Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Anne Laurie has been a Balloon Juice writer since 2009.
This post is in: Grifters Gonna Grift, Open Threads, Republican Politics
— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) April 15, 2026 at 10:51 AM
Realizing who Che is in this analogy bsky.app/profile/seva…
(ALT text)
New: Feds allege SantaCon con
— Victoria Bekiempis (@vicbekiempis.bsky.social) April 15, 2026 at 11:59 AM
Santacon. (More specifically, Urban Dictionary definition.)
“If convicted, [Pildes] faces up to 20 years in prison.”
Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Cursed ImagesPost + Comments (89)
This post is in: Grifters Gonna Grift, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Trump Crime Cartel
Based Schumer.
— ArgellaStone (@argellastone.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 1:58 PM
I just signed a bill to rename Minnesota’s community solar program after Speaker Melissa Hortman.
Melissa was a true champion of solar and I was proud to sign this in honor of my dear friend.— Governor Tim Walz (@governorwalz.mn.gov) April 14, 2026 at 3:43 PM
Keep your foot on the gas y’all!??????
We can get him a ticket to the big dance in November if we stay focused and keep getting the word out about #XavierBecerra
Don’t ever think your voice is too small to make a difference. This is because of us coming together!
www.scopeweekly.com/2026/04/from…— Miss Aja (@brat2381.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 9:47 PM
I don't follow CA politics much but I remember Becerra was good as HHS Secretary, and when Swalwell was being touted as the frontrunner, I thought, why not Becerra?
— HR Ryan (@hrryan.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 12:01 AM
Exactly. He was also our AG here. He sued Trump over 120 times????
— Miss Aja (@brat2381.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 1:02 AM
BREAKING: In a win for Indiana voters, a federal judge blocked a GOP-backed state law banning the use of student IDs as an acceptable form of identification at the polls.
The ruling means students can once again use their school IDs to cast ballots in the 2026 midterms as litigation continues.— Democracy Docket (@democracydocket.com) April 14, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Wednesday Morning Open ThreadPost + Comments (155)
One authoritarian hand washes the other…
this is the least surprising thing in the world, which does not lessen the importance of investigating it
— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) April 14, 2026 at 6:13 PM
… Péter Magyar, who unseated Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán Sunday in a landslide, told reporters Monday that the outbound leader had diverted Hungarian taxpayer funds toward financing the American Republican conference.
Magyar noted that his government will be investigating Orbán’s expenditures, and will no longer finance CPAC or other right-wing institutions abroad.
“I believe the state should never have financed them in the first place, it was a crime,” Magyar said, according to an English translation of his remarks. “Mixing party financing with government spending from the state budget is, in my view, a criminal offense, and this will have to be investigated by the future authorities, including the National Office for the Recovery and Protection of Public Assets, since those budgetary funds were not meant to finance party events.”…
The day of the election, CPAC’s official account released a statement in full support of its apparent antidemocratic fundraiser.
“CPAC is closely watching this very important election in Hungary today. We stand firmly with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian people as they vote,” the statement read. “We have proudly held CPAC Hungary five times, and each gathering has been wildly successful, bringing together conservatives from across Europe and the United States to champion sovereignty, family, and national identity…
No, we do
— Daniel Gilmore (@gilmored85.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 7:11 PM
And also worth noting, SCOTUS has already spoken up here and said that Trump does not actually have the power to fire Powell, so what this is is President Roombas pivoted back to being angry about Powell & he's just throwing a tantrum this morning
— Daniel Gilmore (@gilmored85.bsky.social) April 15, 2026 at 8:45 AM
think there’s going to be more of this as Trump deteriorates, both physically and politically.
the kids are the most straightforward way for Trump to solve both alignment for his subordinates and credibility for his counterparties.— post malone ergo propter malone (@proptermalone.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 11:52 AM
…Eric and his wife Lara will accompany Trump in a personal capacity on the May 14 to 15 visit, Trump Organization spokeswoman Kimberly Benza said.
“Eric is deeply proud of his father and the accomplishments of this term, and is attending in a personal capacity as a supportive son. He does not have business ventures in China nor plans on doing business in China. He will not be participating in private meetings, but will instead stand alongside the president to mark this historic occasion.”
