I would prefer if we avoided direct quotes from that moron, but..AUGUST US POLITICS thread

It’s a new month

thank god there's no penis in this thread title

where's the Epstein files?

WITAOD?????

Whiney can make GLOCK puns now

Was hoping we’d have ‘Every day another wonderful secret’ as the title.

lmao

well, hey, we found a different moron to quote for this month's title, so hey!

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is gone.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced today that it will begin an orderly wind-down of its operations following the passage of a federal rescissions package and the release of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s FY 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-H) appropriations bill, which excludes funding for CPB for the first time in more than five decades.

For nearly 60 years, CPB has carried out its Congressional mission to build and sustain a trusted public media system that informs, educates, and serves communities across the country. Through partnerships with local stations and producers, CPB has supported educational content, locally relevant journalism, emergency communications, cultural programming, and essential services for Americans in every community.

“Despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB, we now face the difficult reality of closing our operations,” said CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison. “CPB remains committed to fulfilling its fiduciary responsibilities and supporting our partners through this transition with transparency and care.”

CPB informed its employees today that the majority of staff positions will conclude with the close of the fiscal year on September 30, 2025. A small transition team will remain through January 2026 to ensure a responsible and orderly closeout of operations. This team will focus on compliance, final distributions, and resolution of long-term financial obligations, including ensuring continuity for music rights and royalties that remain essential to the public media system.

“Public media has been one of the most trusted institutions in American life, providing educational opportunity, emergency alerts, civil discourse, and cultural connection to every corner of the country,” Harrison said. “We are deeply grateful to our partners across the system for their resilience, leadership, and unwavering dedication to serving the American people.”

it just keeps getting more bleak and depressing. fuck. that logo is burned into my head from my earliest memories.

well, hey, we found a different moron to quote for this month's title, so hey!

idgi

infuriating.

xp - ha, just some self-deprecation, this month's title came from my post about not wanting to stare at a Trump quote all month

Did we miss Donald’s appointment of a registered sex offender to a council on youth fitness and sports?

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lvbylarrky2x

I liked yr post jon

appreciate it! also glad to not have "penis" in the title for a month!

hey! what about free speech?

Aug 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in regions near Russia in response to threats from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

“I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,” Trump said in a social media post that called Medvedev’s statements highly provocative.He said he ordered the submarines moved “just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that. Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.”

please read thread title

Trump has written a long screed on Truth Social calling for the firing of the Commissioner of Labor Statistics. That should fix the economy!

Putin nodding, wishing Uncle Joe was here to see it.

500,000 new jobs per month incoming xp

That Truth screed is both par for the course, but also completely unhinged and weird.

Imagine getting fired via Truth.

He used to pull shit like that on Twitter all the time.

So it's official, she's gone. Just comic-book dictator stuff here.

yeah but now I feel more confident about the economy

august job report going to be lit

next up: fire both Dow & Jones on social media

yeah can't imagine the stock market is jazzed about getting fake job numbers moving forward

august jobs report gonna be announced live by that "are you ready to rumble" guy

no weather data = no climate change
no price data = no inflation
no jobs data = no lost jobs

winning!!

no weather data = no climate change Hope
no price data = no inflation Cash
no jobs data = no lost jobs Jobs

can he fire Vance?

history being rewritten, live:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/2025/07/31/trump-impeachment-smithsonian/

this shit is just so nakedly transparent and just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

'the most transparent administration in history'

Soon they will have an exhibition about how he won the 2020 election.

lol Andy

if it can happen there...

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/world/americas/el-salvador-bukele-term-limits.html

uhh, that should be on the August Salvadoran politics thread I think

he literally wanted no covid testing because it showed people got covid

Good morning!

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5429516-trump-confabulation-dementia-signs/

^ nobody in the cabinet is going to stop him, but if the above is right then someone in say, the military, will have to take the nuclear button away from him in the next three years.

feels a bit of a sympathetic take to say that he's not determinedly lying

Lying comes as easy to him as breathing, but the dementia layers in the extra spice that turns his lies into a bizarre slurry that is completely unmoored from meaning and reality.

Age or some early stage of possible dementia may be some form of amplifying factor, but I don't think there's a sea change at all. It's always been the case with him, that he makes up his own reality. Whether it has "tangible benefit" or not is incidental, lots of people do things that seemingly don't benefit themselves all the time, or don't make any sense. There are no lies because there is no truth.

If it seems to be getting worse, I think this is due to emboldenment not diminishment

Also the idea that someone in the military will remove him seems nonsensical. If he is to be removed, it will be via palace coup when the opportunity arises. The Trump administration won't always need Trump, and if he becomes a liability to the project, the 25th amendment is there. This is something Miller, Vance, Thiel, will surely have contingency plans for

Palace coup is way more of a nonsense than what I am actually saying which is a plan ought to he drawn up (like I am sure its lying about) and possibly put into action should a situation arise where there isn't enough time to remove him.

But anyway think that piece showed too much compassion and yeah it might be overrating these possibilities. He pretty much is sticking to his interests: tariffs, racism, corruption, property development..

The Hill is a pretty right-wing outlet; I'm surprised they published that.

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5429516-trump-confabulation-dementia-signs🕸/

^ nobody in the cabinet is going to stop him, but if the above is right then someone in say, the military, will have to take the nuclear button away from him in the next three years.

Woops

Didn’t we go through this with Reagan 40 years ago?

biden a couple years ago, too

the only solution is to lean in and vote for even older politicians

otm

why has america never elected a dead person? says a lot about who is, and isn't allowed to rule

The Hill is a pretty right-wing outlet; I'm surprised they published that.

I feel like if Trumps backers wanted to shift to a different or more reliable horse down the line, dementia/age is potentially a better vehicle than Epstein related material. It did for Biden, and with the right media framing of it, it could do for Trump as well. It doesn't really matter if its actually true or not

I'm not saying we're at that point right now, but the opportunity will arise at some point

inaugural speech, 2076: ‘….i don’t know what i’m doing! i’m fucking dying! i’m too old! help!!’

*crowd applause*

and its only right leaning outlets that it would be effective in, Trump is younger than most democrats

inaugural speech, 2076: ‘….i don’t know what i’m doing! i’m fucking dying! i’m too old! help!!’

*crowd applause*

weekend at bernie's

no one knew that these movies were actually creating the future, for real

- the parade scene in batman(1989) with all the idiots celebrating their corrupt overlord who they believe looks out for them
- back to the future 2 / biff
- wall-e
- weekend at bernies

Salazar continued to “rule” Portugal after suffering a stroke and was given blank papers to sign.
And we all know about Trump’s dad doing the same (rule Portugal).

“Bernie would have won” feels different now

Woodrow Wilson was basically a corpse for the second half of his second term.

there was that headline, maybe during 2016 election, about a dead pimp being elected to some minor role somewhere. makes sense i guess, can't be too busy when you have to deal with being dead.

It was in Nevada. It was the subject of a self-rejected what’s on your ipod thread iirc

Pimp C for President

viva las vegas

Senate confirms fuckin’ Jeanine Pirro as US Attorney for DC. Kid Rock probably next to get a position.

A bunch of Democratic legislators have fled Texas for Illinois in order to prevent the Republicans from having a quorum to pass their fucked-up gerrymandering legislation... and they're going to be holding a press conference with Pritzker this evening, thereby acknowledging that the problem is national in scope.

Maybe they'll invent a reason to send ICE to apprehend them. Interfering with immigration enforcement or something. Trump would love the video of it.

They’re subject to $500 or $5000 daily fines. Good thing JB is stacked.

https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/03/texas-house-democrats-abbott-threatens-removal-quorum-break/

Gov. Greg Abbott informed Texas House Democrats late Sunday that he would attempt to have them removed from office if they do not return to Austin to pass the GOP’s proposed new congressional maps.

The Republican governor’s late-night missive came after more than 50 Democrats left the state Sunday afternoon so the Texas House would not have a quorum — the number of lawmakers needed to consider and pass legislation under chamber rules — aiming to grind all legislative activity to a halt for the remainder of the special session, slated to end later this month They are hoping to stop the passage of a new congressional map, drawn at the direction of President Donald Trump, that could net five additional seats for Republicans in the 2026 midterms.

“This truancy ends now,” Abbott said in a letter sent to each of the departed members. “The derelict Democrat House members must return to Texas and be in attendance when the House reconvenes at 3:00 PM on Monday, August 4, 2025.”

If they are not back by then, Abbott said, he would initiate legal action to remove them from office.

...and so on. All to indulge Donald.

Maybe old news for you guys but saw a photo report by Madison Swart about what is happening at 26 Federal Plaza in NY - images of people arrested by ICE in corridors or waiting to know if their name is one the list, lawyers coming to offer advice for free, the photograph being filmed by masked agents. Really confirms ICE as Trump's para-state / military militia. Super important work to document all this.

You'd think a sitting President would be too busy doing President shit to weigh in on the Sydney Sweeney whatever, but that's not our Donnie!

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/bafkreid7vnsxseuwsemh3ntskwlac2d2cy2kiobutp7tdxvafg6mjhv2gq@jpeg

"flying of the shelves"

Remember when adults were in power?

wait, what happened to Taylor Swift?

Hopefully she’s working on a concept album about how young women should nail republican dicks to trees and then shock them with cattle prods.

When he alerted the world to what she was, it shocked her so badly that she fell into an enormous pool of money.

xp hoping for more cow art, are we?

Taylor Swift had the global best-selling album of 2024, but she does not have the global best-selling album of 2025, QED. (That title is held by the presumably anti-woke Lady Gaga — we don't know much about her, but she has 3/4 of MAGA in her own name!)

would be nice if Sydney actually swooped in and said "hey uhh don't be using me to score political points", but given her murky political affiliation and "lol i'm rich i can't dilute my brand", that will never happen

I wouldn't have expected that Sweeney was a registered Republican, but apparently she is. You can look her up here: https://registration.elections.myflorida.com/en/CheckVoterStatus

Worth noting she never lived in Florida until she bought a house there last year, so this isn't a registration she's had for years and never bothered to update. She registered as a Republican in June 2024.

oof

Not too surprising given it looks like her family is a bunch of MAGA folk

Ironically, her right boob is a registered Democrat in California.

Are we shocked by rich white people being Trump supporters?

My level of caring about Sydney Sweeney has not been affected in any direction by all of this. The funniest thing to me is how stoned she looks in the offending ad, why are we not talking about that.

She kind of always looks like that though.

why are we talking about a jeans ad at all

She probably should have been cancelled when she did that Rolling Stones video.

"We" aren't, really. Parker Molloy did a good rundown on how the so-called controversy is like 2 percent internet randos making icky faces about eugenics and 98 percent conservatives rushing red-blooded to her defense.

https://www.readtpa.com/p/the-sydney-sweeney-jeans-ad-backlash

Are we shocked by rich white people being Trump supporters?

Maybe not shocked, but I guess I am surprised that a 27-year-old Hollywood actress is a Republican, yes.

Hollywood is probably not as formative for her as this: Sweeney was raised in Idaho panhandle[11] along the Washington border, at a rural lakeside home that her family has inhabited for five generations. According to Sweeney, she has a "religious family".

Ooof. Geographically indicated.

iirc, I thought I read that there were some old pictures on her Instagram feed with family members wearing MAGA hats, so I'm not really surprised

If Zendaya goes MAGA then OK I'll raise an eyebrow.

rural lakeside home that her family has inhabited for five generations

* prepper cult compound

The only role I've seen Sweeney in was as one of the Red Scare nazis in White Lotus, so...

