When the day comes, I hope the family of Colin Powell has a fitting obit queued up.
Editor at large for Commonweal magazine; writing at https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/users/mollie-wilson-oreilly-0 and sometimes other places, too. Many opinions about the new pope (and all the old ones). She/her.
3,203 followers 756 following 3,442 posts
view profile on Bluesky
When the day comes, I hope the family of Colin Powell has a fitting obit queued up.
Respect to Mr. Gipson! He wrote the screenplay, too!
...Whoops, one more post just to say that I can recommend "Old Yeller" for a family movie night if you have kids who enjoy American wilderness coming-of-age stories and wild animal antics. Also, not enough movies have a theme song at the beginning. Just try to keep it out of your head! 3/3
...BUT I am pleased to say that the buildup to you-know-what is gradual and foreshadowed clearly enough that they all handled it quite well (my youngest is 8, FWIW). No sobbing or recriminations, phew. Also, for a 1950s Disney movie it's not VERY racist (just some casual references to "Injuns") 2/2
My kids somehow reminded me of the movie "Old Yeller," and I realized they knew nothing about it, so I said, "Hey, we should watch it!" and halfway through they were all "You're right, mom, this movie is the best! I love that dog!" and not until then did I think "...Oh no, what have I done" 1/
Trump’s alliance with anti-vax world is preventing him from standing by what can be considered the one good thing he’s actually done: Operation Warp Speed. It’s so bleak.
This should be the lead story in all major national news outlets. Public health people prefer to stay out of the limelight unless there is no other choice. I can’t overstate how bad things have to be for 9 former CDC directors to band together and pen an op-ed in the NYT warning the entire country.
From @commonweal.bsky.social & Fr. Bryan Massingale: Against White Christian Nationalism www.commonwealmagazine.org/podcast/coun...
It's partly that the music is SO good, and partly because the whole cast is onstage almost all the time, so there are always new places to direct my attention—interactions and emotional arcs and character grace notes I'm still noticing anew. And new actors finding new interpretations...
Me through gritted teeth: "I said CALL ME WHEN HE'S DEAD"
Worst recurring character ever
I swear I'm not normally a "see the same show a million times" kind of person, but @hadestownmusical.bsky.social never gets old for me. There's always something new to see. This was my 8th time—a date with my husband before the school year starts—and I have a feeling I'm gonna sing it again.
Truly never thought anyone would take the title away from John McCain
I watched it in Trump I, and found it nearly unbearable, but not bad-unbearable, excellent-unbearable
Isn't it still much too soon to have data that can be meaningfully analyzed anyway? (Assuming it was trustworthy, which, why would it be)
Not sure whose fault it is primarily that most people don't seem to know that the president is basically a manager whose job is to carry out the will of Congress, and not The Country's Boss
Seeing the guy with the "robber" costume and the $ sack: "Is that the president?"
I saw this production! And I actually cannot remember whether I saw McCutcheon. Jonathan Pryce was great, though!
😬😬😬😬
I was so disappointed when I found out this was an 80s jukebox musical. Imagine waiting for "When life gives you anchovies..." to kick in and never getting there
“On Sunday (Aug. 17), an usher for the evening Mass at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington's Columbia Heights neighborhood was detained by federal officials just three blocks away from the church while walking to worship.” www.ncronline.org/news/feds-ta...
No need to make up things to be afraid of, and yet some people seem to love it!
I can't be the only one who sees Cyndi Lauper and thinks of "Mad About You," right?
It's useful to think of Trump's political style as a form of "fan service," which is distinct from the "constituent service" we used to associate with the role of elected officials. I took this picture in March of *2022* at a Republican event in Salem, Oregon. That flag seemed bonkers at the time.
I guess my brain filled it back in! I didn't even notice 😁
So scary! They might writecan affectionate musical about him someday!!
I overhear people who are truly, genuinely upset by the idea of a socialist mayor, including one woman who was spiraling about govt-operated grocery stores meaning rations and breadlines, and meanwhile the feds are shutting down public services and sending goon squads to snatch people off the street
I overhear people who are truly, genuinely upset by the idea of a socialist mayor, including one woman who was spiraling about govt-operated grocery stores meaning rations and breadlines, and meanwhile the feds are shutting down public services and sending goon squads to snatch people off the street
Just saw a video of Bill Maher calling Mamdani a “straight up communist” and I continue to be struck by the depiction of policies associated with the New Deal Order as far-left extremism, which goes along with a refusal to depict Trump’s unprecedented authoritarian actions as far-right extremism.