Nevertheless, the move could raise concerns about a possible conflict of interest, given that Trump’s personal wealth and business dealings are managed by Eric and other members of his family…
Trump had criticized his Democratic predecessor, President Joe Biden, for allowing his son Hunter to accompany him to China when Biden was vice president. He accused the younger Biden of using his influence to secure China’s financial backing for his investments. In 2019, Trump publicly invited China to open an investigation into his political rivals. The Biden family has denied wrongdoing…
there’s been a lot of ink spilled about Trump II as a personalist regime but maybe not enough about the dynamics of a personalist regime when the person has an expiration date
— post malone ergo propter malone (@proptermalone.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 11:58 AM
This post is in: COVID-19, H5N1 Bird Flu, Healthcare
According to a new study, influenza vaccination may help protect against heart attack and stroke even when it does not prevent people from getting the flu.
Read more: ow.ly/8fmv50YGL7R— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 9, 2026 at 3:43 PM
USA: Epidemic trend summary: April 10, 2026
COVID-19
As of April 7, 2026:
🔹0 states have COVID-19 infections growing or likely growing
🔹38 states has infections declining or likely declining
🔹5 states show no change
Source: cdc.gov/cfa-modeling…— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) April 11, 2026 at 10:14 PM
Influenza
As of April 7, 2026:
🔹0 states have Influenza infections growing or likely growing
🔹43 states has infections declining or likely declining
🔹5 states show no change
Source: cdc.gov/cfa-modeling…— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) April 11, 2026 at 10:14 PM
RSV
As of April 7, 2026:
🔹0 states have RSV infections growing or likely growing
🔹42 states has infections declining or likely declining
🔹6 states shows no change
Source: cdc.gov/cfa-modeling…— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) April 11, 2026 at 10:14 PM
#Flu season is now officially over, but pediatric flu death reports continue to flow to #CDC. In the wk ending 4/4, CDC learned of 12 more kids who died from flu in 2025-6, bringing the total to 139. It will rise over coming weeks. CDC also belatedly learned of another death, the 296th, in 2024-5.
— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) April 11, 2026 at 1:28 PM
It’s not too late to make sure you are protected against RSV. It's never too late to make sure you are protected against measles.
— Angie Rasmussen (@angierasmussen.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Plagues & Pandemics Update – April 15, 2026Post + Comments (48)
New study: Long COVID is tied to a higher risk of heart disease, even after mild infection.
The study also reveals that women with long COVID experience more heart problems than men.
Read more: ow.ly/UfV850YHftb— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 10, 2026 at 5:54 PM
A new study links post-COVID ocular symptoms such as blurred vision and dry eyes to worse overall health and greater socioeconomic challenges.
Read more: ow.ly/tu6W50YFR5h— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 8, 2026 at 3:53 PM
According to a new study, RSV is associated with high rates of complications and death among older adults hospitalized with the condition, and older RSV patients may have worse health outcomes than older adults hospitalized for influenza.
Read more: ow.ly/Cf9E50YIpwo— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 2:45 PM
"Skin as a potential entry point for SARS-COV-2"
Study finds inflamed skin may increase SARS-CoV-2 entry. Cytokines raise ACE2/TMPRSS2 levels, boosting viral entry—suggesting skin could be an overlooked infection route.
Source: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6…
PDF: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6…— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) April 10, 2026 at 10:11 PM
Study finds long COVID leaves a distinct immune signature in the blood.
Study finds long COVID is linked to lasting immune changes, especially inflammation and neurological signals. Vaccines didn’t worsen these responses. The findings could improve biomarkers, diagnosis, monitoring and treatment.— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) April 15, 2026 at 1:11 AM
Study: Divergent inflammatory and neurology-related protein levels in long COVID following primary and breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infections
Published: 13 April 2026
www.nature.com/articles/s43…— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) April 15, 2026 at 1:11 AM
"Covid Virus May Spread More Widely by Turning Lung Cells Into Targets, Study Finds"
"COVID-19 may spread through the lungs by turning resistant cells into infection targets, helping explain severe inflammation and organ damage, and pointing to potential new treatments."
Source: archive.md/18Rth— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 1:01 AM
Study: Unveiling alternate pathways for SARS-CoV-2 infection via extracellular vesicle-mediated transfer of ACE2 and TMPRSS2
Published: 10 April 2026
www.nature.com/articles/s41…— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 1:01 AM
Long COVID costs Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries up to $135 billion each year.
A report last week by the OECD projects that long COVID’s significant social & financial costs will continue well into the next decade. ow.ly/e35t50YIuaX— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 5:53 PM
CIDRAP's Vaccine Integrity Project posted protocols for their systematic reviews of 3 immunizations against respiratory pathogens.
Research protocols show methodological rigor & transparency.
🧵1/3— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Once posted, they can't be changed based on what researchers find. They also allow for duplication of work.
