Must have had too much at Happy Hour yesterday; must have dozed off a bit afterwards.
When I came to, I remembered what must have been a dream because I don't recall envisioning this while awake: a picture in my head of Maga Mike Johnson, with that John Edwards mop of hair, posing in a Speedo.
(BTW, was there actual evidence that J. Edgar Hoover went home at night and put on his dead mother's dress?)
It's enough to make you give up Happy Hour altogether.
I'm sure my REM debauchery had roots in recent conversations/revisitations of the following triggers:
That youthful, wholesome side-part of John Edwards' head of hair.
How the Kerry/Edwards ticket was celebrated around Christopher Street, with stickers of adoration/affection for these very photogenic fellas, as a fetching couple.
What we would later discover about John Edwards and the state of his personal life/marriage: Remember that endearing tradition of Edwards and his wife celebrating their anniversary every year at Wendy's?
J. Edgar Hoover in a dress
Hypocrisy of prurient MAGA: Find me one that isn't completely focused on carnal matters, typically in the most inappropriate places (in front of young people, religious people, legislative events). Tell me that MTG chasing AOC down the halls of Congress, goading her through the mail slot in her office door, is "just a cigar."
I'm taking a break from Happy Hour for a few weeks.
Self report. Inspired by Randy Gold’s message in the chat, I wrote a draft resolution for the Bernalillo County (NM) Board of Commissioners entitled “Defending our Democracy and the U.S. Constitution.” I made a few changes from his draft for Arizona cities and counties, and added a reference list. The list included 18 lawsuits or amicus briefs filed by the New Mexico Department of Justice, Attorney General Raúl Torrez, and one ruling by SCOTUS regarding immigration and due process.
The resolution after the preamble is as follows:
That New Mexico’s Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners declares its support for the role of the United States Congressional delegation of the State of New Mexico to lead their colleagues to stand up and reclaim their Constitutional duty to be an equal partner in the administration of the U.S. government, to work hand-in-hand with the Judicial Branch to ensure that the Constitution is not violated by the Executive Branch, and to ensure that illegal or unconstitutional actions that have occurred are overturned.
I plan to submit the draft to the five-member Board. Four are Democrats, including the Chair and Vice Chair, and only three votes are needed to pass a resolution. This is my second correspondence, and I hope to be more successful by providing this draft and offering to meet with the Board, submit testimony, and bring others to any relevant hearing to testify and have our concerns entered in the public record.
Deborah, could you change the settings so that "anyone with the link" can view your document? I'd love to get ideas for my county commissioners! Thanks to you and Randy Gold -- this is a great idea!
Really nice approach! Thanks. It teaches a foundational civics lesson and, is worded positively, and can't be coopted by a right-wing person pretending it means something else. We need more samples and a national network. I've spoken with my City Councilor, but to make an impact (and provide a little safety), this has to happen in hundreds of cities and counties.
I’m still trying to get my head around this but I believe Democrats need a way to talk about the deficit and debt that people can understand, and a plan to deal with it. Multi trillion yearly deficits are unsustainable. I know it’s complicated and the proportion relative to GDP is an important metric but we need to figure out how we fund our priorities without breaking the bank. I personally support much higher taxation on the wealthy, and there is a lot of waste in the DoD that should be cut (and currently politically toxic to touch), but we also need creative solutions. I hope our 2026 and 2028 candidates address this issue head on.
I re watched the interview with Abigail Spanberger and made notes. I’m going to highlight this postcard campaign to my hub writers this week. (Will obviously credit your interview as my source.) I plan to do this with our AZ campaign too. I want to share the reasons these campaigns are important.
Hi friends - today, I sent messages to our Illinois AG, Kwame Raoul, to thank him for his strong participation with the other 22 Dem AGs in pushing back against Trumps threats to states; also a message to Governor Pritzer in thanks for his strong fearless leadership. Messages to Senators Durbin, Duckworth and Rep. Sorenson to continue to work tirelessly to push back on any thing that doesn't represent good for American people - there are so many issues! Even on days when it feels toothless and immaterial, I contact them anyway. I have great electeds in Illinois!
Self-reporting. Called my electeds 3 times this week & used the Hopium proposed script. Also sent 3 emails to electeds (via forms). Sending anti-tariff accountability postcards to voters in GOP-held districts through ActivateAmerica.vote and also sending cards for Gina Ortiz Jones’ mayoral runoff in San Antonio through PostcardstoVoters.org
I've been stumped by this revisiting of Biden's age going on lately. What is the purpose of this? He's no longer in office and is not actively endorsing anyone. I don't get what is going on. Is it part of totally obliterating his sound economic record compared to our current situation?
Heather Cox Richardson calls it “Narrative Warfare.” Aaron Rupar suggested it is to distract from the negative things 47 is doing, and the Moody’s downgrade.
Jake Tapper's book is driving the discussion. But will make it far harder for us to keep pretending Trump is not in far worse shape than Biden ever was.
I never share anything like this - same with the Comey thing for the reasons you describe. I do think it’s interesting to try to figure out the angle behind the latest rage farming efforts, because it is intentionally done.
Tapper's book, which has given the media an opportunity to pose gotcha questions to Democrats while letting Republicans get away with actual murder, which is their favorite activity.
Hello everyone—I continue to find good ideas and inspiration in your self reports. Thank you!
Here’s an idea I had while watching people log in to Simon’s talk on Wednesday: I noticed there were a number of attendees hailing from my area (Denver, Boulder, Aurora) and thought it would be great to get together with you in real life.
Lunch, coffee, chat about our resistance activities and maybe even plan some Good Trouble together? If this sounds appealing, please DM me and I’ll help organize. 🙏🏻💖🇺🇸
Good article, with the long list describing the Trump plan particularly compelling. It all makes sense if you just follow the money.
