One of Pitchbot's better offerings.

I was reminded by the current right wing figures of Dickensian villains. And then it struck me: couldn't "Donald Trump" be a villain in a Dickens novel? Perhaps a minor figure, a Uriah Heep?

ABOLISH ICE.

One thing you gotta give to the American Right: when they do "Dystopia" they do it up proud.

It all goes back to Obama. Oh, to be sure, there already was a (for lack of a better word) healthy bigoted right wing representation in our politics. But a black guy in the White House broke their minds. The response, the ramping up of rage against people guilty of not being white, came from '08.

I would never ascribe self-knowledge to Trump, but I think his meeting with Zelenskyy and the NATO allies (if they still are) suggests he knows how terribly the Putin meeting went. So he sees this meeting as a way to undo the ghastly optics. We know it isn't for the right reasons.

There are many red states and cities in red states with higher violent crime rates than DC. So, "President Trump, when are you sending the National Guard to Ark./Miss./Nebraska?" "If DC's rate of violent crimes is [stat], how 'out of control' must Little Rock [stat] be?"

"Banana Republic" ain't just a clothing store.

If you'd like to dip your toe into classical music but don't know where to start, I'd suggest "Scheherazade", by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Known as a warhorse, which means "played to death", which usually means "because it's that fucking good." Countless great melodies, intense drama..could do worse.

MAGA may be facing an existential crisis. Ghislaine isn't just a groomer, she's the sine qua non of groomers. If Trump gives her a get-out-of-jail-free card, MAGA has to say one of two things: "Yes, we do have a line, and yes, he just crossed it", or "Yes, we have been talking shit this whole time."

Blusky, the other site that isn't Nazi is bursting at the seams with Tom Lehrer eulogies. In an admittedly short scroll I haven't seen any here. Tom Lehrer. Just sayin'.

I don't do "best", "greatest". I will say this: no greater musical achievement that I know of in my lifetime.

Yes we should. Listen, and pass along.

This

@nytimes.com Hey, I'm curious: how is this *not* bare faced corruption? What is your theory? You must have one, bc you haven't written a sentence about this, and a sitting pres being this openly corrupt would CERTAINLY be worth the ink. Right? Right? Right? DYFJ

I've been a member for a while and am happy to tell anyone that supporting (and benefitting from) Josh's work is well worth the subscription.

Shit.

This is worth your time to check out, and maybe donate if you can.

I just found out from a British tv show that in Brit English a person who gives a reference is called a "referee". Has anyone encountered this usage for "referee" in American English?

Hey Trump, Mexico wants Texas. Seeing as we all want peace, let's give it back. Yeah, no, I didn't think so.

Because of course they are.

I just realized why Trump was even more disgusting than usual with Zelenskyy: he had hoped to impress Putin with his threats to Canada, but instead he got stuffed. So he's trying to asshole his way out of the humiliation by trying to bigfoot Zelenskyy.

Everyone knows what happened here. Trump can only exist around people he can causally humiliate. Guys lie JD and Rubio. He wanted to do a ritual humiliation of Zelensky and Ukraine but Zelensky wouldn’t accept that and so Trump reacted like a stung bitch.

1. I reread the clause in your original email stating that responding to any and all emails is not mandatory. 2. I printed this last email out and flushed it down the crapper. #Emails2Doge

1. Yup

You know the old saying "The left hand doesn't know what the right hand's doing?"' With Elon it's the left and right lobes.

This is something.

This makes sense. As in it's stupid, dishonest, and self-aggrandizing, and the most important aspect: Trump remains entirely free of having to be accountable. "Oh I was just bullshitting about tariffs." Fox hails him as a great statesman (for getting us nothing) and they move on. JFC.

Here's a nifty list to remember. I know, Amazon Prime has become hard to not use. But I've found if you look for an item by googling, you'll find other retailers almost always have the stuff and will ship it to you. My hardest one is Whole Foods. I know, I know, but shit.

An object lesson in the relative plasticity of Time. Prince's song "1999" was released 17 years before the actual year 1999. Which was 26 years ago. Which time period *seemed* to have passed more quickly: the 17 years or the 26?

If Musk ever complains about people calling him a Nazi, we should just take a page out of his book: "You shouldn't be defensive about your history."

It's a conundrum.

@elzrandall.bsky.social As in Randall's Island?

Just realized (probably slower than most) that Trump's plan to mass deport immigrants will involve cherrypicking which and where. So all those farms in Southern (red) states will magically *not* get mass deportations. Whereas those in California will.

So at this point I'm getting significantly more large breasted women's accounts who don't post following me. IGWS (it goes without saying, whatcha think?) I ignore them, or whatever entity is actually running the account. My question: what do the people who run these accounts get out of it?

Setting the record straight.

@susansmeltzer.bsky.social Susie Schmeltzer as I live and breathe.

From my current vantage point looking north (west) from the Venice boardwalk, the sky seems to be devoid of smoke, and it has to be the most beautiful blue sky I've ever seen (no pun intended).

I can unconditionally concur.

This has to be spread. This has to be read. This has to be heeded.

For my religious friends.

So the Vikings' reward for a 14-3 season is to start the playoffs on the road, which means the Rams' reward for winning their division is getting a 14-3 team in their first playoff game. Yeah, this whole valuing division standings over win loss record is working out great.

What I've been saying.

This hurts.

Ann Telnais has taken a principled stance that will no doubt hurt her financially, so if we can boost her work (like this excellent cartoon) it can help her out.

Etiquette conundrum: a truly intelligent, famous person just used "penultimate" in a post, and from the context it seems they think it means what it doesn't. Most would say "leave it alone, don't embarrass them, it's not a big deal." 2/

@austinjhall.bsky.social Thanks for spreading the word about the cybertruck manifesto. It's looking like the public and a few principled journalists have to do the job news outlets are choosing not to.

Please read Josh's article. Extremely pertinent information on this guy that to the best of my knowledge NO MAJOR MEDIA HAVE MENTIONED. Hey, @nytimes.com, LA Times, WaPo, @cnn.com @joy.msnbc: not newsworthy? The guy's manifesto? Your job is not to cover Trump's copious ass. Do. Your. Job.