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@rasterweb@mastodon.social
2025-11-04 15:29:28
Content warning: USPOL Trump Mamdani

I seriously laughed out loud when I read that Trump said that he is better looking than Mamdani.
First of all, it doesn't fucking matter!
Second, it's totally wrong. Mamdani is a good looking dude. 😉
#USPOL

@unchartedworlds@scicomm.xyz
2025-10-06 05:40:04
Content warning: USPol, good summary

@… lays out the gap between (a) Democrats' collective fantasies of "the next election" and (b) what's actually happening.
#USPol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-10-04 19:36:30

Turns out the greatest threat to Americans is American federal security forces.
#USpol

@stefan@gardenstate.social
2025-11-05 03:17:55

Nice graphic from MSNBC
#uspol

point spread
@jonpainterphoto@lawfedi.blue
2025-11-05 03:53:47

SCHULTZ!
“I know nothing!!!!”
#uspol #HogansHeros #mikejohnson

Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, wearing a WWII German helmet and overcoat… like Sgt. Schultz, “He knows nothing!!!”
@katrinakatrinka@infosec.exchange
2025-11-04 17:30:09

Dick Cheney is a good example of why rich people live so long. [ETA: Rich people in the US.]
If he'd just been a regular person, he likely would've died without a heart transplant, if not before from one of his many heart attacks.
#uspol

@hex@kolektiva.social
2025-10-06 07:03:30

European "socialism" is a compromise wherein the population gets services and, in exchange, the rich are allowed to continue to exist. This compromise developed to save capitalism from the threat of the working class just rising up and just doing it all themselves. Revolutions, it turns out, can be dangerous and may be subverted. It's generally safer, so Europe's working class decided, to accept some exploitation in exchange for not taking that chance.
The the strategy of "point guns at everyone until they comply" was a sustainable strategy, all of Europe would still be absolute monarchies, feudalism would still be the dominant economic system globally, and England would still control most of the land on Earth. Recognizing that this *isn't* the state of the world should give some clues as to how well Yarvin's ideas continue will play out in the real world.
#USPol

@joe@toot.works
2025-10-05 12:49:36

The Trump administration sure is good at leaking their own plans for things.
"A senior White House official accidentally leaked details of plans to send an elite army unit to Portland, in the latest intelligence leak by the Trump administration."
#Politics #USPolitics #USPol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-10-05 06:07:41

Pure fiction.
This senior adviser to potus can’t even see that Oregon’s 6,695 sworn police officers are less numerous than the FBI’s ~13,700 special agents.
Stephen Miller shouldn’t be trusted to advise on a coffee order, let alone government policy. He is out of touch with reality.
Sources in comment.
#USpol

screenshot of a post by Stephen Miller @StephenM: 

Legal insurrection. The President is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, not an Oregon judge. Portland and Oregon law enforcement, at the direction of local leaders, have refused to aid ICE officers facing relentless terrorist assault and threats to life. 

(There are more local law enforcement officers in Oregon than there are guns and badges in the FBI nationwide). This is an organized terrorist attack on the federal government and i…
@stefan@gardenstate.social
2025-11-05 02:41:33

80% in #nyc
#uspol

80% in #nyc
@jrm4@mastodon.social
2025-10-04 06:00:37

The comedians in saudi arabia feels like a stupid stupid distraction and a way for people to feel morally superior in one of the most pointless ways possible
#uspol

@FerdiZ@mastodon.cloud
2025-11-03 16:27:25

Why Trump's ICE is kidnapping & disappearing so many legal US residents today: #UsPol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-06 02:13:04

In accordance with Sec. 2. (e) of Executive Order 14190, “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” as signed by potus on January 29, 2025, the U.S. Government will _not_ be "modifying a [Department]'s name," despite SecDef and potus' desires for the Department of Defense's “social transition.”
Thank you for your attention to this matter!
#USpol

@stefan@gardenstate.social
2025-11-05 02:46:26

Ciattarelli should run again. he's my fav political opponent ATM.
#newJersey #uspol

@hakona@im.alstadheim.no
2025-11-02 09:15:33

RE: #USPOL
What you can do, in the next *two weeks* . Keep a bare minimum of democracy f…

@unchartedworlds@scicomm.xyz
2025-09-03 05:56:43
Content warning: USPol speculation

Seeing rumours that 47 has had some kind of health glitch.
Suppose 47 dies, I don't reckon Vance would be any better. Different style, but a lot of the same people running things in the background anyway.
#USPol #Trump #Vance

