Brian Wilcox, the Friendly Curmudgeon
@brianwilcox.bsky.social
Social scientist, retired professor, former Senate staffer, enthusiastic guitarist and bass player. More interested in policy than politics.
Californian who's lived in Texas, Ohio, Virginia, DC, Nebraska, and Porto Alegre (Brazil) but returned home.
Californian who's lived in Texas, Ohio, Virginia, DC, Nebraska, and Porto Alegre (Brazil) but returned home.
Pinned
No one let go of anyone's hand.
During the Bolsonaro regime in Brazil, resistors adopted this phrase to remind all that we need to stand together, and especially with those targeted by the regime.
That's the assignment now.
During the Bolsonaro regime in Brazil, resistors adopted this phrase to remind all that we need to stand together, and especially with those targeted by the regime.
That's the assignment now.
How many spots did the average MAGA dude move up the Forbes 400 list?
Something something peanut farm
🚨 New: “Presidency Boosts Trump’s Net Worth By $3 Billion In A Year”
“Vaulted him 118 spots on The Forbes 400, where he lands at No. 201 this year.”
@danalexander21.bsky.social for @forbes.com
“Vaulted him 118 spots on The Forbes 400, where he lands at No. 201 this year.”
@danalexander21.bsky.social for @forbes.com
December 28, 2025 at 4:28 AM
How many spots did the average MAGA dude move up the Forbes 400 list?
❤️❤️❤️
Opinion | Martin Scorsese: ‘Rob Reiner Was My Friend’
www.nytimes.com
December 27, 2025 at 12:28 AM
❤️❤️❤️
Careers ruined. Lives destroyed.
—President DJT
—President DJT
December 26, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Careers ruined. Lives destroyed.
—President DJT
—President DJT
Republicans War on Christmas.
These people!
These people!
Indiana State Senator wishes you a Merry Christmas by… posting images of himself assaulting Santa Claus.
Are the fascists okay?
Are the fascists okay?
December 26, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Republicans War on Christmas.
These people!
These people!
Reposted by Brian Wilcox, the Friendly Curmudgeon
The people who profited most from the cancel culture/free speech panic were less interested in actual freedom of speech than establishing their own control over public discourse. You don't even have to take my word for it. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
December 23, 2025 at 6:17 PM
The people who profited most from the cancel culture/free speech panic were less interested in actual freedom of speech than establishing their own control over public discourse. You don't even have to take my word for it. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by Brian Wilcox, the Friendly Curmudgeon
Political cartoons for December 23
Tuesday's political cartoons include an eye on CBS, cracking the middle class, and Donald Trump's name on everything
Tuesday's political cartoons include an eye on CBS, cracking the middle class, and Donald Trump's name on everything
December 23, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Political cartoons for December 23
Tuesday's political cartoons include an eye on CBS, cracking the middle class, and Donald Trump's name on everything
Tuesday's political cartoons include an eye on CBS, cracking the middle class, and Donald Trump's name on everything
DOGE was an absolute failure. Federal spending under Trump II is UP.
But DOGE did great damage to vital programs in the US and around the world.
Musk + Trump = chaos and failure
But DOGE did great damage to vital programs in the US and around the world.
Musk + Trump = chaos and failure
How Did DOGE Disrupt So Much While Saving So Little?
www.nytimes.com
December 23, 2025 at 5:18 PM
DOGE was an absolute failure. Federal spending under Trump II is UP.
But DOGE did great damage to vital programs in the US and around the world.
Musk + Trump = chaos and failure
But DOGE did great damage to vital programs in the US and around the world.
Musk + Trump = chaos and failure
Reposted by Brian Wilcox, the Friendly Curmudgeon
Remember when Republicans were all "STATES RIGHTS!" That was great.
Sean Duffy on blue states: "What I can do is I can pull their money. That's the leverage I do have ... I guarantee you that the federal taxpayer is not going to fund their roads and bridges and their systems when they are putting illegals on the roads."
December 23, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Remember when Republicans were all "STATES RIGHTS!" That was great.
Picked this gem up about 40 years ago and it remains my most often played Christmas album.
December 23, 2025 at 5:26 AM
Picked this gem up about 40 years ago and it remains my most often played Christmas album.
Watch while you can. The Censorship Broadcasting System is doing their thing.
CBS furiously trying to take down the 60 Minutes segment about human rights abuses at the El Salvadoran prison that Bari Weiss spiked
December 23, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Watch while you can. The Censorship Broadcasting System is doing their thing.
Reposted by Brian Wilcox, the Friendly Curmudgeon
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
December 23, 2025 at 1:28 AM
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
Reposted by Brian Wilcox, the Friendly Curmudgeon
NEW: The phone metrics reported publicly by the Social Security Administration are way lower than actual wait times, a new watchdog report shows.
www.nextgov.com/digital-gove...
www.nextgov.com/digital-gove...
