue Spark
There’s not many things about Georgia’s political state I can be happy about, but the fact that my votes helped elect Senator Ossoff and Senator Warnock will airways be one of them.
StringOnAStick
Word is that the shooter had a trans partner according to the UT governor, and the partner is talking now. I have to leave for a gig, but someone else told me this, so go look for confirmation.
WaterGirl
@eclare: I had watched that one when it first happened, and I STILL remember it.
He is so good.
Note to self: I do not want to be grilled by the honorable Sen. Ossoff.
Jackie
QUICK! Look outside and see if the sky is falling!
hueyplong
@Jackie: What an interesting way for the foxpanelist to say that Trump lies as the rest of us breathe.
Suzanne
@StringOnAStick: Other reporting is that the trans roommate was just a roommate, not a romantic partner.
JaySinWa
@StringOnAStick: Okay, come in, drop a stink bomb and leave.
Last nights Gutter fights thread began to address the trans talk.
piratedan
@StringOnAStick: believe that is wish casting by the RW, kid lived at home. I would be more than mildly surprised if he was living at home, as an adult with a Trans partner in a GOP/LEO household and it certainly was not offered by his family…. more “some people say” bullshit most likely.
RandomMonster
Well that’s why I do it.
BeautifulPlumage
I also see this admin making obvious mistakes if they’re trying to consolidate power. Deployment of the guards in DC is not popular with the actual members. And the plan is to rotate troops every 29 days so they don’t get certain pay & benefits. They advertise a new city for invasion and the communities come together to plan & resist. The lower courts are slapping down admin arguments and embarrassing the DOJ lawyers. Normies are waking up to the kidnappings and other atrocities. The courtiers are fighting among themselves.
Other MJS
@trollhattan: “I apologize for that extremely
callousrevealing remark.”Harrison Wesley
@StringOnAStick: So the Utah governor – and sure he is an honorable man – has again pulled Timmy the Talking Trans out of his pocket. Or out of his ass. Or out of thin air. Whatever.
CaseyL
I really have found that following the news at a remove has done wonders for my mental health, and therefore I recommend it.
I’m aware of what happens, what goes on, but I’m not being force-fed it viscerally all the goddamn time.
I check Bluesky, Mastadon, Defector, my various independent news subs, local news, and for big stories I’ll go to The Guardian and BBC. And that’s it.
StringOnAStick
@piratedan: agreed it is likely constructed BS because they have a narrative to stick to dammit, and they are going to try.
@JaySinWa: I don’t spend every waking moment here, so I luckily missed all that. I thought people need to get ahead of this. I’ll make it a point to stop commenting here. happy now?
Jackie
@Suzanne:
And, yet others are reporting he lived in his parent’s basement and didn’t have a roommate….
I wonder when/if all these conflicting stories will straighten out? It’s cray-cray!
BellyCat
Angry people are more likely to vote than hopeful people. (See: MAGA)
MazeDancer
Suddenly, the wacky right-wing makes sense. They’re all wrong, of course. But now I understand them.
This is a longish video where Groypers vs. Nationalists vs. “Christians” is explained. Carefully and clearly.
Indicating how essential I find it is that it was posted on a site I don’t like by someone ditto. And I still want you to watch it.
Because if you don’t understand what this video is describing, you will not understand what the “far right” is doing.
Essentially, it is those who want to rule vs those who want to ruin. They will use each other. But they hate each
IMHO, it is all about how white men feel lost when they can no longer be cruel and in charge. They all need to learn something fun, compelling, and creative.
But controlling others is more quick and fun for them.
Please consider watching. It is the foundation of how to fight. And clever jokes are looking more promising.
MagdaInBlack
@MagdaInBlack: Altho, I guess whether you think something is productive or destructive depends on which lens you use and what you wish to accomplish.
(wakenbake Sunday thoughts)
Suzanne
@Jackie: I doubt that we will learn anything of value. It in the interest of the right wing to whip up fear and they are trying so hard to blame the left. The truth will be not valuable to them, so we won’t hear it.
Will
@Jackie: I think the basement stuff is just wishful thinking, unfortunately. I know Jay thinks it’s a big deal what his ID says, but my ID hasn’t reflected where I actually live for over two years.
WaterGirl
@Suzanne:
Yes, I believe that was the case. Roommate.
Harrison Wesley
I try to stay positive while being realistic. It’s a challenge, but I think I’m getting the hang of it.
Will
Not to pick on the ID address stuff too much, but another reason why I disregard the address on his ID meaning anything was that I had my parents’ house address listed on my ID the entire four years I was in college rather than constantly changing it to the different apartments I inhabited.
different-church-lady
@JaySinWa: ”Rules are for suckers. You’re the sucker.”
Soprano2
@trollhattan: It’s not shocking to me that he said that. I think more people than we want to admit have similar thoughts. What the average person wants is for homeless people to just go away.
It is shocking that he wasn’t fired for saying it.
Soprano2
@Will: My driver’s license said I lived at home until I graduated from college, so I agree that doesn’t mean much. It didn’t make sense to change it just because I moved from one apartment to another one.
mr perfect
@WaterGirl: Sure. A trans roommate possibly in his one term at Utah Valley Universally in Orem, Utah which to my understanding is 97% Mormon. As if. Next we will hear the trans person was black, had tie-dyed hair, was in a wheelchair, had psoriasis and a speech impediment. Another words all signs of the Devil hisself (or itself) and should have been given lethal injection as per the Brian Kilmeades of the USA. Young Tyler was surely radicalized there by this entity.