@dhuyvetter@mastodon.social
2025-10-03 05:24:34

The US mainstream media is thoroughly broken: Bari Weiss, Who Thinks Everything Is Woke, Will Be CBS Editor-in-Chief
Anti-woke, anti-trans, pro-Israel Bari Weiss will soon lead one of the biggest media companies in the U.S.
#uspol #newsmedia

@Treppenwitz@sfba.social
2025-10-03 14:05:43

If you wrote a piece of fiction where this many members of a political party were rapists, people would roll their eyes. #gop #uspol

@stevefoerster@social.fossdle.org
2025-09-30 20:30:03

#uspol

Generals and admirals at Hegseth's pointless "warrior ethos" meeting with the caption "This could have been an email"
@vrandecic@mas.to
2025-10-01 05:43:43

The Radical Left does not have the majority in Congress. In the Senate, Republicans have the majority. In the House of Representatives, Republicans have the majority. In Congress, Republicans have the majority. Republicans control all three branches of the federal government.
Spread it wide, loud, and clear.
#uspol

@hex@kolektiva.social
2025-10-03 07:16:35

What are you going to do when the regime falls? After calling all your friends, after the great memes, after the parties, what are you going to do to make sure it never happens again? What world should we create?
Taxing billionaires is great and all, but we could build systems where billionaires are impossible. Is hoarding wealth and using it to control people even something we should consider part of a functional and humane system? Any system where one group of people doesn't have rights means that anyone can be stripped of their rights, like has happened with all the US citizens who've been illegally detained and deported by ICE. Does the concept of "rights" that must be defended with violence, that can be stripped away by people who can exercise more violence, even make sense? Or should the bedrock of a functional system be the obligations that we have to each other and to society, that cannot be severed or taken from us, that tell us we *must* defend regardless of whether systemic oppression will impact us or not?
Americans have been so restricted by the limitations of the two party system, only able to choose between options acceptable to different sections of the capitalist class. Would we even be able to imagine what we could do if those restrictions went away?
The fall of the Berlin wall was a surprise. The fall of Assad was faster than anyone expected. One day the government of Nepal was an unrepentant oligarchy, the next it was on fire. Everything can change in an instant, faster than anyone expects. No one can predict revolutionary change. Will you be ready if the opportunity presents itself?
The US cannot be fixed. The economic system is a ponzi scheme that has been patched again and again, but has finally run out of options. Racism, sexism, and Christian nationalism are baked into the system at every level. Trump gutted the system of soft power that held the US economy together, now there is only a slow decline. Even after he's gone, the damage is done. Once we let go of how to fix something that cannot be fixed, we can start to imagine something that cannot be achieved within the current system.
This is a time of opportunity. Do not burrow so deep in terror that you miss your chance to dream.
#USPol

@scottmiller42@mstdn.social
2025-10-01 15:34:46

I’m still seeing folks looking at the US political hellscape and saying…
“If only there was a better third party, that’d solve this.”
In most cases, that’d just split the vote of folks opposed to MAGA.
One reason MAGA has been successful is Turnip’s ability to browbeat unity into a solid voting coalition.
#USpol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-11-03 23:59:18

He doesn't know what tariffs are or how they work, and how the Constitution works.
Great choice of leader Texas.
#USpol #TXpol #tariffs

Screenshot of a two post thread.

Greg Abbott @GregAbbott_TX: 

After the polls close tomorrow night, I will impose a 100% tariff on anyone moving to Texas from NYC.

MigratingCoconut @aheadwarp9: 

Replying to @GregAbbott_TX 

States cannot tariff each other.  Read the Constitution. Article 1, sections 9 and 10. 

