"The guy has a scary, foreign-sounding name!" (El-Sayed was born in a Detroit suburb, was a Rhodes Scholar, and, based on his education and achievements, is definitely not a man to trifle with) is pretty much all they have got and all they have tried. It didn't work with Obama or Mamdani. /1

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3h ago

El-Sayed: "If all Mike Rogers got is that 'his name is Abdul, and my name is Mike,' you're gonna be surprised how many people are like, 'Yeah, but that's the Abdul who wants to bring down the price of my groceries and make sure I got healthcare. So yeah, I like Abdul over your Mike from Florida.'"

"Salting the Earth" is saying with ancient roots. It refers to inflicting desolation on a defeated enemy so complete that nothing can be regrown and the enemy can never recover or rebuild. Israel is using modern herbicides and defoliants in Southern Lebanon to do exactly that. /1

Ayman Makarem@aymanmak.bsky.social · 7h ago

Not a single Israel defender has ever been able to defend this. They just pretend it doesn't exist, even though it defies any of their supposed 'arguments'.

To be very clear, extrajudiciously killing people you suspect are drug traffickers is *also* murder

CNN@cnn.com · 2d ago

The US military’s strikes on alleged drug boats have likely illegally killed “individuals who are not involved in narcotrafficking,” Sen. Tim Kaine told the White House, following “a careful review” of classified information he has seen so far.

Forced prison (slave) labor is an egregious violations of human rights, yet we have it in America because it is enshrined in the 14th Amendment. (It is one of the great ironies that the Amendment that was supposed to end slavery really didn't.) /1

Bruce Wilson@brucewilson.bsky.social · yesterday

If Taylor Farms is behind the [deadly] diarrhea, it might be related to prison labor, including enslaved migrants. Taylor reportedly pays its prison neo-slaves $1.50 an hour, so I doubt they provide sanitary facilities for their neo-slaves (hence the shitty lettuce.) futurism.com/science-ener...

The ICC chief prosecutor has been sanctioned by the Trump administration and also debanked. Worth listening to in full because this is being done in our names on behalf of Israeli war criminals:

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · yesterday

ICC CHIEF PROSECUTOR: “Oppose Israel and we will go after your family — You have been warned. Rubio, McConnell sent me a letter… what’s liberating is accepting mortality.”

Harsh, but fair. 😎

Alliance Against Gun Violence and Gun Violence Ticker.@gunviolenceticker.bsky.social · 2d ago

I've long commented on my Senator from NC, Thom Tillis. (The other being a non-entity named Ted Budd, whose only purpose in the Senate appears to be being part of Trump's Rubber Stamp GOP Congress). Tillis, who is not even running for reelection, is now /1 www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

‘Completely hollow’: critics denounce Blanche deal to halt Trump slush fund

Democrats say agreement – which clears way for Blanche’s confirmation – makes promises president can easily reverse

theguardian.com

Ah, the good old days of ethics in government when I had to buy my own retirement cake because it cost more than $25.

ProPublica@propublica.org · 2d ago

NEW: Two government watchdog groups have demanded an investigation into whether FCC officials violated ethics requirements by accepting luxury gala tickets from Paramount as it sought federal approval for its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros.

Much like the GOP healthcare plan, I'm guessing the administration might have a concept for a working group to generate an outline of a peace plan, which might be implemented someday. Also, a reminder: "Frozen Conflict" is still not a boat drink. 😎

Nicholas Grossman@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 3d ago

I can’t believe we’re doing another cycle of pretending to have a deal with Iran. This is so stupid.

The War on Drugs became a national obsession with conservatives because it was, for them, a convenient political tool of political power. It gave them a ready excuse to imprison, disenfranchise, disempower, and target those considered undesirable.

Sister of Wendy #AbolishICE 🐸@sisterswendy.bsky.social · 3d ago

It sure seems like the ban of hemp-derived THC products products is a way for Texas to give their for-profit prison system more money. #Vote #SheShed

My logic prof. would have failed the Washington Times. I don't have time to delve into the details this morning, but here is an AI Venn comparison of these three political philosophies. It's not a perfect model, but it covers the main point: there are more differences than similarities. /1

Being Liberal ®🗽🏳️‍🌈@beingliberal.bsky.social · 2d ago

To understand this logic read the article - link in comments ⤵️

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

As retired US judges, we’re not used to speaking out. But we cannot be silent | Michael P Donnelly and Robert F Orr

We joined a recent bus tour of 30 judges, lawyers and advocates fighting not for any partisan aim, but for the rule of law itself

theguardian.com

I haven't written commentary in a while, but a new magnum opus is in the works. Here is a summary: From Banana Wars to Tech Mineral Wars A new ugly era of Great Power resource competition and neo-colonialism began quite a while ago. China and the US are often mentioned as the main antagonists./1

WATCH: ProPublica & @drilledmedia.bsky.social found that oil and gas companies have been funding climate research at prestigious US universities for 30+ years. This research fostered a misperception that climate change could be solved without dramatically curtailing fossil fuels: propub.li/3TTgAGp

We could ask what plan the GOP has for the time after Trump. We can also say that political movements that center almost exclusively around one person are likely to be cults of personality disguised as political movements. Also, when the leader of a cult dies that cult often simply collapses./1

Reform Party UK Exposed@reformexposed.bsky.social · 3d ago

Reform UK has no plan after Nigel Farage

Here are some more immigrants kicking Confederate ass.

