Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Keep the Immigrants and deport the fascists!

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

“Alexa, change the president.”

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Books are my comfort food!

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Consistently wrong since 2002

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Saturday Afternoon Open Thread: Run, Kamala, Run…

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This Fourth of July, I am taking a moment to reflect. Things are hard right now. They are probably going to get worse before they get better.
But I love our country — and when you love something, you fight for it. Together, we will continue to fight for the ideals of our nation.

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— Kamala Harris (@kamalaharris.com) July 4, 2025 at 2:03 PM

Almost titled this post ‘Can’t win for losing’, because… Per the Daily Beast, “Kamala Harris Sparks MAGA Meltdown With Fourth of July Post”:

…“I am taking a moment to reflect,” the ex-vice president wrote Friday on X alongside a photo of herself and her husband, Doug Emhoff. “Things are hard right now. They are probably going to get worse before they get better.”

It was the last two sentences of her statement, however, that sent President Donald Trump’s supporters into full-on meltdown mode. “I love our country—and when you love something, you fight for it,” she added. “Together, we will continue to fight for the ideals of our nation.”

“Is Kamala drunk?” right-wing influencer Gunther Eagleman added, in reference to rumors cherished by Republicans that Harris has a problem with alcohol abuse.

“Oh please–someone get her another fifth,” chimed in Chris LaCivita, Trump’s campaign adviser.

Other MAGA voices flocking to the comments section included conservative satire site The Babylon Bee founder Seth Dillon, who said he’s “taking a moment to reflect on how much worse things would have been if you’d won” …

The woman has put in her time — she’s earned a rest, but she’s also more than qualified for whatever political race she might choose in the future. Doubt it’ll be a 2028 presidential run, but after the current maladministration, who knows?

Former Vice President Kamala Harris a favorite in governor's race if she runs, according to new poll – Los Angeles Times
The country was shortchanged of a Harris administration, but no reason why California should be too.
#KHive
apple.news/At9z3o23nT6C…

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— L’Etat C’est Moi (@letatcestmoi.bsky.social) July 5, 2025 at 2:18 AM

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Hey Lurkers, Take 2!

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Open Thread: Hey Lurkers! (Holiday Post)

I put up a lurker thread last week, but another thread followed in close proximity, so I thought we would try again on a day that seems to be quieter.

You all may already know this, but when you post your first comment, it goes into moderation, and sometimes it takes a while for one of us to see it and free your comment so it shows up for everyone.  Once it’s released from moderation, it goes into the comments with the time-stamp for when you first submitted it, so then most people probably never see it.  So it’s not surprising that first comments often don’t get replied to.

So here’s a special open thread where we can keep a particular eye out for first comments that go into moderation.  Plus we get to say hello and wave to some of you!

A few of you who poked your heads up on previous lurker threads have turned into commenters, but don’t let that scare the rest of you away!

In any case, it’s lurker appreciation day here on Balloon Juice!  Welcome, all.

Open thread.

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Saturday Morning Open Thread: Not All Heroes Wear Flashy Tattoos

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Harriet Tubman was a civil rights leader, but she was also a military hero who risked her life fighting for freedom, our nation and the perfection of our democracy.
Actually, Secretary Hegseth, Harriet Tubman was a war hero
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202…

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— Greg Hernandez (@ghnarrator.bsky.social) July 4, 2025 at 10:40 AM

Edda L. Fields-Black & Kate Clifford Larson, at the Washington Post [gift link]:

… Many Americans know Tubman for her courage and sacrifice as conductor of the Underground Railroad, but fewer recognize her as a Civil War spy and military leader. Tubman was the first woman to lead a combat regiment during the Civil War, and in an opinion issued this year, the U.S. Army Office of the General Counsel acknowledged her as one of the few women who served as a soldier in the Civil War. Those contributions merit her the honor of her namesake, the USNS Harriet Tubman.

