in the year 3403 AD, crime is legal and cops are illegal: it's the APRIL 2025 US POLITICS THREAD

idk I was getting annoyed that nobody started one yet

big Supreme Court election in WI tonight, would be the first real sign of where things stand electorally right now, also Elon has poured tons of money into this so I guess it'll speak to his ability to straight up purchase the country

Thanks WmC and Mr. Snowy

The Republican in the race is named Brad Schimel, but his supporters have signs that say "Just Call Him Brad" presumably because Schimel is too close to Schlemiel?

I firmly believe that "Schimel" is too hard for many of them to spell

is there any sense of who is likely to win that race?

Money.

Obviously hope Wisconsin comes thru. If the Dems win that and cut the margin in the Florida district race by half or more, that will look like a bad night for Trump.

Yeah, I predict the disgusting Randy Fine will win in his district but not by double digits.

Fine's disliked by many Republicans, not for noble reasons either: insufficient loyalty to DeSantis, a loathsome human being, etc.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/us/politics/maryland-man-deportation-error-el-salvador.html

Cool cool, just the DOJ admitting they deported a man by mistake but claiming they have no legal ability to bring him back.

Sounds like a Kingston Trio song

https://www.wired.com/story/doge-takes-control-usip-office-building/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_brand=wired&utm_social-type=owned

DOGE Is Trying to Gift Itself a $500 Million Building, Court Filings Show
The documents reveal a DOGE affiliate is attempting to transfer the headquarters of an independent think tank, the United States Institute of Peace, to the government at no cost.

https://media3.giphy.com/media/ALvdHigd2gBqw/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b952j1tfjihrae6ahxcr0yrcs0ij5ja2jttr4xs5alzq&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g

"oopsie"

just a loathsome administration

At the Food and Drug Administration, senior leaders were pushed out and offices focused on food, drug and medical device policy were hit with deep staff reductions amounting to about 3,500 agency staff members. Some workers said that they discovered they were fired when they attempted to scan their badge to get into the building early Tuesday.

10,000 laid off at HHS agencies

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/us/politics/trump-federal-layoffs-health-food.html

https://bsky.app/profile/marisakabas.bsky.social/post/3llr5yw4tvk2t

Bluesky post says -
Institute of Museum and Library Sciences employees were allowed back in the building this morning to gather belongings after all being put on admin leave by DOGE yesterday. Supporters have gathered in front of the building and staffers inside have posted a visible sign that says "SOS IMLS."

is there any sense of who is likely to win that race?

― fluffy tufts university (f. hazel), Tuesday, April 1, 2025 10:00 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

idk how accurate polling is in a race like this but an "A+" pollster has Crawford up 7. even one of the heavy R-leaning pollsters didn't show Schimel being ahead. also Protasiewicz won a couple years ago by 10 so it would be kind of a surprise if she lost. that said Elon is pouring millions and millions of dollars into this, one would think that might have an effect

i mean he has also poured millions into things that explode before they reach their intended destination

Corey Booker and some other Senate Dems finally doing a talking filibuster on Senate floor that started yesterday.

Elon will probably put devices into his judges that will blow them up if they make a decision he doesn't like.

the last talking filibuster I remember was by some socialist from Vermont

aiui this is not actually a filibuster?

E coli just biding its time now, what with those HHS cuts.

sleeve, that is also my understanding, Booker called it a "vigil" since they aren't actually holding anything up

hmmm

‪Aaron Huertas‬ ✧@aaronhuer✧✧✧.b✧✧✧.soc✧✧✧‬
·
1h
Sen. Booker is crossing the performance / obstruction Rubicon -- if he eats up a legislative day and Republicans have to reschedule the nomination for tomorrow or later, it's a clear example of what advocates have been asking for, in line with using up debate time on Vought

Yep.

In a court filing this evening, the Trump administration said that it had mistakenly deported a Maryland father to a notorious Salvadoran prison due to an "administrative error."

But Leavitt: "The error you're referring to was a clerical error. It was an administrative error. The administration maintains the position that this individual, who was deported to El Salvador and will not be returning to our country, was a member of the brutal and vicious MS-13 gang

the important question is, are the made up people in Schumer's head getting mad at Booker yet

I'm going to get my Michael Schenker Group tattoo removed just in case

the important question is, are the made up people in Schumer's head getting mad at Booker yet

― frogbs, Tuesday, April 1, 2025

lol

Ballistic: Bailey vs. Booker

the Baileys of Massapequa have never trusted guys from New Jersey

The fallout from all these cuts and subsequent brain drain will be felt for generations. It’s not like the average American will feel them right away, but our grandkids will still be dealing with the fallout.

do you mean nuclear fallout

if we're lucky

I should have used the word “fallout” a third time in there somewhere.

Booker called it a "vigil" since they aren't actually holding anything up

― better than ezra collective soul asylum (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, April 1, 2025 11:39 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

#resist

this seems good, 9 Republicans joined the Democrats on this

https://bsky.app/profile/jbendery.bsky.social/post/3llrhwshuek23

Incredible. This sucker is doing down, just as one Dem was predicting to me.

Means GOP has to go back to the House Rules Committee and pass a new rule for taking up the SAVE Act -- this time without a separate provision that kills GOP Rep. Luna's bill to accommodate new parents in Congress.

Maryland father being sent to El Salvador due to clerical error is too Brazil for comfort.

David Dayen‬ ✧@dda✧✧✧.b✧✧✧.soc✧✧✧‬
·
7m
Really wild situation in the House. Johnson lost a vote attacking expectant and new mothers in his workplace, and is so whiny about it he shut down the whole chamber for a week.

https://bsky.app/profile/ositanwanevu.bsky.social/post/3llrdsdf45k2u

lol

what does that say

Osita Nwanevu

Follow
I'm not really a fan of Booker's, but the kind of theatre he's doing now should be a basic competency for major Democratic figures — something people do even if they're not running for president in the next cycle.

even better:

Kevin M. Kruse‬ ✧@kevinmkr✧✧✧.b✧✧✧.soc✧✧✧‬
·
3h
This pointless stunt by Cory Booker is accomplishing nothing but drawing attention to the Trump administration’s wrongdoing and delaying the work of the Senate and energizing the Democratic base and, wait, hang on, let me come in again

something like 60K viewers total right now?

I mentioned Bernie's filibuster earlier--that was basically what made him a national figure and began his movement. Weird that more people haven't tried it.

and guess what -- your fundraising goes up

in related news, I donated to the Kat Abu campaign

in what Star Wars movie are they in?

I donated to Kat Abu, too, but ended up not going to her campaign launch event.

the good one xp

The Kat Abu Campaign was waged over mineral rights in the Bevin-IV system

where is Booker peeing?

I just checked in and he was talking about prostitutes in the Bible

Donated to her campaign as well, if not the least so I hopefully don't have to vote for Schakowsky again.

Booker occasionally yields the floor to other Dems to ask questions. He probably ducks into the bathroom then.

show us Booker's pee jug

more of this plz:

Booker: "I confess that I have been imperfect. I confess that I've been inadequate to the moment. I've confess that the Democratic Party has made terrible mistakes that gave a lane to this demagogue. I confess we all must look in the mirror and say 'we will do better.'"

In this moment I’ll take it, sleeve OTM

https://i.imgur.com/qYld4Hg.jpg

Lol

Bailey's Got a Boner

Also terminated was the entire staff of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, according to Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. The program provides about $4 billion to help millions of Americans with their heating and cooling bills.

got me thinking about this for no reason at all I'm sure:

democide
[ dem-uh-sahyd ]

Phonetic (Standard)
IPA
noun
the intentional killing of people by their own government, such as by mass murder, genocide, or deliberate withholding of aid during disasters.

yes this is deliberate murder

DOGEicide

wonder if that one is one they're gonna scramble to try to hire back

Isn’t there like a buck tacked on to all power bills for that? Where will the money go?

Elon

straight to Elon's bank account

sadlol xp

I mean, if you already have almost all the money, it makes sense to bankrupt the entire country, then you can buy it all for cheap after the crash

as punishment for all the unpurchased Teslas

Streetwise, the Cville Safety Cat‬ ✧@averysafe✧✧✧.b✧✧✧.soc✧✧✧‬
·
2m
Booker is reaching into his bag… he’s… HE’S GOT THE MERZBOX, TOM. HE’S GIVING THEM DAYS OF HARSH NOISE WALL AND JERKING ARRHYTHMICALLY

I mean, if you already have almost all the money, it makes sense to bankrupt the entire country, then you can buy it all for cheap after the crash

Yep I still think the best way to understand all of this is as a hostile hedge-fund takeover. You immediately slash liabilities (people, contracts, real estate), consolidate around a few key functions, spin off anything that anyone will buy, and sell the rest of the now massively debt-burdened carcass to the highest bidder.

I don't know. I genuinely don't think there's a plan. The problem is, Trump is a) stupid and b) insane and c) the leader of a cult of yes-men and lackeys, and Musk is a) stupid and b) insane and c) high as fuck. This Hamilton Nolan piece goes into all the ways everything these assholes are doing is genuinely bad for the business interests that we always thought ran America.

One of the most interesting things about the current Trump administration is the fact that we have a Republican president who is boldly leading the nation down a path that is contrary to the standard interests of capital. I do not say this in a complimentary sense. This is interesting in the same way that the methods and predilections of a prolific serial killer are interesting. The actions are so far outside the norm that is is fascinating to try to understand why they are happening; and, by understanding them, we might be able to think more clearly about where this is all going, before everyone is dead.

Generally speaking, throughout the history of modern America, the government has worked on behalf of business. Foreign policy has been conducted in service of business interests, and domestic policy has been conducted with an eye towards generating maximum prosperity. The Democratic Party tends to lean a little more towards shared prosperity and regulation, and the Republican Party tends to lean more towards raw unfettered capitalism, but both have operated in service of the basic mandate of “protect and increase America’s wealth.” To say that money controls politics is a little simplistic—history shows that social movements and labor power and other countervailing forces have their impact—but if you are looking to reduce politics to a single variable, money is the one that will produce the most accurate predictions. Most of the policy disagreements of the past century, in the big picture, amount to how and whether to share the wealth more widely, and how and whether to make access to wealth more widely available. The parties have disagreed, somewhat, over who should be rich, and the government has certainly made misjudgments about how best to make Americans rich, but there has never been real, sustained opposition to the overall project of making America itself richer. Indeed, keeping this as our government’s highest value, and being willing to back it up with more guns than anyone else, has made us the richest nation in the history of the world. We have the dead bodies to prove it.

...

Trump is doing something different: He is making decisions that will clearly harm the American economy, in both the short and long term. He is breaking things that are useful to business interests. Casting this as “right wing populism” is, I think, foolish—the media’s habit of describing Trumpism as “populism” reflects mostly a paltry vocabulary. Calling a man whose primary motives are narcissism and revenge and self-enrichment a “populist” does not really illuminate what’s going on here.

The whole thing is worth a read.

‪Sahil Kapur‬ ✧@sahilka✧✧✧.b✧✧✧.soc✧✧✧‬
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42m
CONGRESS UPDATE

Everything has come to a standstill

• House is done for the week after a GOP division over proxy voting for new moms that caused leaders to cancel votes

• Senate is doing nothing because Cory Booker is entering his 22nd hour of holding the floor and speaking

I agree with unperson. either Trump and Musk really are playing some 5-D chess here that even the smartest people in the country can't figure out or they really are as fucking dumb as the demonstrate themselves to be every single day

They ate stupid.

And are still hungry.

yeah, I'm not sure there's any 5D chess going on... it's pure 'run government like a business' and that just doesn't work

The reason that Amtrak exists in the first place is because private rail companies were literally incapable of servicing all the myriad little towns and villages... now they want to privatize it? gimme a break

Trump has no plans for the future because he's old and won't personally benefit from it.

Musk's plan is to ruin everything here and force an exodus under his leadership to Mars, like a Moore-era Bond villain.

Musk is basically Moonraker guy+A View To A Kill guy

Yeah it’s not any kind of chess. It IS “running America like a business,” but only in the most destructive self-cannibalizing ways of modern buyouts — which are not designed to sustain or improve anything, but to extract whatever value there is to be gained and then discard the shell. This of course ends up being bad for the businesses, because at the end of it all you have is a dead business. Totally unclear what the game of that is for a whole country, what possible useful (even to themselves) end they envision for it all.

The United States of Spirit Halloween

xxp wearing a cheese head and coke shades, at least Dr Evil and the Bond villains have style

Trump has no plans for the future because he's old and won't personally benefit from it.

True, but at the same time he's terrified of ever seeming weak or out of it or irrelevant. Which is why he's been floating the "third term" bullshit, because he knows that a second-term president is a lame duck, and lame ducks don't have to be obeyed or even, on some level, listened to.

people have been linking a lot to timothy snyder so i'll join in and link this one, from a dozen years ago about hitler's worldview and how the holocaust happened. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsKrWLf7Kg4

a lot of parallels - doge as the ss, for starters - watch out if they start "integrating" with ice - but the hope i am clinging to is just how absolutely shit these guy are at everything.

that said, you don't have to be smart to fire hundreds of thousands of people and pull funding from universities and shut down federal agencies. it is absolutely calamitous what is happening. this is an emergency and i don't see how it stops.

yet we lost Snyder to Canadia.

to the point about how bad this is for business i guess i have two thoughts about that. 1 - it may well be. in which case these guys will go into overdrive scapegoating anyone they can get their hands on. the repression will ramp up. everyone else will be to blame 2 - it actually won't be bad for business for a certain class of people, who will continue to do well. there will be an intensification of our two track society. which has already started, obviously. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_state_(model)

it actually won't be bad for business for a certain class of people, who will continue to do well

They will continue to do well relative to 99% of humanity, but they will do markedly less well than they were doing under Biden. And they'll fucking well know it.

