The Truthiness Defense: the President doesn't think with his head, he knows with his gut. Being responsible for a war crime would theoretically make the US war criminals. Since that would be bad, it must not be true.

#Books #Booksky 📚 #ThursdayThoughts #Inspiration #MentalHealth ☀️

Truly great piece of writing. So much of this person's life experience is foreign to me, yet like all great writing, the most basic part of it feels identifiable and universal. I didn't feel a capacity to hate, or to wish ill on others, until the modern political world showed it wished harm first.

Reminder that cutting aid to Israel is wildly popular among Democrat voters, who “party leadership” are happily ignoring in favor of their AIPAC donors. In a functioning democracy, constantly ignoring the will of your voters would cause a loss of office. But we aren’t one.

i will voluntarily pay extra taxes to any country that agrees to drag our cops and elected leaders before an international court

Speaks to the state of things when a government tells corporations "We won't let you scam people" and they start screaming that's anti business

The older I've gotten, the more I realize I succeeded in school by being better than average at taking multiple-choice tests and writing long papers with limited knowledge. These are trainable skills!

"We have three tried and true tools at our disposal to prevent AI from becoming a socioeconomic rerun of the devastating example of the tech industry," writes @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social. www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/we-already...

I mean this explains quite a lot about experiencing social media in the 2020's www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

"We should demand 2028 candidates outbid each other on Court reform. Promise to end the filibuster and add 4 justices. Promise to end the filibuster and add 17 justices. Promise to end the filibuster and add 50 justices,' writes @nberlat.bsky.social. www.everythingishorrible.net/p/demand-tha...

THE US HAVING A WHITES-ONLY REFUGEE POLICY SHOULD BE A MUCH BIGGER STORY

On the one hand, yes, a world in which the GOP nominates Jeb! instead of Trump is better for all of us. On the other hand, Obama wouldn't have been the choice of the party machine, nor would AOC. The Democratic Party's problem isn't populism, it's sclerosis.

Round of 16: Host-pocalypse Au revoir 🇨🇦 Adios 🇲🇽 If Mike Pence Has the Courage 🇺🇸

That the U.S. appears to have completely visibly given up after a catastrophic own goal fuck up is a little on the nose.

The USMNT and Knicks being really good except for the precise moment when Trump involves himself is really funny

World climate doesn't abruptly shift due to global warming. It's not an on/off switch. But with sea temperatures climbing higher and higher, we have entered uncharted territory. The models only agree on one thing: what comes next won't be good.

Let's be very clear: they are selling it to private enterprise as a way to reduce payroll expenses. (i.e., cut jobs) You can't justify a trillion dollar IPO valuation unless businesses have an incentive to use your services. That incentive is cutting costs. Anything they say otherwise is PR.

My experience of the US has always been "we make cool stuff but are generally narcissistic, greedy, ignorant, and aggressive." Patriotism requires camaraderie and community that transcends identity. Our traditions are too shallow, and our citizens too self-centered, to inspire real patriotism.

Only Egypt subscribes to @rodger.bsky.social's newsletter, clearly. "Kick Inside the Net" Theory remains undefeated.

FYI Utah Jazz fans: this logic also applies to Jaxson Hayes. Don't cheer for deplorable human beings.

Our citizens have made the affirmative decision to slide backwards, toward a misremembered and unachievable past. In the process, we're discarding constitutional achievements of the 20th (voting rights, women's rights), 19th (14th amendment), and even 18th (separation of powers) centuries.

Melat Kiros is a refugee from Ethiopia who become a lawyer in the USA. Her law firm fired her because she condemned Israel’s genocide of Palestinians Tonight she won the Democratic nomination in deep blue CO-1 against a 15-term AIPAC entrenched corporate Democrat This is how we make America great❤️

Must read @elienyc.bsky.social, as always.

The good thing about stare decisis being fully decapitated is that there's no need for a future liberal Supreme Court to respect any of the precedents the Roberts Court sets. Unfortunately, the current Court's rulings are designed to eliminate the possibility of a future liberal Supreme Court.

