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“The Trump administration’s decision to publicize something like Alligator Alcatraz is not just a useful weapon that they can now threaten their enemies — and Elon Musk — with. It’s also a distinctly new form of propaganda. Something they seem to have picked up from the video tours of Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) in El Salvador. The concentration camp reimagined as a hype house. A place to make content, both real and AI-generated, that glorifies the power of the state. What Democratic super-poster Will Stancil described this week as “pornography for Trump’s sadistic base.” But also content that desensitizes you. That normalizes state violence and, most importantly, turns it into a meme. Trump’s administration knows that most effective propaganda of the 21st century is viral, ephemeral, and, crucially, stupid. Something CNN hosts can joke about on air, distracted by how idiotic the name is. How goofy the T-shirts are. Completely removed from the human misery happening behind closed doors.”

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Trump’s big, beautiful gulag

This is what Republicans voted for. This is what they wanted. 

Don’t let anyone tell you they didn’t vote for this, they actually voted for [low taxes | strong defense | the party | the price of eggs| some other bullshit], and now they are horrified. They never wanted masked thugs to terrorize and kidnap an innocent mother while her children watch. They never wanted masked vigilantes to terrorize entire communities and beat fathers bloody in front of their families. 

They never wanted any of this, they tell us, and maybe they didn’t want it, but he promised it, and his base held up signs celebrating it. He promised to inflict this terror and this sadistic cruelty on as many people as he could, and that even if they say they didn’t want this to happen, his repeated promises to do exactly this certainly weren’t enough to stop them from voting for him.

So many people who voted for him like to pretend that they aren’t Nazis; it’s the MAGA extremists who are the Nazis. It’s not this guy who lives in the middle-class suburb! This guy goes to church and takes his kids to soccer practice! He was appalled by January 6 (though he’s rewritten almost all of it in his head into something less violent). He doesn’t support those MAGA people; in fact, he’s embarrassed by them!

Deep breath. Okay. Hey, buddy, I have some news: there is no difference between you and them. You’re just as deplorable, and you do not get to pretend you didn’t vote for this like they did. You may dress nice and check all the “good neighbor” boxes, just like a lot of Germans did in the 1930s, but you don’t fool me.

Whatever justification you invented to feel good about what you did, doesn’t matter. It’s the result of your vote that matters, and you voted for terror, suffering, and incompetent malevolence aimed at the heart of our Constitution.

I will never forget this. I will never forgive you for the suffering you enabled. 

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the contrabass saxophone is such an absurd instrument

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How long till they are burning people at the stake?

Alix Breeden at Daily Kos:

The White House’s “new media” squad is clinging to yet another conspiracy theory. During a press briefing Monday, Liam Cosgrove, a reporter for the far-right blog ZeroHedge, asked press secretary Karoline Leavitt to address a theory claiming that a number of deaths were secretly linked to Bill and Hillary Clinton.  “Trump posted to Truth Social a video highlighting what most people call the ‘Clinton body count,’” he said.

Doubling down, Cosgrove said that there was a “strange number of suicides that seem to happen in circles" surrounding the Clinton family. He then pointed to President Donald Trump's erratic Truth Social behavior over the weekend, when he posted a video captioned, “THE VIDEO HILLARY CLINTON DOES NOT WANT YOU TO SEE,” linking her to the death of John F. Kennedy Jr. To make matters worse, Cosgrove also confidently called the death of Jeffrey Epstein the "most famous Clinton-related death" before asking when more of the Epstein Files would be released.

During Monday’s Press Briefing at the White House, Liam Cosgrove of the far-right Zero Hedge blog asked a question to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt about the “Clinton body count” conspiracy theory.

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Eric Garcia at The Independent:

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says Democrats should not abandon defending the rights of transgender people as they figure out how to win again. The former Democratic nominee for vice president spoke to The Independent about the issue, which became a major weapon in Donald Trump’s campaign ads against former Vice President Kamala Harris. “It's a mistake,” he insisted. “And here's the thing: we need to tell people your cost of eggs, your health care being denied, your homeowner’s insurance, your lack of getting warning on tornadoes coming has nothing to do with someone's gender.” In recent months, some Democrats have hinted that Democrats should avoid talking about transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California told Turning Point USA head Charlie Kirk on his podcast that trans participation in women’s sports was “unfair.” “I think we have to figure out how to not get sucked in and allow that to be the focal point only, and that we can multitask, and we can hold several things simultaneously,” he said. “We can protect LGBTQ rights and basic human rights at the same time, we can make sure that we hold drug companies accountable for high prices.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (DFL) told British newspaper The Independent that the Democratic Party should not abandon defending the rights of transgender people, unlike what certain cowards in our party are doing (esp. on trans sports).

See Also:

LGBTQ Nation: Tim Walz says it’s a “mistake” for Democrats to abandon trans people

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this happened to a 19 year old US citizen studying in Bulgaria. do yourself a favor and do not leave the country right now under any circumstances. and another reminder: do not under any circumstances give your electronic devices up to anyone who asks or allow your things to be searched without a signed warrant from a judge. you have a right to refuse any search and seizure that is unwarranted. you still have rights. do not comply in advance. they will use it to prosecute you for whatever they can.

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Good thing no one wants to outlaw farming I guess. But climate change is a concern for food availability heading into the future.

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WWE

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'their political ideology' meaning - the U.S. Constitution?

nah, I'm afraid he's going to destroy America

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For some reason this story makes me want to grow my hair even longer. Fuck the man.

'The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.' - Albert Camus

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Trump is also an 80 year old dementia patient, and he's fooling a ton of people as we speak

And we’re supposed to trust them regarding their supposed knowledge of things like tariffs, trade policy, immigration and the need for USAID and NGO’s.

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well that's bullshit

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Me: I should write something

me : … or I could spent 78 hours straight making a miniature library with a working LED chandelier