Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

So very ready.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Giving up is unforgivable.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

The lights are all blinking red.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

I would gladly pay you tuesday for a hamburger today.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

People are complicated. Love is not.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

Not all heroes wear capes.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

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Read a fucking book.

Perhaps some day, over a glass of whiskey that I accept, despite my gastritis, we could talk frankly about this.

mistermix has been a Balloon Juice writer since 2010.

My New Gig

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I have a new site where I’ll be writing — heymistermix.com.  John graciously invited me to cross post here, with the comments off, so I’m including a new post that went out earlier this morning, below.  The site is hosted on beehiiv, which is like Substack with fewer nazis.  You’ll need to subscribe to comment.  Subscriptions are free, and you can just visit the site to read my stuff.  I’ll cross-post some of it here.  Thanks for all the kind comments from lurkers via email or in my adios post yesterday.

Dunning-Krugerrands

A Shitcoin Story I Missed

My New Gig

Things have been going so fast that I missed this gem. The President of Argentina is in big trouble because his shitcoin shit the bed:

Milei, the tech-loving, chainsaw-wielding, libertarian president of Argentina, posted on X about the meme coin $LIBRA on Friday, just after it had launched, stating he was “encouraging economic growth by funding small businesses and startups.”

The coin’s price soared almost immediately, pushing the market value for the project beyond $4 billion.

A few hours after launch, early holders of the coin started cashing out of the project and its price collapsed.

What is it with these goobers and their goddam chainsaws?

Anyway, in crypto parlance, this is called a rug pull which is why the valuations of “$4 billion” or whatever absurd number gets batted around are nuts. Millei “minted” (i.e., created using a small amount of computer resources) a ton of $LIBRA but only a fraction was sold before the rug pull. This one looks like a classic “pump and dump”, where $LIBRA was put on the market by Millei and his buds, and after the price went up, they sold off their holdings, thus crashing $LIBRA and giving everyone’s wallet Cancer. See, also, Hawk Tuah Girl’s shitcoin.

So what kind of asshole pushes out these memecoins? This kind:

Hayden Davis, a 28-year-old American crypto developer who said he’s an adviser to Milei and helped launch $LIBRA, has emerged as a central figure. Milei’s office said the government has no connection to Davis.

In an interview with independent crypto journalist Stephen Findeisen, Davis said that meme coins are essentially a rigged game that benefit a small group of people at the expense of retail investors.

“It is an insiders’ game. This is an unregulated casino,” Davis said.

Davis said the $LIBRA coin was not a rug pull but was supposed to be an experiment to show the power and utility of digital currency that’s consistent with Milei’s desire for Argentina to be a hub for innovation.

Davis also said he was involved in the launch of Melania Trump’s meme coin. Launched just before her husband took office, that meme coin’s price underwent a similar trajectory as $LIBRA — quickly soaring upon launch and then dropping. The first lady’s office declined to comment.

I’m sure we’re missing the smirk when he said it’s an “unregulated casino,” and LOL at the nonsense about “power and utility of digital currency,” because if this little episode showed anything, it was the opposite of that.

If we had a functioning regulatory system, this guy would be in jail. Instead, he’s going to advise some clown or other on another shitcoin that he’ll use to make a ton of money by fleecing “investors” a.k.a. “marks”.

(I believe riley37 on Bluesky is the originator of the post title.)

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Adiós Muchachos, Compañeros de mi Vida

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This will be my last post here.  I will still do some posting on Bluesky and if I have a project that I think the community here might be interested in, I’ll make a short post about it, but that’s it.

I want to thank John for the opportunity to write whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, with zero interference and a lot of encouragement.

I also want to thank DougJ for recommending me so many years ago.  And, all the front pagers who have been collegial and encouraging.  WaterGirl has always been helpful.  I also appreciate Kay’s work in the comments, especially when we disagreed.

That all said, I’ve been contacted by numerous commenters via email, people lamenting the rigid orthodoxies of the comments and the nasty accusations that take hold there.  The accusations of racism, the inability to brook even the tiniest criticism of local heroes, and the intolerance of any opinion that deviates from the self-appointed, prolific and often wrong commenters.   I agree with that assessment.  And I’ve decided that my time is better spent elsewhere.

I sincerely appreciate everyone who read my posts (there are thousands by now) and everyone who commented thoughtfully even if we disagreed.

Vaya con Dios.

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Sampling the Local Media

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This isn’t local media, but here’s the whole AOC speech that I posted a snippet from yesterday.  As usual, she has a lot of good points expressed in simple, straightforward language. “America is not for sale.” “The key here is make them – don’t agree in advance…put it in an email.” “We can overwhelm them.” “We outnumber them.” “Every small action matters.”

