Micah (@rincewind.run) reposted
the thing about Zohran is he is really fucking good at politics and everyone on the Dem side behaving like he’s a liability has lost their minds I don’t care how you define It, he has It
Do people miss that catchy little phrase: “What Would Jesus Do?” I can see why it’s fallen out of favor – because of what the answers would be in these times. Peripatetic pessimist-optimist. Hanger on at Balloon Juice, also too. MSP / CO / WI
2,367 followers 697 following 9,050 posts
view profile on Bluesky Micah (@rincewind.run) reposted
the thing about Zohran is he is really fucking good at politics and everyone on the Dem side behaving like he’s a liability has lost their minds I don’t care how you define It, he has It
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Or, maybe, "radical transparency" is just a run of the mill lie by someone who has no connection to truth?
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social)
The Black History Matters mural was removed from a Florida street. Two pastors resisted - by kneeling! - and got arrested. www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYO9...
Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg.bsky.social) reposted
It's crazy that we've spent more time this year talking about the *former* president's health than the current one's, given the numerous warning signs and unanswered questions that are accumulating.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
I recommend dropping Marcella off in Algiers for a lovely vacation.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
I'm just inferring from the behavior exhibited. "If it quacks like a duck..."
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
What's really going on? They hated Biden, and they love Trump. I mean, that's a very easy conclusion to draw!
Micah (@rincewind.run) reposted
the judge is now basically checking every couple of hours to make sure her directions are being followed to the letter because she is dealing with lying liars who lie astounding how much credibility the government has burned with the courts
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Today's TAX policies -- thanks to Republicans -- I think you mean.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Can we get a ruling from the Biden-obsessed press: If his thumbs work but he can't get out of a golf cart, is he "healthy" or "in serious decline"?
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Trump treats our armed services like crap. So many examples from his first term. How that didn't hurt him more is infuriating.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Labour keeps lurching right with about the shit results one would expect.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
My typical break is about 12 mins, so it's gotta be a (non Tesla) supercharger type rig.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
On a good run, I can get 500 miles in my 4cyl Outback. That's my desired electric range. Or, I'd really like a PHEV that does more than 25 miles pure-electric. Not stunning range, but more than a few errands. 40? Like that, and a combined range over 450.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
"It's a noodle, Chris. It just grows out of the ground like asparagus."
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Journalists used to be interested in digging past the press release. Is DJT's health up to a lengthy international journey?
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
The second daily train between St. Paul and Chicago has been a solid success. People like trains! We should have more.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Scott Walker killing the high(er) speed train btwn MSP and Chicago was such a shit move. But even that plan I think skipped Madison, which was ridiculous.
Punish the Villains (@internethippo.bsky.social) reposted
Trump's contribution to our politics was exposing that conservatives don't care about any of the principles they've said are sacrosanct for 100 years, and all they wanted was to be openly evil instead of circuitously evil. The Democrats who win will be the ones who understand this and act like it
The Girl of Lemongrab (@mc-hesher.bsky.social) reposted
"The Republican Party wants to pull YOUR teenage daughter's pants down in the middle of gym class if they think she's too good at lacrosse, this is vile and depraved and only the start of their intrusive government overreach" should be the party line and I don't think it's a heavy lift
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
That was the Chevy Volt way. No one else has followed suit?
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Waffling in "Woe is us!" when leaders ARE DOING THE WORK is pathetic. Look around you. Way more than Gov. Pritzker are rising to the challenges. You should try it yourself, rather than couch-bitching that everything is ruined.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
OK, call your state's Secretary of State. *They* are the people ho have the plans. I have full confidence in Steve Simon. I have friends who've worked for decades in election integrity in MN and *they* have confidence in Simon. And Simon and other Dem S.O.S.s meet regularly to game out & plan.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
True. And yet the judge must do this, it is still the absolute right path even as lawlwessness is Trump's central brand.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
And I'm posting this as a marker for later, when Kristi Noem lies about the "danger" in Minneapolis. We have challenges. Every city (and town!) has them. But we have beauty and peace and neighborliness, too ❣️
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social)
Sunday morning UU church service in Minneapolis. Once per summer we take ourselves to the Lake Harriet Bandshell (other area congregations take summer Sundays as well). Gorgeous weather! Lovely community (even in the aftermath of tragedy).
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social) reposted
The plan is completely illegal; it’s openly in violation of black letter law. Nevertheless, the Trump admin is trying to claim that the budget bill effectively amended the law; even though it was a budget bill, and cannot by definition amend the law.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
He wants a 'peace deal' so Alfred Nobel can rise from the grave and say, with tears in his eyes, "Sir! You have brought miraculous peace! Peace in our time! You get every Prize!"
