Get happy
Monday, January 12, 2026
America's Worst Humans
Some Dems think going on Fox is a very smart way to reach that audience, the people least likely to vote for Democrats. I don't think that's true, obviously, but the only way to do it with integrity is if you intend to say things that ensure you won't be invited back.
Fake Grievances
Both The Right and the dipshit center regularly both imagine they're courageously standing up to power to fight fake battles.
It is hard to find a product in the supermarket that doesn't have labels boasting about its protein content. They add protein to everything these days.
I even lean in the direction of "the increased emphasis on protein is probably good"* but we have been living in that world for awhile!
*Not interested in a big argument about this, but my reason is that while the standard claim of "the average American gets plenty of protein" was perfectly true, it was pretty easy to not be in that category and not understand that it was a problem given the long lack of focus on protein (not the case, recently!). Sure people typically get plenty of protein, but also you really need protein! The humble protein-and-fiber-filled bean is our savior.
Fed Independence
Sure this is bad, but also I will not be surprised if we discover that The Markets and The Titans of Industry care much less about supposed Fed independence than we have been led to believe.
I WILL NEVER STOP FIGHTING FOR YOOOOOUUUUUUU
This ain't it, chief.
Senator Tina Smith, a Minnesota Democrat, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should be "reformed, not abolished" and plays a "role" in the country following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in her home state.
It is very easy to say that of course we need immigration enforcement, but Trump has corrupted the existing institutions so much that we need to begin again.
That should be the "moderate" position.
Sunday, January 11, 2026
Protests
Dems hate protests for both understandable and bad reasons, but if people don't see much leadership from the people they elected, then they are going to find their own way.
There is no magic wand, nobody thinks there is, but good politicians could at least convincingly fake that they were on the side of people being gunned down by the government agency they keep supporting, and few of these guys can do that.
There is no magic wand, nobody thinks there is, but good politicians could at least convincingly fake that they were on the side of people being gunned down by the government agency they keep supporting, and few of these guys can do that.
Awkward
The Labour government came right out of the gate centering NATO, mostly as a way to shore up their credentials as Tough Guys Unlike Those Hippies.
A bit tough now that Starmer is doing everything Donnie tells him, even as Donnie can't even remember his name.
This government will have a ‘NATO first’ defence strategy: article by the Foreign Secretary and Defence SecretaryJust an example, from right after they came to power in July, 2024. They've repeatedly invoked NATO allegiance as a kind of tough guy/patriot/"foreign policy realist" test, melding it to chestbeating support for Ukraine as a kind of battle cry (supporting Ukraine is fine, the usual belligerence backed by little is not).
A bit tough now that Starmer is doing everything Donnie tells him, even as Donnie can't even remember his name.
If You Mean Your NYT Colleagues You Should Say That
He doesn't, of course, he just means he hasn't been paying attention to or doesn't approve of any actual protests, but instead wants a nice story of protests.
Saturday, January 10, 2026
Promises, Promises
I did see this one very briefly on the front of nytimes.com, but I bet this is one all the news outlets instantly forget for some reason (it is already gone from nytimes.com).
Our Friends In The North
You know what this is in reference to. Passifiume is the Toronto Sun's Ottawa Bureau Chief.
Voted Most Likely To Be Arrested After A Hard Drive Check 8 years in a row by his colleagues (maybe).
Depraved Murderous Liars
I know I can be too pithy sometimes, but I don’t think I need 1200 words to state: any journalism which obfuscates this about the Trumpers, which they themselves gleefully boast about regularly, consistently, does not prioritize informing readers. Instead, it is merely a kind of ritual peformance in which everyone acts their roles as scripted for some theater production of The President And His Journalists, with little interest in portraying actual reality.
Of course there are good journalists and good journalism, but almost all news gets filtered through politics these days.
There was no golden age, but that news is rarely just news, but is instead contested in the politics arena, with quotes from Both Sides, is, if not new, worse than it used to be.