Now let’s turn to local media. Fan favorite Bernie Sanders is out stumping blue parts of red states, trying to get on the local news to cover what he’s saying. He started in Omaha and now he’s in Iowa City.

Ron Wyden had a tough series of town halls, according to this paywalled column in the Oregonian (I’m breaking my personal rule about using archive links with this one.). An oncology nurse named Beth Champion stood up and said this:

“This is not ‘political quackery.’ It is a coup,” she said. “The purse strings have been taken from Congress. ‘Betrayal’ doesn’t begin to encompass my feelings.”
[…] “I need to know that Oregon has a plan on how to remain solvent when federal money is withheld, when we have forest fires, when ICE, or whatever goon squad is formed, enters our cities,” Champion continued. “It is not alarmist to plan for worst-case scenarios. We are dealing with people who do not care about decorum, do not care about judges’ orders, and do not care about the law.”

The applause was resounding, part recognition, part relief. Many in the audience rose to thank her. Finally. Someone understands why we’re here.

Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal also had a tough town hall with Democrats saying “not enough”. Jared Huffman, D-CA-2, told his audience that the US is “speed walking toward authoritarianism” and took a question from a 16 year-old who noted the parallel between our current situation and Hitler’s rise in Germany. Maxwell Frost took questions that included a veteran concerned about them being used as “bargaining chips”.

Trumpers protested outside some of these town halls, such as the one near Napa for Rep Mike Thompson, D-CA-4.

The Republicans who have been having town halls are also not having a very good time. Here’s a rundown from Axios via Tom Sullivan at Digby’s Blog:

Driving the news: Angry constituents flocked to House Republicans’ town hall events and district offices this week to protest DOGE’s efforts to slash spending and lay off huge chunks of the federal workforce.

What we’re hearing: One swing-district House Republican, speaking on the condition of anonymity to share candid thoughts, told Axios they have “zero concerns” about a protest they’re expecting outside their office.

  • “It’s 2017 all over. They’ve hated Trump since 2016. Same folks largely,” the lawmaker said, although they added, “Most hate [Elon] Musk based on the calls.”

  • “That’s all manufactured bulls**t for likes and clickbait,” said another House Republican, who asked for anonymity to speak candidly about the upswell in protests.

LOL at the cope there.

Nick LaLota (R-NY-1) has been getting hounded by constituents to have a town hall.  He’s one of the vulnerable recently-elected Republicans (NY-1 is R+3 PVI), so he’s bravely running away from this town halls.

Here’s TPM’s report on Cliff Benz’ (R-OR-2) not-so-great town halls. Not local media, but they didn’t go well.

Checking in with leadership, Chuck Schumer is appearing in Schenectady, Syracuse and Rochester.  For the Rochesterians in the audience, he went to Jines to talk about the price of eggs.  Hakeem Jeffries is on a book tour to promote his children’s book.  I wish I was kidding about that last one.

I’m out for a while so I’ll make this an open thread.

Sampling the Local MediaPost + Comments (154)

Notes From The Nazi Purge

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Notes From The Nazi Purge 1

This is from Garrett Graff, the journalist who writes dispatches as if he were a foreign journalist observing our culture.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a late Friday night purge, Donald Trump — America’s often ramblingly incoherent ceremonial commander-in-chief — fired three of this country’s top generals and admirals, the latest assault in weeks of efforts to install loyalists at top military and security posts and restore the primacy of the white male ruling class that has traditionally held power here since the country’s founding two centuries ago.

The purge included the nation’s groundbreaking and widely respected top four-star general, C.Q. Brown, who was the first of the country’s oppressed racial minority Black community to rise to head a branch of the military, and also removed the military’s top lawyers as well as the air force chief and the one female currently leading a military branch. The purge completes Trump’s removal of the both the first-ever and second-ever women to rise to the highest ranks of the military.

Traditionally, incoming US presidents remove precisely zero military leaders and the collective firings stand as all-but unprecedented in the 80-year history of the modern military, which prides itself on itself on studious political independence, but had looked increasingly inevitable since Trump installed a white Christian nationalist as defense minister who has been openly hostile to women serving in the military and who has cut back on recruiting Blacks to join.

Trump in his previous presidency had actually selected Brown to head the nation’s air force, until turning on him more recently as insufficiently supportive of the country’s ongoing political and corporate domination by a caste of mediocre white men — people historically unable to succeed on their own merits or competency — that includes Trump himself as well as the newly installed defense minister. (Unsurprisingly, Trump announced Friday his intention to replace Brown with a less qualified white male general, who had — unlike Brown — never attained the military’s top rank.)

