Instructor of psychology and law. Advocate for mental health, anti-death penalty, pro Ukraine, pro democracy--if we can keep it. Rescue cat owner. Tired, but not quite retired. No DM's, please.
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On the left, my warning from September 2024 about what Trump 2.0 would look like. On the right, recent headlines. I wish I'd been wrong. But because Trump is following a classic authoritarian playbook, itโs up to state and local governments to push back on this tyranny while itโs still possible.
Better meme? Cryptkeeper or Dead Man Walking?
If you're 60, 69.1% of all job growth since your birth occurred under Democratic administrations. If you're 45, that number is 74.7%. If you're under 28, the number is 100%. Happy Labor Day.
When has Trump EVER gone six days without saying anything in public? Something is definitely not right.
Another, perhaps better theory: Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIA), or more seriously, an Ischemic stroke. TIA's resolve on their own, while ischemic strokes result in some degree of permanent brain damage. bsky.app/profile/adam...
Such a tragedy! ๐คญ
Message to Europe, including Ukraine: Trump has never loved you and has been having a long love affair with Russia. He won't change. Believing he will come back to you (he was never with you) is a fool's errand.
-Melania reportedly seen at Walter Reed hospital, allegedly for a "tour" -Trump's hand bruises and swollen ankles So, what is going on? My speculation is either hospital admission for an undisclosed medical issue, or minor surgery requiring 2-4 days recovery Wild speculation? Kidney transplant.
The evidence: -No public appearances since Wednesday, except one, from a distance, where Trump's face appears bloated -No appointments on WH calendar -Old golf photos used to "prove" Trump played over weekend -Truths and tweets that seem inauthentic -No tweets from Vance, DJT, Jr. etc. #WhereIsTrump
#WhereIsTrump
In the business, we call this "Proof of idiocy." (Not you, the tweet)
#WhereIsTrump
And us.
"Y M C A"
Evil has a name Russia is committing the genocide of #Ukrainians. Russia strikes our cities, kills peaceful people, kills children. It steals hundreds and thousands of Ukrainian children, tortures captured Ukrainian soldiers and civilians, consistently breaks the laws of war, murders,rapes,stealsโคต๏ธ
โMAGAโs fury at Fauci isnโt justice โ itโs a cover story for Trumpโs COVID disaster.โ
This will be accompanied by the usual litany of "this is Joe Biden's war," that it "never would have started if I had been President," etc. Meanwhile, he will ignore that Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians everyday, while Ukraine aims only at military targets.
My prediction, for what it's worth, about what Trump will do when his latest "deadline" for Russia to accept peace negotiations, passes on Monday. Either he will do nothing, or he will announce that he is withdrawing from negotiations and will allow Russia and Ukraine to "fight it out for a while."
Exactly. Performance art for an audience of one.
Particularly Ukrainian civilians--although he does seem to have a tiny bit of a soft-spot (not much) for killed or injured children.
OTOH, his charm offensive appears to have worked on Trump and J.D. Vance. Trump is very likely to say on Monday or Tuesday that he has decided to let Russia and Ukraine "fight it out for a little while," ignoring that Ukraine aims at military targets, while Russia attacks civilians.
Video of the strike clearly shows otherwise.
Russia wanted this to be as well known as possible, due to Parubly's former role as founder of a neo-Nazi political party over 30 years ago. Even though Parubly had cut ties with the group long ago, Russia will still use this assassination to argue they are "de-Nazifying" Ukraine.
2/3 Private houses were also hit in Dnipro. There was ample warning about impending strikes, with both drones and missiles, so thankfully no-one was injured in the region.
As well as Zaporizhzhia, there was damage in Dnipro city and Pavlohrad. Explosions were also heard in the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, free Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Rivne, Sumy and Volyn (Lutsk) regions. In Kyiv the air alarm ended just after 8am this morning.
You (Russia) can do anything you want to a star-crossed lover like Trump. Trump to Putin: "I can't quit you!"
3/3 This is what it felt like to be at home in Zaporizhzhia, when Russia's "peacekeepers" smashed up your apartment block in Ukraine's sixth biggest city. #RussiaIsATerroristState
Europe is like a lover who refuses to leave after a domestic partner has become abusive. Instead, it thinks that if they don't say or do anything wrong, their partner won't continue to abuse them. The truth is, Trump has never loved you and has been having an affair with Russia for a long time.