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
In the real world, the farm economy is getting spanked. Hard.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Apparently it's also conservative to refuse to shop at Sainsbury?
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Oh, the whiny, tragic life of a toff.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Your framing of "a pillar of American greatness" being destroyed is excellent - and tragically very true.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Trump take ACA Makes it UCA - Unaffordable Care Act
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
And the fear that 2026 is going to be terrible for Republicans!
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Election law is largely a state matter. EOs in particular are not legal tools to change anything about state law!!
Jon Steinman (@jonsteinman.bsky.social) reposted
The “don’t erase history” people have sent in the police to guard their erasure of history
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
And while that message from Murkowski is better than nothing, it doesn't get her out of the hot seat.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
And miss this gripping HGTV content? 😲
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
"Sen. Ron Johnson: Stock Trading Ban Would Make It 'Unattractive' to Be in Congress" Don't threaten me with a good time, RonJon!
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social)
With respect: An ice cream sandwich is barely, or really not even a sandwich. (An ice cream novelty, completely diff. category despite structural similarity.) So I'm utterly opposed to thinking an cone is in the sandwich zone. note: Sean is fully entitled to his opinion. I just have my own.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
And whatever, it's plainly obviously pretextual that Trump is using an unproved allegation to have "cause" anyway!!
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Oh, well that seems different than I remember (but again, I never had a second home loan!)
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
plans = loans, except the enshittified spell check is 💩y.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
OK. So it's quite possible Cook (and maybe even Paxton??) didn't do anything wrong.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
interest for taxes. But if the borrowers situation has changed, is the new loan app not accurate? Or is the old loan supposed to be repriced for the new situation? Literally no one would do the latter, would they? (IDK because I never had plans on two houses at once.)
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
My question is: Say I take a loan for my residence, and after a few years, decide to "trade up" and buy a new residence, but don't sell the old one. Am I obligated to inform the original lender years down the road "oh, I moved out but I'm keeping it"? I get that you can only deduct one home's mort
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
I was thinking about physical supplies of the vax. How the shots get paid for - insurance, self-pay, state funding - I do not know.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Ehhh, grammar. I was trying to say "No, they don't not have cancer". They *aren't* passed by in the doling out of bad luck. No one probably remembers the ancient "Yes, we have no banai" song 🤷🏼.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
These calls from Democrats are a necessary predicate to mass mobilization. The public has to very visibly demand RFK's departure.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
I certainly hope that Pritzker, for example, is planning for Iowans, Missourians, Hoosiers etc who want to head over to Illinois.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Unless the scratch cooking is part of your pleasure, of course! But don't let your level of kitchen skill be a block to community and care for each other!
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Yes! And: Throwing a big frozen lasagna in the oven, tearing open a bag salad kit with dressing and all the extras, and then put a frozen apple pie in the oven when the lasagna comes out. Nearly instant dinner party! (Or whatever your favorite foods). The point is friends and tasty sustenance.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social)
Asking for the millionth time: Where are all the "campus free speech" scolds? Oh, yeah. They're all basically right wing activists parading as 'moderate/centrist' pundits.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
And the loser gets scolded by the NYT Editorial Board.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Republican parents don't think a single one of them will have bad luck befall them? WTF.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
And just as important, no Democrats did. So it isn't Steve's generic "Congress" that did this. Just on political party did. Journalists need to say the truth so that citizens know what needs to change!!
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
It is unconscionable in 2025 to blame "Congress". It is flat out disinformation, because it leaves the reader or listener with a false impression of what needs to be fixed. "The car is broken" is pretty useless if the true information is "the Republicans put no gas in it."
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Germ theory? Hah! It's breezes that are fatal.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
It's not just us Americans. Millions of Italians firmly believe that if you fall asleep with a fan or even just a draft blowing on you, you'll catch a cold.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Maybe. More likely that there will be the GOP "Nope, nada, zilch" states and a compact of sane states.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
I think there's a case to be made that the GOP doesn't view disenfranchising disabled people as "collateral damage." RFJ Jr. runs with a crowd that pretty much acts like people deserve to perish if they are not MAHA. Swiping their votes is in line with that.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
on the quality of knowledge of what our elected officials are up to (or not!) is a real problem. Sheesh.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Oh, so it's "young people laziness" that the news industry has consolidated aggressively under a handful of big corp owners (esp in local TV news), even big city papers are shrinking and have axed wide swathes of reporters and editors. Sara is absolutely correct that the impact of lost journalism
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
On the bright side, soy bean prices are set to plummet (China ain't buying U.S. crops), so we'll have endless tofu.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Soybean farmers in North Dakota are about to get crushed as China, which normally buys abt. 25% of the US crop, has so far ordered NONE of the 2025 production. via agweb.com Lotta MAGA voters in the farm belt. Huh.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social)
Lack of export business has widened soybean basis in North Dakota, says Olson, crop economist and marketing specialist w/ North Dakota State Univ. China, which takes 25% of all US soybeans, is facing tariffs as high as 23%. As a result, Beijing has made NO purchases of new crop soybeans. MAGA!
