while I’m being cranky, access journalism needs to go. When the president does his “I’m alpha because I insulted you” thing somebody needs to fall on his sword and say “what the fuck is wrong with you, old man?” on a hot mic. the hero of the wizard of Oz is Toto.

Read the whole article. This is fucked up in so many ways. Strange how two equally demented, evil, and stupid people somehow find each other.

Out on the road today I saw a “End ICE” sticker on a Cybertruck A little voice inside my head said “don’t look back, you can never look back”

its almost like being proactive generates coverage instead of leaning back and hoping for the best. and yes, im willing to give props to some of the dems in this who are usually the boring backbencher types.

Democratic messaging to our military about killing civilians extrajudicially is too polite. Soliders, sailors and Marines need fair warning that at a future point, a restored military judicial process will review these slayings, and those executing an unlawful order will be subject to that process.

MAGA Christianity: 1. Calling Zohran Mamdani a "terrorist" bc he's Muslim. 2. Cheer when Trump buries his face in the laps of actual Muslim terrorists.

In the end, his myriad psychological pathologies will bring him down just as surely as they contributed to his rise.

1/I think one major difference between the original internet bubble and the current AI bubble is that people at the turn of the century welcomed the internet and wanted more of it. Companies were certainly overvalued, but both business and consumers generally saw internet growth as a positive.

Given recent elections, polling, and the Epstein debacle, I get the sense a lot more Republicans are starting to fear the wrath of voters more than the wrath of Trump.

Trump ranting about sedition, hangings, and death because some members of Congress said that US military personnel have to follow US law is quite bad, yes. But it's frustrated impotence more than actionable threat. He can't get James Comey in jail, he's far from able to murder members of Congress.

Agreed. Unhinged statements like this aren’t so much scary as pathetic these days.

Is there a lemon law for Presidents?

Good thread that mirrors my own thinking. I think what worried so many of us these last several months was that America wasn’t paying attention. But Trump, et al. overplayed their hand and now people are definitely watching and based on the polling, they don’t like what they see.

Maybe it’s this mojito talking but I’m feeling blearily encouraged by the sense that they’ve overplayed their hand

Usually, JVL is the prince of darkness, but I have to agree with him that we may be seeing the high water mark of Trump here. Consider his evidence:

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." -Winston Churchill

As others have pointed out, he has written the tagline for the inevitable worldwide celebration tho.

FWIW I think this is more than just people treating Trump as a magic wizard. If Trump goes down here, and if this blows up, it takes down all of them. So I actually think people are discounting the possibility of real outlier scenarios that ARE actually in the collective's interest.

Will the new maga Wapo defend Trump’s repellent comments on Khashoggi?

Trump is such a sad, pathetic shell of a human being. If it weren’t for his maliciousness, I’d almost feel bad for him.

The irony is that "Quiet, piggy!" is exactly what St. Peter plans to tell Trump.

Reporter: Speaker Johnson, when you lie like this, do you ever worry that God will strike you on the spot with a bolt of lightning?

And here I was thinking "wait, RFK Jr. lives in South Carolina? I didn't think that was..." And then... oh....

Our president (twice!), ladies and gentlemen.

The whole thread.

I don’t remember her magazine pieces ever being this terribly written. Were they that heavily edited? And did she have no editor on the book? A 9th grade English teacher would hand this back for a rewrite.

It’s been quite a decade, hasn’t it?

I need someone to do a deep dive on the different subtypes of Blue MAGA.

I've frequently said this at various points, and the response from some is "His back isn't against the wall. He is the president. He always comes out on top, and he knows it." Yes. He is the president until he's not. But his fatal flaw is he really does care what people think, and he panics.

The difference between the sociopathic and non-sociopathic takes is really quite stark

I think he’s beginning to scream into the void. Some Rs are clearly growing a spine, and that creates a permission structure for others. He still has enormous power and is dangerous af, but I think the time of his party marching in lockstep with whatever he does or says may be reaching its end.

are the MAGAs schisming? it would be irresponsible not to speculate

Don’t forget about what Lutnick said about Epstein: “This guy was the greatest blackmailer ever." The video and photos from hidden cameras would certainly be part of what the FBI originally seized from Epstein. I’m sure that’s what Trump is most worried about.

There’s going to be an explosion of gambling related bankruptcies over the next decade.

New York Young Republicans in their 30s and 40s saying openly Nazi shit in their group chats? “They’re just kids who don’t know any better, cut ‘em some slack.” Teenage girls being trafficked among a cabal of elite pedophiles? “Ummm, ackchually, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics—“

Whether it’s Barack Obama, appearing in a tan suit or Donald Trump appearing 1700 times in Jeffrey Epstein‘s emails, both presidents made some highly controversial appearances.

Some inspiring words on cinema in the streaming era from the Pope. Yes, THAT Pope.

Re. the Epstein stuff and Trump. It’s worth remembering that the only thing Americans love more than avidly following the careers of celebrities they admire, is watching those same celebrities crash and burn.

We could have gotten smarter fascists, who work to boost the economy upon taking office, funneling benefits to their supporters, consolidating power behind the scenes. Instead, they rushed to overt corruption while making even supporters' lives worse. A lot of pain before they fall, but they will.

I am well aware that they are and will continue to do massive damage to this country but does it feel like they’re on a glide path to successful authoritarian consolidation anymore? I submit that it does not

Such a prescient song.

Whether they realize it or not, all these CEOs getting in bed with Trump for short-term benefit to exploit his transactional corruption are self-inflicting long-term reputational damage to themselves personally and their brands. The stink of Trump never washes off.

ICE vs the clergy

lol theonion.com/cat-follows-...

Olivia Nuzzi: “We were not sleeping together. I mean, there was that time we fucked on a bear carcass, but we didn’t *sleep* there.”

All this goes to show that elections and public opinion still matter, even if the system is unstable. Trump is a lame duck with 40% approval. He's flagging, badly. The Democrats need to keep the pressure up. Midterms are less than a year away. Win there, and you have real levers of power. 5/5

Put Chris back in Christmas.

Texas A&M is no longer a "university". It's a Vacation Bible School with a football team and parking problems.

There's no problem Vance won't blame on immigrants, even if he has to invent the problem himself. A few weeks ago he was insisting immigrants lived in cramped squalor and their (white) neighbors had a right to be upset about that. Now they're so rich they're snatching up all the good houses? OK.