With the ouster of Brown and the naval commander, Admiral Linda Franchetti, the remaining top military leaders—known as the Joint Chiefs of Staff—are once again all white and male, a particularly pointed power imbalance given the fact that the country’s racial and ethnic minorities make up nearly 40 percent of national forces and women constitute fully a fifth of the ranks.

Nazi salutes and purging black and female military members is means there’s no quiet part anymore, it’s just racism and sexism all the way down.

Rose has an open thread below, let’s stay on topic in this one. Thanks!

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Some Good Clips

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TRUMP: The NCAA has complied immediately. That's good. But I understand Maine — is the governor of Maine here?

JANET MILLS: Yeah I'm here

TRUMP: Are you not gonna comply?

JM: I'm going to comply with state and federal law

T: You better do it bc you're not gonna get any federal funding at all

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) February 21, 2025 at 12:01 PM

Mills, who is 77 and term-limited, told Trump “See you in court”. Thanks to reader T for sending this in.

The leader of the opposition is still leading. By the way, she’s someone who gets a shit ton of death threats and is still speaking out:

Medicaid is not for sale.
NASA is not for sale.
The Post Office is not for sale.
America is not for sale.

We have an obligation to resist kings. We outnumber them. And they can be overwhelmed.

[image or embed]

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@aoc.bsky.social) February 21, 2025 at 12:19 PM

I think this constituent at Rep Paul Tonko’s (D-NY-20) town hall speaks for many of us:

Teachers teach. We need a leaderful movement, and there are leaders all around us.

[image or embed]

— Anil Dash (@anildash.com) February 21, 2025 at 7:02 AM

Here’s Chris Kluwe, former Minnesota Viking punter.

Post whatever else you’ve seen that’s good in the comments.

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Last New York Update For a While

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Welp, here it is:

Gov. Kathy Hochul will not remove embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office, saying his fate should be left to the voters to decide at the ballot box.

[…]

Instead of removal, the governor said she will unveil new state and city bills that would increase oversight of the mayor’s office.

That includes creating a new state deputy inspector general with broad authority to watch over the city’s dealings, as well as giving other city officials more authority to sue the Trump administration over government actions without the approval of the mayor’s office. Hochul said she also wants to increase funding for the deputy state comptroller with oversight of New York City’s finances.

Those measures, if approved by the state Legislature and City Council, would apply through the end of this year and be “subject to renewal,” Hochul said.

What a stupid way to do this. This is a non-answer to the real problem: Trump is holding Adams hostage. It’s doing nothing in the guise of doing something, and any reasonable person sees right through it.

BTW, everyone who listens to Lawrence O’Donnell needs to realize that he told a bald-faced lie on his program a couple of nights ago.

According to Lawrence O’Donnell, Hochul can’t just remove Adams by fiat. Says she could kick off an as-yet-undefined court procedure that would involve witnesses with her as prosecutor, judge, & jury, requiring her presence for the duration, likely involving endless appeals. Not as easy as suggested

— Andrew Werth (@andrewwerth.com) February 20, 2025 at 1:07 PM

That is absolutely false. I know he said it because some people repeated it in the comments — I just assumed they misheard him. As I posted yesterday, and will post again today, this is the entirety of the removal clause in the City Charter:

The mayor may be removed from office by the governor upon charges and after service upon him of a copy of the charges and an opportunity to be heard in his defense. Pending the preparation and disposition of charges, the governor may suspend the mayor for a period not exceeding thirty days.

I’m just some blogger who has access to Google, but I didn’t lie to you, and I brought receipts when I made a claim about Hochul’s powers. Keep that in mind next time O’Donnell makes some claim that sounds like he read the law.

So, yes, I’m disgusted with a Democrat, and frankly, with most Democrats to date. Am I just some outlier? Nope — here’s the latest Q Poll [pdf]. It shows that 97% of Democrats polled disapprove of Elon Musks role in government, and overall it’s 54/42 disapproval. But look at this:

Last New York Update For a While

49% of Dems disapprove of the way Democrats in Congress are handling their job. Perhaps that’s based on unrealistic expectations, but I also think it’s a reflection of the lack of fight in party leaders and the lack of a response commensurate to the coup that’s taking place. It looks like our party, our team, our guys, our “I will fight for you” warriors got rolled, and they even admit it:

Last New York Update For a While 1

Don’t get me wrong, good for him for admitting that mistake, now do Rubio.

And, yes, I will mention Democrats who do well (I re-tweet them all the time on BlueSky), and yes, it’s mostly Republicans’ fault, but we need a functioning opposition party to fix this mess, and if we ever get some power, the cleanup is going to require swift, decisive use of that power.

Last New York Update For a WhilePost + Comments (153)