Parker Molloy did a good rundown on how the so-called controversy is like 2 percent internet randos making icky faces about eugenics

I've seen a lot of escalation on this issue which is unfortunate all over the place, because many of the people who are expressing offense at this ad are POC, so when white people come back and say this an overreaction, they are smacked with being 'oblivious white women' or whatever (also notable that the copy in the full version of the ad is pretty gross). My takeaway is that this has wound up being an effective wedge issue that has generated controversy which may be good for American Eagle but is bad for absolutely everyone else.

Iirc the hats were a make sydney sweeney’s birthday great again or somesuch but also like people who are good lefties dont play in that sandbox even in jest

there were some old pictures on her Instagram feed with family members wearing MAGA hats

This is part of why people on the right have been trying to claim her for a while. But it never felt like a smoking gun to me. Lots of people grow up in conservative families and then change their politics as an adult.

I guess this is like if it turned out Taylor Swift really was a white supremacist princess.

Iirc the hats were a make sydney sweeney’s birthday great again or somesuch but also like people who are good lefties dont play in that sandbox even in jest

It was her mom's birthday party

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BwcVr-su2g

she's a white girl from northern Washington/Idaho which is white republican central for the western part of the US, no doubt her family is awful. she doesn't seem to have changed or adopted any actual politics (though she did register Republican), but she also seems kind of dumb. I imagine at some point soon she will have to make some statement one way or the other about this current thing. Or she won't and we'll see what happens. I can't really imagine her becoming Gina Carano or something.

Republican men are so thirsty I’m almost embarrassed for them

They're all just Brett Kavanaugh at heart: WE LIKE BEER! WE LIKE BOOBS! WE COMMIT SEXUAL ASSAULT!

It's a perfect storm because not only can they seize on having a young glamorous blonde white cis female A-lister finally on their side, they can seize on it as a deflection during the Epstein affair plus go public with their gooning habits! It's a White Christmas everyday!

Sydney Sweeney's entire professional/public existence can be summed up in the phrase "Tell me what you want me to say." Can political opinions (or any other opinions) expressed by such a person ever really matter?

The 80 year old president slobbering over an actress 50+ years younger than him seems like a poor distraction from Epstein questions.

Come on. She's too old for him.

XP It still takes up air, and is definitely more of a concern for Fox, OAN etc. the Epstein story.

I have never knowingly seen a picture of this Sweeney person, seems like a discourse that is happening entirely outside of my world.

you're not the target demographic tbf

while I would not challenge Sweeney's pop culture penetration, I don't know if she's an A-lister. SWEENEY across the top of a movie poster isn't carrying it to box office records.

Her nun movie was not as good as the thirtieth Exorcist sequel.

Probably less well known outside the world of HBO subscribers.

Sweeney Agonistes

every time I see something about her it's always with a 'boobs are back!' tagline

she hosted snl

just popping in to say while on vacation this past week in Provincetown I ordered a Negroni with dinner one night because of Alfred, it was delicious

whenever Leavitt is asked anything about Epstein or the BS Unabomber story, she's always like 'we're too busy to address that! How dare you..?' but clearly not so busy that the POTUS can't weigh in on this massively important culture war story

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:3rxcq5wacdop5thjoh3sny3p/bafkreialqa4hy6wf36ssb5k2gpekgv2ds3uq3lmndujmdsaopad2f5jjoa@jpeg

while I would not challenge Sweeney's pop culture penetration, I don't know if she's an A-lister. SWEENEY across the top of a movie poster isn't carrying it to box office records.

Her nun movie was not as good as the thirtieth Exorcist sequel.

― Lady Sovereign (Citizen) (milo z), Monday, August 4, 2025 11:58 AM (twenty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Probably less well known outside the world of HBO subscribers.

― whimsical skeedaddler (Moodles), Monday, August 4, 2025 11:59 AM (twenty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Look, movie stars aren't what they used to be, but I'd say she's an A-lister among other actors of her generation. She has 25 million Instagram followers. Anyone But You made over $200 million worldwide.

And she did a Marvel Movie!*

*Madame Web

you're not the target demographic tbf

it’s true, i only like big boobs on men

donjunior.jpg to thread

it hasn't helped that social media youngsters have decided 'eugenics' is the new term to slap on absolutely everything; having said that, this campaign seems to have been put together with full knowledge of that, and the dogwhistle is working. how informed Sweeney is about the subtext (or even the text), I do not know, she is probably just happy to cash another check.

honestly don't think the ad company's thinking went beyond "good genes" = "big booba"

motion to add “2025” to our thread title for search compatibility and documentation of national atrocities for reference purposes.

otm

August and everything after

I don't know if American Eagle are eugenicists, but they're definitely plagiarists...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXzR5b6HoIA

The "wokeness gone MAD" / "political correctness gone TOO FAR" tenet of right-wing mythology is underpinned by an apparent belief there was a shining golden moment when US culture was fair. When marginalized people were respected exactly the right Goldilocks amount, neither more nor less.

Racism was over, but "blame whites" had yet to begin. LGBTQ+ folks were allowed to exist but had not yet begun "shoving it in our faces."

Moves toward social justice up to that point were appropriate; all moves after that were oppressive.

I am going to guess it was before 2007.

I feel like 'PC' as a pejorative has been around since the 90s

Bill Mahar's Politically Incorrect debuted in 93

The infamous Newsweek issue with “Are you Politically Correct?” Was 1991 I believe

sounds about right

In the late ‘80s bestie N and I wanted to set up 1-976-RU PC to offer rolling updates on what people in marginalised groups wanted to be called.

Sure but did 80s/90s Tea Party/Newt social conservatives assert that racism had been eradicated; if so when? 1865, 1964, or some other point? I feel like I have seen RW culture-war messaging about how things were finally perfect (racism-wise) but then Obama is what messed it up and tipped things into "gone too far" territory.

uh no

Sure but did 80s/90s Tea Party/Newt social conservatives assert that racism had been eradicated; if so when? 1865, 1964, or some other point? I feel like I have seen RW culture-war messaging about how things were finally perfect (racism-wise) but then Obama is what messed it up and tipped things into "gone too far" territory.

― je ne sequoia (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, August 4, 2025 2:04 PM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

why do we have to constantly circle back to trying to figure out the internal logic of this shit ... there is no internal logic. it's just a general attitude and a series of stock replies that serve and reinforce a particular idea and practice of power

well put

'politically incorrect' was a very particular accusation within Marxist circles, academics and revolutionaries of the early 20th century... they ran with it but had no idea what the original context was

likewise, 'woke' was a pretty harmless slang word that basically means 'being aware' and doesn't have nearly the baggage they've imbued it with

ILX should be at the forefront and come up with the newest accusatory buzzword

In other news, Trump's FEMA has come up with another way to let people die-

U.S. states and cities that boycott Israeli companies will be denied federal aid for natural disaster preparedness, the Trump administration has announced, tying routine federal funding to its political stance.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency stated in grant notices posted on Friday that states must follow its "terms and conditions." Those conditions require they certify they will not sever “commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies” to qualify for funding.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-links-19-billion-state-disaster-funds-israel-boycott-stance-2025-08-04/?ref=forever-wars.com

Fox News actually said that Sweeney will have an easier time getting dates now, because conservative men will be attracted to her.

I dunno, conservative women being attracted to me would make it harder to find dates, as I'd have more ppl I'd have to weed out first...

Was she previously bereft/deprived of dates? Xp

yeah I don't think that's a problem for her

why do we have to constantly circle back to trying to figure out the internal logic of this shit ... there is no internal logic. it's just a general attitude and a series of stock replies that serve and reinforce a particular idea and practice of power

― budo jeru

otm, we keep falling into the trap of trying to parse out conservative attempts to validate white supremacy. The gaps in logic are there to keep people engaging and "debating" as if these are legit ideas rather than dressed up hatred that deserves to be dismissed out of hand.

xpost Liberal men are all wimps who are too shy to ask her out and don't have any money anyway iirc

plus they don't go hard in the paint

There’s nothing wrong with trying to discern the “internal logic” of groups you oppose - how and why they’ve arrived at their beliefs is at worst interesting sociology and at best a tool in undermining them.

Post-9/11 “we don’t need to understand why al-Qaeda did this/exists at all” didn’t work out very well (except for getting Bill Maher cancelled from network TV).

Liberal men are all wimps

I prefer 'beta cuck' thank you

eh I think budo and Moodles are mostly right, it's just that the internal logic = white supremacy. they don't have a "rational" view of history that we can point out the problems with, they believe in a racial hierarchy but sometimes (increasingly less) confuse things by pretending they don't

xxp

I think understanding how they operate and how they use language to further their goals is different from trying to find the coherence in incoherent, bad faith utterances.

Distinguishing between the two is classic ILX too!

your prize for winning a verbal debate with a fascist is always to get punched in the face, at which point the real argument begins.

this TX redistricting stunt is something else

Gerrymandering works until it doesn't

xp

the key is to always be the one to punch first

this is what happens when boobs kill woke

Former reality TV star turned NASA administrator wants to build a nuclear reactor on the moon

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will announce expedited plans this week to build a nuclear reactor on the moon, the first major action by the former Fox News host as the interim NASA administrator.

NASA has discussed building a reactor on the lunar surface, but this would set a more definitive timeline — according to documents obtained by POLITICO — and come just as the agency faces a massive budget cut.

...

Duffy also offered a directive to more quickly replace the International Space Station, another NASA goal. The two moves could help accelerate U.S. efforts to reach the moon and Mars — a goal that China is also pursuing.

The plans align with the Trump administration’s focus on crewed spaceflight. The White House has proposed a budget that would increase human spaceflight funds for 2026, even as it advocates for major slashes to other programs — including a nearly 50 percent cut for science missions.

The reactor directive orders the agency to solicit industry proposals for a 100 kilowatt nuclear reactor to launch by 2030, a key consideration for astronauts’ return to the lunar surface. NASA previously funded research into a 40 kilowatt reactor for use on the moon, with plans to have a reactor ready for launch by the early 2030s.

Nuclear? Fuck that shit! Clean-burning coal or nothing, baby!

Don't reactors need a steady supply of cooling water?

nevermind

As long as they don’t put windmills up there

The plans align with the Trump administration’s focus on crewed

More like focus on crude, amirite

just opened the screen door to the porch and inhaled wet camp smog, thanks Obama

So my first reaction to that "reactor on the moon" thing was also "wait dont they need water?" and also "lol wtf". But then:

https://bsky.app/profile/zachweinersmith.bsky.social/post/3lvmfrvqxk225

It makes sense if we are going to have a permanent presence on the moon, but the fact that the US hasn't set foot on the moon in my lifetime makes me highly skeptical that any of this is real.

It certainly seems more likely anu Big Ticket announcements right now are real "look over there!" things.

It makes sense if we are going to have a permanent presence on the moon, but the fact that the US hasn't set foot on the moon in my lifetime makes me highly skeptical that any of this is real.

Yeah it won’t happen

and we can just use gravity to bring that power back to earth!

At a press conference on Monday, Kennedy revealed Trump calls him “three or four times a week” to check in on his administration’s health agenda.

Kennedy claimed he always asks the same question: “Why aren’t people healthier yet?”

I like the idea of Trump calling RFK to troll him every other day.

"Look in the mirror, sir."

yeah, was gonna say. What he means to ask is 'Why do I wake up feeling like shit every day?'

this is crazy and very dangerous

Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R) is pressing the FBI to intervene to help the GOP bring back the state House Democrats after they left on Sunday to stop Republicans from advancing its new congressional map.

Cornyn sent a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday urging the agency to take “any appropriate steps” to help law enforcement find or arrest the lawmakers who left the state to deny the state House quorum and prevent it from being able to conduct business in the special legislative session that Gov. Greg Abbott (R) called.

