Loic Toleco

READ: The Full Statement From Jim Mattis Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis issued an extraordinary criticism of President Trump's leadership, saying Trump has sought to divide Americans.

The Gen. Mattis statement I see people posting today is from 2020. Which only goes to show how Americans chose to ignore some very clear warnings. www.npr.org/2020/06/04/8...

Those schticks could be interesting at other times in history (you can respect Reagan switch), or if they became genuinely independent.

But those basically started to do GOP bidding as it became a Trump/fascist movement, and that tells something about them, not anything about Democrats.

From 2017:

In light of today’s absolutely fucking deranged “I’m in a war movie” speeches by Trump and Hegseth, I give you the plaque at West Point.

The asymmetry you point is a consequence of a bigger difference:
- illiberal far-left people have not taken over the broader left, and are still trying to fight for in-group positions,
- the right-wing crazies have finished purging in-group opposition, so now turned to completing their fashy goals.

Why are you bothered by that:

"One thing for me is that in the immediate hours after somebody is murdered in public, when you see that sort of grief and horror pouring out of the people who loved him - and many people loved him - my instinct then is to just sit with them in their grief."

Trump admitted domestic national guard deployments are based on a pretext, and the White House is egregiously lying about "crime" and "insurrection" as an excuse, but with the added wrinkle that the president himself may be disconnected from reality, lying but also caught up in lies others tell him.

So much has gone wrong in US press reporting on Trump because the White House reporters are people who have exclusively covered US politics.

They need people who have worked in Hungary, Turkey, etc. The relevant knowledge isn't Reagan factoids; it's the dynamics of competitive authoritarianism.

It seems a fool's errand to think anything else than winning elections (when your opponent is a fashy party) would solve our problems.

The "pack the courts" strategy always felt a bit like counting your chicken before they hatch.

Works only if you win elections/minds, but then not needed.

The White House Deputy Press Secretary looked at this graph and thought "those grey bars are totally fine, everyone will understand that only the yellow ones are a problem".

Former FBI Director James Comey indicted days after Trump demanded his DOJ move 'now' to prosecute enemies Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted just days after President Trump issued a public demand for the DOJ to act "now" to prosecute him, sources say.

Let’s spell this out. Trump fired a qualified U.S. attorney who refused to do his bidding and installed his own personal lawyer to punish a perceived opponent. Justice needs to follow the law, not politics.

This is an attack on the rule of law. Full stop.

Another way to look at Ezra suggestion: if someone like @davidfrenchjag.bsky.social or @lizcheney.bsky.social or any pro-life former GOP was willing to run as a candidate under the democratic party banner, should they be welcome in spite of being pro-life or rejected as incompatible with Dems?

Trump Justice Dept. Closed Investigation Into Tom Homan for Accepting Bag of Cash

No police chief would hire someone who'd taken a bribe to be an officer. Yet the man who now serves as border czar took a bag of money as a bribe for favors. That’s what criminals do. Administration says nothing to see here. There’s a tape. Release it. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/u...

The result of 30 years of thinking that whatever bad thing GOP camp does, Obama or any Democratic candidate was or would be worse.

You should be praised for criticizing your own camp, and tackling one critical question in 2024: for all her flaws, would Harris be a better president?

Tom Homan was investigated for accepting $50,000 from undercover FBI agents. Trump's DOJ shut it down. The FBI and Justice officials closed the investigation, which a Justice Department appointee had called a “deep state” probe in early 2025.

“On Sept. 20, with hidden cameras recording the scene, Homan accepted $50,000 in bills, according to an internal summary of the case.”

Homan was being investigated for allegedly “soliciting payments in exchange for awarding contracts should Trump win the election”

www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/t...

Their objections could be to saying the quiet part out loud.

Haven't heard them on many blatant speech issues (Cbs, Abc, NYTimes lawsuits, Ozturk, Mahdawi arrests).

Also they still all pretend Biden did worse.

So glad they denounce that move rather than cheer, but might not be an alliance yet.

A must-read article indeed. Also glad that Obama also publishes on bluesky:

Https://bsky.app/profile/barackobama.bsky.social/post/3lz6zeema5k2j

@greggnunziata.bsky.social is on bsky. Quote him there and give him a follow.

bsky.app/profile/greg...

The killing of Charlie Kirk is part of a grim pattern of political violence in America. This is what the data show econ.st/4nqZysO

Why not quote the bsky version with the link to original article?
bsky.app/profile/econ...

Staline, Mao, Pol pot et leur régimes étaient religieux?

Their actions are about taking money and power from the moderate left, leaving the far-left (their horseshoe allies) alone.
Spent more time going after universities, law firms, NIH than anybody "left" of Jill Stein. I don't wish any ill on Jill Stein, but she's not even a verbal target of MAGA.

Je Suis Charlie The best way to honor or oppose Charlie Kirk’s legacy is to keep arguing—peacefully and courageously.

"The best way to honor or oppose Charlie Kirk’s legacy is to keep arguing—peacefully and courageously." --Paul D. Miller

thedispatch.com/article/je-s...

You don't have to care.

But you are piling on an comment that was done a few hours after Kirk was shot, shortly before he died.

That comment was not hagiographic, saying Kirk "spread hate and poison" but pointing he was still human.

A wish at that time he would survive bothers you that much?

"If you HaraKiri yourself economically and jump off a bridge, I'll pinky promise I will eventually sanction a third-party but not russia" is a bold proposal from a leader seen as sabotaging its own country.

EU Russia oil imports have already fallen by 90%, more if you exclude Orban.

In the 24h after that murder, Ezra felt that the major flaws of the victim would not be his topic for the day, and instead tried to empathize or relate to him in some way (that Kirk would never do that ironically highlights the Ezra-Kirk gap).

Not a universal choice, but why diss on that?

bsky.app/profile/loic...

I was not aware @thefp.com was on bsky.

I took a look, and the fact that their thousands of posts have on average less than 1/3 of a like, on a platform with many Reagan conservatives, centrists, blue-dog Dems has renewed my faith in the wisdom of humanity!

Thanks for making my day!

The Assassination of Charlie Kirk Who we are, and who we want to be.

Good guidance from @jvl.bsky.social as we deal with rage and recriminations (on social media, TV and even Congress) in the wake of Kirk's murder:

"When you see people being neither wise, prudent, nor charitable — and you will — pray that they are given grace and offer them yours as a down payment."

I don't see much evidence of Democratic leaders spewing violent rhetoric, as Trump claims. I see evidence of them talking about our shared humanity despite our in many cases profound differences, and how today's murder is tragic and wrong.