I have long understood the US justice system is systemically biased — which is to say, unjust — yet the lack of prosecutions on this makes me feel even that understanding is naive. It is starkly & concretely clear this is men & money dominating society at the expense of all others. That must stop.

I’m impressed with the self-discipline of We the People so far, but at some point this sort of scenario will backfire on EVERYONE and things will escalate at the speed of Send. Will be nice if more of us vote next time…

When it comes to icons of the holiday, at lease eventually kids come to understand the Santa one isn’t real…

We’ve gone from local book bans to federal word bans. That’s fascism.

Proud to be from WA. :)

Several skirmishes won today. No battles and certainly not the war. Link arms, lift each other up, press on.

There’s self-centered. Then narcissistic. Then whatever the hell pathological thing this is. Not a favorable leadership trait, characteristic, behavior, etc., though, that’s for certain. We, each of us, knows this. KNEW this. And yet, approx one in three still approve. That’s pathological, too.

Predictable conflict framing (& pouncing) by FOX. Yes, the two expressed different perspectives, but there is likely little daylight between them. Obama was talking about how America has behaved. Harris countered with the equivalent of “Americans & circumstances change.” That’s not a rift.

I 1st said a version of “For-profit media serves us exactly what we order off a menu we write for ourselves” perhaps 20 yrs ago & was frequently met with a defensive, “Nuh-UHHH…” Accurate then, accelerated to the speed of Send, validated by the data. We did this. open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

My $.02: If I don’t know the actual person posting, or even their voice, to avoid inferring things not implied, I find it’s best to take the words they post at face value rather than reading nuance or tone into them. If I’m unsure, I try to respond with a question rather than a statement.

trump* made, definitely. But man made? C’mon now… (*diminutive case intentional)

Doctorow has quite a mind.

Ukraine isn’t losing. Russia is not winning. We don’t have to look too far back in US history to see how effective not losing for an extended period of time can be…

At some point our journalists need to overcome their flawed commitment to the Prime Directive & do things like present facts & call a lie a lie. Debating truth is a distraction. It’s not that he says things that are un-true. He says (& repeats) things that are verifiably inaccurate — that’s lying.

Uhhh-YUPPP!!! The damage already done to international trust, not only by trump (diminutive case intentional), but by We the People for electing him not once, but twice, is staggering. Trust is a gift that must be given freely & belongs to the giver once given. Trust of the US has been squandered.

Infant formula isn’t supposed to be a superior form of nutrition. It’s an alternative form for when, say, parents like my wife & I, who couldn’t conceive, chose to adopt a newborn & give her the best life we can. (I despise that eugenistic fascist gawdam clown. He tests my commitment to kindness.)

Having served at the Joint Staff level (directly for a Vice Chairman, not rowing a desk belowdecks), I’ll lend my assessment to that of the highly credible @hcrichardson.bsky.social. Yes, Silent Middle Child does indeed nail it.

Playing Sky Team on BGA w/ a good friend, quoting the Mrs. Grace L. Ferguson & Storm Door Company skit, & imbibing High West in the midst of the fascist takeover of a 250 yr old democratic republic is a much needed respite. Trixie & Bubbles will assist as needed &, yes, Hawaii is kidney shaped.

Be willing to engage in civil discourse to strengthen links with those around you. We the People will get through this by uniting in shared values and lifting each other up.

I steadfastly believe peaceful resistance is the right path, but at some point someone is going to decide they’ve had enough & fight back deliberately and… kinetically. ICE is in no way prepared for that things will then escalate out of control at the speed of Send. Hold steady. Hard days comin’.

From the perspective of a retired Marine officer who served 2 yrs on the staff of a Vice Chairman & holds a PhD in leadership: This NSS provides the official point of reference our allies will use to realize they are now former allies & plan accordingly. We are in the hospice yrs of the Union.

Those who know me well know I eschew hyperbole. This edition of the NSS essentially & officially declares to the world the US is a fascist white supremacist Axis power. It breaks trust & relationships that took decades to build & cannot be glued back to new. www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...

The character count limits of Bluesky often remind me of a favorite Marine Corps moment during a year-long deployment to Helmand, AFG, when I came back to my workspace after lunch to find one of my Marines had scrawled “When LtCol Gilmore gets concise, look out” on my dry-erase board.

Release j d vance’s (diminutive case intentional) pro/con marks now!

Perhaps because he is a pathological liar who routinely betrays his faith, the oath he swore as a commissioned officer, the oaths he swore upon assuming public office as both a US Rep & US Senator, and — as if adrift at sea, clinging to a capsized boat — knows he is exposed & has everything to lose?