"anarchy for me, fascism for you" - Chuck Dukowski

Guess it's only okay when they do it

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Oregon_Senate_Republican_walkouts

siccing the FBI on lawmakers for a purely partisan effort is a new low, considering that this whole redistricting charade was concocted by the White House and pushed on TX republicans, who were happy to comply

yes, they've gutted the National Park Service's budget, but I'm sure they can cough up some funds for this vital priority:

Trump administration to reinstall Confederate statue toppled in Black Lives Matter protests
A statue of a general in the Confederate army that was toppled and set on fire during social justice protests in 2020 in Washington DC will be reinstated, the National Park Service (NPS) has announced.

The bronze statue depicting Albert Pike is being restored, the Park Service said in a statement on Monday, sharing a photo of the statue undergoing cleaning to remove corrosion and paint prior to repairs, with a view to reinstalling it by October.

Lmao

Highly embarrassing update re Texas Governor Greg Abbott trying to remove Democratic lawmakers from office for breaking quorum.

The Attorney General sent a letter saying @GregAbbott_TX needs to fall back because only the AG, a DA, or a County Attorney has the legal authority to… https://t.co/7MTLPnrhPo pic.twitter.com/Tzp8vQVoRB

— Christian D. Menefee (@CDMenefee) August 6, 2025

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) announced Wednesday her bid for governor in Tennessee for next year’s election, becoming the favorite to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Bill Lee.

Kind of weird for a Senator who isn't up for re-election until 2030 to jump ship.

Now that pork barrel appropriations have been curtailed and so much power has drifted upwards to the US president, there are a hell of a lot of members of Congress who are getting very frustrated at being reduced to rubber stamps if their party is in power or irrelevancy if their party isn't. This seems especially true of Republicans, who keep much stricter party discipline than the Democrats.

By comparison, governors wield direct and effective powers within their state governments. A governorship could look very attractive to a senator itching for some autonomy.

Does it matter that significant portions of the US Constitution (the ones dealing with habeas corpus, among other things) have been removed from the official US government website?

(They're claiming it's a "coding error" and are "working to correct this and expect it to be resolved soon."

Making sure it doesn’t train “woke AI”

"working to correct this and expect it to be resolved soon"

Which is what the Smithsonian said about removing all mention of Trump's impeachment votes

By comparison, governors wield direct and effective powers within their state governments. A governorship could look very attractive to a senator itching for some autonomy.

Yeah, see also Tuberville. Blackburn soft-announced this back earlier in they year, and successfully cleared most but not all of the Republican field. She will probably win, god help us, and the real fight will be who gets appointed to the seat until the next general election. (Appointment is made by the governor, tho I'm unclear on whether it would be by our current gov or by Blackburn once she takes office.) Among the likely possibilities is my own county mayor, a former pro wrestler who was getting ready to run for governor but stepped aside and endorsed Marsha.

man save it for the doom posting thread

sorry xpost

Which is what the Smithsonian said about removing all mention of Trump's impeachment votes

. . . which are being restored

Yeah, they'll be restored 24 hours after he dies.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/smithsonian-trump-impeachment-exhibit/

More transphobic bullshit from perpetual rat and totally spineless asshole who will never be president: https://www.them.us/story/pete-buttigieg-trans-athletes-parents-sports-fairness

So gross, does he think someone's gonna give him a cookie or something? That he'll be rewarded for being one of the "good gays"?

waterface nobody here is doomposting. Like I'm captain "pump the brakes" but come on, you can't seriously think a coding error managed to coincidentally coincide with the removal of the exact text Trump left out of the Constitution in his own book.

Yeah, deleting it online doesn't delete it IRL, but it is very much a hint of the White House testing the waters for how the public receives these things

Speaking of testing waters, trump is suggesting a federal takeover of DC in response to doge's big balls getting his ass beat by a 15 year old boy & girl while hijacking his car.

no one told him DC is federalized eh

Well there is limited home rule. Until 1974 DC residents could not elect a city council or mayor and the city was run instead by an unelected Commission appointed by Congress.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/us/politics/trump-doge-member-assaulted.html

Yeah, deleting it online doesn't delete it IRL, but it is very much a hint of the White House testing the waters for how the public receives these things

uh no it fucking isn't?

anyway. the sections are back. whew. we got through that one unscathed.

thank God no one overreacted

NYT article about Trump reaching out to Cuomo about the nyc election: https://archive.ph/Wg2xU

In what universe does anyone think Trump's endorsement — or even the perception of being close to Trump — would benefit any candidate in that race?

Trump has also decided he's the chairman of the upcoming Los Angeles Olympics

Expect full-on Nuremberg rally style with lots of gold leaf

xp
are you suggesting Mark Penn is an incompetent loser?

lol if Trump thinks he can tip the scales for Cuomo or Adams he is even more addled than we previously thought. If anything such an endorsement would sink those candidates

yeah Mamdani already cut a video of Cuomo and Trump praising each other lol

already, meaning before this report came out

Mamdani is always among the topic tabs at the top of the Fox News website -- they are posting multiple articles about him daily.

The Bizarro Moses

JD Vance’s team had water level of Ohio river raised for family’s boating trip
JD Vance’s team had the army corps of engineers in Louisville, Ohio, take the unusual step of changing the outflow of a lake to accommodate a recent boating excursion on a family holiday, the Guardian has learned.

you can take the billy from the hills but can't take the hill from the billy

NASA will soon be tasked with providing a pink full moon on his wedding anniversary

Mamdani is always among the topic tabs at the top of the Fox News website -- they are posting multiple articles about him daily.

― Kim Kimberly, Wednesday, August 6, 2025

Has the Cincinnati beat down dropped from the headlines now that they heard one of the victims yelling the n word?

Dean Cain joins ICE

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2025/08/06/dean-cain-joins-ice-superman-lois-and-clark/85547002007/

"For those who don't know, I am a sworn law enforcement officer, as well as being a filmmaker, and I felt it was important to join with our first responders to help secure the safety of all Americans, not just talk about it," Cain, 59, said. "So, I joined up."

“first responder” my ass, fuck off shitty superman

Cain added, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Mamdani is always among the topic tabs at the top of the Fox News website -- they are posting multiple articles about him daily.

― Kim Kimberly, Wednesday, August 6, 2025

Has the Cincinnati beat down dropped from the headlines now that they heard one of the victims yelling the n word?

― Heez, Wednesday, August 6, 2025 5:17 PM

FBI officially being sent after the Texas Dems. Just speedrunning that authoritarianism now.

Well, Cornyn says so. Hard to say what they're actually going to do, though. I don't think they have legal authority to actually round them up and bring them back to Texas. I suppose we'll see.

I don't think they have legal authority to actually round them up and bring them back to Texas.

The illegality of many of its actions hasn't deterred the Trump administration, yet.

they are not going to round them up and bring them back to Texas.

I know, everybody says “he can’t do this” (“this” being whatever atrocity flits through his fat head) and then he does it.

Xp to Aimless

Again, I would argue that simply threatening sending the FBI after members of the opposition party should be a major concern, regardless of however it actually plays out.

Another example of, "imagine if Biden...." yadda yadda yadda

i am def. worried about the threat.

not worried about the execution. he's too chickenshit

also to my knowledge no one from the FBI has confirmed this, only Cornyn.

I know you're on a kick of telling us all we're a bunch of doomposters, but Cornyn is a fucking US Senator.

and?

are you suggesting US Senators haven't lied before to do politics

You seem to have contracted a particular kind of illness.

sounds like a personal attack

i haven't said anything personal about anyone today and your comments seem unfair and unjustified.

I'm just worried about you, man

Yeah, deleting it online doesn't delete it IRL, but it is very much a hint of the White House testing the waters for how the public receives these things

uh no it fucking isn't?

― a (waterface), Wednesday, August 6, 2025 3:54 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

anyway. the sections are back. whew. we got through that one unscathed.

― a (waterface), Wednesday, August 6, 2025 3:56 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

thank God no one overreacted

― a (waterface), Wednesday, August 6, 2025 3:56 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

there is a correct level of reaction, but we need to be extremely careful not to exceed or fall below that exact level

“I am proud to announce that Director Kash Patel has approved my request for the FBI to assist state and local law enforcement in locating runaway Texas House Democrats,” Cornyn said. “I thank President Trump and Director Patel for supporting and swiftly acting on my call for the federal government to hold these supposed lawmakers accountable for fleeing Texas. We cannot allow these rogue legislators to avoid their constitutional responsibilities.”

Even if Cornyn is lying about this, which I doubt, it would be cause for concern for a US Senator to be putting this out there.

This is not a cable tv host or podcaster.

i am def. worried about the threat.

Prez Keyes, I'm going to point out that I haven't said anything personal about you today and I would argue that my comments yesterday re: missing xml texts are pretty benign. I also agree with you that it's serious to be worried about the threat, but, as I said above, I'm not worried about the execution.

the tone policing goes both ways is what I am saying, I agree with you, I am being more polite about it however. i'd ask you to do the same

re: smithsonian, rebecca solnit of all people was very adamant that this was not something that was directed by the WH or the government, she has known the director of the Smithsonian for a long time. That's good enough for me, but I think people can be forgiven for making that jump.

Cornyn's facing a primary challenge, so he needs to flex those MAGA muscles.

I don't know why they need the FBI when this guy is sitting right there.

https://www.syfy.com/sites/syfy/files/styles/hero_image__large__computer__alt_1_5x/public/2023/03/walker_texas_ranger.jpg

Cornyn also can't really pull off wearing a cowboy hat

https://www.gunowners.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/johncornyn.jpg

marginally more convincing than Ted Cruz

So if the FBI did find a TX state senator hiding in Illinois, what then? Would they abduct them and return them to texas for the vote? If so, that would be a pretty unprecedented and highly illegal move

Quorum-breaking is also legal in the state, so even beyond bringing in the feds, who have no jurisdiction, there is also nothing they can do legally. at least technically, that is— i don’t doubt these fascist fucks will gladly find a way to execute the Dems who have fled if they so desire

Abbott is seeking a court order against Rep. Gene Wu to remove him from office. But it seems to me the most likely answer from a judge (of course, will depend on the judge) is that the remedy for a legislator being perceived as shirking their duties is for the district voters to vote them out — not for the judiciary to get involved.

not sure I trust the Texas Supreme Court to make an objective ruling here

Wu said they can go ahead and remove him from office, it would trigger a special election in which he would be immediately re-elected.

don't know how a Texas Senator didn't get [redacted] after posting this

Brisket family tradition pic.twitter.com/VbJry2rcfZ

— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) December 25, 2020

if the court allows all the quorum-breaking reps to be removed from office, even if they get re-elected I imagine in the interim that lowers the threshold for a quorum in session to active reps, so it would be a GOP win

xp Cornyn-Beef

also this is again where Republicans are just better at the game, they'll use the new maps anyway even in the face of ambiguous legality and there will be fuck all anyone can do about it once it's done, they know Dems trying to refuse to seat an elected state rep post-midterms because the maps were illegal is never gonna happen, Dems lack the spine to rock the boat that much and the Supreme Court will shut down anything they try to do anyway

Dems win this one now or they lose forever

Yeah if the Dems don’t take back Congress it’s all over, lights out.

(I’ll take it to the doompsitong thread.)

What though is the endgame of fleeing/denying a quorum?

Like what Underpants Gnome steps come between the current situation and "winning" on the Texas maps?

Texian GOPers are not going to say "oh okay what if we just add four instead of five?" Their argument is that they won - won the right to control districting, and that the nakedly partisan apportionment is the spoils of victory, of having the majority and governing accordingly. Gems are just being sore losers.

I think the goal is to run out the clock on the vote. Keep in mind that the TX legislature is only in session once every other year. They do not have a session this year, but they opened an emergency session to deal with the Kerrville flooding disaster, and that got turned into pursuing new districting based on Donald Trump's orders, despite the fact that districting shouldn't happen for another 5 years.

In other words, this is wildly out of step with anything they are supposed to be doing right now.

