I like how @perrybaconjr.bsky.social points out the lack of civic virtue in many American voters, "Finally, politicians can’t criticize the voters. But writers can. And America’s voters are falling down on the job and need to get their act together." newrepublic.com/article/2029...

All of this is to say that I don't think people should be operating under the assumption that the memory of this era will endure. But that said, I think American civic society is strong, and a large number of Americans don't have the memories of goldfish. Reasons to temper my pessimism a bit.

This article from @perrybaconjr.bsky.social echoes a lot of what I've been thinking about lately. Summarizes why I'm fairly optimistic about democracy over the next 4-5 years... but beyond that, I am kinda pessimistic. newrepublic.com/article/2029...

I'll be honest one thing I'm totally mystified about is the labubu craze. Is it an exclusivity thing?

One reason a lot of people leave the public sector is that there is this sense that you have to endlessly sacrifice for the public good by taking on more and more work, and rather than receive recognition and compensation for it, you get *more* abuse from entitled fucking guys like this.

Is there a dad rock song more dad rocky than Hinder's "Lips of an Angel"? (complimentary)

It’s great that voters have turned against Trump—but they turned against Biden. They *keep* turning against presidents. The danger is that Dems assume they've figured out American politics if they've won in 2026 and 2028. That kind of thinking will keep us on the road to fascism. trib.al/hY6auPt

Hard as they tried, the so-called best and brightest minds of the right could never determine precisely when — or by what curious influence — their younger followers had turned to a harsher, more fanatical strain of their own bigotry.

‘Nickname’ is not ‘nick’ + ‘name.’ It was originally ‘ekename.’ ‘Eke’ was the Middle English word for “also” or “in addition.” Since ‘ekename’ began with a vowel, people used ‘an’ before it. Over time, 'an ekename' became 'a nickname.'

"Are you surprised, as if it were a novelty, that after such long travel and so many changes of scene you have not been able to shake off the gloom and heaviness of your mind? You need a change of soul rather than a change of climate...your faults will follow you whithersoever you travel" -Seneca

"We'd rather be entertained than taken care of" is actually the perfect encapsulation of so many peoples' choices in this moment.

Talked with a lot of people in class today about the shutdown since it is affecting our ability to do a FEMA training we need to complete by the end of next week... and the sense among everyone I talked to was gladness or relief.

Keep going, Joyce. Shatter this man's psyche. It's a fate he deserves.

Sweeeeeeet Caroliiiiiiine

Sheriff's races are so easy to sleep on but they're actually one of the main ways you can stop ICE from deepening its claws in your community.

Got a potato cookin'. It's baked tater weather

The latest from YouGov (n ~ 4.3k) Who do you blame for the shutdown: Dems 31, Reps 34 Approve/disapprove of the deal to end the shutdown: approve 37, disapprove 29 Who do you think benefited most from the deal? Dems 9, Reps 38 today.yougov.com/topics/overv...

Remember 25 years ago when a photo was taken of a fed pointing a gun at a crying refugee child and the image was so shameful it dominated the news cycle for a year

i think the argument the cavers should’ve made/should make is “i couldn’t let people starve - we made a run thinking they would fold on aca, but trump really is that psychotic” that’s an argument i think people could respect, but the won’t even make it

Especially since a huge percentage of American crops are bought and paid for by the government. Guess where the huge majority of the taxes that go toward buying those crops come from? That’s right: Blue states.

Also this guy suggesting that food is “shared” with other states (or countries) out of goodwill, as opposed to for pay: Good luck eating your way through an exploding silo of soybeans.

Answer: 75% of all American farm workers are Latin American migrants. Yes, the same folks that the party red states support want to deport. And no, they’re not doing it “to be nice.”

California alone produces a third of all the food America eats. So this is a lie. But let’s break down the food produced by the red states: Guess what percent is harvested by people from Latin America?

a new genre of photo in the last year is federal agents working for ICE pointing guns directly at photographers

Update: the spare tire I had on hand did not fit (I raided it from my old rustbucket Nissan). Sad!

Time to go change a tire in 29 degree weather

A lot of people have observed that the Democrats’ deep unpopularity comes from the fact that absolutely everyone wants to complain about them and nobody wants to defend them. This is true, but a lot of THAT dynamic comes from the fact that Dems are regularly punching their supporters in the face!

oh my god

"Hating Jar Jar is High Key Problematic, Actually" is a golden take, and one my 5 year old self would heartily agree with.

Ultimately, I view all this bad stuff as downstream of the fact that 77 million Americans decided to return a fascist who ran a very fascistic campaign to the White House after he literally incited an attack on the Capitol at the end of his previous term.

Do I think this deal sucks? Yep. I'm not really sure I buy that this was the absolute best the Dems could get. Do I also think "let the shutdown go on indefinitely" was never gonna really work? Yeah, honestly. Like at some point something had to give!

I am fairly certain they will give it an up or down vote in the Senate. Less certain of the outcome. Very doubtful the House will give them a vote.

This is the fundamental question of the year, isn't it? If an idea that was once taboo has become normalized, do you have a right to continue to treat it and its adherents with moral repugnance, or are you obliged to bow to the shifting bounds of public opinion?

An owl just took down a Russian Mavic 3T. Nature joins the defense. 🦉 Soldiers. Volunteers. Drones. And now—owls. Everyone defends Ukraine. Even feathered defenders. Slava Ukraini. 🇺🇦💙💛

Okay, Jon Ossoff did indeed vote no.

The vote I'm most interested in is Jon Ossoff's tbh. Only incumbent Dem up year next year in a Trump 2024 state. The man has raised more money than any other Senator recently and it's not close. It'll be a harder sell to get people to give him money if he caves.

The basic problem that these Dems who want this deal and claim it as an imperfect win is that that they did indeed negotiate a real victory with SNAP funding. But the thing is, their central demand was healthcare subsidies. And they got seemingly very little on that?

Don't worry guys, another year of the regime's horrors will make this seem like a faint memory by November of next year (thinks a bit more about what I just said) Hmmm... actually, maybe do worry

Statement from NJ's incoming governor and a current member of the House, who outperformed her polling by a lot and won big last Tuesday. She's a hard no on the deal.

Hmmm... a spiced pumpkin candle? I'm listening...

Van Hollen a No, and suggesting they might drag this out and make it painful

Democrats have to stop bailing out Republicans from facing the consequences of their own policies. And yeah, that means they have to stop sparing voters from experiencing what GOP government truly means. Every time Dems step in, it only emboldens the GOP & they make it even worse the next time.

Schumer and the Dems are about to teach Trump the lesson that they’ll cave whenever he abuses power to sufficiently hurt people.

Seems pretty obvious that if you were going to accept a shutdown your only acceptable outcomes ought to be an actual concession in the bill that passes or forcing them to end the filibuster

The earlier we fight, the less we need to sacrifice. Each delay, each time we kick the can, means the next sacrifice will need to be ever bigger.

At some point we have to let pain hurt Trump instead of helping him. Every time we let pain help him, he’ll do more and bigger next time. Each acquiescence means the next one will be *more* painful.

My deep concern about this approach is that it’s teaching the Trump administration that the path to get Democrats to cave is to inflict maximum pain. It means if we do this again in January, he’s going to try and find new and creative ways to hurt more people faster to get Democrats to cave

People saying that it doesn't matter that House Dems are coming out against caving since only the Senate matters for its passage are, charitably, missing the forest for the trees. It's sending a huge signal that the broader party won't cover for the Senators who *do* fold.