And as things fell apart Nobody paid much attention - (Nothing but) Flowers Talking Heads
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If the Democratic Party intends to win this fight, it must stop functioning solely as a party & instead step into its moment in history: to lead a pro-democracy movement capable of confronting this authoritarian threat. https://www.lincolnsquare.media/p/stand-up-america-the-time-for-a-pro?r=2lckc
It's time for Democrats to update their Bayesian priors and admit that Trump's victory was not a black swan but rather something that was caused by Democrats' insistence on using pseudo-intellectual jargon.
For years, MAGA partisans have employed various tactics to prevent the imminent pain of cognitive dissonance. Now Newsom is forcing them to see what Trump looks like without the distorting force field created by Trump’s showmanship: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Crimes against humanity happening on American soil!
"If you are looking for someone to launch 1,000 pointless investigations that stick it to 'woke' and make Fox News hosts clap like giddy seals, then Andrew Bailey might be just the man for the job. It's terrible for democracy, but great for content."
Putin told him to do this. That’s a very important piece of the story. Im not kidding. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Texas last night. They locked a representative in the building, they arrested those who stood up for her. We are here at the point in the fascist timeline where lawmakers are arrested, kidnapped, silenced, shot, threatened and abused. Yet there are still people who think it’s normal.
New from me: Trump thinks Ukraine is to blame for the war and that Russia is right to think of the West as "the enemy." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Trump on Russia/Ukraine: “I don’t think you need a ceasefire.” This is what you say when you’ve failed to negotiate a ceasefire.
I wrote about the disaster in Alaska: America, Humiliated Trump's Alaska Disaster Was Worse Than You Think open.substack.com/pub/therickw...
Three children were trapped under the rubble of their own home - a 4-year-old boy is in critical condition - after a Russian strike on Dnipropetrovsk region. Last night, Russian drones targeted the Synelnykove district. All three children were hospitalized.
Right???
The MAGA Crackup! open.substack.com/pub/therickw...
Things are going well.
Yesterday, Maurene Comey, who prosecuted the Epstein case, was summarily fired from SDNY. Her letter to colleagues pulls no punches. "Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought." h/t @msnbc.com
London is getting ready for Trump’s visit
Trump’s entirely capable of firing the Fed chair and wrecking the dollar to distract from his close friendship with a criminal sex abuser. That’s the nature of the man.
Keep screaming, Peewee German. You don’t even have 1/6 of her cajones.
"While most people spent the budget fight fixated on health care policy, I suspect that in a year we will consider this legislation to be the moment that Trump created his own internal security apparatus."
Did you watch the Texas press conference? We did and that was odd. The national press was largely kept out, while multiple pro-Trump influencers were the only ones allowed to attend and ask questions.
My translator tells me "thoughts & prayers" is an American political expression that means "we'd rather have a secret police force than a weather service".
Who Killed Jeffrey Epstein? open.substack.com/pub/therickw...
That’s right, you can post the story on Stormfront or DM the reporter directly on Truth Social. Whatever’s easier!
Congrats to Benjamin Ryan for this impressive ratio. I’m sure Breitbart has plenty of work for you
SCOOP: Mamdani Identified as Asian and African American on College Application I co-report for The New York Times: Zohran Mamdani was born in Uganda. He doesn’t consider himself Black but said the application didn’t allow for the complexity of his background. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/03/n...
I wrote much of what I think about this election before it happened, so I am going to put it all together here. My book, Autocracy Inc, described the network of autocrats who seek to undermine democracy, inside their countries and ours www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/725302...
Reminder that Trump’s f-bombs, porn star pay - offs, meme coin fraud, gold cell phones and branded Bibles don’t bother Republicans, but the Obama tan suit incident had them diving for their fainting couches with pearls clutched.
THIS IS INSANE: This isn’t just Trump having another tantrum. He’s systematically trying to convince millions that the free press is the enemy. That journalists are subhuman. That facts don’t matter. This is how authoritarians set the stage for violence—first the words, then the blood.
Apparently MAGA voted to occupy Gaza and develop it after displacing the population, run mineral companies in Ukraine, make Iran great again by installing a pro-Trump regime, selling scenic federal land to developers, Trump crypto scams, record deficits, and a trade war.
☠️☠️☠️
PUTIN WAS KICKED OUT OF G8 in 2014 WHEN HE ANNEXED CRIMEA. TRUDEAU WAS ELECTED IN 2015. THANK YOU FOR THE ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.
These people are the enemy.
My daughter, the comedian
We don't need Blue-anon shit. We need clear-eyed comprehension. Yes, absolutely celebrate the victories so far (including yesterday!) But also remember that the work continues and yesterday means little without continuing momentum. And I worry this account is basically saying "we hit 3.5%! We win!"