(Totally unrelated thought: the US government seeking the death penalty for Luigi Mangione will absolutely not inspire copycats or an even greater groundswell of public support for him, that's crazy, why would you even think that?)

Tuning in for Booker's record run. This is a good stunt, it's working, he has more than 100,000 people watching just on his own YouTube channel. Saving the John Lewis eulogy for close to the end is good. That's the guy you take with you to break Strom Thurmond's record.

And he just did it.

a really good moment to watch

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3llrzhnwhok2l

This seems good probably?

:: BREAKING NOW: Multiple polling places across Milwaukee are running low or have run out of ballots as turnout is at record levels.

MKE Election Commission is aware and sending out fresh ballots.

If you are in line -- or know someone who is -- ballots are on the way.

Nice symbolism that Booker's speech eclipsed fucking Strom Thurmond, whose record-setting filibuster was designed to kill the 1957 Civil Rights Act. Now it's time to throw more grit in the gears.

I can't imagine standing and not peeing for four hours, much less 25.

Surely he had a Depends or something on. Even if only as a safety measure.

I stand for 7-8 hours regularly for work but this is 3 shifts in a row. I’m proud of him.

Don Rumsfeld stood for hours!

He listened to REM a lot.

Decision Desk HQ just called it for Crawford in Wisconsin, woo-hoo

gradually building up to elon's 13th reason

Am I reading right that the guy replacing Waltz won by 8 points rather than the 33 points Waltz won by in November?

Only 42% of results in but Crawford is about 13 points ahead. Was this supposed to be close?

It'll be closer than that probably, a lot of what's not in is more rural areas. But it's a big lead.

Re FL-6: Fine is now ahead by 14 (with 95% reporting), but that's still cutting into the margin quite a bit.

It's actually remarkably close to the amount that Waltz won by in the 2018 midterms (+12.6).

MSNBC already calling it for Crawford, lmao eat shit Elon

lol

https://bsky.app/profile/jfallows.bsky.social/post/3lls4gydiuk2v

Jesse Watters threatening us with a good time. (of course Fox will not be able to resist talking about Kat Abu)

https://i.imgur.com/MgRNTlj.png

He’s thinking about slashing her tires

Jill Underly wins the WI state superintendent race, not as big news as the court race but big for teachers unions statewide

Also the two Moms for Liberty candidates in my county got owned, love to see it

hell yeah

it's pure 'run government like a business' and that just doesn't work

also neither of these fuckholes have run a business that was a success without bloodline and other factors keeping a heavy thumb on the scale

Aw, too bad.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/02/republicans-florida-special-wisconsin-supreme-court-midterms-02996

“I’m honestly shocked. I thought we had it in the bag,” said Pam Van Handel, Chair of the Republican Party of Wisconsin’s Outagamie County. “I thought (Musk) was gonna be an asset for this race. People love Trump, but maybe they don’t love everybody he supports. Maybe I have blinders on.”

Maybe?

No, no you’re supposed to allege fraud and call for Democrats to be executed, get with it, Pam.

seriously this self-reflection surely cannot be tolerated in 2025

"Maybe I have blinders on": possible May thread title, depending on how things go in the next few weeks...

I have no idea why Dems weren’t putting holds on every single nominee from the second the new administration came in. In 2009, Republicans did this as a matter of course with a much smaller caucus! My BFF’s husband was appointed to an unpaid chairperson role in 2009 and the GOP held him in limbo until the middle of 2010.

yeah but norms!

from January 20th:

Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement:

“It is my constitutional duty to advise and consent on presidential appointments. Ahead of his confirmation hearing, I am grateful Senator Rubio sat down with me to discuss my many concerns for the future of U.S. foreign policy under President Trump. I further appreciate that Senator Rubio substantively engaged with my questions and those of my colleagues during his confirmation hearing last week.

“I’ve had the privilege of serving alongside Senator Rubio for over a decade and can attest to his deep commitment to serving the American people. I’ve also had the opportunity to work on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with him. While we disagree on many issues, I have always been impressed by his wealth of knowledge, work ethic, and his unwavering commitment to our country. I have no doubt that he is fully qualified and capable to lead the State Department, so I voted to support his nomination. I look forward to working with Senator Rubio in the years ahead to address our most pressing global challenges.”

Anyone who sees his stunt as anything more than a prelude to a presidential bid is deluding themselves, and anyone who thinks a deeply closeted Black dude from Jersey can win the presidency in this day and age is equally delusional.

This is not cynicism, but clear-eyed analysis: someone who supports this administration's Ribbentrop doesn't deserve any support, ever.

A black dude from Hawaii one and we’ve had deeply closeted presidents before! Last Jersey president was Garfield I think, but look what happens to him

Won

Not suggesting Booker is my choice, mind.

Booker vs. Rubio would be appropriate

it would be good news for Keegan-Michael Key at least, dude has been doing so many commercials lately I think he needs a break

Fuck extending collegiality to a President who should be in prison.

Who gives a shit if he's gearing up for a presidential run? As long as that gearing up involves doing things that impede, obstruct, or otherwise focus negative attention onto the wildly unpopular Republican agenda, I welcome it

Yeah, table, many of us recognize the cynicism and applaud his stunt anyway. They're not irreconcilable.

yeah Dems need to start getting good at spectacle regardless of their individual intentions

Also, with respect, table, your repeated habit of insulting posters by implying they're not as clear-headed or moral as you got tiresome months ago. It's fucking politics.

Corey Booker is a tireless windbag of an opportunist -- and closeted? STOP THE PRESSES.

He mentioned his husband yesterday so the closet is now empty!

Booker's problem is that he comes off too nice, he's got this sort of Ned Flanders aura to him which I don't think really reflects the current mood well. people dig Bernie's DGAF-ness and I think the next Dem candidate needs to have more of that "fuck off fascist" attitude to them. that said I was pretty impressed by Booker's stunt and hopefully it energizes the Dems to stop playing nice and just throw as many wrenches as possible. the results of last night's election should make it clear how much people really hate these guys.

"I welcome a Ribbentrop and Himmler supporter saying mean things about Himmler and Ribbentrop and their boss, Hitler"

He mentioned his husband yesterday so the closet is now empty!

Really? I didn't see that, or see much press coverage of it. If I was Rosario Dawson I'd be pissed.

I do kind of wonder why Senate Brain only affects Democrats.

I'm not seeing any mention of Booker referencing a spouse anywhere other than a single deleted Threads post

Booker's problem is that he comes off too nice,

Quite the opposite -- to me he oozes insincerity, to table's point.

Booker & Dawson split up a few years ago.

the law offices of Booker & Dawsom & Christie

I would prefer that the rightward end of the Dem offerings be Booker so that the leftward end can be Kat Abu and not, like, Pete Buttigieg.

Pete Buttigieg is a Log Cabin Republican, afaic.

Cory Booker comes across as the most performative human being you have ever encountered, which is largely a factor of people not believing anyone could actually be like that and not immediately dissolve into a puddle of cringe.

I went to college with a woman very much like him who practically oozed “I will find the nice in this interaction” and I spent years waiting for the mask to fall and the hidden viper to come out; it never did. She’s now a music professor at Yale after a reasonably successful career as a soprano soloist. She is an inhumanely nice person, it is actually frightening on a primal level.

I think both frogbs and Alfred are right here. People dislike Booker because they find him disingenuous but his actual weakness is that he is so nice and congenial that people don’t trust him. In other words, doing something in a performative way doesn’t make it any less real.

And, to further a point both suzy and table have made, the fact that the Senate Democrats haven’t just given a blanket NO to every single thing this administration has tried to do is a damning enrichment of them, particularly Schumer, and at this point I would be willing to sacrifice the ones I like, including my own senators Market and Warren, to replace them with trench fighters who will dig in their heels and say NO even if the Republicans pass their agenda without them.

not sold on Kat Abu yet--internet personality?

and Abu is not actually her name? Come on.

wtf

the fact that the Senate Democrats haven’t just given a blanket NO to every single thing this administration has tried to do is a damning enrichment of them, particularly Schumer, and at this point I would be willing to sacrifice the ones I like, including my own senators Market and Warren, to replace them with trench fighters who will dig in their heels and say NO even if the Republicans pass their agenda without them.

Thanks for saying this— it seems obvious to me that enabling the fascists is virtually the same as being a fascist, and there are many, many Dems who are really showing some nasty fascist ass right now.

Keyes, Abu is a shortened version of her last name, which is difficult for yokels and educated people alike to pronounce properly.

(For instance, me— I can take a guess at the last name, but certainly can't pronounce it with any kind of accuracy, and I speak three languages and read four)

President Keyes, I think you meant to post that over here

Sam Kinison: The Movie

Ah fuck I had written indictment and my phone changed it to enrichment

And Market = Markey

xp If it's the same "gh" sound as Baghdad (which no American ever pronounces correctly) then you can use a throaty French r to approximate

Just reminds me of somebody like Cenk Uygar running for Congress. Except that I'd actually heard of Cenk Uygar.

she has videos on her website and or youtube where guess what she pronounces her name so we can stop having this stupid discussion

I mean "internet personality" running for Congress--i.e. Cenk

she also goes by the contraction

PK may I suggest actually reading her platform?

I'll wait until it shows up on my Instagram feed as a Severance parody video

Hey totally fine not to fall in line behind a candidate, no one is above having to prove themselves and no gods no rockstars etc. But can we ease up on fault-finding and dismissing a potentially strong left voice for reasons like "I don't like her name" and "she effectively uses social media like the internet"?

Will consider this

If you're hangry get a snack but stop eating our own in the egg is all I'm asking.

My griping reduced her online donations by 40% Sorry.

I’ll give anyone a chance who says the right things and backs them up with action, but cautiously. I think we all remember the brief moments when Sinema and Fetterman were progressive darlings.

I just looked her up on Wiki and someone has flagged her page for deletion. Wondering if anyone here can push back on that because she must meet notability standards?

Just dropping by to say fuck yeah WI, what a relief. I def saw more young and first-time voters at the polls than usual.

uh oh, looks like someone has a bit too much loser stink on him

https://bsky.app/profile/yasharali.bsky.social/post/3lltppuh2js2v

BREAKING

President Trump has told his inner circle that Elon Musk will be leaving soon and taking a supporting role going forward.

xxpost Not that any of this is disqualifying but Abu is from a well-off Republican family and has only worked in media. We've seen any number of internet people bouncing around between ideologies for clout/clicks. Hopefully she isn't on of them.

Friend’s husband mentioned upthread is the son of a Reagan cabinet member but was born with a mind of his own, which grows more lefty as he gets older. It happens!

I offhand think elon leaving doesn’t matter much unless there’s a knife in him and cancelled contracts and all of doge is “under investigation.”

Just reminds me of somebody like Cenk Uygar running for Congress. Except that I'd actually heard of Cenk Uygar

Cenk is stupid and awful though and Abu seems alright. I mean she's not like some super qualified person and yes she was a republican when she was a teenager, but I don't have reason to doubt her sincerity in things, ie: I don't think she's a Secret Sinema.

yeah, anyone who has a donation link to Food Not Bombs on their webpage (which she does) pretty much has my support

Keyes, Abu is a shortened version of her last name, which is difficult for yokels and educated people alike to pronounce properly.

More to the point “Kat Abu” is her social media name and how at least some of us have known her for years. I didn’t even know what her last name was, she’s just the one who posts funny things about Fox News.

yes she was a republican when she was a teenager

I voted for Bob Dole in 1996, the first election in which I could vote.

And you ran for Congress 8 years later I imagine

“Secret Sinema” is my favorite Live album

Abughazaleh was born on March 24, 1999,[7] in the United States to a Palestinian immigrant father and a seventh-generation native of Dallas on her mother's side;[6][8][9] the family held conservative and pro-Republican views, and Abughazaleh was a Republican through her teens; as a teenager, she considered joining the military, hoping to attend the Air Force Academy or West Point.[10] She credits a move to Tucson, Arizona for sparking her change in political views; having attended private schools until her second year of high school, she changed to a school with many undocumented and low-income students, and "The bootstrap myth just shattered before my eyes."[9]

On July 24, 2024, the progressive magazine Mother Jones announced that they hired Abughazaleh as a "Video Creator" to produce content on democracy, far-right media coverage, disinformation, and radicalization;[5][20] she also joined the media outlet Zeteo to produce videos countering "right-wing narratives".[21] The Democratic National Convention invited Abughazaleh as one of several content creators to cover the August 2024 convention;[22] she "honestly was shocked" and "appalled" at how little Kamala Harris's acceptance speech addressed Gaza and Palestinian concerns.[23] Politico highlighted her prominence on TikTok in September 2024, predicting her account would be among those playing "an outsized role in the last 50 days of the presidential race".[24] In October 2024, progressive advocacy group People For the American Way worked with her to create a new video series on white Christian nationalism.[25]

I was an evangelical Christian until I was like 20 and I believed lots of horrible things. Luckily it was before social media so there's no proof (probably). Lots of us have childhood conditioning to unlearn, good for ppl who do.

personally I think it would be good if there was another person in congress who understands and can articulate Palestinian perspectives

Rashida Tlaib is one of several.

feel like teens prob never stopped wearing nirvana tees or wallet chains or whatever. defo was still seeing this well into the 00s, see it less now but london teens kinda different to dublin.

xpost

would that Booker heeded this advice

oops sorry wrong thread

I guess if you want to donate to/support politicians that don't directly represent you geographically, but might on some issues, that's cool?