They actually were in session this year, but yeah they had adjourned and were called back for the special session — which originally was going to be for other purposes but gerrymandering kind of took over.

I don’t know tho if there’s any limit on how many times Abbott can call special sessions.

in theory, special sessions are to deal with emergencies, which re-districting out of cycle probably is not

it's funny: if this administration is really the most wonderful and effective in history, they needn't worry about redistricting because everyone will vote for the GOP in the Midterms, due to their stellar charisma and wildly popular policies

why does congress even exist anymore, he's just going to do executive orders for everything anyway

governor can call a special legislative session whenever they want, so Abbott can just keep doing it over and over but as Moodles says, the win condition for the Dems is to run out the clock on new maps... at some point they have to prep for the midterm elections and use the existing maps.

right, the idea that these are not legit sessions is more of an argument to support the Democrats' actions

Now Vance is badgering Indiana to do the same

Six months in and Project 2025 has met 46% of its objectives. I'll never get over how massively the media failed in reporting on this.

never heard of it, what's that?

dare to dream

kinda like this guy when I've seen him on TV or whatnot
Georgia's a weird state, a conservative Democrat might have a future there... it'll be interesting to see if this is an outlier

* Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan has officially switched parties, announcing he is now a Democrat after years of clashing with GOP policies and Donald Trump.

* Duncan cited Republican stances on health care, gun safety, immigration, and social programs as key reasons for his departure, saying they conflict with his moral values.

* The Georgia GOP expelled Duncan earlier this year for endorsing President Biden and Vice President Harris and allegedly undermining Republican candidates.

Trump administration has asked US Supreme Court to use its emergency/ shadow docket to overrule an injunction that barred Ice from relying solely on someone’s race and language ( Latino speaking Spanish) as grounds to stop people in immigration raids.

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5442023-trump-challenges-los-angeles-ice-limits/

A federal judge last month ruled Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were conducting raids that likely ran afoul of constitutional protections against unreasonable seizures.

The 9th Circuit largely upheld that. So Trump Justice Department is going to its pals at the US Supreme Court to override the lower court injunction against their tactics in raids

https://bsky.app/profile/samueldg.bsky.social/post/3lvu7y7gzss2c

Proud of his charts

This is what the DOJ does now.. whatever Trump tells them to

Federal prosecutors are in the early stages of an investigation into the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought a civil fraud case against President Donald Trump, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The probe is focused on whether James' office used its authority to violate Trump's legal rights through its civil lawsuits against the president and his businesses, these people said. The investigation is also looking at whether the National Rifle Association's rights were violated by her civil suits, they said. It is being run out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York, two of the sources said.

so she violated his legal rights by bringing a civil suit against him... that's a novel argument

I see they are getting tough about politically motivated investigations

And her suit against the Trump org was successful! She won a $300 million judgement, which they still haven't paid

Not paying bills is on-brand

it's written into his company's bylaws iirc

the judgement is up to $500 million now with interest

Can't wait for the 2029 DOJ investigation into the DOJ investigation into the AG investigation

the judgement is up to $500 million now with interest

geez, at what point does the state of NY just seize their assets and auction them off?

I'm sure that the fact that a *black woman* successfully sued his pants off must really stick in his craw. Now that the DOJ is essentially his personal law firm, this was almost inevitable

yeah, I think 90% of his campaign platform was "I will get revenge on my enemies."

at what point does the state of NY just seize their assets and auction them off?

good question... the Trumps filed an appeal, but how long does that take? This judgement was years ago at this point

Just a year-and-a-half ago!

On February 16, 2024, the fraud case against the former president, Donald Trump, proved successful. Judge Arthur Engoron's 92-page ruling barred Trump from operating any business in New York for three years and fined him more than $355 million.[73][74]

As of August 2025, the appeal was still pending.[411]

ah okay - in this climate, everything feels like a long, long time ago

absolutely!

https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.5155463039.8933/sss,small,product,750x1000.jpg

https://imgur.com/V268sl5

Screenshot borrowed from Reddit of a story from today's Houston Chronicle about the wild story behind Trump Burger and the earlier Trump Cafe in Bellville.

Trump is having a press conference Monday, has already put FBI on street duty in DC and is threatening to call up the National Guard

Bowser (D) has been pushing back against Trump’s characterization of the city she leads, pointing out on MSNBC on Sunday morning that crime rates have been dropping in the nation’s capital.

In D.C., violent crime is down 26 percent compared with this time in 2024, according to D.C. police data. Homicides are down 12 percent.

D.C. police have made about 900 juvenile arrests this year — almost 20 percent fewer than during the same time frame last year. About 200 of those charges are for violent crimes and at least four dozen are for carjacking.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/08/10/dc-crime-trump-crackdown/

All because big balls got mugged

Would love to see inequality rates from the 30 year period of lowering crime rates that keep getting mentioned.

In DC, that is

Another example of Buttigieg being horrible:

Asked if it's time to recognize a Palestinian state, Pete Buttigieg replies: " I think that that's a profound question that arouses a lot of the biggest problems that have happened with Israel's right to survival in the diplomatic scene." pic.twitter.com/bmZruI7jau

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) August 11, 2025

Reminds me of the time when asked about The Simpsons my high school philosophy teacher said, "They present a serious comment on the American scene."

Shithead claims he’s taking over the DC police

how is the media reporting on this completely unnecessary step? have they said anything about Elon's bizarre lie that Big Balls was trying to help some young lady in danger?

Nah, because 98% of the media is complicit at this point. They want the fascism.

yeah i mean the totally just kiss his ass at these pressers

Also super depressing to see that 47% of polled Repugnanticans would still support Trump even if he's proven to be implicated in Epstein's crimes. Just no bar too low for this cult.

Lots of yikes in his presser today about the DC takeover, definitely dementia in action though, not sure what this quote had to do with crime in D.C., other than his rotting syphilis brain:

"And that's why they want transgender for everybody. Everybody transgender."

He was raping teens to make America great again

is marjorie taylor greene the most prominent u.s. politician who has problems with the genocide in gaza?

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/why-wont-u.s.-politicians-say-genocide

will a voice of consciousness arise in the senate or house who has more moral integrity than MTG? or is she the leader we deserve because we made god angry?

good mourning!

Everything's computer, everybody transgender

the current press corps are a bunch of fucking gross bootlicking losers

the current press corps are a bunch of fucking gross bootlicking losers

is marjorie taylor greene the most prominent u.s. politician who has problems with the genocide in gaza?

― z_tbd, Monday, August 11, 2025 11:45 AM (eleven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Pretty sure she only cares about the Christians being killed.

It's also very telling about the press that Trump's obvious sundowning is 10000x worse than Biden's, but we're yet to see daily headlines about him being incapable. It's so maddening.

No one in Trump's orbit is willing to leak stuff to the press about seeing the President drooling on himself.

His Word Salad Bar should be enough.

I mean, one doesn't need secret leaks to see it though!

Man really worried about DC

It's a little hard tracking a decline with Trump since he's been rambling incoherently for years.

Trump has now pivoted from crime to riffing on "transgender for everybody. Everybody transgender."

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lw52bthtu32q

Interesting platform

youtube embed of “everybody everybody” by black box

Everything's computer, everybody transgender

― jaymc, Monday, August 11, 2025 11:51 AM (thirty-seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Hey kid - im a transgender…

Help transgender…

It's a little hard tracking a decline with Trump since he's been rambling incoherently for years.

― Iza Duffus Hardy (President Keyes), Monday, August 11, 2025 11:10 AM (twenty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is definitely true, there was like a night and day difference between Biden during say the VP debates in 2012 and what he was like in 2024, whereas I think the media has given up on trying to understand Trump. that said I've read a lot of blog posts analyzing Trump lately and it definitely seems like way more obvious dementia than what Biden was going through. he's exhibiting a lot of the telltale signs whereas Biden was mostly just a lot slower

Some of Biden's problems were compounded by age issues making it harder to control his stutter.

this was a few months ago

Rumors are swirling that President-elect Donald Trump may have had pooped himself while in France, after a video surfaced showing people around him covering their noses and appearing confused.

The footage, posted by the group @Anonymous, shows Trump sitting alone in the front row among other attendees. Some internet users believe the video captures a visible display of disgust on the faces of those present.

Rumors are swirling that President-elect Donald Trump may have had pooped himself while in France, after a video surfaced showing people around him covering their noses and appearing confused.

i hate to jump in with forensics here, but could have this been a giant fart, etc etc, and is it possible that who smelt it dealt it

your honor

Similar rumors about Trump's incontinence have been around since around the end of his first term. What this story needs is a catchy hook, like "astronaut diapers".

"D-Day.. or Doo-Doo Day?"

here I sit, broken hearted
Came to shit, but only sharted

Over the weekend, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reposted and endorsed a CNN interview with his church’s pastor Doug Wilson, in which Wilson advocated for a global Christian theocracy and the reinstatement of U.S. laws criminalizing homosexuality.

https://www.them.us/story/defense-secretary-pete-hegseth-sodomy-laws-pastor-cnn-video

so is the government going to start disappearing houseless people in DC now or has that already started.

fully expect some stunt like dropping off homeless people at Democratic politicians' houses.

Was just thinking I would hate to be a Democratic politician residing in D.C. proper. Guessing a call to the cops might not work as well after this.

the national guard peeps will stand around looking at their phones for a month, then be sent home... just like in Los Angeles

Trump says NY, Baltimore (where crime numbers are also way down from the past), and Oakland may be next.

Regarding homeless/unhoused folks in DC, the Mayor earlier had the DC government remove a bunch of tents that people were living in, but those folks may have moved to different locations as they may not want to be in indoors shelters

Also, I am curious if they are deploying too many of these fed officers in the same spot. NPR article noted : At one intersection, a minor traffic accident between a car and a moped brought at least two dozen agents running, some wearing masks and one carrying a rifle. Local D.C. Metropolitan police were also on scene.

Our DINO mayor in Houston is working on banning/outlawing the homeless in downtown and midtown in advance of our hosting World Cup games next summer.

Where exactly are they "relocating" these people? Just dropping them in poor neighborhoods? Giving them one way bus tickets to other states?

Trump's statement said something like: We will give you places to stay but they won't be anywhere near the city. That sounds like a private detention center or something.

Criminalizing homelessness is, unfortunately, a bipartisan goal

i mean the totally just kiss his ass at these pressers

the current press corps are a bunch of fucking gross bootlicking losers

Kinda survivorship bias. The people who ask questions at press conferences want to continue going to at press conferences and asking questions; it's their job.

If it is clear that if you ask a tough question you won't be in future press conferences and would not be permitted to ask questions, so you ask the sycophantic flattering softballs. This is a whiny-ass baby who shuts you out over what you call a body of water, so.

It's mostly a waste of time but it's not the only way to gather news - fortunately there are other modes of reporting.

“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday morning, shortly after being driven from the White House to his golf club in Virginia. “We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital.”

so basically they are bootlicking losers who would rather get to stay and suck ass with no value to the public rather then ruffle feathers and have to get a real job xp

Amazing that people got so mad at those podcasters who asked Netanyahu about his favorite cookies or whatever when Trump press conferences exist.

_“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday morning, shortly after being driven from the White House to his golf club in Virginia. “We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital.”_

So, far from anything that might assist them to not be homeless? I am not joking when I say I am getting a genuine feeling they are just going to take them out of sight and kill them.

Did Trump just watch “The Bronx Warriors” and sympathized with the flamethrower squads killing Bronx residents?

the national guard peeps will stand around looking at their phones for a month, then be sent home... just like in Los Angeles

or he conveniently keeps them in place for whatever the hell happens in future elections considering it is the Capital and not just a major city on the West Coast.

do we have a thread for the last infamous loser you were hoping wasn't still alive?

