nothing rich white guys like more than being schooled by a black man, it’s part of why we are here right now
this man of color deigned to be charming and thoughtful, no choice but to be a nazi. not my fault.— not an art thief (@famousartthief.bsky.social) September 20, 2025 at 12:11 AM
===
Trump is not popular, and Trump’s agenda is less popular than Trump
— Lawyers, Guns and Money (@lawgunsmoney.bsky.social) September 19, 2025 at 3:39 PM
===
republicans mad that it didn’t become 2019 again
— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) September 19, 2025 at 12:35 PM
nine months in, thirty-nine to go. half expect vaughn or vance or some other admin stooge to look straight into the camera and say “we didn’t tell you that you would enjoy it”
— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) September 19, 2025 at 1:09 PM
===
The difference between having ideas that are considered radical and being very into Being Radical is that the former hates the fact their beliefs are marginal and the latter get off on it. Yeah, I don’t wanna be a righteous oppressed underdog. Shit sucks. I do want to be the state. I do want power.
— William B. Fuckley (@opinionhaver.bsky.social) September 19, 2025 at 1:52 PM
The difference between having ideas that are considered radical and being very into Being Radical is that the former hates the fact their beliefs are marginal and the latter get off on it. Yeah, I don’t wanna be a righteous oppressed underdog. Shit sucks. I do want to be the state. I do want power.
— William B. Fuckley (@opinionhaver.bsky.social) September 19, 2025 at 1:52 PM
If abolishing the senate and greatly restricting private car ownership began polling well, it would be a good thing. it would not be like someone discovering my favorite underground band and the new audience diluting their appeal to me.
— William B. Fuckley (@opinionhaver.bsky.social) September 19, 2025 at 4:08 PM
===
ppl who say we’re cooked or nothing matters or that we won’t have future elections or that what’s happening now will be what happens forevermore are not only telling you they have basically no historical knowledge but also that they can’t distinguish “the end of my world” from “the end of the world”
— elias isquith (@eliasisquith.blog) September 19, 2025 at 4:13 PM
===
Baud
Only Dems have agency.
Baud
This is the post that Fuckley is responding to, for those who don’t want to or can’t log into Blue sky
Even with this context, however, I don’t know what these people are saying.
Betty Cracker
I can’t speak to the accuracy of that diagnosis for the group to which it’s applied above, but there’s a lot of that going around in general!
On a personal note, I slept nearly eight hours last night! I should go dig a canal or something.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
Whoa. Congratulations
ETA:
Nazis are bad.
Me not being the dominant force in post-Nazi America is worse.
satby
@Baud: I think it’s clearer down thread of the quoted post:
queen cryptid: I am once again reminding very online socialists that if your politics are supposed to be about the interests of the common people, you do actually have to care about what those people think.
satby
@Betty Cracker: Good for you! When I do that it’s positively disorienting, like I’ve missed that essential “sitting around from 3-6 am doing nothing” and my day seems off kilter. 😉
NotMax
Weekend watch, It’s science!
Interesting deep dive: How Small Can You Make a Nuclear Weapon?.
Betty Cracker
@satby: Yes, exactly! 😂
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
Eight hours? Slugabed.
:)
Am ecstatic when I get four.
satby
@NotMax: 4 is my hoped for minimum. But then I really look forward to a siesta those days too. I never understood before why older people napped and now I’m one of them 😂
Professor Bigfoot
@Betty Cracker: You fortunate human, you!
I’m only here because I gave up on trying to sleep after the fifth bathroom trip. Bleah.
AND IT’S STILL FREAKIN’ PITCH DARK OUT THERE!!!
Double bleah.
NotMax
@satby
Yup yup. Napping has become my treasured best friend.
Betty Cracker
This is… interesting:
My guess is they pulled it because a documentary with significant quotes from Kirk would reveal that he held extremist views that would be repugnant to normal people.
satby
Cole’s other girlfriend Bitchleen is sitting on my lap pinning me down and my coffee just finished brewing. Sorry cat, priorities.
satby
@Betty Cracker: interesting in a good way. They thought they could whitewash his NAZI views with the Xtian content and turn him into a martyr, but it didn’t really succeed. Outside their cult anyway.
NotMax
@satby
Sitting here debating on a second double martini (after a post-prandial nap).
Magic 8-ball sez: “Of course, dumbass.”
mali muso
Good morning! Up to challenge myself at my gym by participating in a “Dri Tri” in which we will row for 2,000 meters, do 300 body weight exercises (squats, burpees, etc) and finish it off with a 5k on the treadmill. Wish me luck! 🤣
CCL
Does Mike Johnson use blusher?
satby
@mali muso: OMG, just reading that almost sent me back to bed. Good luck 🍀
satby
@CCL: he might, but rosacea looks like that too.
Baud
@mali muso:
I could do that if I wanted to. I just don’t want to.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
Fascinating.
Professor Bigfoot
@mali muso: Thanks, now I really feel like crap– my challenge is simply to GET to the gym and get in a half hour on the treadmill and right now I don’t think I’m up to it!
GOOD ON YOU!!
NotMax
@CCL
Flushed after watching Real Housewives of Biarritz.
“Strictly for research purposes.”
//
satby
Coffee ☕ ummm! Now waiting for it to get light enough to feed the cat my neighbors across the street abandoned when they moved a few days ago. We’re going to try to trap it, she’s very skittish. Poor thing, people are untrustworthy in her experience.
Betty Cracker
@satby: Yes, I think that’s right. The gap between Kirk’s public image and reality was brought home to me the other day. An apolitical and not excessively online friend brought up Kirk’s death the day after it happened, and it was clear she knew almost nothing about his views. She had a vague impression of him as “that conservative ‘Debate Me’ guy.”
Kudos to everyone with a platform who used the deceased’s own words to accurately show who he was.
satby
@Betty Cracker: just another lesson in how the extremely online media confuses that environment with the real world. Klein was just hopping onto what he assumed would be a bandwagon.
Which I also think is the theme of the BS posts up top.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Sadly, it’s been only 8 months since January 20, not 9. So 40 more to go
Baud
@satby:
I regret not waiting a week before purchasing my Charlie Kirk Memorial Bobblehead.
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
All one has to do is watch any random five minutes of Turning Points’ White is Might, White Is Right 2024 summer event,
Bring a barf bag. Or two.
Llelldorin
@satby: What originated that thread was a powerful photo of a protestor waving an American flag in a cloud of tear gas at a ICE protest. It was posted with a comment along the lines of “this is why you carry American flags to protests.”
That in turn led to a lot of silly scolding along the lines of “no the American flag represents evil we should instead use (some preferred flag).”
The quoted post was the finale of all that.
satby
@Dorothy A. Winsor: and 8 months ago the Republicans were riding high, convinced they were invincible. Which is always their undoing. Honestly thought the disillusionment would take longer because they’d be smarter about putting their agenda in place. In only 8 months, they’ve trashed their brand with everyone outside the cultists, and there’s cracks there too.
satby
@Llelldorin: thanks for the fuller context! Makes more sense now. Plus, that’s really the kind of discussion that would bring the agitator trolls out in force.
Baud
@Llelldorin:
Yeah, that’s dumb advice. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but no one needs to treat it seriously.
NotMax
@satby
Everything old is new again.
;)
satby
@Baud: But you have all you need for a symbolic Charlie Kirk Memorial warlock burning.
satby
@NotMax: 😂👏
Llelldorin
@Baud: I got my flu/COVID vaccinations yesterday and was watching it all happen live on BlueSky with a mild fever. It was like a hallucinatory vision of Parody Left Wing Hell (which I still prefer to the actual Authoritarian Right Wing Hell that was waiting when the fever broke, so…)
Baud
@satby:
Now I want to get more bobbleheads of living Republicans and practice some voodoo.