Apparently approx 1 in 3 voters still support fascism. Get to know those around you. Link arms with your allies in resistance. Expand the chain. Lift each other up. Support those who stumble. Shield those who fall. Never let let go. Never give up.

It’s simple, really. If AI wrote it, you didn’t, and if you didn’t write it, you won’t know what you wrote, because you didn’t write it.

Having voted for trump (diminutive case intentional) does not make you sexist, racist, ignorant, etc. But it does mean you were were ok w/ those traits in a leader. So good on you for changing your mind about him, but I still have to come to terms with the fact that you were ever ok voting for him.

OFFS, anyone who ever watched The Kids in the Hall has a better understanding of what a premise is than does Sen. coton. (Diminutive case intentional.)

More than Lincoln? Garfield? McKinley? Kennedy? At least two of them wouldn’t have had to take off their shirts to prove it.

Overcoming systemic racism & privilege is a lifelong journey. My challenge to those of my… demographic… is: Endeavor to live in a constant state of waking: observe to understand, listen to comprehend. Be willing to follow & support. Be ready to put yourself in harm’s way to do what is right.

With the Legislative and Judicial Branches at the highest level abrogating their Constitutional authority & responsibility to check & balance the Executive, We the People are the final arbiters. We must resist peacefully so the fascists have no excuse to escalate violence, but peaceful ≠ passive.

And yet, “Not all men/cops/Christians/etc.” It’s bigotry. We know it in our hearts, minds, and spirits — and at last count approximately (at least) 33% approve. They’re entrenched, exposed, & have everything to lose. None of this will end soon or quietly. Hard days comin’.

In my own work in govt (military) media relations, I went so far as to say: For-profit media serves us exactly what we order off a menu we write for ourselves; we love controversy & angst, gobble up that slop, & order second helpings as it runs down our chins. Socmed algorithms made this literal.

Concisely and accurately stated.

The subj of my PhD dissertation was trust in institutions. Decades of surveys showed a steady drop from the 70% range into the teens in most institutions — exceptions (still drops) being the military & SCOTUS. I looked into why & indicators were integrity, credibility, & transparency. Well. Shit.

I won’t judge entire generations, but am experiencing a concrete pattern of younger leaders (20s to 30s) who seem to think they can skip detailed planning and just app their way to effective strategies, policies, programs, practices, and procedures.

(1) What “fight” were they trying to get back into? They were targets w/ no way to fight back; (2) How would an overturned boat be loaded w/ drugs worth saving? (3) Could it be they were trying desperately to cling to life in the middle of the ocean after their boat was blown up out of the blue?

I’m no prude, but I’ll go out on a limb here & say if a profile pic is mainly skin, cleavage, & ducklips, the written profile describes someone who “loves life, enjoys meeting new people, and is creative,” & the feed is all political reposts, I’m more inclined to Block than Follow Back.

Justice moves like a glacier, but when it calves, it’s spectacular. This is significant — yet the courts can only rule on what comes before them. Enforcement is a separate matter. At the highest level, if the Legislative Branch won’t check & balance, We the People are the final arbiters. Resist.

We know, each of us, in our heart, mind, & spirit, that this is bigotry. We. Know. Some 33% however approve of it. Which means to me that the “lowest approval rating yet” is still appallingly high. Because if you know and you approve, you are also a bigot. One. In. Three.

He is racist, sexist, bigoted, ignorant, cruel, & profoundly lacking in, morals, ethics, intellect, empathy & integrity. That doesn’t mean the approx 30% who still favor him are also those things, but does mean they are ok with those things as leadership traits. Also, they are likely those things.

This is being done in the name of We the People.

A truly random public service announcement for anyone new to Ticket to Ride: When you bookend your destinations or collect multiple face up cards of a particular color, you give away far too much information. You’re welcome. :)

What happened to her? What trauma did she experience that turned her into this kind of person?

Leaders lead.

There are very few absolute Truths. Most truths are subjective. This is why facts are more important than truth. She does an excellent job using facts to demonstrate the problems with truth.

We the People have a right to know who Mr. I is, his role in our government, and why he keeps getting tested.

The history of Thanksgiving Day in the US may be complicated, but a day of giving thanks does not have to be. It’s possible to be thankful for the good without celebrating the bad. open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

I’m in. It’s positive use of privilege. Or, if you prefer, positive use of the economic freedom of choice I am able to exercise due in part to the benefits I gain from a system designed to advantage me. Whichever. I can do more & better w/ my resources than use them to reward fascism enablers.