Chotiner: You knew Yoda, you fought with him at the battle of Kashyyk? Chewbacca: Raaawr Chotiner: And you knew him to be a Jedi Master using his powers to defend your planet? Chewbacca: Raaaawr Chotiner: Yet you did not take exception to Han Solo calling it a hokey religion? Chewbacca: Rawr

Also they control the government, ICE is committing them every day.

Chotiner: You knew Yoda, you fought with him at the battle of Kashyyk? Chewbacca: Raaawr Chotiner: And you knew him to be a Jedi Master using his powers to defend your planet? Chewbacca: Raaaawr Chotiner: Yet you did not take exception to Han Solo calling it a hokey religion? Chewbacca: Rawr

Boy the economy is just going to absolutely implode isn’t it

Absolutely embarrassing that he and Jeffries are still running things.

I just want to say I have many reasons to loathe and hate the Trump regime already but "forcing me to watch Jimmy Kimmel for solidarity" is one I never expected honestly.

Can’t wait to see what his library looks like

Instead of “kill the ump” we’ll cry “pull the plug!”

How’d it go at the UN

I kind of understand the appeal of the rapture because I’m Jewish and our heaven is just waiting here until some dude shows up and he keeps just not showing up and honestly we’re not sure what happens when he does get here

Irony is truly dead.

Historians are going to write about the tide of American fascism breaking when the president couldn’t pronounce acetaminophen.

I just never really prepared myself for how overwhelmingly stupid American autocracy would be.

Not for nothing but tomorrow is probably a great day to buy stock in the company that makes Tylenol.

The government knowingly putting false information in the label of a drug is crossing a Rubicon that should not be taken lightly

I took a train to and from Seattle this weekend and it had been a while since I took a train trip of any real length and man is it just 1000 times better than flying.

Gotta be The Eagles

It’s a start

Every day, no matter what horrors greet us, I can always count on NYT Connections to make it a little worse.

This is the one, folks.

Just so everyone is clear, this right here is what an actual violation of the First Amendment looks like. When the head of the FCC says a company needs to do something about someone who displeased the administration or lose its license, that’s no joke unconstitutional

Hey everything keeps getting worse quick doesn’t it, it’s almost like all of this was 100% predictable and stoppable and yet it all happened any way

Wow what’s that like

Robert Redford was great, but did he have his own salad dressing? He did not. And that’s why Paul Newman is the GOAT.

How is it only Wednesday

Emmy categories are out of control this year

Rainy and chilly and feels like fall in Portland, which means it’s false fall and will be 90 degrees later this week. But then comes real fall!

Jericho.

My dad first signed up for Twitter to follow live sports and he’s a freak about U of I. One day he said to me “Twitter is abuzz about Illini golf,” and I was like dude you only follow Illini sports accounts. And that’s how every reporter feels Charlie Kirk was the most important person in the world.

Things are bad enough, NYT Connections

I used to take a break from social media in 9/11 but boy we don’t talk about it anymore like we used to and frankly that’s probably for the best, at least for my mental health.

So they want him to escape huh

Getting real tired of your shit, NYT Connections.

Man wore a tan suit to a press conference and the media lost their minds

For the life of me I will never understand how this woman became influential

Oh now we’re getting somewhere

Sums up America in 2025 pretty well I’d say

And yet, as Jamelle notes, they don't yet actually have full control over the country. So the cosplay is a way to pretend to a more complete power than they currently possess. It's an attempt to cow the opposition but also a way to inspire followers who are enthusiastic about following a strongman.

It's doubly disturbing because those original authoritarian states, brutal as they were at the outset, typically didn't envision the worst abuses they would commit in the end. But the Trump team knows where it all leads and is driving the country in that direction as fast as it can.

I also find this fascinating and have written a little about it. They're cosplaying authoritarianism while doing authoritarianism, actively nostalgic for and recreating twentieth-century police states that had horrific death counts.

Everything they do is a shoddy recreation of something they saw in a movie they didn’t understand.

And like, it’s all for no reason! There isn’t even an impetus!

At some point local and state law enforcement has to say enough is enough or people are going to start doing it themselves

We are so desperate for any good news that I just dont care if brands are cashing in on it. This is late capitalism, the brands cash in on everything.

starting a new org to recruit centrist candidates called run from something

Eventually local or state law enforcement are going to get ordered to arrest federal law enforcement and how that goes is going to be the big decider I think. That or ICE opens fire on a crowd. Also very possible.

Disgusting.

Imagine if I said this at a school board meeting.

This is the guy

Feel like it’s not to much to ask where the hell elected democrats are right now. If they can’t lead over this, they can’t lead over anything that comes next.