If you're only moderately engaged in politics and don't live in someone's district it's kind of their problem, as long as they're not actively ginning up problems against your interests

speaking of not living in districts:

At the time of her announcement, she did not live in Illinois's 9th congressional district, having only registered to vote in Illinois's 7th congressional district a month before her announcement.[32][33]

“Secret Sinema” is my favorite Live album

props for this one, genuine lol

Eh district-shopping/hopping isn't a big deal imo. People in the district can decide how much they care. Marjorie Taylor Greene's voters seem happy enough.

I represent an electoral district not my own because a competing slate was being run in my dist and we would have had a primary, whereas a neighboring dist was empty with no contest. County Committee is weird, news at 11.

Sure, we're pissing in your face, but we still want your money

US officials object to European push to buy weapons locally

U.S. officials have told European allies they want them to keep buying American-made arms, amid recent moves by the European Union to limit U.S. manufacturers' participation in weapons tenders, five sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The messages delivered by Washington in recent weeks come as the EU takes steps to boost Europe's weapons industry, while potentially limiting purchases of certain types of U.S. arms.

The Trump administration's early foreign policy steps, including briefly cutting military aid for Ukraine and easing pressure on Moscow, have deeply unnerved European allies, prompting many to ask if the United States is a reliable partner.

In mid-March, the European Commission, the EU's executive body, proposed boosting military spending and pooling resources on joint defense projects, as Europe girds for decreased U.S. military engagement under President Donald Trump.

Some of the proposed measures could mean a smaller role for non-EU companies, including those based in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, experts say.

In a March 25 meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia that the United States wants to continue participating in EU countries' defense procurements, the sources told Reuters.

According to two of the sources, Rubio said any exclusion of U.S. companies from European tenders would be seen negatively by Washington, which those two sources interpreted as a reference to the proposed EU rules.

vertical integration -- we sell you the guns AND tell you where to point them

Shop locally, kill globally

some real "please clap" energy there

it’s the same sort of energy all of these fucksticks bring to the table— if you don’t like their ideas, then you are suppressing their speech by saying so. if you don’t buy their shitty products, then that is viewpoint discrimination and their products and only their products deserve to be purchased.

they’re fucking morons

Very in line with Elon (semi-successfully) suing people to get them to advertise on X.

even more amazing.. he didn't use the toilet

Booker turns 56 later this month, an age where many men cannot avoid going to the bathroom during the middle of an eight-hour sleep.

But Booker did not use the bathroom for the entirety of his speech.

After it was over, he said he allowed himself to be dehydrated to get through the speech.

“Again, I don’t want my doctor to be mad at me, but I really spent time dehydrating myself beforehand, so I did not have to go to the bathroom,” Booker told reporters Tuesday night.

that is pretty amazing. I had no idea he was that old!

EXCUSE YOU

He's very old! 5 months older than me!

Two-Scoops just threw a red hat at the invited autoworkers

when's your bday Tipsy? I turn 56 in early November

I'm not saying 56 is "old"! I'm saying Booker comes off as being, like, I dunno, 42? I thought the same of Kamala Harris...was stunned to find out she was nearly 60! They both look very good!

"One Big Beautiful Bill"

Frank Luntz on Booker's speech:

“And I’ll go even further: If you ask Democratic senators right now, (who) would they rather have lead them over the next three years, they would choose Cory Booker over Chuck Schumer. That’s how significant today was.”

I'm a September '69 baby.

69 dude! ise 1969 too and always give a shout-out

Schumer was always a 'go along to get along' leader for the Senate Dem caucus who won his post because the caucus itself was such an ideological mess of pottage and he didn't ever whip anyone very hard.

a few Wisconsin GOPs privately musing that Musk probably cost them the judicial election

Not private enough to leak the news

While one leaks not in a privy for aday

please clap

please piss

oh cool, love this look for us, Loony Loomer deciding who to fire:

Several members of President Trump's embattled National Security Council have been fired, a U.S. official and a second source familiar told Axios on Thursday.

Why it matters: The firings come a day after conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer visited the Oval Office and pressed Trump to fire specific NSC staffers. Axios has not confirmed whether the firings were directly linked to that incident, but the source familiar said they were "being labeled as an anti-neocon move."

Behind the scenes: The U.S. official said Loomer was furious that "neocons" had "slipped through" the vetting process for administration jobs, referring to hawkish foreign policy views commonly associated with the Bush administration.

add it to the articles

idk why dems don't bring up impeachment every single day. i didn't watch all 25 hours of booker's speech, he must've mentioned it then, right? right?

we've come a long way from Loomer handcuffing herself to the door of the Twitter building

lol thank you for using the singular there

oh i though she was on the outs and lost her influence, most have rekindled the spark with Don

Don never really gives up on these crazies

According to Milo Y. she was sidelined because she was bragging about giving Trump a blowjob.

I guess crazy bj’s are back on the menu

I know the WI supreme court election is old news 1 day later, but I was trying to find out when Judge Crawford takes her seat on the bench and instead came across this little anecdote about her opponent:

Schimel told his supporters he had conceded to Crawford, leading to yells of anger. One woman began to chant, “Cheater, cheater!”

“No,” Schimel said. “You’ve got to accept the results.”

Schimel played bass with his classic rock cover band at his election night party both before and after conceding defeat, covering songs by the Allman Brothers, Tom Petty and others.

sorry in what capacity exactly is Loomer meeting with the president 1 on 1 like this

It’s a bad indicator of our current times that I find Schimel’s unforced and immediate concession remarkable and noteworthy

same

he had to get back to 'Freefallin'

sorry in what capacity exactly is Loomer meeting with the president 1 on 1 like this

― frogbs, Thursday, April 3, 2025 12:04 PM (eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

someone get newt gingrich on the phone

president sidepiece capacity

'25 Bonny & Clyde

According to Milo Y. she was sidelined because she was bragging about giving Trump a blowjob.

Also what’s been going on with the North Carolina judicial race that the Republicans lost but were trying to get 60,000 voters disqualified?

every pic you see from Mar-a-Lago is full of women who look like they've had six-figures worth of plastic surgery, Melania has clearly had a ton of work done herself, that said whatever Loomer got done is particularly grotesque

xxp "Simpson, eh? Never heard of him."

The NC judge race is still tied up in court, but in the meantime we have the entirely unsurprising news that the Republican candidate who's trying to overturn the election wore a Confederate uniform at a college party (because he of course was a member of Kappa Alpha).

boom, this is how we win

A group of barren, uninhabited volcanic islands near Antarctica, covered in glaciers and home to penguins, have been swept up in Donald Trump’s trade war, as the US president hit them with a 10% tariff on goods.

That'll teach those penguins to stop being fentanyl mules

leopard seals eating my face

The details are kind of wild:

Loomer met with Trump in the Oval Office Wednesday afternoon in a meeting attended by Waltz and Vice President JD Vance, two people familiar with the meeting told NBC News. One person also said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, was present at the meeting.

According to one of these people, Loomer pressed Trump to fire members of his national security staff, and Waltz defended them.

Loomer vs. a cabinet member and Loomer wins

must be a helluva blowjob

This is the kind of leak that hasn't been happening. So either Loomer is trumpeting or Waltz, Vance or Perry leaked.

Anyway, my friend who works for a church just had a government grant terminated. Is that part of the MAGA agenda too? Cutting off these freeloading churches?

The woke ones, yes.

But don’t worry our kids will all get vouchers for fundamentalist segregation academies.

Mavis Gallant's "The Woke One, Yes," one of her masterpieces in short fiction.

So... Trump went golfing today

how else would you expect him to celebrate his victory?

We got'em by the balls!

Stellantis (Chrysler)

Trump tariffs trigger 900 Stellantis layoffs at Michigan, Indiana plants

Army Mulling a Dramatic Reduction of Tens of Thousands of Troops

The Army is quietly considering a sweeping reduction of up to 90,000 active-duty troops, a move that underscores mounting fiscal pressures at the Pentagon and a broader shift in military strategy away from Europe and counterterrorism, according to three defense officials familiar with the deliberations.

Internal discussions are exploring trimming the force to between 360,000 and 420,000 troops -- down from its current level of roughly 450,000. The potential cuts would mark one of the most dramatic force reductions in years, as military planners aim to reshape the Army from a blunt conventional force into what they hope could be a more agile, specialized instrument better suited for future conflicts. It's unclear whether any cuts are being mulled for the Army Reserve or National Guard.

Thousands of suddenly unemployed soldiers roaming the country. What could go wrong?

purging the non-loyalists

It’s going to be the non-whites isn’t it?

Mavis Gallant's "The Woke One, Yes," one of her masterpieces in short fiction.

It’s going to be the non-whites isn’t it?

Thousands of suddenly unemployed Blacks and Latinos with combat skills roaming the country. What could go wrong?

Okay

I mean, in general I'm in favor of a smaller military budget and standing army etc. But yes this will be done in the dumbest ways possible.

Stellantis (Chrysler)

Trump tariffs trigger 900 Stellantis layoffs at Michigan, Indiana plants

Awful, but this feels like they were just waiting for an excuse to blame for the layoffs they wanted to do anyway.

lol @ the fantasy of lib Delta Force

Trump tariffs trigger 900 Stellantis layoffs at Michigan, Indiana plants

apparently they're making parts there to be sent to Mexico for the Chrysler Pacific minivan assembly

80% of the military isn't in combat arms, any force reductions are going to come from people tasked with investigating sexual assault and civil affairs

80% of the military isn't in combat arms, any force reductions are going to come from people tasked with investigating sexual assault and civil affairs

The reason it's called Basic Training is because everybody does it.

here comes the wag-the-dog moment

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Satellite images analyzed Wednesday by The Associated Press show the deployment of at least six nuclear-capable B-2 Spirit bombers to Camp Thunder Bay on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

The Diego Garcia base is south of India and within striking distance of both Iran and Yemen.

You Wag the Dog when you want to distract people from what you’re doing. Trump is hyping all his dumb stuff up.

The reason it's called Basic Training is because everybody does it.

80,000 people are going to march in close formation and make their beds, this is how you defeat fascism

shut the fuck up, milo

A friend's dad died of a heart attack during their golf round, and now I hold that possibility close.

Sorry tombot, I’m going to greet a fantasy of trained killer “unemployed Blacks and Latinos” with the amount of derision it deserves.

but tom actually knows what he's talking about, and you never have

lol k

I hear that when you graduate Basic you need to register your hands as lethal weapons.

Trump took one single question from a reporter outside the White House, then hopped in a helicopter to begin his trip to Florida for a Saudi-funded golf tournament at his private club.

Of course he also made Feds go back in the office while he himself, no surprise, spends a lot of his time at his private clubs

Gotta give the people what they want (oligarchy)

am i correct in saying tom used to work for or does work for a US intelligence agency ?

my bad for forgetting username, sorry

tombot is a-ok in my book and I trust his take on the Current Situation

The father of one of my nephews (by marriage) was struck by lightning while golfing and died. I hear Florida is practically the world record holder for lightning strikes. It seems like a danger our President's life that's worthy of our thoughts and prayers.

Oh god Aimless sorry

sorry Aimless, that's brutal, also I am sharing yr thoughts and prayers re: possible other lightning casualties

in yet another recent absurdity:

Ex-Costa Rica president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias says US revoked his visa

#onethread, this could go in the economy/shitbin thread as well

Control and management of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been turned over by the DOE to a company with virtually no history: Strategic Storage Partners, LLC, with the U.S. Government paying $1.4 billion or $280 million every year to have it managed

https://bsky.app/profile/gasbuddyguy.bsky.social/post/3llwuymva5c2y

The asset looting has begun.

Trump probably went golfing thinking he had the whole world by the jugular (or, you know..), but I think it might also have been the moment his administration is no longer in control of what happens next. At best, he backtracks and postpones when allied countries come to plead for negotiation, the economy / consumers just stay shaky, he loses whatever is left of his credibility and steam, leaves the economy alone for a bit, and probably turns to his personal enemies instead. Or he doesn't and the US is in a recession by June, fed by inflation / unemployment, his dream of reindustrialization taking several years to half-materialize (or not at all), the population sacrificed / hostage, the world leaves the US to its own devices, and global trade is redefined for a decade.

He might not dare to speak so much of a third term when the effects kick in, which they already have. And the Democrats will finally have it easy.

Guessing the tariffs will be rolled back in a month or so, once rich right-wingers and centrists have bought up a bunch of cut-price shares. They’ll make money from this the way foreign exchange markets were exploited in 2016 with the Brexit outcome.

He'll get away with it as usual because of chickenshit countries like the UK and their chickenshit politicians

"And the Democrats will finally have it easy."

Sleepwalking to the abyss.

Xp suzy — I don’t think the cut-price share buying will be limited by political affiliation… merely access to capital and strategic thinking.

I’m sure - my friend’s dad bought Union Carbide shares after Bhopal because he wanted to attend the AGM to yell at them, but he eventually made money too.

xxxxp My grandpa was struck by lightning* in Florida -- here's hoping!!!

*did not die, he died of a heart attack at a Browns game

Call Lightning
Spell Level: 3
Class: Priest

https://www.yahoo.com/news/more-than-1100-anti-trump-demonstrations-planned-in-all-50-states-this-saturday-190310200.html

There was a protest I drove past early this morning, like 7:30, at a random intersection with like 20 people. It was nice to see, although not quite sure why they were out today.

There are 11 happening in Montana, one about a half hour's drive from me. I might go.

Gonna be a ton of actions nationwide tomorrow. I'm going to cover the local one, which has something like 1,500 people signed up to attend. See how many actually show, but I think it'll be a big crowd. (Sadly it's going to ridiculously warm for early April, like 85 degrees and sunny.)

