BluePointer

New in PN: In defense of empathy "Being aware of other people’s feelings, sensitive to them, and able to put yourself in another person’s shoes is pretty much essential for humans to function as a community. But the current conservative project has zero room for that sort of thing."

The fact that Russia has helped Iran - AND helped them target US troops, and yet Trump- while Russia struggles - just de-sanctioned the purchase of Russian oil, should be a MUCH bigger story. Like - a REALLY BIG story. Like - an "our President really IS a useful idiot" story.

He makes a good point.

Heard recently: “America has become a torture chamber for smart people.” No errors found.

Today’s WTAF moment, from…. But he’s already won, if winning means that this stupid Canada trade war will keep us from noticing the total humiliating disaster of Iran, now six months in, and *entirely* his fcking fault.

What Did Trump Do That Made Carney Walk Away? talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/what-...

I am dreading Monday. I work for a US manufacturer, whose US based supply chain will again be wrecked by this kakistocracy, again risking US jobs. It’s tariffs & retaliatory tariffs, boffo diesel prices because of the already-lost war, and now One Special Boy in a snit, and it’s Monday in America.

FYI there is no "real" reason why Rome "fell." Its power waned for the usual, mundane reasons: widening gap between rich and poor, inability to maintain infrastructure, incompetent leadership, pointless wars, endless persecution of marginalized groups who performed vital labor, etc.

And here we go!!! Tariffs are stupid, short-sighted, and the economic equivalent of drinking poison yourself and expecting another person to get sick. This will cost American consumers and impact American jobs… guaranteed. How can we be led by such morons?!? (It’s OK - I already know that answer.)

Climate science is not one of my areas of expertise, so, like any rational person, I choose to rely on actual experts to help me understand why our hair should actually be on fire right now. Forwarding this because Wow… we can see this coming right at us.

What dark magic makes formerly normal people tell obvious lies in public? Today I’ve watched Burgum lie his way through two interviews already and it is not even lunchtime.

Because you’re lying

🇺🇸🇺🇸

And - I predict that despite the temperature at his gawdawful rally tonight, he will speak for hours and… be with us for a very long time afterwards.

That picture…

Orban Falls

War crimes, and our behalf. This is the twisted end game of a horribly twisted man. The 25th Amendment, like the rest of the shredded Constitution, was meant as an instrument for balanced governance by rational people, but no framer could protect us against regime lunatics and a compliant Congress.

Thus my theory that while he ain’t going to heaven, the Devil also doesn’t want the competition in Hell, so he stays here… continues to be upheld.

This is an actual post. This is not funny. This is beyond desperate. This is a deeply unwell man who doesn’t belong anywhere near the levers of power. Every member of his cabinet and Congress is complicit in not demanding his removal now.

Da fuq was this speech about? Also: it was barack HUSSEIN!!! obama’s fault. We are so doomed. But - keep it up with the cardboard signs - it may not look like it matters but it does.

We protested the regime, our nation’s slide into authoritarianism, & the fact that we had to get up early on a Saturday to do the first two things. Armed only with handmade cardboard signs, we saw we were not alone: many Americans were willing do something - anything- to have a voice. And this.

There is only so much damage our society can take. I’ve read all the dystopian fiction: and so have you. Big Brother. SkyNet. It’s all pointed us here. America: ruined by choosing shitty leaders.

America is about 31” below the surface here (or 79cm for my Metric-loving science peeps and friends from overseas.) Kinda appropriate for the moment in America, too.

This is why people who never protested ever in their lives are out, in force. The actions of our government are not actions supported by a vast number of actual American people.

More on this…. Kinda amazing that this is the moment we are in.

What a sad state our country is in when we see a message like, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love,” and we all immediately know it’s about the President of the United States.

Leaders of the so-called “pro-life, small government” party who relentlessly warn of tyranny are standing by as masked agents roam the country and brutalize its people. The hypocrisy isn’t surprising — but it’s staggering. Remember this.

i think this attitude — that all opposition is illegitimate and nothing we do can be questioned— is probably pervasive in the white house and helps explain why they keep making terrible political choices

We live in a new age of monsters. A very small number of people could fix this. Today. And yet… slavish fealty, to something I cannot fathom, is the GOP norm.

It keeps getting worse. He is blaming Norway for forcing him to invade Greenland. How is this real life. The timing of his Davos trip could not be more unfortunate. He’s gonna go berserk in Switzerland.

My god I had no idea that this history echos so loudly. Really shocked that this thing which sounds totally made up turns out to be true. Cite: www.nobelpeaceprize.org/press/press-...

The goal of doubling down on violence and gaslighting in Minnesota is exactly this: martial law, suspension of rights in civil society, and an avoidance of the accountability of free and fair elections. That’s the through-line: everything else is a distraction.

The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. And if all others accepted the lie, if all records told the same tale, then the lie passed into history and became truth. George Orwell, 1984

I admit it: I was a weird kid.

After the tragic murder of a beloved and long time Hollywood luminary and his wife… our sociopath-in-chief pens this most sociopathic thing possible. And his supporters cheer him on. What monsters we have become!

Northern lights visible in the the middle latitudes tonight!

I was in Portland just last week. We had a nice stroll through Powell’s bookstore (largest independent bookstore in the world, and an overall amazing place with a funky vibe.). The city is beautiful: don’t let anyone gaslight otherwise. And now the Trumpists are making war (again.)

I’ve been in the woods for a few weeks. Anything much happen while I was gone?

Despite the headline, he’s never going to any heaven that you ever read about, and Hell won’t have him because Lucifer won’t deal have such a rival. So, he’s like a struldbrug (you’re welcome) and will be here forever with a center of gravity and little else. And his shitshow circus will continue.

Speculating on a Vance regime: I think more of the same, with less accountability, and using all the iconography of the current movement. /1

He won’t suddenly become his “own man” in office: he instead will keep the cult going, allied with the same wrecking crew of Miller and Noem and Zeldin and Hegseth and even the shittiest Kennedy. /2

Because - he has no other path to keep power. He’s as charming as a ziplock bag with a broken zipper, and without Uncle Palantir’s zillions, he’d be a derpy private citizen. /3