Megan Darbyshire

Not going to be a pleasant day outside. Good day to get caught up on stuff and get organized for next week. We’ll see if it happens. 😂

GOOD MORNING 🐻⬇️

#DaBears

Waiting for a load of laundry to finish. Fell asleep earlier than usual last night but otherwise any side effects from Thursday seem to have passed quickly. Anyway, hope you all are enjoying your Saturdays.

Good news: Except for some arm soreness I feel pretty normal.
Bad news: No excuse to not do stuff today. 😂

Well so far I feel fine. *Fingers crossed* that continues.

#Dateline

We have had years of convos with antivaxxers as they rant on about pharma, toxicity etc. That's one reason vaccine uptake has dropped: we've been treating this like a topic to discuss. People are sick/ dying because of antivaxxers. Chatting with them more? That's how you want us to treat killers?

After my post on vaccinating my children when they were babies, I got asked to have ‘nuanced’ convos with antivaxxers.

No.

I’m not platforming lies that led to the drop in vaccines, sick children with lifelong impacts and dead children.

Vaccines save lives and protect health.

Period.

Got my flu and Covid shots. Usually I just feel more tired than usual for a day or so. Hopefully that’s the case this year because we have two days of really good weather left and a lot to do outside. 😂

If I’m talking about dinner or TV or the dog, I probably don’t want a bleak joke about the state of the world. I promise: I know about it.

I want to very gently say something, and I hope nobody will be mad: If somebody on the internet says something that is NOT about politics and NOT about how terrible everything is, it’s a kindness not to reflexively make a comment (in jest or not) that brings it back to those things.

One of the things I think really helps @robsandia.bsky.social is that he consistently does his job as auditor well.

He doesn't do the culture war political stuff Breanna Bird does. He just finds misspent money and holds people accountable to Iowans.

www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/p...

(to see relatives in the QC before holiday insanity sets in) and at least open Trump/MAGA support does not seem as strong as it was anyway. Again, it obviously matters. I’m just wondering (no, really just wondering—I have no idea one way or the other) how much.

I’m not sure if any of what’s happening right now will move the president’s support needle anymore (obviously the release matters, not saying that) but I will say that we took a road trip through some red parts of eastern IA this weekend for the first time in about a year

Before the election, my MAGA focus group said their top issues were ending inflation and releasing the Epstein files. Now they say their top issues are starting a war with Venezuela and naming the Washington Commanders’ new stadium after Trump.

This is going to be very nuanced and very divisive. I hope you will do me the courtesy of reading the whole thing and digesting it before commenting.

Okay?

Good, here goes:

I think many people in our party misunderstand what a congressional leader is.
1/

When Trump and Republicans say they care about health care, they’re lying.

Their Big Ugly Law stripped millions of Americans of their health care and guaranteed premium price hikes.

They created a health care crisis and refuse to do anything to fix it.

The first and last lines of Joni Ernst’s legacy as a human on earth will be that she was instrumental in the confirmation of the Sec of Defense most hostile to women serving in military, and she knew that when she voted for him.

Please knock this shit off. It's Democrats or Nazis. Stop whining because you want white guys in charge. It's not happening. We're a diverse coalition.

And we got them back at work, with SNAP increased, with airlines back up, with Epstein files ready to be released.

I have listened to lot of takes on the shutdown.

My favorites: healthcare costs are skyrocketing because of REPUBLICANS. Trump is willing to STARVE people. They'll screw up air travel to make a point.

Democrats do not hold Americans hostage. Vote for us if you want affordable healthcare.

The white people who voted for Trump are the ones who voted to abandon Americans - never mind the tens of millions who didn’t even bother to vote. THAT is who is responsible for this shit show. Yell at THEM.

Every damn so-called Democrat on here calling for primarying Dems, put that energy into flipping red seats to blue so we’re not in this situation anymore. a much better use of our time, energy, and money.

It's either Democrats or Nazis.
That's it. Those are your choices

Decide what team you're on & if it's Democrats, start fucking act like it for a change.

There are many of us engaging in good faith about the new senate bill and aca. Based on shared facts but different concerns or what we think the outcome will be. But what i hope everyone remembers to focus on is that the problem is Republicans.

If you're following me and you're shit-posting about a handful of democrats voting to end this Godforsaken shutdown, just go ahead and unfollow/block me now. I'm just not tolerating Dem-bashing bullshit on my TL when there's an entire Republican party to direct your rage at. 😒

Iowans across the state, including our farmers, want conservation programs that focus on improving water quality. So why did the legislature defund nitrate monitoring systems across the state? That seem backwards to anyone else?

Does anyone understand just how dedicated to lies Trump and MAGA are? How dedicated they are into destroying this country? We need to be equally dedicated to DEFEATING THEM. Believe what you want… the only viable route out of this fuckery is the Democrats.

Fake berries and pumpkins strung together for Fall decor.

Really pretty red and orange tree

Anyway, we have plans for this weekend so I have a massive to-do list for the next couple of days to get back to. Have a pretty tree from my walk back from voting yesterday and Dad’s repurposing of our old built-in flower pot (featuring Fall decor for now).

Between those acts (and only getting a few super nasty MAGA replies compared to previous elections) and the phenomenal results, I am feeling better about things in general and looking forward to 2026 at least in that respect.