Benjamin Willard, River Guide
@zagdad.bsky.social
“I don’t see any method at all, sir.”
Old lawyer, smitten grandpa, reader, dog servant, fly fisherman, sports fan, amateur. Knower of useless trivia. Beach lover. Movie quoter. Work is not life. Be kind to others and to yourself. #GoZags
Old lawyer, smitten grandpa, reader, dog servant, fly fisherman, sports fan, amateur. Knower of useless trivia. Beach lover. Movie quoter. Work is not life. Be kind to others and to yourself. #GoZags
The lying is pretty breathtaking. This is a lie. Pretty much everything they say, and have been saying, on both of these subjects is a lie.
Emmer: "Another reform they claim they want is they want ICE agents to identify themselves, to show identification. But they don't want identification for voters in elections. I mean, this stuff is just intellectually inconsistent."
February 16, 2026 at 9:13 PM
The lying is pretty breathtaking. This is a lie. Pretty much everything they say, and have been saying, on both of these subjects is a lie.
Because of Pete Hegseth we’re gonna end up with dumb Skynet.
February 16, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Because of Pete Hegseth we’re gonna end up with dumb Skynet.
Reposted by Benjamin Willard, River Guide
This week, Melissa Davlin sits down with Kristyn Herbert, Julie McConnel, Ned Fowkes, and Dana Gover – four Idahoans who rely on Medicaid for themselves or their children – to discuss Medicaid cuts proposed to balance the state budget. #idleg
https://conta.cc/4tzrzCl
https://conta.cc/4tzrzCl
February 14, 2026 at 1:27 AM
This week, Melissa Davlin sits down with Kristyn Herbert, Julie McConnel, Ned Fowkes, and Dana Gover – four Idahoans who rely on Medicaid for themselves or their children – to discuss Medicaid cuts proposed to balance the state budget. #idleg
https://conta.cc/4tzrzCl
https://conta.cc/4tzrzCl
Reposted by Benjamin Willard, River Guide
Someone has sure already made this observation but the fact they can convert all those empty warehouses into prison camps means they could have converted them into housing, community centers, job training centers or, hell, libraries or schools all along. It’s always a matter of will not resources.
February 15, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Someone has sure already made this observation but the fact they can convert all those empty warehouses into prison camps means they could have converted them into housing, community centers, job training centers or, hell, libraries or schools all along. It’s always a matter of will not resources.
Idaho’s legislature, with the blessing of Gov. Little, are about to eliminate community based services (home care) for people with disabilities. This will put thousands of families under huge financial strain and thousands of disabled people at risk. It is an abomination.
February 15, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Idaho’s legislature, with the blessing of Gov. Little, are about to eliminate community based services (home care) for people with disabilities. This will put thousands of families under huge financial strain and thousands of disabled people at risk. It is an abomination.
This is SOP for them now. Bessent did the same. I have to think if average suburban moms, or midwestern retirees, or other traditionally GOP-voting types pay attention to this, it will turn a decent part of them off. At worst, they just don’t vote. At best they flip searching for decency.
Per @pabloreports.bsky.social: Bondi has a “burn book” organized by the names of Democratic lawmakers so she can attack them when they ask her questions.
February 11, 2026 at 6:22 PM
This is SOP for them now. Bessent did the same. I have to think if average suburban moms, or midwestern retirees, or other traditionally GOP-voting types pay attention to this, it will turn a decent part of them off. At worst, they just don’t vote. At best they flip searching for decency.
Is it me or is his speech dramatically slurred?
Trump: "So I put on a 30% tariff, which is very low. I got an emergency call from I believe the prime minister of Switzerland. She was very aggressive ... I didn't really like the way she talked to us, so instead of giving her a reduction, I raised it to 39%."
February 10, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Is it me or is his speech dramatically slurred?
Reposted by Benjamin Willard, River Guide
The media's attention to Minnesota is drifting.
This weekend, ICE had a road block at 694 and Central in Fridley, where they were asking for licenses and papers for every car that wanted to get through.
Don't look away.
This weekend, ICE had a road block at 694 and Central in Fridley, where they were asking for licenses and papers for every car that wanted to get through.
Don't look away.
February 9, 2026 at 6:27 PM
The media's attention to Minnesota is drifting.