Not throwing shade at you WG, you aren’t the source of this B.S. but the story has me coloured (there go them coloured folks again) skeptical.
Ramalama
@Anyway: BUSTED. You’re right.
BlueGuitarist
Re MN State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark and their golden retriever Gilbert, murdered by a rightwing republican. (They had 2 children.) link below to eulogies from Walz and others.
(of course Republicans like Mike Lee lied about the identity of the shooter.)
Little mention has been made of the makeup of Minnesota’s house of representatives currently
67 Republicans
66 Democrats
1 vacancy created by assassin.
Democrat XP Lee is likely to win the special election in this Harris +26 seat. MN-H-34B, mostly Brooklyn Park suburb of Minneapolis.
news report of eulogies;
startribune.com/melissa-and-mark-hortman-remembered-as-extraordinary-public-servants/601376705
WaterGirl
@StringOnAStick: Please don’t let that comment sway you.
Most everyone is on edge, not always our best selves.
You are valued here!
Another Scott
Yes, we have to see the world as it is, and be hopeful, to figure out how to make it better. Thanks.
ICYMI.
Tribalism is going to be the end of us, if we can’t figure out how to overcome the monetization and weaponization of it.
Grr…
Best wishes,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@BlueGuitarist:
Wow, that speaks volumes. Hard to buy that that’s a coincidence.
Mr. Bemused Senior
WaterGirl asks,
Anger is partially a physical response. Heart rate increases, blood flow moves from brain to muscles, the fight/flight response is triggered. Some people find this exhilarating.
I have started a Taiji [Tai Chi] class. Our instructor explains that Taiji is a martial art and sometimes demonstrates the fighting aspect. Yet he also emphasizes the need to relax as part of the exercise. This has been hard for me to learn even though I understand it intellectually. Especially in the face of anger it’s important to remain calm.
Keeping up hope for me has involved reducing the amount of news I follow and focusing on positive messages. BJ helps me with this.
Jay
White Nazi Gang violence on other White Nazi Gangs over minor doctrinal issues on how to be a proper White Nazi Gang is out of control in the United States.
Jackie
@Jay:
Maybe they’ll have a civil war against each other and leave us on the sidelines!
Mart
I like Simon Rosenburg fine. I just am sick and tired of all his good news…
WaterGirl
@Mart: I have no idea what you are trying to convey with your comment. Can you clarify?
MagdaInBlack
@Jackie: I only wish it worked that way.
MagdaInBlack
@Jay: Taco gonna get to call martial law one way or another, isn’t he?
Jackie
@MagdaInBlack:
We don’t know what to expect. It’s a whole new environment. Factions against factions wouldn’t be surprising. Hell, FFOTUS would probably encourage it – in a WWE kinda way.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, in Nepal… DW.com:
Godspeed to her and the good people of Nepal.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Jay
jefftiedrich.com/p/brian-kilmeade-has-his-own-final
A big red flag on the whole “trans” story, is that it was first reported by Andy Ngo, an infamous pro-Nazi “influencer” who made his Reich Wing bona fides by co-ordinating actions with Patriot Prayer, the Proud Boys, and other far right groups, including neo-Nazi’s and the Portland Police, filming the Portland protests and counter-protests, documenting the violence, selectively editing the video’s to show only violence against the Nazi’s, and posting it to Reich Wing social media.
rationalwiki.org/wiki/Andy_Ngo
Of course, he achieved a brief moment of “fame” when the FTFNYT, The Daily Mail and the “Democracy Dies in the Darkness, we will help” WaPo hyped his “stories”.
After his 2021 testimony to a ReThug Commitee, there was a major pile on by actual experts that pushed him back into the fringes of Wingnutland.
He was the “James OKeef”, but for Nazi’s.
Jay
@Another Scott:
A good short explainer.
wonkette.com/p/nepal-gets-new-granny-leader-after
So, let’s see, thats Nepal and Brazil, showing the way, so far,………………..
Jay
@Jay: forgot, Ukraine and hopefully Georgia.
rikyrah
The Senator is good people
rikyrah
@WaterGirl:
I just don’t believe it.
They can’t blame it on anyone non-White, because.. The shooter “blended in with the student body”
So, they are going to try the transgender nonsense.
Saw that heifer Megyn Kell begin to push that the shooter was autistic.😒😒
iKropoclast
@rikyrah: Disgusting. Anything they can do to tell themselves that the shooter “wasn’t one of us” and “doesn’t deserve to live,” but I repeat myself.
Anyway
@Another Scott: Godspeed for sure but not holding my breath. Was not many years ago that Maoist protesters overthrew the Nepalese royal family — looks like that didn’t result in the hoped-for utopia and they’re burning everything to the ground again.
Karen Gail
@MazeDancer: Thank you; that is the best explanation I have ever heard or seen.
In strange way it reminded me of “Atlas Shrugged” and Ayn Rand’s popularity. She was writing about things that people wanted to hear, she pictured a world where the rich were without limits; when things started falling about the rich fled to where they believed they were safe. My father gave me the book to read some time in early 1960.s and told me the reason it was popular is this is what people really wanted. Later a professor told class that “Atlas Shrugged” should be read as a warning about fascism.
Another Scott
@Karen Gail: There’s a good bio of Rand by someone who knew her pretty well (Nathaniel Branden’s wife).
Rand escaped Stalin’s USSR in 1926 when she was 20, so she had some pretty ingrained ideas about collectivism and capitalism and the like.
Beware the zealots! :-)
Best wishes,
Scott.