Details of the systematic reviews are available publicly. ⬇️
💉COVID-19: ow.ly/bhPS50YIYqw
💉Influenza: ow.ly/e0si50YIYqy
💉RSV: ow.ly/lWuv50YIYqx— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 2:21 PM
More information on the Vaccine Integrity Project: vaxintegrity.cidrap.umn.edu
3/3— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 2:21 PM
===
===
A new poll suggests that vaccine skepticism now the norm for many Americans.
Read more on the poll results: ow.ly/WZhL50YJ5Gk— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 5:33 PM
A new poll today in Politico suggests that vaccine skepticism is now just as prevalent as vaccine confidence for Americans, with one-third of respondents reporting they see reducing vaccines as a core principle of the Make America Healthy Again movement.
Overall, 46% of poll respondents said facts on vaccines are still up for debate and it is damaging to enforce their uptake. Thirty-nine percent said science on vaccines is clear and it is damaging to question it. Results were further split daily neatly down political lines, with Trump supporters the most likely to question vaccine safety and argue against vaccine mandates.
Forty-four percent of polled adults said they believe vaccines should be mandatory for children to attend school. In a telling question, 47% of the more than 3,800 adults polled said the return of measles was not worth the risk of having personal freedom to make decisions about vaccines, compared to 39% who said it was worth the risk and preferred personal freedom over vaccine mandates.
Of note, 49% of Republican voters said the return of vaccine-preventable diseases was a price worth paying for the ability to refuse vaccines.
Age was a major factor in how respondents thought about the personal duty of vaccination as a tool to prevent others from illness.
Two-thirds of adults 65 and older, who are old enough to remember a time before vaccines controlled serious childhood illnesses, said it was their duty to get vaccinated to protect others, Politico said. So did two-thirds of adults who said they voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
20 years later: New research highlights strong benefits of HPV vaccines beyond helping to prevent cervical cancer.
Read more: ow.ly/1Iw050YJ4eT— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 4:05 PM
A study suggests that earlier-life HPV vaccination doesn’t increase vaccine hesitancy.
Initiating the vaccine series at ages 9 to 10 also makes it easier to complete the multi-dose series before adolescence.
Read more: ow.ly/MGtl50YFgrS— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 7, 2026 at 4:51 PM
💊 Tylenol during pregnancy is not tied to increased risk of autism in children.
Researchers initiated the study after President Trump’s 2025 remarks discouraging pregnant women from using acetaminophen because of a purported link to autism.
Read more: ow.ly/Nk0l50YJ56G— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Polls show that most Americans still prefer providers to AI for health advice.
Overall, 75% of Americans say it’s highly important that their health information sources have medical training. 🩺
Read more: ow.ly/yPxi50YFgzQ— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 7, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Burials of unclaimed people in NYC soared early in COVID pandemic, suggesting worsened disparities.
The study findings highlight the particularly devastating effects of COVID-19 on economically and socially vulnerable groups.
Read more: ow.ly/mktO50YGKrS
📷: Ron Cogswell / Flickr cc— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 9, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Very sad yet completely unsurprising to see data censorship of a study showing the positive benefits of the COVID vaccines in preventing hospitalizations. This is anti-science in action and also harmful to public health. I expect better from the NIH/ acting CDC director but alas.
— BK. Titanji (@boghuma.bsky.social) April 9, 2026 at 6:17 PM
USA: "RFK Jr’s CDC is withholding Covid vaccine report showing benefits of jab"
"The research indicated that healthy adults who received the Covid vaccine reduced their risk of urgent care and emergency visits by 50% and Covid-related hospitalizations by 55%"
www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/new…— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) April 9, 2026 at 8:44 PM
@lizzylawrence.bsky.social reported this last fall. Pretty wild to learn that the nation’s top vaccine regulator abused his power to pull a paper out of peer review because it showed Covid vaccines still work, are safe, and benefit most people. Also scary that’s FDA
www.statnews.com/2025/11/12/f…— Angie Rasmussen (@angierasmussen.bsky.social) April 9, 2026 at 10:44 AM
CIDRAP Op-Ed: Don’t be distracted—ACIP was never the only play
While we were distracted, vaccine-injury lawyer Aaron Siri submitted a petition demanding that hundreds of conditions be added to the Vaccine Injury Table.