You say that like it's a bad thing!
I thought we did pretty well from 1934 to 2017 without tariffs, after the repeal of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which incidentally, contributed to a worldwide Great Depression. But Trump (a very stable genius) knows better, I guess.
Trump loves the classics!
Death?
"Next man makes a move...."
Someone just contracted for a MASSIVE home remodeling! Probably including a Presidential ballroom.
Little kids with brain cancer. Thatโs who Donald Trump and RFK Jr. are screwing over by cutting health care.
The GOP plot to gain 40 seats without winning any more votes Party operatives think gerrymandering, a new Census and a friendly Supreme Court can help keep Republicans in power. Republicans have to cheat to win. www.salon.com/2025/08/14/t...
Where da picture? The one circulating this morning is supposedly from back in June.
Under Trump, the United States has become Russia's fourth or fifth biggest backer, behind only N. Korea, Iran, China, and maybe India. Odd company to keep.
Over the last day or so, Tulsi Gabbard publicly released the name of at least one CIA undercover agent who has worked in Russia, Trump deported back to Russia some 50 Russian defectors, and more cuts to VoA and USAID were announced. Why is Trump literally doing Putin's work for him?
Kids aren't fighting in a playground. Kids are getting killed in playgrounds--by Russia, you orange dingus.
#WhereIsTrump #WhereIsVance
Also can't happen, due to Presidential veto.
Ignominious end to a mediocre career. Back to castrating pigs.
#WhereIsTrump
If no one has seen him cheat, his heart don't beat! Pleeze,oh pleeze, oh pleeze.
Who put Forest Gump in charge? Oh, that's right, we did.
Voting rights, separation of church and state, limitations on the power of Democratic Presidents (but not Republicans), the list goes on.
They may need to hire defense lawyers first, because Trump is likely to come after them.
Ooh, a "gotcha" poster! I didn't say I care about them. I said it is almost impossible to convince them with data. So, do you think yelling at them helps or does it just make you feel better?
What, we're putting an actual Minion as second in command of health care?
Muhahahaha! Does he believe even 10% of his complete and utter bullshit? So, doing heroin and having a brain worm now makes you one of the foremost experts on medical health?? Stephen Miller is a fascist clown.
The most transparent administration in history!
John Roberts is SHOCKED, SHOCKED that the rule of law is eroding in this country. Can someone be impeached for being utterly clueless?
Someone give this headline writer a raise! nymag.com/intelligence...
All humans are prey to this. The first step is to be aware of it and take measures to guard against falling for it. By and large, liberals are willing to take this step, but Republicans are not. So, yes, I am mainly talking about Republicans.
Whoever this is prays every night for more political contributions from the gun industry. The blood of children is simply "the price we must pay for liberty."
Harsh, but fair. Although he is good at sipping water--and carrying it!
He meant "congrats RussIA."
There are no coincidences, only unfortunate truths. www.npr.org/2019/09/27/7...
She's as sharp as tapioca pudding!
#RussiaIsATerroristState
The love that no one dares say it's name!
They are vile. And she proudly declares herself to be a Christian.
Terrible. Yet "two weak" Trump does nothing.
I'm sure strong words were said--but only words.
No doubt. Ban assault weapons and handguns, heavily tax all other firearms.
You can't force reality on those who are unwilling to accept it over their own biases and prejudices. Unfortunately, this is a basic aspect of human psychology.
Yes, basically.
Lost in translation, I guess. I hope they both had a good birthday!
CBS news interviewed a girl who had a bullet graze her forehead and another bullet fragment lodged in her head. Disgusting. All for ratings. Ghouls.
Three percenter right-wing militia member.
Please stop interviewing child victims of mass shootings. It's morbid and traumatic for the children. Just stop.
Clever of the Russians to strike the EU diplomatic mission instead of a NATO facility (if any exist in Ukraine). As a response, NATO should put diplomatic missions in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Lviv.
