Austin, Texas. Rice Grad. Attorney; Board-certified in Civil Appellate. Huge USWNT fan. DS9 remains as the best Trek ever.
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No one can do it alone. And when we vote for a President, we are voting for him/her and all his/her appointees (including judges). If the sole criterion is "blind loyalty to the boss," the result will be bad. By comparison, Lincoln had one of the strongest teams, ever. They all hated each other.
Whenever I see that pathetic gesture, I want to tell Trump where he can stick that thumb. And is that ever a phony, forced smile or what?
I've always understood that the test of leadership is "How good are the people who report to you directly?" Napoleon was superb; his field commanders were even better. As you imply, there's a instinct to allowing other people make you look good. Trump doesn't have that. He's just a sales guy.
Ok, then make it, "Hi everybody. Let's get through this long weekend, of which there are too many, and then let's get back to work tomorrow, making America great!" The point is they're not doing anything effective to counter the speculation -- likely because they can't.
But, it's telling that they didn't have Trump walk to a microphone (there's always one near him) and say even something as bland as, "Hi! Hope everybody's enjoying the long weekend."
By comparison, consider the run of Presidents who held office from 1933 to 1963. There were four. At least three of them are in the top ten.
Capitulation breeds capitulation, courage breeds courage.
👇🏼🤬
THE MEDIA NEEDS TO BE ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT DONNY SENILE MISSING IN ACTION! Remember the relentless scrutiny over Biden merely coughing?!? BE CONSISTENT!
Something happened this week. They don't want us to know what it was. If everything were ok, Trump would find a camera and a microphone (there are always dozens near him) and do a short clip like: "Hi everybody! I'm doing fine. How about those Milwaukee Brewers this year?"
How many public figures' media account directors do we know by name? It's a measure of her brilliance that we know who she is.
Just had to pass this along again, in honor of all the working people who keep America going. #LaborDayWeekend
That's not him. That's someone trying to post like him and just not getting it done.
And that's the dilemma if he's little more than a robot vegetable. There are limits.
What say me? I say, "Always listen to AOC, the billionaires hate her."
He may be a shuffling vegetable who has minimal competence but refuses to step aside. It might be clear Vance needs to invoke the 25th, but risks that being seen as a self-serving betrayal. If everything Trump touches dies, his final effort may be the Republican Party.
Jesus fucking christ. The Trump administration tried to send a bunch of children to Guatemala at 3 am and justified it by saying that the kids just wanted to return to their parents in Guatemala, but the kids actually told the court that they are afraid of being sent back to Guatemala.
As an attorney, I know it's a basic ethical canon to observe a duty of candor to the court (any court). If the attorneys were making misrepresentations to the judge, then the technical term for their status should be "in deep doo-doo."
I'm not convinced that's him. If there's not "Thank you for your attention to this matter," it doesn't seem genuine.
I wasn’t super convinced that something was seriously wrong with Trump until he tweeted this
If this country ever returns to sanity, a whole bunch of people should be disbarred, at a minimum
Something happened but we don't know what.
"RFK Jr: We need to stop trusting the experts... Trusting the experts is not a feature of science or democracy...it's a feature of religion and totalitarianism." Were he not a Kennedy...and wealthy...he'd likely be living his life out in a mental institution. Diagnosis: Dumb-Fuckery.
Making up fantasies and promoting them as established theories is about as far from "the scientific method" as you can get.
#ResistanceUnited #ProudBlue #DV1 ☕Are you enjoying a long weekend? Here’s a message from @aoc.bsky.social that resonates with Labour Day The will of average workers, not money from corporations and special interests, should chart the nation's course.
The Social Security Administration official who exposed that the Department of Government Efficiency had left millions of Americans’ personal data vulnerable says he has been forced to resign due to retaliation. Charles Borges, who served as the SSA’s chief data officer, told
They've become the "National Guardeners." (I wish I could take credit for this, but it's not original with me.)
Does ICE understand we WANT able-bodied young men who are willing to brave the dangers of fighting forest fires? Canada and Mexico won't always show up to help us.
It's what's depicted in his left hand (Q+) that concerns me.
Meanwhile, he's imposing tariffs on India because they won't go along with the lie that he was an intermediary between them and Pakistan.
India doesn't go along with the lie, so Trump hits them with unjustified tariffs, much to the delight of China.
"January 6 survivor and former MPD Officer Michael Fanone launches a campaign demanding that federal officers remove their masks, advocating for transparency." Check out our new D.C. campaign demanding federal agents take off their mask! @ofthebraveusa.bsky.social www.wusa9.com/article/news...
He will be a self-promoting fraud to the very end.
"The Man Trap" -- first episode to be aired, as we all know, on September 8, 1966.
They call it "The Lost Cause" because they lost.
