Martin McDonald
@martymcd.bsky.social
UK & US Politics and other stuff from the kitchen table, one tweet at a time.
Some say 'a totally undiscovered twitter treasure' apparently. Also tax. And law
Some say 'a totally undiscovered twitter treasure' apparently. Also tax. And law
Reposted by Martin McDonald
This is Oakley. He has an injury that requires physical therapy and at-home massages. Luckily, his cat sibling River has been training his whole life for this. 14/10 for both
November 10, 2025 at 11:58 PM
This is Oakley. He has an injury that requires physical therapy and at-home massages. Luckily, his cat sibling River has been training his whole life for this. 14/10 for both
Well, 'I'm being conspired against' arrived somewhat earlier than I had imagined:
Trump says the Democrats dictate media coverage. His evidence? Many news outlets used the word "manufactured" recently.
"Nobody uses that word," Trump said.
"Nobody uses that word," Trump said.
November 11, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Well, 'I'm being conspired against' arrived somewhat earlier than I had imagined:
Reposted by Martin McDonald
Are they live streaming the Liverpool conference because it could well be worth watching…
November 10, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Are they live streaming the Liverpool conference because it could well be worth watching…
Reposted by Martin McDonald
Really hope that Zarah Sultana keeps a diary, because I really want future historians to be able to answer “what was she thinking, really?” not whatever hindsight nonsense she comes up with later.
Your Party row erupts over hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations
Clash the latest in months of political infighting between the camps of Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Really hope that Zarah Sultana keeps a diary, because I really want future historians to be able to answer “what was she thinking, really?” not whatever hindsight nonsense she comes up with later.
Reposted by Martin McDonald
This kind of influence by a political appointee of the Johnson government, with a strong partisan record and reputation, appeared a Faustian pact imposed on the BBC by the government of the day. Its striking that this attempt continued after a change of government
www.theguardian.com/media/ng-int...
www.theguardian.com/media/ng-int...
‘Make no mistake – this was a coup’: the extraordinary downfall of the BBC’s top bosses
The whirlwind that started when Deborah Turness came under attack at a board meeting is part of a wider political story, some say
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:53 PM
This kind of influence by a political appointee of the Johnson government, with a strong partisan record and reputation, appeared a Faustian pact imposed on the BBC by the government of the day. Its striking that this attempt continued after a change of government
www.theguardian.com/media/ng-int...
www.theguardian.com/media/ng-int...
Reposted by Martin McDonald
Kris Jenner Celebrates 70th Face
November 10, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Kris Jenner Celebrates 70th Face
Reposted by Martin McDonald
This is a genuinely intolerable reality…
November 10, 2025 at 11:01 PM
This is a genuinely intolerable reality…
Reposted by Martin McDonald
First proper phishing thing I’ve seen on Bluesky, via DM.
November 10, 2025 at 10:42 PM
First proper phishing thing I’ve seen on Bluesky, via DM.
Reposted by Martin McDonald
Two minutes of debate on each of the components of the appropriations package.
So I guess everybody's jumping out of the way.
So I guess everybody's jumping out of the way.
November 10, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Two minutes of debate on each of the components of the appropriations package.
So I guess everybody's jumping out of the way.
So I guess everybody's jumping out of the way.
Reposted by Martin McDonald
Plastic surgeons in DC are being asked by Trump insiders to get plastic surgery that's obvious and in keeping with "Mar-a-Lago face."
Paging @inbedwiththeright.bsky.social, whose episode on Republican Makeup (another term for the same tendency) was an eye-opener for me.
Paging @inbedwiththeright.bsky.social, whose episode on Republican Makeup (another term for the same tendency) was an eye-opener for me.
D.C. plastic surgeons see surge in "Mar‑a‑Lago face" requests from Trump insiders
"[They] want to look like they had something done."
www.axios.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Plastic surgeons in DC are being asked by Trump insiders to get plastic surgery that's obvious and in keeping with "Mar-a-Lago face."
Paging @inbedwiththeright.bsky.social, whose episode on Republican Makeup (another term for the same tendency) was an eye-opener for me.
Paging @inbedwiththeright.bsky.social, whose episode on Republican Makeup (another term for the same tendency) was an eye-opener for me.
Reposted by Martin McDonald
A must watch. Tissues recommended though. youtu.be/7Zm2obdpMjo...
"Grief does come in waves" | Spurs' Justin Cochrane opens on dealing with loss
YouTube video by Sky Sports News
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 10:37 PM
A must watch. Tissues recommended though. youtu.be/7Zm2obdpMjo...
Reposted by Martin McDonald
I have never understood why people get so angry when told their ancestors or people who look like them committed atrocities - it's like, mate, no one's accusing you...
...and then i see divorced men pulling this shit and i just feel so embarrassed by my people.
...and then i see divorced men pulling this shit and i just feel so embarrassed by my people.
They used to wiretap your phones to collect this kind of information from you but now you pay for a Bluecheck and post it yourself
November 10, 2025 at 10:35 PM
I have never understood why people get so angry when told their ancestors or people who look like them committed atrocities - it's like, mate, no one's accusing you...
...and then i see divorced men pulling this shit and i just feel so embarrassed by my people.
...and then i see divorced men pulling this shit and i just feel so embarrassed by my people.
Reposted by Martin McDonald
In the most predictable development ever, Mike Johnson is not committing to hold a House vote on ACA subsidies
November 10, 2025 at 10:19 PM
In the most predictable development ever, Mike Johnson is not committing to hold a House vote on ACA subsidies
Reposted by Martin McDonald
This is so good on how right wingers like Robbie Gibb genuinely believe their political views are just impartial "common sense" and never interrogate their own biases.
