Ralf W
@raflw.bsky.social
The press, 2026: Everything Biden did was imputed to reflect how old and feeble he was. NOTHING Trump does is imputed to reflect his abhorrent personal character.
Peripatetic. Infuriated.
Hanger-on at Balloon Juice.
MSP / CO / WI
Peripatetic. Infuriated.
Hanger-on at Balloon Juice.
MSP / CO / WI
Pinned
Ralf W
@raflw.bsky.social
· 4d
I absolutely hate paragraphs like this. Seems to whom? What facts are being advanced here in the nations leading newspaper? This voiceless opinioning is shoddy, and gives cover to the deeply improper tactic the WH uses frequently.
Stick to reporting, dang it.
Stick to reporting, dang it.
They do this *all the time*. NYT finds whichever mealy-mouthed way they can to distance Trump from the things Trump explicitly does.
Everything Biden did was imputed to reflect how old and feeble he was. NOTHING Trump does is imputed to reflect his abhorrent personal charachter.
Everything Biden did was imputed to reflect how old and feeble he was. NOTHING Trump does is imputed to reflect his abhorrent personal charachter.
Reposted by Ralf W
This is the second time an ICE employee has been arrested in in a Bloomington, MN underage sex trafficking sting www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/ne...
Police in Bloomington, MN just announced that one of the guys they arrested in an underage sex trafficking sting was a **background checker for ICE agents.**
He had a high security clearance in the Trump administration... and he was caught trying to abuse children. Sickening.
He had a high security clearance in the Trump administration... and he was caught trying to abuse children. Sickening.
February 10, 2026 at 9:26 PM
This is the second time an ICE employee has been arrested in in a Bloomington, MN underage sex trafficking sting www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/ne...
Man with a high security clearance is booked by local police as a sex offender.
Epstein is gone, but not the horrible people who traffic and abuse women.
Epstein is gone, but not the horrible people who traffic and abuse women.
Bloomington police announce arrests in sex trafficking bust: "Rashad Johnson out of Maple Grove. This is the most disturbing arrest that we've had here. He is a backgrounder for ICE, Homeland Security, and federal agencies."
February 10, 2026 at 9:19 PM
Man with a high security clearance is booked by local police as a sex offender.
Epstein is gone, but not the horrible people who traffic and abuse women.
Epstein is gone, but not the horrible people who traffic and abuse women.
Resign!!!
Commerce chief Lutnick admits to visiting Epstein Island during Senate grilling
Commerce chief Lutnick admits to visiting Epstein Island during Senate grilling
Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick admitted to senators during testimony on Tuesday that he visited the notorious island owned by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein despite previously telling…
myfox8.com
February 10, 2026 at 5:12 PM
Resign!!!
Call your Rep. and Senators today!!
"I'm a constituent, I want ICE out of Minnesota and other states that are under assault. Do NOT vote to fund ICE. It cannot be reformed."
(Or whatever you want to say along those lines! Perfection isn't the point. "ICE Out" is what will get tallied)
"I'm a constituent, I want ICE out of Minnesota and other states that are under assault. Do NOT vote to fund ICE. It cannot be reformed."
(Or whatever you want to say along those lines! Perfection isn't the point. "ICE Out" is what will get tallied)
Actually, There IS Something You Can Do About ICE — And It Only Takes 5 Minutes
Political and immigration experts shared what exactly you can do and why it matters so much this week.
www.huffpost.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Call your Rep. and Senators today!!
"I'm a constituent, I want ICE out of Minnesota and other states that are under assault. Do NOT vote to fund ICE. It cannot be reformed."
(Or whatever you want to say along those lines! Perfection isn't the point. "ICE Out" is what will get tallied)
"I'm a constituent, I want ICE out of Minnesota and other states that are under assault. Do NOT vote to fund ICE. It cannot be reformed."
(Or whatever you want to say along those lines! Perfection isn't the point. "ICE Out" is what will get tallied)
Reposted by Ralf W
Howard Lutnick must resign as Commerce Secretary because he lied about his close dealings with Jeffrey Epstein. After Epstein’s sex trafficking conviction, Lutnick went into business with him! Of course there are many other reasons why Lutnick is unfit for public office, as this thread shows. 1/7🧵🧵🧵
Howard Lutnick, Trump's commerce secretary, faces calls to resign over Epstein ties
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a key member of President Trump's Cabinet, is facing calls to resign over new revelations about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
abcnews.go.com
February 10, 2026 at 3:09 PM
Howard Lutnick must resign as Commerce Secretary because he lied about his close dealings with Jeffrey Epstein. After Epstein’s sex trafficking conviction, Lutnick went into business with him! Of course there are many other reasons why Lutnick is unfit for public office, as this thread shows. 1/7🧵🧵🧵
Age verification? Our Trimline telephone had the ten foot curly cord so you could talk to people anywhere in the whole kitchen. Convenient!!