Nov 3, 2025 · 11:04 PM UTC
@hex@kolektiva.social
2025-11-03 10:16:54

Adding another post. This one is a bit less polished, but I want to get it out. As things get harder for everyone, I'm seeing a greater tendency to want to grasp onto revolutionary fiction such as #Andor. I think there's value in that, but it has to come with an informed critique.
> We are so thirsty for hope that we will drink it up, even when that hope comes from a fiction and the truth behind the hope is poison. In Andor, we see the worst elements sacrifice themselves for some of the best. The revolution goes through a process of purification, the complicated elements weeding themselves out to make room for the simplified good, as the rebellion unifies. In reality, this tends to be the opposite how things actually work.
> [...]
> [The Urban Guerilla movement of the 60's through the 80's] centered militant revolution. In doing so, they omitted or cut themselves off from the logistic support needed to sustain such revolutionary activity. The trauma of carrying out violence further isolated and radicalized them. Lacking infrastructure for trauma healing, their decay escalated and became unrecoverable. Ultimately, their revolutionary movements both emulated and reinforced the status quo they were trying to resist.
> There emerges a strange historical parallel that is difficult to see from within the dominant paradigm. The competitive politics of electoralism derives from heroic competition, where people (typically men) compete (often violently) for control over a territory or people. Thus the insurrectionary enters into the very same competition as a challenger, not against the system of domination but for control over it. The success of the revolution, then, does not abolish the system of violent domination but changes rather replaces its management.
> Many modern anarchists will be quick to point out the disconnect between ends and means. While authoritarian projects often assert that "the ends justify the means," and Andor implies the same, anti-authoritarian projects assert the ends and the means are not only united but are, in fact, the same.
This is still very much something I'm actively editing, but I'd still love feedback to help me refine it to it's final form. Typo catches and clarifying questions welcome.
#USPol

@stefan@gardenstate.social
2025-11-04 01:41:51

Protect Yourself From Media Like This... by schnee
#uspol #propaganda

@jrm4@mastodon.social
2025-10-01 14:45:00

Re: E.g. that Riyadh show etc.
The way some of y'all are holding comedians to the moral standards that actual leaders should hold is *deeply* goofy.
That's not their job. Their job is to point at the absurdity so people can see it. The more they do that, the better.
#uspol #comedy

@smurthys@hachyderm.io
2025-09-05 02:17:40

"I even have a Department of War. Now give me my Nobel Peace Prize."
- Someone in Washington DC. Probably.
#uspol #USA #war #names #DepartmentOfWar #DOD #NobelPeacePrize

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-10-03 21:04:00

ICE Wants to Build Out a 24/7 Social Media Surveillance Team.
#USpol

@light@noc.social
2025-10-30 15:19:27

Someone should kill every last one of those pathetic fascist cunts. #USpol

@profcarroll@federate.social
2025-10-22 14:22:04

Building a big bribe room to sell the country off for parts while the government is rapidly deconstructed into a legislatively induced coma #uspol

@vrandecic@mas.to
2025-10-01 06:01:23

Google, which is happy to answer all kinds of questions using their AI, seems to answer with a mix of non-committal results, a few current ones, and plenty outdated results for "who has the majority in the house" and similar questions.
Are you getting better results?
EDIT: I get reports from people that they get better results
#uspol

Three Google results, one highlighting a non-committal answer, and two stating that the Democrats have the majority in the House (since the results are outdated)
@stefan@gardenstate.social
2025-11-05 15:05:47

In a time of short form videos it's still valuable to watch full speeches.
#nyc

@elduvelle@neuromatch.social
2025-09-22 20:39:31

#UsPol #FreeSpeech #Kimmel
"Jimmy Kimmel will return to TV after highly criticized suspension"

@rasterweb@mastodon.social
2025-09-24 12:24:44
Content warning: USPOL

Is Kamala Harris backing Mamdani just a way to sabotage Mamdani because people who like Mamdani probably do not like Harris?
#USPOL

@crell@phpc.social
2025-10-31 02:48:10

Dropping the penny is one thing, but like everything this moronic administration does is unplanned chaos.
fortune.com/2025/10/30/america

@markrsmith@smithtodon.org
2025-09-26 16:30:19

House Oversight cmte Democrats release 6 pages from Epstein files.
They mention Prince Andrew (and his massages), Steve Bannon, Peter Thiel.
AND Elon Musk possibly on Epstein’s island
#uspol #epstein #PrinceAndrew

@timbray@cosocial.ca
2025-08-28 18:42:01

More on CBP treatment of Canadians at the US border, this time with CBP’s own statistics, which are interesting: cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/us-

@stefan@gardenstate.social
2025-09-05 19:56:16

The Most Important Election In 2025 | Rep. Mikie Sherrill by Democracy Docket
#NewJersey

@davej@dice.camp
2025-09-19 07:00:32
Content warning: CW: uspol, Trump, Kimmel

“Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that's possible.”
Fine. Make *him* VP then.
So, do you think Trump and Prince Andrew casually reminisced over breakfast about children they'd raped?
#uspol #Trump

Post on Truth Social from Donald Trump:

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump • 38s

Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that's possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!
President DJT
@smashtie@mas.to
2025-09-26 05:45:27

'Bondi said in a statement that the indictment "reflects this Department of Justice's commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people."' I wonder if there are any other people who might be more obviously guilty of abusing positions of power ... 🤔 #uspol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-02 19:16:06