Schumer is calling for Kennedy' termination
rest assured. i have brought all the urine.
In reality, his admin is sabotaging the student visa program. And Trump’s “settlements” with top universities like Columbia have included requirements to reduce international enrollment. www.forbes.com/sites/stuart...
Recall that last year Trump said he wanted to staple green cards to every international grad student’s diploma and much of the press reported it as fact. Three days ago he suddenly declared he’d bring in 600k Chinese students (?). This is basically the opposite of what his admin has actually done
The country needs it now more than eva
Oh dammit it's Michael McDonald that sings the part I'm thinking of ("This country has 600 million kidneys / and we really only need half...") Which just goes to show it's been too long since I watched this clip. Don't let this happen to you.
youtu.be/5VlgG2Op9d4?...
This is the Elvis Costello verse of that "30 Rock" song except he doesn't know it’s stupid
see how much better this is than begging republicans to be good? this is good. more of this. this. please.
My latest for @commonweal.bsky.social is out today — on ICE, the Church, and documentary justice www.commonwealmagazine.org/pinochet-tru...
remember folks, we cant have gun restrictions because if we do the federal government will occupy our streets, imprison people without due process, ship dissidents to foreign gulags and things of that nature
Look what they did to Notepad. Shut the fuck up. This is Notepad. You are not welcome here. Oh yeah "Let me use Copilot for Notepad". "I'm going to sign into my account for Notepad". What the fuck are you talking about. It's Notepad.
My friend Reza Zavvar was kidnapped by ICE while walking his dog in June. He has been a legal resident of the U.S. for 40 years. He has a hearing tomorrow. andisheh.com/2025/08/ice-...
Each and every one of these people will one day be remembered as historical disgraces who willingly abandoned all integrity to honor a loathsome con artist who wouldn't spit on them if they were on fire.
lol they really just do everything they freaked out about being done to them
Oh I'm jealous! I love her. I turned on TCM not realizing they were spotlighting her, and now, how can I go to bed?
Movie ballets usually leave me cold, but that dream ballet is really something! I didn't know Susan Luckey could dance like that!
Trump perceives basically all independent institutions as a threat to himself, including economic institutions like the BLS and the Fed, he won't stop trying to wreck them until he's out of office, and it's everyday Americans who are going to feel the consequences
You've already got a better column pitch here than the one that person actually published
did you know nearly half of all parents are women
Also the lazy literary reference you're looking for is "Chicken Little" and "The Sky Is Falling," dummy
Your daily reminder that your president is innumerate.
Yaaaaay congrats!!
Meanwhile the sitting vice president talks about “Cultural Marxism” and “the Cathedral” and uses esoteric White Power jargon all the time but his language is not a liability
bible.usccb.org/bible/readin...
You love to see it!!
He keeps trying to make "protector of women" work for him, and I really wish he wouldn't
Imagine if something like this happened to Biden and he was covering up his right hand … there would be multiple post about it in Axios newsletter for days and Jake Tapper doing special segments. Photo via Getty.
we really do need to figure out how this guy managed to create an environment where he can say "i wasted an amount of taxpayer dollars so large I can't even tell you how much it was" & it doesn't cause immediate national outrage
HOW
Trump/Miller left him in El Salvador for months despite having the option of removing him another way. That was illegal. It defied the Supreme Court. And it was all because Trump/Miller calculated that openly defying the law would thrill MAGA and following the law would deflate it. 4/
The first time I saw this ad campaign I felt an urge to start a slow clap.
We have to look in your house to see if you are committing any crimes is Stasi logic
Trump has broken several boundaries and discovered that not one of the GOP Senators will defend the rule of law in America. This will accelerate now. It’s not a linear process.
They're doing "And you're SURPRISED by this???" about a story someone else beat them to. Paper of Record, baybee
...so one of the things that makes this scandal especially delicious is that a little guy ( @thecity.nyc ) got the story, knew it was a story and reported it immediately, and now the NYT comes along with its big-picture view and it doesn't look smart and savvy, it looks like dereliction of duty.
The NYT operates as if it's too important to just tell you what's happening—the little guys can do that—their role is to give you expert analysis about what you should be thinking about what's happening. Big-picture stuff. The problem is, the little guys have mostly gone out of business...
Yes, it would only make sense if she wanted to write about how her experience made her reconsider her politics, but from what I've seen, there's no attempt to do that. A straightforward "here's what cutting Medicaid will mean for my family" would be a more appropriate frame.