SSA phone wait times longer than publicly reported metrics, per OIG report
The agency’s “average speed of answer” metric masks longer call wait times, according to data in a recent OIG report.
www.nextgov.com
December 23, 2025 at 1:29 AM
NEW: The phone metrics reported publicly by the Social Security Administration are way lower than actual wait times, a new watchdog report shows.
www.nextgov.com/digital-gove...
www.nextgov.com/digital-gove...
This!
It is exceedingly likely that US soybean farmers have permanently lost more market share, as they did during Trump 1, when China turned to Brazil after Trump hit China with tariffs.
Trump sent $20 billion to help Argentina's president, and Argentina then sells soybeans to China.
Smart!
It is exceedingly likely that US soybean farmers have permanently lost more market share, as they did during Trump 1, when China turned to Brazil after Trump hit China with tariffs.
Trump sent $20 billion to help Argentina's president, and Argentina then sells soybeans to China.
Smart!
"China Imports No U.S. Soybeans for Third Month; Argentine Arrivals Up 634%" 🤔 share.google/yxJk9FytGMTY...
December 23, 2025 at 12:18 AM
This!
It is exceedingly likely that US soybean farmers have permanently lost more market share, as they did during Trump 1, when China turned to Brazil after Trump hit China with tariffs.
Trump sent $20 billion to help Argentina's president, and Argentina then sells soybeans to China.
Smart!
It is exceedingly likely that US soybean farmers have permanently lost more market share, as they did during Trump 1, when China turned to Brazil after Trump hit China with tariffs.
Trump sent $20 billion to help Argentina's president, and Argentina then sells soybeans to China.
Smart!
A powerful story on the continued opioid crisis, including an introduction by Barbara Kingsolver. This story focuses on the children of young addicts.
Opinion | In Appalachia, Children Inherited the Opioid Crisis
The pain of drug addiction continues to course through towns like Clarksburg, W.Va., where many babies are born withdrawing and have to be taken from their parents.
www.nytimes.com
December 23, 2025 at 12:01 AM
A powerful story on the continued opioid crisis, including an introduction by Barbara Kingsolver. This story focuses on the children of young addicts.
Reposted by Brian Wilcox, the Friendly Curmudgeon
!! Here’s a link to full video of the 60 Minutes segment that Bari Weiss killed last minute, via @jasonparis.bsky.social:
is.gd/paU8Ko
(It was uploaded to the Global TV app in Canada, seemingly by accident, and has now been taken down)
is.gd/paU8Ko
(It was uploaded to the Global TV app in Canada, seemingly by accident, and has now been taken down)
December 22, 2025 at 10:39 PM
!! Here’s a link to full video of the 60 Minutes segment that Bari Weiss killed last minute, via @jasonparis.bsky.social:
is.gd/paU8Ko
(It was uploaded to the Global TV app in Canada, seemingly by accident, and has now been taken down)
is.gd/paU8Ko
(It was uploaded to the Global TV app in Canada, seemingly by accident, and has now been taken down)
Got it. Trump will be counting jobs taken from people by AI as "employment."
The champion of the working class sees little role for the working class in America's future. Robots and AI, yes. People, no.
The champion of the working class sees little role for the working class in America's future. Robots and AI, yes. People, no.
Trump: "We're gonna need the help of robots and other forms of uhhhh, I guess you could say employment. We're gonna be employing a lot of artificial things."
December 22, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Got it. Trump will be counting jobs taken from people by AI as "employment."
The champion of the working class sees little role for the working class in America's future. Robots and AI, yes. People, no.
The champion of the working class sees little role for the working class in America's future. Robots and AI, yes. People, no.
Just bizarre. Our Golfer-in-Chief Donald Trump is trying to create a 1960's Navy, with outdated ships and outdated technology.
But they'll be big, expensive, and named after him.
And they're very unlikely to ever be built.
1/2
But they'll be big, expensive, and named after him.
And they're very unlikely to ever be built.
1/2
December 22, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Just bizarre. Our Golfer-in-Chief Donald Trump is trying to create a 1960's Navy, with outdated ships and outdated technology.
But they'll be big, expensive, and named after him.
And they're very unlikely to ever be built.
1/2
But they'll be big, expensive, and named after him.
And they're very unlikely to ever be built.
1/2
“The 60 Minutes report on ‘Inside CECOT’ will air in a future broadcast,” a CBS News spokeswoman said in a statement.
I won't be watching. Apologies to the good journalists at 60 Minutes and elsewhere within CBS News, but your propagandized reporting can no longer be trusted.
#CBSNewsmax
I won't be watching. Apologies to the good journalists at 60 Minutes and elsewhere within CBS News, but your propagandized reporting can no longer be trusted.
#CBSNewsmax
‘I ultimately had to comply’: ‘60 Minutes’ EP faces fallout after Bari Weiss shelves story
CBS News postponed a “60 Minutes” segment about El Salvador’s CECOT prison one day before it was set to air because the Trump administration declined to participate.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 22, 2025 at 9:33 PM
“The 60 Minutes report on ‘Inside CECOT’ will air in a future broadcast,” a CBS News spokeswoman said in a statement.
