Andrea

A text message that says “don’t forget - I saved your allergies to my phone years ago so I can meticulously cross reference when getting surprise treats.”

This is how to friend!

Every story rips your heart out and then there’s another story. The collective weight of each and every disaster…

It’s just overwhelming. I’m so glad she’s safe.

Screen shot of a tweet featuring an official Congrssional photo of a man in a dark suit with a red tie in front of the America flag. The copy above the photo says Republican Rep. Kean just voted to pass Trump’s budget bill. 20,469 of his constituents will now lose access to their healthcare and 10,831 households in his district could now lose access to SNAP. 80 energy jobs are now at risk.

The tweets/skeets etc. are solid but who is paying for the billboards & full-page newspaper ads in small town papers in light red GOP districts with the incumbent’s name & face & number of ppl kicked off Medicaid PLUS the name of the D challenger?

I got 4 - and after each one said stop and reported as junk.

I need him to sit down.

1) The new detention center in Florida promises to be as inhumane and awful as existing ones.

2) Did they coin “Alligator Alcatraz” to distract him & get him to stop talking about re-opening the actual Alcatraz?

3) This is not normal and this is not right.

A block print of a row house showing the front facade. The ink is gold and paper is dusky blue.

A block print of a row house showing the front facade. Same block and gold ink but on white paper.

I continue to carve & print row houses like a woman possessed. Found some blue paper and gold ink …

In the year of 2025, someone needs to tell my doctor's office that it is 100% possible to have 2 clinic locations but one central calendar.

I constantly remind my boyfriend to lock the back door when he’s been in the backyard.

He’s gotten really good at it, I realize as I sit here in my nightgown after watering the plants waiting for him to drive back from the office to let me in.

That special feeling of dread knowing that the 1st storm of the hurricane season will bear your name…

Come on, Hurricane Andrea - be a fish storm!

Y’all we need to up our game because I’m telling you Twitter is freaking hitting it out of the park today.

He is deeply concerned for your mortal soul and wants you to rush $99.99 to him so he can pray for you.

Look at the Leadership Institute. Build that on the left. Look at The Federalist Society & give until the American Constitution Society & National Lawyers Guild groups at law schools are equally robust.
THEN GIVE MORE.
FOR THE LONG HAUL.
RINSE, REPEAT.

Otherwise, you're burning money. 6/6.

I don't have charts for this but I have a hunch that many/most WSJ & other conservative journos were on their college's version of The Dartmouth Review 30-35 years ago. We hvae Dinesh D'Souza now b/c he was recruited, trained, nurtured, and promoted starting in college. Ditto many others. 5/

Yes, you'll be investing for 2026 and 2028, but you need to realize that unless you are also investing for 2048, and 2064, we'll always be playing catch-up.

Another tip - don't pick 1 guy. Pick 3 people on 200 different campuses. Give'm platforms & salaries. When they grafduate, give'm jobs. 4/

Conservatives have been outspending us by at least 10 to 1 on leadership & message development for the past 60 years. Not hyperbole. I've got graphs.

Dems get bored & look for the shiny new thing when something doesn't work immediately. Conservatives just double down & double down again. 3/

And actually, don't just triple it, but take your 2-year pledge and make it a 10-year one. Not the same amount you were gonna give in 2 years over 10 instead, but triple the amount every year for 10 years.

And in year 5, start recruiting the next round of 10-year pledges at an even higher rate. 2/

I don't want a "Democratic Joe Rogan," whatever that is. I'd love to have truly progressive voices halping to pull the Overton window back our way.

But my advice to the Dems who are prepared to spend money on Rogan lite is this:

However much you are planning to spend, triple it. 1/

Bull Durham GIF Alt: Bull Durham GIF of pitcher Nuke LaLoosh, played by Tim Robbins, throwing a pitch. As he winds up, he flickers his eyelids to get in touch breathe through his eyelids like the lava lizards on the Galapagos Islands. Clearly delirious at this point and need to step away from the computer for a bit.

I'm just happy to be here...

This musing brought to you by my dream last night about racing on the Charles River during a head race and having the boat take on water for no obvious reason. This is my brain's variation on the 'showing up to an exam for a class I never attended' dream, which I also have, but less often.

Was thinking about it listening to @jeffbalke.bsky.social talk about the #Astros. I'm quite sure there are stats on the likelihood of a team winning a division / overcoming when behind at various points in the season that suggest whether it is better to lead or chase, but wonder how players feel.

a group of men are rowing a boat with the number 5 on the front Alt: A cluster of crews racing 8s (8-person boats with 4 people rowing on the port side and 4 on the starboard) at the Olympics. You can see 5 lanes of boats, with a periodic glimpse of the bow number for the 6th boat. The two rowers seen most easily with black, red, and yellow oars represent Germany. The red, white, and blue blade that comes into view is the United States. I picked this image as I still have anxiety dreams about my days as a cox'n - although I also have amazing dreams about my days as a cox'n when everyone was pulling together. I loved to come from behind and win.

Do you do better when you're winning, or when you're chasing the lead?

I do better when I'm the underdog - as least, I prefer feeling positive about my chances. When I'm worried I'll fail, that worry consumes me. Fear motivates but it doesn't feel great. Wonder what psychologists say...

A meme that include the cartoon character Clippy, a paper clip with eyes and raised eyebrows, standing on a piece of yellow legal note paper. Clippy used to pop up when you were using a Microsoft product asking if you needed help, but never seemed to actually be offering help at a useful time. The words above Clippy in this image say "I see you selected reply all." Below is the 2nd sentence: "do you truly grasp the magnitude of that decision."

Honestly, Clippy really missed a chance to be useful by not popping up any time someone hit REPLY ALL to an email but before they hit send.

I wake up many mornings & check to see if there’s news from Syria about #AustinTice. My heart goes out to him and his family. Something has to give.

Or at least be given water and rest breaks.

Beto O’Rourke in dark pants and a white shirt stands on top of a car in the middle of a get out the vote rally during his 2018 race for Senate.

A man and a woman laugh out loud as they try to take a selfie and Viula crashes in to join but we all lose our balance. Viula is not pictured.

I’ll say it - I’d like to have @betoorourke.bsky.social run for US Senate again. He hasn’t stopped working since his last race. The stakes are higher & the differences starker in 2025-26 v. 2017-18. We need his energy & commitment. #YouBetoYouBet

a picture of a ladder that says mnf on the top Alt: An animation of the blade of a guillotine falling.

Inflation, empty shelves at food pantries, & charities closing is bad enough...then a major storm hits & we don't have FEMA, or social security/disability checks are 3 weeks late.

Will tax breaks protect the 1% from the rest of us if the social safety net disappears? Prevention > cure.
4/4

Private foundations that fund you.
But unless they are willing to dip into their pockets to replace gov't funds on an ongoing basis, maybe the individuals who fund them should consider their own voting preferences & political expenditures & leverage their connections, too.

3/4

Bolder Advocacy Bolder Advocacy promotes active engagement in democratic processes and institutions by giving nonprofits and foundations the confidence to advocate effectively and by protecting their right to do so.

You can learn about the limits, which are pretty generous, by checking out fact sheets & resources at bolderadvocacy.org. Your tax prep people can advise you on the 501(h) election, for example.

We're facing a social sector collapse if cuts continue. We cannot stay silent. But also talk to...
2/4

Are you a leader or board member of a 501(c)(3) public charity, like arts orgs or food pantries coping with massive funding cuts & revoked grants?

You CAN lobby the gov't about these cuts & encourage supporters to do the same.

And you should. I'd argue your mission obligates you to do so.
1/4