...to a nursing home near you.
...to a rural hospital near you.
...to a neonatal unit near you.
...to a cancer patient near you.
...to a school district near you.
...to a promising clinical trial near you.
...to a physical therapy clinic near you.
...to a hospice near you.
...to hungry people where you live.
...to impoverished children where you live.
...to working men and women where you live.
...to the poor and desperate you will never meet in countries far away.
Hearing Sam Stein -- who used to write about Bill Kristol as Satan incarnate -- sing the praises of Bloody Bill Kristol was...fascinating.
And, sure, he acknowledges that this might piss off some of those crusty, old Liberals who are, y'know, still hanging on to old grudges about the Iraq war from the Before Time, but whatever, bitches!
Tempus fugit! Bill Kristol is a great guy. The best. Possibly superhuman. To know him is to love him.
And that's when Sam unveiled his Policy For Judging Human Beings. That while some people may seem terribly wicked from a distance or across the interwebs, once you get to know them, "when you do actually talk to the person...it radically changes your perceptions of them" (and, in this case, once they're signing your paycheck) they're pretty OK.
Basically, people are people, so even when people seem to be malignant, lying monsters, your go-to move should be to forgive and forget. Absolve and move on.
Cool, cool.
So, given his radically revised Policy For Judging Human Beings, where does the newly enlightened Sam Stein stand on the question of those Republican people who lined up to vote for Trump's bill?
Oh, those people? Those people all spineless, unprincipled, lying, performative scum who should rot in Hell.
Here endeth the lesson.
We're visiting America in the ICU on her 249th birthday, hoping the old girl still has some fight left in her.
A sad day as Trump's disastrous bill passes the House. We are still fighting.
This week, we explore the dark matter of American politics - that invisible force that explains why so many voters can't see what's right in front of them. Spoiler alert: it's not really dark at all.
We examine the original No Kings manifesto and ask some pointed questions about which "dark matter" has trained so many Americans not to recognize real threats.
This isn't the time for half measures and tepid language. We're channeling some serious energy for what these times call for.
Episode 914 recorded live from the Cornfield Resistance for the week of July 4th, 2025 - Not safe for work
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1. Both have been around for decades, running behind the scenes.
2. Despite the addition of sleek, public-facing interfaces, behind the scenes both are still around and still going strong.
3. Elon Musk arrogantly presumed he knew how both of them worked, but never actually had a clue, leading him to make big, stupid, public fuck ups.
"The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it." -- Frank Herbert, Dune
In 2016, voters were offered a choice between a competent, capable, dedicated public servant with a track record of success, and a lying, racist sexual predator. And 62,984,825 of our fellow citizens stared into the lying, racist abyss that is Donald Trump and said, "Hell yes!"
In 2020, voters were once again offered a choice between a competent, capable, dedicated public servant with a track record of success, and that very same lying, racist, openly-fascist sexual predator who had just finished nearly wrecked the country with his corruption, incompetence and unprecedented, non-stop lying. This time 74,224,319 of our fellow citizens stared into the lying, corrupt, racist, predatory abyss that is Donald Trump and said, "Hell yes!"
In 2024, voters were yet again offered a choice between a competent, capable, dedicated public servant with a track record of success, and that very same lying, racist, openly-fascist sexual predator who had now led a violent coup against the government of the United States, who promised to pardon the traitors who had tried to overthrow the government, who had been impeached twice, was credibly accused of serious federal and state crimes in multiple jurisdictions and was now a multiply-convicted felon. This time 77,302,580 of our fellow citizens stared into the lying, corrupt, racist, predatory abyss that is Donald Trump and said, "Hell yes!"
And in handing him absolute control over this country, they gave him the power to destroy it. Which he and his henchmen are, right now, in the process of doing.
From The New York Times:
G.O.P. Bill Has $1.1 Trillion in Health Cuts and 11.8 Million Losing Care, C.B.O. Says
Analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that Republicans’ new version of the legislation would make far deeper cuts and lead to more people becoming uninsured than previous proposals.