Hardcore criminals? Like…say with 34 felony convictions?
#USpol

@stevefoerster@social.fossdle.org
2025-09-28 21:48:51

Because for a moment there one of Trump's minions was in the news more prominently than he was, and we obviously can't have *that*!
#uspol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-02 19:01:50

Wait, could I have entered that competition? Like could space command be in my breakfast nook?
#USpol #SpaceCommand

@hex@kolektiva.social
2025-11-01 21:10:03

I'm at an interesting intersection between poor as fuck (or adjacent, mostly anarchist) folks and generally well off (mostly liberal-ish) tech folks, so every once and a while I can help with some info that bridges that gap. Right now is kind of a critical time for that.
For anyone not extremely affected by the SNAP thing, here's a reasonable video:
#USPol

@unchartedworlds@scicomm.xyz
2025-09-30 22:09:07
Content warning: good advice

"Figure out today what your core values are and don’t trade them away.
"Coates’s “all humanity is equal and is worthy of that” is not a bad place to start. But find the foundational ideas that matter to you. Then look for ways to act in the world, close to home, that rise out of those values."
- @…
#politics #ethics #USPol

@joe@toot.works
2025-08-28 12:19:22

I don't think that the dipshit and Vance are capable of taking responsibility for their failures and that says a lot about them.
#USPolitics #USPol #Politics

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-02 19:23:55

He still doesn’t admit that import taxes (tariffs) are paid by Americans importing, not by other countries.
#USpol #TrumpTariffs #economy

@rasterweb@mastodon.social
2025-09-23 12:01:31
Content warning: USPOL

The only phrase that sums things up is "I Feel Like I'm Taking Crazy Pills!"
I don't know how the experts I hear on NPR can talk after hearing a Trump audio clip that is clearing the ramblings of a madman and not call it out as such.
They somehow remain all serious and explain things clearly. How do they do it?
#USPOL

@stefan@gardenstate.social
2025-10-02 17:59:09

Is America Heading Towards Civil War? with Rep. Ilhan Omar by Hasan Minhaj
#uspol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-02 19:32:33

President wants-to-gerrymander-the-gop-into-permanent-power says _Democrats_ cheat.
Every accusation really is a confession.
#USpol

@hex@kolektiva.social
2025-09-01 17:29:02

Kids and gun violence
This week's Executive Disorder started with a conversation about the school shooting in Twin Cities...
#USPol

@elduvelle@neuromatch.social
2025-08-31 06:35:38

"Step back and take it in: the US is entering full authoritarian mode"
theguardian.com/commentisfree/

@stefan@gardenstate.social
2025-10-02 15:31:48

this starts slow but I think gets pretty good.
How to Protest The Trump Regime Like The Civil Rights Movement by Offline with Jon Favreau
#uspol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-02 19:13:24

114,000 schools in the United States.
Deploying a single National Guardsman costs ~$530/day.
Or ~$60 million a day, or for a 180 day school year more than $10 billion dollars.
#USpol

@smurthys@hachyderm.io
2025-09-25 15:50:40

"Bondi and prosecutors have reservations over charging Comey"
Trump only wants fodder for rants and distractions. An indictment suffices for that. Failed cases give him even more fodder. Win for him whichever way it goes. 😢
#uspol #Comey #justice

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-02 19:20:17

“That’s not this country, we have to do something.”
Breaking laws by deploying soldiers ain’t it.
Common sense gun control laws can be.
Breaking Posse Comitatus won’t solve underlying causes of crime.
And red states are more murdery than LA, DC and Chicago.
He’s grabbing power.
#USpol

@stefan@gardenstate.social
2025-09-02 00:34:48

How Chicago Labor History Teaches Us To Fight Fascism Today | Kat Abughazaleh For Illinois by Kat Abughazaleh
#uspol

@elduvelle@neuromatch.social
2025-10-22 15:13:34

This "executive order" system simply has to be removed from the US political system. Why is it even a thing? It's clearly not democratic...
#UsPol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-11-01 21:55:41