Now, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to consider removing Tubman’s name from the ship, alongside others named after former Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Thurgood Marshall… Hegseth is seeking to reestablish “warrior culture” in the military, but the removals would betray that culture…

Yet Tubman’s service during the Civil War is perhaps her most consequential legacy. After the U.S. military reclaimed Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, from the Confederacy in 1861, Tubman was sent on a critical mission to gather intelligence from the 8,000 formerly enslaved people who had escaped to Union lines. She was attached to Gen. Isaac Stevens’s headquarters and worked for Gens. Rufus Saxton and David Hunter, commanding a ring of Black men as spies, scouts and river pilots.

Tubman’s little-known mission came to fruition on June 1, 1863, when she guided three U.S. Army boats loaded with 300 Black soldiers from Col. James Montgomery’s Second South Carolina Volunteers, and a battery of White soldiers from another regiment, up the Combahee River into Confederate-controlled territory. Earlier, Tubman and her men had infiltrated Confederate plantations and identified the enslaved men who were forced to plant mines along the Combahee River to prevent Union access. With their help, Tubman’s men and the U.S. Army officers defused the mines. Those soldiers also rooted out Confederate forces, burned seven plantations— including the owners’ homes, barns, stockpiles of rice, and stables— and cut Confederate supply lines by destroying a bridge.

From those burned lands, hundreds of enslaved people flocked to the soldiers’ rowboats at the river shore. Fearful that the rowboats might capsize, Montgomery asked Tubman to calm the crowds. Using her strong voice, she started singing and was met with a joyful response of clapping and shouting. Seven hundred and fifty-six people were liberated that day; the U.S. Army did not lose a single life. The Combahee Ferry Raid is now considered the largest and most successful slave rebellion in U.S. history.

That Tubman was prohibited from enlisting in the U.S. Army did not stop her from risking her life for the enslaved, or for a nation that hadn’t yet recognized her rights as a citizen. Though she was not paid for her work, which also included nursing the sick and cooking for officers — she took in laundry to scrape by — her service with the armed forces helped make the Combahee River Raid one of the most successful campaigns of the war…

(I suspect that one stern look from Harriet Tubman would’ve caused Secretary Kegsbreath to soil himself.)

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War for Ukraine Day 1,226: Russia Targets Kyiv Again

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Screen shot of new artwork by NEIVANMADE. The background is black. In the bottom foreground are grey Ukrainian homes and apartment buildings being bombarded by red Russian missiles with the Special Military Operation "Z" symbol on them. Above the missiles, written in red is the word "Ruzzians". Below the buildings being attacked is the statement "Turns Homes Into Graves".

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Air raid alerts are up for almost all of northern and central Ukraine at 3;20 AM local time/8:20 PM EDT. The focus, as it was last night, seems to be Kyiv, which was hit very hard by the Russians this morning.

My city after the attack

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— Mira of Kyiv 🇺🇦 (@reshetz.bsky.social) July 4, 2025 at 2:51 AM

Putin and the Russians are emboldened to escalate their strikes on Ukrainian civilian targets because the US has very publicly stopped supplying weapons to Ukraine. We now know that this has been done unilaterally by Hegseth despite being informed sending the weapons would not impact US readiness. From The Kyiv Independent:

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unilaterally halted a weapons shipment to Ukraine on July 2 despite internal military assessments showing the aid would not compromise American military readiness, NBC News reported on July 4, citing three U.S. officials.

The pause in aid, which included critical air defense systems and ammunition, reportedly caught the State Department, members of Congress, Ukraine, and key European allies off guard.

Ukraine suffered one of the largest attacks on July 4, with President Volodymyr Zelensky calling for more air defense to protect civilians in the cities. The attack on Kyiv killed one person and injured 23 more.

A senior U.S. military review had concluded that while some munitions stockpiles, including precision weapons, were low, they had not fallen below critical thresholds, according to NBC. Despite this, Hegseth opted to stop the shipment. This is reportedly his third such move since February.

“We are not at any lower point, stockpile-wise, than we’ve been in the three-and-a-half years of the Ukraine conflict,” Congressman Adam Smith the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said. Smith, who said his staff reviewed the Pentagon’s figures, called the justification “disingenuous.”

