Reposted by Brian
All of the money that changed hands in the Teapot Dome scandal totaled less than $10 million after adjusting for inflation, and it was considered so corrupt we still teach it in high school government classes a century later.
Corruption so pungent, it wafts right off the page:
Lobbyists who do pardon deals “say their going rate is $1 million. Pardon-seekers have offered some lobbyists close to the president success fees of as much as $6 million if they can close the deal.”
Gift link www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Lobbyists who do pardon deals “say their going rate is $1 million. Pardon-seekers have offered some lobbyists close to the president success fees of as much as $6 million if they can close the deal.”
Gift link www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Inside the New Fast Track to a Presidential Pardon
Even some of the president’s closest advisers have been surprised by a number of the recent series of pardons.
www.wsj.com
December 27, 2025 at 9:24 PM
All of the money that changed hands in the Teapot Dome scandal totaled less than $10 million after adjusting for inflation, and it was considered so corrupt we still teach it in high school government classes a century later.
Reposted by Brian
If you pay attention to any large industry long enough and follow it to its logical conclusion you eventually end up sounding like a communist even if you started off testing CPU case fans. youtu.be/cUrJVdF2me0?...
December 22, 2025 at 5:58 PM
If you pay attention to any large industry long enough and follow it to its logical conclusion you eventually end up sounding like a communist even if you started off testing CPU case fans. youtu.be/cUrJVdF2me0?...
Reposted by Brian
These declines are MASSIVE.
And the comparative silence in media coverage is absolutely DAMNING.
“Why are ppl always so afraid of crime?”
THIS is why. When crime goes up, media trips over itself to report it.
Falls to pre-war (!!) levels? Just CRICKETS.
And the comparative silence in media coverage is absolutely DAMNING.
“Why are ppl always so afraid of crime?”
THIS is why. When crime goes up, media trips over itself to report it.
Falls to pre-war (!!) levels? Just CRICKETS.
I count 10 cities in 2025 that are on track to have the fewest murders since at least 1970. Newark is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1956 (though only have data through Oct this year) and San Francisco is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1942.
December 23, 2025 at 10:03 PM
These declines are MASSIVE.
And the comparative silence in media coverage is absolutely DAMNING.
“Why are ppl always so afraid of crime?”
THIS is why. When crime goes up, media trips over itself to report it.
Falls to pre-war (!!) levels? Just CRICKETS.
And the comparative silence in media coverage is absolutely DAMNING.
“Why are ppl always so afraid of crime?”
THIS is why. When crime goes up, media trips over itself to report it.
Falls to pre-war (!!) levels? Just CRICKETS.
Reposted by Brian
Political and corporate spokespeople now regularly treat a request for comment from the mainstream media as an opportunity to drop a free ad into the middle of the story. Bad faith non-responses should just be discarded, with a note that they declined to respond to the substance of the question.
WH spokesperson Abigail Jackson said "60 Minutes should spend their time and energy amplifying the stories of Angel Parents, whose innocent American children have tragically been murdered by vicious illegal aliens that President Trump are removing from the country."
December 23, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Political and corporate spokespeople now regularly treat a request for comment from the mainstream media as an opportunity to drop a free ad into the middle of the story. Bad faith non-responses should just be discarded, with a note that they declined to respond to the substance of the question.
Reposted by Brian
It's like the 12 days of Streisanding.
December 23, 2025 at 5:00 AM
It's like the 12 days of Streisanding.
Reposted by Brian
I am still shocked by the degree that casual racism has been completely normalized in the US. I shouldn't be after the last 10 years, yet I am.
Fine: "I'm talking to my colleagues about whether we want these fake Somali refugees - who come to our country, add no value, suck our resources, defraud our govt - whether we actually want them here. I don't think Ilhan Omar shouldn't be a member of Congress - I think she shouldn't be an American"
December 23, 2025 at 12:03 AM
I am still shocked by the degree that casual racism has been completely normalized in the US. I shouldn't be after the last 10 years, yet I am.
Reposted by Brian
The Olivia Nuzzi story and the Bari Weiss at CBS story are the same story, which is that the upper echelons of legacy media are absolutely rife with people who worship power and don't feel burdened by any sense of responsibility to their profession or the public.
December 22, 2025 at 6:35 PM
The Olivia Nuzzi story and the Bari Weiss at CBS story are the same story, which is that the upper echelons of legacy media are absolutely rife with people who worship power and don't feel burdened by any sense of responsibility to their profession or the public.
Reposted by Brian
The problem with this piece, like all the other pieces, is that the missing hed, dek, & lede is that all of this was wildly illegal, unconstitutional, & criminal. This is how you normalize lawless authoritarianism - treat like just another story in our politics. “Transformation” is lazy euphemism.