Sad Bovino.
A key figure in the unlawful ice violence and the disappearances of people, gregory bovino is sad.
🧵 1/2
#satire #USpol #ice

greogory bovino in a uniform with a customs and border patrol badge, looking thoughtfully sad, with a speech bubble above them reading, "Hurting people doesn’t make me feel better anymore."
Four men standing at a vice presidential press conference, in front of a blue vehicle, with a thought bubble above gregory bovino in uniform reading, "All this, and my mother still doesn’t love me."
U.S. Border Patrol agent gregory bovino holding a civilian’s arm, looking thoughtfully distraught, with a speech bubble reading, "I’ll never again reach the high I got the first time I violated someone, will I?"
gregory bovino in a U.S. Border Patrol uniform speaking at a dhs seal podium and a microphone, with an American flag in the background and a thought bubble reading, "Now the laxative decides to work?"
@hex@kolektiva.social
2025-10-30 19:36:00

As a security engineer, whenever anyone talks about a control it's always important to ask "by what mechanism?"
> "Oh, that can't happen because we have a system to stop it."
By what mechanism?
> "We have documentation that says...."
Yeah, that's not a mechanism.
People keep saying, "Trump can't do that!" But like... by what mechanism?
> "The constitution says..."
Yeah... a documented list of rules is not self-enforcing. What is the mechanism?
What makes this impossible? Oh, it's possible under certain conditions? Oh, it's always possible and you're completely relying on the idea that there will never be a malicious actor? Yeah, that's gonna get exploited. Oh shit, now you're owned.
What do you do with a system that's completely owned? Once it's compromised it can never be trusted again. What would you tell a client who told you, "Patching is really hard, so we're just gonna ban the attacker's IP."
What, you're not even gonna reinstall?
I assume we've all had the "burn everything down and start again" client. I wonder how many of us thought we would see the US government ask for them to hold it's beer.
#USPol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-02 01:06:28

Watching Vlad Vexler discuss potus’ status:
#USpol

@unchartedworlds@scicomm.xyz
2025-08-19 08:04:51
Content warning: Nicole Collier / Texas coercion (USPol)

Glaring coercion, principled refusal. Not much surprises me out of the US currently, but this did.
"House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R) said that Democrats who left the state would only be allowed to leave the chamber on Monday if they signed an agreement to be accompanied by an escort from the Texas Department of Public Safety."
Rep Nicole Chandler declined to sign the agreement, and "NBC News correspondent Ryan Chandler reported that Collier was "locked into the House chamber" because she refused to sign the document."
"In my heart I don't feel compelled to sign it"
"I'll just sit here, I don't know… I guess I'll wait til Wednesday."
!
This is the kind of integrity we need. Immense respect to her.
#NicoleCollier #Texas #USPol

@hex@kolektiva.social
2025-09-28 07:20:21

I know it was 3000 years ago now, but I want everyone to remember that Portland beat Trump last time because normal people came out every night to resist.
Portland made Trump look weak once. He pulled out everything he had to terrorize and intimidate people, and federal agents got pushed out of the city anyway. He was embarrassed. Now he can do more and he probably thinks that he has more time, but Portland maybe able to prove him wrong.
Portland ended Trump's presidency once, and it can happen again... especially if Portland keeps doing a good job of reminding everyone that the whole invasion is an attempt to distract from #Epstein.
#USPol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-11-04 15:17:18

It’s no accident. Their lawlessness must stop.
The American People will stop them.
#USpol #ice #immigration #law

Text reading "0 days since federal agents violently abducted someone with no due process, violating Constitutional Rights” in the style of the “how many days without preventable accident” industrial safety signs.
@stefan@gardenstate.social
2025-10-31 01:05:58

Carving Pumpkins to save democracy
#uspol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-01 00:34:27

Kinda weird it makes sense to make a graphic like this.
No idea what I should use it for.
Flyers to hand to soldiers?
#USpol #Chicago #law

United States Soldiers 

[icon of a stack of laws labeled “UCMJ” and “92,” heart icon, you icon] 

Article 92 Loves You 
Disobey Illegal Orders
@hex@kolektiva.social
2025-10-30 10:05:59

