Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Dear legacy media: you are not here to influence outcomes and policies you find desirable.

He really is that stupid.

The willow is too close to the house.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

Fucking consultants! (of the political variety)

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

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

Hot air and ill-informed banter

If you’re gonna whine, it’s time to resign!

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

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

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

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

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

So many bastards, so little time.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

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Activist Judges!

Rest in Honor, Robert Mueller

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BREAKING: Former FBI director and special counsel Robert Swan Mueller III has died. He was 81. www.ms.now/news/former-…

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— Mueller, She Wrote (@muellershewrote.com) March 21, 2026 at 1:07 PM

Robert Mueller, the former FBI director for more than a decade who later served as special counsel in the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, died on Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter. He was 81.

The cause of death was not immediately known, but Mueller had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for years, the people said.

Mueller, whose two-year probe concluded in 2019 that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election of Donald Trump, served as FBI director from 2001 to 2013. The Justice Department in 2017 appointed him special counsel to oversee the growing investigation after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey…

Mueller’s investigation resulted in 37 indictments and seven guilty pleas, though he found no evidence that Trump or his aides coordinated with Russia. The Mueller report, as it came to be known, did not conclude that Trump committed any crime, but it also did not clear the president of obstruction of justice.

The investigation made Mueller a prime Trump target. For years, the president lobbed insults and sought to undermine Mueller’s credibility while claiming a “deep state” conspiracy against him…

Mueller spent much of his adult life in public service. At a time when many young men were trying to avoid serving in Vietnam, Mueller not only volunteered for the U.S. Marines Corps after graduating from Princeton University, but spent a year waiting for an injured knee to heal so he could serve. He was awarded a Purple Heart after being shot while leading a platoon to rescue American soldiers under attack by the Vietcong…

He served as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California from 1998-2001 before being tapped by President George W. Bush to lead the FBI, taking office the week before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

After 9/11, Mueller transformed the FBI into an agency dedicated to fighting terrorism — and staved off an effort to split the bureau into two parts, one for intelligence and the other for law enforcement…

Whether you think it’s appropriate or inappropriate to revel in someone else’s death, Trump here has given you his personal permission to celebrate his passing. If you used these exact words, literally no Trump supporting Republican would be able to criticize you.

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— Tom Coates (@tomcoates.bsky.social) March 21, 2026 at 4:10 PM

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Friday Night Fights Open Thread: Schadenfreude

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Okay I am going to try and stop Trump-posting for the day but what a pair of headlines
*TRUMP ON SUPREME COURT RULING: I READ THE PARAGRAPHS
*TRUMP ON HIGH COURT RULING: WAS SURPRISED, THOUGHT I CAN'T LOSE

— George Pearkes (@peark.es) February 20, 2026 at 1:56 PM

CNN: Apparently the breakfast had been going well. Then Trump became enraged. He started ranting about the decision, not only calling it a disgrace, but started attacking the courts at one point saying: these f’ing courts

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— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) February 20, 2026 at 11:33 AM

I think it's worth noting that the Trump admin has really been in retreat across a whole swath of areas and doesn't really seem to have the tools to do anything about it.

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— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) February 20, 2026 at 11:15 AM

I am a mere bumpkin and all, but as far as I can tell this is the beginning and end of the controlling parts of the tariffs opinion.

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— Raffi Melkonian (@rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social) February 20, 2026 at 11:46 AM

I think this is a pretty large misread of the politics. Trump forcing the issue because he's mad makes "do u want tariffs" front and center in every congressional race. Viewing winning outcomes as bad like this is kind of just rolling over in advance.

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— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) February 20, 2026 at 11:44 AM

Reporter: Hakeem Jeffries called you a wannabe king
Trump: Low IQ
Reporter: Why won’t you just work with Congress?
Trump: I don’t have to.

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— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) February 20, 2026 at 2:24 PM

New song suggestion for Trump rallies: "I Fought the Law and the Law Won"

— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) February 20, 2026 at 12:13 PM

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TGIFriday Morning Open Thread

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Morning respite:

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A federal judge has accused the Trump administration of terrorizing immigrants and recklessly violating the law in its efforts to deport millions of people living in the country illegally.

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— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) February 19, 2026 at 7:30 PM

… Citing the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota, the judge said that the White House had also “extended its violence on its own citizens.”

“The threats posed by the executive branch cannot be viewed in isolation,” U.S. District Judge Sunshine Sykes in Riverside, California said in a scathing decision issued late Wednesday.

Sykes said the administration had violated her December ruling that found it was illegally denying many detained immigrants a chance for release. She ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to provide them with notice that they may be eligible for bond and then give them access to a phone to call an attorney within an hour.