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
The truth about impartiality at the BBC
And the hysteria of the current "crisis"
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:19 PM
This is so good on how right wingers like Robbie Gibb genuinely believe their political views are just impartial "common sense" and never interrogate their own biases.
Reposted by Martin McDonald
Filling out a banking form that asks for my occupation, and in what I am choosing to consider as a sign of the times, "journalist" is not a selectable option, but "cryptocurrency" is
November 10, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Filling out a banking form that asks for my occupation, and in what I am choosing to consider as a sign of the times, "journalist" is not a selectable option, but "cryptocurrency" is
Reposted by Martin McDonald
Reposted by Martin McDonald
It takes an obscene amount of hubris to lecture the BBC when you have The Telegraph’s record on truth-telling.
Some of the paper’s errors this year are so bad they’re almost laughable 👇🏻
Some of the paper’s errors this year are so bad they’re almost laughable 👇🏻
The Telegraph’s BBC hypocrisy
A paper that knows a thing or two about editorial f*ck-ups...
writesbright.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:48 PM
It takes an obscene amount of hubris to lecture the BBC when you have The Telegraph’s record on truth-telling.
Some of the paper’s errors this year are so bad they’re almost laughable 👇🏻
Some of the paper’s errors this year are so bad they’re almost laughable 👇🏻
Reposted by Martin McDonald
Here's how Jim Comey mocks Pam Bondi's attempt to retroactively make Lindsey Halligan a magical pony on Halloween.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
![On October 31, 2025—36 days after Ms. Halligan purported to secure the indictment, 31
days after the statute of limitations had expired, and 11 days after Mr. Comey had filed his motion
to dismiss—the Attorney General purported to “appoint Ms. Halligan to the additional position of
Special Attorney, as of September 22, 2025, and thereby ratify her employment as an attorney of
the Department of Justice from that date going forward.” ECF No. 137-1. But that action cannot
retroactively transform Ms. Halligan into an authorized government attorney on the day she
purported to secure the indictment. In Lucia, for instance, the Supreme Court found an
Appointments Clause violation and set aside an adjudication because the relevant official “heard
and decided [the petitioner’s] case without the kind of appointment the [Appointments] Clause
requires.” 585 U.S. at 251. It did not matter that the official’s “prior appointment[]” had been
“ratif[ied]” by a Head of Department after the adjudication had been completed and “[w]hile th[e]
case was on judicial review.” Id. at 252 n.6. If such a post hoc ratification of a prior invalid
appointment sufficed, then the government could moot every Appointments Clause challenge.
The government cites no authority suggesting that an invalid appointment can be excused
so long as the government allegedly “intended” to vest the relevant official “with the powers” of](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bbp2b224lro3bfnzcqwwnkfo/bafkreif47wlavvtkcmm3xbwy76l2owgnsxuxqkm4uc6vmjlkupk2l66uwy@jpeg)
November 10, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Here's how Jim Comey mocks Pam Bondi's attempt to retroactively make Lindsey Halligan a magical pony on Halloween.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Martin McDonald
I’m struggling to recall any story told on the Today programme in that manner. Single voice, no interview and just controlled anger.
Also, no other news organisation examines itself the way the BBC does - literally doorstepping their own boss.
Also, no other news organisation examines itself the way the BBC does - literally doorstepping their own boss.
November 10, 2025 at 9:42 PM
I’m struggling to recall any story told on the Today programme in that manner. Single voice, no interview and just controlled anger.
Also, no other news organisation examines itself the way the BBC does - literally doorstepping their own boss.
Also, no other news organisation examines itself the way the BBC does - literally doorstepping their own boss.
Reposted by Martin McDonald
Fierce and fascinating News Agents episode on the BBC crisis. Man alive they hate Robbie Gibb
November 10, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Fierce and fascinating News Agents episode on the BBC crisis. Man alive they hate Robbie Gibb
Reposted by Martin McDonald
Somehow, I think it’s even worse than that. He, like Trump, has the devotion and admiration of multitudes - multitudes of people whose opinions he does not value at all.
November 10, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Somehow, I think it’s even worse than that. He, like Trump, has the devotion and admiration of multitudes - multitudes of people whose opinions he does not value at all.
Reposted by Martin McDonald
I don’t have much truck with most justifications for staying on X, but I will accept “I’m Joyce Carol Oates and I’m needling him into profoundly humiliating public self-exposure”
November 10, 2025 at 8:53 PM
I don’t have much truck with most justifications for staying on X, but I will accept “I’m Joyce Carol Oates and I’m needling him into profoundly humiliating public self-exposure”
Reposted by Martin McDonald
Musk is a deeply fragile character who wants more than anything to be admired and respected, even loved. His tragedy is that he has literally no idea how to achieve that. His curse is that everything he says or does fuels precisely the opposite outcome.
I think this one has got to him because he's posted at least three separate responses to this over the last 10 hours:
November 10, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Musk is a deeply fragile character who wants more than anything to be admired and respected, even loved. His tragedy is that he has literally no idea how to achieve that. His curse is that everything he says or does fuels precisely the opposite outcome.
Reposted by Martin McDonald
Can't even cottage now, because of woke.
November 10, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Can't even cottage now, because of woke.
Reposted by Martin McDonald
Why can't the BBC just be more impartial towards President Trump, like GB News, says Nigel Farage.
GB News:
GB News:
November 10, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Why can't the BBC just be more impartial towards President Trump, like GB News, says Nigel Farage.
GB News:
GB News: