Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

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

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

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

A tremendous foreign policy asset… to all of our adversaries.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

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

Republicans do not pay their debts.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

This is dead girl, live boy, a goat, two wetsuits and a dildo territory.  oh, and pink furry handcuffs.

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Trump Orders Israel to “Pardon” Netanyahu

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Trump is enraged about the leaked classified report that interrupted his victory dance over the “complete and total obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear program. [NYT]

A preliminary classified U.S. report says the American bombing of three nuclear sites in Iran set back the country’s nuclear program by only a few months, according to officials familiar with the findings.

The strikes sealed off the entrances to two of the facilities but did not collapse their underground buildings, the officials said the early findings concluded.

So, all that huffing and puffing, and it’s entrances blocked? Sad. Like Laura Loomer handcuffing herself to half of a double door at Twitter’s NYC office building sad.

This morning, Trump sent Kegsbreath out to insist that actually, it was TOO a total and complete obliteration, and if you don’t think so, that’s because you hate the troops. Also, wave more flags.

“How about we talk about how special America is?” — Secretary of Defense Hegseth castigates the press for “cheering against Trump” (he even mentions Fox!) and urges them to do unthinking propaganda stories about how awesome the troops are

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) June 26, 2025 at 8:20 AM

Okay, that was weird and creepy and North Korea-like, but it was also ineffective because the smelly overgrown toddler was still throwing toys out of his gilded playpen this morning — after the scoldy Pentagon press conference:

Trump on truth social: "FAKE NEWS REPORTERS FROM CNN & THE NEW YORK TIMES SHOULD BE FIRED, IMMEDIATELY!!! BAD PEOPLE WITH EVIL INTENTIONS!!!"

But the tantrum was even weirder last night if you scroll down. Trump orders the judiciary of another sovereign nation to cancel an upcoming trial:

BREAKING NEWS…I was shocked to hear that the State of Israel, which has just had one of its Greatest Moments in History, and is strongly led by Bibi Netanyahu, is continuing its ridiculous Witch Hunt against their Great War Time Prime Minister! Bibi and I just went through HELL together, fighting a very tough and brilliant longtime enemy of Israel, Iran, and Bibi could not have been better, sharper, or stronger in his LOVE for the incredible Holy Land. Anybody else would have suffered losses, embarrassment, and chaos! Bibi Netanyahu was a WARRIOR, like perhaps no other Warrior in the History of Israel, and the result was something that nobody thought was possible, a complete elimination of potentially one of the biggest and most powerful Nuclear Weapons anywhere in the World, and it was going to happen, SOON! We were fighting, literally, for the Survival of Israel, and there is nobody in Israel’s History that fought harder or more competently than Bibi Netanyahu. Despite all of this, I just learned that Bibi has been summoned to Court on Monday for the continuation of this long running, (He has been going through this “Horror Show” since May of 2020 – Unheard of! This is the first time a sitting Israeli Prime Minister has ever been on trial.), politically motivated case, “concerning cigars, a Bugs Bunny doll, and numerous other unfair charges” in order to do him great harm. Such a WITCH HUNT, for a man who has given so much, is unthinkable to me. He deserves much better than this, and so does the State of Israel. Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State. Perhaps there is no one that I know who could have worked in better harmony with the President of the United States, ME, than Bibi Netanyahu. It was the United States of America that saved Israel, and now it is going to be the United States of America that saves Bibi Netanyahu. THIS TRAVESTY OF “JUSTICE” CAN NOT BE ALLOWED!

Emphasis mine. What the fucking fuck?

Trump held a grudge against Netanyahu after the PM congratulated Biden on his win in 2020. But since Netanyahu let Trump in on his glorious victory over Iran (i.e., played Trump to obtain U.S. pilots to deliver costly U.S. ordnance), all is forgiven and Netanyahu is “a WARRIOR, like perhaps no other Warrior in the History of Israel.” (More proof Trump has never read a bible in his life.)

Anyway, this is all so fucking weird. I don’t know what to make of it.

Open thread.

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How Democrats Win

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Even if you are a “I can read it faster than I can watch it or listen to it person”, I hope you’ll make an exception and watch this video.

It’s less than 3 minutes long.

Then maybe we can talk about what we agree with, anything we might not agree with, and maybe use this as a jumping off point to talk about other ideas we might have about how we win.

While I wait 3 minutes for you all to finishing watching the video :-) can I just say that Betty Cracker has had some seriously kick-ass posts here in the morning lately.

Open thread.

How Democrats WinPost + Comments (175)

Thursday Morning Open Thread: Fighting Back

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You can pass lots of dumb things in reconciliation or with a fillibuster proof majority and parties often do.
Then they get reamed in midterms, and the people who passed it take 7 figure lobbying jobs.

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— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) June 25, 2025 at 8:11 PM

@sarahlongwell25.bsky.social: “Democrats' messaging is breaking through. I'm listening to voters in the focus groups — they're saying back what Democrats are putting out there, which is they are cutting your programs, programs that benefit you in order to give tax cuts to very rich people.”