According to a report published late Saturday night, the legislation would mean 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034. Federal spending on Medicaid, Medicare and Obamacare would be reduced by more than $1.1 trillion over that period — with more than $1 trillion of those cuts coming from Medicaid alone.
The fresh estimates make official what many analysts had already predicted and some Republican lawmakers had feared. The size and scope of the health care cuts in the bill, particularly from Medicaid, have been hotly debated, with fiscal hawks pressing for bigger reductions and other Republicans resisting them as they consider the impact on their constituents and health providers in their districts and states.
They are also at odds with President Trump’s vow not to touch Medicaid except to do away with waste and fraud.
The scale of the proposed reductions in Medicaid is unprecedented in the history of the program, which has tended to expand coverage over time since its creation in 1965.
From NBC:
USAID cuts could lead to 14 million deaths over the next five years, researchers say
An analysis published Monday in the medical journal The Lancet projects that cuts to the agency will lead to more deaths from diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
From MSNBC:
Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' will end America’s time as a great power
The legislation guts America’s long-term economic competitiveness — and that's just the start.
From Evergreen Action:
Analysis: Senate GOP’s Updated Megabill is Still a Disaster for Affordability, Jobs, and Clean Energy
It’s official: Republican Senate Leadership has released an updated version of their tax megabill, which will likely be the version that goes to the floor for a final vote. And somehow, it’s even worse than before. Senate Republicans are proposing passing legislation that will lock in higher household energy bills, kill American jobs, sell out the health of working and frontline communities, harm Medicaid, jeopardize food assistance, and torch our future.
If this bill passes, Republicans would be responsible for the loss of over 800,000 jobs, raising the average American’s electricity bills by 10 percent, and in a time of intense heat and grid demand, they’ll be reducing new energy capacity installed on the grid by at least 50 percent. All this—simply to line the pockets of billionaires, fossil fuel executives, and their top corporate backers with massive tax cuts.
All of this and all that is to come aren't the actions of a single monster, or even that monster and his pet Republican cowards and quislings and fanatics in congress.
All of this and all that is to come are the result of a premeditated act of democracide by 77,302,580 of our fellow citizens, and of all their enablers who stayed home or otherwise threw their vote away because they just couldn't bring themselves to vote for the black lady, or because, y'know, Both Sides.
If 77,302,580 feels like too big and too abstract a number for you to get your head around, remember that among all of those tens of millions who affirmatively decided to bind our country hand and foot and turn it over to rapacious degenerate parasites are...
...people who are in the pews with you on Sunday, if you are a church-goer.
...people who are in line with you at the grocery store.
...people who are on the staff of your local school districts
...people who own local businesses.
...retirees living on pensions dining a couple of tables over from you at a local diner.
All of this and all that is to come is their fault.
It is our job to make sure they can never, ever live it down.
Hat tip to John Fetter-Manchin (copyright Driftglass), we're grudgingly back from our beach vacation (okay, we never actually left the Cornfield Resistance) to bring you the political chaos that just won't quit.
This week, we dive into the summer breakup season hitting Washington hard. From senators throwing tantrums and storming out over Trump's latest budget disaster... to billionaire Twitter feuds that read like celebrity gossip... to Trump supporters getting a harsh reality check about what they actually voted for.
We'll also cover Trump's new fragrance line (yes, really), handwritten notes to the Fed in Sharpie, and why Las Vegas tourism is cratering while the dollar takes its worst nosedive since 1973.
Plus, we explore what happens when the MAGA movement starts eating its own, and Trump's ongoing mission to militarize American politics while politicizing the military.
Fair warning: It's not safe for work, but it is safe for your sanity. Probably.
Episode 913 recorded live from the Cornfield Resistance on July 1st, 2025
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-- and he'd be too tall to go unnoticed if he tried to sneak off and go to the beach.Fetterman: I just want to go home. I've missed our entire trip to the beach… I’m going to vote no. There’s no drama… I don't think it's really helpful to put people here till some ungodly hour.
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 30, 2025
pic.twitter.com/ZJTAYBI74u
...so I'm wondering how this all worked out?
Everything sorted now? Everybody happy?
