I keep yelling this at my phone when I see these photos and I’m going to start yelling it here: NEVER. POINT. YOUR FIREARM. AT ANYTHING. YOU DO NOT INTEND. TO DESTROY.

This whole thread is interesting, but whatever the backroom political logic of it all, a shutdown requires public-facing political support and I cannot imagine Schumer could get buy-in for another one in January. This isn't something he can use again.

Look. A two-writer marriage is difficult. But a two-editor marriage? That’s just fun.

“I can tell you’re really mad when you use “sclerotic” and “rejuvenated” in the same Bluesky post.” - @daralind.bsky.social

The lessons Dems seem to have taken was that the country blames Congress for a shutdown and the median voter is right of center. What they should have learned is elections matter, it's the economy stupid, and a sclerotic party that can't recognize these facts should be rejuvenated.

Went back to the history of the Sicilian Mafia to illustrate something obvious but worth stating explicitly: The Trump administration behaves like an organized crime syndicate running a protection racket, not a representative government www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

For some reason, I just thought of this scene.

Going to a drug store and trying to buy anything off the shelf now locked in cabinets is like a much less efficient Service Merchandise. #iamold

You'd hope most people would have an "are we the baddies?" moment if they had to acknowledge they're a member of a party with a substantial "Cool With Hitler" Wing.

That the executive can't spend money, and thus do stuff, without the regular and periodic approval of a representative legislature isn't some incidental hiccup. It is the core premise of the power of the purse, the most bedrock foundation of Anglo-American constitutionalism from time immemorial.

It's a case that never should have become a case because Congress should have exercised their clearly enumerated authorities and prerogatives. Their refusal to do their damn jobs has been, since 2016, the most dangerous enabler of Trump's power.

"This win was only possible because the Voting Rights Act ensures fair representation. If the Supreme Court dismantles these protections, we risk silencing the very voices that made last night’s historic outcome possible."

“Only in blue cities” Right. www.mississippifreepress.org/mississippi-...

So, how are things going over on the right?

Worstpersonyouknow.jpg

Can't overstate how fucked up it is that unraveling what is arguably the greatest achievement in the history of humanity is now a motivating issue of one of the two dominant parties in the U.S.

A 61-year-old Tennessee man posted a liberal meme on Facebook after Charlie Kirk's death. A conservative sheriff had him arrested. Bail was set at $2 million. He spent nearly 40 days in jail before charges were dropped. Now he's planning to sue. Our story: www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

The Heritage video released after all this weighing in on Fuentes / Tucker is amazing for a number of reasons but my fav was the guy emphasizing that “Christian” have the right to criticize Israel without being tagged automatically as anti-Semitic which is very intentionally just saying Christians

King Charles with the new track ‘Not Like We’

this is just the pettiest, stupidist administration

reporters asking Trump so casually about running for an illegal third term, like pulling out your wallet and excitedly asking your mugger if he's planning on robbing anyone else today and how

I fully cosign this as not only a sentiment but a strategy.

Imagine a Congress that defends its prerogatives.

I keep getting mistaken for a police officer. Most recently just sitting at the info desk at the library. I know I’m not cool, and I’m fine with it. But for the life of me I do not understand how I keep giving the cop vibe.

Billionaires and other CEOs believe strongly in markets when they work in their favor. When the markets reject their ‘brilliant’ ideas, they double down bc no one tells them no and they remain convinced of the superiority of their own vision, markets be damned.

Filth.

This might sound inflammatory but it's just a straightforward statement of fact.

Part of the reason this struck me is that I've had my head in the 1960s DOJ for a while. The DOJ press secretary back then was a Pulitzer Prize winner who'd been reporting for twenty years (except when he was winning medals in WWII). Today, it's the dumbest meanest airhead in middle school.

Oh wow

#nokings in Rockford, IL Favorite sign so far

This graph from a new AP-NORC poll out this week highlights a crucial point: The Democratic Party's favorability rating is so low today (when compared to the GOP's) because _Democrats_ are upset with the party, not because swing voters rate Ds more negatively than Rs. 1/3

Just for the record, although I am not really on board with asking justices for interviews to give them free book publicity, I did ask to speak to Barrett and got a swift rejection from the publisher.

One of the joys of pairing with someone a decade+ younger is introducing her to our generation’s enduring cultural touchstones.

It’s a little ridiculous how many of these insane talking points would explode if anyone bothered following up with “what is your evidence for that?”

Narrator: It is not a statistical fact.

Heres the link: slate.com/news-and-pol...

The "anti-woke" backlash was always about white collar labor competition from nonwhites, not hr bullshit. bsky.app/profile/phil...

You see, Ernie Pyle could have lived a long happy life had he just stuck to covering homecoming.

My wife just complained “I’ve got that stupid Soundgarden song stuck in my head.” ::looks at her quizzically:: “The one from the Amazon ad you find hilarious.” [Collective Soul’s “Shine”]

Personalized media kills the one thing that's actually powerful about experiencing art: sharing that experience with other people. This is Thatcher's "there is no such thing as society" dressed up in dragons and pinups.

The thing is that the modern GOP (not to mention its basement-confined moron stepchild, the Mises Caucus libertarian “party”) is accurately depicted by this language and a critical mass of the party is absolutely fine with it. /1

They are going to ruin my alma mater.

That duck is cooked. #goiu #hoosiers

Gonna need a new way to express FOH for the foreseeable future

Nazi efficiency is a myth. There wasn’t a central strategy: there was personality and a guiding ethos, but there wasn’t some well-honed organization or even developed plan. They got in their own way often.

In line and listening to a cover of ‘Save the Last Dance for Me’ so bad it might be racist.

Republicans believe free speech is when they can say what they want and when you can say what they want. bsky.app/profile/bern...

Serious question: has the Fed govt ever arrested so many elected officials in such a short period of time, across multiple cities, and not for legit corruption reasons? This seems like a distinct degree of anti-democratic escalation.