Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Just a reminder, anything you write here is a public record that could show up in an indictment which even if you can get it dismissed for 1st amendment activity, the ride to that point would neither be fun nor cheap. I know people are upset about the Medicaid cuts and SNAP cuts.
I’m sticking with wishing lots of people to perpetually step on Legos while working on how to appropriately intone “Bless your heart.”
Tickled? He's appalled and promising Republicans will regret passing this abomination. Your interpretation is a twisted parody reflecting your own prejudice against Schumer. Hacks gonna hack.
— R.A. Roth (Where am I?) (@fantagor.bsky.social) July 1, 2025 at 2:00 PM
A noisy member of the Horseshoe Right somersaulted in to once again Blame The Dems for the GOP’s bad faith… and got their, uh, head handed to them…
Apparently this is a person of deep faith. All bad.
— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) July 1, 2025 at 1:55 PM
===
Schumer's meh I'd prefer a Murphy or Van Hollen but every D voted against this fucking thing including Fetterman all while pulling some Republicans, stripping it of some truly evil provisions like a trans health ban & solar excise tax and made Vance eat it so how do you somehow make this about them?
— Zeddy (@zeddary.bsky.social) July 1, 2025 at 1:55 PM
And…speaking of bad faith from the ‘far left’…
Murc’s Law Rebuked (And No Sooner Than Time) Open ThreadPost + Comments (105)
BREAKING
Per report Senate Press Gallery X account:
No votes were Collins, Paul, and Tillis
Final vote 51-50 including VP JD Vance— Timothy McBride (@mcbridetd.bsky.social) July 1, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Republican Senate votes to kick millions off health insurancePost + Comments (127)
No, I won’t shut up about flamingos. Not today, when the depraved and evil governor of Florida will welcome the vile and demented president of the United States for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open a concentration camp in the Everglades. I will never shut up about flamingos! [gift link]
Largest group of flamingos in a decade spotted in Florida Everglades
The largest group of American Flamingos seen in Florida in more than a decade was recorded late last week.
Mark Ian Cook, a wildlife and scientific photographer, posted on Facebook that he saw a group of 115 flamingos along the coastline of Florida Bay in the Everglades on Friday. It was the latest indication of the iconic bird’s renewed interest in the Sunshine State, where the native population was obliterated more than a century ago.
Cook was taking part in an aerial survey of birds in Florida Bay when the flamingos were first spotted. He said helicopter pilot James Davies “pointed out a large group of Roseate Spoonbills in the distance, which isn’t an unexpected sight in this area. Except on closer inspection we realized they weren’t spoonbills, they were a group of 115 flamingos.”…
While flamingos are being seen more, there has been no documented nesting in Florida since the late 1800s or early 1900s.
“I think we all are eagerly waiting and hoping that that’s going to happen,” (Julie Wraithmell, executive director of Audubon Florida) said. “And, you know, it still could. But the first step is the bird staying through the season and being able to make a living here, so to speak.”
Friends, someday, we’ll tear down that concentration camp in the Everglades and send its architects to the Hague. And flamingos will build nests where crimes against humanity once occurred. For me, at least, pink is the color of hope!
Open thread!
Bartiromo: "Have you been backing away from [deportations]? Recently you said let's ease up on…farms and hotels."
Trump: "I don't back away. What I do, I cherish our farmers…Let the farmers sort of be in charge. The farmer knows. He's not going to hire a murderer."— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) June 29, 2025 at 11:14 AM
What the Felon-in-Office ‘cherishes’ is the thought of indentured servants, with no rights that a Big Important Employer (like Mr. Trump at Mar-A-Lago) needs to respect. Per the Washington Post, ICE is arresting migrants in worksite raids. Employers are largely escaping charges. [gift link]:
Trump administration officials have vowed to hold companies accountable for employing people who are in the country illegally — no matter which industry they are in or how big or small they might be.
But the Department of Homeland Security’s enforcement operations have overwhelmingly focused on arresting workers rather than punishing employers.
Since the start of the year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has posted news releases regarding approximately two dozen raids on the “Worksite Enforcement” section of its website. Local news outlets have documented dozens more. The Washington Post was able to identify only one employer charged after the raids ICE has publicized. The Post reviewed court filings and searched for records involving individuals named in corporate records of businesses DHS has raided.
Charging company owners for employing undocumented workers has historically been rare because the government needs to demonstrate that the employer knew of the worker’s illegal status. That is a high burden of proof, and investigations can take months. Neither Democratic nor Republican administrations have made worksite raids as much of a priority in the past. The Biden administration halted large-scale immigration arrests at worksites and focused enforcement on employers.
The raids immigration officers are conducting have largely targeted small businesses such as car washes. Some are carried out in a span of minutes. Two business owners said officers did not show a warrant, even when asked for one, raising questions about whether immigration agents are violating constitutional rights in their effort to drive up migrant arrests.