Princess
@Baud: I believe the “symbol of genocide and injustice” is the flag of the United States. I believe the complaint is the performative left won’t fly it but the left that wants to change the world thinks protestors should carry it. The second group is right — the most viral photo out of Chicago yesterday, the best of any of the ice protests so far — was of a Marine vet carrying a flag.
(maybe you know this context Baud but I post in case anyone else needs it)
NotMax
@Baud
♫ You do
That voodoo
That you do
So well ♫
Jeffro
right??!?
like…we didn’t make this stuff up, RWNJs! he really was a white supremacist, no matter how much y’all would like to pretend otherwise
iKropoclast
@Princess: You have a better chance at changing what the flag represents than changing the flag, itself.
satby
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I just saw this post from SubStack, and thought you’d find it reassuring. I hope you do, I often find Fr. David a calming voice even though I’m not at all religious. Like our Rev Rick.
NotMax
@iKropoclast
“I’ve signed an executive order changing the stars on the flag to capital Ts.”
//
iKropoclast
@NotMax: Gross. And can he do that? How is the flag established in law?
NotMax
Musical interlude.
Michael Nyman, Chasing Sheep is Best Left to Shepherds.
NotMax
@iKropoclast
“I am the law.”
– Judge Dredd
.
Llelldorin
@Jeffro: They had two choices:
(1) Really show Charlie Kirk, which would demonstrate that we were right.
(2) Make the Charlie Kirk was Jesus’s 13th Apostle Hagiography Hour.
I think the key thing is that either would be TERRIBLE TELEVISION, and would really piss off the vast apolitical mob who have no idea what a tariff is (or what a Canada is, for that matter) but might actually riot at Trump Take Funny Man In Box On Wall.
(There’s a reason why suddenly Ted Cruz isn’t sure about all this. He’s… actually less stupid than a lot of his colleagues? Who knew?)
prostratedragon
@NotMax:
This?
m.youtube.com/watch?v=xn1_vUe_Vws&pp=ygUnY2hhc2luZyBzaGVlcCBpcyBiZXN0IGxlZnQgdG8gc2hlcGhlcmRz
Interesting Name Goes Here
@satby: Good luck with that. They’ve already moved on from Kimmel and Disney back to making sure everyone knows that Kamala Harris is trash for telling her side of her story and not going out and getting herself killed at their demand.
iKropoclast
This abstract group of people I hate is definitely doing things I don’t like and it’s these precise things I say they are..
It’s easy to denigrate whole groups of people if you don’t put a name or a quote to any of it. So much for all this talk about meeting people where they’re at, I guess.
Scout211
Some leaks are leaking. Leftist views? Left-wing groups? That connection is getting weaker and weaker.
And mainstream media is reporting facts.
Baud
@iKropoclast:
If there in fact people who are upset that Harris isn’t dead, then we’re not going to meet them even a tenth of the way.
If no such people exist, then no one had been denigrated.
Baud
@Scout211: they’ll probably try for some sort of civil rights violation. My guess.
Another Scott
AL quotes clever opinion haver having opinion:
That’s one way to look at it, but I think it misses the forest for the trees.
The head of the FBI didn’t put his dirty boot on the scale to keep Obama out of office.
The richest man in the world didn’t dump $250M in the last couple of months of the campaign to keep Obama out of office.
Etc.
As much as rich white guys who want to be worshipped hated a thoughtful black guy telling them his administration “is the only thing between you and the pitchforks”, they could work with him. (And he was a very handy “other” to point to as a foe.)
Similarly with angry normie white guys whose lives didn’t turn out the way they were told and expected they would.
They went insane at the thought of girls having power over them and their team.
“Change my mind.”
Grr…
FWIW.
Have a good weekend, everyone.
Best wishes,
Scott.
NotMax
@NotMax
Bad linky. Fix.
Michael Nyman, Chasing Sheep is Best Left to Shepherds.
NotMax
@prostratedragon
Fumble fingers thank you. Didn’t see that when made the fix above.
Baud
@Another Scott:
I think Obama drove a lot of the insane. But the insanity didn’t stop with him. And there are definitely a lot of men who are more inclined to hate women leaders more than black leaders.
espierce
@Llelldorin:
Ted still believes he’s presidential material, somehow.
iKropoclast
@Baud: Utter nonsense. The idea there is to put the idea that “online socialists” want Harris to shut up and/or die. The goal is to place that little grain of doubt in others’ minds to justify not so much as considering anything the hated group says.
It’s propaganda. It’s the same thing Republicans do to Democrats every day. Innuendo and assertions “they” want something that no one is asking for except for maybe BluHairPxy420 on Twitter.
Baud
@espierce:
He’ll fall back in line after Trump insults his wife.
Shakti
@Betty Cracker:
This also serves the 95 Democrats who voted to honor the life of Charlie Kirk
The roll call list: Roll Call 282
95 Dems voted for this
58 Dems voted against this
38 voted present
22 not voting
Most Dems voted for this.
The only people voting present were Democrats. (Hi Nancy Pelosi).
I’m not sure what to make of.the 22 not voting ( I assume the 4 not voting Republicans just happened not to be there)
They obviously aren’t trying to take back the bouse. And in the Senate, Schumer, BTW, is still on his book tour and will be at the Atlanta Book Fair on November 2 from 7:30-9:30 pm.
Scout211
Screen Rant on Disney’s dilemma now.
TL;DR: Everybody is mad, including senior management at Disney. They have few options to fix this. And it may be too late.
mappy!
Something seems out of whack. If white supremacist ownership and control of the (mainstream) media was so effective, why would the message be tanking in polls?
Betty
@Scout211: Hey, NBC, it’s not complicated. Murder is a state crime. States retain the police power within their jurisdiction, a fundamental principle based on the US Constitution. No federal involvement means no federal jurisdiction. That’s also why sending in the National Guard and the military to address crime makes no sense.
Baud
@iKropoclast:
Well. I don’t know what’s in that commenter’s heart or what he or she is reacting to. I do know there are awful posts on on social media from all sides. You yourself will have made generic statements about “Democrats” without identifying specific people. I suppose it’s all propaganda.
But I was reacting to your statement about reaching out to people, since I talked about that yesterday. So I’ll be clear that not everyone is worth reaching out to. I don’t expect we’ll reach out to die hard MAGA or fascists. And I don’t expect we’ll reach out to people who have a negative reaction to flying the US flag in protests against fascists.
Interesting Name Goes Here
@iKropoclast: If they wanted to be considered, they should have voted to stop this last November. They are running from their own responsibilities and demanding everyone else sacrifice for them. I’ve played that game once. No more.
Geminid
Speaking of flags, from Levant24:
An accompanying video shows a small crowd with Syrian flags, clapping and cheering.
In 2009, when Asaad al-Shaibani graduated from Damascus University with a degree in English Language and Literature, he probably dreamed of visiting the U.S. some day. But not like this.
JerseyBeard
The second Trump flag came down last night.
I walk the dog on a pretty regular route. Two weeks or so back, I noticed the Trump and American flags down a typical mid-Jersey MAGA house. Their flag pole is a bit busted, so I figured 50/50 it was disillusionment vs maintenance. But it has stayed down this whole time.
This morning, the Trump Vance flag was down at a second, even more MAGA house. These guys had the Let’s Go Brandon crap up for years and stuff like that. No signs up at all today.