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— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) June 25, 2025 at 4:23 PM

TAPPER: Republicans are debating a $15m fund for rural hospitals to offset some of the concerns about what the bill does do Medicaid
DUCKWORTH: It's like the person setting the fire saying, 'Hey, you know what, we need a fire department!'…Americans did not vote for the 'we're all gonna die' party

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) June 25, 2025 at 5:42 PM

I actually think this is perhaps slightly more meaningful than any of the dunks on Vought.
McConnell wouldn't be doing this without wider support in the GOP caucus, he's just a convenient (retiring) elder statesman who can go after an administration of his own party.

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— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) June 25, 2025 at 6:45 PM

Republican congressional leaders call a demonstration by wheelchair-bound protesters "illegal" and order reluctant Capitol Police to arrest them and tie them down with zip ties. What was "illegal" about the protests? They were against the OBB bill about which the GOP is nervous.

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— Scott Horton (@robertscotthorton.bsky.social) June 25, 2025 at 6:16 PM

Budzinski: Families making over $700,000 a year will see a boost of $12,000 almost entirely from tax cuts. Shockingly, households making $23,000 a year or less are set to lose about $1600 a year, mostly due to deep cuts to Medicaid and food assistance

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— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) June 25, 2025 at 8:09 PM

Thursday Morning Open Thread: Fighting BackPost + Comments (104)

Late Night Open Thread: I Like Brad Lander

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Congratulations, @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social!
Onward to November.

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— Democrats (@democrats.org) June 25, 2025 at 4:13 PM

When I was growing up in New York City — when I fled the city in the early 1970s — our mayors were notoriously weird, and the politics behind their various elections were even weirder. This had been true, from all reports, for at least the previous 200 years, and it remains true to this day. Let’s just specify that putting the national financial capital, and the national center of Big Media, on the same crowded landscape was a bad idea. Between these two classes and the 85% of the population that they perceive to exist only as their spear-carriers, the neverending battle(s) turn every mayoral election into a citywide version of Festivus. The potential Mamdani Era will not, I assume, be any less weird.

But I have total respect for Brad Lander. From NYMag, “Brad Lander Is the Happiest Loser”:

If Zohran Mamdani enters City Hall, it will be due in no small part to Brad Lander. The progressive comptroller struggled to break out of the shadow of his younger, democratic-socialist competitor, but two weeks ago, the pair cross-endorsed each other, campaigning on their shared politics and their disdain for front-runner Andrew Cuomo. Lander’s campaign didn’t stop there, running an ad urging voters against ranking Cuomo and paying for Primary Election Day robocalls aimed at Black and Jewish voters, two key parts of the former governor’s base. Lander finished third in the first round of voting, and it will likely be Lander’s second-round votes that deliver Mamdani’s official victory over Cuomo next week.

I spoke with Lander, after he got a few hours of sleep following Tuesday’s shocking results, about his alliance with Mamdani and whether he would serve in his administration.

The primary’s returns were released gradually last night. When did you realize that Mamdani might actually win it all?
I mean, it was as the same-day numbers were continuing in the pattern from the early voting. The early vote was, I guess, about 40 percent of the vote. So, at 50 percent, I think it still felt like, All right, you know, who knows what that is? But once it went to 60 percent of the vote and 70 percent of the vote and that same pattern held showing Zohran up, our team realized he’s gonna win this…

You and Mamdani cross-endorsed each other, a strategy that will likely help to propel him to victory. How did that decision first come to be?
Well, from the beginning of this race, we had talked about making sure we had a smart ranked-choice strategy. Four years ago, Eric Adams was elected, in large part, because the No. 2 and No. 3 candidates, Maya Wiley and Kathyrn Garcia, did not cross-endorse each other, and that wound up doing grave harm to New York City. We were committed not to make that mistake again. The Working Families Party brought four candidates into a slate, and early on, I had committed to ranking that slate.

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War for Ukraine Day 1,217: The Cost

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A painting by Ukrainian artist NEIVANMADE. The words "NEVER AGAIN" are repeated over and over, from left to right and top to bottom, in a faded, washed out black against a white background. Red, the color of blood, runs and drips down across 2/3rds of the painting. "WHILE YOU TOLERATE TYRANTS" is written/painted in the bottom white corner below the three rows of "NEVER AGAIN".

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

The cost:

Today, June 25th, at approximately 3:40 AM, the Russian army carried out an airstrike on the village of Vodyane in Kharkiv region. A guided aerial bomb struck a private residential area, killing a 49-year-old woman. Her husband, also 49, was injured and hospitalized.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) June 25, 2025 at 7:32 AM

Liudmyla Melezhyk was the woman killed in the airstrike on Vodyane in Kharkiv region today. Her husband, Ivan, is currently under medical supervision at a hospital in Kharkiv.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) June 25, 2025 at 7:37 AM

This day was meant to be a celebration.

