The fact that the American president’s former best friend is helping Russia blackmail the president should be a far bigger story than it is. It should be on the front page of every major news outlet

People want to believe that the GOP’s electoral success in red states is the result of dirty tricks and gerrymandering instead of the sincerely held beliefs of a majority of the population because a mechanical issue is easier to fix than wrestling with how to make people not believe what they do.

It is genuinely shocking to me that the anti-immigration crusade is so all consuming for republicans that it’s leading to them moving rhetorically and otherwise against churches, moving national security and other law enforcement onto immigration where they don’t fit, etc.

The Founders were so concerned about bribery that the Constitution forbids it three separate times. Two emoluments clauses ban officials—unambiguously including the president—from accepting things of value, plus bribery is the only named impeachable offense besides treason. Unprecedentedly corrupt.

Seriously, what is wrong with these people?

I wanted to share probably the most important sermon I’ve given and it’s while I’m being arrested. It’s torture pure and simple what happens at #Broadview. I’m ok, though I was thrown to the ground and choked with my pectoral cross. A review of the video shows I was peaceful - did I deserve this?

Literally exactly what the Founders worried about. Exactly.

This is so so disturbing. Trump is now pardoning January 6th rioters for unrelated crimes, just to reward them for their violence to keep him in power. The Republican Party is in the full time business of endorsing and incentivizing political violence. So scary.

Not that I believe really anything Nuzzi writes, given her record, but the far bigger scandal here is her claim that RFK Jr. was still actively using psychedelics last year, then became HHS secretary in an admin that is killing people for smuggling recreational drugs.

What people are missing here is that there are some pretty grim reasons why MTG and other far right people prone to racist conspiracy theories might view the Epstein affair as the red line that pushes them against Donald Trump.

Occasional reminder that not only is the use of force illegal in this situation, so is the *threat* of the use of force.

Kristi Noem waived bidding requirements to give $220 million to a firm tied to her top aide, chief spokesperson, and herself—all for a vanity ad shot at Mount Rushmore. Korruption at its finest.

made a similar point on the opinions podcast this week in response to the idea that epstein is a dead end. not only are actual voters interested in this but it divides the gop and puts pressure on the president. it would be political malpractice to treat it as a sideshow

This is important context from Julie K. Brown. With alt text.

among other things i do not understand this idea that she is an exceptionally good prose stylist

in the actual real world secret police are disappearing americans on behalf of an openly white nationalist government but george packer’s latest is a novel about a world beset by woke totalitarianism

Inside Politics does a detailed analysis of the new Texas map and concludes that, no, nothing about it looks like a dummymander. Dems there could do better than the GOP expected, but even then the map would have shielded GOP from more losses. Important to be realistic:

Senator Menendez is sitting in his cell at Allenwood right now because he took a 1kg gold bar from the Egyptians, among other forms of “lobbying.”

Yeah, I think this is an important point to keep in mind with the right wingers who are all in on Epstein - they’re in because they think it’s proof that Jewish pedophiles run the world, and you absolutely do not gotta hand it to them for that

I am begging America to not be stupid enough to embrace a racist and an antisemite because Donald Trump thinks she's a meanie. Just grab some popcorn and watch the Nazis fight.

It’s wild that you can just openly bribe the President of the United States with chunks of gold to get whatever you want, it’s fine, you don’t have to hide it, just say “I am bribing the President with gold,” zero consequences.

Nuzzi's fawning coverage of the sociopathic conspiracy crank she was having an affair with aided his rise to political power, which he is using to perpetrate the worst intentional public health catastrophe of our unnecessarily shortened lifetimes, and THAT is the STORY.

The memo purporting to offer a legal rationale for Caribbean boat strikes is awfully close to “assuming Trump’s lies are true, here’s a law that applies.” But as @gregsargent.bsky.social notes, by trying to immunize officers who follow the orders, it’s practically a confession that they’re illegal.

In a day and age where large research projects can involve collaborations with dozens (or hundreds!) of co-authors around the world, this would end science in the USA if actually enforced. Of course, I suspect it's "only" a vehicle for blacklisting basically any scientist they want to target.