I’m no fancy pundit, but I think it’s probably better to have more signs rather than fewer.
prostratedragon
Christoph von Dohnányi:
Dvořák: 8 Slavonic Dances, Op. 46: No. 1 in C; The Cleveland Orchestra
Baud
@Interesting Name Goes Here:
I don’t excuse anyone who didn’t fight with us, but who is “they” exactly?
I’m not opposed to talking about groups of people without using #NotAll, but I’ll agree with Krope that being more precise about who were talking about would be helpful.
Spanky
Elect a clown, expect a circus. Via Wired:
zhena gogolia
@mappy!: It was effective enough to put a felon rapist con man back in the White House after he attacked the Capitol.
Mai Naem mobile
Anybody heard of the Enhanced Games
apnews.com/article/kerley-enhanced-games-1871da27b978f7ff83d022fe5ee62531
They want to let athletes compete while doping. I did a little searching. Ofcourse its the same tech bros people involved. Is there anything they touch that they don’t ruin?
iKropoclast
Building trust is hard. Another organization that long ago broke my trust, the NYT, I still go there to check the headlines and get a general sense of national stories. I do not pay to subscribe.
I’ve been noticing lately a lot of their headlines have been more straightforward, dropping a lot of the false ambiguities. This is good. A couple more years of this and I may consider becoming a subscriber again. If that timetable for liking up new subscribers doesn’t work for them and they give up this effort, oh well, should’ve thought of that before.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Agree. Unlike election season, there’s no foil in the form of a Democrat to help distract people. With all the focus on Trump, it’s easier for unhappy people to see him as the problem.
NotMax
@Mai Naem mobile
Brolympics?
//
iKropoclast
I’m sure most, in fact, did. But it’s easy to lose track of that as you inveighing against a nebulous “they.”
Meanwhile, it remains okay to chase white racists. Dems running away from BLM so hard, Biden saw fit to denounce their goals in the state of the union.
Geminid
@Shakti:
I don’t know how you get that conclusion. Winning a majority next November is absolutely the top priority of House Democrats from the leadershio team of Jeffries, Clark and Aguilar right down to the freshman class.
This vote will not be an issue then, and most voters will have never even heard of it.
Scout211
Have we discussed Trump’s “proclamation” to raise the cost of H-1B visas?
Baud
@Geminid:
Yeah, I don’t like those votes personally, but I don’t think reps who don’t do what I want are trying to lose. That’s just conceit.
indycat32
@satby: I have a similar situation except the 3 abandoned cats are very friendly and try to come inside every time I open the back door. One of them is a tiny (8 pounds) long hair dilute tortie. Absolutely gorgeous. I tried bringing her inside but my sweet Chloe Ann attacked her every chance she got so that didn’t work.
Betty Cracker
@Geminid: You’re probably right that the vote won’t be an issue in the next election (which will likely be a reaction to Trump/Repub mismanagement of… everything). But why vote yes on that fucking hagiographic bullshit? Why assume a defensive crouch that is demoralizing to a not-insignificant percentage of Dem voters who ARE paying attention? It won’t affect how I vote, but I recognize it for the cowardice it is.
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
An “I’ll scratch your back, now you scratch mine” ploy to gain leverage about the impending shutdown?
Won’t work, but that’s my hypothesis.
Nukular Biskits
Good mornin’, ya’ll!
Scout211
@Spanky: As I commented yesterday, the panel recommendations could have been so much worse with the new panel being hand- picked by RFK,jr. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they declared all mRNA vaccines poison and then recommended vitamin supplements instead.
The fact that they dropped the prescription requirement and did not drop health insurance coverage for vaccinations, it turned out better than I had feared.
Mai Naem mobile
@Scout211: I saw that. Leopard eating face party moment for Muskrat. Now would be a good time for somebody to check and see if Orange Manbaby’s vineyard is still using foreign workers(I know it’s not H1Bs.) It might help get some of the Magat farmers out of the cult.
Interesting Name Goes Here
@Baud: People like Oliver Willis, quoted below in the BlueSky post (assuming that this poster hasn’t blocked him themselves): bsky.app/profile/veronicamcdonald.bsky.social/post/3lzba35l5fk2w
People like George Clooney and Susan Sarandon. People like the Pod Save Bros. And of course, all of their many, many followers who care less about the cause and more about the parties they can have around the cause.
Chief Oshkosh
@CCL: That’s just the natural flushed face he gets from having something crammed down his throat. He quite enjoys it, according to his son’s porn feed.
NotMax
@Scout211
“CDC authorizes hex signs to be nailed above every entrance.”
//
Chief Oshkosh
@Betty Cracker: Got it in one, I think.
UncleEbeneezer
@Another Scott: I think it’s both/and. The rise (appeal) of Trump was a reaction to Obama AND the prospect of Hillary. The two are connected and I don’t think there’s really any point in trying to choose only one. Obama skewering Trump, to his face, probably motivated him personally as much as his desire for power/popularity. But the fear of Hillary (and her SCOTUS) complimented that and might have been even bigger, for voters.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, … WARNING RollCall.com (from yesterday):
September 30 is a Tuesday, so realistically we’re looking at several days of a shutdown as things stand now.
WARNING TheHill.com (with autoplay video):
[ Eh? Is that English?? ]
Funny how the GQP majority expects to get needed Democratic votes without giving any consideration to their views and requirements for those votes. Funny.
The 2018-2019 shutdown lasted 35 days.
What’s that about those Epstein Files??
WARNING TheHill.com (from 9/15):
Tick Tock…
Yeah, it won’t end with the vote – Bondi will try various bits of delay and obfuscation. But …
Forward!!
Best wishes,
Scott.
Geminid
@Betty Cracker: Marcy Kaptur voted yes, and she is not a coward. Neither are Jaime Raskin, Katherine Clark, Mikie Sherril, Sharice Davids, Becca Balint, Rosa DeLauro or Chrissy Houlahan, and they voted yes also.
AM in NC
On my way out the door to go to an overpass protest this morning.
My 2-sided sign: ARE YOUR GROCERIES CHEAPER? / WE ARE ALL JIMMY KIMMEL
I just need to feel like I am doing something or I am going to fall into despair paralysis.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
I don’t necessarily agree or like it, but I’m not sure that a defensive crouch isn’t the best play for at least some of these reps in some of these districts.
How many normies in those districts would be influenced by right wing propaganda that the reps voted to condone the killing? If it’s substantially more than discouraged Dems, then it may be the only play.
Chief Oshkosh
@Scout211: I don’t think it’s been discussed here. My colleagues in academia are telling all of their H1b visa holders and visa-exempt people from Canada or Bermuda not to travel, even to Canada or Mexico (maybe especially?)
Shitbird announces it Friday night; implementation is Sunday midnight.
This is another example of how well-planned the destruction of the post-WWII order was. It’s a very specific way to fuck things up and it’ll get barely any notice. There’s no way Trump thought this up, of course. He’s just following what the MotU tell him to do (of course, they do it in a manner that makes him think it’s his brilliant idea).
Baud
@Geminid:
Wow. I understand why leadership wanted to morally support the yes voters, not Raskin surprises me. He’s a super safe rep who’s very progressive.
Shakti
@Geminid:
You may be right. It might not matter then.
I’m sure there’s no real overlap between people who know what Kirk is and are disgusted by this and who are reliable voters for Democrats. Or do any kind of voter outreach.
Numbers are numbers.
NotMax
@Chief Oshkosh
There was some discussion last night.