He should place a tariff on the sun imo

grrrrrrrr

‪Taniel‬ ✧@tan✧✧✧.b✧✧✧.soc✧✧✧‬
·
13m
Bombshell in North Carolina: the state's GOP-dominated Court of Appeals just sided with the GOP candidate in last year's supreme court race.

Their decision would toss roughly 60,000 ballots (!) that have been counted, & likely hand the election to GOP instead of incumbent Dem Justice who won it.

wtf how can they do that?

it's all just so blatant at this point

easy peasy - toss out all the black ballots

there's just this assumption in all these cases - if they're ARE fraudulent ballots, they're going to be for the Dems; every ballot for a Republican candidate is going to fine, no need to even look at them

Reposted by
Ned Raggett
‪T. Greg Doucette‬ ✧@gregdouce✧✧✧.b✧✧✧.soc✧✧✧‬
19m
Roughly 65,000 voters are being given 15 days to respond before having their votes thrown out, even though there is zero evidence any of them violated the law

Gonna be a ton of actions nationwide tomorrow. I'm going to cover the local one, which has something like 1,500 people signed up to attend. See how many actually show, but I think it'll be a big crowd. (Sadly it's going to ridiculously warm for early April, like 85 degrees and sunny.)

― paper plans (tipsy mothra), Friday, April 4, 2025 1:13 PM (forty-seven minutes ago)

generally speaking, "signing up" for a protest is something I would strongly recommend against, and I can't think of a good reason to ask people to do that — if the organizers want your email (which is understandable) they should try to get it another way. obvs this doesn't apply to reporters, but thought I'd mention it as I assume a lot of people are protesting for the first time this year

what if they want a headcount for the bagel order?

xp related to rob's post

https://www.theverge.com/21276979/phone-protest-demonstration-activism-digital-how-to-security-privacy

even though there is zero evidence any of them violated the law

the well known legal principle of "guilty until proven innocent"

"anarchy for me, fascism for you"

-Chuck Dukowski

Yeah i looked at the org pages and even i— a know nothing was like — o no these guys seem very naive about how this must be done i wont rsvp for shit like this.

caveat to my phone link above

Evan Greer‬ ✧@evangr✧✧✧.b✧✧✧.soc✧✧✧‬
·
6m
For the vast majority of above-ground public protests “don’t bring your phone” is actually bad security advice. You are much more likely to need your phone to call for help or document police aggression than you are to be arrested later cuz your phone pinged a cell tower near the raging grannies

I agree with that, but then I think about the Columbia student who was swept up with a bunch of protesters while she tried to navigate home who recently fled the country because ICE decided to come after her

The first piece of advice in that Verge article is “get a burner phone” and honestly that seems wise

agreed

Yes or delete social media and photos from your phone before traveling...even if your Facebook/etc data is still online, they're not looking you up from a computer and doing a whole background check, they're trying to take things from your device, to either unlock or break into your phone and scan through what's there (or clone it for later). Take the apps off and re-download them when you're out of risk.

Hmm also delete deleted photos out of your trash can...I have to admit I don't know how to do that (I also don't have any questionable photos).

generally speaking, "signing up" for a protest is something I would strongly recommend against, and I can't think of a good reason to ask people to do that — if the organizers want your email (which is understandable) they should try to get it another way. obvs this doesn't apply to reporters, but thought I'd mention it as I assume a lot of people are protesting for the first time this year

I get that, but these folks are protest vets, they know what they're doing. The list isn't public, they've used it create a text group. You don't have to sign up to go or anything, it's for easier communication in the moment.

not to be lost among the tariff talk:

A federal judge ruled Friday that the president violated a court order to stop freezing federal funds by withholding Federal Emergency Management Agency relief to at least 19 states. The judge said that the Trump administration seemed to be making a “covert” effort to punish states whose immigration practices differed from the White House.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell issued an injunction in March on behalf of 23 states that sued the federal government after the White House moved to pause aid to states, ruling that the move ​​“fundamentally undermines the distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government.”

On Friday, McConnell found that the Trump administration disregarded the court order, with at least 19 states, all of whom with Democratic attorneys general, presenting “undisputed evidence” that they were not receiving FEMA funds already appropriated by Congress.

Oregon, for example, still hasn’t received $120 million in funds meant for winter storms, flooding, landslides, wildfires and flood mitigation. Hawaii said FEMA has yet to deliver $6 million to rebuild after wildfires devastated Maui in 2023.

bleak harbinger

The Supreme Court on Friday let the Trump administration temporarily suspend $65 million in teacher-training grants that the government contends would promote diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, an early victory for the administration in front of the justices.

The court’s order was unsigned, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications.

The decision was 5 to 4, with five of the court’s conservatives — Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil M. Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Brett M. Kavanaugh — in the majority. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. voted with the court’s three liberal justices in dissent.

The question isn’t whether a federal court can order the Salvadoran government to release Garcia; it can’t.

It’s whether the U.S. government has the ability to secure Garcia’s release. If so, then it can be ordered to do so, because then Garcia is in the “constructive” custody of the United States.- Steve Vladeck, Georgetown Law Professor in response to White House Press Spokesperson response to Judge ordering the Trump Admin. to get Garcia back in which spokesperson said: " "We suggest the Judge contact President [Nayib] Bukele because we are unaware of the judge having jurisdiction or authority over the country of El Salvador."

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy73gqq64do

They think this is like Gitmo. It isn't.

that's all bad news, but in good news:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-04/us-weather-agency-to-preserve-research-websites-in-reversal

although I get the feeling that the whiplash back-and-forth is part of the plan, to disorient and confuse

sorry, free link here:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-04/us-weather-agency-to-preserve-research-websites-in-reversal?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc0Mzc5OTYxMCwiZXhwIjoxNzQ0NDA0NDEwLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTVTdMWUhUMEcxS1cwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJDODQyRERFMUM0RDI0OUVDQUQ5REU4NDhDQkZGNUNBOCJ9.4OooTFzyKP9q24QcUlM-E5hLaGCkzQZ6ZEZ2XslnCqY

see you in the streets!

🏴🤝

Musk retweeted this “Conservative Headlines “ tweet today- TERROR: Soros-funded Indivisible is openly admitting they are behind the 1300 paid protests happening today in all 50 states. Democrat billionaires are funding these uprisings and they should held legally accountable for the violence and vandalism

Wait we can get paid to protest fascism?

Huge numbers of folks out at the Washington monument. I must’ve missed the booth where they were handing out cash.

That's capitalism, baby!

Huge crowd of protesters in downtown Chicago today. Glad I went.

The protests are mostly nuclear families. TERRIFYING

The protests are mostly nuclear families.

comic book panels depicting the FATEFUL MOMENT characters are exposed to RADIATION

I don’t normally post in this thread but Musk’s retweet is one of the most repulsive things I’ve ever seen. He really is an utter piece of shit.

best one-liner sign seen: "I've seen smarter cabinets at Ikea"

huge turnout, 100% peaceful

Truly fecal … also really should make everyone scoff at the administration’s claims to want to combat anti-semitism.

Speaking of fecal, I approve of this sign

https://bsky.app/profile/nightsky99.bsky.social/post/3lm3lpnz4zs2p

Off to cash my soros check brb

We attended a Hands Off rally in Tigard, OR (pop 55,000). It was a satellite rally in a town just south of Portland where the main rally is being held today.

I'd estimate it drew in the neighborhood of 1000 people, give or take 200. A high percentage of retirees in the crowd. As might be expected, nobody was there to be confrontational and get arrested. Everyone stayed on sidewalks, crossed at intersections and waited for the lights, careful never to block traffic. The rowdiest we got was some chanting and waving signs at motorists on the main drag. Plenty of honking and thumbs up from the motorists, with a few middle fingers tossed our way.

saw one protester in NYC stand their ground in the middle of the street when they tried to let traffic move cross town; the people directing traffic eventually just sort of moved to protect them rather than physically move them out of the way. hell yeah.

Big crowd in Knoxville, hard to count because it was spread out along sidewalks at a major intersection, but certainly more than 1,000, organizers were saying 2-3,000. Totally peaceful, no conflicts that I saw, lots of supportive honks from passing cars.

I don't have turnout numbers, but here are some photos of a sizable crowd in Missoula.

https://bsky.app/profile/rsthomas42.bsky.social/post/3lm3qzmpqf225

was in Philly briefly, but honestly, given my experiences in 2000, 2003, 2011, and 2020, not to mention smaller uprisings here and there, i am ultimately dubious that these sorts of demos will do much of anything in remedying the situation at hand. of course, building solidarity networks and showing people power is important, but at a certain point, it feels utterly meaningless. perhaps i’ve had my heart broken too many times— i thought the anti-war protests of 2003 and Occupy were going to change things!!

About 1000 people in Miami today and more in Fort Lauderdale.

Miami? Lol. 694,657 voted for Trump in Miami-Dade last November.

I wasn't at the rally, so I count myself in that silent minority

xxxp I feel ya table, but today I saw so many vets and so many people saying "this is my first protest ever" that it was truly inspiring, and I've been doing this shit since 1986.

Reposted by
Ned Raggett
‪Max Berger‬ ✧@maxber✧✧✧.b✧✧✧.soc✧✧✧‬
·
2h
Reply to
Max Berger
Last point: the goal of protests (and direct action) isn’t to target the dictator, but to shift the public. The way to bring down dictators is through building a movement so large that the regime can’t continue.

Dictators want people to be afraid. Movements win by making participation feel good.
Reposted by
Ned Raggett
‪Max Berger‬ ✧@maxber✧✧✧.b✧✧✧.soc✧✧✧‬
·
2h
Protests aren’t the only tool in the anti-authoritarian toolkit, but they’re incredibly important. Protests help us see each other; they make it feel safer to refuse to obey the dictator, and make it more possible for us to organize mass non-cooperation.

It’s an essential step in the process.

https://bsky.app/profile/physiciandemocracy.medsky.social/post/3lm3ym6wxw22r

lol, see also the "I hate fascism more than I hate crowds" signs

https://i.imgur.com/29eNlVo.jpeg

Damn.

https://i.imgur.com/XETjc73.png

saw that, love it. as I said elsewhere, the police 401ks are tanking too

I didn't see a single cop at the Eugene protest, which was one of the largest in 35 years

iconic image from the Vermont protests

https://i.imgur.com/jvNDdWQ.jpeg

xposts to sleeve, I saw the same thing during the 2020 uprising, hugest crowds i have ever seen with lots of first-timers. the end result of that seems to be the liberal copaganda twitter stuff that Alfred posted, and i am not down with that, sorry. cops are not our friends, and peaceful protest against fascism seems to yield… fascism.

Forgive my cynicism.

nah we're good <3

counterpoint: during the 2020 protests I had friends arrested and assaulted by cops, this time zero cop presence of any sort. I'm taking that as a win, just for today, call me naive but I remain optimistic that this is actually something different (see my note earlier re: vets)

I think the demographics this time tilt older, as well

I posted the screenshot because the passivity of the cops surprised me. Must be their pensions on the line!

the passivity of the cops surprised me

Well yeah. That's the one thing I think keeps being underreported or not as deeply considered in all this -- we're not dealing with a Spartan/helot situation here, for all that law enforcement (and the military) wants to be its own self-contained clique, even the most cliquey have relatives being fucked over one way or another, if not themselves. Think of it this way:

You're a generic straight white guy working for some small local police station, and you think Trump's okay, never have voted Dem, don't consider yourself as loud and crazy as some other MAGAs maybe, or maybe you kinda are. Then over these past few months, say things like this happen: your wife or sis calls up crying one day because school funds or things for HeadStart are suddenly being taken away, or the friendly guy you see each day at the spot you eat at looks a little down, turns out that person lost a friend or relative to something ICE related maybe. Okay, you excuse things a bit, can't make an omelette without breaking eggs, surely they'll get it fixed, but fuck, that Elon guy is kinda weird, why do you keep hearing about him anyway, I just wanna watch Fox News or whatever a bit and he's always on there. Then the past few days happen and suddenly you get a little nervous, check on some investing you did you try not to think about much anyway, or you're out somewhere and this local business guy you sometimes talk with as part of your beat is telling you what these tariffs will do to him. You changing your mind like that? Maybe you're not. But are you thinking, maybe just to yourself, that some stupid shit is happening a little more now ever since that guy became president again? Maybe you are. Then you see a few of your neighbors going to this march today or you see a friend's Facebook post saying they're there, and this is a friend who always seemed pretty level-headed to you, never too political, kinda conservative like you a bit really. They say this is the first time they've done this and it feels good, and they hate the stupid shit that's been happening. Hm. Is this friend wrong? What if he's not.

Sure this is a strawman to some degree. But, think outside ourselves a bit here. I bet this is happening more than you'd guess, in a lot of little small ways. Sure the loudmouths will loudmouth on that other side. But that was never everybody.

Also, this might have been my favorite protest of the day. You can 'be there' in more than one way.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/04/hands-off-virtual-zooms-disability-covid/

omg Ned did you just write that?!?

(xp)

And this might be another favorite. It can be just yourself. It's still something.

https://s✧✧✧.social/@inarticulatequil✧✧✧@masto✧✧✧.a✧✧/114287413165910917

omg Ned did you just write that?!?

Yup.

<3

Whoops, sorry about that link not coming through -- go here.

