@swamplandtrq.bsky.social
Movie of the millennium, for me. Cuaron has 2 (deserved) Oscars, but this is his premier achievement: a visual amazement, linked to powerful ideas and actions.
December 7, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Movie of the millennium, for me. Cuaron has 2 (deserved) Oscars, but this is his premier achievement: a visual amazement, linked to powerful ideas and actions.
Had exactly the same thought. Crowd of people who catered so long to a narcissist, then turned on one another with a vengeance. Extraordinarily analogous to our current situation.
December 6, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Had exactly the same thought. Crowd of people who catered so long to a narcissist, then turned on one another with a vengeance. Extraordinarily analogous to our current situation.
I kind of decided as a very young writer that, if I ever got to the point where anyone cared about my opinion, I wouldn't use the opportunity to trash anyone.
December 2, 2025 at 11:47 PM
I kind of decided as a very young writer that, if I ever got to the point where anyone cared about my opinion, I wouldn't use the opportunity to trash anyone.
Incredible, how people have memory-holed that well-reported fact. They met the night before Obama's inauguration, pledging Obama would get nothing past them, lest he get credit. This while an economic meltdown was in place. The world changed that night; nothing Dems have done since comes close.
November 24, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Incredible, how people have memory-holed that well-reported fact. They met the night before Obama's inauguration, pledging Obama would get nothing past them, lest he get credit. This while an economic meltdown was in place. The world changed that night; nothing Dems have done since comes close.
Most oft-repeated pattern: online lefties complain Dems failed to do something; it turns out they'd actually done it, but the lefties didn't know about it. (Optional 3rd step: lefties then accuse Dems of terrible messaging.)
November 21, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Most oft-repeated pattern: online lefties complain Dems failed to do something; it turns out they'd actually done it, but the lefties didn't know about it. (Optional 3rd step: lefties then accuse Dems of terrible messaging.)
It's reassuring that your first impulse is always to imagine some way the Democrats will fail you. If you ever get tired of bashing your own side and decide to actually do something that helps resist, let us know.
November 20, 2025 at 5:09 PM
It's reassuring that your first impulse is always to imagine some way the Democrats will fail you. If you ever get tired of bashing your own side and decide to actually do something that helps resist, let us know.
Than you weren't exactly a wise voter, either. (She didn't run non any "far-right stances", by any rational evaluation.) And I say this as someone who voted for Mamdani 2 weeks ago.
November 19, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Than you weren't exactly a wise voter, either. (She didn't run non any "far-right stances", by any rational evaluation.) And I say this as someone who voted for Mamdani 2 weeks ago.
Also consistently not funny.
November 19, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Also consistently not funny.
2) The midterm gave me hope the US was capable of voting existentially -- realizing that keeping Trump out was more important than any temporal factors. I was never as shocked by an election outcome as I was last November. Which makes me resist the glib analysis offered by Beltway pundits.
November 16, 2025 at 10:58 PM
2) The midterm gave me hope the US was capable of voting existentially -- realizing that keeping Trump out was more important than any temporal factors. I was never as shocked by an election outcome as I was last November. Which makes me resist the glib analysis offered by Beltway pundits.
1) It will always be weird to me that Dems didn't suffer from the inflation in 2022, when it was FAR worse -- in fact, they had an exceptional midterm result -- and then were punished for it when it had eased up substantially in 2024...
November 16, 2025 at 10:57 PM
1) It will always be weird to me that Dems didn't suffer from the inflation in 2022, when it was FAR worse -- in fact, they had an exceptional midterm result -- and then were punished for it when it had eased up substantially in 2024...
The people who want to be able to negotiate their personal health coverage time after time are people who have someone handling that for them.
November 16, 2025 at 5:51 PM
The people who want to be able to negotiate their personal health coverage time after time are people who have someone handling that for them.
About a certain kind of person -- one you might call "deplorable" -- this is, sadly, probably true.
November 14, 2025 at 2:34 AM
About a certain kind of person -- one you might call "deplorable" -- this is, sadly, probably true.
"Mace, Boebert and Greene are heroes, here" is a sentence I can't believe I'm tempted to utter.
November 13, 2025 at 12:32 AM
"Mace, Boebert and Greene are heroes, here" is a sentence I can't believe I'm tempted to utter.
I fully understand people being angry this perceived cave-in reinforces the worst stereotype about Dems, that they refuse to fight for their priorities...but when that extends to "they should hold firm till the GOP reinstates the subsidies", it betrays an ignorance of current GOP mindset.