NEW: Using his clemency power, Trump has undone prosecutions made by his own DOJ during his first term. Experts say the actions show a broad contempt for the justice system: “He’s rejecting ... the work of people he appointed but didn’t fully control.” By @jeremykohler.bsky.social

They're running from it now. But the fact that Senate Republicans tried to give 10 of their colleagues at least $1 million each for nothing but a bogus press op captures the corruption of Trump II. In no other environment wld this even occur to the most corrupt politicians.

NEWS: President Trump has issued a *second* pardon for Jan. 6 defendant Dan Wilson. Wilson, a militia member, remained in prison on a firearms conviction unrelated to the Capitol attack. But Trump's new pardon explicitly covers the gun charges. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

Marjorie Taylor Greene says Trump is lying about her interactions with him — and posted their text exchanges today about the Epstein files. A sitting member of Congress just posted her messages with the president of the United States.

The funny thing is there are a lot of left of center writers who are secret gym rats and they’re all too normal to do this bsky.app/profile/theb...

On Epstein, Trump says he’s allowed to order an investigation into Bill Clinton because he’s the “chief law enforcement agent” of the country

“With immigration agents under intense pressure to deport thousands of people each day, Ms. Lopez was pushed through the system swiftly and was deported within four days of the factory raid. As a result, Jorge is now cared for by two siblings who are barely adults themselves.”

I won’t turn down a W but if dems win because Trump couldn’t make it 2019 again and not because the Republican Party has become a fascist institution, any gains the dems make will be short-lived because they can’t make it 2019 again either

Oh wow @reuters.com got the photo here:

In case it’s not obvious, Trump’s attorney general has, at his personal request, started an investigation into the Democrats and Dem allies mentioned in the documents released this week. But no-one else!

Basically saying "if you do crime for me, I won't only pardon you--I'll give you millions of dollars of public money." Truly unprecedented level of corruption www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

This is *depraved* -- glamor shots & an exculpatory feature for a woman who shit on the key central tenets of journalism, repeatedly. NYT is celebrating elite freedom from accountability. Actively celebrating it. You wouldn't put this in a satire, it's too ham-handed!

Hey, so this seems like a terrible idea.

Between this and the revelation that much of elite media apparatus were best buddies with Epstein, I really think we need to seriously consider replacing them all with the journalism majors from any community college.

More close-up footage from Rev. Woolf’s arrest.

one of the underlying factors in all the Epstein stuff is that his correspondents - even the ones who likely did not participate in abuse themselves - are completely incapable of imagining his victims as people. he is real to them, the girls aren't.

Murphy: "It's clearly the biggest scandal in presidential history. He wouldn't be acting this way if he wasn't so deeply worried about what's in those files. What we've already seen is immensely incriminating. Clearly Trump was at the center of a child sex ring ... the scandal could bring him down."

That entire Tim Fullerton thread from yesterday re his Platner intvw seems to be predicated both on the idea that some ppl are just entitled to elected office & also that young men broadly are nazi-adjacent malcontents & I cannot emphasize enough how dumb & corrosive of a political ideas those are

Note: Per this, one of the largest protests outside of the Broadview ICE facility (where there have been…many) is kicking off, and it’s led by faith leaders. Religious left: still a thing.

my takeaway from this letter is that glenn youngkin, rector sheridan and their flunkies on the board are deeply dishonest people who are engaged, with the trump administration, in a mob-style shakedown against the university of virginia

It's a common sci-fi trope for people of the future to be unable to understand the oracular pronouncements of the AIs. Reading this as a kid, I assumed it was going to be because the AIs would create such advanced science, not because humanity would lobotomize ourselves after making dumb chatbots.

Texas A&M is no longer a "university". It's a Vacation Bible School with a football team and parking problems.

I’m coming to the conclusion that the people who believe that you could capture the essence of someone through training on their words don’t have much of an inner life themselves.

No one demanded the market distorting effects of personalist dictatorship more than capital, they should be happy with their choice. bsky.app/profile/carl...

On top of that, as someone with aging parents, I have to point out that it is breathtakingly offensive to me for anyone to suggest three minutes of my mother talking in the kitchen could tell a machine everything it needs to know about her to simulate her. Fuck off, you ghouls.

Even in THEIR OWN AD, Charlie at the end looks like he’s thinking, “This is sad and weird.” Promising people you can prevent feelings of loss is not only ridiculous; it’s perverse. Sad things and happy things need each other. This company is promising numbness.