No matter what @MarshaBlackburn keeps saying, it’s not criminals they’re targeting. www.cnn.com/2025/08/30/u...
Do You Hear the People Sing?
What a ridiculous person.
I'd go with the Hopi on that. They were never moved to a reservation. They've been living on their mesas in northern AZ continuously for many centuries. Old Oraibi was established on 3rd Mesa ~1100 C.E. But, yes, generally, most of us are immigrants vs. all Native Americans -- like the Navajo.
“The WH wants you to see its kitschy displays of the president and its militarization of the nation’s capital and conclude that the game is over and that they have already won. But as much as the situation might feel that way, it isn’t true.” @jamellebouie.net www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/o...
Twelve cents!
I'm in. Where do we sign up to help?
As someone who was in the Texas AG's Office for seven years, I do not disagree. I will say, however, that Paxton has competition for that coveted title of "most crooked."
That doesn't fit into the Constitution with its three coequal branches of government. There's also an infinite regress because the process of selecting "ethics judges" will always be political. Challenge is that selecting Justices has become hyper-partisan. There's no easy solution.
The orange parasite is gearing up to move troops into Chicago, & may use the Navy Base to springboard operations This is NOT about crime, there is NO emergency, troops are meant to protect US citizens, not answer to manufactured propaganda & terrorize the population. The rise of an authoritarian.
It's called "impeachment" by Congress." And if the response is, "But that will never happen!," the same can be said about any "separate ethics commission with authority to discipline Justices." That would take an Amendment, and then the question would be, "Who gets to pick the commissioners?"
Some years back, a gov't official in China noted (paraphrase), "We've had a couple of rough centuries, but we're coming back!"
In imperial Rome, the traditional ways to transfer power to the next Emperor included daggers and several poisons. Vance's statement seemed awkward and premature. He invites speculation.
That's espionage, and we all know what happens to spies when they get caught.
The NRA buys off Congress. No action on guns. The oil industry buys off Congress. No action on climate. Insurance companies buy off Congress. No action on health care. The list goes on and on. Money in politics is the root of our dysfunction.
It's a contradiction. If he's "President of the United States," he's holding an office defined by the Constitution. Nothing in Art. 2, nor anything else in the rest of the document, implies he has unlimited discretion. In fact, its separation of powers means the exact opposite.
Institutionalized kickback scheme.
I realize part of the plan is to vastly increase the number of private prisons and then to farm their populations for labor, but that wouldn't cover a lot of jobs, nor would it compel consumer spending. Btw, the corollary to Colonel Saito's phrase is "Arbeit macht frei."
Meiselas: It seems that the outcome that Republicans want is whatever the worst possible outcome could be. More disease, more deaths, more murders, a horrible economy. And let’s literally pick the worst people for each possible position at every level.
In the last 50 years, we've encountered: HIV/AIDS SARS Swine Flu MERS Covid-19 These events are like hurricanes: they're going to happen. CDC has been the world's premier front-line battalion to combat pandemics, but, under Trump, everything dies.
I read this as "Vice-President J. D. Vance is Expecting Trump to Die."
I've seen speculation that, in a few million years (which is not that long in terms of the Earth's history), this era will be represented in the geologic record by deposits of plastic.
You're being generous with "mediocre."
We already pay more on interest than we spend on the military. Increased risk will drive higher interest rates. Each basis point (0.01%) up adds several billion to the annual bill. If you're one of the really big $ guys, domestic or foreign, do you want to buy $100 billion more in Trump admin debt?
I note that he's not specific about what part of the Constitution or what laws he claims give him this non-existent authority.
They really, really, really want to destroy the credit of what used to be called "the United States" while the debt is about $36 trillion.
They unleash the dog and then shoo him away?! Heartless. And so amateurish.
The other part of this is that, were there to be a national strike, even a national slow-down, he could deploy all the thugs he wanted. That still wouldn't get people to cooperate with him.
There's certainly risk, especially with the pool of $$$ Congress allocated for ICE that he'll misuse. Still, I note ICE has had problems recruiting and retaining agents. My point is that his trying to "occupy the entire country" is not simple, especially when he's been a habitual fuck-up.
As ancient glacial ice melts, it may release microbes and viruses that have been locked away for a very long time. There's no certainty on that, but if something really bad were to show up, we'd want resources like the CDC to respond with their experience and expertise in dealing with such issues.
The ability to "declare martial law" has limits. Active duty Army & Marines is only about 400k. They already have jobs to do. Not all would obey. As to the Guard, they report to Govs. They aren't meant to be full-time. Also, "martial law" doesn't mean he could force people to return to work.
Convicted criminal trump is openly supplying a war criminal with arms to clear the Gaza Strip for personal gain. Murdererer.... Clear Majority of US Voters, Including 3 in 4 Democrats, Want to End Weapons Support to Israel: Poll www.commondreams.org/news/majorit...