This weekend, ICE had a road block at 694 and Central in Fridley, where they were asking for licenses and papers for every car that wanted to get through.
Don't look away.
This weekend, ICE had a road block at 694 and Central in Fridley, where they were asking for licenses and papers for every car that wanted to get through.
Don't look away.
Reposted by Benjamin Willard, River Guide
U.K. might lose a prime minister because a guy who worked for him knew another guy who hung out with Epstein. Meanwhile the U.S. opposition party is telling our President, who was Epstein's best friend, that his secret police should get better training so their public street murders look less messy.
February 9, 2026 at 4:07 PM
U.K. might lose a prime minister because a guy who worked for him knew another guy who hung out with Epstein. Meanwhile the U.S. opposition party is telling our President, who was Epstein's best friend, that his secret police should get better training so their public street murders look less messy.
This has to be intentional rather than merely obtuse. I expect the goal is to background the event as quickly as possible to avoid it becoming even more a touchstone for the growing progressive movement ahead of November.
Analysis: Weeks before he set foot on the stage, Bad Bunny’s halftime performance had already become a media event.
But if you were looking for political commentary, the closest that you got was when he said “God bless America” in English.
But if you were looking for political commentary, the closest that you got was when he said “God bless America” in English.
Analysis | Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show was expected to provoke. Did it?
The Bad Bunny Super Bowl show nodded to injustices in Puerto Rico but mostly evoked wholesome family values that meshed with the more sentimental commercials.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 9, 2026 at 3:29 PM
This has to be intentional rather than merely obtuse. I expect the goal is to background the event as quickly as possible to avoid it becoming even more a touchstone for the growing progressive movement ahead of November.
Doing literally everything possible to lose the Latino support so crucial to getting him elected. The swing in November is gonna be brutal and beautiful.
February 9, 2026 at 4:07 AM
Doing literally everything possible to lose the Latino support so crucial to getting him elected. The swing in November is gonna be brutal and beautiful.
Go to bed, old man.
February 9, 2026 at 2:11 AM
Go to bed, old man.
I am not in the doomer nothing matters crowd. It does seem obvious to me that a purpose of the Fulton ballot seizure project is to bring indictments before the midterms and prosecute them loudly and ignoring the 60 day quiet period right up to election day. The intent is to put a cloud over Dems.
February 8, 2026 at 4:05 PM
I am not in the doomer nothing matters crowd. It does seem obvious to me that a purpose of the Fulton ballot seizure project is to bring indictments before the midterms and prosecute them loudly and ignoring the 60 day quiet period right up to election day. The intent is to put a cloud over Dems.
The bot factor here is getting annoying (particularly given how vanishingly little engagement I get). Last two posts were immediately responded to by a sex bot and a starving children bot. I would like to engage with actual humans, please.
February 8, 2026 at 3:13 PM
The bot factor here is getting annoying (particularly given how vanishingly little engagement I get). Last two posts were immediately responded to by a sex bot and a starving children bot. I would like to engage with actual humans, please.
Actual paid agitators, just not very agitatey.
February 8, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Actual paid agitators, just not very agitatey.
I know it’s a Big Debate here whether it’s fascism yet. I don’t think so, but with the deployment of a huge paramilitary force, the spread and judicial approval of concentration camps, and the willingness of the military to violate int’l law and blow up civilians, you can see it from here.
February 7, 2026 at 8:32 PM
I know it’s a Big Debate here whether it’s fascism yet. I don’t think so, but with the deployment of a huge paramilitary force, the spread and judicial approval of concentration camps, and the willingness of the military to violate int’l law and blow up civilians, you can see it from here.
Reposted by Benjamin Willard, River Guide
It's not just that the presumption of regularity is gone. It's been rightfully replaced by a presumption of irregularity. That's what Trump has done to the Justice Department. Here is the judge in the Haitian TPS case expressing her exasperation: www.courtlistener.com/docket/70965...