Damn that didn't work either! Copy/paste, but without the photo showing her one-person sidewalk protest alongside some interchange with a poster -- she (?) is someone, I'd guess an older woman, posting as Inarticulate Quilter on Mastodon:

I DID IT! Was out there almost an hour (didn’t bring my phone so not exactly sure how long)

Mostly ignored, but lots of honks, waves and thumbs up, too. Two joggers stopped and thanked me. One possible Trump supporter either said Go Trump or Fuck Trump - honestly could have been either given the traffic noise. No one hassled me and no cops

I’m so glad I did this

Thank you to everyone who supported and encouraged me — ❤️ you all as much as I love democracy

And you want people like this doing this.

Excuse me, I need to “think outside myself” and humanize cops? No thanks.

I'm not saying that. Fuck, hate 'em all you want. But you want them, at least, to doubt. Of course many of them, cops or not, will tamp down or excuse or do anything to avoid having to doubt. But you want them to doubt.

table we need to humanize everyone, sorry to break it to you. dehumanization is part of how we ended up in this mess, we need to leave it behind

Fine, that makes sense, but again my cynical side says that this is a thin strawman.

If I were to pick a strawman in a similar way, it would be a rightwing evangelical Christian.

And man oh man, do you EVER want them to doubt.

table we need to humanize everyone, sorry to break it to you. dehumanization is part of how we ended up in this mess, we need to leave it behind

Humanizing people doesn’t mean existing them!

Excusing

Table, you're as unreachable as the most red-faced MAGA warrior. Never change.

Well yeah. That's the one thing I think keeps being underreported or not as deeply considered in all this -- we're not dealing with a Spartan/helot situation here, for all that law enforcement (and the military) wants to be its own self-contained clique, even the most cliquey have relatives being fucked over one way or another, if not themselves. Think of it this way:

You're a generic straight white guy working for some small local police station, and you think Trump's okay, never have voted Dem, don't consider yourself as loud and crazy as some other MAGAs maybe, or maybe you kinda are. Then over these past few months, say things like this happen: your wife or sis calls up crying one day because school funds or things for HeadStart are suddenly being taken away, or the friendly guy you see each day at the spot you eat at looks a little down, turns out that person lost a friend or relative to something ICE related maybe. Okay, you excuse things a bit, can't make an omelette without breaking eggs, surely they'll get it fixed, but fuck, that Elon guy is kinda weird, why do you keep hearing about him anyway, I just wanna watch Fox News or whatever a bit and he's always on there. Then the past few days happen and suddenly you get a little nervous, check on some investing you did you try not to think about much anyway, or you're out somewhere and this local business guy you sometimes talk with as part of your beat is telling you what these tariffs will do to him. You changing your mind like that? Maybe you're not. But are you thinking, maybe just to yourself, that some stupid shit is happening a little more now ever since that guy became president again? Maybe you are. Then you see a few of your neighbors going to this march today or you see a friend's Facebook post saying they're there, and this is a friend who always seemed pretty level-headed to you, never too political, kinda conservative like you a bit really. They say this is the first time they've done this and it feels good, and they hate the stupid shit that's been happening. Hm. Is this friend wrong? What if he's not.

Sure this is a strawman to some degree. But, think outside ourselves a bit here. I bet this is happening more than you'd guess, in a lot of little small ways. Sure the loudmouths will loudmouth on that other side. But that was never everybody.

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, April 5, 2025 9:39 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

I don't wanna fool myself into thinking the fever is actually breaking for the 74th time but it does kinda feel like Trump's grip on the populace is cratering, don't forget Project 2025 had like a 9% approval rating and thus far he's been going wildly beyond even that. his voters may distrust the government but I don't think they wanted him to demolish it. they're racist but not "let's deport anyone who looks scary" racist. and their one fallback has always been "the economy" which he is now singlehandedly destroying, and unlike the first time this happened on his watch it is 1000% his fault

Matthew Haugen‬ ✧@mjhau✧✧✧.b✧✧✧.soc✧✧✧‬
·
6h
Building a mass movement (instead of a subculture) will require a lot of cringe, so get comfortable with it

The moral dimensions of humanizing the pigs are less relevant than the practicalities - I don't think you can count on the humanity of cops acting as a meaningful counterweight to... everything else involved in being an American cop. Cops have seen their neighbors (and people who looked like them, etc.) getting destroyed by the system... forever. It hasn't been a dealbreaker.

The only way cops are becoming a reliable member of your big tent coalition is if it starts impacting their personal material concerns. If DOGE leads to overtime getting slashed, then we're talking.

like I said earlier, I'm pretty sure their 401ks are already tanking

pretty sure I saw half a dozen "Is He Dead Yet?" signs and/or t-shirts today, let's hear it for collective visualization.

Most urban cops I'm aware of still have defined benefit pensions!

These are the same forces that were given free rein to crack skulls of college kids protesting genocide less than a year ago and did it with glee.

Every cop who worked security at a bar or restaurant was perfectly nice in person, to all the staff, etc. but if they started talking about their day job there was no avoiding the indoctrination that makes city cops believe they're an occupying force and every person they don't know who isn't wearing a uniform could be an enemy.

enjoy your lonely high horse that ignores the historical moment, I guess you'd rather be pure than effective

I mean, do you not read the news?

https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/1ihhuq2/target_sued_by_shareholders_led_by_city_of/

(a police pension fund sues Target for tanking their stock after the DEI cave-in)

curious what military recruitment is looking like right now. a bunch of people in my generation went off to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan because there was a recession and you knew the government was gonna take care of you. also there was 9/11 and this sense that America really was under attack. now nobody trusts the government to actually pay people and our military objectives are taking Canada and Greenland just because, who's gonna sign up for that

The MBAs who run a pension fund aren't the boots on the ground and the boots on the ground are still getting their defined benefit plans unless you think the state isn't going to bail out cop pensions in the worst case scenario. The idea that line goes down is going to make the foot soldiers of capitalism and white supremacy realize that actually they regret their entire life and career up to this point... whatever gets you through the night I guess.

enjoy your lonely high horse that ignores the historical moment, I guess you'd rather be pure than effective

Effectiveness is exactly what I questioned, though. Cops are not trustworthy allies because their class interests do not allow them to be. They are paid extremely well and protected at every step by the forces of reaction. As I said, if that starts to crumble, then maybe you've got something - but we know that's not happening.

Isn't "trustworthy" the wrong way of looking at it? If a road becomes muddy and treacherous I think fewer cars will use it, but its not the case that I'm "trusting" drivers not to do so. And I don't think no cars at all will use it

we know that's not happening.

(citation needed)

history happens quickly, dude

lol why am I arguing with the worst troll on ILX at 10:24 PM, I'm out

If a road (the police) is muddy and treacherous (violent and highly reactionary compared to the public at large), the question is whether you would use it (rely on them in a political coalition or protest).

Police Road is, of course, less muddy and treacherous than flooded to the hood of the car - cops being more than twice as likely to be right-wingers than their communities and all.

today was super inspiring and I'm pretty sure I've been an activist longer than any of you mofos, you can't take this day away from me and I refuse to let the perfect be the enemy of the good going forward

also, that is a very bad analogy

(xp to milo the perpetually unhappy)

lol yeah decades are totes happening in weeks right now, our Lenin is on a train heading in from Newfoundland at this moment

At least cops never betray bootlickers.

I think the demographics this time tilt older, as well

― sleeve, Sunday, April 6, 2025 1:16 AM (five hours ago

Just saw a TikTok shared as a reel where a gen z er protestor was complaining there were not enough teens and young gen z protesters

Black and brown Americans on my socials were all saying they were staying in yesterday, so I am guessing that light touch policing happened because most of the protesters were white.

my 89 year old dad was out yesterday

I refuse to let the perfect be the enemy of the good going forward

Was anyone here wanting to break bread with them? I think most posters expressed surprise the cops weren't breaking our heads -- and that selfish reasons motivated them.

Humanizing fascists is breaking bread with them, afaic

I feel like the people who show up to protests are the people who show up, and especially when it comes to larger scale protests there's not really any control of that, or checking who is or isn't ok with what. Beyond a certain point it becomes broader than that and takes on a life of its own

the centrists and liberals are going to have to be okay with actual radical left politics as well, even if terms like ACAB and FTP are scary to them

otm

Humanizing fascists is breaking bread with them, afaic

― butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table),

Depends! I have good friends with cop relatives. Seem like nice people, good family men and women who work for a malevolent system. Their politics are horrible. I wouldn't hang out with them. Is that humanizing them?

Anvil OTM

Hope a lot of good connections were made

Anvil, agreed. I will drop my ACAB sputtering, I just don’t think it’s wise to empathize with people who would crack your skull without any pretext, or honestly to even be friends with people who have cop relatives that they still talk to. But that’s just me, obviously.

last one: “good family men and women” and the rhetoric surrounding this construction are part of what got us here in the first place, it’s not a ringing endorsement imho.

https://s28543.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2020/02/Bivalence-and-the-Excluded-Middle.jpg

last one: “good family men and women” and the rhetoric surrounding this construction are part of what got us here in the first place, it’s not a ringing endorsement imho.

― butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table)

No, it isn't, nor was it intended to be. I think I've written straightforwardly.

What if we don’t break bread at all, but dip it in soup instead?

disgusting savage imo

Speaking of which https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna199882

Centrists and liberals are very happy to take the credit and spoils from policies that either are leftist or originated on the left. I wish they would stop throwing us under the bus for wanting better and more egalitarian forms of governance and justice.

ACAB? 99.5 per cent of them delight in being assholes on duty, however they might act at home. And half of them are that way in private, too. But there ARE outliers - the one good apple in the bad barrel. I know from my uncle’s career as a vice detective that the price of being a ‘good cop’ (and he was exceptional) is not limited to getting nobbled by the structures of police hierarchy. He died from an alcoholism-related stomach haemorrhage at 56; we know the stress of his job contributed to that.

it's almost like systems and individual people are different objects of criticism hmmm

I think we all know that outliers exist and are useful to deflect criticism from systems desperately in need of reform.

I'd say abolished and re-imagined, like our Constitution, but that's as likely as my waking up with Bryan Ferry's hair.

Anvil, agreed. I will drop my ACAB sputtering, I just don’t think it’s wise to empathize with people who would crack your skull without any pretext, or honestly to even be friends with people who have cop relatives that they still talk to. But that’s just me, obviously.

― butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Sunday, April 6, 2025 7:46 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

my take on this is that some of us understand acab = structural critique and not "every individual police officer is personally a despicable piece of shit who deserves to be treated with scorn." abolition means confronting the flaws at the root of a deeply racist and unjust system -- it doesn't give you a pass to be an asshole and selectively deny empathy, because that's not how empathy works actually. try talking to the many immigrant cops in my city who see a career in policing as a reliable pathway to the middle class for folks of color in the USA. these are people in our community, and many of them are motivated by a desire to make their communities better. we can recognize this motivation without minimizing the harm at the heart of policing

years ago on this board, i made a similar argument about people choosing to go into the military, and was pretty roundly (and correctly, in hindsight) set straight.

people know what they’re getting into when they become cops, and no amount of playing into representation will change that— cops are fascists, end stop, and the “few good outliers” are spoiled by the rest.

I don't think they do always know, or maybe they think they can be different or change things. I'm sure some manage to do that in small wyas even if it's difficult, big bureaucratic organisations can still produce small empowered groups that can do good, especially well-funded public orgs. My experience of state organisations is sometimes terrible ideas or intentions can contain or produce really good or benevolent ones. Not saying the USA is in a great place for that right now but still.

This excerpt is UK but pretty interesting, you could call this person an idiot or something if you had the view that he should have known what the police would be like, but I assume there are a fair few other people like him trying to do good in a bad organisation, some of whom may not have left:

https://granta.com/products/forced-out/

People's way of thinking about society or politics is so variable that I'm not sure we can assume calculation or whatever so easily, or anything else really.

Sorry this is the link to the excerpt: https://granta.com/forced-out/

By the same token, I don’t cite my uncle and his work to deflect from the need to reform or abolish policing as we currently experience it (particularly if we are poor, female or not white). He agreed, and trying to change it from within for 35 years was fatal to his mental and physical health.

A guy I used to work with had been in an inner city police force previously, also with this idea of "reforming it from the inside" or at least contributing to it. I can't recall how long he lasted but I think it was less than a year. He wasn't the type to back down either, can't really imagine him there at all

This isn't to defend him, he was annoying

As a civil servant in my line of work I am alongside tons of veterans and law enforcement folks on a regular basis and maybe I’m just a blinkered idiot but none of them are fascists or even fash-curious. Also like me, they work closely with immigrants and LGBTQ+ people. We are more committed to our shared oath to the Constitution than to any other personal allegiance. If I were to attempt to explain this, remember that the DMV is actually a very liberal area, and there’s always that dumb old Jim Rohn saw about how individuals are the average of the five people they spend the most time with. If that’s true in any way, the five people I spend the most time with must have gotten WAY leftier than when I started posting here over twenty years ago. And yet I’m still in a very similar field.

It’s funny that I now agree more than ever with tables, milo and xyz than I ever have, but the disrespect for people who’ve followed my particular path remains palpable

Veterans went for Trump by 20+ points, active duty military was slightly worse IIRC, cops are way more reactionary than even the military - whatever narratives we want to make about Good Cops who are trying to fight the system and whatever, the reality is that they're very much irrelevant outliers and worrying about how progressives/leftists/etc. treat them runs real close to fretting about the need to make space for and empathize with white evangelicals.

I’m not an imbecile who is ignorant of the stats, I am explaining my lived experience.

Leftists who decide that veterans and law enforcement are just unreachable blocs are being shortsighted, in my opinion.