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/supreme-court-formally-asked-overturn-landmark-same-sex/story?id=124465302

sorry for the horribly formed joek but seeing that face again fucked me up

I am not joking when I say I am getting a genuine feeling they are just going to take them out of sight and kill them.

I mean, a lot of their policies, from healthcare to nixed social services, make sense if what they want to do is "thin the herd" by a good 30%.

Yep, and the way they don't even care that a significant portion of that 30% will be his own voters makes me think they genuinely don't plan on another election.

they know their own voters have a death wish (many of them want to go to heaven earlier). that's why they didn't care about killing their own voters during covid

Their most obvious plan is to leverage Trump's presidency and their present hold on power as fast and hard as possible, to send a massive policy earthquake through the entire system, then see where things go from there. Nobody's thinking about 2028, yet, because things are moving so fast that predicting or planning any moves that far in advance would be futile. It's purely the Theil-inspired strategy of move fast and break things, brought into national US politics with a vengeance. Trump is a loose cannon, but he's fabulous at breaking things and manipulable enough that they're willing to take his collateral damage, so long as the basic result is to tear down the system.

Occupying a bunch of liberal big cities is hardly going hurt him with his own voters

well his polling is really bad on almost everything, as bad as anyone in recent memory

He can call them 'fake polls' but even Rasmussen is in agreement that he's really unpopular. Whether this will cause anyone to break ranks remains to be seen

not to take away from the horror of taking over cities but he's also floating policy that Dems should have been on top of years ago

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/11/trump-marijuana-reclassification-decision-00503684

I think their plan for elections involves extreme last-minute gerrymandering, redistricting through an off-cycle census that rigs counts for red states, a massive law enforcement/military presence in any cities where the vote can be tilted toward Republicans or where results can be violently contested, and jailing/disqualifying Democratic opponents in key districts.

xxxp

https://bsky.app/profile/mjsdc.bsky.social/post/3lw5mca4bxs2q

maybe he wants cuties in rebellion to make a military show i guess.

Uh cities

xxp and free pot brownies at the whites-only polling places

maybe he wants cuties in rebellion

a tangerine scheme

"Cuties in Rebellion" was my favorite Sassy Magazine feature

i liked the dance goth of cuties in dust in that era it was a meme

>> "Cuties in Rebellion" was my favorite Sassy Magazine feature

Recently spotted on Bluesky:

Washington Post: “Is fascism bad? The answer may surprise you”

Teen Vogue: “Here are three fun tips you can use this summer to disable an armored personnel carrier”

Teen Vogue is rad

Occupying a bunch of liberal big cities is hardly going hurt him with his own voters

Yeah he is pointedly not occupying cities in Republican states, no matter how bad the crime may be there

not to take away from the horror of taking over cities but he's also floating policy that Dems should have been on top of years ago

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/11/trump-marijuana-reclassification-decision-00503684🕸

He wouldn’t follow through, it would remove the cops’ ability to jail “undesirables”

I did enjoy buying $10 jazz cigs when I was last in DC.

Yeah he is pointedly not occupying cities in Republican states, no matter how bad the crime may be there

I've been wondering about this. Most of those cities are run by Democrats, and their own state Republican leaders are constantly bashing them for being unsafe, not doing enough about crime and homelessness, etc. Plenty of red state governors would welcome a federal incursion into their urban liberal hellscapes. They'd be perfectly happy to active their National Guard.

yeah, was gonna say - rural republicans in red states probably desire trump ’occupying’ cities in their states just as just as much if not more than rural republicans in blue states. they all hate cities, hate leftists and activist living there, and in states like missouri they are constantly pulling statehouse bullshit maneuvers to allow the (red) state officials to control (blue) metropolitan functions

Xp to Tipsy, I think there is evidence that Trump literally believes that everyone is literally a Republican in red states and conversely everyone is a Dem in blue states.

^that’s probably why he finally decided to move to florida, thought he had to go

Re: Blue Cities in Red Texas, Elon's bitched alot about the homeless and addict population in Austin, while what's happening in Houston is happening in the guise of World Cup prep.

Criminalizing homelessness is, unfortunately, a bipartisan goal

― czech hunter biden's laptop (the table is the table), Monday, August 11, 2025 11:40 AM (five hours ago

Yep. And fecal gravity makes it cuties’ problem whereas Gavin can look fierce while passing the buck.

I remember reading that Trump was amazed and surprised in his first term to learn how many Republicans live in California.

I for one am liking how cities are becoming cuties on this borad

No Cuties to Love

Shining cutie on a hill

Alabaster cuties gleam

A tale of two cuties

I'm checking them out, I'm checking them out
I got it figured out, I got it figured out
There's good points, some bad points
But it all works out, I'm a little freaked out
I'll find a cutie, find myself a cutie to live in
I will find a cutie, find myself a cutie to live in

I went back to Ohio
But my cutie was gone

Detroit Rock Cutie

A cutie on a river holds a girl without a dream

We built this cutie on rock and roll

Cuties on Flame with Rock and Roll

The new head of BLS finished his phd in 2020. Also came through the right-wing catholic channels.

These dudes were all around me in my Maryland town just over the northeast border of dc. My neighbor who is one of the new appointees at FERC is maybe 35 and looks like he’s a kid wearing his dad’s suit. Weird breed

Death Cab For Cities

living just enough, just enough for the cutie

Dead Cuties, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts

The new head of BLS finished his phd in 2020. Also came through the right-wing catholic channels.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that he has nominated E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, to head the agency that compiles and publishes the nation’s employment and inflation figures.

...The BLS commissioner is the only political appointee at the agency, which is otherwise staffed by career civil servants. Most previous commissioners have been mild-mannered technocrats.

Antoni, however, has been an unabashed partisan in his economic analyses posted on the Heritage website. For example, two months ago, in an analysis of the May jobs report, he wrote, “A deep dive into the report shows any weakness started long before the Trump administration, which is making undeniable progress reprivatizing the economy.”

EJ Yes Sir my Lord Antoni!

Damn Bowser’s truly the worst

Does Bowser agree with U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s claim that D.C. sentencing laws are too lenient for juveniles?

“I don’t want to say right now,” Bowser said, adding that she wanted to spend more time analyzing strategies that are proven to improve public safety. Pirro, the bigoted former Fox News personality who was recently confirmed as the top federal prosecutor for the District, has complained that D.C.’s juvenile prosecution laws are too lenient and has called for changes to the law that would allow her to charge 14-year-old kids as adults.

Bowser said she met with Pirro last week and promised to lobby D.C. councilmembers on potential changes to the local laws that would give Pirro and the U.S. Attorney’s Office greater control over juvenile crime (currently, the D.C. attorney general’s office handles most juvenile cases).

“I have been in my tenure of service very pro accountability,” Bowser added. “I am an accountability mayor. If you commit a crime in the District with a gun, there has to be accountability and that’s if you are an adult or a juvenile. I don’t think we always have accountability.”

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/769066/trump-takeover-police-mayor-muriel-bowser-questions/

14 year olds tend be to the most accountable ppl

Trump’s pick for BLS commissioner suggests suspending the monthly jobs report

nothing to see here

I remember reading that Trump was amazed and surprised in his first term to learn how many Republicans live in California.

Texas has substantially more Democrats than Republicans

However, the thing that surprises many people is that current figures show Democrats outnumber Republicans in Texas. This may seem strange considering how much control Republicans have in the state.

Total Registered Voters: 17,485,702

* Democrats: 8,133,683 (46.52%)
* Republicans: 6,601,189 (37.75%)
* Unaffiliated: 2,750,830 (15.73%)

has called for changes to the law that would allow her to charge 14-year-old kids as adults.

Has Pirro ever met a 14-year-old kid? They cannot in any known universe be classified as adults. Their brains should be surrounded by signs that shout "Danger! Construction Zone! Do Not Enter. Authorized Personnel ONLY! Hard Hats REQUIRED!"

xp
ok count me among the surprised people. how tf are Ds losing statewide so consistently? are those Unaffiliated voters really unaffiliated?

gerrymandering, iirc

I saw something on istagram: "Texas is not a RED state, it's a RIGGED state"

the numbers surprised me as well

probably comes down to who shows up to vote plus unaffiliated, gerrymandering should not impact statewide elections

sleeve: but governor, senators, pres?

The DC situation is about racism. I am sure you're all aware how relentlessly Black youth are characterized as adults when it comes to law enforcement & incarceration.

Trump made this all a lot less subtle when he brought up Baltimore and Oakland and the mayors of LA and Chicago

right, what Moodles just said

sleeve: but governor, senators, pres?

yeah in that case I guess I defer to "unaffiliated" as a smoke screen for "mostly Republican"

There's also a sizable group of registered Texas Dems who are disillusioned/critical enough that they straight-up don't vote.

Some of them even post here.

I assume there plenty of articles out there about how Texas makes it hard for dem areas to vote. It’s kind of like looking at reconstruction era south and wondering why black politicians weren’t getting elected

that's a good point Heez

on the "unaffiliated" I'm reminded of all the conservative kids in the documentary Boys State who voted for Texas to secede during their mock govt exercise

From 2020 but: Analysis: It's harder to vote in Texas than in any other state

Trump’s pick for BLS commissioner suggests suspending the monthly jobs report

nothing to see here

― (•̪●) (carne asada), Tuesday, 12 August 2025 12:33 (forty-seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

on the bright side, economists will no longer be able to gaslight people by contradicting their lived experience of the economy

not only is voting difficult in Texas, it's especially difficult in urban areas where all the Democrats are

Yeah the long lines you see in Georgia on Election Day are not indicators of high turnout or enthusiasm, they’re because they want Dem voters to wait in hours long lines

Grim article about the Missouri legislature & gov repealing a voter-approved paid sick leave law, because 'outside special interests' and 'government overreach' etc. etc.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/aug/12/missouri-paid-sick-leave-repeal

From Bluesky, an interesting theory about why the mad king is suddenly so interested in "fixing" DC:

His big blood bag legs means he can't fly as much so they have to turn the house he hates in DC into a mock Mar a Lago like those nursing home rooms for memory care patients where they're made up to look like a 1950s street.

is Trump flying to the Rat Islands for the kiss-ass summit with Putin?

I wonder if Alaska will be part of the 'land swap'

i can see russia from here! (guy in british columbia, after the land swap, to general agreement from observers)

My xmas wish: his stupid pride keeps him in the air and he throws a big clot.

if he accidentally trips and stumbles into a guillotine, that could work too

I just want the cunt to die

and then everyone connected to him dies at that same moment, like the weird drones in Flash!, when Zarkhov rips the goggles off of one of them

death might create a hero to the faithful.. I prefer a debilitating stroke where he just slobbers all over himself in a wheelchair and has a colostomy bag

It would be OK with me at this point if he died quietly in bed surrounded by his... uh, does he have any loved ones? Maybe quietly in bed surrounded by his devoted sycophants. I'm sure he'd be fine with that. But, I forgot to mention... it should be soon. ASAP. Yesterday even.

nah, no 'quietly in bed', he needs to suffer mightily, and in a really humiliating way

As someone with a permanent colostomy and is definitely in really good shape, the association of abjection with colostomies gets really tired.

Like yeah, my shit goes into a bag, I can shit doing just about anything, bet you can’t say that fuckwad

yah i earlier wrote and did not post that deep personal humiliation is probly best for us, justice by law is best for the system, debilitation is maybe next, escape to russia/mars/n korea would be acceptable. assassination is the most satisfying maybe, but a stroke/death/alleged rapture is the likeliest. he is just one big pustulant oversloshing quivering colostomy bag right now.

okay, apologies to you table, that was not my intention but I still wrote it and own it

This is totally how it's ending for him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8NpeBzMTYQ

A Tuesday letter addressed to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch outlined the administration’s expectations.

“This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions,” it said.

