Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

So many bastards, so little time.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

I would gladly pay you tuesday for a hamburger today.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Everybody saw this coming.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

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

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

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Open Thread: Tim Walz Will Not Run for Re-election

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Walz announces he's changed his mind and will no longer run for reelection next year

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 5, 2026 at 12:07 PM

Tim Walz: "I don't want to mince words here. Donald Trump and his allies in Washington and in St Paul and online want to make our state a colder, meaner place. They won't to poison our people against each other by attacking our neighbors."

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 5, 2026 at 12:04 PM

Walz: "We've got conspiracy theorists, right-wing YouTubers, breaking into our daycares, demanding access to our children. We've got the president demonizing our Somali neighbors and wrongfully confiscating funds that Minnesotans rely on. It's disgusting and it's dangerous."

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 5, 2026 at 12:07 PM

Walz: "Make no mistake about it — if Republicans continue down the path of abusing power, smearing entire communities, and running their own fraudulent game at the expense of Minnesotans, I will fight back with everything I have."

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 5, 2026 at 12:09 PM

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the Democrats' 2024 vice presidential candidate, said he will not run for a third term.

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— Scripps News (@scrippsnews.bsky.social) January 5, 2026 at 9:19 AM

… Walz said in a statement Monday that he believes he would have won another term but decided “that I can’t give a political campaign my all” after what he described as an “extraordinarily difficult year for our state.”

The 61-year-old cited ongoing investigations into fraud in the state’s child care programs and the fact that President Donald Trump has used the issue as a political cudgel.

“Donald Trump and his allies – in Washington, in St. Paul, and online – want to make our state a colder, meaner place,” Walz said, referring to the Trump administration withholding funds for the programs. “They want to poison our people against each other by attacking our neighbors. And, ultimately, they want to take away much of what makes Minnesota the best place in America to raise a family.”

“Make no mistake: We should be concerned about fraud in our state government. We cannot effectively deliver programs and services if we can’t earn the public’s trust,” Walz continued in a statement. “We’ve got Republicans here in the legislature playing hide-and-seek with whistleblowers. We’ve got conspiracy theorist right-wing YouTubers breaking into daycare centers and demanding access to our children. We’ve got the President of the United States demonizing our Somali neighbors and wrongly confiscating childcare funding that Minnesotans rely on. It is disgusting. And it is dangerous.”…

Walz is a military veteran and union supporter who helped enact an ambitious Democratic agenda for his state, including sweeping protections for abortion rights and generous aid to families…

Walz had been building up his national profile since his and Harris’ defeat in November. He was a sharp critic of Trump as he toured early caucus and primary states. In May, he called on Democrats in South Carolina to stand up to the Republican president, saying, “Maybe it’s time for us to be a little meaner.”…

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Relatively Upbeat Open Thread: Mayor Mamdani

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Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as New York City’s mayor at a shuttered subway station.
Mamdani called the station a “testament to the importance of public transit” and announced Mike Flynn as his new transportation commissioner. https://wapo.st/4qwI4g3

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— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost.com) January 1, 2026 at 12:30 PM

Mamdani has now been inaugurated twice — officially, by Attorney General Letitia James, and secondarily in an afternoon celebration by Chief Influencer Bernie Sanders, a failed legislator who has nevertheless created a multi-million dollar political enterprise with millions of dedicated fanbois. (It’s like the cities that have two sets of fireworks every New Years’ Eve — one at midnight for the locals, and a ‘family-friendly’ version in the afternoon for children and tourists, here represented by DSA members, the media, & Mamdani’s national donors.)

Mamdani: Where else can you hear the sound of the steel pan, savor the smell of sancocho, and pay $9 for coffee on the same block? Where else could a Muslim kid like me grow up eating bagels and lox every Sunday?