She dreamed her dad would see her in a graduation dress. Instead, she stood by his grave. Her father died defending #Ukraine.

russia takes away the dearest people and most precious moments from Ukrainian children. This should never happen

U24 GOV UA / Insta

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— Eugene McParland 🇺🇦 (@eugenemcparland.bsky.social) June 25, 2025 at 1:59 PM

Here’s last night’s Ukrainian air defense tally:

Attacks of less than 100 Russian/Iranian flying bombs drones are considered small in Ukraine now.

Last night 52 of 71 drones were neutralized (either shot down, jammed or location lost) – 73%. Of the ones unaccounted for, it’s unknown how many were live bombs, decoys or recon.

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— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) June 25, 2025 at 2:51 AM

President Zelenskyy addressed the parliament of the representatives of the PACE member states in Strausbourg today.

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Wednesday Night Open Thread

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So like most everyone else who does not live in NYC, I spent the day reading up on Zohran, and I gotta say this sounds ok with me:

Capital has ground New York down so deeply that the people who live here will not take it anymore.

Mamdani wanted this fight, he waged it, and he won it. He did what the people’s playbook said it would take to win it: He organized thoroughly, mobilized relentlessly, and promised the working class deliverable policies needed to keep their lives within their grasp—lower rent; free childcare; fast and free buses; cheaper groceries through public stores—despite the entire political and economic establishments laughing at those policies and those needs. He did not shy away from these needs. He championed them.

That sounds like the kind of shit a country concerned about low birth rates would rally around, and if that’s socialism, I am all for it. At any rate, good to see we avoided the unmentionable short term primary disaster and having to deal with cuomo for however long. Let’s hope they don’t fuck it up in the fall.

***

I have no idea what the geography or population of these new zones are, but a bunch of people might be surprised to see the military in their back yard now:

– The Pentagon will create two new military zones along the border with Mexico, U.S. officials said on Wednesday, a move that allows troops to temporarily detain migrants or trespassers.

President Donald Trump’s administration has hailed its actions along the border, including the deployment of active duty troops, as the reason for a sharp decline in crossings by undocumented migrants. Trump made voters’ concerns about immigration a cornerstone of his 2024 re-election bid.

The Pentagon has already created two military zones, but only four people have been temporarily detained on them, a U.S. official said.

A new “National Defense Area” will be created covering about 250 miles (402 km) of the Rio Grande river in Texas and administered as a part of Joint Base San Antonio, according to the Air Force.

We should be bussing people over the rio grande so our fucking crops don’t rot in the fields and giving them an easy way to become Americans.

***

Last night I stated: “You know what you are gonna get with Adams, and if you don’t know anything about Sliwa, go watch some old 70’s early 80’s “the blacks in the cities are gonna kills us all” movies. Anything with Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, or Clint Eastwood will do.”

Commenter Galaxy Being quickly noted that Lee Marvin was not in any movies like that, and you know what, they are right! I think my mind has just attached Lee Marvin at the hip with Charles Bronson because I watched Death Hunt so many times as a kid. FWIW I remember a cool story about Charles Bronson- something about him being raised dirt poor and just being a decent and generous person.

I am off to watch some more of the Day of the Jackal. Btw, it rained this afternoon, but it only dropped to 85 so you can imagine the humidity. Oh, and my fridge is dying. Buy a house they said. You’ll build equity, they said.

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Wednesday Evening Open Thread: The GOP Death Caucus

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People in wheelchairs are getting arrested right now in the Russell Senate Office Building in DC. They showed up to tell Congress not to cut their Medicaid, because they cant afford health care without it. If you look closely you can see the zip ties on their hands. #WeWontGetOverLosingMedicaid

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— Aaron Black (@aaronblack.bsky.social) June 25, 2025 at 2:26 PM


===

We really would benefit from national attention shifting to how bad this bill is for the state of American health care.
Millions will lose care. Millions more will find it their costs increase and odious practices that deserve to be banned for good could come roaring back.

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— Clean Observer (@hammbear2024.bsky.social) June 25, 2025 at 1:51 PM

…Medical bankruptcies, “job lock,” deferred treatment, the psychological agony of uninsurance—Obamacare made all of these problems much smaller. It has been a boon to American liberty. Democrats in 2009 and 2010 could have reduced the uninsured population to a similar degree without prohibiting the status quo barbarism: If they’d reduced the Medicare eligibility age, increased the income threshold for Medicaid, tweaked rules governing employer-sponsored insurance, it would have been a good bill, and reduced human suffering quite a lot, just as the ACA did. But there’d still be a hole in the center of our safety net large enough to swallow many lives; sick people left out of the incremental expansions would have been screwed.

So when Republicans began their most recent crusade against Medicaid, the affront did not feel quite as severe as when they went after pre-existing conditions protections per se. Mitch McConnell knows as well as anyone how hot the politics of health care legislation can get, and even he’s grown complacent.

“I know a lot of us are hearing from people back home about Medicaid,” he told Senate Republicans Tuesday. “But they’ll get over it.”…

That explains why he keeps lying about his party's intent to cut Medicaid

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— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha1.bsky.social) June 25, 2025 at 9:47 AM

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