Better Things Aren't Possible
A telling thing during the dipshit centrist mad struggle oppose Mamdani was how much they squealed and snorted with derision about any positive campaign promise. They would switch, between "this is bad," "this isn’t possible," and "sure this is a nice idea but in my back pocket I have a better plan for achieving it" as they always do.
But they made clear that what they oppose is doing good things unless it involves a means-tested refundable tax credit funneled through a McKinsey-blessed public/private partnership.
Progress is possible.
Gov. Hochul, Mayor Mamdani announce push for free child care for NYC 2-year-olds
The sustainable future of "blue" states and cities is making life better and easier. Universality - which isn't in this yet - has to be the goal.
Friday, January 09, 2026
One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against Trump
Not quite everyone, maybe not the hardcore MAGA (though plenty of conservative grifters), but all the journalists and pundits academic institutions and lawyers and businesspeople who have submitted.
America's Worst Humans
George Borjas
One of Borjas’s direct contributions to the Trump administration this past year was his extensive behind-the-scenes work on Trump’s overhaul of the H-1B visa system for highly skilled workers that added a $100,000 fee, according to three people familiar with his work and a White House official, who all spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to share internal deliberations. Borjas had previously written about the “well-documented abuses” of that program over the years.
Doing The Fucking News
NYT reporter (an actual reporter, not one of Dash's politics gang) informs CBS they don't know what they are talking about.
Rubio is no longer the acting administrator of USAID. He handed that to OMB director Russ Vought in August for Vought to finish the shutdown of the dismantled agency. Politico did a story on it, and we spoke to Vought’s office about it as well. https://t.co/9TCO9vlDuA https://t.co/O7fARtIpcw
— Edward Wong (@ewong) January 9, 2026
The Minority Whip
I know it's mosty a fake job in the Senate, but Dick Durbin is, actually, the Minority Whip.
7 Democrats just voted today to confirm a Trump judicial nominee who refused to say what happened on January 6 or answer who won the 2020 election: Durbin Hassan Kaine King Klobuchar Shaheen Welch
— Jonathan Cohn (@jonathancohn.bsky.social) January 9, 2026 at 1:41 AM
The Killer App
I suppose a subscription CSAM app might be the way MECHAHITLER manages to make money, but only if the company isn't treated like any other such company would be.
Thursday, January 08, 2026
As I Told Everyone Who Would Listen 20 Years Ago
We all talk about how left-leaning people should have been funding media outlets. We have all been talking about this for years.the fascist mouthpieces have a massive resource advantage. this is a way to chip away at that advantage: give valuable stuff to real journalists at real news outlets (and real independent journalists.)
— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser.bsky.social) January 7, 2026 at 7:45 PM
[image or embed]
But not everyone in "DC" has access to the funding button, of course. What they do have access to is information and "scoops."
Matt Drudge got big because journalists decided they had to pay attention to him.
Yes lefty media outlets need funding, too, but DC Dems have mostly not promoted the ones that do exist. Leadership runs to the Times and Politico with "scoops," not to the American Prospect.
There are various reasons for this, but one is they are largely uncomfortable taking questions from The Left, as their entire pitch is to "the Baileys" and those center-right journalists.
Funny Times
I don't think anyone has to hand it to Bill and I certainly don't support putting him in charge of anything, but of all the "NeverTrumper" types, he's the only one I think is genuine, not grifting, and not always angling.
I'd replace most of the Pod Save America guys with him, at least.
I'd replace most of the Pod Save America guys with him, at least.
That Could Be Me
I think empathy is normally talked about as the ability to understand someone else's experience and feelings - and therefore the ability to care - but the other part of that is it brings selfish awareness that their experience could be yours, that what is happening to them could happen to you.
ICE agents aren't committing violence only against immigrants or protesting libs, but people who lack empathy still can't imagine being affected by it.
Small consolation that almost everyone suffers and then (everyone) dies eventually.
ICE agents aren't committing violence only against immigrants or protesting libs, but people who lack empathy still can't imagine being affected by it.
Small consolation that almost everyone suffers and then (everyone) dies eventually.
Liars
That reporters are not willing to deal appropriately with regular lies and liars is not a new thing, but I do think what is new with the Trump administration is that they lie about everything. There is no interest in in attempting to lie plausibly, or even to stick to the truth when that would serve them just as well.