The shipment reportedly included dozens of Patriot interceptors, 155 mm artillery rounds, Hellfire missiles, guided missile systems (GMLRS), Stinger and AIM air-to-air missiles, and grenade launchers.

Two sources told NBC that some of the weapons had already been loaded onto trucks in Poland when the halt was ordered.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell described earlier the decision as part of a broader “capability review” to ensure U.S. forces remain equipped.

The halt has initiated debate over the future of U.S. support for Ukraine.

Lawmakers from both parties, including Republican Congressman  Michael McCaul, expressed frustration at the lack of advance notice. “Now is the time to show Putin we mean business,” McCaul wrote on X.

Republican Congressman Joe Wilson also reacted to the halt, warning of its consequences amid Russia’s ongoing strikes.

“As Americans begin to enjoy the sounds of fireworks in celebration of our Nation’s Independence, war criminal (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, who is losing his pathetic war, resorts to scorched earth tactics across Ukrainian cities that predate Moscow’s existence,” Wilson wrote.

Wilson said he is “confident the Department of Defense will advance President Trump’s objectives stated at The Hague to send additional air defense and approved weapons to help stop this absolute depravity, as allies have and must continue doing at a rapid pace.”

Trump has denied that the U.S. paused shipments on July 3, contradicting both Pentagon confirmation and reporting.

“We haven’t,” Trump told a reporter. “We’re giving weapons.” He also claimed the Biden administration had “emptied out our whole country” and insisted Washington must prioritize its own defense.

More at the link.

This is what Hegseth and Colby, the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, as well as Trump, whether he is in or out of the loop, have wrought:

On the eve of America’s Independence Day, Putin unleashed over 500 drones and dozens of missiles on Kyiv.
A message, perhaps — not to Ukraine, but to Trump and his illusion of influence. To show him: dictators don’t take cues from those who seek their favor.

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) July 4, 2025 at 2:25 AM

Just hell

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— Mira of Kyiv 🇺🇦 (@reshetz.bsky.social) July 4, 2025 at 3:21 AM

Morning in Kyiv. No sleep. Air quality is extremely bad. City is covered in thick smoke.

This is Russian terror, aimed at people who chose to stay, resist and fight.

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— Maria Avdeeva (@mariainkharkiv.bsky.social) July 4, 2025 at 2:31 AM

Map of routes of weapons fired at Ukraine by fascist Russia overnight. Shahed drones circled the Ukrainian capital and then converged to subject Kyiv to a massive bombardment, followed up by a missile attack in the early hours.

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— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) July 4, 2025 at 1:39 AM

550 aerial weapons used against democratic Ukraine by fascist Russia in last night’s massive air attack – that’s a new record, up from 537 used in the Russian attack on June 29. Air alert in Kyiv still on – just got warning on my phone of increased air threat in Kyiv.

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— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) July 4, 2025 at 1:26 AM

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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And Yet, Sometimes We *Have* Done Better

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This is a terrific thread, especially for today.

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— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) July 4, 2025 at 5:09 PM

www.popehat.com/p/the-fourth…

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— Popehat’s Interests First (@kenwhite.bsky.social) July 4, 2025 at 11:21 AM

I believe it was Satby who flagged this…

For years, I have retold the story reprinted below every Fourth of July. It describes a formative experience in my life and in my identity as an American. I still feel powerfully many of its sentiments: my fondness and appreciation for the late Judge Lew, my admiration for the courage and fortitude of the Filipino soldiers and their families, my belief in America as a set of aspirational values worth pursuing.

But things change. The brave and patient men who were naturalized that day are dead. Judge Lew passed away several years ago. And every day of 2025 is a reminder that no set of values is guaranteed to endure: that the America those men believed in is no promise, but a hope…

Yet I am still moved to tell this Fourth of July story. It’s become an act of defiance, because the story is contrary to the prevailing values of 2025. I still believe that those Filipinos coming to America and becoming Americans is something to celebrate, in the face of a surge of cruel and ignorant nativism. I still believe that being good American requires recognizing our wrongs and fixing them, in the face of a surge of banal America-is-never-wrong propaganda and censorship. I still believe we can do better. I am just more acutely aware that doing better will not be easy and may not be peaceful, and that doing it will require fighting people just as dedicated to low and ugly values, and that we may lose.