H.E.Wolf
As we all know, Democrats who represent purple or slightly red House districts still count toward a Democratic majority in the House.
Sometimes their votes on certain bills represent their constituents’ positions in ways we bluer folks disagree with. It’s a distasteful fact of life.
With a larger House Democratic majority, we’ll have the luxury of risking the electoral defeats of conservative Democrats, and their replacement by Republicans – or, if those districts become more liberal, by Democrats who match that viewpoint.
iKropoclast
I will talk about elected Democrats as a group, typically referencing a vote they took or a trend in the messaging they’re putting out.
This is a small, discrete group that actually does things in concert, by necessity. All of it is recorded. Easily cross-referenced and attributed to actual people. So saying something like Congressional Dems have been mostly on this side of issue X for the last 50 years is not the same thing. They act as a caucus. And the exceptions pop right out, those who didn’t vote with the caucus. Those who did but voted against a certain amendment that passed or who made a speech denouncing the flaws of the measure but conceded that overall the measure will help and should be passed can be found. Specificity can arise from sufficient reference.
That’s just not the same thing as just slamming a nebulous groups of hundreds of thousands/millions I don’t even know how many.
Now say there was a caucus of elected socialists, let’s call them the Maple Street Warriors, maybe 50 of them between the House and Senate. Now if it were the opinion of 48 of those members that Kamala Harris should shut up and/or die, I would have no problem with that group being called out in this way. Because, again, they are a small, discrete group with known members; easily referenced and attributed
ETA: And if I falter on this standard, which I’m sure I will from time to time because human, please call me out. I review my work but I don’t catch all my mistakes.
Betty Cracker
@Geminid: They literally co-signed a resolution that contained this bullshit:
I call their “yes” votes on that steaming load of horseshit an act of cowardice. Please note this isn’t the same thing as saying everyone who voted yes on that hagiographic crapfest of a bill are always cowards who never do anything brave.
Baud
@Interesting Name Goes Here:
I appreciate your clarification. I’m not a Willis fan, and I wouldn’t have posted that opinion, but that post doesn’t set me off like some others. But I respect that you and others have a different reaction.
Interesting Name Goes Here
@iKropoclast: They didn’t, or we wouldn’t be here right now. In fact, if progressives ever stood on their business, we’d have had two terms of President Sanders by now. But they don’t, unless that business is causing the kind of chaos that we’re living through now.
UncleEbeneezer
@Interesting Name Goes Here: I remember last year, several people here claiming we needed more voices like Oliver Willis and I was like, oh God, no. Glad people are finally seeing him for what he is. Like some of our former-front-pagers, he’s absolutely obsessed with bashing/blaming Dems for everything including the actions of Republicans that Dems literally fight against. He’s the epitome of Murc’s Law (only Dems have agency) and no matter how big the looming threat of Republicans, you can always count on him to focus only on Dems. The dude truly needs therapy.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@satby: Thank you for that.
Baud
@iKropoclast:
When you talk about “Democrats,” that doesn’t mean elected Democrats. It means the whole party, including many of us. That’s why the word “elected” is needed if that’s who your talking about.
Even then it’s misleading in situations where you mean only a handful of outliers.
iKropoclast
@Betty Cracker: Eww.
ETA:
Respectful and civil doing a lot of heavy lifting where hateful and superficially polite would have been perfect for the job.
, which we now seek to end in his name…
mrmoshpotato
@Betty Cracker:
Hmmmmm…….they didn’t think that though.
sab
@Baud: Ask any female college professor about her student reviews.
Scout211
Just delayed.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: Maybe reps in purple districts could use any criticism for voting “no” on the bill as a teaching moment to explain the very good reasons WHY they couldn’t support it?
Also, it’s hard to square a couple of arguments put forth (not by you) to excuse the Democratic “yes” votes, i.e., “no one cares/it won’t matter” and “it will cost them votes.” Well, which is it? (Rhetorical.)
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
That would be my ideal. But we both know how hard it is to explain stuff to people.
I don’t object to the criticism of the vote. I share it. But I don’t find it that surprising that some reps might make the (cowardly) calculation to avoid the issue. (Again, not sure what happened to Raskin).
In terms of what would or would not cost votes, I have no clue. It’s affected not only by the vote itself, but how much mileage the Republicans can get from the vote.
Baud
@Scout211:
Fascism delayed is fascism denied.
NotMax
@Scout211
Turns out the dinosaur associated with another Sinclair wasn’t far off the mark.
//
sab
@Scout211: We now know that at Disney the next Kimmel type won’t ever be allowed a show to begin with.
Geminid
@Shakti:I think what you are saying is there are reliable voters who will not vote Democratic next year because of yesterday’s House vote, and/or won’t do voter outreach. Are you one of them? Or are these the other Democrats people here like to invoke to support their personal views.
Kathleen
@Baud: My rep voted Yes also. I’m not happy about it. I realize he needs votes from super red Warren County to win reelection but I suspect his vote was not totally influenced by ramifications at the ballot box. He also stated Biden should step down back in 2024 and I was angry about that.
I follow him closely and I still support him. I don’t think he’s cowardly. He has pro Palestine protesters camped out at home who harassed his family (he is Jewish). Rep Hortman’s murderer listed him as one of his targets. He’s revealed his fears about feeling he has a target on his back.
But he has accomplished a lot. He was instrumental in helping to obtain release of Muslim chaplain at Children’s Hospital who was picked up and held by ICE and is one of the “do nothing feckless Dems” who instead of emoting outrage obtained refunding of agency in Cincinnati that Administration had closed and was instrumental in reopening of the hotline that tracked missing Ukrainian children (in which he enlisted bipartisan support as well as assistance from Trump administration). Many Dem reps and senators are engaged in these activities but we don’t hear about them. Online Substack/Brocasts too lazy and find the “useless Dem” business plan too lucrative to actually investigate what ARE Dems are doing.
Wapiti
@Scout211: Yeah, we need to get rid of the “investor” visas entirely. We have enough rich entitled assholes; why do we need more?
Geminid
@Betty Cracker: I think it’s both. There were Democrats in safe seats like Raskin, Clarke, Balint and DeLauro who voted yes, and Democrats like Derick Tran, Adam Gray and George Whitesides who voted yes. Those three California Reps won by some of the closest margins of any Democrats last year. Same with Marcy Kaptur.
Maybe the first group were giving cover to the second, and figured the best move was to put this tempest in a teapot behind their caucus so they can go back to laying the groundwork for taking the House back next year.
Another Scott
@Betty Cracker: @Baud:
Not purple, but an explanation from one:
Raskin press release:
I don’t see him urging his colleagues to support it. He knows that they each have to do their own calculations.
Our representatives have to make choices on these usually performative things all the time. Folks like us see the traps and at the same time will not have our votes changed no matter what the representatives decide they need to do in any particular instance.
Yeah, it sucks that performative bills get so much attention. The majority sets the agenda, and that sucks.
Vote, give the reason, and move on to doing what is needed to win the next election, is my view of what needs to happen.
FWIW.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Kathleen
@Geminid: I noticed Jeffries voted for it also. Unlike the majority here I admire him and was disappointed. I think there is some truth to your speculation.
Betty Cracker brought up a good point. I am going to ask my Rep why he voted Yes.
iKropoclast
@Interesting Name Goes Here: I consider myself a socialist and here I am online. I have voted a straight D ticket for as long as I have been eligible, save for 04. I encourage others around me to do the same. A beloved relative of mine who is a much more cantankerous socialist than I am even voted for Harris last year.