Full Op-Ed from @unbiasedscipod.bsky.social's Jess Steier: ow.ly/OqV650YIT9m— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 10:59 AM
… The ruling was good news for the plaintiff (the American Academy of Pediatrics) and for all of us. Judge Brian Murphy looked at what had been done to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)—the firing of qualified experts, the ideological replacements, the unilateral schedule changes—and said the process was likely illegal. The March 18-19 ACIP meeting was canceled, and the altered childhood immunization schedule was frozen in its pre-January state. People who have spent the better part of a year watching federal vaccine infrastructure get dismantled allowed themselves a moment of relief. It was a much-needed (even if temporary) victory…
Four days after the ruling, while attention was still fixed on the temporary legal victory, Aaron Siri, vaccine injury lawyer and longtime ally of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., submitted a petition to HHS on behalf of the Informed Consent Action Network, demanding that more than 300 new conditions be added to the Vaccine Injury Table. He gave Kennedy 60 days to act, telling an audience at the Kennedy Center shortly after filing: “If not, we do intend to bring [federal] lawsuits.”…
The Vaccine Injury Table sits at the heart of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), the no-fault system created in 1986 to compensate people harmed by vaccines without requiring them to sue manufacturers directly. It currently lists 47 vaccine-injury pairs, each pairing a specific injury with a specific vaccine and a time window for onset. If your injury appears on it, you receive expedited compensation without having to prove the vaccine caused it. The program works better than most people realize, and it often compensates claims more efficiently than civil litigation. It also keeps vaccine manufacturers in the market by giving them defined liability protection. However, this all depends on the table being grounded in scientific evidence.
Siri’s petition argues that the federal government’s mere consideration of a potential vaccine injury—studying it, identifying it as hypothesis-generating—is a legally sufficient “association” and enough to require adding it to the table. Dorit Reiss, PhD, a vaccine law expert at UC Law San Francisco, has stated that the petition “argues that simply analyzing potential harms establishes an association, even if the government found no evidence of one”—an interpretation that stretches the legal definitions. Richard Hughes, the attorney who led the legal effort that produced the Boston ruling, called the reasoning “ridiculous” and warned it would chill future government research into vaccine injuries. The logic collapses on itself: If studying a potential harm automatically establishes legal causation, why would anyone study anything?
Kennedy has previously suggested the table could be expanded to include symptoms associated with autism. The scientific record has examined that question exhaustively and does not support it. But as Politico reported, the more likely play—one that a Kennedy adviser floated publicly at a September Make American Healthy Again event—is broadening the definitions of encephalopathy and encephalitis, both already on the table under tightly drawn clinical criteria, so that autism cases qualify through the back door rather than through an explicit addition that would directly challenge existing legal precedent…
About 16,000 children who are vaccinated will eventually be diagnosed with profound autism each year—not because vaccines cause autism, but because that’s the baseline prevalence in our largely vaccinated population. If those cases become eligible for VICP compensation, the program would face roughly $32 billion in annual claims. The VICP Trust Fund currently holds about $4 billion, accumulated over nearly 40 years. Its sole income is a $0.75 excise tax per vaccine dose, generating around $250 million per year. Because claimants can file for injuries diagnosed within the past three years, the program could face an initial docket approaching $100 billion in claims on day one.
The fund would be insolvent almost immediately…
www.phillymag.com/news/2026/04…
— Anne Laurie (@annelaurie.bsky.social) April 15, 2026 at 6:43 AM
As part of my efforts to combat the COVID Amnesia Project, let's accurately remember what 3 influential laptop class doctors from Stanford said 6 years ago as COVID overflowed hospitals and morgues.
They won't remind you.
I will.
My latest.— Jonathan Howard (@joho.bsky.social) April 11, 2026 at 10:56 AM
The covid amnesia shell game happened DESPITE THE DATA, in part bc we never had a reckoning or real memorialization
The *moment* we replace this regime, they will memory-hole everything they did. If we don't keep clear records and then make them into public memory, they'll get away with it.— Erin Kissane (@kissane.myatproto.social) April 14, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Have to say when CBC Fifth Estate does a deep dive you know they got the receipts
#biohazard grifters
#cbc #cdn— TopKat_GlassDragon (@topkatglassdragon.bsky.social) April 11, 2026 at 1:49 PM
===
===
The United States measles case count total surpassed 1,700 cases this past week. ⬆️
The US measles case count grew by 43 cases, reaching 1,714 infections. The US is on pace to top last year’s measles total by summer.
Read more: ow.ly/6Kbl50YHekR
Map source: CDC— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 10, 2026 at 4:49 PM
South Carolina sees no new measles activity as Utah becomes the epicenter of US outbreaks.
Utah now has the most active outbreak in the country, with officials recording 24 new cases in the last five days.