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— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) January 1, 2026 at 3:04 PM

New York — and I say this as a native — is a notoriously difficult city to govern. Maybe a quarter to a third of its voters fall into a Venn diagram of oligarchs, the global financial services & media that support the oligarchs, and the ever-shifting cast of starry-eyed incomers from elsewhere who aspire to ‘make it’ in the Big Apple. The rest of the population, in all its multicultural 800-mother-tongues diversity, just want the streets plowed, the trash picked up, and the various transit systems to run on time. Also, most of what a NYC mayor can do is under the control of the state legislature, whose members despise the city even while relying on it for their economic survival. (Sound familiar?) Mamdani has been christened a generational talent, and it is to be hoped that he can live up to his billing.

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Texas Two-Step?

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Auto Draft 147

More like a duo than a two-step, really.  h/t Josie

(Texas Tribune)

Texas Democratic candidates unite in the Rio Grande Valley to court Latino voters

WESLACO — In a joint Democratic rally in South Texas, U.S. Senate hopeful James Talarico and Tejano music star Bobby Pulido, who is running for Congress, endorsed each other, forming an early alliance this election cycle and solidifying Talarico’s intentions of wooing Latino voters.

Pulido and Talarico praised each other’s desire to look beyond party lines as they both hope to gain the support of Latinos who voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

“We refuse to be confined to our party,” said Talarico, a state representative from Austin. “We’re speaking to something deeper in this state and in this country, and I think you’re already seeing it in Bobby’s campaign. He is bringing people together across the political spectrum.”

Pulido, who is running to be the nominee in Texas’ 15th Congressional District, said he’d been a fan of Talarico since before he gained popularity online from his interviews or his speeches on the floor of the Texas House.

“He resonated with me a long time ago,” Pulido said.

The duo rallied voters in the Rio Grande Valley who were excited at the prospect of two candidates who could have bipartisan reach.

“I feel like he’s really speaking to both sides,” Genesis Ponce, a 30-year-old social worker from Brownsville, said about Talarico.

“Ever since I was in high school, we heard about the blue wave in Texas that never came, so I’m like, this feels like the moment,” Ponce added. “I mean, it’s felt like the moment since Beto O’Rourke but, I don’t know, I’m just like an optimist, so I hope this is the moment.”

Currently, Talarico is trailing Crockett, who entered the race on Dec. 8, by 8 percentage points, according to a new statewide poll conducted by Texas Southern University.

Pulido is running in hopes of flipping Texas’ 15th Congressional District back into the Democratic fold.

Stretching from the border town of Hidalgo up to Central Texas, Republicans triumphantly flipped the Latino-dominated district with the election of U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz of Edinburg in 2022.

De La Cruz’s election followed congressional redistricting in 2021 that made the district more favorable to Republicans, but also as Latino voters in the Valley began to gravitate more toward the Republican ticket.

Despite large Republican gains in the region, Democrats are strongly targeting the district as a possible flip in November.

I still love Beto and would love to see him in a major office – he is a good soldier, in the best sense of the word, still out there putting in the work for his beloved TX.

Texas peeps, tell us what you know – does this seem like a smart move?  Is teaming up like this going to help both of them?  Is Pulido a big music star?  What makes him seem like he would be a good candidate for the House?

 

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Open Thread: Doug Jones, Political Warrior

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a good litmus test of how far gone the deep red south is will be if this man prevails in his race for governor of Alabama vs Doug Jones

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— Tom Hearden (@followtheh.bsky.social) December 15, 2025 at 12:00 PM

Per the Alabama Political Reporter, “Doug Jones has brought excitement to the governor’s race, but can he win?”:

Doug Jones can fill a big room.

The former U.S. senator can create excitement. He knows a thing or two about how to throw a political campaign launch party. And he’s not bad at public speaking.

By now, you’ve likely seen the photos and videos from Jones’ official launch for his gubernatorial campaign. The Theodore in Birmingham was pretty well packed. There were lots of familiar faces with well known names in Alabama political circles, and there was a definite feel that this thing could gain some momentum…

Can Doug Jones overcome the deadly sin (at least in Alabama of late) of having a D stand beside his name on a ballot in this state?