Mayor Brandon of Chicago responds to a question from a reporter if pushing back will make things harder? โCan you imagine if my ancestors would have had the same rationale? Letโs not fight against the Confederacy. Letโs just try to get along, and maybe one day theyโll give us our freedom?โ
They think that they and their rich friends will not suffer when the next pandemic begins. At the same time, they see a pandemic as a good way to get rid of the poor and unproductive members of society. You may think I'm joking. I'm not.
A perfect example of how this administration puts it's petty, political interests ahead of the good of the country. All of this administration's actions follow this pattern. Every. Single. One.
But, will they be allowed to use them, or are they just decorations on a tree?
I am a monster and I work for a monster. May God have mercy on my soul.
๐ฆฉ?
Does this mean that progressives should give up? No. But it does mean we need to carefully pick our battles. Counter false Republican narratives about crime when you can, but focus on other issues, such as Trump's fascist takeover of our government and how he is crashing the economy, etc. 3/3
3. For people who remain afraid of crime, citing statistics about falling crime rates will have little effect. Fear of crime is partly emotional, partly based on political affiliation, and explicit and implicit racism. How do you convince these people they are wrong? I don't know if we can. 2/3
In a way, you are both right. 1. While crime is down recently, it still remains high in a few areas, but not nearly as much as Republicans make it out to be. 2. My original post was poorly written. I meant to say that perceptions of crime remain high for many people for whom crime is a concern. 1/3
But David Shor thinks defending democracy is a distraction from the price of eggs! bsky.app/profile/wins...
#RussiaIsATerroristState
Here's my pie-in-the-sky proposal: A 500% tax on the purchase of all assault-style weapons and handguns, with a 100% tax on everything else, combined with a yearly license of $500 for every firearm in a person's possession. Combine this with a generous buy-back program. Chance of enactment: zero.
When dead children became an acceptable price to pay to preserve Second Amendment rights, the NRA became a DOMESTIC TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. Trump and the GOP are in bed with the NRA. They are NOT PRO-LIFE,THEY ARE PRO-GUNS. We need comprehensive gun legislation NOW.
Lying and "owning the libs" has become so ingrained in the Republican party that Republicans are even willing to put their own grandchildren at risk, just to make some ill-defined point. This is sick.
Truth to power.
Very astute observation. This is literally "ego fascism."
Here's my pie-in-the-sky proposal: A 500% tax on all assault-style weapons and handguns, with a 100% tax on everything else, combined with a yearly license of $500 for every firearm in a person's possession. Combine this with a generous buy-back program. Chance of enactment: zero.
Russia strikes residential building in the heart of Kyiv. According to Russiaโs defense ministry, Russia struck โmilitary-industrial complex enterprises and military air bases in Ukraineโ using โhigh-precision weapons.โ Every word in the above statement is a lie. www.cnn.com/2025/08/28/e...
Also because he is maybe Trump's biggest bootlickers. It's definitely not because of his diplomatic skills. I wouldn't go quite so far as calling him a traitor, but he is certainly an idiot.
It's Jonathan MS Pearce's birthday today! He's only 21 (cough, cough)! Jonathan is a YT pod-caster and a HUGE supporter of Ukraine, so be sure to wish him a happy birthday and buy him a coffee (cough, cough), if you haven't already! buymeacoffee.com/GkxsyfQ @atpgeo.bsky.social
Careful, this will probably be made illegal within a year and enforced by Trump's gang of Proud Boys, dressed up in ICE uniforms with masks to hide their identity.
Mu pleasure. It's nice to have a pleasant conversation with someone who may not agree with you on all of your positions, although I think our views are closer than we both may have originally thought.
Great point about the outsourcing of violence.
White middle class people see no violence ( or less ) because theyโve outsourced it. Where as marginalized communities have accepted through experience that some amount of violence is simply inevitable. Itโs not saying itโs okay, just that we shouldnโt react in a way that just breeds more violence
I would argue that the authoritarian wing of the Republican party goes back at least as far as the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam war. Back then, members of the John Birch society were ostracized by the party. Now, they are seen as being too woke!
Yes. What has been the impact of militarizing our police? Has it had any real effect on crime? I would argue no, but there are authoritarians who would disagree with me. State approved violence is still violence.