Firefly Tam
@durorodu.bsky.social
I know you have questions. I’ll answer them later. Waiting on the world to change. Stay true. Let’s Go Dodgers ⚾️ Lakers 🏀 Rams 🏈 Kings 🏒
A Russian spy defects to Estonia and seeks asylum there. www.yahoo.com/news/exclusi...
Exclusive: Ex-Russian spy flees to the NATO country that captured him, delivering another embarrassing blow to Moscow
“The Russians have no idea,” Alexander Toots, the head of Estonian counterintelligence, tells me, laughing. “They have absolutely no idea he is here. You can be the one to tell them.” Toots was referr...
yahoo.com
I get that the Trump White House has decided that Congress is a vestigial organ, but I think there should be more coverage of the fact that Brendan Carr just up and said "yes, Congress put a 39% cap on media ownership, but I think I can ignore it for reasons."
Techdirt@techdirt.com · 9h agoBrendan Carr’s FCC Rewrites Media Ownership Law Only Congress Can Actually Change There are many ways to describe the Trump Era, but the executive branch's conviction that it... https://www.techdirt.com/2026/08/07/brendan-carrs-fcc-rewrites-media-ownership-law-only-congress-can-actually-change/
Bill Essayli is hiring criminals to work in the LA US Attorney's Office. To be fair, hiring a criminal to liaise w/SoCal cops might be smart -- know your audience. www.cbsnews.com/news/doj-pro...
DOJ's top prosecutor in LA hires law enforcement liaison with pending battery charge, string of DUIs
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli hired former top aide Shawn Lewis to be a federal law enforcement liaison, though Lewis has three prior convictions for driving under the influence and a pen...
cbsnews.com
The guy who was the lead prosecutor on this case says he was fired days before trial bc some right wing troll (likely Steve Bannon flunky Natalie Winters, with Laura Loomer's help) got him fired days before trial. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
As someone caught in the web of this elaborate conspiracy theory, its good to see some in-depth, critical analysis of its origins. This right wing propoganda campaign has had a huge impact on politics and policy, with little attention from the center or left. www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/07/1...
How ideas of a vast censorship network moved from the online fringe to Trump policy
Narratives about a “censorship-industrial complex” spread in right-wing circles for years; then they took hold of Washington. What—and who—is behind them?
technologyreview.com
Trump: "A lot of people are saying I'm one of the greatest presidents ever ... when I see polls on the economy, I should have 150%, not 100%. Because this is the golden age of America."
Kevin Hassett thinks Americans are very very stupid. This spin is ridiculous, transparent BS.
Hassett would have smiled through TV hits on 9/11.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 11h agoHassett on why the economy lost 50,000 government jobs: "It was one of those weird seasonal things. Because there was a lot of snow in the winter, a lot of schools had to stay open longer for the snow days, so the teachers got laid off in July instead of the end of June. Heheheh."
This is not just about Max Miller. Mike Johnson has just given cover to every abuser. He has undermined belief in every survivor’s story. He has set an assumption that accusations are made with malice towards the accused — the ultimate victim blaming. It’s hard to overstate the harm of this.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 12h agoMike Johnson defends Max Miller despite horrible abuse allegations: "We don't take disciplinary action against members for allegations. It's in his own words 'a nasty divorce proceeding' ... he thinks it's a hit job on him."
It's so funny that there are real substantive critiques to make of a bad job report that looks off, and this is what this brainstem is going with
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 11h agoHassett on why the economy lost 50,000 government jobs: "It was one of those weird seasonal things. Because there was a lot of snow in the winter, a lot of schools had to stay open longer for the snow days, so the teachers got laid off in July instead of the end of June. Heheheh."
Mitch McConnell is rolling over in his grave right now.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 11h agoCassidy: "I will vote for Mr Blanche. I will be criticized for this vote. What's new?"
My Republican colleagues aren’t powerless, they are just refusing to do their jobs. Reining in an out-of-control President is literally in the job description. We are supposed to be a system of checks and balances.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3d agoCornyn: "There's nothing we could do to rein in the president"
Trump is really bad at the whole “creating American jobs” thing.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 13h agoFox Business on the July jobs report: "Minus 23,000! No rebound for the July jobs report ... a disappointing jobs reports"
Sweet Jesus, watch this until the end. After he says "what's new?" it's like he realizes that he's sold off the last bits of his integrity and there's just no point to talking anymore.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 11h agoCassidy: "I will vote for Mr Blanche. I will be criticized for this vote. What's new?"
if you ignore deaths due to WWII, Russian population increased during the early 1940s
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 12h agoKevin Hassett on Fox News argues that if you exclude the sectors that lost hundreds of thousands of jobs, "you actually had a number that was about plus 100,000" 🙃
"Many voters contributed their hard-earned money to a campaign that enriched Morris Katz, and left Maine Democrats in a huge — and entirely avoidable — pickle." Tough questions for the Dems behind the Platner fiasco, from @davidrlurie.com over at @atrupar.com's place:
davidrlurie@davidrlurie.com · 14h agoPolitical consultant Morris Katz is a brilliant marketer, whose team recruits, and then promotes, candidates Katz describes as "American Originals." But the Graham Platner debacle demonstrates the risk of letting marketing take priority in politics, particularly when the stakes are very high.
Trump now claims to have obtained OVER $20 TRILLION in foreign investment (the entire GDP of the US is barely $30 trillion, so this is nonsense)
A wonderful discussion of American Mining sir.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 6h agoTrump: "I'm liking the chandeliers. I like those Corinthian columns but cutting them out would be not good. But I'm allowed to do it. Every once in a while I'll come here and grab a painting and put it in the Oval Office."
Trump offers commentary on the speech he's reading, clearly for the first time: The Dept of War is also investing $150 million in Minnesota. Minnesota, wow? What the hell happened with Minnesota"
"I had to explain to my daughter and granddaughter why I bought a luxury Utah condo for my mistress."
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 6h agoQ: You said Talarico had a head start on you. Given that, do you have any regrets about going on a vacation in the summer [to England] when you probably needed to be back in Texas to help start getting Republicans together? PAXTON: No. I had to see my daughter and my granddaughter.
Her opponent, Tom Tiffany, not scrutinized over his 'cancel democracy' vote in 2020.
Julia Azari@juliaazari.bsky.social · 6h agonot joining the Thanksgiving discourse at this time. But asking people to sit for a minute with whether naming the discomfort of being in certain areas of the country as a POC is disqualifying. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