The fracturing of the Dutch far-right, after Wilder's reminded everyone that bigots are bad at compromise, is definitely a relief. Dutch folks I've talked to definitely see D66 as progressive, <strike>so there's no question this is a hard turn to the left (even if it's not a total flip to the far-left)</strike> a lot of folks don't agree. I'm going to let the comments speak rather than editorialize myself..
While this is a useful example of how a democracy can be far more resilient to fascism than the US, that is, perhaps, not the most interesting thing about Dutch politics. The most interesting thing is something Dutch folks take for granted and never think of as such: there are two "governments."
The election was for the Tweede Kamer. This is a house of representatives. The Dutch use proportional representation, so people can (more or less) vote for the parties they actually want. Parties <strike>rarely</strike> never actually get a ruling majority, so they have to form coalition governments. This forces compromise, which is something Wilders was extremely bad at. He was actually responsible for collapsing the coalition his party put together, which triggered this election... and a massive loss of seats for his party.
Dutch folks do still vote strategically, since a larger party has an easier time building the governing coalition and the PM tends to come from the largest party. This will likely be D66, which is really good for the EU. D66 has a pretty radical plan to solve the housing crisis, and it will be really interesting to see if they can pull it off. But that's not the government I want to talk about right now.
In the Netherlands, failure to control water can destroy entire towns. A good chunk of the country is below sea level. Both floods and land reclamation have been critical parts of Dutch history. So in the 1200's or so, the Dutch realized that some things are too important to mix with normal politics.
You see, if there's an incompetent government that isn't able to actually *do* anything (see Dick Schoof and the PVV/VVD/NSC/BBB coalition) you don't want your dikes to collapse and poulders to flood. So the Dutch created a parallel "government" that exists only to manage water: waterschap or heemraadschap (roughly "Water Board" in English). These are regional bureaucracies that exist only to manage water. They exist completely outside the thing we usually talk about as a "government" but they have some of the same properties as a government. They can, for example, levy taxes. The central government contributes funds to them, but lacks authority over them. Water boards are democratically elected and can operate more-or-less independent of the central government.
Controlling water is a common problem, so water boards were created to fulfill the role of commons management. Meanwhile, so many other things in politics run into the very same "Tragedy of the Commons" problems. The right wing solution to commons management is to let corporations ruin everything. The left-state solution is to move everything into the government so it can be undermined and destroyed by the right. The Dutch solution to this specific problem has been to move commons management out of the domain of the central government into something else.
And when I say "government" here, I'm speaking more to the liberal definition of the term than to an anarchist definition. A democratically controlled authority that facilitates resource management lacks the capacity for coercive violence that anarchists define as "government." (Though I assume they might leverage police or something if folks refuse to pay their taxes, but I can't imagine anyone choosing not to.)
As the US federal government destroys the social fabric of the US, as Trump guts programs critical to people's survival, it might be worth thinking about this model. These authorities weren't created by any central authority, they evolved from the people. Nothing stops Americans from building similar institutions that are both democratic and outside of the authority of a government that could choose to defund and abolish them... nothing but the realization that yes, you actually can.
#USPol #NLPol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-30 23:56:52

The gop controls all three branches of government, if their government shuts down, then the gop are the one’s who shutdown their government.
#USpol #shutdown

@stefan@gardenstate.social
2025-08-29 13:45:53

This booty call is too aggressive for me.
#uspol

Email from Gavin newsom with subtext wake up
@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-30 16:05:11

“There is a fine line between vision and hallucination. People have to follow you for it to be a vision.” - Dr. Oz.
No, that is not in fact the difference you charlatan.
#USpol

@hex@kolektiva.social
2025-09-27 21:07:34

Really hoping to see some One Piece flags in the pictures from the next #NoKings Day protests. I also hope everyone has brotherd to check the notes from Nepal. Regimes can collapse faster than expected. Sometimes it can be a total surprise.
I know things feel impossible right now, but you need to have a plan for when you win because it might surprise you. The other good thing about having a plan is that it gives you something to fight for instead of just something to fight against.
#USPol

@stefan@gardenstate.social
2025-09-28 16:17:07

Ta-Nehisi Coates and Ezra Klein Hash Out Their Charlie Kirk Disagreement
#uspol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-29 20:25:12

The gop controls the House, Senate, and the White House. It is their government.
If the government shuts down or the government stays open, that is on the gop.
#USpol

control 

noun 1. the power to influence or direct people's behaviour or the course of events 

Example: the whole operation is under the control of a production manager 

[example synonyms] jurisdiction sway power authority command dominance
@hex@kolektiva.social
2025-10-28 15:30:21

There tends to be this implicit assumption that only the state can provide services to the people. It's endemic to liberals. If authoritarians seize power, the thinking goes, there's nothing we can do.
But we have ample examples of the opposite. Trumpism is a specific type of authoritarianism where the state withdraws to allow corporations to control most things. They get a degree of autonomy and, in exchange, bow to the sovereign.
This is common in South American dictatorships (often those backed and supported by the US). So it can be helpful to look to these as examples of how to deal with that type of regime.
#USPol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-29 17:42:17

Watching Australian Senator Nick McKim describe the US slide into fascism:
#USpol