I know a lot of folks like this account. But this is a wild, and unhelpful, exaggeration--it's a resistance version of sean spicer. It veers into #resistanceporn and trades accuracy for clout, like other "blue maga" grifters on here. Pls consider finding other sources of inspiration/news/motivation
1m people allegedly in boston today. the scale of this is just crazy. i think record-breaking www.wcvb.com/article/more...
Senior officers of the United States military have an obligation to speak up and be leaders. Where is the Army chief of staff? Will he or others speak truth to the commander in chief and put a stop to the assault on the integrity of his troops? www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Tanks in DC Troops in LA. A military parade on his birthday. Trump is done pretending. This is what authoritarianism looks like in America. My latest on why we must speak out now — before silence becomes complicity. adamkinzinger.substack.com/p/authoritar...
We feed you. They hunt us.
You can't call immigrants lazy moochers looking for government handouts and then round them up at Home Depots where you know they are looking for work. You can't say immigrants don't follow the rules and then round them up in courthouses where they are following the rules. Get your lies straight.
Maddow: I also feel like there’s not very much about that that I don’t understand. Like, it’s the same everywhere. This is blond Berlusconi, you know what I mean? This is inarticulate Viktor Orbán, right? These guys are all the same. The authoritarian playbook is the same everywhere
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office posts a video of Emperor Palpatine reciting Donald Trump’s Truth Social post about L.A. via @swholocron.bsky.social
Remember this: be unpredictable. “Outrun, outlast… make it impossible for them to justify the cost.” They’ve already wasted $131 million. We are fully committed to peaceful demonstrations, and just as committed to protecting our communities.
James has been on the ground in LA for a very strange, violent night. Check out his coverage on Bluesky and listen to it later this week on It Could Happen Here.
At no point in this entire article of 16 paragraphs does ABC mention that another cop killed this cop by shooting her in the back. Nor does it mention the name of the cop who killed this cop. Nor does it mention that the civilians involved never fired at them. ABC might as well be state media.
"The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights strongly condemns the assassination of three journalists and the injury of three others in an Israeli airstrike this morning targeting their tent within Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City." pchrgaza.org/ongoing-acts...
Academic freedom in the US. Under assault. "A Professor Was Fired for Her Politics. Is That the Future of Academia?" www.nytimes.com/2025/06/06/m...
see, the thing *i’m* genuinely worried about is that RFK will effectively ban vaccines
RFK Jr.‘s extreme anti-vax views — and his related conflicts of interest — were a huge problem during his confirmation process. So he promised not to change the vaccine advisory panel. Today, he fired every single expert on that panel. It's a public health disaster.
"My name is Greta Thunberg and I am from Sweden. If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces, or forces that support Israel."
took one of these fuckers to the thigh myself back in 2020, thankfully from far enough away that i didn't need surgery. solidarity to everyone holding it down in Los Angeles. y'all're real ones.
(🚨) MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: TRUMP DECLARES L.A. RESIDENTS TO BE IN “REBELLION AGAINST THE AUTHORITY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES” This declaration may well be a prelude to martial law. He’s illegally federalized the Guard in California and this looks very like the pretext he was waiting for.
BBC is the only one covering the Los Angeles protests right now as Fox, CNN and MSNBC ignore it.
Tom Homan is lying. “They arrested a lot of bad people yesterday.” They say this each & every time, & each & every time they are arresting non-criminals. It is Tom Homan who is sending in armies into our cities to make highly visible arrests. Tom Homan is the one instigating the violence.
June 14, 2025: Washington, DC.
Trump is at a UFC fight tonight as Pentagon announces it is deploying federalized National Guard troops in California. Very weird/disturbing alignment. Historic moment perhaps. Pool reports included here from Myah Ward White House reporter
Trump incited attacks against law enforcement. He then pardoned the attackers. Now he says he won’t tolerate attacks against law enforcement. But what he means is he feels very comfortable using force against those who disagree with him. In fact few ideas are more core to his presidency. Thugocracy.
The federal government is moving to take over the California National Guard and deploy 2,000 soldiers. That move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.
Crowds of brave people have surrounded the ICE detention centre in Los Angeles. They are trying to liberate victims kidnapped by Trump’s regime forces. Victims were abducted and thrown into the basement of the building without due process. #3E
This is how authoritarians behave
Remember when Trump did this on J6 at the Capitol? No, because he didn’t.
1/ If accurate, this is almost certainly a conflict with the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the use of the military for domestic law enforcement, including the National Guard if they are federalized.
Multiple news sources are reporting that Pete "Gimme Another Drink" Hegseth is calling up the Marines from Camp Pendleton to impose martial law in Los Angeles. As many predicted, Trump is now moving into the surreal reality of invoking the Insurrection Act against LA residents.
Hell of a photo
THIS IS AMERICA. Take to the streets! Tell the President we will not allow Americans to be taken from their homes, from grocery stores, from Home Depot's! We will resist!
