Today I learned Larry Summers is Kenneth Arrow’s nephew.

So every president gets to pick one policy they can implement without Congressional action and immune from judicial review. I feel like that would come as a surprise to the framers.

One of the most depressing things about the American deportation frenzy is that it's also happening in other democracies--it seems like there's no sane place to go. www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...

Perfect timing, just as we enter the War on Christmas fighting season.

Ah yes, the golden age of healthcare before the ACA ruined it. Back when Hollywood made movies about people becoming terrorists so they could get healthcare for their children. High risk pools were definitely a silver bullet and not a ghetto for sick people.

Jesus it’s even worse than the headline. He’s trying to exonerate pedophile priests on the grounds they were “homosexuals” rather than pedophiles, as if those are mutually exclusive. Particularly weird in light of the persistent right wing effort to paint ALL LGBTQ people as pedophiles.

Why is congresswoman in “ “? No matter what else you think of her, she is unquestionably a member of Congress.

Its Friday night

On this anniversary of the first day of the battle of LZ X-Ray, 14 Nov 1965, let us remember those who served, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Rick Rescorla, born in Cornwall, England, served in the U.S. Army, and died saving people in the Twin Towers, embodied the best of who we are.

We live in a cursed timeline. www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/...

I'm sure the timing's just coincidence, but any representative who removes their name from the discharge petition at 4:01 this afternoon is going to have a whole lotta splainin' to do.

Reminds me of the time we identified a drug ring operating in my battery and were shocked at the number of incriminating photos we turned up in searches. My dad, 29 year in law enforcement, just laughed when I told him and said "every search warrant I ever served."

It's always a bit of a relief when someone you kind of thought was a creep is revealed to in fact be a huge creep.

In light of Trump's 60 Minutes suit, I wonder if anyone has standing to sue Fox. The 60 Minutes interview was standard journalistic practice while this is grossly unethical. But this is also the media under authoritarinism--protection for pro-regime outlets and lawfare against real journalism.

Anyone know of a source for the percentage of eligible men drafted during the Vietnam War? It's a side note, and I've already spent too much time looking for it. #civmilsky

Repost with an iconic fictional band.

This is pretty awesome.

The Department of Defense was never the Department of War.

Defend is the purpose; war is the method. One is done in service of the other and only out of necessity. He wasn't so into war when he was of draft age.

He turned the government over to Elon Musk and said "go nuts." I wonder what is different between Ilhan Omar and Elon Musk. What could it be? 🤔

The question is who can get close to Trump with a piece of poster board with FDR and Social Security, LBJ and Medicare, and Trump with "Trumpcare - Medicare for All"?

Trading places with Elon would be like waking up as a cockroach and the worst part is that you would have traded away your knowledge of Kafka and the literary grounding to make sense of said experience.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.

Happy Veterans Day to all who served.

I understand the justifications for ending the shutdown—not sure I agree with them. But at minimum a commitment from the Speaker should have been part of the deal. They certainly had that much leverage, and without it the deal isn’t even a fig leaf.

I have been unable to vote (or rather have my vote count) in two presidential elex due to late-arriving mail ballots. As a registration clerk I processed votes for five people last week who did not receive their ballots on time.

Odds Barilla gets an exception?

It looks like it plays God Bless the USA at high volume as it rolls down the tracks.

While the particulars vary from state to state, it is ALWAYS a bad idea to become an independent in a two-party system. If you feel powerless within your party, just wait until you no longer have a vote at all. The answer to a sub-optimal party is to involve yourself MORE.

Honestly, I am exhausted by the bad faith arguments. This guy is an MD--he understands the basics of health insurance. He's just willing to stand there and gaslight the entire country, and it is so exhausting. Like punching water.

SCOTUS decides not to place its hand on the glowing red stove.

Even more than his head on a coin, Washington would absolutely love the idea of a 500ft tall statue. (/s)

Lots of hard, shitty lessons being learned from this presidency. And one of the many I hope you're learning is, white supremacy is incompatible with reality, and cannot exist without historical revisionism.

This morning's WSJ is just a schadenfreude buffet. www.wsj.com/finance/curr...

Sleepy Joe's Revenge www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Time to start reviewing my charitable giving, I guess. 🤦‍♂️

1. Sure, 8M New Yorkers are going to give up alcohol and pork. 2. We all know that the American heartland slavishly imitates New York City. That’s why Montgomery has an extensive subway and great bagels. Who falls for this?

Sooo, the shutdown groundhog saw his shadow?

Listen to Starfish. Seriously, I just want the trans/non-binary people I care about to be left alone. They're not hurting anyone. They're just trying to get through the day without feeling suicidal.

His fashion sense alone is a crime.

A lot of the attacks on Mamdani were vilely racist, but they had the silver lining of triggering my craving for goat birria tacos. They were excellent, as always (La Tingaria, Falls Church) and served with a side of smug satisfaction.

The simplest definition of a democracy is a political system in which ruling parties lose elections, so, explicitly calling for the end of democracy. Also, my grandparents had those same drapes in their living room in 1973.

Got my second $0 LES today, so yes. They are quite serious.

The Tesla package is particularly laughable in light of DOGE. Musk was allegedly purging the government of workers who were unworthy, but his flagship company has to pay him $1T or he won't do his job. I'd take that deal for just $1M.

So they paid the protection money. Can we just say that?

The current president is determined to imitate Nixon but not in any of the good ways.

“Leverage in our trade strategy” doesn’t sound like an existential national security emergency.

Reminds me of the story of Jackie Bouvier leaving her internship after one day because the editor said she’d be too old at the end of it to attract a husband. Fun note—my M-I-L was runner up for the internship. She’d have followed through.

Who will be the first Fox host to blame Mamdani?

We don’t call it the People’s Democratic Republic of Arlington for nothing. Love my home.