If you take the Trump/MAGA/GOP threat to US Constitutional democracy seriously—and I really think you should—then things getting worse faster, before Trump has consolidated authoritarian power, is beneficial, not detrimental. If Democrats don't fight now, they might never have another real chance.

The White House is blatantly violating the Constitution, ignoring Congressionally-allocated spending. Approving any budget would put a stamp of approval on the end of checks and balances. It'll hurt, yes, but it's time for opposition. The political costs will mostly fall on the people in charge.

Pritzker needs to take some sort of demonstrative action against this. But nothing he does will stop this. Still, liberal voters and elected leaders are confronted by the fact that the police are not democratically accountable. They have no interest in protecting you or your rights from the feds.

Thugs.

history teacher in 50 years: So in September, that’s when the president signed an executive order criminalizing anti-fascism and saying all resistance would be crushed student: oh so that’s when the whole country realized they were living under fascism teacher: haha what? oh no lol not at all. no.

“I never thought federal officers could behave this way. I really didn’t,” she said. “I always thought people must be provoking them or something, that they would never do this unprovoked. Obviously, I was wrong.”

holy hell

The sort of people the administration calls 'terrorists' : "[the 84 year olds] were rushed by federal officers “for no apparent reason.” She said her husband was leaning on his walker and wearing his Vietnam veterans cap as he was pushed to the ground."

OK, this is some hot stuff.

If you can, I would suggest doing your holiday shopping early. By December prices will be ridiculous.

I can think of a way to fix that

I've tweeted about this a few times - please read. The murders happened on my sister's street - cops asked for her Ring footage. The suspect lives in the same town as my dad. His uncle is the police chief one town over, where I grew up. And I just learned a HS friend is married to Kirk's cousin. JFC

the way my brows hit my hairline reading that headline

starting to think there might just be some thing rather damning in these epstein files it is just a feeling i am starting to get based on current events and these strenuous efforts to hide them by some individuals

Oh he can just unilaterally pass unconstitutional laws now huh ok

i am incredibly down with the government sending money to people in need but after years of "welfare queen" bull shit yall dont get another mulligan after the first trump term

the federal government is running ethnic terror pogroms executed by washed out skinheads

SCOOP — Pennsylvania prosecutors were alerted to possible voting irregularities by one of MAGA's leading voices against voter fraud. A long paper trail shows Jack Posobiec has been living in Maryland but voting using his parents' PA address for years. From @jsweetli.bsky.social, @slate.com + me:

I love that the first American Pope is taking the American "Catholics" to the woodshed. Fuck 'em up, Bobby.

Republicans control the White House, Senate, and House. This government shutdown is on them.

literally the only way we could afford groceries for several years

Republicans have postponed the swearing-in of Adelita Grijalva, the newest Democrat elected to Congress, for a second day. Her day one promise is to be the tie-breaking vote to release the Epstein files.

I'm convinced we can nostalgia post our way into radical reforms. "Remember when your grandpa could afford a big house with 5 kids & he had one job that he got with only a HS diploma? Well there weren't any US billionaires in 1955, the top tax rate was 91%, and 1/3rd of workers were unionized."

this isn't just "more blame GOP than Dems", it's "only Trump's base blames Dems". If they're only hitting that 30% (or less!) number for a pro-Trump position.. they've bottomed out.

Flatly untrue: *No legal requirement to cut programs/employees under shutdowns. Never happened before. *In Feb, Vought told agencies to prioritize firing employees deemed non-essential during shutdown to enable DOGE mass firings that occurred before the shutdown. www.opm.gov/chcoc/latest...

MAGA Christianity is a cesspool.

A political media apparatus either full of suckers or accomplices willing to gobble up absolute garbage about Trump “distancing himself from” Project 2025.

RFK Jr. Advocates Using Beef Tallow In Home Birth Tubs https://theonion.com/rfk-jr-advocates-using-beef-tallow-in-home-birth-tubs/

Still waiting for Trump’s health care plan after all these years

all of my reserved books have come available all at the same time 😩 so many books, so little time to read

imagine corncobbing yourself while trying to dunk on chuck fucking schumer

and they’ll remember that forever

this feels like “let them eat cake”

This will end up being a much more effective messaging tool to the public than Trumps idea of having government employees set up a shitty Out Of Office reply.

Priorities.

feels like a thing placed in documentaries before horrifying footage

good news we cured using "lol" as punctuation; bad news it's not much better lmao

I do wonder when media outlets will get interested in ballooning everyday costs. My family's grocery bill has exploded over the past six months and - unlike when a Democrat is president - this is a non-story.

Please - stop doing the screenshot no link thing on Bluesky. This platform does not punish you for posting a URL. You picked up the habit from Meta apps? Stop doing Mark Z's bidding. Link ESPECIALLY to authors, reporters, bloggers, etc. where you quote the work.

Nothing bad can happen. It can only good happen. :)

stop saying my spooky pfp is so good. this is my normal picture

Federal workers tonight keep forwarding me highly unusual partisan emails from inside their agencies about the shutdown. This one is from NARA, the agency responsible for preserving official government records.

hey man the president posting fabricated propaganda videos is a big fucking deal major press outlets gonna talk about the stalinist shit or nah

ew

Elizabeth Warren: "If fighting to reduce the cost of healthcare and avoid a coming catastrophe is not worth fighting for, then I don't know what is."

Republicans control the White House, Senate, and the House. This government shutdown is failed Republican leadership on full display.