I know anecdotes aren’t data. But what you described is way too far outside what I am living and what I have seen online. Granted, a lot of my online experience can be attributed to the fact that I don’t listen to the more radical socialist voices and have cultivated a watch/read list of more practical and/or humble voices. But that selection bias can work the other way, as well. They also tend to be more issue focused than electoral politics.
Think Contrapoints. Foreign Man in a Foreign Land. Philosophy Tube. Thought Slime is a little radical but professes to know little and dedicates their time to ripping on choads. Respect.
Among my watches, Some More News and F.D. Signifier probably go the furthest in outright criticizing Democrats. But more often than not they seem to do a good job of giving a fair hearing to the pro and con.
Though, truth be told I stopped all political content except Balloon Juice and direct links from here when Biden “became” old. I don’t even know what was said, I didn’t even want to invite the possibility of hearing it from them.
Geminid
@Kathleen: Rep. Landsman might give you a version of what Rep. Raskin said, as quoted by Another Scott at #123. That’s what I would do.
Nukular Biskits
@Kathleen:
Hopefully you’ll get an answer.
I can’t get even an acknowledgement out of mine.
iKropoclast
I strive to specify elected Democrats when I mean them and D voters when I mean them. The latter would probably be in reference to a primary result. If I don’t, please feel free to ask for clarification. I’m happy to.
zhena gogolia
@Geminid:
I tried to find out about DeLauro. Found this:
MagdaInBlack
@iKropoclast: Gonna add a vote for “Philosophy Tube” and now am checking out your other mentions.
Professor Bigfoot
@Baud:
HEAR HEAR!!
zhena gogolia
@Another Scott: His reasoning is sound.
Baud
@Another Scott:
Thanks for posting.
Professor Bigfoot
That’s how I see it as well— get this stupid crap out of the way and get back to the serious work.
But of course, being a Democrat myself, I’m willing to extend “the benefit of the doubt” to Democrats, unlike so many others.
oldgold
Reading this in the post caused me to wince.
“Nine months in, thirty-nine to go.”
Dorothy A. Winsor
@oldgold: Except it’s actually 8 months down since January 20. So 40 to go.
Geminid
So Trump has invited Turkish President R.T. Erdogan to Washington next Friday. Erdogan will be in the U.S. to address the UN General Assembly, I assume before he meets with Trump. If the two men hold a joint press conference it ought to “lit,” as we olds like to say.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊 😊 😊
tobie
@Kathleen: who woulda thunk that Democratic House members are multisided individuals just like regular people and sometimes we won’t agree with them. I don’t know where this need came from to adore politicians like rockstars. Politics is not romance. I’ll vote for someone and even volunteer for them if I agree with them a lot of the time about the issues facing the country. It’s nice to be inspired, swept off your feet but I’m not expecting that to happen a lot.
Betty Cracker
@Another Scott: Re: your quote:
Respectfully, sir, you should NOT have overlooked it and you DID fall for an “obvious political trap.”
Raskin is usually awesome, but I think he’s dead wrong here.
And with that, I’ll move on and let you lot argue it out without me. The canoe is calling!
zhena gogolia
I guess I feel that condemning political violence is a bedrock principle, no matter who the victim is.
Fair Economist
@iKropoclast: I suspect part of the reason the online left wants Harris to go away is that she was so far left that only 6% of the population thought she should be more to the left – but she still lost. She is walking proof that “we didn’t run someone left enough” is just false.
schrodingers_cat
@Chief Oshkosh: H1-Bs are pretty unpopular on liberal/progressive blogs like this one and the Orange Satan. So I guess there will be celebrations.
But the thing to remember is that if this stands no one, is immune to his increasingly capricious royal decrees.
iKropoclast
@Fair Economist: That Kamala Harris was too far to the left is certainly a take.
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: I have to agree. Gandhi suspended his highly successful non-cooperation movement in the 20s because some supporters burnt an entire police station. More than 20 people who were in there were burnt alive.
Many of his supporters were extremely unhappy about this.
lowtechcyclist
@Another Scott:
Bolding mine. I wonder what parts of the government have already been funded into the next fiscal year?
A bit of personal trivia: during the 2018-2019 shutdown, the Census Bureau, where I worked, was shut down just like everything else. But I had to come into a virtually empty office anyway because my work was 100% funded by the statistical arm of the CDC, and the CDC had already been funded for that entire fiscal year. It was a real bummer, let me tell you!
Jackie
@Scout211:
There was some discussion in the overnight thread, but it should be posted as its own topic.
schrodingers_cat
T2.0 has correctly assessed that Modi is a kiss up, kick down style bully. A paper tiger and hence he has penalized India far more than many other countries
H1-B stuff is going to affect a lot of Indians over 50% people who get industry H1-Bs are Indians
Over 50% tariffs on India for buying Russian crude.
I am hoping that this will open the eyes of many bhakts who are engineers since this directly affects them.
Matt McIrvin
@Another Scott: A little while back I was talking to my kid about politics and how her fellow Gen Zers feel about it, and one thing she said that surprised me, but shouldn’t have, is that among her teenage cohort there’s huge nostalgia for Barack Obama. He’s the President they knew as kids. He was a comforting presence; he was a cool, smart guy; they loved him even if they didn’t have a deep understanding of the issues.
It surprised me because I instinctively think of the youth as either junior Nazis or disaffected online radical leftists, and both of those groups hate Barack Obama. But that was apparently an illusion.
prostratedragon
@Baud: Raskin might have been concerned about his high visibility being used against other Dems. That’s still going to happen of course, but on less treacherous ground.
Geminid
@Geminid: Erdogan’s UN speech should be good. He has strong opinions about the Gaza war, and he hates Benjamin Netanyahu’s guts.* Erdogan is not a very diplomatic man, and I expect he’ll state his views “with bark on.” That’s one reason why a joint Trump/Erdogan press conference could be interesting.
* One of the funny (to me) stories coming out of the Middle East lately is the trash-talking between Erdogan and Netanyahu over the Siloam Stone. This ancient engraved stone was discovered by Ottoman archeologists centuries ago, at the Siloam Spring beneath Jerusalem. It resides now in a Turkish museum.
The Siloam Stone is engraved in old Hebrew, and Netanyahu considers it a priceless artifact of ancient Judaism. He says he wants the stone returned. Erdogan’s response is a long-winded version of, “Fuck you.”
Terraformer
@NotMax: I’m surprised someone hasn’t created a website that just shows footage of Kirk talking, just showing what he’s said in a constant loop. Might open some eyes. Call it “Kirk’s World” or something.
Matt McIrvin
@schrodingers_cat: The administration is pitching it as “protecting America’s highly skilled professional workers”.
I’m presumably one of the people they’re talking about and I know this is not going to do a damn thing to protect me because I’m not an idiot. (If you’re a US citizen, would you rather have a bunch of Indian and Chinese coworkers, or have the office shut down entirely? One of those prevents you from having a job.)
But I’ve certainly known people in my line of work who would not do that reasoning.
Fair Economist
@iKropoclast: Policy-wise, even more to the left would have been good. Electorally, according to the polls, being less left, or at least perceived as less left, would likely have gotten more votes.
Leftists have unfortunately forgotten FDR’s lesson – run to the center, govern to the left (FDR ran on balancing the budget!) Unfortunately the Republicans are SUPER aware of it – they denied Project 2025 all through the election, and then promptly implemented it once they won.
prostratedragon
@Another Scott: Yeah, treacherous. But better for him to do that dance for his constituents than for some bystander Dem in another constituency to have to do the counter dance, is what I’m thinking he was thinking, and maybe some of the others.
sab
@Geminid: That Siloam Stone story is interesting.
schrodingers_cat
@Matt McIrvin: Yep. Racism against Indian born tech workers was rampant in the pre social media word of electronic bulletin boards in the 90s and early aughts. I remember it well. This is nothing new. Even IEEE boards
Check out some of the posts on this blog from early Jan for a glimpse of what I am saying.