Late Night Immigration Open Thread: To the Surprise of No One…Post + Comments (71)
So Henry is not allowed on the furniture, except by special invitation.
Ever since I rearranged the furniture between various rooms in the house, he seems to think he can jump on the couch – knocking pillows off and jumping from here to there and back again – and then he jumps down and goes to his approved Henry spots.
I have kind of turned a blind eye to that since it seems harmless and he is having so much fun jumping from the ottoman to the couch and then over to the chair. And the ottoman is on wheels, so if he jumps just right he get to go for a ride.
Once he has frolicked a bit he either goes to one of his dog beds or his special chair (my rocking swivel wicker chair from the porch which no longer rocked or swiveled because the metal piece broke, so it’s now Henry’s short wicker chair).
But today I looked up from the computer and saw this:
Totally against the rules!
My little Henry stayed there, very quietly, for at least a couple of hours.
Henry is 10 years old, and he damn well knows what the rules are.
What do you think? Should I change the rules on account of cuteness, or enforce them?
Open thread.
(Image by NEIVANMADE)
Russia has not slowed the pace of its attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets:
Russia’s war crimes don’t pause between massive attacks.
Over the past 24 hours, russian forces attacked six settlements in Kharkiv Oblast, launching missiles, aerial bombs and drones. The attacks killed two civilians and wounded ten others, including a child.
— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) June 30, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Ukraine is (partially) responding by counterattacking Russian targets in Russian occupied Luhansk and Donetsk:
Precision strike on Russian targets in temporarily occupied Donetsk — “a very juicy hit,” says Center for Countering Disinformation head Andriy Kovalenko. Local media report that the headquarters of Russia’s 8th Combined Arms Army is on fire.
— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) June 30, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Occupied Yasynuvata 👀
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) June 30, 2025 at 3:12 PM
More from occupied Luhansk. Im not an expert but that fire looks gigantic 👀
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) June 30, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Last night spoot asked:
I have no idea whether Russia or Ukraine is winning, I cannot tell if the posters I read are objectively reporting the news on the Frontline or on the casualty figures or on the hideous bombing of Ukraine civilians and cities. I pray daily that Trump will finally admit that he cannot prop up Putin anymore but I suspect that day will never come, and that Trump admires and look up to the dictators of the world. wants the absolute power that they enjoy, and wants to join their company in a New World Order.
Can Ukraine prevail without the US? Can Ukraine and the European Union actually produce enough weaponry and arms to hold off the Russians Until their economy starts to crumble? Are all these narratives I read mostly just social media copium?
As Jay wrote in response, in the areas where Russia is accumulating territory it is doing so in such small amounts it would take Russia over 700 years to militarily conquer Ukraine going from east to west. And while this is definitely correct, the real answer to your question is that it is complicated. While a lot of the conflict looks frozen with the lines of contact appearing static, theres a lot of other things going on. And they have to do with the different strategic objectives of Putin/Russia and Ukraine.
Putin’s, and therefore Russia’s, overarching strategic objective is to take Ukraine. Not the nation-state. Not the Ukrainians themselves. Not actual Ukrainian culture. What Putin wants is the territory. If he can get it with the Ukrainians and they could be subjugated to his/Russian rule and dominance, that would work, but if he has to kill every last Ukrainian to get the territory, he’s willing (to try) to do so. He’s already misappropriated Ukraine’s actual social, cultural, and religious history to prop up his inaccurate and inauthentic Russian history. Putin has other strategic objectives tied to his primary one. These include bringing the Baltic states, Finland, Moldova, and Romania back under Russian control, fragmenting the EU, and destroying NATO.
None of these objectives are actually achievable by Russia.
Ukraine’s overarching strategic objective is to survive by defeating Russia. Every day that the vast majority of Ukraine remains free from Russian domination and subjugation and that the Ukrainians are defending themselves are small tactical victories that nest within the overall strategic objective.
What Ukraine needs, as Jay wrote in his reply to you last night, is more support from the EU and NATO since little will be coming from the US going forward. Ukraine also needs, and, quite frankly, the EU and its member states need, the EU to get its act together. The days of being a common economic market and a sort of, kind of, might be if you squint correctly political confederation of states are done. I am not suggesting that the EU member states have to surrender their national sovereignty, but they have to recognize that the threats that they’re facing means they can all hang together or they can continue to be prepared to all hang apart.
Russia CAN BE defeated in Ukraine. The Ukrainians have demonstrated that they have the resilience, resolve, and ingenuity to stymie Putin and Russia. What they need is proper support to ensure that Putin and Russia can be stopped and broken in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainians have made it clear that they are willing to pay the price in blood. What they need is for others to help them play the price in treasure.
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.