@hex@kolektiva.social
2025-10-27 14:56:50

You ever go to a party at a house you don't know, then someone talks to you and you're like, "oh hey, who are you?" And they're like, "I live here, you're in my house."
That's the way energy liberals bring to antifascism. Like, we're all super glad you're here. Most of us understand why you're late, and we're just glad you finally made it. But like, you're kind of in our house. You didn't invent this shit, but we've been here for a while.
#USPol

@stefan@gardenstate.social
2025-08-27 23:15:31

The Abundance Debate Hits California by Pod Save America
#uspol

@stefan@gardenstate.social
2025-08-27 21:06:25

Trump Is Building His Own Paramilitary Force | The Ezra Klein Show
#uspol

@hex@kolektiva.social
2025-08-25 13:01:30

This shit is straight up just the plot to Red Dawn, but the bootlickers can't even recognize it because the call is coming from inside the house.
#USPol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-08-29 01:01:01

Vacationing at tax-payer expense has prepared Ohio’s least favorite son to assume the role of president of the United States according to him?
Dude, there’s a couch somewhere waiting for you to defile it. Get to it.
#USpol

@hex@kolektiva.social
2025-09-21 18:01:21

I think I need to clarify some shit for (white) liberals.
How many times have you wondered if someone you're talking to in an informant sent to entrap you? How many times have you or a friend of yours been hit by a car, intentionally? How many friends have been hit, or almost hit? Ever been stabbed? Know anyone who has? Has the FBI ever knocked on a friend's door? Have police ever kicked down your door? Have you ever been arrested? Pepper sprayed? Does the sound or smell or blast balls give you flashbacks? Do you ever wonder what all the CS exposure is doing to your body? How many times have you been shot or shot at? Do you wonder every day if this is the day they'll come to kill you? Would anyone in your social circle answer these questions differently?
When you vote, you risk nothing (big asterisk, but if I'm talking to you then it doesn't apply to you). What you get out of voting is exactly what you put into it. Direct action is the same.
If you aren't worried about someone murdering you, then you probably aren't actually threatening the system. That's the difference between voting, and doing something useful. If they had to murder all the liberals in order to keep going, fascism would end. If they're only murdering radicals and marginalized people, then you're just like all the "good Germans" who hated Hitler but did essentially nothing.
It's already that bad for some people. How much are you willing to risk? How many people are you willing to sacrifice for your comfort? These are the questions we're all thinking about every time you tell us to vote.
(I'm tagging this #USPol so it's easy for folks to filter out if they're already well acquaintaned with the horror. I'm not CW, because USPol is just expected to be triggering.)

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-28 01:07:36

Not for nothing, but if Portland had its own nuclear capability, they wouldn’t be facing imminent invasion by the United States federal government. /s
#USpol

@hex@kolektiva.social
2025-10-26 07:33:09

Reagan's "Welfare Queen" rhetoric was a dog whistle. The whole "southern strategy" was full of dog whistles. Every time Republicans talked about gay marriage as a "states rights" issue, those were dog whistles. Naming a government agency "the Department of Homeland Security" was a dog whistle. Trump's speeches leading up to his first term were full of dog whistles.
Nazis have total control of all branches of government. They've cut off funding to all but the most oppressive elements of the government. There are concentration camps, both in client states (CECOT, among others) and in the US (Alligator Auschwitz, among others). They're actively carrying out ethnic cleansing.
When DHS puts out some Nazi shit, it's not a dog whistle. It's a vuvuzela. They're not trying to signal their intent without any of the "normies" noticing. They actively doing what they wanted to do. It's not a signal because there's nothing to signal. It's a celebration.
#USPol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-26 00:28:31

I translated bondi's statement into what she meant:
#USpol #satire #Comey

[overlaid: Here's what she meant to say:] 

fake screenshot of a post by Attorney General Pamela Bondi @AGPamBondi: 

No one is above the law. Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to being those who abuse positions of power and mislead the American people. We will follow the "facts" in this case. 