I bet you guys are going to overreact to this

The rhetoric is soothing. The implementation is what rankles.

From Bluesky, an interesting theory about why the mad king is suddenly so interested in "fixing" DC:

His big blood bag legs means he can't fly as much so they have to turn the house he hates in DC into a mock Mar a Lago like those nursing home rooms for memory care patients where they're made up to look like a 1950s street.
― Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Tuesday, August 12, 2025 2:04 PM (six hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard, sorry.

relatedly, wish the powers that be here would lift the embargo on twitter. I’m sorry it’s owned by a shitty guy, but its rotting your brains. learning from this thread that trump has dementia now apparently

My old pals at Census got a visit from Lutnick today.

Hansi Lo Wang (he/him)‬
✧@hansilow✧✧✧.b✧✧✧.soc✧✧✧‬
· 5h
3. Lutnick said if a person has "broken into the country," they need to be counted in the census, but they should be counted as someone who has "broken into the country," the three employees confirmed to NPR

Just spitballing here, but what if they counted as just a fraction of a person. Say, I dunno, 3/5ths?

learning from this thread that trump has dementia now apparently

It's a cinch to me that Trump displays some atypical mental processes, mostly in his verbal behavior. Whether that is symptomatic of some accepted pathology who the fuck knows. He's acts mentally damaged in some way or even in several ways at once. Nobody seems to agree any further than that and his acolytes don't seem to notice any problem at all. Go figure.

So are they going to go through with an actual surprise census?

xp

I think Trump clearly has dementia and has mentally declined since 2016 worse than Biden has but its harder to notice since he's always been so weird and unlike any person you will ever meet

So are they going to go through with an actual surprise census?

xp

The once-a-decade census is such a massive undertaking I can’t imagine how they’d pull it off. It will be such a mess it would either say we have 10 people in the whole country or eleventy billion

I think Trump clearly has dementia and has mentally declined since 2016 worse than Biden has but its harder to notice since he's always been so weird and unlike any person you will ever meet

― frogbs, Tuesday, August 12, 2025 8:39 PM (twenty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah my money is on the guy with incurable cancer who can barely speak

well it's either him or the person who last year could not identify which person was his ex-wife and which was the woman he raped and this year is talking about cutting drug prices by 1200% and thinking the phrase "burn bag" literally refers to a person named "Burn Bag"

yeah uh I hate to break this to you big guy but trump doesnt really care about getting details right

He got burn bag mixed up with his friends Big Balls and Biggus Dickus and who wouldnt eh?

I know he's not exactly Da Vinki but the way he's getting things wrong now is genuinely weird, first term Trump could've rambled a ton of utter nonsense upon seeing the inside of a Teslurr now he just goes "wow everything computer", he openly implicates himself more and more with the Epstein shit every time he speaks about it, he went from being a decent bullshitter to one of the worst on the planet...Biden is obviously sundowning but he has moments during the day where it's still Joe, Trump on the other hand it's like the car is driving and it's driving really fast but no one is at the wheel anymore

Reading about the Florida lawyer who is one of the Trump staffers in charge of the review of the Smithsonian museums and giving the museums 120 days to replace “divisive or ideologically driven language “ . Attorney Halligan is mentioned in new NY Times and Washington Post articles just released, but was also the subject of an earlier Washington Post article that said in part :

After moving to D.C. just before the inauguration to continue working for Trump as a special assistant and senior associate staff secretary, Halligan visited local cultural institutions, including the Smithsonian museums of Natural History, American History and American Art. She didn’t like everything she saw. Some exhibits, in her view, did not reflect the America she knows and loves.
“And so I talked to the president about it,” Halligan says, “and suggested an executive order, and he gave me his blessing, and here we are.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/arts/design/smithsonian-exhibitions-review-white-house-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.dk8.K1Bu.6g5v2dI6lmCt&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/2025/04/21/lindsey-halligan-smithsonian-executive-order/

So are they going to go through with an actual surprise census?

xp

― whimsical skeedaddler (Moodles), Tuesday, August 12, 2025 11:39 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

The constitution is pretty clear on this. This census does surveys all decade long, but only the decennial census can be used for adding or removing house seats

Anyway they gutted the entire bureau and aren’t letting them hire ppl (this is typically the time of the decade when staffing nearly doubles) so it’s gonna be an extremely flawed census regardless

When I left in April (which was planned before trump even won the election) basically everybody who knew anything took early retirement or the buyout. It’s already really bad

Yeah, I think the guy with inoperable cancer who can barely speak would've been a better choice than the guy who *checks notes* as of last night will start his own demented census, whitewash the Smithsonian, and eliminated benefits for trans servicepeople.

And I don't give a fuck if Trump has dementia.

Anyway, you want dementia? The url sez it all: https://zeteo.com/p/should-jon-stewart-run-for-president

Jon Stewart could get away with calling Booker ‘AIPAC Shakur’ in a debate setting but at the base of that joke is the need for a Jewish person who is not Zionist to challenge him. Brad Lander, maybe?

Gavin Newsom is a gaping asshole, but this is funny (and also the right move politically):

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qxudeqrdbv6676vzjssrhllo/bafkreigvlsit7vainwkqpcnisuqsgfz4tnpqtun5254oq5tvbk47yoodku@jpeg

he's definitely the wrong guy for the moment but that's the right energy. It always irritates me how unwilling Dems are to enter into a full-on power struggle, the GOP has no clue what they're doing half the time and nobody in this administration is remotely competent, seems like it would be pretty easy to outmaneuver them. you'd think at the very least they could give a criminal nazi pedophile the same treatment they gave Barack Obama

otm. he sucks but it's definitely the right energy

and it's hilarious. believe me when i say it pains me to admit this

Yeah. If we have to have Gavin Newsom in a major public position, this is at least a good use of his platform. Same way I felt about Cory Booker's filibuster stunt. I don't like those guys, but they're there and they have megaphones, it's good when they're at least pointed in the right direction.

incredibly corny imo but whatever

imo that shit’s only funny if he actually follows through and does the redistricting. it must be done. and then the humor it depends on our level of despair or privilege or perhaps conceit. i admit to all three and still i find it not funny enough. just necessary.

incredibly corny imo but whatever

Electoral politics is inherently corny because it involves attracting and holding the attention of the most intractable dumbasses on earth ("undecided voters"). Those are the rules of the game.

"incredibly corny but whatever" is exactly my posture towards the grind of daily politics.

thanks, enjoy thinking gavin newsom is funny xp

do you think parodying trump badly holds the attention of the most intractable dumbasses on earth

do you think that does anything meaningful for anyone except for resistance libs

It matters less that its attempt to be funny than as an attempt -- any attempt -- to insult the president publicly.

that = for

idk a governor publicly mocking an authoritarian who routinely goes after his critics at least looks like non-cowering when people see universities and companies cowering in fear

xxpost

ok yeah fine so i guess my original point stands: corny but whatever

can you believe the man in the white house is orange

I totally get that we're desperate for crumbs of defiance from anyone in power, but Newsom is a disgusting hollow prick who very recently was pushing anti-trans talking points while doing the rounds on fash podcasts. His attempting to be all things to all people shouldn't be commended

xp
ivy otm imo, although i understand the idea that national politics is inherently corny

i think people like to see politicians FIGHT against the fascists, so doing the “nyah! nyah! you sound like THIS, ya DUMBASS!” style of discourse feels better than meek centrist demurrals. but who is it for, what does it change, who does it inspire? resistance libs, nothing, no one

If his mocking includes redistricting I'll take it

pushing anti-trans talking points while doing the rounds on fash podcasts

yeah, look at this guy, sticking it to trump, he's got the right energy

Ignoring the tone of the announcement (intended as it ultimately is for an audience of one), and setting aside for a moment the fact that Gavin Newsom is, as I said, a gaping asshole, if he does in fact redistrict California into an indestructible Democratic electoral firewall, that will be A Good Thing.

any democratic politician who thinks sacrificing me is an ok political outcome is not cool or funny or your friend or going to do anything material to fight trump

but this does make me realize how low the bar is. what fearless gavin newsom did on twitter was, admittedly, better than not nothing at all

i have realized….*octogonal-triple-double negative*

I want principled not opportunistic political opposition. and not (just) cause I'm an asshole leftist who loves purity tests, but because I need to feel some level of trust in my political leaders. vehemently pro-genocide Cory Booker can get fucked too

I'll grant that anything Newsom does that benefits people / hurts the GOP is a good thing, but I would also like very much to feel certain this slimeball is never going to be the D pres nominee

slimeballs seem to have an easier time becoming presidential nominees than non-slimeballs

politicians, they also love to say things. people love to think tweeting is policy, is reality. andrew cuomo, a feckless coward whose soul has abandoned his body, was recently positioning himself as the anti-trump candidate, and he folded on that pretty quickly

Cuomo has no fecks to give.

any democratic politician who thinks sacrificing me is an ok political outcome is not cool or funny or your friend or going to do anything material to fight trump

otm

xp eh I wouldn't call Harris, Biden, H Clinton, Obama, Kerry, or Gore slimeballs (they all have other, sometimes worse deficiencies). I would call B Clinton a slimeball though, which feels like more ballast for my argument tbh

I would also like very much to feel certain this slimeball is never going to be the D pres nominee

Never gonna happen. I think he'll absolutely run, but he'll poll in single digits and drop out after like three primaries. So the party needs to get whatever benefit it can out of him now, because he's risen as high as he can. Maybe if a Democrat is allowed to win the presidency (though there's a nonzero chance Trump will just say "fuck you, I'm president for life - do something about it" by the end of this year), he'll be secretary of one of the two or three government departments that still exist come 2029.

idk let's just say I don't share your confidence, and people who know better praising him, however judiciously, for resisting Trump is exactly how I'd imagine he'd build up cred & momentum

anyway, ivy otm, the point being he's doing horrible stuff *in the present* and epic tweets are worth nothing

Never gonna happen

have you learned anything about saying shit like this? clearly no

eh I wouldn't call Harris, Biden, H Clinton, Obama, Kerry, or Gore slimeballs

One of these people sexually assaulted a masseuse

PK I think we're just using different definitions of slimeball. I'm talking about pols whose primary public mode is bullshitter and whose statements/positions cannot be remotely trusted. Of course all politicians produce bullshit, but some have a real talent and zeal for it

people who know better praising him, however judiciously, for resisting Trump is exactly how I'd imagine he'd build up cred & momentum

i said that he sucks but that i thought the tweet was funny. others have correctly elaborated on why he sucks. i don't think i am meaningfully going to move the metrics on GN by "handing it to him" in this thread for one tweet. it's fine if you guys think my sense of humor is corny and "resistance lib"

you don't under any circumstances gotta hand it to him

still maintaining a sense of humor is good, budo, sorry about that! i’ve kind of lost all of it re: trump and all this stuff, tbh, don’t mean to paint you as any of those things (corny/resistance lib). and i don’t have any better ideas, so i know i’m just critiquing without really adding anything.

if the goal is to get under Trump's skin and appeal to people who are already anti-Trump and get a cathartic thrill from people who stick it to him, then sure, that Newsom tweet does the job. if the goal is to inspire people and bring them into the Democratic coalition, it's pretty weak.

speaking of sense of humor

“We ended the woke political programming, and we’re restoring the Kennedy Center as the premier venue for performing arts anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world,” Trump said. “We have some unbelievable plans.”

Trump, who said he was “98% involved” in picking the center’s next slate of honorees, announced that the awards would be given to singer and songwriter George Strait; actors Michael Crawford and Sylvester Stallone; singer Gloria Gaynor; and the rock band KISS.

I was just talking to a Latvian buddy, an old friend I haven't spoken with in too long. We catch up on family and this and that and at the end of the conversation he starts asking me what the people in my area (Savannah, GA) think about Trump and then we're talking about Trump and he's trying to make sense of why people who hate communism like Trump when he's clearly in with Putin and so I says "you know, some people like shit. I don't get it, but I know they're out there, on the internet, eating shit and loving it. Some people love shit and there's nothing you can really do about it and it will never make sense to us."