This WaPo piece weaves together an incredibly powerful story about the way Trump has devastated government and the dedicated people who wake up every day to serve the public. wapo.st/4b14KAy
The year Trump broke the federal government
How DOGE and the White House carried out a once-unthinkable transformation of the nation’s sprawling bureaucracy.
wapo.st
December 21, 2025 at 12:43 PM
The problem with this piece, like all the other pieces, is that the missing hed, dek, & lede is that all of this was wildly illegal, unconstitutional, & criminal. This is how you normalize lawless authoritarianism - treat like just another story in our politics. “Transformation” is lazy euphemism.
Reposted by Brian
I can *100% assure you* that if this report found that trans people & "wokeness" tanked the Harris campaign, the DNC would release it in a heartbeat
BREAKING: The Democratic National Committee will NOT release its long-awaited autopsy on Trump's 2024 win. The report is completed but Dem leaders decided it could distract from their winning streak, so it will remain secret. Not good.
Details here:
newrepublic.com/article/2045...
Details here:
newrepublic.com/article/2045...
Dem Leaders Decide to Bury Damning Report on Why Trump Won in 2024
The Democratic National Committee has completed its long-awaited analysis on what went wrong in the 2024 campaign. But in a move that will attract intense criticism, it’s keeping the findings secret.
newrepublic.com
December 18, 2025 at 10:28 PM
I can *100% assure you* that if this report found that trans people & "wokeness" tanked the Harris campaign, the DNC would release it in a heartbeat
Reposted by Brian
The collective delusion here is useful in that it has provoked conservatives to dispense with decades of bootstrap rhetoric and reveal what they would say if they thought black people were people, that is to say, if these things were happening to them
December 18, 2025 at 3:42 PM
The collective delusion here is useful in that it has provoked conservatives to dispense with decades of bootstrap rhetoric and reveal what they would say if they thought black people were people, that is to say, if these things were happening to them
Reposted by Brian
Oh, it's just incredible and effortless how Kristen Stewart dismantles and diagnoses the pathology and ego of Brando (and... well, all the dudes in Hollywood) here. www.youtube.com/shorts/_h-iK... There's just so many parallels to tech in this. And I'm so glad she's solid in herself to just SAY it.
Kristen Stewart on Men and Method Acting
YouTube video by The Interview
www.youtube.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Oh, it's just incredible and effortless how Kristen Stewart dismantles and diagnoses the pathology and ego of Brando (and... well, all the dudes in Hollywood) here. www.youtube.com/shorts/_h-iK... There's just so many parallels to tech in this. And I'm so glad she's solid in herself to just SAY it.
Reposted by Brian
As expected, now that the Democractic party can rely on Trumps falling popularity to win races, it no longer needs to reflect on why it lost in 2024.
In other words, no lessons learned, no progressive policy push, minimal reversal of Trump's orders, and another 4 to 8 years until the next fascist.
In other words, no lessons learned, no progressive policy push, minimal reversal of Trump's orders, and another 4 to 8 years until the next fascist.
NEWS: The DNC is killing off its 2024 autopsy.
DNC Chairman Ken Martin has decided not to publish a public report, believing that a backward-looking document would be counterproductive as the party has started winning.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...
DNC Chairman Ken Martin has decided not to publish a public report, believing that a backward-looking document would be counterproductive as the party has started winning.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...
The D.N.C. Is Killing Its Autopsy of What Went Wrong in 2024
www.nytimes.com
December 18, 2025 at 8:47 PM
As expected, now that the Democractic party can rely on Trumps falling popularity to win races, it no longer needs to reflect on why it lost in 2024.
In other words, no lessons learned, no progressive policy push, minimal reversal of Trump's orders, and another 4 to 8 years until the next fascist.
In other words, no lessons learned, no progressive policy push, minimal reversal of Trump's orders, and another 4 to 8 years until the next fascist.
Reposted by Brian
You know, we really are gonna have to do a damnatio memoriae and scrub this motherfucker's name off everything he's defiled with it.
*****
www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/k...
*****
www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/k...
Kennedy Center to be renamed ‘Trump-Kennedy Center,' Karoline Leavitt says
The Kennedy Center will be renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday on social media.
www.nbcwashington.com
December 18, 2025 at 7:29 PM
You know, we really are gonna have to do a damnatio memoriae and scrub this motherfucker's name off everything he's defiled with it.
*****
www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/k...
*****
www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/k...
Reposted by Brian
Gavin Newsom is Mitt Romney for the Democrats, a department store mannequin who will lose in a general election
December 17, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Gavin Newsom is Mitt Romney for the Democrats, a department store mannequin who will lose in a general election
Reposted by Brian
the desire to overthrow america will persist if you do not stamp it out. so - do not treat wiles like some fun lil gossip story. she is not entertainment news. she's a member of the truly wicked and needs to be treated as an enemy.
December 16, 2025 at 3:16 PM
the desire to overthrow america will persist if you do not stamp it out. so - do not treat wiles like some fun lil gossip story. she is not entertainment news. she's a member of the truly wicked and needs to be treated as an enemy.
Reposted by Brian
"ICE and CBP must be abolished" is the only reasonable position. We can debate the specifics of new agencies for immigration functions, but these agencies are simply too infected with a culture of impunity, racism, and fascism to continue. They're gangs with badges.