Read more: ow.ly/kx3X50YFUnL— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 8, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Babies too young to be vaccinated are among the most vulnerable in a measles outbreak and depend entirely on herd immunity, where at least 95% of a community must be vaccinated to prevent measles outbreaks.
https://to.pbs.org/4dI3Om3— PBS News (@pbsnews.org) April 11, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Is it measles or the flu? 🤧
With measles becoming more common, experts recommend learning to recognize the symptoms and taking precautions to protect yourself and others.
Read more: ow.ly/MCGz50YHaUa— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 10, 2026 at 1:37 PM
===
===
It's not gone: #USDA reports 5 more dairy herds in Idaho have tested positive for #H5N1 #birdflu, the first in months.
In the 2+ years since the virus was first detected in cows in the US, 1,093 herds in 19 states have tested positive for the virus. www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-po…— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 9:57 AM
Officials say Arkansas' largest bird flu outbreak of the year reported in Clay County.
www.5newsonline.com/article/news…— Data Report (@datareport.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 9:22 PM
The US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported more avian flu activity at commercial poultry facilities in Indiana, which has seen high levels of H5N1 activity this spring.
Read more: ow.ly/vXnG50YGLS5— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 9, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Two new H9N2 avian flu cases reported on mainland China.
Read more: ow.ly/igB950YJ5k2
📷: Garrett Heath / Flickr cc— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 14, 2026 at 5:24 PM
===
===
The turning point for rare diseases, which affect >300 million people around the world.
A call to get rid of its many structural obstacles, to consider it as molecular surgery unlike drug treatments
gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/o…— Eric Topol (@erictopol.bsky.social) April 12, 2026 at 10:52 AM
If you're interested in viruses — you kinda gotta be, if you're following me — this podcast may appeal. Deep dive into how viruses work, hosted by Florian Krammer, one of my go-to experts for flu. Lotsa detail, but the episodes are a manageable length. Enjoy! virological.podigee.io/episodes
— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) April 8, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Two TB vaccine candidates offered limited protection in a phase 3 trial.
The two vaccines, VPM1002 and Immuvac, were evaluated in a trial involving 12,717 household contacts of recently diagnosed TB patients in India.
Read more: ow.ly/lCvb50YIpF9— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 3:51 PM
New study: A substantial proportion of survivors of Nipah virus infection experience long-term neurologic deficits and fatigue.
More on the study: ow.ly/48qB50YHgVa
📷: Jan Arendsz/Flickr cc— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 10, 2026 at 4:27 PM
Shionogi secures BARDA contract for cefiderocol for resistant infections & bioterror threats.
💊 The $119 million contract seeks to establish a US manufacturing site for the antibiotic & assess its potential as a treatment for plague & melioidosis.
Read more: ow.ly/K3Bh50YGuCN— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 9, 2026 at 10:14 AM
Insecticide resistance in South American mosquitoes signals trouble for malaria control. 🦟
New research warns of growing insecticide resistance among mosquitoes, the primary vector of malaria in South America.
Read more: ow.ly/K3BK50YFgWN
📷: AirmanMagazine / Flickr.— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 7, 2026 at 5:50 PM
🦇 Vampire bats in Mexico may feed on CWD-positive deer 🦌, spreading disease and posing species-jump threat.
The bats' range is expanding northward, while CWD is creeping southward, creating a worrisome overlap.
Read more: ow.ly/nOtI50YGMLo
📷: Peter E / Flickr cc— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 9, 2026 at 5:37 PM
New Public Health Alert: Emergence of Medetomidine in New York’s Illicit Drug Supply
The report highlights state, local work to detect emerging substances of concern in the illicit drug supply & implement data-guided programmatic responses.
Full alert from NEJM Evidence & CIDRAP: ow.ly/78F750YHifR— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) April 10, 2026 at 5:12 PM
This post is in: Open Threads, Republican Politics, Republicans in Disarray!, Trumpery, Our Failed Media Experiment
Paraphasia, you're hearing it more and more
— Hemry, Local Bartender (@bartenderhemry.bsky.social) March 16, 2026 at 4:19 PM
It’s a cold-fangled word, but a luxurious sword
This isn’t to be like “ha ha” btw it’s just noting that all this stuff (the searching for words and getting them wrong, the increasing profanity and disinhibition) is happening, & relatively undiscussed because the WHPC is so pumped that trump answers his cell phone sometimes
And like, this was never a titanic intellect, but you’d think it would be a big story that the guy with his finger on the button making insane strategic and diplomatic choices all day every day is mentally and physically decomposing before our eyes
everything in here was obvious two years ago, but better late than never!