‪Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò‬ ✧@olufemiota✧✧✧.b✧✧✧.soc✧✧✧‬
·
14h
can't normalize without normies. make your peace with this now

people know what they’re getting into when they become cops, and no amount of playing into representation will change that— cops are fascists, end stop, and the “few good outliers” are spoiled by the rest.

the thing is I think this is a misunderstanding of what ACAB actually means, though I do get that usage = means and so it probably now means exactly this to most people using it. but this usage is tactically useless imo. like it will never get anybody a good result. whereas understanding that the system means good cop or bad cop is still a bastard -- not in terms of their personal characteristics but by virtue of the role they play -- could lead to structural reform, which is as close as anybody's ever going to get to abolition.

My uncle entered Vietnam as an apolitical jock and left it totally left wing radicalized

Not sure if that was an xp sleeve but Taiwo is not including police under “normies”

I’ll add though that I think collapsing the difference between veterans and active duty police doesn’t make sense

If a cop sees the light and wishes to throw down the shield and join the side of righteousness, cool.

The possibility of this happening doesn’t mean we need to spend one second of time considering a need to appeal to them in any way or tell stories justifying their choice to join the domestic repression office.

Make it a second and a half and we have a deal.

whereas understanding that the system means good cop or bad cop is still a bastard -- not in terms of their personal characteristics but by virtue of the role they play -- could lead to structural reform, which is as close as anybody's ever going to get to abolition.

i honestly don't get what is different about this and what I am getting at— by virtue of being cops, they are fascists, whether they are "good cops" or not. this is why i don't care about the canard of "good cops" because yes, they exist, but they are still fascists.

https://bsky.app/profile/cscreamingbeard.bsky.social/post/3lm4ukx6pwk2m

(Reskeeted by Taiwo)

It's also just worth noting that the main sponsors of yesterday's protests were— surprise— non-profits with heavy ties to the Democratic Party. I'm not so dumb and idealistic as to believe there is an actual alternative to the wretched two-party system we have now, but I am also wary of how the Democratic Party (and its proxies in the non-profit industrial complex) has again and again co-opted righteous anger over encroaching (and now very-present!) fascism and then sidelined that anger in favor of lip service bluster and a hollow politics of representation rather than actual advocacy.

Well wait, we can't both be furious at the Democratic Party for doing nothing and also mad at Democratic-aligned people for organizing protests.

What would enforcing laws without fear or favour ilook like in table or milo world?

for those interested, this is the main group behind yesterday: https://indivisible.org/

I agree with their statements on a lot of things; on others, I wish they would go further (they refuse to call a genocide a genocide, for example).

Another thing that irks me is that there is already the rejection of action that might not hew to the very strict protocols of "non-violence" as outlined on their webpage. What I would like is for such groups to embrace Diversity of Tactics and quit insisting that the only way to make change is by marching around with signs and voting, because to be blunt, these "non-violent" tactics are seen as jokes to the fascists in power. I would reckon that Luigi Mangione did more to threaten those with the boot at our necks than any of these marches combined, which is not to say "don't march," but to say— maybe we need a lot of different ways of going about making change!!

I don’t think anyone here would argue that there’s only one right way to do activism.

Well wait, we can't both be furious at the Democratic Party for doing nothing and also mad at Democratic-aligned people for organizing protests.

― paper plans (tipsy mothra), Sunday, April 6, 2025 11:27 AM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

The main goal of these groups is to organize and then defang popular protest and anger and funnel it into the feckless Democratic machinery.

I don't think that's correct! I know one of the local Indivisible organizers, she first got politically active in the local schools trying to push back against the Moms for Liberty types, she organized protests in favor of public health measures in schools, and she has put herself out there twice to run for a state legislative seat held by one of our worst local GOP reps in a very Republican district. She lost, of course, but my point is that she is a total grassroots community organizer type. Yes she is involved in our local Democratic Party but that's GOOD, we need people who are smart and energetic and active at the local level. I think I just don't get what you're looking for?

What would enforcing laws without fear or favour ilook like in table or milo world?

There is no police reform in a capitalist society.

Their goal is to remove trump and restore a liberal order they see as more legitimate than this one. Their goal is not to overcome capitalism. I am interested in alternatives to capitalism but right now my priority is the same as theirs: remove trump.

I don't think that's correct!

Then our conversation is over because this is an irreconcilable difference in opinion ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The first #50501 protests were a decentralized rapid response to the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration and its plutocratic allies. The idea—50 protests in 50 states on 1 day—was born on r/50501 and spread rapidly on social media.

In just days, grassroots organizers—without any budget, centralized structure, or official backing—pulled off over 80 peaceful protests in all 50 states. Twelve days later, tens of thousands of Americans declared "No Kings Day" and protested once more. On March 4th, a call to stand up for democracy was answered with another wave of protests.

Our movement shows the world that the American working class will not sit idly by as plutocrats rip apart their democratic institutions and civil liberties while undermining the rule of law.

What I would like is for such groups to embrace Diversity of Tactics and quit insisting that the only way to make change is by marching around with signs and voting

This would help to pull in people who are of like mind with you, but on a propaganda level it would only hand the media a stick marked "Endorses Political Violence" with which to beat them mercilessly, which would immediately shrink their potential for mass action down to... people who are of like mind with you.

Then our conversation is over because this is an irreconcilable difference in opinion ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

lol well my "opinion" is based on observed facts on the ground over several years. But I'm glad you're so sure you know what's happening in every city in the country where some kind of diabolical cabal of volunteer liberal moms is scheming to "defang popular protest and anger."

Their goal is to remove trump and restore a liberal order they see as more legitimate than this one. Their goal is not to overcome capitalism. I am interested in alternatives to capitalism but right now my priority is the same as theirs: remove trump.

― treeship 2, Sunday, April 6, 2025 11:51 AM (twenty-four seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

I think that one can accompany the other— if we're trying to replace the fascists, why not also try to find alternatives to capitalism, which breeds the nihilistic fascist impulses that have gotten us to where we are?

That's where a lot of my ire comes from. I am angry and despondent that so many of the responses to Trump 2.0 have been so utterly void of possible alternatives to a liberal order that helped birth Trumpism and is currently financially backing one of the worst wide scale war crimes that we have seen in our lifetimes.

Why can't we think of ways to fight Trump that don't rely on falling back on pre-existing notions floated by the DNC?

Who says we can't? I think there are all sorts of different ways to push back and fight back. I just think it's more productive to do that — find ways that are meaningful to you — than to sit around sneering at other people's efforts.

Well wait, we can't both be furious at the Democratic Party for doing nothing and also mad at Democratic-aligned people for organizing protests.

Just watch us

Why can't we think of ways to fight Trump that don't rely on falling back on pre-existing notions floated by the DNC?

Theory divorced from praxis stays impotent to effect change.

The people who showed up at yesterday's protests SHOWED UP. That doesn't mean the people who didn't show up weren't also doing useful things in other ways, but to denigrate the people who did show up seems not just pointless but counterproductive. If you're telling them their efforts were dumb and meaningless, you are literally saying the same things the MAGA types were saying in news comment sections all day yesterday.

I'm not sneering, I'm saying that these groups can't build a broader coalition if they don't at least become friendly with people like me and nearly everyone I know IRL, all of whom distrust non-profits because we have seen the way they operate!! It's been noted that many younger and non-white people stayed home yesterday— why might that be?

I would just like a world where billionaires and other wealthy people who commit crimes were forced to endure the same punishments as those with no such advantages. The biggest reason we are where we are with the current administration is that their crimes and convictions went unpunished and there was no mechanism to disqualify them from “public service.”

If you want a broad-based coalition, it can't just be those on the margins coming to the center— the center has to reach toward the margins. And I'm not seeing that on the ground here.

I am dying at diabolical cabal of volunteer liberal moms …

Xp - really great to hear that you and your friends distrust nonprofits— does that distr9include the one that kept many of your friends from being evicted immediately after G.S.? …

xp the current policy of ‘let’s make an example of these people of colour’ led many to stay home or focus on other aspects of protest/resistance, and there was another social media strand of thought which was ‘whitey broke this, whitey can damn well fix this’ which I completely accept.

Well wait, we can't both be furious at the Democratic Party for doing nothing and also mad at Democratic-aligned people for organizing protests.

Democrats can't really do anything, failure until very recently to engage in even performative obstruction deserves being 'a bit peeved' at most.

Fury should be reserved for Democrats being worthless for the last 50 years which does align pretty well with 'are these the people we need organizing protests.'

why might that be?

you already stated the reason. they mistrust the ability of existing organizations to create changes they find meaningful. so, from an equally valid perspective, why isn't it up to them to find their own ways create meaningful changes that the rest of us can show up for? you make it sound like liberals are duty bound to do this on their own, without your or their help, so you'll be satisfied we're worthy of that help. the civil rights movements and gay liberation movements were grassroots from within their communities and attracted liberal assistance to their leadership. don't wait for white middle class liberals to find the golden key for you so you can walk through that door.

I don't care who organizes protests, I just think someone should. If you don't like the people organizing the ones near you, organize your own. There's no monopoly on action, god knows.

My lived experience of solidarity politics and other organizing is that you aren’t going to get everyone to join. It’s not worth trying to cater to people who hate you and are opposed to what you want to do. If there are cops who support an anti-fascist agenda, great…. Surprising, but great.

Part of my support for Diversity of Tactics is based in a belief in autonomy of different groups… if people want to protest/resist differently, then they should be encouraged to do so. This goes for tankies as well as the diabolical cabal of liberal moms.

‪L.A. Kauffman‬ ✧@lakauff✧✧✧.b✧✧✧.soc✧✧✧‬
·
22h
What's most significant about today's day of action is the sheer number of locations where protests took place -- more than 1000 towns and cities, all over the country.

That's only happened one or two times before *in all of American history.*

but hey, keep up the mansplaining and blanket dismissals, dudes who didn't even attend

https://i.imgur.com/FH1QlWI.jpg

I actually spent time this morning discussing local politics with random people on next door, specifically the fraught nature of the relationship between the local DSA and the black community. And it seems to come down to the need to be listened to and represented and not have their lived experiences be dismissed in the service of unrealistic ideology.

Xp Alfred — they bought that wine with their Soros checks.

@table - i think the current discussion is somewhat muddled by the references to the "group" or "groups" supposedly "behind" the protests. i don't know enough to evaluate what their role was. but even if the intention of such a group can be shown to be, nakedly, cooptation and capture of outrage --- or heck, even if we can show convincingly that that is the group's function regardless of intentions --- would that actually mean they were successful in doing so? would it tell us anything at all about the protests themselves and the people who show up to them? why they showed up, and what they intend to do next?

people, especially as they get politically activated (or even radicalized!) have a tendency to do things that the scheming centrists masterminds didn't plan on. anyway, i can't see how people showing up to protest makes things worse!

the fraught nature of the relationship between the local DSA and the black community. And it seems to come down to the need to be listened to and represented and not have their lived experiences be dismissed in the service of unrealistic ideology

^^^

There is no police reform in a capitalist society.

What about if someone is less happy with the current system than you?

for those interested, this is the main group behind yesterday: https://indivisible.org/

damn i can't believe i went to a protest organized by a group i don't 100% agree with

i should probably sit home next time. that'll teach 'em to bEcOmE fRiEnDlY with me

Tempted to start a thread of posts referring to police by Local Garda just for my love of language

damn i saw some ukrainian flags at this protest. i think some of these resistance moms might not share my desire to dismantle the carceral state ... hm, probably should've stayed home on second thought

Tempted to start a thread of posts referring to police by Local Garda just for my love of language

I didn't even think of my username when weighing in on these more serious matters :)

aren't the same people on the left who don't like the protests also the people who agree that ukraine is not really a country, etc?

that's why that got namedropped

There’s lots of people doing different activisms…and that’s okay.

(I don't think they are, at least not by the sample we have here, but that's why budo jeru used it as an example)

What about if someone is less happy with the current system than you?

What?

Can't believe people here are working up such a circlejerk without saying "purity tests" even once.

Don’t get me started on American tankies

lol Alfred

Why can't we think of ways to fight Trump that don't rely on falling back on pre-existing notions floated by the DNC?

anticonsumption subreddit with > 1M members celebrating the turnout fwiw

i guess for most ppl voluntarily minimizing their participation in the economy (because of course for so many of us it is necessary and involuntary), it’s actually motivating to see the numbers and speculate as to what the collective impact might be. even if in reality people have different agendas, being massively outnumbered is not a good feeling.

What?

It's a very clear question.

It’s not though. What part of “there is no police reform under capitalism” indicates ‘happiness’ with the current system?

but hey, keep up the mansplaining and blanket dismissals, dudes who didn't even attend

i did attend!

It's always great to come to ILX the day after a gigantic mass mobilization, including major turnout in blood-red states, to see the usual suspects singing their favorite song, "Everyone But Me Is Doing Leftism Wrong." The "Why won't those asshole normie losers join me up here on the moral high ground?" bit is the best part.

but as i noted, having marched around and yelled for hours many times in my life, and having many times thought "this is a watershed moment" and had my hopes for a better world get crushed, my cynical (and frankly, sad and defeated) side takes over.

i am glad people stayed for more than an hour, unlike me. i am fine with people who don't agree with me on everything, otherwise i wouldn't be on this fucking board, and i wouldn't do the volunteer work i do. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

sorry for wanting more!

Being realistic about the limits of protest is not the same as telling people they're wrong to protest.

sorry table! I did not catch that earlier

oh hey a related article

Organizing is not a process of ideological matchmaking. Most people’s politics will not mirror our own, and even people who identify with us strongly on some points will often differ sharply on others. When organizers do not fully understand each other’s beliefs or identities, people will often stumble and offend one another, even if they earnestly wish to build from a place of solidarity. Efforts to build diverse, intergenerational movements will always generate conflict and discomfort. But the desire to shrink groups down to spaces of easy agreement is not conducive to movement building.