"commodity input costs"
I'm tired of this theater where Donald Trump asks Republicans to do something, they seem to push bank and then cave. The only two factions of the current GOP are proud MAGA and scared MAGA. Anyone who thinks Republicans are acting in good faith is delusional.
Sen Patty Murray (D-WA): “If there are any adults left in the White House, it’s well past time they face reality… We cannot let RFK Jr. burn what’s left of the CDC and our other critical health agencies to the ground—he must be fired.”
Ah, what a loss of talent in public service. Dr. Demetre was a fantastic communicator during monkeypox -- he briefly became notorious w/the right wing machine bc he had an instagram showing him out living his life. 🙄 Lysenko purged thousands in the Soviet Union; RFK is his intellectual heir.
"God" and Waj Discuss Trump's Two Achilles Cankles That Will Hasten His Downfall Despite our current dystopian landscape, Trump is weak and vulnerable. His march towards authoritarianism reflects his insecurity and growing unpopularity. open.substack.com/pub/thelefth...
According to federal data, 13 of the top 20 cities in homicide rates have Republican governors. None of those cities are Chicago. 8 of the top 10 states in homicide rates are led by Republicans. None of those states are Illinois. And yet Trump is sending troops here.
The demon spirits that possess his mind and body are trying to escape. He needs to be purified. I suggest the use of a bonfire.
Those in power can easily get terminally ill from the worst pathogens that have been encountered. All it would take would be an "airborne Ebola" and we'd have nothing with which to fight it.
The ultra-wealthy can be taken down just as easily as anyone else if a particularly virulent pathogen emerges. These are very stupid people.
Nor too soon.
Trump never thinks more than 2-3 minutes ahead. He's terrible at anticipating consequences. E.g., the US has a debt of $36 trillion. He wants to borrow more. The world's bond buyers are very conservative. They would not like a politicized Fed. The man bankrupted casinos.
The message is, "Our actions may be invalid, but we'll still go out of our way to harass those who express dissent."
Worker's below a pay threshold must be paid overtime even if they're said to be salaried. Biden proposed raising the threshold (it's low) to protect more workers. Trump's Labor Department quickly dropped the proposal. That favored employers. He's no "workers' President."
They'll not want it. This all has been debated before. They'll have to defiine a "flag." They'll need to consider whether making alterations is a crime. They'll need to consider whether "flag like" items like clothing is exempt from destruction. E.g. can one legally throw this shirt in the wash?
He's blatantly wrong, but even more basic than that: it's not the job of the feds to usurp local law enforcement. This is just a ploy for Trump to wage war against areas that didn't vote for him.
These guys should be home with their families.
He's so stupid, poorly informed, and fading into senility that the cotton candy he has for a mind likely thinks all of this false drivel is true. The war started in 2014 when Russia decided it was going to take Crimea by force.
NEW RESULT: Democrats have flipped a state Senate in Iowa. This was a seat Trump carried by 11%, but Democratic nominee Catherine Drey has just won it by 10.4%. This is the second legislative flip by Dems in Iowa this year. It also means the GOP loses its supermajority in Iowa’s senate.
If he's "President of the United States," his status depends on Article 2 of the Constitution. In turn, Article 2 does NOT say, "the President can do anything he/she wants." It just doesn't support that idea at all. He might want to have this explained to him in simple terms.
Seeing as how Taylor has done quite well for herself ever since she was about eleven, I doubt she'll listen to much to Charlie Kirk.
I'd like for him to identify, oh say, two cases in which a 14 year old was identified as "carrying the same gun" as someone older. He says a lot of things, especially made-up fantasies he uses to cause fear to justify his heavy-handed actions.
He's never read and certainly doesn't understand the Constitution and its "separation of powers."
He's ready for the rubber room.
Just after SCOTUS granted it access to Social Security, DOGE uploaded a database containing the private information of hundreds of millions of Americans to an unsecure cloud. DOGE isn't fighting fraud — it's potentially exposing Americans to more of it. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/u...
The Social Security Administration's chief data officer has publicly blown the whistle, alleging DOGE put hundreds of millions of Social Security records at risk of compromise by uploading a critical government database of citizen's data to Amazon's cloud.
VOMIT!!!
The flag is a symbol of freedom, and that includes the freedom to burn a flag you own as a means of political expression. I realize that kind of nuance is lost on the fascists who simply want to control the behavior of others.
The proof there is no God lies in the fact that he hasn't been struck dead for pushing such crass blasphemy. He might as well sell tiers of Indulgences pardoning people of their sins in his role as "a good friend of Jesus Christ." "Platinum Level gets you a place by the Lord!"