But the story also reminds me I am not entitled to wallow. I am fortunate. I have autonomy, power, a voice. America’s history is the story of people — like those Filipino-Americans — who had much less and faced far more daunting circumstances and kept fighting. It would be shameful to give up that fight. The bullies may win, but they will not win by default, and they will not win without a bloody battle.

THE FOURTH OF JULY

Nearly thirty-five ago, in the hot summer of 1992, I was working as an extern for Judge Ronald S.W. Lew, a federal judge in Los Angeles. One day in early July he abruptly walked into my office and said without preamble “Get your coat.” …

Judge Lew — the first Chinese-American district court judge in the continental United States — grabbed his robe from the trunk and walked briskly into the VFW hall with his externs and clerks trailing behind him. We paused in the foyer and he introduced us to some of the VFW officers, who greeted him warmly. He donned his robe and peered through a window in a door to see hundreds of people sitting in the main hall, talking excitedly, the children waving small American flags and streamers about. One of the VFW officers whispered in his ear, and he nodded and said “I’ll see them first.” The clerks and my fellow extern were chatting to some immigration officials, and so he beckoned me. I followed him through a doorway to a small anteroom.

There, in a dark and baroquely decorated room, we found eight elderly men. These were too infirm to stand. Three were on stretchers, several were in wheelchairs, two had oxygen tanks. One had no right arm. A few relatives, beaming, stood near each one. One by one, Judge Lew administered the naturalization oath to them — closely, sometimes touching their hands, speaking loudly so they could hear him, like a priest administering extreme unction. They smiled, grasped his hand, spoke the oath as loudly as they could with evident pride. Some wept. I may have as well.

One said, not with anger but with the tone of a dream finally realized, “We’ve waited so long for this.”

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Open Thread: The Cruelty Stupidity Is the Point

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You can't make it up
MAGA Congressman Derrick Van Orden-a huge supporter of the Big Ugly Bill
Who published this repugnant post cheering the fact that the law would gut Medicaid and SNAP
Is now BEGGING the Democratic governor of his state
To save the very hospitals that he just voted to close

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— Adam Cohen (My Personal Views Only) (@axidentaliberal.bsky.social) July 4, 2025 at 10:23 AM


===
Not the Onion, as the youngs say…

If Republicans were completely confident in their #BigUglyBill, they wouldn't already be begging Democrats to save Republicans' asses/bail them out.
Republicans' strategy is/always has been to blame Democrats for negative impacts of Republicans' actions.
www.msnbc.com/top-stories/… #Medicaid #WI03

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— donnayoungdc (@donnayoungdc.bsky.social) July 4, 2025 at 4:55 PM


===

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Fireworks Friday Morning Open Thread

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Who are you gonna believe — me, or your lying eyes paystub?

NEWSNATION: It's estimated that more than 32k of your constituents will lose access to healthcare, nearly 19k will lose food stamps. If that's true, how is this bill good for your constituents?
MIKE LAWLER: Those numbers aren't true … Dems are putting out numbers they're making up out of thin air

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) July 3, 2025 at 7:41 PM


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A. People will experience the effects
B. Even without this bill Repubs were screwed; remember, they were slaughtered in 2018, & 2022 they had the worst midterm of a party not in the White House since 1934
C. It’s easier to convince ppl they’re being screwed than that they’re being helped…/1

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— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) July 4, 2025 at 2:13 AM


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D. Midterms are generally more about turnout than persuasion. People whose local hospital or grandma’s nursing home are closing may not vote Dem but they may not come out to vote Repub either
E. There’s actually paid media; by spending $ on ads Dems can circumvent the press

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— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) July 4, 2025 at 2:18 AM


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