Soapdish
Nominated!
Matt McIrvin
@zhena gogolia: Yeah, but they make it so that just condemning political violence is not an option. The options are to (1) be seen as supporting political violence, or (2) condemn the violence, BUT ALSO fulsomely praise the life and opinions of a hatemonger who was also pro-violence. No third way.
ISIS called it “eliminating the grayzone”. The trick is to make everyone take sides in the manner you define.
H.E.Wolf
@Terraformer:
In my opinion, we don’t need to help spread the hate-filled words of Nazis and far-right-wing weirdos.
prostratedragon
Sergio Assad: 5 World Dances, 1st mov
Eyeroller
@zhena gogolia: The sentiment is fine but it seems to me to be a good example of why “if you’re explaining you’re losing” is a reality. Assuming the audience is his constituents, it’s about three times as long as it needs to be and contains too many big words (“surplus verbiage” come on. We understand that, but a lot of people might have trouble reading it or not really know what he means).
They Call Me Noni
@Scout211: I guess the meeting with JK didn’t go as they had hoped.
schrodingers_cat
I am not going to be upset at D Congress people for signing on to Kirk resolution. I am not fond of that move but the H1-B fee of $100,000 per year and that people who are traveling are going to be stranded if they don’t return by Sunday (less than 2 days to comply with a highly arbitrary rule) is what is concerning me right now. YMMV.
tobie
@Fair Economist:
It strikes me that that’s what Biden did. And I greatly appreciated that. The big headwind for him during his admin were the Republican 6 on SCOTUS. Everything became a “major question” that must be decided by Congress. Sinema and Manchin had absolute veto power and used it to the hilt.
lowtechcyclist
@Betty Cracker:
I’m with you all the way here, Betty. Hell, they lost me before the first semicolon:
“Whereas Charlie Kirk was a devoted Christian, who boldly lived out his faith with conviction, courage, and compassion”
He was a white supremacist, a purveyor of hate and division, who regarded people different from him as lesser beings, as less than fully human. There’s no part of the Gospel message that Charlie Kirk’s work didn’t hold in contempt. Reading that part of the resolution alone makes me want to vomit.
If there’s any sort of formal observance of this remembrance day, I’m gonna show up with a poster with some of his quotes. I can’t think of a better way to remember him correctly.
Gin & Tonic
Don’t feel like reading 160+ comments. Let me guess, Democrats are Doing It Wrong again, yes?
Eyeroller
@Betty Cracker: He probably should not have even mentioned it. Who is going to read the proclamation other than some political nerds? Defending the vote on the grounds of condemning all political violence should be adequate. Talking about “surplus verbiage” just draws attention to it.
jimmiraybob
Republicans mad that it didn’t become 1619 again.
Fixed.
Jackie
@Gin & Tonic:
It depends on who you ask ;-)
WereBear
@lowtechcyclist: I think we can think of lots of ways to remember him, including quoting him correctly.
We can all make sure everyone remembers what he said.
lowtechcyclist
@zhena gogolia:
So do I, but one can condemn someone’s murder without giving the deceased a blowjob.
trollhattan
Confess I did not anticipate Trump declaring himself to be Mao and announce a second Great Leap Forward. But here we are. Start gathering your cookware and await further instructions.
prostratedragon
DOGE fallout?
zhena gogolia
@lowtechcyclist: It’s not as simple as that. The Republicans ARE IN THE MAJORITY. They have the power. The Democrats are faced with either voting for it or not. If they vote against it, then they have to “explain” to people why they don’t condemn political assassination. Of course all the Democrats are in a terrible position, because the voters did not give them the majority. They were picking their noses, I guess.
prostratedragon
@trollhattan: Cookin’ pots, or bangin’ pots?
trollhattan
@prostratedragon:
I see Vlad’s fingerprints.
Compounding his violating airspaces of several NATO nations.
trollhattan
@prostratedragon:
Fair question, stay tuned!
And gather all those wooden spoons; they’re going to be in short supply.
Anyway
@Scout211: MobiusKlein had good comments and links in the overnight post. Some of my coworkers are on H1B — hope they’re not badly affected.
lowtechcyclist
@zhena gogolia:
Explanation: “I will always condemn political violence. That’s not what this resolution does. Feel free to read it.”
lowtechcyclist
@trollhattan:
“Golden share authority”?? That’s a new one to me. What the hell authority does a President have to tell a business to do something like this? Sounds like a new name for extortion.
ETA: A bit of an explainer here: ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/golden-share-american-governments-ownership-100041029.html
MobiusKlein
@Chief Oshkosh: I brought it up last night, and it scares me a lot
Mostly because it throws my coworkers into chaos. Folks that own homes, have US citizen children, etc. Folks who want to visit families.
It’s a total consumption of Congress’s role to make law. A place for corruption and coercion.
And 100k a year is a shit ton of $. Does it lock folks to their current employer even more?
WereBear
Sleep hygiene tips, like “no blue light after sundown” and using a sleep mask, added hours to my own sleep.
But you have to commit. Even to wider changes in habits. It’s not found in a supplement: the fact that melatonin “works” means your body can’t make enough at the right time to give you full sleep. And that’s why it stops working, because now your body is confused and doesn’t make as much.
We have to accept that Big Food has been messing with our heads and our science. Most recently the exposure, in 2015, of how Big Sugar, in particular, tilted the playing field with corrupted studies. All the increasing disease was blamed on saturated fat, not the amount of sugar in the food.
The Lipid Hypothesis was a sham, and so was all the stuff we do that is based on it.
This gave me the boldness to rethink all I knew about nutrition and health. I recommend the book, The Big Fat Lie. Wild read, and the science world was so impressed it was accepted as her PhD thesis. The book was that good.
It’s KNOWN, and yet… because of how our media is corporate, too… it’s not known, either. Because nothing changed. And you know what? It should have.
Based on this, I discovered that I had to eat right to sleep right. I upped my animal fat, (cultured dairy a great source,) because that’s what human hormones are made from. I started the day with a 30-50 gram breakfast of complete protein, which tells our body to “take all this to fuel the brain waking up” because we don’t “run on sugar and carbs,” our brain needs lots of protein to make neurotransmitters, because that is how we run.
The brain runs everything with signals from our digestive system. That’s what needs the fuel. That’s what took me from 2-4 hours a night to 8-9 hours.
It’s bliss. And so is my breakfast :)
Anyway
that’s ridiculous. Here I thought paying attention to your rep’s votes and having an opinion was a sign of an engaged citizen. Nothing to do with romance or adoration. We’re allowed to be disappointed in our rep’s votes without a lecture.
MagdaInBlack
@lowtechcyclist:
By MARC LEVY
Updated 8:12 PM CDT, June 25, 2025
Share
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — President Donald Trump will control the so-called “golden share” that’s part of the national security agreement under which he allowed Japan-based Nippon Steel to buy out iconic American steelmaker U.S. Steel, according to disclosures with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The provision gives the president the power to appoint a board member and have a say in company decisions that affect domestic steel production and competition with overseas producers.
Under the provision, Trump — or someone he designates — controls that decision-making power while he is president. However, control over those powers reverts to the Treasury Department and the Commerce Department when anyone else is president, according to the filings.