This is good to see! I went looking for a social-media post from my diocese about the day of fasting and prayer on Friday, so I could share it, and didn't find anything. 😒
Florida government sides with the Pulse shooter
He picks the SPECIFIC thing to lie about because he’s always trying to up-is-down bad stories about him. He could say some other fucking thing to say is better that wasn’t an obvious lie. But telling the most outrageous lie is what he does.
I remember loving her in "Passing Strange," and I'm sorry she won't overlap with Daniel Breaker, but happy to have another reason to go back!
Every time the cast turns over in "Hadestown," I have no idea who the young leads are, and the Instagram announcement is like, "You loved her in DJFLW, now come see her at the Walter Kerr" and there are 300 comments saying "AAAAAA this is the best day of my life!!!"
"Yelling at my kids is MY job, as a dad"
Do you know how insane and infuriating it is to live in a country where one party claims, with media and public support, the mantle of being the ‘tough on crime’ party while its leader openly calls for convicted criminals to be released from prison ‘or else’?
Allies of the fascist regime are referring to the residents of our capital city as “cockroaches.” This is explicitly neo-Nazi language used in service of making Jeffrey Epstein‘s best friend into dictator for life.
Again, ICE is going after the workers because they’re easier to catch than criminals.
What you're asking for is literally the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History, which you would know if you had ever gone inside
Yes!!
If you believe these things (and you should! They are self-evident), you cannot justify being a Republican in 2025. The Republican party is squarely against upholding interdependence and the common good as guiding principles for policy. Crushing Medicaid is literally a feature, not a bug, for them!
Absolutely top-tier "The problems are bad [when they affect me and my friends], but the causes are very good"
Right? Tell me which part you're proud of
Whenever I see someone else's phone I am shocked by all the notifications they get. Turn that off! You owe it to yourself!!
Starting to think “woke” may mean “the forward progression of time during which any change at all occurs.”
We need a new term for "bad faith." Something stronger
📢 Immigration Vigil 📆 Every Thursday 📍 26 Federal Plaza, NYC, Federal Worker's entrance ⏰ 12 pm Join us for a silent vigil calling out ICE for abducting immigrants. This space is open to pedestrians and therefore it is legal to protest there. This may be a silent vigil, but our message is loud!
I've been listening to Vatican & World News since Leo was elected, mostly to keep track of what he's up to, but it's striking how their reporting on Gaza privileges international aid workers and local clergy as sources instead of relying on Israel's account. www.vaticannews.va/en/podcast/e...
Speaking of which: Pope Leo says we're fasting and praying on Friday. I'm in! You?
The Catholic Church in Rome has been insisting on calling attention to the suffering in Gaza, even if you don't hear much about it stateside. Seven hours of names: 16 Israeli children and 12,211 Palestinian children.
You have to read this, all of it, right now
This is an occupied city fighting back against the occupiers. Let’s turn the civility thing on its head: if Republicans want to be treated civilly, don’t send deployments of troops from far-away states to come brutalize and harass the captive population of the US capital.
If your podcast has a theme song—not intro music, but a custom-made song—I'm sorry but I hate it. We all hate it. No exceptions
This is at least half wrong (mayors get sworn in!), but also, DO the "men and women of ICE" take oaths when they sign up? And what do they promise, if they do?
I just cannot imagine a member of any other administration talking like this about an elected official. It’s not just wrong, although it is that. It’s dangerous and destabilizing as hell.
Opening the NYT app to see what's their top story this morning. Ah yes, election handicapping. Yes, it's about the Dems. And brother, you better believe they're in disarray!
Yes! It's incredible! And incidentally, the Air and Space Museum is wall-to-wall "celebrating Americans doing great things," which is how you know Trump has never actually visited it.
One of the truly great things about America in general, and Washington, D.C. in particular, is the Smithsonian Institution and how excellent its museums are. Just for the record.
"If cities like D.C. and Los Angeles truly were crime-ridden hellholes, they would pose little threat to the MAGA movement. It is *because* these are prosperous and dynamic places that they must be occupied." Really can't say enough good things about this piece about MAGA anti-urbanism.
I would like to invite any other Catholics in the U.S. to consider joining me in writing a letter to urge our bishops to stand solidarity with our migrant brothers and sisters. The Dorothea Project has provided a free letter template on their website: dorotheaproject.com
Remember how there was like two weeks of the most apocalyptic rhetoric about congestion pricing you’d ever heard and then nothing ever again
Disgusting.