November 11, 2025 at 10:05 PM
I fully understand people being angry this perceived cave-in reinforces the worst stereotype about Dems, that they refuse to fight for their priorities...but when that extends to "they should hold firm till the GOP reinstates the subsidies", it betrays an ignorance of current GOP mindset.
It feels like something of a karmic thing with Schumer: there's no evidence he had a hand in orchestrating this, but, because of how less-than-stalwart he's been in the past, significant numbers of people are presuming it was the outcome he wanted.
November 11, 2025 at 1:06 AM
It feels like something of a karmic thing with Schumer: there's no evidence he had a hand in orchestrating this, but, because of how less-than-stalwart he's been in the past, significant numbers of people are presuming it was the outcome he wanted.
All too typical of the "Schumer wants to sell us out" crowd: utter credulousness at each of these. 24 hours after one such rumor is disproven, they latch on just as eagerly to another. It's like the DC press with Darrell Issa stories: consistent mendacity does nothing to shake his credibility.
November 9, 2025 at 7:47 PM
All too typical of the "Schumer wants to sell us out" crowd: utter credulousness at each of these. 24 hours after one such rumor is disproven, they latch on just as eagerly to another. It's like the DC press with Darrell Issa stories: consistent mendacity does nothing to shake his credibility.
2) With all that, she came within 1.5% of the popular vote. I never heard "She's running a bad campaign" prior to 6PM Election Night. Dems, as usual, blame/crucify their losing candidates rather than their (sometimes non-) voters.
November 7, 2025 at 7:11 PM
2) With all that, she came within 1.5% of the popular vote. I never heard "She's running a bad campaign" prior to 6PM Election Night. Dems, as usual, blame/crucify their losing candidates rather than their (sometimes non-) voters.
1) Harris threw together a terrific convention in about 2 weeks, crushed Trump so badly in their one debate there was never another. She was hobbled by stay-home from the "Genocide!" lefties (who still pretend Trump is somehow better) and a slice of men who simply can't deal with a girl-boss...
November 7, 2025 at 7:09 PM
1) Harris threw together a terrific convention in about 2 weeks, crushed Trump so badly in their one debate there was never another. She was hobbled by stay-home from the "Genocide!" lefties (who still pretend Trump is somehow better) and a slice of men who simply can't deal with a girl-boss...
Wasn't there a report of a focus group during the 2012 election being shown a literal list of items in the Ryan budget, and the reaction was, the focus group group had to be making it up? The GOP gains from pushing policies so horrific, people can't believe anyone would actually campaign on them.
November 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Wasn't there a report of a focus group during the 2012 election being shown a literal list of items in the Ryan budget, and the reaction was, the focus group group had to be making it up? The GOP gains from pushing policies so horrific, people can't believe anyone would actually campaign on them.
The original headline reflected their truest thoughts.
November 6, 2025 at 7:08 PM
The original headline reflected their truest thoughts.
As if, in FDR's time, Dems who won races in AL or MS ran on the same issues as those in NY. There've always been region-specific approaches. The overarching party ethos (back then: Dems will feed/protect you -- today: affordability; Trump is a criminal lunatic) is what unites everyone.
November 6, 2025 at 5:37 PM
As if, in FDR's time, Dems who won races in AL or MS ran on the same issues as those in NY. There've always been region-specific approaches. The overarching party ethos (back then: Dems will feed/protect you -- today: affordability; Trump is a criminal lunatic) is what unites everyone.
And Democrat, in some cases, meant something in VA different back then. This would be the strongest Dem showing in the almost fully post-Civil Rights era.
November 5, 2025 at 3:40 AM
And Democrat, in some cases, meant something in VA different back then. This would be the strongest Dem showing in the almost fully post-Civil Rights era.
My grandmother was crushed when her ideal candidate -- George Wallace -- failed to run as 3rd party after being shot in 1972. So, she voted for George McGovern.
Statistically insignificant -- Nixon got most wouldabeen Wallace votes -- but plenty of individual make-no-sense cases like this.
Statistically insignificant -- Nixon got most wouldabeen Wallace votes -- but plenty of individual make-no-sense cases like this.
October 30, 2025 at 12:22 AM
My grandmother was crushed when her ideal candidate -- George Wallace -- failed to run as 3rd party after being shot in 1972. So, she voted for George McGovern.
Statistically insignificant -- Nixon got most wouldabeen Wallace votes -- but plenty of individual make-no-sense cases like this.
Statistically insignificant -- Nixon got most wouldabeen Wallace votes -- but plenty of individual make-no-sense cases like this.
Final line of Brecht's Arturo UI: "Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again."
October 22, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Final line of Brecht's Arturo UI: "Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again."