Josh T.
drumn4j.bsky.social
Josh T.
@drumn4j.bsky.social
Reposted by Josh T.
This is the key. You can win some elections, but you can't force people to like or respect you; ironically, Trump's people want that respect from people they claim to care nothing about. They don't hate the "elites" - they envy that club, and they're mad because money and power can't buy them in.
Trumpers have a howling void of angry insecurity where a soul should be. Unchecked power tastes like ashes in their mouth because they thought when they got it everyone would be forced to like and admire them even though they’re irredeemable assholes. But people still treat them like assholes.
Trump crony has embarrassing meltdown after more Kennedy Center performers quit www.dailykos.com/stories/2025...
December 30, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
This is genius.
There are a lot of hidden geniuses in these there corners of America.
This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.
December 30, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
President Trump’s threats against artists who decline to perform at the renamed Kennedy Center are ultimately hollow, @jonathanbchait.bsky.social argues:
The Show Won’t Go On
President Trump’s threats against artists who decline to perform at the renamed Kennedy Center are ultimately hollow.
bit.ly
December 30, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
NEW from me — I broke down Trump's claim on local right wing radio that the US carried out a Christmas Eve land strike in Venezuela, how he doubled down Monday, the subsequent media reports with no substance, the potential role of social media rumors about an actual fire, and how we need the truth:
Trump says US bombed alleged drug facility in Venezuela. No one knows if it’s true.
It could be a lie from social media, or a conflation of other stories. Either way, Americans need to know.
www.thehandbasket.co
December 29, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
Measles is really scary. It has an R0 of at least 12 (and could be *much* higher), meaning 1 person infects 12 others on average. COVID19 has an R0 of ~6, for comparison. That's why measles needs such a high vaccination rate (>95%) to keep it down. Any anti-vax BS can easily drop it below this line.
December 29, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
Anti-vaxxers have a lot to answer for. A lot.
December 29, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
This is pure idolatry. A clear violation of the First Commandment. Anti-Christ.
December 29, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
The post office changed their postmark rules, potentially disqualifying votes in upcoming elections.

Postmarks indicate when the USPS processed mail now, not when you dropped it off.

To ensure a same-day postmark, you must visit a post office and ask for a manual stamp.
a spongebob squarepants scene with a mailbox and a flower
ALT: a spongebob squarepants scene with a mailbox and a flower
media.tenor.com
December 29, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up.

I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
December 29, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
youngkin ending his term as virginia’s worst governor of the 21st century thus far, with a political career that has gone down the toilet
December 29, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
A nice thread in which an actual expert patiently explains why the Secretary of Health and Human Service is not simply a liar, but an especially stupid one.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated that the 1918 flu pandemic was caused by a lab virus from vaccine research, a defective influenza vaccine. Let’s analyze what a lie this is. First, in 1918, 107 years ago, virology was in its infancy
December 28, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
4. The most common: People who feel that others do not afford them the respect to which they are entitled or that society is rewarding the wrong people for the wrong things
There are 3 types of Trump supporter.
A. The incurably stupid
B. Those with a financial interest.
C. Those who wish to impose their cultural views on everyone.
December 27, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
Two of my Trumper friends - from childhood - routinely complained to me about how America has screwed them over: One calling from his boat, the other from his in-ground pool.
You can imagine what I said to them, and at what volume
Many Trump supporters are people who don’t believe they are rich simply because they have to go to work every day
This might seem funny until you realize how many professionals - including engineers, doctors, etc - supported Trump.
December 27, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
I think engineers are especially prone to Trumpism, for reasons that are complex but have to do mostly with narrow expertise and a belief in yes/no, right/wrong solutions. I wrote about this problem in The Death of Expertise:
December 27, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
Barely a blip in the news. 🦗from the New York Times editorial and opinion pages. Compare with days of Hunter Biden Hysteria about unprecedented abuse of the pardon power.
December 27, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
New reporting says Don Jr. directly facilitated the pardon of a crypto whale who had promoted the Trump's family crypto. Jr. brought the pardon lawyer to the White House, and introduced him directly to his Dad. Pardon occurred right after. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/pardon-the...
December 27, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
This administration lied about the people it sent to an overseas torture prison. It lies about the people it’s deporting. It lies every day to gain political advantage. Not a chance in hell they won’t lie about huge swaths of people they suspect might vote for the other party.
December 27, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Reposted by Josh T.
You will be visited by three spirits.

(Shoutout to my brother for the suggestion.)
December 25, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
ICE arrested grabbed a pastor on Christmas Eve:
newrepublic.com/post/204761/...
The Department of Herod Security has targeted several pastors this year (publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/when-trump...), but this latest move has incredible "war on Christmas" energy!
ICE Agents Violently Detain Pastor on Christmas Eve
This, from the administration that claims to care about Christians.
newrepublic.com
December 26, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
In case you missed it: I’ve got a new (warning: somewhat intense) story on @npr.org about all the ways faith leaders have pushed back against the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign this year — including clergy directly confronting ICE agents and police. www.npr.org/2025/12/24/n...
How the clergy has rallied against the Trump administration's immigration policies
Religious leaders have rallied against the Trump administration's detention and deportation of immigrants. Clergy are filing lawsuits, accompanying migrants to court hearings and leading protests.
www.npr.org
December 26, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
Glad you are safe! Cats save more lives than people know from fires. Growing up, we knew a family of 6 saved from fire by their cat. See also @radiofreetom.bsky.social Tom Nichols' The Cat Who Saved Me (gift article).
The Cat Who Saved Me
I will never owe another cat the debt that I owe her.
www.theatlantic.com
December 25, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
ICE detain father shopping on Christmas Eve—then steal his family's groceries.

Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves.

"Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks.

"No, guess he should've complied," agent says.

Yakima, Washington
December 25, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
Kind of wild how the take that some of Trump's supporters were "deplorable" was some huge scandal, but regularly screaming about "radical left scum" is just a thing he'll say with no media backlash.
December 25, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Josh T.
Tonight at church I played "The Coventry Carol" as a cello solo. I wrote at Unsettling Advent about the song & how it has resonated this year (advent.wordandway.org/p/unsettling...). But even in the darkness, hope arrives at the margin of the empire. Merry Christmas!
December 25, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Reposted by Josh T.
December 23, 2025 at 12:30 PM