Just a reminder that, especially for Trump and those who staff his new media-manipulation-savvy regime (Fox News defectors), Friday night is when you take action or release things that you don’t want people paying attention to. Friday night, we’re all exhausted and/or distracted. By Monday there will be a new news cycle.

Installing loyalists in the top military positions is one of the things that is signal, not noise.

This seems like a standard hopium piece on the left. Take the first anecdote:

Last June, the popular UFC fighter Sean Strickland surprised onlookers when, immediately following a victory, he ducked into the audience and took a photo with a bystander: Donald Trump. “President Trump, you’re the man, bro,” Strickland declared in his post-match interview with Joe Rogan. “It is a damn travesty what they’re doing to you. I’ll be donating to you, my man. Let’s get it done.” Video of the moment rocketed across social media, serving as an early indicator of Trump’s enduring strength with his base, despite his recent felony convictions.

Strickland went viral last week for a very different reason: opposition to the president and his plan to take over Gaza. “Man if Trump keeps this bs up I’m about to start waving a Palestinian flag,” the fighter posted on X. “American cities are shitholes and you wanna go spend billions on this dumpster fire. Did we make a mistake?! This ain’t America first.” Strickland’s lament racked up 159,000 likes and 13.2 million views.

This isn’t even buyer’s remorse - Strickland couldn’t even bring himself to make a statement rather than a question - but even assuming it is, the article fundamentally misunderstands MAGA believers’ relationship with Trump. Sure, they will question random one-off decisions, but even outright contradicting their own interests will at best draw this - momentary mild annoyance. Meanwhile, if next week Trump says something that can be contorted to be a show of support for their own goals, even if wildly improbable and incoherent, they’ll be back to fawning over him.

We see him as a toddler, or a middle-school bully who tears the legs off frogs for fun. Yes, that is true, but irrelevant. What this article writer doesn’t get is that parents will usually do anything to protect their baby, or live in denial that their middle-schooler is a psychopath.

These complaints are in reality just cries for the warm blanket of propaganda to lull them back to sleep with some easy answer, and annoyance at the vertigo of momentarily seeing reality. The thesis that Trump’s support will fall over time because of this is absurd.

I was surprised to see Zuckerberg with higher unfavorable and lower favorable ratings. Musk is in my opinion clearly the most evil and hateful figure at the moment. But then when they break out the statistics by party, it makes sense and seems obvious.

Everyone on both sides politically dislikes Zuck, because Facebook is a hellhole. But Musk has the GOP. Averaged out, Musk gets a boost, benefitting from the politicization.

It seems like this is putting data behind the motive for Zuck more publicly supporting right wing efforts.

They can convert that money into control/ownership over land and people.

If the economy is broken for everyone else, but you control the survival of people (through destroying or blocking labor laws, wage protections, public insurance, and eventually distribution of food and water, etc) and the space around those people (land, property), that control will outlast the economy and potentially the government. That’s because they can afford their own monopoly on violence in a given domain, if the state’s monopoly falls apart.

We’re not quite there yet, but fiefdoms could yet come back in style.

Zelensky has been very careful not to burn the Trump bridge prematurely, but Trump’s Russia misinformation comments seem to have turned the tide.

Trump was just baiting and waiting, and this response unfortunately likely took the bait (though who can blame him, it’s all true). So I think this is the turning point and will give Trump an excuse to lash out by revoking aid, and jointly propose a “peace” treaty with Russia that gives Russia substantial parts of Ukraine.

Trump defended the order, stating, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”

Wow, that really sums up the fascist intent right there. The ends justify the means and no law applies to him.

I wish the general public were paying more attention.

Gosh, wherever could Trump be getting his Ukraine strategy from?

Adams just seems to have confirmed he’s a Republican now in this buried lede:

The newspaper said he discussed the options as recently as Monday. When asked for a comment by the Times, he said he was running as a Republican.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/new-york-city-mayor-adams-discussed-possible-republican-primary-run-nyt-reports-2025-02-13/

Maybe we’ll avert WW3, since every country is just going full Axis. World harmony achieved, I guess?

For awhile. There’s four years of purging and loyalty tests available to wear down institutional resistance.

Considering Gabbard’s history, by 2028, Putin will know what our intelligence community knows before Trump does.

Ok, can these agencies please stop playing nice with these criminals? They enter the building, lie about benign process, and act like black hat hackers as soon as they get in.

Refuse them access. Make Trump publicly admit he’s illegally shutting down these agencies if he’s purportedly given these clowns permission to do so. If you’re all going to get fired anyway at least make a stand before you do. I know it takes courage, but please stop giving these hatchet men the courtesy of cover.

The mayor began the meeting Monday by asking his top officials how they felt and that they shouldn’t be shy about sharing, sources told THE CITY.

After some people expressed their concerns and asked for clearer guidance from the mayor, Adams ordered them to stop complaining and to keep their heads down and refrain from criticizing President Donald Trump — and trust that he will make sure the city doesn’t get federal grants pulled, multiple people told THE CITY.

“Tell me how you really feel, it’s a safe spa-SHUT UP, YOU FEEL WRONG.”

It’s incredible how consistent Trump is at doing the wrong thing.

I have now!

I think for me, the challenge is finding something that breaks down trends and ideas without resorting to discourse that’s been overworked. Vocabulary that already has been politicized by society won’t change any minds because exposure immunizes people against ideas, even good ones. The revolutionary idea becomes mundane given exposure plus time.

That’s what I think is unique about Adam Curtis, is he studiously avoids any framing that feels like a rote “capitalism” critique, but instead speaks to something more fundamental to human nature.

Yep, same. I really enjoyed All Watched Over, which I feel presciently explains some of the techno-fascism trends that have taken over the last six months, and of course Hypernormalization which is the corollary politically.

I feel like we’re in an era of anterograde amnesia where national memories reset every two weeks, and his work makes me feel slightly less insane, both remembering and filling in the gaps of how we got here.

The British deadpan is just right.

What are they going to do? Well, I’ll tell you: John Roberts will consider withholding his vote for Trump’s 2028 campaign.

I’m not aware of any similar. But since it’s so rare I come across people who actually know who this is, I’ll ask: what’s the best one, in your opinion?

Indeed. The day after inauguration, Elon woke up, walked to the bathroom, flipped on the light, and stared straight ahead, instantly discovering corruption the likes of which America has never seen.

Elon Musk polled users on X about reinstating Elez, with 78% supporting his return.

I know why Musk does this - manufacturing the appearance of consent and perpetuating his “vox pupuli” delusion - but at this point, it’s so transparent that his followers are sycophantic blue-checks and bots that it’s insulting to even pretend this matters any more than a Russian election.

Unrelated other point: love it how Vance sees he’s fully reduced to an afterthought, so of course to try to increase his standing with Trump he tries to out-shameless the rest. At this point all of the GOP are like colorful birds putting on mating dances for Trump, competing who can be the most craven and subservient, hoping he picks them.