Four justices feel secure in embracing brazen partisanship, while two others will only side with the liberals when the alternative would be so egregious as to invite court reform. Roberts is intent on raising the conservative temperature slowly enough that the frog doesn't jump out of the pot.

would love to inject dems with truth serum and ask what their dream legislation would be if they had the supreme court and 75 seats in the senate I really fear the answer would be bipartisan common sense solutions

IMHO, the Supreme Court is a *bigger* problem than Trump, and it should be the primary target for reform. Trump and Congress would both be very different under a law-abiding SCOTUS, which would have stopped government action clearly animated by racism and racially gerrymandered districts.

Your city could do this.

It becomes harder and harder to refute the "one party" argument when the Democratic establishment decides THIS is the existential threat.

Love it when Republicans quote the Left accurately. Yes to all of it.

I would say this is the #1 all-time Brexit joke, but Boris Johnson is still alive.

The narrative arc of Brad Lander sacrificing his own ambition by dropping out of the mayor's race, going to the mat to support Mamdani to help him beat huckster Cuomo, then getting Mamdani's support to in turn eject Dan Goldman (D-AIPAC)... Just poetic. Good guys winning. You love to see it.

I trust the Utah Jazz front office evaluations. Plenty of analysts had Peterson #1 or #2. His shot is SO SMOOTH, and he fits the positional need perfectly. But my risk-averse brain recognizes that Boozer evaluated nearly as well, and comes with far less risk. Peterson is going to give me anxiety.

The congressional switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. Put it in your cell phone. Use it. If you're not calling at least once a week, you're not doing your part.

Great column on how the existence of a trillionaire Elon Musk demonstrates fundamental flaws in our society - in the antisocial behavior we reward and the atrocities we permit.

If there's a new Constitutional Convention, I don't see why any state should be obligated to remain in the union. We're starting from scratch at that point. Might as well dissolve the USA, default on our debt, split into three new countries (Pacifica, Heartland, and Seaboard), and move on.

Nothing says “dying civilization” like gladiator fights at the capitol for the emperor’s amusement.

On a fundamental level, US politics has not made sense to me since 2015. I no longer understand the basic criteria, values, or rules. I don't know why people do things or don't do things, or how people evaluate things. It's profoundly disorienting and alienating. I don't know how else to put it.

One way of putting it: virtually every week since late 2015, something has happened that I would have thought, based on my pre-2015 understanding of US society and culture, would cause mass revulsion and condemnation from leaders in civil society, politics, and business. And they just ... didn't.

There are so few Democrats that are honest about the need for structural change, and even fewer are able to articulate it clearly. This should be table stakes for Democrats in 2028.

Corporate media is more compatible with fascism than with equal rights. Equal rights don't make the board of directors into trillionaires.

This platform feels like it's becoming increasingly hostile. I see more and more instances of reasonable, thoughtful people being swarmed with condescending, ad-hominem replies by indignant masses, typically for the crime of questioning the ongoing narrative. It's dispiriting to see. 🧵 Examples:

Jalen Brunson: “You’re allowed to think about the worst possible scenario. But you gotta go out there and do something about it.” A good mantra for fighting fascism too.

Another approach: Q: Is Donald Trump eligible to be President? A: Yes Q: What is the first clause of the 22nd Amendment? A: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice” Q: President Trump ran for President in 2016, 2020, & 2024. Which of those elections did he win?

The stupidity and cruelty of this manufactured panic is infuriating.

This week, Ken Jones, a retired San Francisco firefighter, died from lung cancer after Blue Shield denied his treatment claims. He is one of 68,000 Americans who suffer & die annually because of our exploitative healthcare model. Today, I debunk 5 arguments against universal healthcare in the U.S.

I just went 82-0, think you can go 82-0? www.82-0.com/share?id=Trr...

A world built and ruled by men has -unsurprisingly- shielded men from accountability. If men are unable to control their impulses or their misogyny, there need to be real consequences. There's no reason half the population should live in fear of the other half.

Ossoff: He’s trying to put his face on the money. He's building a monument to himself . But see, Atlanta, he's doing these things now because no one will honor him when he’s gone… because he's a failed president and a national disgrace.