Age verification? I cut a cardboard 45 record out of the back of a cereal box and played it on my portable record player. #sugarsugar
Age verification? It was just "arcade" not "video arcade".
February 10, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Age verification? Our Trimline telephone had the ten foot curly cord so you could talk to people anywhere in the whole kitchen. Convenient!!
February 10, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Ralf W
Jamie Raskin said he reviewed an email sent from Epstein to co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell that was a forwarded conversation between Epstein’s lawyers and lawyers for Donald Trump.
The DOJ (illegally) redacted Trump's name in the public files.
What else are they hiding?
The DOJ (illegally) redacted Trump's name in the public files.
What else are they hiding?
Rep. Raskin Confirms ‘Troubling’ And ‘Unnecessary’ Epstein File Redactions
www.huffpost.com
February 9, 2026 at 8:31 PM
Jamie Raskin said he reviewed an email sent from Epstein to co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell that was a forwarded conversation between Epstein’s lawyers and lawyers for Donald Trump.
The DOJ (illegally) redacted Trump's name in the public files.
What else are they hiding?
The DOJ (illegally) redacted Trump's name in the public files.
What else are they hiding?
Reposted by Ralf W
It bears repeating that Tom Homan is a fucking psycho and Greg Bovino's exile means functionally nothing when it comes to what's happening on the ground in Minnesota.
In one 30-minute stretch, three legal observers were arrested — as Trump’s Border czar Tom Homan calls on locals to “end the resistance.”
“Uptick In Abductions”: ICE Ramps Up Targeting of Minneapolis Legal Observers
In one 30-minute stretch, three Minneapolis legal observers were arrested as ICE ramped up its targeting of community volunteers.
interc.pt
February 9, 2026 at 6:57 PM
It bears repeating that Tom Homan is a fucking psycho and Greg Bovino's exile means functionally nothing when it comes to what's happening on the ground in Minnesota.
Reposted by Ralf W
The fact that Bad Bunny's halftime show made white bigots angry and feel excluded is A GOOD THING. It's one of the best things about it. It's not a problem to solve. It's a solution to pursue. Bigots *should* feel excluded. We should find *more* ways to celebrate the reality of USian diversity.
February 9, 2026 at 12:07 PM
The fact that Bad Bunny's halftime show made white bigots angry and feel excluded is A GOOD THING. It's one of the best things about it. It's not a problem to solve. It's a solution to pursue. Bigots *should* feel excluded. We should find *more* ways to celebrate the reality of USian diversity.
I'm really not letting go of the notion I picked up via a Bsky follow, that Sheriff's Dept's are the present-day result of white people organizing slave patrols in the 1800s.
February 9, 2026 at 3:32 PM
I'm really not letting go of the notion I picked up via a Bsky follow, that Sheriff's Dept's are the present-day result of white people organizing slave patrols in the 1800s.
Art. IV Sec. 4 "was understood as a safeguard against vindictive reprisal by any power, foreign or domestic. As James Madison wrote in Federalist Paper No. 43, the purpose of the clause is 'to secure each State, not only against foreign hostility, but against ambitious or vindictive enterprises…'”
Commentary: The Constitution guarantees "every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.” If “a Republican Form of Government” means anything, it means protecting citizens and states from arbitrary centralized power, not authorizing more of it. minnesotareformer.com/2026/02/09/t...
Trump is violating the long-forgotten guarantee clause; Minnesotans should invoke it • Minnesota Reformer
Arbitrary rule is the very condition that the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence sought to guarantee against.
minnesotareformer.com
February 9, 2026 at 3:12 PM
Art. IV Sec. 4 "was understood as a safeguard against vindictive reprisal by any power, foreign or domestic. As James Madison wrote in Federalist Paper No. 43, the purpose of the clause is 'to secure each State, not only against foreign hostility, but against ambitious or vindictive enterprises…'”
How many times does 5 million go into 135 million?
Never, because those 5 million are frightened and never go anywhere.
Never, because those 5 million are frightened and never go anywhere.
February 9, 2026 at 2:02 PM
How many times does 5 million go into 135 million?
Never, because those 5 million are frightened and never go anywhere.
Never, because those 5 million are frightened and never go anywhere.