That's where I've landed. I've spent too much time trying to work out why people like Trump and noting logical fallacies. They just like shit. Probably because they're racist and racists are notoriously shitty people.

I apologize to any true shit-eaters out there. I assume that disgust and humiliation is part of the whole deal so I can only see this as helping the community, but if wrong I am very sorry.

yeah, look at this guy, sticking it to trump, he's got the right energy

― ivy., Wednesday, August 13, 2025 11:14 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

well yeah in case it's not clear what I want to see is Dem pols who are *not* him openly mocking Trump like this and, much more importantly, actually following through on actions that attempt to rebalance the deck somewhat

I'm probably wrong about this but I feel like we're in a phase right now similar to when it was clear that Biden needed to drop out but before he actually did. the Dems are gonna try to go business as usual for a while but it's so apparent a fundamental shift needs to happen. the GOP has broken so many laws and exercised so many naked power grabs, Dem voters aren't just exhausted they're pissed and actively want retribution for the daily horrors being inflicted on us. they're sick of always having to be the ones having to back down or compromise. why is it that these fascist morons never have to??

ivy massively otm re: newsom. good posts from rob and z_tbd also.

That's where I've landed. I've spent too much time trying to work out why people like Trump and noting logical fallacies. They just like shit. Probably because they're racist and racists are notoriously shitty people.

the answer is a bit more complicated but you're basically right, I think. part of it is that Trump has demolished the entire idea of bipartisanship and along with it the notion that the Republican party actually owes anything at all to the people who pay their salaries and fund their goons and $200,000,000 ballrooms. its always been a 'team sport' of sorts it just seems so much more like that now, they're like those Red Sox fans who get more pleasure out of the Yankees eating shit than their own accomplishments. a number of times in sports the 'face of the franchise' turns out to be someone who is tremendously awful and indefensible but they don't start rooting for the rival when that happens.

actors Michael Crawford

Frank fuckin Spencer??

before he actually did. the Dems are gonna try to go business as usual for a while but it's so apparent a fundamental shift needs to happen. the GOP has broken so many laws and exercised so many naked power grabs, Dem voters aren't just exhausted they're pissed and actively want retribution for the daily horrors being inflicted on us. they're sick of always having to be the ones having to back down or compromise. why is it that these fascist morons never have to??

i think it’s important to realize that ’they’(fascist morons, largely of the white evangelical christian flavor) ALSO feel like they are the ones who are always backing down and compromising!

they feel like they already “backed down” and compromised in the 20th/ early 21st century when they were gradually forced to recognize the rights of people who weren’t straight white male christians. now, they’re working to reverse modern era equality/human rights reforms, in a similar way to how they used jim crow to erase reconstruction-era voting rights reforms.

‘they’ feel very aggrieved and always will! they are reactionaries, this is core for them! they have a permanent casus belli against anyone that they perceive to be cutting into their power

xpost I was baffled by Michael Crawford too, but he played the lead in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway in the late 80s

xp yes, there's an active campaign to bring back sodomy laws and toss the SCOTUS gay marriage ruling

Should Obergefell, uh, fall, the Respect for Marriage Act already codifies same sex marriage. Let's see if Congress aims to repeal what passed by what were impressive majorities in lame duck session '22.

yeah, I doubt they'll see success but it's definitely on the Heritage wishlist

if the goal is to get under Trump's skin and appeal to people who are already anti-Trump and get a cathartic thrill from people who stick it to him, then sure, that Newsom tweet does the job. if the goal is to inspire people and bring them into the Democratic coalition, it's pretty weak.

― jaymc, Wednesday, August 13, 2025 1:33 PM (twenty-one minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Just want to say, why would anyone even think it would need to "inspire people and bring them into the Democratic coalition" at all? It's not necessarily trying to do something so grandiose just because it's getting a proportionately grand amount of attention online. We don't need to hold a troll tweet to high standards just because it's getting traction.

because the Dems are currently in a position where they're getting dunked on over and over again and most of their own voters have resigned themselves to the idea that they'll never hold power again because even if they win an election Trump will just go "lol no" and send the military to execute all his political enemies. they feel this way because, to use one of a hundred examples, the Dems will say "the president cannot legally send the guard to DC, that's insane", and then Trump will just go ahead and do it with the confidence of a man who knows he will never see a single consequence in his lifetime. so even if nothing else "we will take back power again" is a good message to get out

Ceaucescu was Ceaucescu, until one day…

that's the spirit

uh oh

https://fortune.com/2025/08/11/arizona-iced-tea-price-increase-trump-tariffs-aluminum/

Eleanor Holmes Norton is DC’s rep in Congress ( but not able to vote as dc isn’t a state). She’s a Dem and issued a strong statement against Trump Monday , but she hasn’t spoken publicly. She’s 88 and won’t agree (yet?) not to run for reelection

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/13/eleanor-holmes-norton-trump-dc-00506273

It's not necessarily trying to do something so grandiose just because it's getting a proportionately grand amount of attention online. We don't need to hold a troll tweet to high standards just because it's getting traction.

I basically agree, but people here were saying it's the "right energy," which I took to mean that it was a good model for other Democrats to use to win back power.

She’s 88 and won’t agree (yet?) not to run for reelection

She keeps telling reporters that she's going to run ... and then her staff keeps walking it back.

Obergefell was actually a tax court case … so it’s kinda complicated

A Trump Appointee and a HW Bush appointee on the DC federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that the Trump administration can withhold tens of billions of dollars in previously approved by Congress foreign aid, with a Biden appointed judge dissenting. A panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit lifted a federal judge’s preliminary injunction that ordered the Trump administration to appropriate the money for food, medicine and development. Plaintiffs quickly announced they would ask for a review by the full, 15-judge D.C. Circuit court. They have accused the Trump administration of seeking to withhold the funding until it expires at the end of the fiscal year, on Sept. 30, as more than 60,000 metric tons of food aid — some rotting — sits undelivered in warehouses.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/08/13/dc-appeals-court-trump-foreign-aid/

congress is actually more of this separate branch without power, more of an advisory branch really, when it comes to appropriating tax money. congress gives a strong “you should do this” nod but when it comes down to it, who is going to make the executive branch do anything it doesn’t want to? the tea party?

the judicial? hahahaha lol no

in this way the 3 branches of u.s. government maintain a beautiful balance, with each branch checking the other, sizing them up, saying “i guess you are as fucked up as i am"

The money at issue includes nearly $4 billion for USAID to spend on global health programs and more than $6 billion for HIV and AIDS programs

curmudgeon, don’t you know that helping people is for suckers?

good morning!

Where are the Epstein files?

Is he going to use the 10 billion for housing the homeless?

if 'housing' means 'prison' maybe

curmudgeon, don’t you know that helping people is for suckers?

Sadly living in the dc area I am seeing some people, black and white, thinking Trump is helping people in dc by making crime go down. They dispute the already going down numbers, or claim that the existing numbers are still to high and just reference any crime they remember seeing on local tv news from the last year.

They sadly don’t seem concerned that the Republican Congress hasn’t restored withheld a billion from the dc budget, and hasn’t done anything else to help dc residents or even dc police for that matter.

Too high

Eh , I should proofread. Hasn’t restored the billion dollars from the dc budget that they have withheld

It’s all just one big grift

In other news about not being helpful:

Costco Wholesale, the retail giant best known for bulk groceries and bargain electronics, has stepped into one of America’s most contentious political and moral battles — and stepped right back out.

The company confirmed through Bloomberg News on Thursday that it will not dispense the abortion pill mifepristone at any of its more than 500 pharmacy locations across the United States.

While Costco insists its decision is rooted in consumer demand — or, more specifically, a lack of it — the move comes after lobbying from faith-based activist groups urging the retailer to avoid the sale altogether. The company declined to comment on whether that campaign influenced its decision.
From Bloomberg News

it's grift all the way down, with a bonus dash of racism and human rights violations

a Congressman went on TV yesterday to claim he doesn't even buckle his seatbelt when he's driving around in DC because he's so afraid of being carjacked. we're being ruled by such deeply unserious people.

That was Markwayne Mullin — a Senator, no less — whose seriousness as a person sadly matches whatever stereotypes you might imagine from his name.

otoh Markwayne Mullin might fly out the windshield if he gets in an accident

yes, if Trumpers eschew safety belts en masse as a sign of solidarity, like with the ear tampons, seems like a net positive.

how will having your seat belt unfastened help in a carjacking?

less chafing when they pull you out of the car

I think we should push seat belts as a 'woke gov't overreach' to all these poor cows

how will having your seat belt unfastened help in a carjacking?

if you have one of the old school ejector seats, having an unfastened seat belt helps you eject out of the vehicle at an even greater height, parachuting up to an additional half mile to safety from carjackers in DC

I’m reminded of something I’ve (darkly) joked about with a friend since 2016 - it seems pointless to make the joke now - that he and I could concoct an outlandish conspiracy theory about almost anything, make a video where we soberly and seriously explain said theory, and then post it to YouTube and wind up with a ton of adherents in a week. That’s sadly the world we live in now. People are willing to say or believe ANYTHING.

Seems like wearing a seatbelt makes it difficult if not impossible for a carjacker to pull you from the vehicle, meaning you get to drive away thumbing your nose while the carjacker jumps up and down, shaking their fist and emitting steam from their ears.

Meanwhile, some heroes throw heroes

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday that a Justice Department employee has been fired after he was arrested for allegedly throwing a sandwich at a federal law enforcement officer Sunday evening.

In court documents filed Wednesday, police allege that Sean Charles Dunn approached law enforcement officers, including Metro Transit Police and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, and began yelling obscenities and calling them “fascists.”

At about 11:05 p.m., according to the federal court filing, Dunn approached an officer and threw a sandwich at him. He was charged with “assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and employees of the United States.”

After his arrest, Dunn allegedly told one of the arresting officers: “I did it. I threw a sandwich.”

Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, announced in a video posted on X on Wednesday afternoon that Dunn would be charged with a felony.

https://wapo.st/4me0gJv

p sure I saw that one of the arrests the feds made in DC was for a seatbelt violation

sandwich video was p funny though it's a bummer they caught the guy

xxxp the new King of the Hill goes into that a little, before Dale wasn't taken seriously by anyone in his personal life or at work, now he has a Substack and people are willing to not only listen to his outlandish takes but offer even crazier ones of their own. he was also elected mayor at one point.

was the charge Assault with a deli weapon?

I have personally had a sandwich thrown at me on a job site when I was punch listing a new building, and while it missed me I still had to make a note that a mayo stain needed to be cleaned off the copper siding.

xxxp The Simpsons also went into that a bit, during bear hysteria, when Lisa pointed out Homer's specious defending of the neighborhood bear patrol by saying that there had been no tiger attacks on their property as long as a certain rock was in the yard, at which point Homer offered to buy the rock.

xp did they peppercini-spray him in retaliation?

I'm printing out Don't Be a Zero - Throw a Hero bumper stickers as I type this.

There's probably also a BLM/BLT crossover that would work.

I thought the traditional thing to throw at cops was a stale doughnut,

is the sandwich ok?

suffered minor open-facial contusions

Vandalism: as beautiful as a hoagie in a cop’s face

Prosecuting this guy on felony charges after pardoning Jan 6ers that beat cops is something

Would any jury convict?