Kevin M. Kruse@kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 4d ago

That's right, racist. The inbred "heritage Americans" of the traitorous Confederacy got their asses kicked by a motley assortment of immigrants in the U.S. Army.

I'm going to repeat this for the benefit of those who deny the truth of our reality by willingly subjecting themselves to cognitive hearing loss. Is Trump the threat? Yes, he is a short-term threat, but the long-term threat to the American experiment in democracy comes from the GOP. /1

The GOP is really taking the, "We get to say who is a citizen, and when we determine that you aren't a citizen we can deport you to some corrupt third-world nation's squalid prison system." to the next bizarre and dangerous level. /1

Bruce Wilson@brucewilson.bsky.social · 4d ago

Has any other country in the world stripped people of their basic civil and citizenship rights? Scratching my head...

The problems with the Special Relationship start on the other side of the Atlantic. The UK flipping through PMs would largely be a non-issue if the US had a real President in the White House, instead of a mercurial, incompetent, corrupt insurrectionist. theconversation.com/revolving-do...

Revolving door at 10 Downing St. is weakening the special relationship between UK and US

The days of long-established relationships between the UK prime minister and the US president are long gone.

theconversation.com

🚨Spanberger restores voting rights ”…the origin of Virginia’s felony disenfranchisement provision…dates back to the…1901-02 constitutional convention… …white political leaders adopted voting rights restrictions intended to suppress Black political participation.” virginiamercury.com/2026/07/31/s...

Spanberger restores voting rights to more than 60,000 Virginians • Virginia Mercury

Gov. Abigail Spanberger has restored voting and other civil rights to more than 60,000 Virginians since taking office in January, reversing the more restrictive restoration process adopted by her pred...

virginiamercury.com

It seems an apt description. I have been calling the GOP in Congress a rubber-stamp legislature for Donald Trump for a long time. I even suggested that Trump should install the same type of ringer Stalin used to signal the audience it was safe to stop clapping. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Top Democrats accuse Republicans of becoming ‘gelatinous blobs’ on Iran war

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Van Hollen attack Republican ‘rubber stamps’ in Congress for surrendering authority to Trump

theguardian.com

Sadly, there is considerable evidence to support this statement. Even the august and lofty realm of international chess has not fully escaped its effects. As I mentioned a couple of days ago, the ruling body of chess (FIDE) has been run by some very doubtful characters over the decades.

Ody@odeecs.bsky.social · 6d ago

The guys who own and run sports leagues are always, always, always parasitic assholes.

WWII and its immediate aftermath, during which we transformed our former authoritarian antagonists into thriving democracies and allies (due to some unique historical circumstances), fostered our false belief that there was no limit to US power. /1

Mandelbrot_BU@mandelbrot2.bsky.social · 7d ago

Exactly how a heard of hyena bring down a water buffalo... slow relentless crippling attacks to burn down resistance.

Running out of body bags, using forklifts to transfer corpses into makeshift morgues, a mortician conducting 200 funerals in a month when he usually does 30, crematories running at double capacity… And these senators just want to memory-hole it all www.nytimes.com/2020/04/30/n...

‘We Ran Out of Space’: Bodies Pile Up as N.Y. Struggles to Bury Its Dead (Gift Article)

The coronavirus crisis is overwhelming New York’s system for burying the dead.

nytimes.com

Timeline cleanser: A quiet morning on the OBX.

There will be consequences for Fauci using his Constitutional Rights? Good luck with that. Even the Star Chamber Six might balk at supporting that. www.politico.com/live-updates...

Paul says Fauci will face ‘repercussions’ for taking the Fifth. That could get complicated.

The Kentucky senator called for a vote next week on contempt of Congress. President Joe Biden last year granted his former top health official a preemptive pardon.

politico.com

REPUBLICANS FOREVER MIDEAST WAR IS GOING GREAT!

MantaHunk 🌎🏳️‍🌈☮️🟧@mantahunk.bsky.social · last wk.

Hard to find in mainstream media, but BBC has it covered. The war is now expanding into other Middle East countries and now the Saudis are attacking Iran and proxies. Who would have thought?

We tend to define World Wars as necessarily massive affairs. What do we have right now? Iran, Iran-aligned militias such as Hezbollah, Russia, North Korea, China, and Houthis on one side. Ukraine, the US, Gulf States, SA, and Israel on the other side. /1

Richard Zencker@zencker.bsky.social · last wk.

It is foolish to think of this as somehow separate from the Ukraine conflict. World War Whatever has begun.

Manosphere grifters have figured out that some men are easily manipulated by making them feel insecure about their masculinity. The GOP has turned this sales pitch into both an ideology and a campaign strategy. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

A short comparison. My job qualifications for becoming DNI: a 36 year career working a broad range of Intelligence jobs in the US Army and at NSA. (for a full bio see: mefletcher.blogspot.com/2023/10/hous...) Jay Clayton's Intelligence qualifications: None.

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social · last wk.

BREAKING: Trump ally Jay Clayton, who has no intelligence experience, has just been confirmed by the Senate to be Director of National Intelligence.