Tawni Marshall (@tawnimarshall.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
It just seems so often that existing as a queer person is seen as inherently political, but hating queer people is apolitical.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social)
I said it a year ago, and I'll say it again: Do Republican parents not have kids with cancer? No. No they do not.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Yup. JD's got that insecure vibe all the way to 11.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social)
Sunday morning political talk shows: "Why 2026 looks terrible for Democrats, we asked these three Republicans and Mark Penn."
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
No one can. That's exactly how Project 2025 architect Vought wants it. Even if we sweep the mid-terms, god willing, it'll be a shit show thru to 2028.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Almost by definition, elite media are out of touch. They've all abandoned *reporting* in favor of feeling vibes.
Prisonculture (@prisonculture.bsky.social) reposted
You have to organize. I don't know what else to tell people. And organizing is not sexy and it is difficult and it matters that you be persistent. We need long-distance runners right now.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social)
Saying it out loud: She's an *activist judge*, proud of it, and this is how the Courts - lookin' at you, SOCTUS - become illegitimate.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Can you swing by Sen. Bill Cassidy's office? Get him to publicly call for firing RFK Jr would go a long way in all this horrific B.S.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
NGL, Longyearbyen has been on my travel list (along with the Faeroes). Now I have a target date for some year in the future!
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
No one is making you be here, Mark.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Trump is not popular. His policies are almost all viewed negatively. Voters are busy sending lots of signals that they're restive and not at all satisfied with their last version of lashing out. Republicans beware! Press ... Wake up!
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
My dad wasn't a Foxer till he met an (otherwise) very nice lady. Over time, as his dementia progressed, he'd watch Fox and then call me or my brother in a panic. "I need to sell stocks!" "Bad things are coming!" shit like that. Then he'd look forward to Hannity. So freakin' sad.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social)
Trump & Trumpism are not popular! How many signals do there have to be for the press to wake up & smell the Folgers? Everything is framed as if he's summoning the great powers of the people. Bullshit! We hate what's happening, polls have him deep under water. Experienced R's like Ernst know it.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
So that massive swing of voters in the IA special election this week DID get seen by at least one vulnerable Republican!
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Most of these businesses make their money selling things to Americans. If Trump torpedoes the economy, their businesses suffer - or fail. It's all so f'king absurd.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
From a Department of Justice lawyer! Absolute disgrace what Trumpism is doing (or at least attempting) to the law.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Vance's "I'm trained and ready" stuff this week has been 👀.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Congress "passing a budget" is a bitter, ridiculous joke. We are careening into Nicolás Maduro territory here with all the crap happening.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
I'm thinking about the wide swath of business leaders who donated their own or their company's money to elect this Republican regime. Do they have a shred of buyer's remorse? Are they doing ANYTHING but hiding under their desks?
Josh Marshall (@joshtpm.bsky.social) reposted
More or less universally a country seeking to limit foreigners studying in that country is a sign of a society, culture, great power in severe decline.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Weak. Mike Johnson is so ridiculous.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Our cities are the economic engines of the nation. Mess w/ that at your peril, Mike Johnson.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
This will be a political gift to JB Pritzker. I mean, it's f'ked up. Chicago doesn't want this. Pritzker doesn't want this. But it will make the stakes abundantly clear. Democrats need to make the federal takeover of cities a central theme.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Good to know at least President Pritzger can just let JD Vance roam free, unencumbered by protection in about 3.5 years! A brilliant move for a stable democra... Oh.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
Do people realize that "conservatives" are wrecking 130 years of this institution? (I know, they're attacking Harvard, much older than our National Forest system!) Hunters? You want to hunt? Does no one MAGA go hiking, canoeing, camping? WTF!
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social)
White River National Forest former supervisor says he retired after having to fire 16 employees After leaving his longtime role at the country’s most visited national forest, Scott Fitzwilliams says he is witnessing a “deliberate dismantling” of public lands.
Ralf W (@raflw.bsky.social) reply parent
No, Polis put out a statement months ago praising RFK's vaccine 'choice' position.