The forces that oppress us may compete and make war with one another, but when it comes to maintaining the order of capitalism and the hierarchy of white supremacy, they collaborate and work together based on their death-making and eliminationist shared interests. Oppressed people, on the other hand, often demand ideological alignment or even affinity when seeking to interrupt or upend structural violence. This tendency lends an advantage to the powerful that is not easily overcome.

https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/how-much-discomfort-is-the-whole-world-worth/

yeah, i mean i don't think anyone is wrong to protest! i was there lol!!

i just think that what is happening isn't going to change via non-violent marching in the streets alone, and i wish that more mainstream/normie type liberals would give up the fetish for "non-violence" and at least be cool with more militant tactics taken on by others.

Yes nonviolence has never accomplished anything …

Xp - liberal moms cabal bail fund …

lol yes

lol yes

I forget if it was here where I posted about how the left could use K. Patel’s workaround to give bail money to Jan 6-ers to avoid the shit that happened in Atlanta last year…like I had a similar idea and then read that recent article about how he implemented it.

But it would involve nonprofits, T … so idk

A federal judge rebuked the Trump administration Sunday for refusing to take steps to return a man wrongly deported to a mega-prison in El Salvador, saying that officials have offered “no evidence” he was a gang member and that the federal government has the authority to bring him back.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis issued a 22-page decision two days after she ordered the U.S. government to arrange the release of Kilmar Abrego García, the husband of a U.S. citizen, by 11:59 p.m. on Monday. In her just-released decision, she cited records and official statements that show the United States has the power to bring him back but has chosen not to exercise it.

“This is not about Defendants’ inability to return Abrego García, but their lack of desire,” the judge wrote...The Trump administration over the weekend appealed Xinis’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit

https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/04/06/trump-el-salvador-wrongly-deported-judge/

Lawyers for Maryland man deported to El Salvador prison urge 4th Circuit to reject Trump admin bid to lift order requiring his return by midnight tom'w. Attorneys say such relief is 'well established"

From Josh Gerstein of Politico tweet

Let themme eat cakecookies

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum likes chocolate-chip cookies—preferably freshly baked and still warm.

This peculiar fact became the talk of the Department of Interior in recent weeks after his chief of staff, JoDee Hanson, made an unusual request of the political appointees in his office: Learn to regularly bake cookies for Burgum and his guests, using the industrial ovens at the department headquarters.

That request was not the only move by his team that has alarmed some Interior officials. Four people familiar with Burgum’s leadership, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, told The Atlantic that Burgum was focused on his status as the leader of a minor cabinet department and that those who ran his office repeatedly made unusual demands to his employees. His office leadership once instructed political appointees to act as servers for a multicourse meal. They also dispatched a U.S. Park Police helicopter for his personal transportation. On at least one occasion, a political appointee was told to remake the cookies because the batch was subpar, according to three people.

Some of the concerns have been elevated to senior White House officials, according to the sources. One person familiar with the behavior described Burgum as “Doug the diva.” Three people said the concerns have been widely discussed among lower-level staff at the Department of Interior. Two people said political appointees in Burgum’s office have been seen crying because of the demands placed on them.

“These pathetic smears are from unnamed cowards who don’t know Doug Burgum and are trying to stop President Trump’s Energy Dominance agenda,” Interior spokesperson Katie Martin told us in a statement. “Everyone knows Secretary Burgum always leads with gratitude and is humbly working with President Trump.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/burgum-cookies/682319/

On at least one occasion, a political appointee was told to remake the cookies because the batch was subpar, according to three people.

Damn, your mommy and daddy spend seven figures on Mar-A-Lago fees to get you an appointment and you end up baking for your shithead boss.

How Jeffrey Goldberg got added to the Signal chat: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/06/signal-group-chat-leak-how-it-happened

According to three people briefed on the internal investigation, Goldberg had emailed the campaign about a story that criticized Trump for his attitude towards wounded service members. To push back against the story, the campaign enlisted the help of Waltz, their national security surrogate.

Goldberg’s email was forwarded to then Trump spokesperson Brian Hughes, who then copied and pasted the content of the email – including the signature block with Goldberg’s phone number – into a text message that he sent to Waltz, so that he could be briefed on the forthcoming story.

Waltz did not ultimately call Goldberg, the people said, but in an extraordinary twist, inadvertently ended up saving Goldberg’s number in his iPhone – under the contact card for Hughes, now the spokesperson for the national security council.

... According to the White House, the number was erroneously saved during a “contact suggestion update” by Waltz’s iPhone, which one person described as the function where an iPhone algorithm adds a previously unknown number to an existing contact that it detects may be related.

I'm worried that Trump will dig his heels in rather than acknowledge he made a mistake with tariffs, and that we're going to have an extended recession

Some of the concerns have been elevated to senior White House officials, according to the sources. One person familiar with the behavior described Burgum as “Doug the diva.”

Maybe Doug Burghum is a diva and he's definitely awful, but he's a very minor diva. There are many, many, many more reprehensible people in the administration.

Howard Lutnick won't admit to having used ChatCPT and not tariff data to come up with the new completely insane, childish and destructive tariffs. Peter Navarro is a convicted felon huckster and advisor who is gaslighting us on CNN that we're going to have the biggest boom in the stock market we've ever seen. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, an entitled billionaire, says Americans who are retired or about to retire aren’t worried about ‘day-to-day’ market fluctuations - the fuck we're not!

These people are the monsters

xp - Interesting reportage, but the problem was never that Goldberg's number got added to Walz's iPhone contact lists. the problem was always that a national security team was using their personal iPhones for sensitive government communications.

I'm worried that Trump will dig his heels in rather than acknowledge he made a mistake with tariffs, and that we're going to have an extended recession

Alas, most of us accepted it days ago.

Goldberg is the only reason that we know that they’re using their personal iPhones so I do think it’s relevant.

I'm worried that Trump will dig his heels in rather than acknowledge he made a mistake

Nah, that would be totally unlike him. (Seriously, cash out your retirement funds tomorrow morning and bury the cash in jars in your lawn.)

lol unperson

Alas, most of us accepted it days ago.

― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, April 6, 2025

Did we though? I guess I just don't think younger people really understand what a recession and subsequent inflation (stagflation even) means to someone who is retired and living off a retirement income. I certainly didn't get it when I was younger because retirement was so far off

Instead younger people just understand what it’s like to be unemployed and have no money at all.

younger people have been able to find work up to now, maybe not rewarding work, but going forward instead of us having a 4% unemployment rate I guess we are going to have to accept being chronically out of work in our new downsized regressive inflationary economy that will isolate us from the rest of the world and make us poorer as a country

my new take is that the whole dooge boi takeover is replacing the derp state with Elons janky Grok AI as the new Dank Thought decision-maker, so as mistakes will be made they can all, even trumps, blame it now on the "Big Guy"

I don't think this idea that the center has to appeal to the margins and the marins have to appeal to the centre is how things work. Protests, and movements, with any traction and size aren't controlled or policed like that. The protests in Belgrade grew organically bringing together disparate groups that don't generally align, and have even spread to other countries.

I feel like in anything that has any momentum the situation is what does the appealing, there's no choice about how to do things it happens regardless

i did attend!

― butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Sunday, April 6, 2025 4:34 PM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

i didn't realize this, sorry for teasing

lol I am fucking dying at this, ty jaymc:

... According to the White House, the number was erroneously saved during a “contact suggestion update” by Waltz’s iPhone, which one person described as the function where an iPhone algorithm adds a previously unknown number to an existing contact that it detects may be related.

the only saving grace of this entire situation is that these people are fucking morons

50501 declared another nationwide protest for 4/19 btw, also I've been seeing stuff about unions organizing for 5/1

younger people have been able to find work up to now, maybe not rewarding work, but going forward instead of us having a 4% unemployment rate I guess we are going to have to accept being chronically out of work in our new downsized regressive inflationary economy that will isolate us from the rest of the world and make us poorer as a country

Like, even my relatively conservative but liberal parents understand that it has been extremely difficult for people my age.

Yes nonviolence has never accomplished anything …

Wondering about what examples you were thinking of there, tipsy? The obvious ones ppl mention - MLK, Ghandi - don't really work because they happened within a context were there was also violent resistance happening at the same time.

Good morning!

Really enjoying catching up on the good posting. Can someone use their Photoshop skills to replace the wine glasses in the 'wine mom' pic with some AK-47s? Thank you.

They need the wine to pick up those AK-47s afterward iirc

I thought we had consensed that the moms bought the wine with their Soros checks and then contributed the rest to nonprofits that are basically bail funds but the moms can get a tax deduction for …

The obvious ones ppl mention - MLK, Ghandi - don't really work because they happened within a context were there was also violent resistance happening at the same time.

Yes? What role did violent resistance play in the passage of the Civil Rights Act? The conventional history is that violence perpetuated by white authorities against nonviolent civil rights marchers helped turn public opinion against segregation. In general, violent resistance against state authority tends to push public opinion toward supporting state authority (to “preserve law and order”).

What role did violent resistance play in the passage of the Civil Rights Act?

The existence of violent alternatives instantly reframes the context of nonviolent resistance - it becomes more palpable to negotiate with the latter if the former is present, as it was then.

As it was then in what form?

We’re talking about achieving political goals, presumably — where public opinion is crucial. If you’re talking about an actual revolution to overturn the state, then sure obviously that’s an inherently violent path. (As the secessionist states took in the Civil War.)

But if you’re talking about political goals within a system that you are not trying to overthrow, just on a strategic level violence doesn’t have a good track record.

I think the argument here is that MLK was effectively able to juxtapose the non-violent resistance against the threat of violent alternatives, though that potentially leads to a conclusion of that the civil rights movement wasn't what was actually effective. But its arguably a mixture of the two

The Orange Revolution, Solidarnosc, Maidan, or possibly Philippines 1986 might be more straightforward examples without this more contentious dynamic

As it was then in what form?

Well we can discuss whether Nation of Islam truly qualifies as "violent resistance" but it was certainly viewed as such by the media of the time, no?

I've seen historical examples of a combination of nonviolent and violent movements effecting change. There's also obviously tons of examples of armed resistance doing so. But I'm struggling for an example of a nonviolent movement effecing change in a context with no violent alternative present. Which isn't to say those don't exist, so I was curious

xpost thanks anvil will think on those

tipsy, you’re right, but does it ever strike you that the Rockefeller and Ford Foundation, along with the White House, were supporting more incrementalist non-violent groups in the sixties, because the state must maintain a monopoly on violence? Like, what you’re saying is correct, but part of my deep frustration is that the rhetoric of “non-violence” often seems like a total ceding to state levers of social control, aka violence! This is part of my problem with groups like Indivisible, too— instrumental change can come from these groups, but that change is always due to the levers of power and capital approving of it.

If this weren’t the case, then the aims of the Civil Rights era would be felt more profoundly today, because Black people wouldn’t still be the most oppressed group in the country. Like, it can be easily argued that if the aims of more militant groups like the Panthers or the SNCC were achieved, we’d be a lot closer to more racially just society!

So in a sense, to me the question becomes: how do those sympathetic to a wider range of tactics expose more “normie”/non-violent activists to the reality that real change might require some amount of more militant resistance, and that this type of resistance and community care go hand in hand?

I think the argument here is that MLK was effectively able to juxtapose the non-violent resistance against the threat of violent alternatives, though that potentially leads to a conclusion of that the civil rights movement wasn't what was actually effective. But its arguably a mixture of the two

Yeah, I think that's inherent to some degree in any nonviolent movement. Especially in terms of the fight for Black liberation, because part of white supremacist ideology rests on the asserted need to protect white people from Black violence. Part of what made Black nonviolence in that setting so effective was that it inherently exposed one of the deepest racist lies about Black people being violent and scary. But the movement overall was an appeal to conscience and morality. The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act weren't passed because white people were afraid there would be Black violence if they didn't pass them — really the opposite. It was among other things because of disgust at white violence.

Interesting discussion of all of this here, with Isaach Chotiner talking to a professor who's studied public reaction to violent vs. nonviolent protest:

https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-violent-protests-change-politics

tipsy, you’re right, but does it ever strike you that the Rockefeller and Ford Foundation, along with the White House, were supporting more incrementalist non-violent groups in the sixties, because the state must maintain a monopoly on violence?

I don't think that was King's goal! He was using tactics that he believed would be most politically productive — and he delivered. He got two of the most important civil rights laws in U.S. history passed in back to back years. If you read that interview I just posted above, the data is pretty strong that subsequent episodes of violent resistance — the riots of summer 1964, and especially the riots after King's assassination in 1968 — pushed public opinion back toward "law and order." It reinforced the legitimacy of state violence, which the nonviolent movement had successfully called into question.

I'm not a proponent of violence in general for all sorts of reasons, but viewing it strictly from the lens of "will it work to accomplish your goals," I think it's a hard case to make. Particularly for groups that are marginalized demographically and/or politically. That's why the right tried so hard to play up the sporadic violence and property damage of the 2020 George Floyd protests — because they would much rather talk about "lawlessness in the streets" than the brutality of a racist police system.

Anyway, if NPR libs fetishize nonviolence, I think it's also fair to say there's a fetishization of violence some places on the left. Which I think is a combination of righteous and understandable anger and also the inherent appeal that violence has for humans in general (especially male humans) — it's exciting, at some level it feels good to lash out. I have those impulses too, but I'm wary of them.

According to stuff I have read and seen, SNCC had a turbulent history in terms of its organization… and speaking of 1968, the protests at the DNC were another complication that either of you, Table or tipsy, can use to argue from.