This isn't about lawyerly word choice or the usual exaggerations of politics. They just get up there and lie, constantly, in press conferences, in quotes to reporters, on MECHAHITLER THE CSAM APP.
You can't report on this administration by fronting the lies and having the rebuttal 3 paragraphs - or 3 days - later. That they lie constantly has to frame all coverage of them. Nothing is the truth.
I wrote "not willing" because this isn't hard. They - or their editors - just don't want to.
Wednesday, January 07, 2026
Safe Home For Billionaires
This stuff quieted down a bit, but "the billionaires will regret their support for Trump and we should welcome them back so stop being mean to them" was a big thing late last Spring. How is that holding up?
June 5, 2025 7:47pm ETDemocratic Rep. Ro Khanna Says Party Should Court Musk
The near-silence about Elon Musk's MECHAHITLER CSAM GENERATOR is explained in large part by this attitude.
Meet The New Boss
It really wasn't a good idea to start all those statements saying it was good that Maduro was gone.
The Trumpers don't even try to fake competence or good intentions! Politicians and many in the press do it for them!
There is no sign that the United States’ demands include less repression. Instead the regime is taking the opportunity to crack down. It published a decree directing the authorities to search for and arrest “any person involved in the promotion of or support for the armed attack by the US against the territory of the republic”. On January 5th it sent armed paramilitaries, known as colectivos, onto the streets of Caracas. These are largely controlled by Mr Cabello. Some were stopping drivers to check their phones. The likely aim is to deter any protests against Ms RodrÃguez. Some 14 journalists and media workers were also detained for hours before being released, according to the National Union of Press Workers in Venezuela. Ms RodrÃguez may have some economic nous and a pragmatic streak, but she was in the innermost circle of a regime that has regularly tortured, killed and disappeared opponents and their family members.Decades of baby brains thinking that even if someone is a "bad guy" that removing the "bad guy" is good. It likely isn't!
The Trumpers don't even try to fake competence or good intentions! Politicians and many in the press do it for them!
We'll Be Supporting The Moderate Rebels
I have no idea what will happen in Venezuela, but...
Venezuela could face violent instability following the shock capture of President Nicolas Maduro by the US military, experts have warned.
While Maduro’s vice president Delcy Rodriguez was quickly sworn in with US-backing, there are fears a political vacuum sets the stage for a power struggle among multiple heavily armed factions that could spark an insurgency.
Kirkified
A happy ending.
CLARKSVILLE, TN (WKRN) – Austin Peay State University will pay one of its professors $500,000 after initially firing him for a social media post made in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death.
That was a deranged few weeks, rendered somewhat funny by subsequent events and behavior.
Oh No The Dodgy Gambling Site That Lets Me Bet On Murder Is Problematic
Real 80s dystopian movie stuff.
Polymarket refuses to pay bets that US would ‘invade’ VenezuelaPrediction market disputes US raid amounted to an invasion in fight over more than $10.5mn in wagers
Appeasement
One year in and many European leaders - certainly the British ones - have not yet figured out that if you give Donnie an inch he will take a mile and then have his goons flush your head in a toilet.
We have had decades of rhetoric about Chamberlain and appeasement, and now "giving Donnie everything he wants in exchange for nothing and then getting even less than that" is the only course the British PM understands.
If Trump bombs Greenland will our press decide these are real people or not?
Morning
Chuck Schumer is very encouraged by what his gym buddies tell him, privately, in the Senate gym.
Tuesday, January 06, 2026
CBS LOVES AMERICA
That was one of their new promises, but when President AOC reverses everything Trump has done and cuts of all ties to Israel (she will not do this, really), will CBS love that America? Of course not.
Vapid dishonesty.
Remember Bari was defended to the death for years by many senior NYT people.
Heckuva Job
A review of Bari's new best boy in Variety.