Chief WH Correspondent Peter Baker takes up this heavy burden… “Trump’s Erratic Behavior and Extreme Comments Revive Mental Health Debate” [gift link]:
President Trump’s erratic behavior and extreme comments in recent days and weeks have turbocharged the crazy-like-a-fox-or-just-plain-crazy debate that has followed him on the national political stage for a decade.
A series of disjointed, hard-to-follow and sometimes-profane statements capped by his “a whole civilization will die tonight” threat to wipe Iran off the map last week and his head-spinning attack on the “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy” pope on Sunday night have left many with the impression of a deranged autocrat mad with power.
The White House rejected such assessments, saying that Mr. Trump is sharp and keeping his opponents on edge. But the president’s eruptions have raised questions about America’s leadership in a time of war. While the country has had presidents whose capacity came under question before, most recently the octogenarian Joseph R. Biden Jr. as he aged demonstrably before the public’s eyes, never in modern times has the stability of a president been so publicly and forensically debated — and with such profound consequences.
Democrats who have long challenged Mr. Trump’s psychological fitness have issued a fresh chorus of calls to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the president from power for disability. But it is not just a concern voiced by partisans on the left, late-night comics or mental health professionals making long-distance diagnoses. It can be heard now among retired generals, diplomats and foreign officials. And most strikingly, it can be heard now on the political right among onetime allies of the president.
Former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican who recently broke with Mr. Trump, advocated using the 25th Amendment, telling CNN that threatening to destroy Iran’s civilization was “not tough rhetoric, it’s insanity.” Candace Owens, the far-right podcaster, called him “a genocidal lunatic.” Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist and founder of Infowars, said Mr. Trump “does babble and sounds like the brain’s not doing too hot.”…
The dissent on the right has not extended to Congress, where Republican lawmakers remain publicly loyal to the president, nor has it reached the cabinet, which would have to approve any invocation of the 25th Amendment, rendering that idea moot. But it reflects growing unease among Americans who in recent surveys have increasingly questioned the fitness of Mr. Trump, already the oldest president ever inaugurated, as he approaches his 80th birthday…
Indeed, the situation today eclipses even Nixon. Unlike in the 1970s, “so much of this is playing out in public,” especially with social media and cable television, Mr. Zelizer said. And, he added, “as a president who naturally disregards any guardrails or sense of decorum, Trump feels much freer, even than Nixon, to unleash his inner rage and to act on impulse.”…
Open Thread: It Pains the <em>NYTimes</em> To Report…Post + Comments (196)
Our Very Serious Leading Media is like a flock of starlings: They move in murmurations, descending to pick the ground clean, then taking off in unison at some signal, leaving only guano behind.
And of course the NYTimes prides itself on being a murmurating leader whose harsh cries lesser birds automatically follow…
oh so this this guy's an ancient, visibly mentally decompensating lunatic you wouldn't trust to run a lemonade stand? nobody could have predicted
— ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper.com) April 13, 2026 at 12:49 PM
Smart sidebar from Mary Geddry — “Collapse As Content”:
If a press system claims the privileges of the Fourth Estate, claims constitutional protection, claims public trust, and claims the prestige of democratic necessity, then it also inherits responsibility for what happens when it knowingly abandons that role. When profit-driven media chooses access over scrutiny, spectacle over truth, and shareholder comfort over democratic duty, it is participating in the damage…
… What if Trump’s apparent incapacity is not simply being ignored, but quietly found useful? What if the chaos, the incoherence, the grandiosity, the inability to hold a line from one hour to the next, all serve a purpose for the people around him? A visibly unstable president can still sign what he is handed, repeat what he is told, absorb the outrage, and take the blame. He can be a shield for handlers, enablers, donors, fixers, ideologues, and media owners who prefer that the story remain centered on one deteriorating man rather than on the system exploiting him. It is a cruel possibility, but cruelty has never disqualified anyone in this political ecosystem. If it is even partly true, then the failure of the press is not merely professional but moral. While the spectacle keeps rolling, the cost is borne not just by Americans, but by people across the world forced to live with the consequences of a superpower governed through profit, cowardice, and managed delusion…
Once you see that, the darker possibility comes into focus. If Trump is indeed unstable, increasingly incapable, or easily manipulated, then his condition may not simply be a source of alarm to the people around him; it may be an asset. A president who draws all scrutiny toward himself is useful to those who prefer to govern from the shadows of his spectacle. He takes the heat, fills the cameras, absorbs the ridicule, the legal jeopardy, the constitutional panic. Meanwhile, the handlers, loyalists, donors, opportunists, and owners who benefit from his continued usefulness can stay one step removed, insulated by the very chaos they help sustain. This makes the whole arrangement feel not merely dangerous, but grotesque. Even if Trump deserves no personal sympathy, the possibility that his deterioration is being tolerated or exploited for political and financial gain reveals a level of cruelty that extends far beyond him. It means millions of people, in the United States and far beyond it, are being forced to live with the consequences of a system that finds a failing strongman more useful than accountability…
If the American press wants to invoke the prestige of the Fourth Estate, then it must also face the moral consequences of abandoning that duty. It cannot claim the protections of democratic necessity while behaving like another profit center in an oligarchic marketplace. It cannot spend years normalizing corruption, laundering extremism through euphemism, and mistaking spectacle for scrutiny, only to plead helplessness when the wreckage is too large to ignore. The public has the right to say that this was not just a failure to warn; it was complicity in the damage.