(eta oops I see you got it already)
Jackie
No surprise, but, oh the memories… (not good ones)
Time to put “Thanks, Trump” post-its in the Hamburger Helper section of the grocery store.
mrmoshpotato
@prostratedragon:
Banging ICE over the head with pots?
Citizen Alan
@Professor Bigfoot: in 90 minutes, i am going back in to my first meeting with my personal trainer after skipping for 3 weeks due to covid restrictions. I think I am preemptively getting PTSD imagining how much pain i’m going to be in tomorrow.
MagdaInBlack
@Jackie: As if ground beef is affordable, and ffs, I wouldn’t ruin it with that swill.
trollhattan
Evidently the H-1B thing has a hole big enough to drive a
truckgiant bribe through it.And there it is.
iKropoclast
@Fair Economist: So…lie?
Glidwrith
@Shakti: Thanks for the link. I was able to see my rep voted “present”.
Citizen Alan
Meanwhile, back in 2016, we had the BLM Morhers speak at the DNC, and you could hardly hear them over the sounds of the bernie bros booing when they mentioned Hillary Clinton’s name.
iKropoclast
@Citizen Alan: Any booing I heard was a distortion in the din of the room. I heard speakers loud and clear. They’re efforts were counter-productive, though, I’ll agree.
Glidwrith
@Scout211: It gives me hope. They may be a lesser grade of nutball. Being in the CDC, directly addressed by the real experts, perhaps some can be reached to minimize what their sociopathic boss wants to do.
Citizen Alan
@sab: that may not be avoidable. I, for one, was absolutely not expecting the former host of The Man Show to eventually become a leader in the fight against fascism. Much like I would not have expected a Ukrainian comedian famous for a comedy sketch where he pretended to play the piano with his penis to become a modern day Winston Churchill.
Sure Lurkalot
@Geminid:
Voting nose pincher forever but the youngers are not so enamored with the reflexive habit. There is truth to putting your money where your mouth is. When is there too much political calculation? The sorry approval polls of Dems these days may be an indication and assuming the electorate is too dumb or distracted to remember is not a winning message.
Sure Lurkalot
@Citizen Alan:
Thank you for stating so succinctly that we don’t know who our heroes are until the moment is upon them. I’d add a certain billionaire, Governor Pritzger.
Kathleen
@Geminid: I agree. Based on his earlier comments I think he and Raskin are approaching this the same way.
Kathleen
@Nukular Biskits: Thank you! I’ll be attending his Zoom call tomorrow.
tobie
@Anyway: i didn’t say anything about the bill, which sucks. I was speaking more generally about the outrage that electeds aren’t perfect all the time, which is a view you frequently find on Bluesky.
Kathleen
@zhena gogolia: One of the reasons I love Jeffries.
Kathleen
@Another Scott: Thank you for posting this.
Geminid
@Sure Lurkalot: I’m not saying voters are dumb and distracted; those are your words, not mine.
I’m saying this issue is of interest only to a fairly narrow segment of on-line Democrats, and that few voters will consider this vote on a performative Congressional resolution important enough to influence their view of the party, or to sway their vote next November.
WereBear
@Citizen Alan: Comedy is supposed to tell the truth. That’s valuable in these times, I guess.
It’s our secret weapon. Conservatives suck at it.
Kathleen
@tobie: Great point! I myself tend to put people on pedestals in many areas of my life (including politicians) and I appreciate your reminder. I’m still pretty grumpy about Sherrod Brown but I definitely will vote for him.
Matt McIrvin
@schrodingers_cat: I think I said during one of these flare-ups that I’d much prefer that all these people just get green cards with the option of a path to citizenship instead of temporary worker visas bound to employment, since they’re obviously people that any sane government would WANT permanently immigrating, bringing both their skills and their demand into the economy. But we don’t live in that world and probably never will.
Pappenheimer
@Mai Naem mobile: this is a thing Larry Niven (SF author) was on about years ago in his “Achille’s Choice”, where athletes willing to ruin their health and reduce their lifespan could compete at a higher level. Part of his turn to wingnuttism, I think.
Ruckus
@satby:
I’m an old. Born in the first half of the last century. Most nights I sleep 8 hours. Of course I have no other requirements of getting up other than I’ve slept long enough. OK on rare occasion I have a doc appointment and have to get up at the unreasonable hour of 7:30 am. I find that walking helps with sleeping and living. Just walked to the closest store and back. That’s a 2 mile walk. Or 2, 1 mile walks. Now I used to walk a lot farther every day, but oldfartitus is at least on the horizon. If not closer than that.
Ruckus
@WereBear:
If they told the truth, there would be a hell of a lot fewer of them, because what they want is only productive (and the rich, with ownership) people to be alive so that at least someone is making money off of them. I know that’s a shallow view of conservatism but then they are shallow, selfish people.
Ruckus
@WereBear:
Conservatives suck at it.
They do but then that seems to be all they are capable of.
Rudi666
@Betty Cracker: Lets just hope that the statues for this douchebag also peter out.
heraldtribune.com/story/news/2025/09/17/florida-college-plans-statue-of-activist-charlie-kirk-on-cam…
It took years for the Vietnam Memorial to come about. Destainis and ReThugs are memorializing Kirk in weeks.
Ruckus
@Kathleen:
I was told once, in the US Navy, that one has to go with the flow. Or it will drown you. Now real life is not the military thing but that was a good lesson in any sized group setting where there will likely be at least 2 sides to any issue. It’s politics, it’s a democracy. No one will agree with everyone else in most situations. So in any large group one has to pick a side and be at least minimally involved. In politics that means at least voting. And for most it means being in the fight, which is a part of a democracy, being involved, speaking out, building a core that you can agree with and then agreeing with it, fighting for it. One of the aspects of a democracy is that we ALL have to be at least minimally involved. When this old fart was a lot younger I worked on/in elections, stuffing envelopes, helping out how and at what I could. Now I follow and vote – still for the future of all of us, because we never know how much future we will have, but ALWAYS vote to make it better. It’s a slow process, but it doesn’t move forward without power, and in a democracy, that power is provided by citizens.
different-church-lady
IT’S NOT EVEN THE END OF THEIR FUCKIN’ WORLD.
Matt McIrvin
@Scout211: For obvious reasons of personal interest, I’ve been heartened by the multistate alliances in the Northeast and West Coast that have popped up to make their own sanity-based vaccine recommendations in the absence of a functioning CDC and FDA. But that doesn’t help the rest of the country.
different-church-lady
@Betty Cracker:
Would it not give some dark mirth to think the process was something like: a) “I don’t really know who this Kirk guy was but damn, look at the emotion! We’d be idiots not to pull this lever!” b) They start trying to put together the program and see the material they have to work with. c) “Holy… wait, what the fuck?”
Ruckus
@Matt McIrvin:
But we don’t live in that world and probably never will.