Yes. But he’s going to need some help…

The fact is Tommy Tuberville has but one thing going for him – he’s a Republican in a state where the majority of the electorate marches like brainwashed zombies into the voting booth and checks the box beside the Republican candidates. They’ve been doing it for years, as they complain daily about the state of life in this state and the ineptitude of state lawmakers, somehow never tying those two things together with their blind allegiance to the folks who’ve placed us last in everything good and first in everything bad…

Seriously, scroll through Coach’s website sometime. It leads with goofy rhetoric about men in women’s sports – because what Alabama parent doesn’t lie awake at night worried about that – and protecting the border – so those Mississippians don’t invade – and is filled with mentions of things other people have done, like relocating Space Force to Alabama, and how he was maybe nearby when those good things happened.

Now, all of that focus-group-tested rhetoric and mentioning Trump’s names a gajillion times would ordinarily be enough to push any R over the finish line in this state. But Tuberville has a problem.

The country, which has been firmly under Trump-ublican control, sort of sucks right now, and things are about to get much, much worse…

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Open Thread: Rep. Jasmine Crockett Is Running for Senate

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GOD. I LOVE HER MOXIE, HER GRIT, HER DETERMINATION..
I would vote for her for ANY seat she wanted.
Thank you Jasmine Crockett

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— Old Hippie On Line Activist (@teresalynnkocsis.bsky.social) December 8, 2025 at 11:03 PM

Okay, I’m biased. But I’m not a Texas voter, so it’s not in my hands, and I fully realize the chances of *any* Democrat winning are… not optimal. And yet!

I already know all the rationale for how Jasmine Crockett allegedly can't win statewide in Texas.
But we need 100 more Jasmine Crocketts in the national Democratic party and she's one of the few candidates left that will get a donation from me.
She's tough. She's unafraid. She fights.

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— Bob Geiger (@bobgeiger.bsky.social) December 8, 2025 at 10:28 PM

… Crockett, one of Congress’ most outspoken Democrats, a frequent target of GOP attacks and a Trump target, jumped into the race on the final day of qualifying in Texas. She is seeking the Senate seat held by Republican John Cornyn, who is running for reelection in the GOP-dominated state.

“As a candidate who is constantly attacked and seen as a threat, it’s because I am,” Crockett told supporters in Dallas. “I’m the only one who has gone toe to toe with Donald Trump, and there’s a reason he’s always got my name in his mouth.”

Democrats need a net gain of four Senate seats to wrest control from Republicans next November, when most of the seats up for reelection are in states like Texas that President Donald Trump won last year. Democrats have long hoped to make Texas more competitive after decades of Republican dominance. Cornyn, first elected to the Senate since 2002, is facing the toughest GOP primary of his career against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt.

Crockett’s announcement came hours after former Rep. Colin Allred ended his own campaign for the Democratic nomination in favor of attempting a House comeback bid. She faces a March 3 primary against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, a former teacher with a rising national profile fueled by viral social media posts challenging Republican policies such as private school vouchers and requiring the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

“It’s going to be a sprint from now until the primary, but in Texas you have to think about the voter base overall in November, too,” said Kamau Marshall, a Democratic consultant who has worked for Allred before and worked on other campaigns in Texas. “Who can do the work on the ground? After the primary, who can win in the general?”

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Late Night Open Thread: Jasmine Crockett Is Making Her Decision

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Jasmine Crockett has two cashier's checks made out to use on Monday: one to submit if she files for reelection for her US House seat, the other to jump into the already competitive Texas Democratic primary for US Senate. https://cnn.it/3KwOyfK

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— CNN (@cnn.com) December 7, 2025 at 9:00 AM

fwiw i do not think “divisive comments” are going to be a major problem in a race against ken paxton

— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) December 7, 2025 at 2:01 PM

Jasmine Crockett scrambles Democrats as she weighs a last-minute Texas Senate run (via FoxSanAntonio):

… Crockett is deciding whether to seek reelection to the U.S. House or make a surprise bid for the Senate.