She also threw out a September ruling by an immigration court that the administration had cited for continuing its mandatory detention policy…

Under past administrations, people with no criminal record could generally request a bond hearing before an immigration judge while their cases wound through immigration court unless they were stopped at the border. President Donald Trump ’s White House reversed that practice.

With access to bond hearings cut off, immigrants by the thousands filed separate petitions in federal court seeking their release. More than 20,000 habeas corpus cases have been filed since Trump’s inauguration, according to federal court records analyzed by the AP.

Judges have granted many of those petitions, but then later found the administration was violating their orders to release people or provide them with other relief.

A federal judge in Minnesota took the rare step Wednesday of finding a Trump administration lawyer in contempt of court over the government’s failure to comply with an order to return identification documents to an immigrant the judge had ordered released.

A federal judge in New Jersey this week ordered the administration to explain what procedures are in place to ensure court orders in his district are followed consistently and on time. U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said Tuesday that Trump officials failed to meet court ordered deadlines for bond hearings in immigration court in 12 of roughly 550 cases since December 5…

Matt Adams, an attorney for plaintiffs in the lawsuit before Sykes, said he was hopeful her latest ruling would do away with mandatory detention.

“Certainly in the normal course of things, the immigration judges would return to granting bond hearings,” he said.

INBOX: Gov. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia will deliver the response to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday.
She is the second of "The Badasses," the national security Democratic women who won seats in 2018, to deliver the response. Elissa Slotkin did last year

— Eric Michael Garcia (@ericmgarcia.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 2:17 PM

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Open Thread: Judge Rules Mark Kelly > Pete Hegseth

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There we go:
Judge blocks Pentagon chief Hegseth’s censure of Sen. Kelly over troops video, for now
www.cnbc.com/2026/02/12/k…

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— FreedomFighter (@thirty06.bsky.social) February 12, 2026 at 1:14 PM

Judge says Hegseth is unlawfully retaliating against Sen. Mark Kelly over ‘illegal orders’ video and holds his action against the senator, including reducing his last military rank, which would lower the pay he receives as a retired Navy captain.
www.cnn.com/2026/02/12/p…

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— The Bishop 🇬🇧🇪🇺🇺🇦🇨🇦🏴‍☠️💙 (@fritzbischoff.bsky.social) February 12, 2026 at 2:14 PM

So rightly humiliating for Hegseth.
“Rather than trying to shrink First Amendment liberties… Hegseth and his fellow Defendants might reflect and be grateful for the wisdom and expertise that retired service members have brought our Nation over the past 250 years” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/u…

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— Mark Follman (@markfollman.bsky.social) February 12, 2026 at 2:00 PM


Gift link: “Judge Temporarily Blocks Hegseth from Punishing Kelly for Video”:

… Judge Richard J. Leon of the District Court for the District of Columbia wrote in a 29-page opinion that the Defense Department’s move to discipline Mr. Kelly, a retired Navy captain and former astronaut, ran roughshod over his freedom of speech. Judge Leon barred Mr. Hegseth and the Pentagon from taking any steps to reduce the senator’s retirement rank and pay, or using the findings against Mr. Kelly in a criminal proceeding.

“Rather than trying to shrink the First Amendment liberties of retired service members, Secretary Hegseth and his fellow Defendants might reflect and be grateful for the wisdom and expertise that retired service members have brought to public discussions and debate on military matters in our Nation over the past 250 years,” he wrote. “If so, they will more fully appreciate why the Founding Fathers made free speech the first Amendment in the Bill of Rights!”

The blunt ruling came after a grand jury in Washington rejected an extraordinary attempt by federal prosecutors in Washington to secure a criminal indictment against Mr. Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers who together released a video in November directed at members of the military and intelligence community.

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Schadenfreude Open Thread: GOP / Trumpist Fire Drill

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They kind of need attorneys for this

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— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) February 2, 2026 at 12:53 PM

I think it's also worth noting that Trump is actually legit aware of what's going on in specials and that the GOP is getting creamed and is distinctly worried about spending his last two years in office getting impeached non stop

— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) February 2, 2026 at 1:50 PM

Speaking of which…

goodnight, sweet prince

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— Quinta Jurecic (@qjurecic.bsky.social) February 2, 2026 at 2:23 PM

🤔This combined with the piece on "they're meeting every day to figure out how to go after people" tells me that they are realizing that the group of idiots they've put in charge, are in fact, idiots, and they're trying to figure out how to move forward.

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— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) February 2, 2026 at 2:35 PM

One would also note that these stories come literally two days after Mizelle and Miller were openly soliciting AUSA applications on twitter lmao

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— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) February 2, 2026 at 2:38 PM

Honestly the entire DOJ apparatus of crank lawyers falling apart is a good thing

— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) February 2, 2026 at 2:29 PM

imo its generally unclear and seems fairly unlikely that "competent trump loyalists" is a thing that actually exists.