I won't be watching. Apologies to the good journalists at 60 Minutes and elsewhere within CBS News, but your propagandized reporting can no longer be trusted.
#CBSNewsmax
I won't be watching. Apologies to the good journalists at 60 Minutes and elsewhere within CBS News, but your propagandized reporting can no longer be trusted.
#CBSNewsmax
Reposted by Brian Wilcox, the Friendly Curmudgeon
I went to AmericaFest. It was strange and sad and unsettling. www.ms.now/news/america...
Inside AmericaFest: Infighting, lies, and the desperate search for Charlie Kirk's heir
Turning Point USA's flagship event, once a star-spangled show of strength for the right, revealed a MAGA movement in crisis following Kirk's killing.
www.ms.now
December 22, 2025 at 1:44 PM
I went to AmericaFest. It was strange and sad and unsettling. www.ms.now/news/america...
Reposted by Brian Wilcox, the Friendly Curmudgeon
Radical bearded cleric issues new fatwa -->
December 22, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Radical bearded cleric issues new fatwa -->
Reposted by Brian Wilcox, the Friendly Curmudgeon
Historian here, glad to be quoted on Trump’s criminal, illegal and unconstitutional actions. To be read alongside @jamellebouie.net ‘s brilliant the White House is a Lost Cause published last Sunday. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Are Trump’s Actions Unprecedented? We Asked Historians (Again).
An examination of whether recent moves have no precedent, are relatively common or somewhere in between.
www.nytimes.com
December 22, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Historian here, glad to be quoted on Trump’s criminal, illegal and unconstitutional actions. To be read alongside @jamellebouie.net ‘s brilliant the White House is a Lost Cause published last Sunday. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Ick...ick! This is totally sad.
The 29-year-old woman who created the “MyBoyfriendIsAI” community on Reddit — which has grown exponentially this year — isn’t dating (or sexting) her A.I. boyfriend anymore. She says she found something more fulfilling.
She Fell in Love With ChatGPT. Then She Ghosted It.
The 29-year-old woman who created the “MyBoyfriendIsAI” community on Reddit isn’t dating (or sexting) her A.I. boyfriend anymore. She found something more fulfilling.
nyti.ms
December 22, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Ick...ick! This is totally sad.
Reposted by Brian Wilcox, the Friendly Curmudgeon
Young Kim is the MAGA Trump boot-licking Republican in my area. She's the worst.
But Esther Kim Varet is the Dem that will replace her if we help raise her profile( @estherkimvaret.bsky.social ), repost for her & for those who can afford to, make a contribution.
Even $2 helps.
EstherKimVaret.com
But Esther Kim Varet is the Dem that will replace her if we help raise her profile( @estherkimvaret.bsky.social ), repost for her & for those who can afford to, make a contribution.
Even $2 helps.
EstherKimVaret.com
December 22, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Young Kim is the MAGA Trump boot-licking Republican in my area. She's the worst.
But Esther Kim Varet is the Dem that will replace her if we help raise her profile( @estherkimvaret.bsky.social ), repost for her & for those who can afford to, make a contribution.
Even $2 helps.
EstherKimVaret.com
But Esther Kim Varet is the Dem that will replace her if we help raise her profile( @estherkimvaret.bsky.social ), repost for her & for those who can afford to, make a contribution.
Even $2 helps.
EstherKimVaret.com
Kash Patel: a jet, an armored customized BMW, bodyguards for his girlfriend
Kristi Noem: two private jets, a wardrobe of cool costumes, and her very own make-up professional.
Where's DOGE when you need them?
Kristi Noem: two private jets, a wardrobe of cool costumes, and her very own make-up professional.
Where's DOGE when you need them?
Patel is now being driven around in a luxury armored BMW paid for with taxpayer funds.
FBI directors have traditionally been driven in a Chevrolet Suburban.
But the FBI bought Patel an armored BMW at his request.
Patel also asked for an upgraded jet.
FBI directors have traditionally been driven in a Chevrolet Suburban.
But the FBI bought Patel an armored BMW at his request.
Patel also asked for an upgraded jet.
Taxpayers buy Kash Patel luxury armored BMW so he can be low key: sources
FBI Director Kash Patel has been riding around in a luxury armored BMW vehicle paid for with taxpayer funds.President Donald Trump's pick to lead the bureau has been asking for the specially armored B...
www.rawstory.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Kash Patel: a jet, an armored customized BMW, bodyguards for his girlfriend
Kristi Noem: two private jets, a wardrobe of cool costumes, and her very own make-up professional.
Where's DOGE when you need them?
Kristi Noem: two private jets, a wardrobe of cool costumes, and her very own make-up professional.
Where's DOGE when you need them?