God no, violent protest is terrifying. The people I know who are most articulate about the need for it are also the ones that paint the least romantic portrait of it.

xpost

Well said, Tipsy. Although the right talks about lawlessness in the streets even when protests are 100% peaceful. I can’t remember where I read it but some right-wing Claremont Institute choad was trying to make the Women’s March several years ago sound like the Sack of Rome.

Couldn't agree more, Tipsy. And for some support of violence is just as much a clichéd thing that has drifted into language and posting in an unquestioning way without any real strategy or goal, same as the non-violence kumbaya archetype.

I'm struggling for an example of a nonviolent movement effecing change in a context with no violent alternative present

Aren't there millions of examples of groups who have affected change in this way? I don't just mean like getting a stop sign put up in your neighborhood or whatever either, though I don't denigrate that. Just feel like there is pretty much an entire part of society that is always trying to do this. I don't really have a way of thinking about a macro goal for all of society, personally, but even if you do, is the idea that nothing should be done in the interim?

I guess I worry that without incrementally fixing things you lose so many battles and maybe a more radical overhaul will never happen. There are always things that can be fixed now.

Anyway, those of you who want violent direct action, you go right ahead, but don’t be surprised if it doesn’t have the effect that you were looking for. It’s so great we have free healthcare because of Luigi Mangione.

Good discussion.

Idk how much of it is an age thing but I remember Occupy and thinking at the time, this is novel but it isn’t really going to change shit … maybe it’s cynicism, maybe it’s my memory of anti-globalization and anti-gentrification protests between 1998-2000 that didn’t really change shit …

I forget if I have posted about how during Occupy, I was the bookkeeper for a nonprofit art gallery adjacent to the main encampment and how Occupy really increased the gallery’s attendance numbers because the gallery was open on Saturdays and let people use the bathroom for free.

Anyway, those of you who want violent direct action, you go right ahead, but don’t be surprised if it doesn’t have the effect that you were looking for. It’s so great we have free healthcare because of Luigi Mangione.

― Crack's Addition (Boring, Maryland), Monday, 7 April 2025 bookmarkflaglink

Direct action isn't this kind of uncoordinated violence, which, if we don't acknowledge and work to solve issues causing this suffering in our society, could end up being a lot more frightening to the general public.

Anyway, if NPR libs fetishize nonviolence, I think it's also fair to say there's a fetishization of violence some places on the left. Which I think is a combination of righteous and understandable anger and also the inherent appeal that violence has for humans in general (especially male humans) — it's exciting, at some level it feels good to lash out. I have those impulses too, but I'm wary of them.

The biggest irritant of Occupy in my experience was its strength: its decentralization led to at best bland and at worst abysmal public communication: I'd hear Occupiers explain themselves to media, conservative and otherwise, and they sounded inarticulate or as if reading from -- and here's irony -- PR statements. One on one at the protests I attended, however, they sounded fantastic.

Hmm, almost like the media avoided people who could explain themselves in a fantastic way.

No doubt.

Well at least one Occupy person went on to have a large and successful platform from which to lobby for change

But the question becomes, then, what is called violence? To my mind, looting a big box store during an entirely justified uprising isn’t violence, but

I think theres probably a trade off here, where if a protest increases in intensity it probably decreases in size. And in the moment and on the ground a building being on fire or things being smashed is going to seem like violence, or at least close to it.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/activists-panelist-tim-pool/

KILMEADE: Would Trump consider a 90 days pause in tariffs?

HASSETT: I think the president is gonna decide what the president is gonna decide ... even if you think there will be some negative effect from the trade side, that's still a small share of GDP

looool these fuckin guys

love to hear it

Xps

there's a fetishization of violence some places on the left

Paging mister choppy etc.

lol the rumor about a 90 pause went around on Twitter and the markets started to rally, but the White House quickly denied it.

invisible hand of the tweet market

The wisdom of the crowd is no match for the stupidity of the king.

The 4th Circuit has *denied* the Trump administration's effort to resist an order to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States by midnight tonight.

Judge Xinis' order is still in effect.

The panel, which ruled unanimously, scolds the Justice Department for penalizing the lawyers who argued the case. "The duty of zealous representation is tempered by the duty of candor to the court ... and the duty to uphold the rule of law."

Judge Wilkinson, a Reagan appointee, says the Trump administration's position on Abrego Garcia amounts to a "path of perfect lawlessness.

https://bsky.app/profile/kyledcheney.bsky.social/post/3lmaaccur2a2c

Expect an appeal to the Supreme Court

the fact that they have admitted to the error but are still fighting this makes me think this is going to have a very dark ending

they're fighting it because every damn person they've sent to El Salvador has zero evidence of criminal behavior

"Your honor, this is a perfectly simple, open-and-shut case. It is a well-attested fact that members of these criminally violent gangs have tattoos and we have submitted photographic evidence that every person we deported to that El Salvadoran prison had one or more tattoos. What more could be reasonably required to make our case for their deportation?"

i have a weird feeling something is going to happen to him because of these tariffs. like, sure you can shoot someone walking down fifth avenue, throw a baby down the stairs, etc, but this is the equivalent of performing a human sacrifice in a cathedral in front of everybody in the 13th century, this is desecration of the universally held sacred entity (the market)

Where's the Bilderberg Group when you need it?

the most bullish-on-tariffs wall st. guy said that trump violated a "core covenant of capitalism"
https://bsky.app/profile/carlquintanilla.bsky.social/post/3lm7kfn42zk2p

xxpost yeah the face that Trump still lives despite tanking trillions of dollars of the ruling class' stocks makes me doubt the Kennedy assassination theories.

face=fact

I think I saw unconscionable in that appeal opinion and yo

xxpost yeah the face that Trump still lives despite tanking trillions of dollars of the ruling class' stocks makes me doubt the Kennedy assassination theories.

― Iza Duffus Hardy (President Keyes), Monday, April 7, 2025 1:27 PM (fourteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

there are many potential somethings it doesnt have to be this

The Trump administration is threatening to veto a bipartisan Senate bill to give Congress the ability to review new tariffs, protecting President Donald Trump’s claim of unfettered power in the early stages of a trade war that is sinking financial markets.

Trump’s veto threat comes as a handful of Senate Republicans have signed onto a bill from Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that would require the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of issuing any new tariffs and that Congress explicitly approve any tariffs within 60 days. The bill also would allow Congress to end any tariff at any time.

None of these bills have been even voted upon yet

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/04/07/congress/whs-veto-threat-00276349

Surprised they even bothered to threaten the veto because duh

he's going full-on Kim Jong Un... wonder if there will be missiles on flatbeds

The Trump administration is planning a June 14 military parade through the streets of Washington, D.C., to mark the president’s 79th birthday.

It will also mark the Army’s 250th anniversary. A senior administration official confirmed the plans to NewsNation.

The least offensive thing he's done in the least week.

Read what you will:

Facing a tough reelection in battleground Georgia, Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff raised $11 million in the first quarter of 2025, according to his campaign, which shared the totals first with POLITICO.

Ossoff’s campaign said the haul is the most ever raised by an incumbent in the first quarter of an off-year. POLITICO was unable to identify any Senate campaign that had raised more in an equivalent quarter.

he's going full-on Kim Jong Un... wonder if there will be missiles on flatbeds

_The Trump administration is planning a June 14 military parade through the streets of Washington, D.C., to mark the president’s 79th birthday.

It will also mark the Army’s 250th anniversary. A senior administration official confirmed the plans to NewsNation._

I think he wanted tanks in the parade but was told they would collapse the streets.

But those people are gone now.

Should be fine then probably

New National Treasure movie where tanks fall into a secret cave underneath DC and Nicolas Cage discovers it's the actual Underground Railraod

After Hitler went belligerent about paying war debt, he invested in infrastructure… so maybe the roads will be strengthened for the tanks

Also a special Trump car

BREAKING: Chief Justice Roberts has indefinitely blocked the court order requiring Kilmar Abrego Garcia's return tonight.

the racism is strong with this one

Thanks. I'll never forget what you did.

Roberts bends over backwards for Trump, and has a long history of shameful behavior despite the bogus I am just a baseball umpire rep he says he wants .

yeah, would love to see what bullshit argument Roberts has devised to justify this

he's giving a delay so the entire court can hear it

you would've liked to have seen a "this is obviously illegal, we are not hearing this" like when they shot down the "election fraud" case

Right, the court could have just rejected this outright. But Roberts right-wing hack colleagues need a day to contemplate what they have been enabling. I see on Bluesky that Garcia's lawyers have already filed their rebuttal

This is when Diversity of Tactics really starts seeming crucial

Small good thing in response to a big bad thing — found out via FB that an old old grade school friend of mine who's now an assistant state AG in New York was at the protest in Sackets Harbor over the kids who got taken by ICE. She read a supportive message from Letitia James, said there was a big angry crowd.

^^ that family has been released!

Marisa Kabas‬ ✧@marisaka✧✧✧.b✧✧✧.soc✧✧✧‬
·
2h
Such a relief to know the mother and her three kids (including a 3rd grader) from northern NY who were handcuffed & disappeared by ICE are being released.

Worth noting they were sent to detention camp in Texas and ICE doesn’t provide transport home. Their amazing community has arranged for travel.

ICE doesn’t provide transport home

so fucked up

that horrific prison in El Salvador boasts/promises that no one will ever get out alive

xps oh that's good news! I'm glad they're out. And yeah it truly is fucked up that ICE will shuttle people all over the country in custody and then just release them in the middle of nowhere. I interviewed a guy that happened to, he was released from the big detention center in Louisiana — where he knew nobody, and the center isn't even in the middle of a town or anything. His family in Tennessee scraped together money to get him home (after first using all of their tiny savings to pay his bond).

Uh oh ….Slate writer Mark Joseph Stern summary below. Barrett voted in dissent against Majority

NEW: By a 5–4 vote, the Supreme Court LIFTS Judge Boasberg's restraining order against the deportation of migrants under the Alien Enemies Act. The majority holds that migrants must file habeas petitions where they're confined. majority is Chief Justice Roberts plus Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh.

In an unsigned opinion, it says Venezuelan migrants must file habeas petitions in the district where they're confined (usually Texas, which falls within the 5th Circuit). BUT the majority says Venezuelan migrants MUST be given notice that they're being deported under the Alien Enemies Act and an opportunity "to actually seek habeas relief" before they're removed. The majority affirms their right to due process—this is a big deal.

The majority affirms their right to due process—this is a big deal

it's better than a poke in the eye with a stick, but the Alien Enemies Act is being abused and is really not applicable in this situation. Also being sent to a horrific prison in a foreign country you've never lived in, without any criminal conviction, for a civil offense and a neck tattoo? Sorry but this ruling is bunk

And Coney-Barrett knows it

The last ¶ of Justice Jackson's dissent, complaining about SCOTUS' new doctrine of intervening on TROs on shadow docket.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a931_2c83.pdf

She notes that in the Korematsu case the court at least "left a record so posterity could see how it went wrong."

There's also a Sotomayor dissent

This is right in the Supreme Court's sweet spot because it allows Trump to do what he wants while adding a thin veneer of reasonableness to the mix.

Big deal (good) or big deal (bad)

(Its bad)

Did the court say anything about the administration’s contention that it can do this to anyone they want at anytime, citizen or non-citizen?

If not then might as well call it— this country is fucking over.

It’s so insane that they are sending people to a prison that is a black hole ww have no control over. This would be crazy work even if these people had due process and were convicted criminals.

but the death panels!

x-post -Sotomayor addressed it in her dissent

Justice Sotomayor says, “The implication of the Government’s position is that not only noncitizens but also US citizens could be taken off the streets, forced onto planes, and confined to foreign prisons with no opportunity for redress if judicial review is denied unlawfully before removal"

She says in the dissent that the Trump admin can not immediately resume removing people without notice, as the Trump Justice dept told the DC Circuit it would do.

The majority says people are entitled to notice and due process but plays a legal jurisdiction game here by claiming that the DC Circuit was the wrong court to rule here, and that the since the people were deported from Texas, that only courts there in the federal 5th circuit are appropriate to hear cases.

The majority of course ruled in part that way, because the 5th Circuit is more conservative, and ruling on proper jurisdiction location allowed the Supreme Court to end the TRO. They don't deal with the facts that Sotomayor noted that the Trump administration wants to resume doing what it was doing, and that people are held in El Salvador and that the Trump admin is arguing that those folks are under the jurisdiction of El Salvador now.

I read elsewhere that the DC Circuit has frequently ruled on important cases such as this and its jurisdiction is properly based on the immigration agencies and Dept of Justice being in DC. But the conservative majority disagreed.

It's an atrocity of a ruling, but it sets the line. We need to have the Supreme Court engaged, so now they are. It was obvious where they'd come down, they're super pro-executive-authority, as long as it's a right-winger in charge.

The Roberts court was never going to be anyone's savior. Realistically you can maybe hope they keep the dam from totally buckling.

Migrant Insider substack newsletter notes --Here’s the tricky part: the Court said these challenges can’t use the Administrative Procedure Act (APA)—a law that lets people sue the government over big, unfair decisions. Instead, migrants have to use habeas petitions, and they’ve got to file them where they’re being held (probably Texas, not D.C.). That’s a game-changer, and not in a good way for migrants.

For sure, sticking them in the 5th Circuit is deliberate and punitive. But defense orgs can staff up for that, if they know where they're going to be. There's going to be a lot of legal whack-a-mole with all of this. Which is terrible, but marginally better than, you can just grab people and throw them on a plane.

“To make it a little more crystal clear, we borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.”

JD Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy

Makes me wonder if he's ever been to China?

my Chinese-born boss was laughing about that yesterday