Not that that seems to be Dokoupil’s strong suit, or his interest. Elsewhere, in a segment about health and human services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s newly announced and seismic shifts to the recommended vaccine schedule for children, Dokoupil began an interview with a CBS News medical journalist by asking what this expert would say to “parents out there who are celebrating,” because they thought their kids were obliged to be injected with too many vaccines. He ended the segment by declaring “So, parents are going to have some options for themselves!” when, to a large portion of the audience, the precise opposite is true — they’ll now need a physician consult to obtain a vaccine for their child that was once more easily obtained. Dokoupil thanked his guest and announced, brashly, “You clarified it for us.” The guest could be said to have tried his best, despite Dokoupil.More than that, parents will no longer have the option to raise their children somewhere with sufficient herd immunity. Dokoupil has two young children. Maybe he should understand this.
New Bullshit Just Dropped
SKYNET arrival delayed until 2034, so you can go back to using your horny chatbot CSAM generators without guilt.
Nice Lady
I say give her what she wants.
Hannity: Did you at any point offered to give him the Nobel peace prize?
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 6, 2026
Machado: It hasn’t happened yet. We want to give it to him. Share it with him. pic.twitter.com/fIGSbnjshc
Monday, January 05, 2026
The Center Of Attention
Trump is bored of tariffs and has discovered that he can get the same praise and attention by killing people. The press corps mostly loves exciting military murders, and he will continue to get praise for doing it, and even American military deaths won't stop that.
Here’s another thing you should understand about these guys: The only thing the elite Washington press corps likes more than a bipartisan commission on debt reduction is a stack of flag-draped coffins.
Peace In Our Time
The general European response to Trump's actions in Venezuela has been to front disapproval of Maduro, followed by some mumbled vague concerns.
Soon we will discover that they always thought the president of Colombia was worse than Hitler, and that Danish claim to Greenland was colonial overreach requiring liberation by American forces.
NATO will soon be revealed to be something left-wing critics have always claimed, but they will still somehow have been wrong.
Sir Keir Starmer has refused to be drawn on whether or not US President Donald Trump's military action against Venezuela may have broken international law.
In an interview with the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme on Saturday morning, the prime minister did not condemn the US strikes.
He said he was waiting to establish all the facts but would not "shy away from this", adding he was a "lifelong advocate of international law".
I will not shy away from the thing I am definitely shying away from.
I am so old I remember when politicians were good at this kind of bullshit. None of them even try anymore.
Sure Why Not
Gotta laugh when we can.
Two people close to the White House said the president’s lack of interest in boosting Machado, despite her recent efforts to flatter Trump, stemmed from her decision to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, an award the president has openly coveted.
Although Machado ultimately said she was dedicating the award to Trump, her acceptance of the prize was an “ultimate sin,” said one of the people.
“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” this person said.
This isn't even true. The real reason is Machado couldn't run the country. But it is funny that this is the line they are running with both for the country and for Trump. It is also "funny" that the WaPo put this near the bottom of the article.
Sunday, January 04, 2026
What Is It All About Then
Maduro didn't really win the election, but the nice Peace Prize-winning lady who really won doesn't get to be in charge because she doesn't have support. It is about Maduro's tyranny, but we are putting the person who ran the security services in charge. It is about fentanyl, but somehow that doesn't appear in the charges. It is because I am going to take all the oil, and when I say this all the journalists pretend not to hear it.
The confusion is perfect for our Sensible pundits, as inventing their own reasons for wars is their favorite activity.
The Free Press
If some other outlet had published, these fearless newspapers would've taken the lead in denouncing them.
The New York Times and Washington Post learned of a secret US raid on Venezuela soon before it was scheduled to begin Friday night — but held off publishing what they knew to avoid endangering US troops, two people familiar with the communications between the administration and the news organizations said.Outlets will happily lie to their readers.
Technically true, I suppose, but we aren’t supposed to be playing by clever lawyering rules.
People were killed, including civilians, in a clearly illegal (domestic, international) attack, but nonetheless.
Saturday, January 03, 2026
Did Not Disappoint
Jeffries pretty much sold me on what Trump did. Was that not what he was trying to do?
MADURO IS WORSE THAN 27 SADDAMS, however..
Debbie was less nuanced.