The J6ers didn't waste food

Prosecuting this guy on felony charges after pardoning Jan 6ers that beat cops is something

― (•̪●) (carne asada), Thursday, August 14, 2025 1:53 PM (nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

the left need to make a celebrity of this guy. make him the thing people remember from this idiotic stunt. this is the crime wave. this is your violent deep state felon. keep asking questions about the sandwich. demand the full report. could we possibly tack on a chemical weapons charge due to the presence of a certain type of mustard? introduce legislation to prevent this from ever happening to a single federal worker ever again. if the GOP won't put a restriction on how many bullets a clip can hold, how about on the length of a sub sandwich? I'm not even joking, this is the kind of shit people remember and a big part of turning the tide against them is going to be in painting them as scared little fools

also question the manliness of the agents involved: "OOoohh, did that widdle sandwich scare you? did you get mayo on your bib?"

Do we have confirmation that it wasn't a Manwich?

The fact that the sandwich is bagged and sitting in an evidence room is sheer lunacy.

so you can beat a cop with a flagpole but you can't throw a pastrami & rye at him, got it

In the video, the officer does not appear to be injured from the sandwich, which the video-taker zoomed in on to show it was still fully wrapped in a Subway wrapper, where it landed in the street.

one small step for a sandwich, a giant leap for sandwichkind

what

Dunn was hit with the felony charge on Wednesday.

"If you touch any law enforcement officer, we will come after you," Bondi said in her social media post.

She also called Dunn "an example of the Deep State we have been up against for seven months as we work to refocus DOJ."

https://theonion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/mvqm5osur0ao043d2tkx.jpg

Publicly drench Pam Bondi in bait guts challenge…

9.11

#neverforget

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-FKZOYl1WA

The kind of authenticity the Democrats need

this is getting weird... a bunch of border patrol agents showed up at Newsom's press conference today

"BORDER PATROL HAS SHOWED UP AT OUR BIG BEAUTIFUL PRESS CONFERENCE! WE WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED!," the governor's office posted on X.

As of late, Newsom has been borrowing from Trump's political playbook, with bold and combative rhetoric online.

"TRUMP’S PRIVATE ARMY IS ILLEGALLY ON PRIVATE PROPERTY!!!! WE WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED BY THIS WEAK LITTLE MAN!!!" Newsom's office said.

It's not getting weird it's getting explicitly fash

The brief clips I saw from Newsome's speech, and from other speakers, seemed an encouraging vibe. The footage of the pigs outside was fucking unsettling.

Newsom is trying hard to appear like he knows what he's doing, but it's just mindless mimicry of Trump Tropes(tm).

I'm ready for California to halt all transfers of tax revenue to the Treasury

not gonna pretend this is about anything other than angling for 2028, I'm aware of how bad he sucks, but he's also the governor of the biggest Dem state and someone with the power to actually screw Trump out of the gains he'd get by cheating that way, if he's gonna inspire other Dems to tell Trump and his goons to go fuck themselves that's good. I'm not worried about him actually being president, seems like frontrunner 3 years out just ends up being the first big name to drop out

I have personally had a sandwich thrown at me on a job site when I was punch listing a new building, and while it missed me I still had to make a note that a mayo stain needed to be cleaned off the copper siding.

― henry s, Thursday, August 14, 2025 11:26 AM (three hours ago

Heroically thorough!

I am waiting for the NYT column titled “The Sandwich and the Shoe” about how protesting has changed in the new era

is the shoe from Khrushchev?

Famously, a shoe was thrown at George Bush Jr by an Iraqi journalist during a press conference. Dubya ducked aside and it missed.

A second shoe was thrown as well! A matching pair.

The sandwich takes its place in the pantheon of Soft Projectiles, e.g. the Bush shoe, the Anita Bryant pie, I'm sure a water balloon has hit a target at some point in the past.

ah yes, I remember that shoe toss

Looks like Kari Lake made up her job

NPR can find no public evidence that Trump has ever named Lake to the job. And under U.S. law, it does not appear that she is eligible to hold it, according to former federal officials.

https://www.npr.org/2025/08/13/nx-s1-5500554/kari-lake-ceo-agency-usagm-voice-of-america

I'd actually be pretty impressed if she pulled off a Costanza.

gonna be crazy after Trump dies when it's revealed how many people were scamming him this whole time

Bullshit. Trump won't die.

He’ll wriggle out of his grave

He’ll pop out of his grave like Harry Selden whenever America is in danger not being great

He’ll get eaten by MAGAts

Eric and Don Jr. will have fundraisers up within one day of the announcement. not because I think they'd be in mourning right away because it would take them a full day to figure out how to use GoFundMe

You just know he’s cut them out of the will

Nah, he’ll die intestate.

That reminds me of one of the multiple choice questions in my introduction to trust tax returns… where one of the options was “infertile”

how long until he threatens Norway until he gets what he wants

Donald Trump cold-called Norway’s finance minister last month to ask about a nomination for the Nobel peace prize, Norwegian press reported on Thursday.

The Norwegian outlet Dagens Næringsliv, citing unnamed sources, reported: “Out of the blue, while finance minister Jens Stoltenberg was walking down the street in Oslo, Donald Trump called … He wanted the Nobel prize – and to discuss tariffs.”

The outlet added that it was not the first time that Trump had raised the question of a Nobel peace prize nomination to Stoltenberg.

"So, Jens, while we're talking here nice and friendly I thought I'd ask you, is there anyone you'd be just as happy if they died suddenly, because that could always happen, you know, and sooner than you think, too. This week, even. Nobody? Sorry to hear that. Now about those tariffs..."

DC suing over Bondi trying to appoint her own "emergency" police chief. My guess: Court blocks it, Bondi appeals, SCOTUS vacates the stay without explanation.

yup

it fits the trend line

That's their favorite move

for an administration that claims to champion efficiency & savings, they sure love blowing taxpayer dollars on stunts & optics

New term I just heard yesterday: MAGA Marxism

after decades of the GOP embrace of laissez-faire capitalism, now the Trump administration wants the federal gov't to own a stake in Intel, likewise the gov't taking a cut of Nvidia sales to China

after decades of the GOP embrace of laissez-faire capitalism, now the Trump administration wants the federal gov't to own a stake in Intel, likewise the gov't taking a cut of Nvidia sales to China

We don't need a new term; "kleptocracy" will do just fine. "Gangster capitalism" or "government by thieves" will also serve.

I think MAGA Marxism already came and went a few years ago

This stupid criminal fuck let Putin ride in the presidential limo at their meeting.

former KGB dudes gotta bug limos, it's in their blood

Judge: D.C. police chief remains in command, but Trump can likely demand help on immigration
Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said the order by Attorney General Pam Bondi was unlawful and suggested they would not comply.

A federal judge convinced the Justice Department to walk back President Donald Trump’s efforts to assert control over the D.C. police department and signaled that she would issue a temporary restraining order if the changes are not complete by Friday evening.

After hearing arguments on an emergency request from D.C. officials to block the Trump administration’s takeover of the 3,100-member Metropolitan Police Department, U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes forged a compromise of sorts between the two sides — without issuing a ruling — on the key question of who runs the police department.

But the court did not rule on another key aspect of the case: Whether Trump can commandeer D.C. police officers to enforce immigration violations. That issue is likely to be resolved next week, Reyes said.

In an order issued this week that caught District officials including Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and the police chief by surprise, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi named the top official in the Drug Enforcement Administration as the head of the police department, while rescinding local police policies limiting cooperation with immigration enforcement.

At the end of Friday’s hearing, Justice Department attorney Yaakov Roth said the administration would agree to change a key section of Bondi’s order that named the DEA chief, Terry Cole, as the commissioner of the D.C. police. Local officials said that removing Police Chief Pamela A. Smith, who was appointed by Bowser, from her duties would be perhaps the gravest violation in history to D.C. home rule.

“We’re just going to say Mr. Cole is the designee of the attorney general for the purposes of requesting services” from D.C. police, Roth told the judge at the hearing’s conclusion.

“He’s going to have to go through the mayor. All right?” Reyes responded. If the order is not changed by 6:30 p.m., the judge said, she would issue a temporary restraining order blocking Cole from taking charge.

Schwalb filed a lawsuit Friday asking a federal judge to find that Trump and Bondi’s actions are unconstitutional and exceed limits on federal power in the 1973 D.C. Home Rule Act. Schwalb asked the judge to block Bondi’s order and keep control of police with the mayor and police chief.

“By declaring a hostile takeover of MPD, the Administration is abusing its limited, temporary authority under the Home Rule Act, infringing on the District’s right to self-governance and putting the safety of DC residents and visitors at risk,” Schwalb said in a statement. “The Administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call DC home. This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.”

Smith said in a sworn declaration in U.S. District Court on Friday that Bondi’s attempt to strip away her authority represented one of the most “dangerous” directives she had ever seen.

“If effectuated, the Bondi Order would upend the command structure of MPD, endangering the safety of the public and law enforcement officers alike,” Smith’s declaration said. “In my nearly three decades in law enforcement, I have never seen a single government action that would cause a greater threat to law and order than this dangerous directive.”

this alaska circle jerk is fucking sickening

which is why I'll wait for the news organizations to sort out if there's anything concrete at all to report. my guess is that Putin succeeded in dodging Trump's demands for a ceasefire and sowing further confusion in US policy making -- which is just a fancy way of saying he diverted Trump's attention into various irrelvancies and nothing of value will emerge.

Please please please let Putin have spiked his Diet Coke with polonium

xp Your guess is basically correct, I don't think anything will come of this dog & pony show

Lavrov was apparently wearing a USSR tshirt

I pity the citizens of Kiev because I'll bet they're getting an extra helping tonite

New term I just heard yesterday: MAGA Marxism

after decades of the GOP embrace of laissez-faire capitalism, now the Trump administration wants the federal gov't to own a stake in Intel, likewise the gov't taking a cut of Nvidia sales to China

― Andy the Grasshopper, Saturday, August 16, 2025 5:52 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Not wishing to split hairs burning this just corporatist Italian fascism?

Trump’s interview with Hannity on Fox about the meeting with Putin is insane. Trump claims of course that Putin told him that he Trump won in 2020, that few countries have mail in voting ( actually 30 do) and it can be manipulated!

Trump: "Now it's really up to President Zelenskyy to get it done."

TRUMP: I've negotiated 5 wars to their end

HANNITY: I've got 7

1. War on Christmas

https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/2703722/putin-trump.jpg

Yeah uh, the wars have to actually end first before stating you ended them. Israel is bombing Lebanon daily despite a bullshit “ceasefire”

Official Paperwork re: the summit schedule, locations for said summit & plans for the abandoned luncheon left in hotel business center:

https://www.npr.org/2025/08/16/nx-s1-5504196/trump-putin-summit-documents-left-behind

The first page in the printed packet disclosed the sequence of meetings for August 15, including the specific names of the rooms inside the base in Anchorage where they would take place. It also revealed that Trump intended to give Putin a ceremonial present.

"POTUS to President Putin," the document states, "American Bald Eagle Desk Statue."

...

During the summit Friday, lunch was apparently cancelled. But it was intended to be a simple, three-course meal, the documents showed. After a green salad, the world leaders would dine on filet mignon and halibut olympia. Crème brûlée would be served for dessert.

Jon Michaels, a professor of law at UCLA who lectures about national security, said that the documents found in the printer of the Alaskan hotel reveal a lapse in professional judgement in preparation for a high-stakes meeting.

"It strikes me as further evidence of the sloppiness and the incompetence of the administration," said Michaels. "You just don't leave things in printers. It's that simple."

There's a very real chance the unredacted Epstein files are sitting unclaimed in a printer at a Holiday Inn Express somewhere in Maryland.

your honor, the unredacted epstein files were unfortunately printed when the holiday inn express lobby printer was out of magenta. even when we tried to just print in black and white, your honor, it said it couldn’t because it was out of magenta. we proceeded to restart the printer and reset to default settings, but it only seemed to make problems worse. there was also a paper jam indicator light that was on, but no visible paper jam

Why no hamberders