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— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) February 2, 2026 at 3:25 PM

Below the fold, some sercon (serious + constructive) arguments, from people with experience in these areas:

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Open Thread: The Democratic AGs Will Not Stop Fighting Back

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I wasn't sure what to expect from a group of Democratic state AGs, but I definitely was not expecting a long monologue about Ruby Ridge and the Boston Massacre www.theverge.com/policy/86588…

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— sarah jeong (@sarahjeong.bsky.social) January 22, 2026 at 2:58 PM

I started this post Thursday evening — little did we know what Keith Ellison would be facing over the weekend! Sarah Jeong, at The Verge, “The state attorneys general are as mad as you are”:

… The town hall, said Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, was being held so the AGs could hear what people wanted them to focus on in the coming year. But there was one thing he wanted everyone to hear: “We are not backing down. There is no way in hell we are going to let this president continue to chip away at our rights and our democracy at this time. We are going to continue to fight for this entire term and do our job as attorneys general.”

This was the overall theme of the evening. “Whenever you’re confronted by a bully like Donald Trump, if you think by keeping your head down and being quiet, being sweet, nice, that he’s not gonna stomp all over you, you are wrong,” said Ellison. “The only solution is to stand up, fight back, and protect your own.”

“If the president crosses the line, violates the law, violates the Constitution, we’re gonna fight him,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta. “Period. Full stop. No passes. Every single time.”…

A year ago, a coalition of Democratic state AGs filed the first of many lawsuits against the second Trump administration, seeking an injunction against an executive order that purportedly ended birthright citizenship. Birthright citizenship is in the US Constitution. It is not possible for the president to change the Constitution by fiat. In other words, the executive order — like so many things yet to come — was complete bullshit.

The AGs sued Trump the very next day. Having gotten a good sense of what Trump was capable of in his first term, the state AGs began to work together well in advance, getting on daily phone calls. There were 23 AGs total (24, now), but they were working together smoothly, said Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez. “What we’re doing is too serious, too important to let our own egos get in our way.” The phone calls slowed down over time but their staffers continued to be in near constant communication…

The Democratic AGs collectively filed over 70 lawsuits against Trump in just one year. Not all of the states were parties in all of the cases (for example, California is in 54 of them; Oregon is in 53). For the most part, it appeared the court orders were working. Certainly, each of the attorneys general had secured billions in Congressionally appropriated funding for their states — even if laws aren’t real anymore, money sort of is.

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said he would “welcome Republican attorneys general” to join them on the cases, noting that the Republican AGs had stayed out of the fights altogether. Instead of joining the Trump administration on the other side, they had simply let the Democratic AGs sue over SNAP benefits and research dollars and more, securing nationwide injunctions that benefited Republican constituents too. “They are sitting off in the corner, just letting us do the work,” said Frey. “Democratic attorneys general are fighting for that so that Republicans can sit on the sidelines and sort of wait to pop up every now and then and say, ‘Trump, what can we do for you?’”…

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Open Thread: Letitia James Is Indicted by Trump, Remains Uncowed

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CNN: We have just learned that Letitia James has just been indicted by the DOJ

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— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) October 9, 2025 at 4:29 PM

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This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.
I am not fearful — I am fearless.
We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights..

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— New York Attorney General Letitia James (@newyorkstateag.bsky.social) October 9, 2025 at 5:36 PM

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Because lèse-majesté is (inexplicably to TrumpWorld) not included in the federal criminal codes…

BREAKING: Letitia James has been indicted on one count of bank fraud in Virginia, charge brought directly by Lindsey Halligan, just like the Comey indictment.

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney.bsky.social) October 9, 2025 at 4:46 PM

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Kind of an odd thing that Trump doesn't realize that bullshit cases that die in court against his political foes just raise those foes visibility by significant amounts

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— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) October 9, 2025 at 4:59 PM

Per the Washington Post, “Letitia James becomes the second Trump foe charged in a case that career prosecutors had turned down” [gift link]:

The Justice Department obtained an indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday, accusing her of committing mortgage fraud when she purchased a property in Virginia.

The indictment on one count of bank fraud and one of making a false statement makes James the second of President Donald Trump’s political foes to be charged in the Eastern District of Virginia since Trump pushed out the top prosecutor there and appointed a close ally, Lindsey Halligan, to replace him. Halligan, who had no previous experience as a prosecutor, obtained an indictment two weeks ago against former FBI director James B. Comey on charges of making a false statement to Congress. He has pleaded not guilty.

Halligan presented the case against James to a grand jury in Alexandria. It is unusual for a politically appointed top U.S. attorney to present a case herself, suggesting that the office struggled to find a career attorney willing to take on the assignment.

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