This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat
If Hungary can get rid of its autocrat, so can America
anntelnaes.substack.com/p/viktor-orb…— Ann Telnaes (@anntelnaes.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 3:06 PM
Trump’s war of choice is being fought in our name, at our expense, but without our say. It must end.
— Senator Andy Kim (@kim.senate.gov) April 13, 2026 at 9:40 PM
This is Donald Trump's agenda:
The rich get richer while everyone else is left in the dirt.— Elizabeth Warren (@warren.senate.gov) April 13, 2026 at 10:00 AM
www.nbcnews.com/business/eco…
— Elizabeth Warren (@warren.senate.gov) April 13, 2026 at 10:00 AM
"Vote for experience"
#BecerraForGovernor
#XavierBecerra2026— LANana #?? Nuestra Señora de la Muerte del Pan ?? (@lanana421.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 1:18 AM
Jamie Raskin has argued that the only way to beat the far-right and extremists is an alliance of the center-right, the moderate center left and the left. Judging by the tactical voting of the left in France and the election in Hungary, he's right.
— Eric Michael Garcia (@ericmgarcia.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 10:29 AM
The last part seems important. Securing a win this large required progressive Hungarians voting for a ton of stuff they hate.
Hats off to them for doing what was needed to take back their democracy.— Brad LeVeck (@bradleveck.bsky.social) April 12, 2026 at 4:43 PM
Unlike Trump, Orban had the votes to amend the Constitution, and he did a great deal to entrench himself and his party that Trump can't. He still lost and if Magyar really has the 2/3 majority he will be able to not only take office, but to undo all the FIDESZization of the state as well.
— David Karol (@davidkarol.bsky.social) April 12, 2026 at 4:05 PM
This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Media, Open Threads
— MisterJayEm (@misterjayem.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 5:22 PM
When the FTFNYTimes assigns Amy ‘Chasing Hillary’ Choznick to write a puff piece about the wife of its most powerful competitor… they’re not a disinterested party. “Someone Has to Be Happy. Why Not Lauren Sánchez Bezos?” [gift link]:
A lot of things make Lauren Sánchez Bezos ridiculously happy. Helicopters. Fashion. Protecting the narwhal. Her little sister, Elena. Her five best girlfriends. And, of course, her new husband, Jeff Bezos.
She and Mr. Bezos do everything together. On a typical day, the newlyweds wake up around 6 in their new, roughly $230 million compound on Indian Creek, an exclusive private island in Miami often called “Billionaire Bunker.” They don’t touch their phones. Instead, they begin each day by listing 10 things they’re grateful for — and they can’t repeat what they named the day before.
From there, the couple drink their morning coffee in a sunroom and watch the sun rise: hers from a mug that reads “Woke Up Sexy as Hell Again,” his from one she got him that spells HUNK in symbols from the periodic table. They play pickleball. Six days a week, they work out for an hour with a private trainer. “He looks good, doesn’t he?” Mrs. Sánchez Bezos said of her new husband, in an interview in Miami in January. She slow-nodded, repeating, “He looks good.”
By now, it is hard to conjure the version of Mr. Bezos that existed before. Mildly awkward; faintly hermetic in Seattle. The logistical mastermind of two-day shipping. Now, he is gym-hardened, frequently shirtless, captured mid-laugh in paparazzi photos, canoodling on his megayacht, a man who has discovered joy, love and cosmetic dermatology.
Mrs. Sánchez Bezos has, in turn, adopted some Jeff-isms, like Amazon corporate rituals — such as requesting memos no more than six-pages long ahead of meetings at the Bezos Earth Fund, where she is the vice chair…
… Mrs. Sánchez Bezos has shown that with the right attitude and mind-boggling wealth, anything is possible. Space travel. The Met Gala. Fertility after 50.
