Working on a one-act play about the board meeting where Google abolished the “Don’t Be Evil” motto

If it's going to end up with either caving or the nuclear option anyway, what was the advantage to picking only one line of attack to hit? Take the top three or four most insane things that are the most unpopular, ACA among them but not just that, and make that your package of "demands" to hammer.

They were never going to get ACA subsidies, which is part of why it was a mistake to insist this was only about ACA subsidies and nothing else.

the “axios is fake news trying to stir shit, dems aren’t gonna cave” to “the dem deal is actually good and smart and savvy” pipeline is real and best explained not be rational trains of thought but fear and cognitive dissonance

there was an incredibly stark change at my job between 2023 and 2025. just absolutely day and night.

It is hard to comprehend just how feckless and pathetic the democratic leadership is. It is impossible to express just how impotent and self defeating they are. It is a self censoring fact. It is almost unspeakable.

Alternatively if that's not your cup of tea and you're more center left or whatnot like go sign up with Indivisible or some local group or whatever

in any case it is wild that voters just sent a huge message and a bunch of senate democrats are all, “it doesn’t look like anything to me”

i think this is key. taking the deal would amount to taking the blame. it would turn a clear political victory into an unambiguous defeat.

Great news, everybody! The ACA is materially undermined, no concessions were secured on any other front, and Donald Trump will be able to declare this a personal win. But poor people did starve for about a week there, so there's that.

When you've lost *checks notes again* Chris Cillizza

When the Conservative Party in Korea declared martial law, the Korean Democrats knew if they didn’t send them to hell there would be no opposition afterwards. And look at them. They’re taking the ex conservative president and ensuring he never breathes free ever again.

"oh gee why can't you all just get along, stop being divisive" I'm sorry are you Jon Stewart on Crossfire twenty years ago? Or do you want to come back to this planet in the year 2025? The overwhelming gripe is people think you're spineless, not that your DW-NOMINATE score isn't bipartisan enough

This is not what they actually say. This is what they used to say, in the long ago before times when Shaheen learned to do politics. There is no kumbaya median voter anymore. The question you get knocking doors is not "why can't you all just work together?" it's "why didn't / will you fight harder?

stop hiding my posts, bluesky, I am a perfect sweetie who is very politely compiling a list of Democrats who should spend the rest of their careers in a fancy retirement home with puppies and rainbows

what’s remarkable about this is that there are zero winners at all, one of the biggest lose-lose deals I can remember the Dem cavers will catch incandescent shit for it the rest of the Dems will catch collateral fury the big R win is… jacking everyone’s health care costs ahead of midterms

The original Dem demands were: 1) Permanent ACA subsidies 2) Medicaid funding restored 3) No more blank checks for the regime (rescission) They dropped Medicaid immediately. Went silent on rescission. Cut back to 1 year of subsidies on Friday. And surrendered today. The Senate Democrats!

Fight don’t fold.

DNC actively calling out the senate is... significant.

I'd be happy with either of those tbh.

Prescient

Posting usually isn’t real politics but I actually think activating democratic supervoters to call their senators stark raving mad is real politics

in particular, this makes people want to primary people who should be primaried anyway, makes sure people aren't starving over the holidays, and (as it's too late to do the ACA subsidies in time for open enrollment), gives a second bite at the apple in january

For a brief moment in time America had a functioning opposition party but nothing lasts forever

The African Translation Project has less than $3000 to go to meet their goal! 🎉 Especially in the face of Amazon rolling out their AI translations for selfpub, can we help support human translations of books? Donate, share, share! ko-fi.com/africantrans...

This is all infuriating but we did still win all those elections, the *PEOPLE* are still furious and ready to act, and nothing the senate dems do can change that.

Yes. How do Dem electeds not understand this dynamic? After all these years?

I interviewed joke presidential candidate Vermin Supreme before the New Hampshire primary in 2016. He always runs on mandatory tooth brushing. So I asked the obvious follow up: What about flossing? “You can get anything through the House,” he said. “But we’ve got to be realistic with the Senate.”

Government is shut down. Chaos in airports. 42 million going hungry. 24 million face skyrocketing healthcare costs. Economy in turmoil. And the president of the United States is in the Fox broadcast booth calling plays for a football game.

MURDERING AMERICANS BECAUSE THEY HAD TO WORK ON A WEEKEND.

the angry base has been right and the savvy "calm down" caucus has been wrong every step of the way for the last 10 years

I called my Dem senator telling her not to cave to republican pressure or chuck schumer’s cowardice. I had to leave a message but I hope you call too instead of waiting, if you have any trans or disabled people in your life. www.congress.gov/members/find...

Roman historians: Any implications of the emperor being booed in the coliseum?

Join DSA today: act.dsausa.org/s/3429.9wAmcW

in the midst of all of this, can we take a moment to appreciate how Trump has now shut down the government while holding a trifecta *twice*

compromising on having health care removed because the other party also wants to starve people is just weakness

a lot of these people are dead enders or planning not to run for reelection but Jon Ossoff wants to be president someday and he should hear firsthand how that’s going to play with a primary electorate that wants heads on pikes

Nothing would be more in character for the current Democratic party than to look at the victories of Tuesday and immediately surrender

no amount of state propaganda will ever convince me this man is my enemy

CALL. YOUR. SENATORS.

Only the Democrats could watch a series of elections resoundingly go their way and then, less than a week later, loudly announce that they want to fold on the shutdown. Absolutely worthless party of cowards and hogs. Stupid, weak, useless.

these stupid assholes got me leaving angry voicemails for senators at 4:30pm on a sunday. the only thing i want to do at 4:30pm on a sunday is serenely contemplate my evening sandwich

Let me get this right… a sufficient number Senate Democrats appear to be willing to reopen government to alleviate air travel for upper & upper-middle income people at the expense of access to healthcare for lower income people. Yes?

bring back shame!

main problem here is that we don't presently have a legitimate US government in the first place, and none of the potential crises are up to dems anyways. what's mainly at stake here is whether dems should help give the govt the *appearance* of legitimacy. they clearly should not, imo.

last thing and then i really will log off i hereby promise i will support financially any credible primary challenger to any Democrat not in my district who agrees to a deal today like i said, i can be a team player up to a point but i am past my shit eating tolerance level. i’m sincerely sorry