![MINUTE ORDER. The Court has reviewed the Government's 126 Motion to Stay the Court's Order Granting Relief Under 5 U.S.C. § 705 and 127 Plaintiffs' Motion to Set Briefing Schedule. The Government took three business days from the Court's decision to file the motion. They now ask the Court to rule within one business day and three hours and do so without identifying any basis for this rushed timetable. Due to the serious issues presented in this litigation, Plaintiffs should be afforded at least the same amount of time as the Government to brief their opposition. At the hearing on the Government's Motion, The Court expects the Government to articulate, among other things, how the irreparable harm and other stay factors weigh in the Government's favor. The Government contends that the Court "intru[des]... in the workings of a coordinate branch of the Government." Dkt. 126 at 22 (citation omitted). But missing is any concrete example of how the Court does so. This failure is particularly problematic in light of the Government's representations that it was "remote conjecture," "speculation," and "theoretical" that it would detain or initiate removal proceedings against Haitian nationals if the Termination went into effect. Dkt. 92 at 42; see Dkt. 126 at 23-24. Either the Government does not have any concrete plans to detain and initiate removal proceedings against Haitian TPS holders if the Court stays its decision pending litigation and therefore its own irreparable harm argument is suspect. Or the Government does have such concrete plans and therefore its argument that Plaintiffs will suffer no "irreparable harm" is suspect. So that the Court has all relevant information before it, it ORDERS the Government to submit a sworn declaration from a senior member of the Department of Homeland Security which states what steps, if any, DHS has taken in the expectation of the February 3, 2026, Termination (now stayed) going into effect. Specifically, the declarant must state wh…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:a5fwvpvub5e7mxaebuxn3tuu/bafkreiha3gx2es7h2a7xibjvwsuajfpnmirnt6jdzjp3n4c75tocopchym@jpeg)
February 6, 2026 at 8:07 PM
It's not just that the presumption of regularity is gone. It's been rightfully replaced by a presumption of irregularity. That's what Trump has done to the Justice Department. Here is the judge in the Haitian TPS case expressing her exasperation: www.courtlistener.com/docket/70965...
Good god, what are we doing here? This stupid kid is not worthy of a story about anything other than if he offers an unconditional apology for killing someone.
apple.news/AugH828sVRri...
apple.news/AugH828sVRri...
Rittenhouse calls for Pirro to be fired over DC guns remarks — The Hill
Kyle Rittenhouse on Tuesday called for U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro to be fired after threatening to jail anyone who brings a gun into the district.
apple.news
February 4, 2026 at 8:28 PM
Good god, what are we doing here? This stupid kid is not worthy of a story about anything other than if he offers an unconditional apology for killing someone.
apple.news/AugH828sVRri...
apple.news/AugH828sVRri...
An underreported issue is that the OBBBA tax cuts are blowing gigantic holes in state budgets — and vulnerable populations least able to advocate for themselves will bear a big part of the burden. Add to that (in red states) idiotic private school voucher tax schemes.
February 4, 2026 at 4:55 PM
An underreported issue is that the OBBBA tax cuts are blowing gigantic holes in state budgets — and vulnerable populations least able to advocate for themselves will bear a big part of the burden. Add to that (in red states) idiotic private school voucher tax schemes.
Reposted by Benjamin Willard, River Guide
Alan Reynolds on one of the most made-up of all the Trump made-up numbers on tariffs.
Trump’s Eighteen Trillion Dollar Hoax
Yet this totally imaginary $18 trillion political talking point continues to be repeated endlessly in the hope that nobody in the public or press would ever be brave enough to rudely ask for some expl...
www.cato.org
February 4, 2026 at 10:04 AM
Alan Reynolds on one of the most made-up of all the Trump made-up numbers on tariffs.
When he has to attempt to fake human emotion and empathy is when the sociopathy is clearest.
Trump on Steve Womack, whose wife just died: "He had a good marriage. A good marriage is better than a bad marriage, but it makes it a little bit tougher when something like that happens."
February 3, 2026 at 9:47 PM
When he has to attempt to fake human emotion and empathy is when the sociopathy is clearest.
Joe Flacco has NEVER been a Pro-Bowler before? I’m sort of actually shocked.
February 3, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Joe Flacco has NEVER been a Pro-Bowler before? I’m sort of actually shocked.
Put this guy on TV to talk Epstein as much as possible. And Trump’s lawyer being the one saying that is, uh, perhaps suggestive.
February 3, 2026 at 1:18 AM
Put this guy on TV to talk Epstein as much as possible. And Trump’s lawyer being the one saying that is, uh, perhaps suggestive.