Her happiness is infectious, undeniable, world-historical. Mrs. Sánchez Bezos treats the pursuit — and spreading — of joy as a kind of mandate. But when one of the world’s wealthiest people radiates this much happiness, is it celebration, or provocation? Is she just rubbing it in?…
Gosh, why don’t you tell us, Amy?
She used to look normal!
— Parker Molloy (@parkermolloy.com) April 13, 2026 at 5:32 PM
This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Grifters Gonna Grift, Open Threads, Elon Musk
Subscribe the SpaceX IPO
— Mr Market Miscalculates 🇪🇺🇺🇦🏴☠️ (@mrmarketmis.bsky.social) April 12, 2026 at 4:04 PM
SpaceX posted nearly $5 billion loss in 2025, The Information reports reut.rs/4miyWL8
— Reuters (@reuters.com) April 10, 2026 at 2:05 AM
Probably this is wishcasting on my part, but Musk staging his World’s Biggest IPO Ever just as everything is about to fall apart would be a very satisfying sort of tragicomedy…
How the math works on a $1.75 trillion SpaceX valuation reut.rs/4ty4mQ7
— Reuters (@reuters.com) April 8, 2026 at 9:01 AM
Spoiler: it doesn’t, without considerable thimblerigging. Per the Irish Times, “SpaceX IPO shows how Wall Street bends to Musk”:
“Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them … well, I have others,” Groucho Marx famously quipped. SpaceX, in advance of its planned June initial public offering (IPO), is proving the point, with banks and index providers alike bending to Elon Musk’s will…
One might expect little different from bankers eager to get a piece of what may become the largest IPO in history, but the rule adjustments being made by index providers is unprecedented, bending long-standing norms to accommodate a single company.
Nasdaq has approved a fast entry for supersized listings, allowing SpaceX to join the Nasdaq-100 15 days after listing, far shorter than the usual three months. S&P Dow Jones is reportedly considering letting SpaceX join the S&P 500 immediately, bypassing the usual 12-month public trading rule, while FTSE cut its wait to five days.
A track record as a public company aids price discovery by giving markets time to settle on a fair price. In contrast, early index inclusion will create predictable, forced demand from passive funds.
Early price inflation mainly benefits the issuer – in this case, SpaceX – allowing it to sell more shares at a higher price. Index investors risk losing out, being forced to buy high.
It seems the market is not setting the terms of the IPO; the IPO is setting the terms of the market.
From what I can tell, SpaceX is valuable because of Starlink — which is entirely dependent on huge government contracts. Government contracts, according to many business reporters, deeply dependent on Republican control of the U.S. government. Funny how that works!
Pay no attention to the sweaty grifter behind the curtain…
strange signs and portents, as BAGNAROK approaches
— e.w. niedermeyer (@niedermeyer.online) April 12, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Open Thread: Elon Musk’s BagnarokPost + Comments (57)
I don't think this is about him being a degenerate poster… my best guess at this point is that there may be potential legal issues with pumping a new IPO exclusively on a platform he owns and operates, so he's diversifying
— e.w. niedermeyer (@niedermeyer.online) April 12, 2026 at 7:55 PM
BAGNAROK is a critical moment of consolidation for Musk's perennially ephemeral empire, the foundation of which has long been his ability to move herds on social media… diversifying and expanding his social media presence makes a lot of sense in that respect
— e.w. niedermeyer (@niedermeyer.online) April 12, 2026 at 7:58 PM
What is”BAGNAROK”? Google wouldn’t tell me
— nofoam.bsky.social (@nofoam.bsky.social) April 12, 2026 at 8:00 PM
It's my term for the SpaceX IPO. Musk has rolled Twitter and XAI into the space company because they aren't viable on their own… he is dumping his "bags" on the market to an unprecedented degree, hence the term BAGNAROK (Ragnarok is the apocalypse in Norse mythology)
— e.w. niedermeyer (@niedermeyer.online) April 12, 2026 at 8:05 PM
He's gotta get the youths and the health girlies to buy into the spacexai IPO
— pig-endian (@porkkalo.bsky.social) April 12, 2026 at 7:56 PM
He's already got the racists and the transphobes on board but he needs a broad coalition to prop up the price
— pig-endian (@porkkalo.bsky.social) April 12, 2026 at 7:59 PM
SpaceX engine explodes as Musk targets $2 trillion IPO open.substack.com/pub/oligarch… #econsky #mutuals #discover #onlyposts
— GrammaBarb.bsky.social 🐕🫶🏻🌎💙 🌻🏔️Winter/Summer of our discontent🌨️❄️ (@snowybarb.bsky.social) April 11, 2026 at 10:52 AM