Mommy He Shot Me Back
Look forward to Venezuela defense and retaliation being portrayed as criminal aggression.
What Did They Think Would Happen
No I don’t think the Dems have a magic wand, but their response to murdering fishermen was extremely muted.
Jeffries instead leaned on those probes as the alternative to impeachment, telling reporters: "What's on the table is a meaningful investigation which we can hope would be bipartisan."It is less the action/inaction I am complaining about, and more the fact that they never gamed this one out. Did one person working for Jeffries say, "hey boss, what do we do when he starts bombing Caracas."
They never game anything out.
Bombing Caracas
Looking forward to numerous Dem statements about this being a distraction.
Happy to be wrong.
Anyway, cancel the World Cup and the Olympics.
Friday, January 02, 2026
MECHAHITLER The CSAM Generator
Will any government try to get Musk for this stuff?
Many governments make a lot of noise and pass laws, often bad ones, supposedly to Protect The Children and then just let things like this go if a rich guy does it.
Our politicians usually love to talk about the evils of the internet.
America's Worst Newspaper
That fucking newspaper.
Remember this stuff every time they try to lecture you about their sacred journalistic objectivity, or whatever.
Reciprocity
More countries will do this.
Mali and Burkina Faso will impose a travel ban on Americans in response to President Trump’s announcement this month that citizens of the two West African countries would be barred from entering the United States from Jan. 1.Usually absolute bans aren't at issue, but if you've ever wondered why some country requires difficult-to-obtain visas for Americans, it's because the US requires it of their citizens.
Both governments said in separate statements on Tuesday that they were acting “in accordance with the principle of reciprocity,” and would apply the same restrictions on Americans that were imposed on their countries. The travel bans would take effect immediately, they added, and the decision was announced after Niger made a similar decision last week.
Thursday, January 01, 2026
The Failed Mamdani Mayoralty
It isn't looking good, folks. Gotta admit the NYT editorial board had a point when they published this.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who didn't endorse Zohran Mamdani for mayor, is expected to attend his inauguration at City Hall set to start shortly, per a source. Schumer will be seated on the dais with other top pols.
— Chris Sommerfeldt (@c-sommerfeldt.bsky.social) January 1, 2026 at 5:27 PM
This Is Almost As Bad As The Time Sarah Huckabee Sanders Was Politely Asked To Leave A Restaurant
"This" could apply to many things at the moment, but that episode was a reminder of about how some people matter (friends of Maggie Haberman) and some people don't, and no amount of pointing this out will change this perspective for many people in the elite discourse.
"They" are capable of getting mad about things (their friends facing mild social discomfort), objectively, while only activists are concerned with things like "immigrant concentration camps."
"The Left have an unfortunate tendency towards political violence," I muse, as I read about the torture camps established by my favorite political sources.
Of course there are good reporters doing things like reporting about torture camps. But as I used to say a lot, there is the news and then there is the talking about the news. The people who talk about the news shape what is seen as important, what is emphasized.
Sure Why Not
Ominous.
Elon Musk's brain implant company Neuralink will start "high-volume production" of brain-computer interface devices and move to an entirely automated surgical procedure in 2026, Musk said in a post on the social media platform X on Wednesday.
Pretty sure this is just hype to get some funding money from rich suckers, but even if I were a rich sucker I think I would understand that brain surgery requires the nuanced precision that needs a bit of human touch. It isn’t just injecting jelly into a donut.
Maybe it isn't the best task for the horny chatbot.
And 'high-volume' in this context is very funny.
Hopefully The Last Gasp
I know some of you get annoyed when I give Professional Democrats and their press familiars shit, but nobody relevant got 10% of the shit they deserved for backing Cuomo or failing to support Mamdani once he won the primary.
Get mad that they supported a completely incompetent corrupt "centrist" sex pest to be the mayor of a city he hates. Get extra mad that they (New York Democrats) are so incompetent that they couldn't find one of "their guys" who had slightly less baggage.
It is good he lost, but you can also get mad that they are so incompetent that they put their whole asses out there to push the guy who didn’t even win!
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