If you want to prepare for a spicy summer 3M mask with extra filters. Ideally a full face respirator. Soft body armor of some kind for impact munitions. Doesn't have to be ballistic. Helmet. Can be ballistic. Can be bump. Even a bicycle helmet can save your life from a grenade.
At the ICE raid and subsequent community resistance in Paramount, California this morning, this skater kid ate dozens of munitions from Border Patrol agents, walked away slowly and flipped them off.
The Supreme Court today unanimously blocked Mexico from suing US gunmakers. The lawsuit was one of Mexico’s efforts to stop the flow of over 100,000 guns a year across the US border, weapons that fuel drug cartel violence. More on this huge problem in our recent investigation:
Horrific footage of Russian strikes on Lutsk&Ternopil last night. ▪️ According to preliminary information,Russia launched 15 drones,6 missiles at Lutsk.It’s known about 15 injured. The State Emergency Service reported that rescuers&police evacuated people from the damaged 9-story building⤵️
It’s like veep but much much much stupider
WE NEED TO SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGE BOTH SIDES HERE
How Elon Can Take Revenge On Trump An Open Video Letter To Elon Musk open.substack.com/pub/therickw...
Stephen Miller canceled on Kudlow last minute for an “emergency meeting” in the oval office Wonder what they could be discussing! 🤷🏻♂️
A plague a’ both houses!
Jesus Mary Joseph and the wee donkey
I’m not sure if you can overdose on schadenfreude but we’re about to find out
Musk calls for Trump to be impeached and replaced with Vance.
December 20.
"Earth’s atmosphere now has more carbon dioxide in it than it has in millions — and possibly tens of millions — of years... We built our society and a civilization around yesterday’s climate... Human society is already in uncharted territory" #ClimateSky www.nbcnews.com/science/clim...
"The official also said that the timing of the announcement -- occurring during Pride month -- was intentional." I've seen enough. We can confidently declare the Trump administration to be the biggest collection of assholes in American history.
I wonder what the intersection of masked men claiming without proof to be federal agents and a Stand Your Ground law looks like.
“…somewhere in Cuba or Venezuela tonight, there are cells waiting. In some field, a backhoe is cutting a long, shallow trench, six feet wide. Soon, those cell doors will close with a final, ugly clang. Soon, those trenches will be filled with bodies, covered in quicklime.“ bit.ly/3H7Tjdv
My latest piece is unsparing: Elon’s Humiliating Exile: ETTD Always Strikes. Always. Oh, and Elon…you’re in phase where Trump will publicly humiliate you. Enjoy! open.substack.com/pub/therickw...
I think I’ve located the problem.
Stephen Miller, Tom Homan, Kristi Noem and a whole lot of ICE/DHS types is will discover a Strange New Respect for habeas corpus and the rule of law when the 2029 Truth and Reconciliation Commission arrests them for human trafficking, conspiracy, kidnapping, and child abuse.
🚨Anonymous strikes again and grounds a deportation airline! While Trump was busy reviving 1798 laws to deport people, Anonymous was busy exposing the airline that helped him do it. GlobalX got hacked, their secrets spilled, and flight logs stolen. 🔥 Sometimes justice wears a Guy Fawkes mask.
⚡️Reporters Without Borders exfiltrates Russian journalist and outspoken war critic who escaped house arrest. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on May 5 announced that it had facilitated Russian journalist Ekaterina Barabash's escape from Russia to France.
Foreign films are a national security threat? We’re shaking our heads. We’d laugh if this wasn’t such dangerous, authoritarian rhetoric. What other countries do this? Russia and China.
The Safe to Sleep program has been credited with a 50 percent reduction in SIDS deaths since its inception in 1994. The federal government has not offered any explanation as to why the program was canceled.
Israel acts just like Russia. apnews.com/article/isra...
We’re forgetting the real victim of the Australian election. Poor Gina might have to move to Mar-a-Lago full time since people rejected her pet Petey and the chance to make Ostraya Grate again. #auspol #australiavotes #australiavotes25 #PeterDutton
Trump's threat to arrest Governor Evers is a chilling attempt to normalize fascism & silence dissent. They want to bully & intimidate anyone who doesn't conform to their ideology. We will NOT be intimidated. We will NOT be silenced. We will DEFEND our freedom. .
Interference from Mordor
If full-on Lysenkoism.
These judges ruled against Trump. Then their families came under attack. ‘WE’RE ALL TERRIFIED’ www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Viktoriia Roshchyna, 27, was a Ukrainian journalist who was detained by Russia, tortured, and had her organs removed. Russia is a terrorist state.
To be fair, MAGA only has the concept of numbers
The speed with which Congress not having the power of the purse, law and the Constitution be damned, has been normalized by the press is the most terrifying thing to me.