Matterdays

There it is. We are finally here. Trump has formally announced his desire to cancel a U.S. election. We said he would do this, and now he has. It doesn't matter that he probably can't. Or that he'll lose in court. The point is that we've crossed a line with respect to American democracy.

I think Kamala Harris could have been a good president, at the time. But my god, read the room.

Happy Halloween Week.

Blanche on CBS says his suit against Alaska is "asking the court to step in where the Alaska Supreme Court didn't, which is to look at federal law and if necessary to allow a process for Alaska to decide who should be certified as the winner." (So, the voters won't get to decide. Got it.)

“Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves, and the only way they could do this is by not voting.” ~President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1944. Image: FDR Presidential Library.

Once a year, The Boots come out for my birthday ‘cause sometimes I just want to feel pretty. And also, the annual Mr. Autumn Man bathroom selfie. I’m a man of traditions if nothing else.

Cartoonist: Dave Granlund

Taken by my husband while picking up dinner in the International District tonight.

2019: Trump was impeached for withholding Ukraine's aid for a political favor. 2026: Trump may have colluded with Russia to drop Ukraine’s air defenses, all to lower gas prices before a midterm. Both started with a phone call from Trump. Feels like Congress should investigate.

This. A thousand times this.

My kid has started a Letterboxd list called Killer Sweaters for films where the killer wears a great sweater and they've asked me to throw it out to Bluesky for more because "that's the kind of thing those weirdos like to do"

Huh.

Just get out & vote, don’t trust any poll you see

I’m taking a long weekend (Friday and Monday off). So I decided to take my car in for regular maintenance tomorrow at 7 a.m., then get my flu and Covid vaccines so I can feel like hell during my first PTO days since June.

This is precisely it. They want to scare people into not voting.

Look, this is bad. Yes. But the Trump admin sent six (6) people to Maricopa and Pima. Where, by my count, there are 404 polling places, spread across 18,000 square miles (each county is ~9k sq mi). What they want is the FEAR to discourage the voting they can't actually prevent.

Pete Hegseth gave a speech in front of a backdrop that almost perfectly matches Nazi imagery. Meanwhile, Trump calls opponents “vermin” who he will “root out,” and says the blood of our country is being poisoned. We are far past left vs right. Our choice is democracy or fascism.

It's Banned Books Week. Please read widely and bravely.

The amount of money the administration is promising in order to buy votes is significantly less than the amount of money it is taking away in programs and services. And it's OUR money!

Check your registration, friends.

Part of why I don't like the AI-or-bust economy is the constant flopsweat of people on the news who say this HAS to work. Quit making everyone so anxious. Goddamn. If this is the next Google then why are you acting like this? I don't remember being told to buy an iPhone at gunpoint.

I can't stop thinking how wrong the tech bros have understood creativity and creators. Or even just having hobbies. #erliart

This was an option?!?!?

My husband brought Amélie to my office for a few minutes today. Surprisingly, everyone who came by loved her.

GOP senators and House members up for election complaining now about Trump’s actions in Iran and with deportation are laughable. You had your chance to stand up for what’s right and you did the opposite.

On this day in 1994, the Clinton administration's heathcare reform plan was declared "dead" by Congress. Over 30 years later, the US is still the only industrialized country without universal healthcare. This should be a national outrage.

Cool, VERY rainy day, and now everything is steaming with the sun coming out.

Perfection.

It was better to return to Venezuela.

Vince Guaraldi has entered my playlists for the fall.

“to the victor go the spoils” is basically the whole thing the UN was designed to prevent

Beginning?!? We are neck deep in it.

Trans Teen Hatches Nefarious Plot To Undergo Years Of Medical Treatments And Counseling To Win At Swimming https://theonion.com/trans-teen-hatches-nefarious-plot-to-undergo-years-of-m-1850433563/

Look at the community notes on this one. 👇

From last year. A good history lesson.

Mike Johnson sending the House home to avoid a vote on Pete Hegseth’s impeachment is a cowardly disgrace…and another reminder why these anti-democratic, pro-war, pro-Trump, Epstein file coverup enablers and Republican failures need to be sent home permanently.

Yeah this sucks but at least he’s building us a Triumphal Arch.

This is going to make me sound old and maybe a little nostalgic but it’s really striking how in the Trump era, no one even pretends to debate about policy anymore.

Dodging crime in downtown Seattle while walking back from grabbing lunch before the movie.

That was a really enjoyable movie!

Seen in our neighborhood on an afternoon dog walk.