She has prepared for both possibilities, writing two cashier’s checks and planning to cash in one just 90 minutes after her announcement on Monday.

If Crockett enters the Senate primary, she will join a crowded Democratic field that already includes Rep. Colin Allred and State Rep. James Talarico.

Republicans believe her candidacy could energize their base as Sen. John Cornyn campaigns for reelection…

Bari Weiss’ CBS expands on that possibility:

… Our partners at CBS News report that Crockett confirmed she spoke with the Democrats already in the Senate race: former Dallas Congressman Colin Allred, who ran against Senator Cruz last year, and State Representative James Talarico of Austin.

Analysts believe the primary will end in a runoff election at the end of May. That’s the same likelihood in the Republican primary, where incumbent John Cornyn is trying to hold onto his seat against Attorney General Ken Paxton and Houston Congressman Wesley Hunt.

When asked if a Crockett run for Senate will damage Talarico’s or Allred’s campaigns more, Matt Angle, director of the Lone Star Project, a Democratic PAC, told CBS News Texas, “I don’t know if it hurts one more than the other. I think that since Colin ran last time and was the nominee, that anybody challenging that kind of takes away a vote that he had claimed in the past.”

Angle continued, “But that doesn’t mean that he couldn’t prevail in this primary. I think it’s going to be very competitive. They’ve got to think in terms of two rounds. There will be a runoff. How do I get to the runoff? And then, what do I do in order to get to the runoff? Then, what do I do in order to get the support of whoever doesn’t make the runoff? It becomes three-dimensional chess at this point in a challenger for all three of them.”

Crockett told CBS News Texas last month that for her to run for the Senate, she would need polling results showing that she could win a general election next year by expanding the electorate. Crockett has made headlines by clashing with President Trump.

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GOP Open Thread: Not Only Weirder Than We Imagine…

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This is the LAST thing the Republican Party of Minnesota wanted to see happen.
Here's why.
🧵

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— PhoenixWomanMN (@phoenixwomanmn.bsky.social) December 3, 2025 at 7:28 PM

… But weirder than we *can* imagine. Organisms in a closed environment tend to evolve into ever more florid & grotesque forms as they colonize increasingly small niches, and Our Modern GOP looks to be a rich source of Weird over the next few years. Per the Star-Tribune:

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has filed paperwork to run for governor of Minnesota, creating a campaign committee that will allow him to raise money.

The Mike Lindell for Governor committee was registered with the state’s Campaign Finance Board on Wednesday. In an interview Wednesday morning, Lindell told the Minnesota Star Tribune that his run for governor “isn’t 100% yet,” but he intends to announce his decision at a news conference next week.

“I am going to announce either way on Dec. 11,” Lindell said.

Lindell’s possible entrance into the race would shake up what’s become a crowded field of Republicans who are seeking to challenge DFL Gov. Tim Walz. His proximity to President Donald Trump and prominence in the Make America Great Again movement could make him a top contender for the GOP nomination, despite concerns about his electability and promotion of debunked election fraud theories…

This is Lisa DeMuth. She's the person the MN GOP really, really, really wants to run against Tim Walz next November.
She's extremely conservative – anti-choice, anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti-paid-family-leave:

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— PhoenixWomanMN (@phoenixwomanmn.bsky.social) December 3, 2025 at 7:43 PM

Yet, she falsely presents to most casual observers as a "moderate" (i.e., non-MAGA) Republican.
Why? For the same reason so many people thought Barack Obama was more of a lefty than he actually is: her claim to Blackness:
minnesotareformer.com/2025/11/02/g…

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— PhoenixWomanMN (@phoenixwomanmn.bsky.social) December 3, 2025 at 7:53 PM

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