We will if we don’t fight for it. Because that is the key in a democracy. And no, that doesn’t mean fists and baseball bats, it means we fight within the rules and with as much involvement as we can. Now that as much is different for each of us, but in a democracy we all have a part and we all have to work to uphold the concept of any democracy. Which is us. We are the concept of a democracy, each and every one of us. Now some can give a lot of hours a week, some far less, which is one big reason we all have to do what we can. A democracy is a huge chorus, but as always in any huge chorus we will all not sing the same parts, but that’s OK there are a number of parts. I’ve stuffed envelopes, knocked on doors, but I’m an old, it’s now the people that have come after me that need to do the work, be a part of the process, at least a bit more than spending 10 minutes voting. I’ll do my part but it’s up to those that come after folks my age – old fart – to do the work beyond voting. Because it’s the world of folks younger (sometimes a lot) than old fart that will be here a lot longer and it’s now their government. We did our parts, now it’s the turn of that much bigger group behind us old farts. We often can help a bit but it is your country now, those not retired, not wondering what comes next, the younger generations.
stinger
@Betty Cracker:
@Baud:
@Kathleen: (Responding to your comments about elected officials explaining their votes to constituents.) Do they not have franking privileges any more? I used to get mailers from at least one of my senators — he’s a Republican and they were more “marketing” than informational or persuasive. But even that was years ago. It might look like junk mail, but I’d be curious enough at least to glance at it.
Ruckus
@Pappenheimer:
I worked in professional sports, not as a participant, I’m not at that skill level. But I did work within my capacity, as an official.
It’s not that they are so much willing to ruin their health as to being involved because they have the skill set of their desired sport. The vast majority of humans have a skill set of one level or another. We just don’t know what that skill set is until we try to find our highest level. I worked in a particular professional sport, participated in it long enough to find out that the professional level was above me, or at least the risk level of professional was. And yes many professional sports can be in some way risky for the participants. It may be an injury or it may be a hidden maximum level that going any higher brings on an injury level that is beyond their tolerance. Not every sport has the same levels of possible/likely injury. But more than a few do. That injury level may be personally beyond one’s level, which is the limiting factor. I worked part time in one sport with a not insignificant danger level for 30 years part time and full time for 10. Not everyone that participated walked away like nothing ever happened. Because most human sports have an injury level, some have on rare occasion a very high injury level. To some it’s worth the risk.
RevRick
@zhena gogolia: I am with you on this. One of the rules of politics is that if you’re explaining, you’re losing.
As I think I have said before, the whole complaining about person(s) X to person(s) Y about person(s) Z is dysfunctional. If I have a beef with my Representative or Senator, I will call or write him. If I am writing a letter to the editor, I will stick to the issue at hand.
I am mindful of Martin Luther’s interpretation of the 9th Commandment about false witness, that we should always seek to protect the other’s reputation, speak well of them, and always extend the most generous interpretation.
With respect to what elected Democrats say or do, I am inclined to give them a huge leash. What after all does bashing them in public accomplish besides inflating our own sense of righteousness? I am old enough to see dumb, performative votes for what they are: not hills worth my dying on. My reaction is meh. But that’s just me.
I am more interested in the big picture. Are they supporting Democratic priorities? Can we count on their votes when push comes to shove? Looking at the voting record of the most conservative Democratic Representative, Golden of Maine, I can say unequivocally that they do.
different-church-lady
@Ruckus: Now let’s do people whose best skill is working in a meat packing plant.
different-church-lady
You know what Chuck Schumer has done that the vast majority of these other folks have not?
Won an election to the Senate.
cain
@Betty Cracker:
If they put out that documentary, it would have destroyed his martyr status thats for sure.
Captain C
@NotMax: That was indeed fascinating!
Another Scott
@lowtechcyclist:
None.
FY26 Appropriations Status Table.
“Military Construction-Veterans Affairs [As amended by the Senate, 3-bill Consol. Approps. Act] H.R. 3944” seems to have passed both Houses (but note the Notes), but that’s it – nothing’s been signed.
Lots of things are excluded from a “government shutdown” these days, and POTUS can decide (to at least some extent) what’s “essential”, so every one of these things under 47 (and 45) is a bit unpredictable…
Grr…
Best wishes,
Scott.
Ruckus
@Matt McIrvin:
Many of those western areas have a rather high population density so would have to have those in any event. I live in a county that has a higher population density than some states. The state I live in has a population density over 20% larger than the next state. The county I was born in and still live in has a larger population than 40 states.
This country is rather interesting if you ever get a chance to see most of it. I’ve lived on both coasts and in the middle and have been to every state. Driven coast to coast a few times, from different starting states. Have at least been to all 50 of them, plus a few different countries/continents when in the USN. Worked in professional sports, at events in a lot of states. Was once told by a car rental company that I was in the top 5% of renters. I’ve traveled so much it amazes me when I traveled and talked to people that have never left their state, or even more their county. It’s a big world out there and I’m very lucky that I got to see a lot of it and talk to people in other parts of it.
different-church-lady
@Another Scott: ”POTUS. K-I-N-G, POTUS.”
Gin & Tonic
@different-church-lady:
Five times!
Captain C
@Betty Cracker:
Narrator: “Look at this brave martyr for truth and freedom of speech!”
Kirk: “God says gays should be stoned to death. Women should cheerfully and silently serve and obey their husbands. Taylor Swift should shut up. Kids should be happy to die for
the Blood Godthe Second Amendment. People who disagree with me should be silenced and eliminated”Narrator: “Such a champion of free speech. Such a lovely boy.”
Ruckus
@different-church-lady:
Why?
Have you ever been in one? Or are you referring to an older post of mine?
And BTW I have been in one. Glad I have other skills.
TerryC
@Llelldorin: I have ordered an American flag blazer to wear the next chance I get. I think we should take back the flag. Can you picture an old man handing a soldier a flag and being pushed to the ground? They have abandoned both the flag and its principles. Make it ours again.
@Llelldorin:
satby
@indycat32: There’s no rescue that will take them? Or is this the lackadaisical neighbor again?
Captain C
@Scout211: Plus, Kimmel might at this point just tell Disney, “Fuck you guys, talk to my lawyer about the extremely large settlement you’re going to give me on my way out.”
different-church-lady
@Ruckus: No animosity intended. I’m just looking to point out that in our society there are a great number of people who take risks to their physical well being without the compensation high achievement grants, and they go almost entirely unrecognized.
Kathleen
@Ruckus: I read historian Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters From an American every day and while she acknowledges the horrors of our current American Nightmare she always emphasizes the power citizens have had and continue to have in this moment and cites numerous examples of actions people are taking, quoting from speech by Rep Jason Crow, Dem rep from Colorado:
Kathleen
My rep sends weekly emails, hold zoom meetings every 6- 8 weeks, conducts town halls throughout the district and periodically has in person support in different locations to help people with problems with Medicare, SS, etc. Didn’t even realize I don’t get mailers and I’m a luddite LOL
This is reply to Stinger at #218.
stinger
@Kathleen: Thanks, good to know! Sounds like your rep must be a Democrat. Sadly, I am represented by Republicans, and there is NO written informational outreach. One conducts town halls but with little advance notice. The others — zilch.
chemiclord
@Betty Cracker: If there is one thing that American voters have demonstrated time after time after time, it’s that they hate trying to grasp nuance, and love to embrace easy to remember soundbites.
Which do you think “purple state” voters will resonate with.
“This Democrat refused to decry political violence!”
or
“Now, listen the issue was far more complicated than just condemning the killing of Charlie Kirk, which I do condemn, but there was far more to my vote than that, one which is grounded in the First Amendment…” (At this point, the voters’ eyes have glazed over in disinterest)
JustRuss
@JerseyBeard: Friend of mine is a grad student from Mexico, he does field work in the MAGAt hinterlands. He’s noticed there’s a lot fewer Trump flags flying there these days.
Kathleen
@stinger: Yes. I suffered with a Rethuglican Rep for decades (except for a brief 2 year respite after which the Dem rep lost his seat because he voted for ACA and received death threats from “Right to Life”. Actually a gerrymandered map for OH#1 turned out to help Dems Rethugs are gerrymandering the gerrymander for 2026 so we shall see.