Reposted by Ralf W
Axios reports @governorwalz.mn.gov won’t call an eviction moratorium because it is “legally fraught” yet the definition sure sounds like one. www.mprnews.org/story/2023/0...
![What is a peacetime emergency?
In Minnesota, a peacetime emergency is an executive order that can be called when cities and counties don't have the adequate resources to address an emergency, defined as "an act of nature, a technological failure or malfunction, a terrorist incident, an industrial accident, a hazardous materials accident or a civil disturbance [that] endangers life and property."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2yhglxsi2owchryafic2gmr3/bafkreicfdeipsblnzb3oxnfnqh45fkzjo5p2s32ar3oqtgpnc46chd2ff4@jpeg)
February 9, 2026 at 1:52 PM
Axios reports @governorwalz.mn.gov won’t call an eviction moratorium because it is “legally fraught” yet the definition sure sounds like one. www.mprnews.org/story/2023/0...
Reposted by Ralf W
I'm hardly the first person to note this, but it's enormously instructive that our President and his followers saw the message "THE ONLY THING MORE POWERFUL THAN HATE IS LOVE" and understood it, correctly, as an attack on them
February 9, 2026 at 2:11 AM
I'm hardly the first person to note this, but it's enormously instructive that our President and his followers saw the message "THE ONLY THING MORE POWERFUL THAN HATE IS LOVE" and understood it, correctly, as an attack on them
This is not even 'chain email newsletter, c. 1992' level media strategy.
From the Secretary of Health and Human Services. A cabinet position reporting directly to the President.
From the Secretary of Health and Human Services. A cabinet position reporting directly to the President.
February 9, 2026 at 2:06 AM
This is not even 'chain email newsletter, c. 1992' level media strategy.
From the Secretary of Health and Human Services. A cabinet position reporting directly to the President.
From the Secretary of Health and Human Services. A cabinet position reporting directly to the President.
Reposted by Ralf W
heads up to the american news media: I do not care what racists thought of the super bowl halftime show
February 9, 2026 at 1:34 AM
heads up to the american news media: I do not care what racists thought of the super bowl halftime show
Reposted by Ralf W
Same. But the only way the electric poles could have been more obvious would have been if the dancers were throwing rolls of paper towels.
February 9, 2026 at 1:43 AM
Same. But the only way the electric poles could have been more obvious would have been if the dancers were throwing rolls of paper towels.
Reposted by Ralf W
Being mad is just a brand for some people and they don’t know how to turn it off even when it makes them look small and foolish.
February 9, 2026 at 1:40 AM
Being mad is just a brand for some people and they don’t know how to turn it off even when it makes them look small and foolish.
Commentary on the electric grid and Trump's lame hurricane response?
February 9, 2026 at 1:30 AM
Commentary on the electric grid and Trump's lame hurricane response?
Reposted by Ralf W
Is this the first Super Bowl halftime show that had two male dancers grinding on each other?
February 9, 2026 at 1:28 AM
Is this the first Super Bowl halftime show that had two male dancers grinding on each other?
The absolute weirdest people.
RFK Jr on what he'll eat during the Super Bowl: "I am on a carnivore diet so I just eat meat and ferments, and I'm very happy with that. So I'm probably going to have yogurt."
February 8, 2026 at 8:26 PM
The absolute weirdest people.
Trump is like the Eye of Sauron, only his eye roves endlessly for a new hit of ego and another pile of cash.
“'The President is incredibly grateful to his donors, but unlike the politicians of the past, he can’t be bought by anyone,' said Danielle Alvarez, a spokeswoman."
This is narrowly true, but of course totally false. His attention and favor can be rented for short periods of time.
This is narrowly true, but of course totally false. His attention and favor can be rented for short periods of time.
For $1 Million, Donors to U.S.A. Birthday Group Offered Access to Trump
www.nytimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Trump is like the Eye of Sauron, only his eye roves endlessly for a new hit of ego and another pile of cash.
“'The President is incredibly grateful to his donors, but unlike the politicians of the past, he can’t be bought by anyone,' said Danielle Alvarez, a spokeswoman."
This is narrowly true, but of course totally false. His attention and favor can be rented for short periods of time.
This is narrowly true, but of course totally false. His attention and favor can be rented for short periods of time.
For $1 Million, Donors to U.S.A. Birthday Group Offered Access to Trump
www.nytimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 2:30 PM
“'The President is incredibly grateful to his donors, but unlike the politicians of the past, he can’t be bought by anyone,' said Danielle Alvarez, a spokeswoman."
This is narrowly true, but of course totally false. His attention and favor can be rented for short periods of time.
This is narrowly true, but of course totally false. His attention and favor can be rented for short periods of time.