Armed ICE agents trapped US citizens in a restaurant and demanded their papers. Federal agents walked into East African restaurants in Cedar-Riverside, MN. They closed and blocked the doors. Then they demanded to see everyone’s papers. Every person present was a US citizen.
Federal agents use chemical irritant on crowd in Somali neighborhood of Minneapolis amid Trump crackdown
Federal agents have used chemical irritant to disperse a crowd in a heavily Somali neighborhood in Minneapolis. This happened Tuesday during a identification checks amid the Trump administration's cra...
www.mprnews.org
December 14, 2025 at 8:49 PM
"ICE and CBP must be abolished" is the only reasonable position. We can debate the specifics of new agencies for immigration functions, but these agencies are simply too infected with a culture of impunity, racism, and fascism to continue. They're gangs with badges.
Reposted by Brian
Oh. Cool. Just as the President is using every power he can to suppress dissent and stifle speech, @whitehouse.senate.gov and the @judiciarydems.senate.gov are trying to hand Trump a new tool to suppress speech online.
What a joke.
What a joke.
Sen. WHITEHOUSE: We finally are moving to file a bipartisan Section 230 repeal bill. Waiting any longer serves no useful purpose.
December 12, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Oh. Cool. Just as the President is using every power he can to suppress dissent and stifle speech, @whitehouse.senate.gov and the @judiciarydems.senate.gov are trying to hand Trump a new tool to suppress speech online.
What a joke.
What a joke.
Reposted by Brian
June 5, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Reposted by Brian
Gotta admit "the font is DEI" is a stage of absurdity I could not have predicted
Marco Rubio ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor's decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move
Rubio Stages Font Coup: Times New Roman Ousts Calibri
The secretary of state called it a "wasteful" diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.
www.huffpost.com
December 10, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Gotta admit "the font is DEI" is a stage of absurdity I could not have predicted
Reposted by Brian
It’s very funny to me that countries are trying to pass laws banning teens from social media until they’re older and can “handle it” as if the last decade hasn’t been about watching rich middle aged men nuke their brains on Twitter and then run the USA via shitpost.
Dude. Yes. Alito and Thomas are of course the standout examples, but all of the Republican justices have tells in their writing and their questioning indicating that they are, to varying degrees, marinating their brains in dumb bitch juice
My theory, fwiw, is that Supreme Court Justices are not immune to Twitter brain poisoning. I suspect all six have horrific information environments and have therefore lost the ability to understand the people who don't agree with them.
December 8, 2025 at 6:13 PM
It’s very funny to me that countries are trying to pass laws banning teens from social media until they’re older and can “handle it” as if the last decade hasn’t been about watching rich middle aged men nuke their brains on Twitter and then run the USA via shitpost.
Reposted by Brian
It’s genuinely unbelievable how much the average right winger’s conception of history is based on post-war American advertising of the mid 20th century
Terminally online Right wingers are telling on themselves
December 8, 2025 at 6:47 PM
It’s genuinely unbelievable how much the average right winger’s conception of history is based on post-war American advertising of the mid 20th century
Reposted by Brian
I'm really coming over to the idea that elite weirdo groupchats have melted the brains of WAAAAY too many elite Dems.
Xitter plays a significant role here, but I'm pretty sure the main vector here is that all the well-connected rich ppl they hang out with have gone (comparatively) mildly batshit.
Xitter plays a significant role here, but I'm pretty sure the main vector here is that all the well-connected rich ppl they hang out with have gone (comparatively) mildly batshit.
Thanks for validating me, governor
December 7, 2025 at 10:15 PM
I'm really coming over to the idea that elite weirdo groupchats have melted the brains of WAAAAY too many elite Dems.
Xitter plays a significant role here, but I'm pretty sure the main vector here is that all the well-connected rich ppl they hang out with have gone (comparatively) mildly batshit.
Xitter plays a significant role here, but I'm pretty sure the main vector here is that all the well-connected rich ppl they hang out with have gone (comparatively) mildly batshit.
Reposted by Brian
Crime is down massively in the last two decades without this kind of brutality. Our obvious problems are housing, healthcare, and food security. But that requires rich people giving up a tiny sliver of the money they’ve exploitatively derived from workers.
it does feel like an intense societal problem that the founder of palantir, the biggest survellience company, thinks like this
December 7, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Crime is down massively in the last two decades without this kind of brutality. Our obvious problems are housing, healthcare, and food security. But that requires rich people giving up a tiny sliver of the money they’ve exploitatively derived from workers.
Reposted by Brian
Look, I'm just gonna tell cishet white people right now--Newsom ain't the one. You got Walz and Pritzker out here. You do not need a Bill Clinton clone wearing Mitt Romney's skin.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Thursday that the Democratic Party needed to be “more culturally normal” and “less judgmental.”
December 7, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Look, I'm just gonna tell cishet white people right now--Newsom ain't the one. You got Walz and Pritzker out here. You do not need a Bill Clinton clone wearing Mitt Romney's skin.