Normal Pundits (derogatory): The Internet Isn't Real Life! Trillionaire and former vizier to the president:

Larry the Lobster: Observe! Spongebob Scene

ALT: Larry the Lobster: Observe! Spongebob Scene

static.klipy.com

Sky Marchini@sky.skymarchini.net · 2d ago

are we in hell?

Amazing bit that only Japan nerds will appreciate.

Brett Fujioka@brettfujioka.bsky.social · 5d ago

I think that I once opined that there isn't anything analogous in U.S. history to the inter service rivalries in Japan. But I've also said that the current administration is more comparable to Imperial Japan than other Quasi-Totalitarian States. cc: @sharonk.bsky.social @aelkus.bsky.social

Most rural areas have a ruling class. And they want cheap unfree workers & to pass their fiefdoms on tax-free forever. It ain't rocket science. The fact that we're scared to talk about THAT, ime, is what's costing us a lot of rural voters!

The blackberries are starting to come on, and the mallows fall out of the beds in a lovely manner.

I admire our government's new commitment to honesty.

At 19, I attended the local democratic caucus because it was extra credit for my political science class. I ended up becoming a delegate to the state convention. And I was barely trying. It is in fact a thing you can go do.

Dana Houle@danahoule.bsky.social · 2w ago

…exciting, but is important. Get involved in your local party, and you may become a delegate to your county or congressional district organization. And when start getting to those levels—which isn’t that hard!—you start to get a little bit of power over what the larger Dem Party does…/2

"The American voter did, that damn fool. And he ought to feel it." This is my politics. Who is responsible for the USAID deaths, the American voter. Who is responsible for the Iran War, the American voter. Who is responsible for tariffs, the American voter.

"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux@bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 2w ago

In short, there are valuable lessons we can learn about drones & interceptors & magazine depth & mine-sweepers, etc. But the key lesson is: no amount of tactical excellence can salvage strategic incompetence. Who lost the Iran War? The American voter did, that damn fool. And he ought to feel it.

Apologies if I sound angry, but it is a real problem that the 'smart' commentary on this war is trying hard to avoid the core lesson ("the president is a fucking moron") because it doesn't sound very clever when it is absolutely the most important takeaway from this debacle.

In short, there are valuable lessons we can learn about drones & interceptors & magazine depth & mine-sweepers, etc. But the key lesson is: no amount of tactical excellence can salvage strategic incompetence. Who lost the Iran War? The American voter did, that damn fool. And he ought to feel it.

The second strategic failure is that the American people (re)elected a worthless fucking moron like Donald Trump, who is boundlessly confident despite knowing nothing about anything and so asked the US military to do the impossible for no reason at all because he got lucky in Venezuela.

It also means acknowledging that The Heartland Voters, the White Working Class, whatever you wanna call them, do not actually “just want healthcare” or “just want the factories/mines/family farms/mom-and-pop shops back” as New Deal nostalgists fantasize about

Acknowledging any of this history, though, means acknowledging that none of the GWOT’s three waves were ever just the pet projects of Bush, Cheney, Miller, Trump, Texaco, or Raytheon as we now like to pretend, but investments on the part of ordinary Republican voters to fulfill the ends they desired

wtf it hacked out to CHEAT?!

Grace@gracekind.net · 2w ago

This headline is extremely funny given what happened (OpenAI hacked HF by accident) openai.com/index/huggin...

Better for the public image of the guilty to blame, idk, NAFTA Closing The Coal Mines in the ‘90s or Democrats Taking Big Money in 1968 or whatever other dumb trivial made up bullshit for this insanity instead of “they’re just God-defyingly racist against Muslims” I fucking guess

I am old enough to remember a time when someone speaking like this in public, much less as a Republican, was utterly unthinkable

PatriotTakes 🇺🇸@patriottakes.bsky.social · 3w ago

GOP candidate Brandon Herrera on moms advocating politically: “Just because you let somebody creampie you doesn’t mean I have to give a shit about your political opinions. The fact that you kept your cum trophy doesn’t make you any less wrong about the dumb shit they you say.”

The authoritarian internationale is real, takes inspiration from each other, and is more stupid and morally bankrupt than you thought.

ChrisO_wiki@chriso-wiki.bsky.social · 3w ago

1/ Israel has effectively reclassified crocodiles as livestock to facilitate a plan to dig moats filled with crocodiles around prisons housing Palestinian detainees. It's a pet project of the far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir. ⬇️

David is right. It is a horror story and tough to stomach. tl;dr Dead babies. Because why save your daughters with routine medical care when you can let them die to prove your faith. And yes, I did say daughters. For it will happen again, and again. There will be no repentance in this story.

David Roberts@volts.wtf · 3w ago

Gawd. If you have the stomach for it, read this, a kind of slow-motion horror story about how fundamentalist religion pulls people in, makes them monsters, destroys their relationships, & traumatizes or kills their children.

Geep! Geep! Geep! Geep!

MK Forever Blue@mkforeverblue.bsky.social · 4w ago

Wow. A real life *surviving* geep! Sheep Ramona preferred the goat "player" Karev over the ram of her own species... www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/new...

Lest anyone think these ills are limited to the US or Europe. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChGJ...

Anti-immigrant groups drag people from homes in Johannesburg

YouTube video by Reuters

youtube.com

Lois McMaster Bujold Jim Butcher Brandon Sanderson Margaret Weis David Weber

Noah Berlatsky@nberlat.bsky.social · 4w ago

five living writers that you've read five books by each Rita Dove Tasha Suri Courtney Milan Grant Morrison Tom Perrotta

i think this should be more well known

I don't think the language exists in the English language to describe the degree of faithlessness and moral degeneracy required to launch a surprise-attack war to overthrow the authoritarian Iranian government, then illegally betray refugees in your own country back to that exact government

He is who we thought he was

SK@sstratpolitics.bsky.social · 4w ago

Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson put a video on Twitter a half hour ago, where among other things she said: "Unfortunately, Graham Platner's team has repeatedly reached out to us in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like."

it is understated how much of cultural criticism essentially comes down to "Dems are too much like my mom and/or teacher'

GOLIKEHELLMACHINE@golikehellmachine.com · last mo.

oh, okay, it's gender

“The other side gets to elect rapists, it’s not fair that we can’t”

SleepingGiant@sleepinggiant69.bsky.social · last mo.

His followup and most recent post was even worse

I find poppy mallows and grapes growing together to be particularly nice for some reason.

We, the American people, have an obligation to strive to make the USA a nation worthy of such gestures, and I believe we can. And we must. 🇺🇲🇺🇦

Tibor M. Kalman@kalmantibs.bsky.social · last mo.

Beautiful gesture from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, illuminating the Mother Ukraine monument in Kyiv in Stars & Stripes of the American flag. May the world continue to stand firmly alongside the resilient, courageous people of Ukraine in their fight for freedom & liberty. 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 🕊️ #4thOfJuly

Our country is not yet lost Every generation has their fight with the Slave Power and now it is our turn to win or lose The work goes on Happy Independence Day all

Oh so the Teamsters have always been like this then ok

I am never getting over the fact that people elected this over Harris. Looking at you Tapper and the NYT.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last mo.

Trump: "I even had a conversation with Theodore Roosevelt. I said, 'What do you think about the Panama Canal? Do you consider that your greatest achievement and how do you feel about the fact that the Democrats gave the Panama Canal away to Panama for $1?'"