The way to stay sane is to remember that Joe Biden lost because of inflation, which drove down real incomes. Clinton lost because it's hard to win 3 consecutive terms, the economy was good/not great, and her support was misaligned with the Electoral College.

This. The political media acts like horse-race coverage is the only way to do their job, when it is a relatively recent development due to choices they made.

On this important day of mobilization, don't be scared off by self-appointed experts giving you a bunch of rules for how to protest or what not to do. The most important thing we need is more people in the streets, period. Our safety comes from numbers. As a criminal defense lawyer for decades...

True Nazi shit to have masked gestapo agents assault a tiny young woman, then indict the woman for "assault" for trying to prevent that attack. This is getting normalized but would have been the nightmare description of 1984 style dictatorships in the past.

But the key to the vision, frankly, is confidence and optimism, which is necessary for any multi-ethnic liberal democracy, because suspicion and fear are toxic to the project. If Schumer and Jeffries can't summon their courage, they need to step aside for someone who can.

The problem is confidence: Schumer, Jeffries et al. seem terrified that actually advancing this vision in these terms will alienate Real Americans (tm) while also offending lefties who want True Socialism, which is the specific king of communist that only they and five of their friends are.

It's a society that is strengthened by immigrants and welcomes difference, which is vibrant and open to change, but which expects those who benefited the most from it to help share the benefits of that dynamism. A society advancing confidently together into the future, not clinging to the past.

The thing is, the grand vision exists, it's a liberal democratic society with a strong social safety net paid for by taxes on the very wealthy. A society in which Uncle Sam can't tell you who you love, if you're allowed to wear a dress, or what to think, but where he does fund medicine and science.

I think this is fundamentally right: dem electeds and thought leaders seem to me to be afraid to lay out the 'grand vision' of the kind of society they want. Afraid that it will be rejected by The People and also by members of their own big tent coalition. They need to get over it and Do Anyway.

AOC: "If the Government shuts down, they are going to act like it wasn't their decision; it is their decision."

Democrats want leaders who care for us and fight for us, who don’t just deploy consultant-tested messages. We need to replace Jeffries when we take power.

Here’s @raskin.house.gov waving receipts of the Roberts majority’s incoherence right in front of Roberts

This rules - @raskin.house.gov straight up called out Roberts to his face. democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center...

So top Portland cops wrote & *testified* that fed agents have been "instigating and causing" conflict. They said agents were firing pepper balls unprovoked and "without any apparent warning" When a Portland chief called a federal agent w/ Qs, the agent hung up. www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/0...

So much of the current anti-antifa panic is MAGA wanting to relitigate the 2020 uprisings, which scared the shit out of them

We currently have a Supreme Court that seriously claims (with no explanation) that the current occupant of the Presidency suffers irreparable harm by having to follow existing law, the constitutionality of which has never before been in doubt or even questioned.

“if you so much as touch one of our federal officers you will go to prison” not really borne out by the DC or LA prosecution records there, slugger

ICE agent in a skull mask, symbol of the most militant white supremacists, paid with U.S. tax dollars to target journalists with less lethal* munitions. Headshots! *Painful and creating wounds. If the projectiles had hit them directly in the eyes . . .

I’ll be out there!

Listen to our next elected president.

OK, Governor Kotek did good, and Mayor Wilson hit it out of the park with his statement. www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...

I’ve been a Democratic political volunteer here since 1991. Wilson and Kotek are really going to be tested and it’s unclear to me whether they’re up to it or not but I’m rooting for them. The issue is that they are both quite new in their roles, relatively speaking, since this all went down before.

"War-ravaged" Portland today... #WarRavagedPortland

The notion that these cat-and-mouse skirmishes with lefty protesters and occasional provocateurs requires armed federal troops is not reality-based.

This is accurate.

I appreciate seeing our governor tell the truth, but I would like her to show more fire. It’s an absolute outrage, what’s happening here.

Fuck the Chamber of Commerce, they don’t speak for the people.

Regarding my last quote skeet:

This whole thing is unheard of and this part is unheard of too.

With all due respect, never say if, say when! All these fascists are bound to lose.

Now that’s my attorney general.

This, I think, is the real reason Republicans don’t want to nuke the filibuster and go it alone even though they can. Forcing Democrats to vote for it, even if through explicit threats and coercion, will mean it gets reported as a “bipartisan funding measure.” They want dem fingerprints on it.

Democrats should never vote to fund a government that's waging war on its own citizens and firing officials *because* they insist on following court orders instead of breaking the law. Let Senate Republicans nuke the filibuster. None of this is normal and it shouldn't be treated as such.

lol, even this vichy ed board can’t help him

And this is why we have to unceremoniously turf DA Nathan Vasquez at the earliest opportunity. He doesn’t stand with our community, he sees himself as apart from it. We’ll bring him back down to earth.

I’m so thankful for Councilor Morillo. She’s a rare Oregon leader that doesn’t patronize us. The feds will instigate and terrorize. Nothing will placate them but subservience. The answer is not to hide. Let’s protect our vulnerable neighbors first, and then mock these goons… Tubas needed.

The next meeting of the national antifa organization will open with affirmations for Comrade Kristol

Listen to Councilor Avalos!

Thought I would cook something up

I don't think we should have an internally-deployed federal army that thinks its job is creating a shit show. I think that will lead to trouble.

I really need the smart people on this site to stop reacting like the pronouncements of individuals that always lie actually represent the ground truth and most literal reality of what is going to happen. Maybe today will be the day they’re going to follow through but so far it hasn’t been ever.

And they have to anticipate and prebut the cries that calling for this reform is “changing the rules because they’re upset they lost a democratic election.” These reforms must happen specifically because the current SCOTUS majority has used their perch to rewrite the constitution itself.

For 26 but especially 2028 it's time for Democrats to make clear that the current Supreme Court will have to be reformed (expanded in number, reformed in structure) to allow popular govt to continue in the United States. Not so much a litmus test as precondition for any other promise to be credible.

I think we should also ridicule Miller here, not fear him. His fascist cosplay is absurd. He thinks tweeting in a clipped, military-sounding tone will frighten us. Oooo, he said "utilized"! Scary! Meanwhile their efforts to prosecute foes are imploding in buffoonery and Trump is polling in the 30s.

Another day to remember that The Day It Finally Happens™️ is gonna also be the day that a lot of concerning things that dominate our public lives and our attention spans go away forever too. The inevitable post-Trump future wont be perfect but itll be less awful than this & it gets closer every day.

As you can see even the most violent local agency wants nothing to do with the regime’s lies.

I want to see @mayorkwilson.bsky.social doing a better and braver job of standing up for our city and getting truth out there. Never apologize for Portland, the Trump regime is 100% in the wrong.

They’re throwing all the shit at the wall they can before the house of cards collapses.

I also don't think "all protestors are terrorists" is a winning message for a guy at 38% approval.

It is absolutely imperative to remember this! They do not have enough feds to do anything like what they want to do. bsky.app/profile/salt...