5:45 PM · Sep 25, 2025 

[overlaid: If she'd been honest.]
@hex@kolektiva.social
2025-08-26 11:36:53

Since leaving the US, things have gotten a lot better for me but it's still hard existing under capitalism. Just being a human is hard enough, but parenting is an order or magnitude harder.
Even here, with all the complexity of being an immigrant, it's somehow still less emotionally challenging than being in the US.
I wrote up a reflection on some of my feelings before leaving tangled up with some of the challenges I still have. I hope this helps some folks feel less alone, or makes it easier for other folks to understand why some parents are having a hard time.
CW: just.... Lots... Death, gun violence, trauma, etc
#USPol

@stefan@gardenstate.social
2025-08-24 15:04:15

Marc Maron Talks Donald Trump, Comedy and The Left by Pod Save America
#uspol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-24 23:26:56

Someone pointed out that the image of the bullets from the shooter in Dallas today seems to be wet but it didn’t rain in Dallas today.
I wish I could ask JFK if there have ever been any inconsistencies around shootings in Dallas.
#USpol

@stefan@gardenstate.social
2025-09-21 21:25:37

"Jack Ciattarelli has been running for governor since Mikie was in high school"
- Sean Higins
#NewJersey #uspol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-10-24 00:04:47

#USpol

screenshot of a post by felipejohns1: 

He did what the bad guys on UA Flight 93 could not. 

[quote post] davidaugust: 

How many enemies dreamt of destroying the White House. How many soldiers wished they could flatten it. How many generals fantasized about razing the American People's house...

[link from AP apnews.com including preview image showing destroyed East Wing of the White House] 

White House East Wing demolished as Trump moves forward with ballroom construction, A...
@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-24 00:06:31

We got ourselves an ol' fashioned cole war a comin'!
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland:
#USpol #POpol #RUpol

screen shot a a post by Radostaw Sikorski @sikorskiradek: 

Roger that. 

[quoted post]
The Bulwark @BulwarkOnlinez: 

Reporter: "Do you think that NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace?" 

Trump: "Yes, I do." 

Reporter: "Would the United States help them out in some way?" 

Trump: "Depends on the circumstance, but we're very strong toward NATO." 

Still of reporter and potus talking] 

Sep 23, 2025 • 6:21 PM UTC
2 frame still from Family Guy. 

Frame 1: Peter Griffin, labeled Poland, holds a shotgun as Meg, labeled NATO, pleads with him, “Poland, put that gun away!” 

Frame 2: Peter Griffin, labeled Poland and holding the shotgun, says, “I just wanna talk to Russia.”
@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-08-24 13:02:40

Chat, anyone have a contact at the Pentagon I can get this to? I wanna make sure they update their maps with the current info.
#USpol

A satellite view of a Lake Michigan surrounded by land including the city of Chicago, overlaid with the text "Gulf of FAFO" and a white lightning bolt symbol.
@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-23 01:33:45

Don’t worry everybody, just take Panadol.
#USpol #Tylenol

screenshot of the Wikipedia entry for Paracetamol:   Paracetamol   Paracetamol, or acetaminophen, is a non-opioid analgesic and antipyretic agent used to treat fever and mild to moderate pain. It is a widely available over-the-counter drug sold under various brand names, including Tylenol and Panadol.   [molecular diagram and imagery of Paracetamol]
@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-08-23 00:54:28

#USpol

A young child with a concerned expression looking at a TV screen showing a close-up of a frowning trump, with the text "MOMMY! It's the guy from Epstein's list!" overlaid.
@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-08-31 01:18:22

The United States in the last 8 months has threatened to invade, or invaded:
Canada
Mexico
Panama
Greenland
Denmark
Venezuela
Los Angeles
Washington DC
Chicago
Baltimore
Philadelphia
Boston
And many others. potus and kegseth plan to rename the Department of Defense the Department of War.
This sounds like Nobel Peace Prize behavior, am I right? 🤦‍♂️

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-10-21 18:21:58

#NoKings #USpol

2 post thread: 

Post 1: John Ekdahl @JohnEkdahl: 

Does this "No Kings" messaging make a lick of sense to anyone outside the far left?

Post 2: Heath Mayo @ HeathMayo: 

The 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, for starters.
@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-21 17:59:16

European rulers in part saw Crusades as how to remove troublesome or ambitious warriors from Europe, reducing threats to their authority.
Starting wars in Venezuela, Afghanistan or the other dozen places potus suggested/threatened, might serve comparable purpose.
Let’s thwart him anyway.
#USpol

@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-08-23 04:26:56

Not good.
#USpol

Classic “Intel Inside” logo, but instead it says, “MAGA Inside.”
@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-10-21 17:23:39

#limerick #satire #USpol

Donny J had to put on his pants,
To go to the inaugural dance.
He pulled up with a sigh,
And yanked on the fly;
Someone please call an ambulance. 

davidaugust.com
@davidaugust@mastodon.online
2025-09-20 00:18:10

Won 5 Emmys for Andor, a series about autocratic breakthrough and fascism. Then greenlights turning the entire company into the theme park ride. 🤦‍♂️
#iger #USpol #BoycottDisneyABC