HCR’s letter last night pointed out that the seashell “86” noise is just more distraction and part of their deliberate strategy. A good reminder for me to keep my eyes on the ball.
Spouse and I are going to a Fight for Schools rally in downtown Sacramento today, part of a statewide rally protesting the attack on public education. https://www.cta.org/our-advocacy/fight-for-schools.
This would have been FAR easier to accomplish if someone who was having cognitive challenges subjected themselves to professional scrutiny -- and set an example -- and a Challenge.
Well I look at it differently. The fact that this happened with Biden is a reason to keep questioning whether or not something is up with Trump, and to question how can the public know he's not cognitively impaired.
The people who covered up for Biden need to be held to account and shamed so we can move on. Like all good organizations, they can take account by pinning this on the Biden's inner circle. That is the first step to rebuilding trust in the Democratic Party. Admitting it, placing the blame, and moving on.
Amongst other things, we should just keep repeating the questions about Trump. Ask every day when will he take the blood test. Or whatever. Just keep pounding away on a few things.
The Democrats should keep up the corruption focus, including the plane as well. Force the media to keep talking about the $400 million plane and the crypto scams. If we don't keep talking about those things, the media will move on.
I look at it based on my own experience. When I served in the Navy, both my ships had weapons that were "nuclear capable." LOL... NUKES.
A special guard force was assigned to the missile launcher and magazine. And EVERY person considered for that force was given very stringent psychological testing and evaluation. I'm talking 1970s.
This shit has NOTHING to do with politics. And thinking that it does may be a fatal error.
Thomas’ point about stringent psychological testing for anyone involved with the capability to blow us all to smithereens — not to mention in command of negotiations with possibly unfriendly world powers that have similar capacity — is well beyond political concern.
Also, Patrick, I disagree that “the people who covered up for Biden need to be held to account and shamed…”. Consider the great lengths and lies that were promulgated to cover up FDR’s infirmities!
The focus needs to be on the citizen-empowerment and country-strengthening that Democratic administrations accomplish. And focused primarily on the MAGA wrecking ball swinging to bring it all down: destroy the economic structures, trash the cultural and scientific strengths, evaporate the foreign good will, stifle the “Yankee can-do” energy, and trash the Land of Opportunity image.
Well rightly or wrongly there are voters who lost trust in the party because of the Biden situation. That trust has to be rebuilt. So I think most institutions will localize the blame.
The other things you point out sure. We need to focus ob those too. But we need to rebuild trust.
I don’t think shaming anyone ever “rebuilds trust.” My opinion. In a different vein, countless democratic presidential candidates have filed comprehensive financial statements and I do not see any success in having pressured our mad king into similar ethical behavior. Which is another example of why I don’t think trashing Biden’s no-longer-relevant condition would serve any purpose in influencing the current Chief Madman, or his minions to act responsibly.
My take on Tapper's book: My take -- yes, admit the truth, like we've all been doing, that Biden himself was aging. And also point out the truth -- he commanded a terrific team around him that made our economy boom, strengthened NATO, kept our dollar strong, and gave more Americans and even playing field. Trump has failing people around him who are a wrecking ball. The wrecking ball Republicans and grifting. Magas. Agreed. keep the focus on the corruption - plane, take from us to give to Elon, crypto scams, selling access to the White House, our House.
I listened to the Gillen and Torres interviews while at the gym today. Thought they were both terrific so shared the Hopium gospel with friends and family.
I don't do dolls, but I can always use more pencils. Maybe not as much as money? Hmmm...I'll need to think about it.🤔
Tesla takedown Dedham MA 5/18 100plus folks standing up for our country!!!!
Must have had too much at Happy Hour yesterday; must have dozed off a bit afterwards.
When I came to, I remembered what must have been a dream because I don't recall envisioning this while awake: a picture in my head of Maga Mike Johnson, with that John Edwards mop of hair, posing in a Speedo.
(BTW, was there actual evidence that J. Edgar Hoover went home at night and put on his dead mother's dress?)
It's enough to make you give up Happy Hour altogether.
You made me laugh out loud! I can think of alternative ways to make that Hour even Happier – but I hardly think you need my input.
Cheers!
I'm sure my REM debauchery had roots in recent conversations/revisitations of the following triggers:
That youthful, wholesome side-part of John Edwards' head of hair.
How the Kerry/Edwards ticket was celebrated around Christopher Street, with stickers of adoration/affection for these very photogenic fellas, as a fetching couple.
What we would later discover about John Edwards and the state of his personal life/marriage: Remember that endearing tradition of Edwards and his wife celebrating their anniversary every year at Wendy's?
J. Edgar Hoover in a dress
Hypocrisy of prurient MAGA: Find me one that isn't completely focused on carnal matters, typically in the most inappropriate places (in front of young people, religious people, legislative events). Tell me that MTG chasing AOC down the halls of Congress, goading her through the mail slot in her office door, is "just a cigar."
I'm taking a break from Happy Hour for a few weeks.
It was too much for me.
I’ve heard the contrast between MAGA and Democrats thus summarized:
"Republicans want government out of the boardrooms and into America’s bedrooms. Democrats want the opposite."
PS. As and alternative to Happy Hour, you might consider an Irish seven-course dinner: a potato and six Guinness!
Stay strong and active, because the arc of history doesn't bend toward justice by itself, we have to make it bend that way!
Self report. Inspired by Randy Gold’s message in the chat, I wrote a draft resolution for the Bernalillo County (NM) Board of Commissioners entitled “Defending our Democracy and the U.S. Constitution.” I made a few changes from his draft for Arizona cities and counties, and added a reference list. The list included 18 lawsuits or amicus briefs filed by the New Mexico Department of Justice, Attorney General Raúl Torrez, and one ruling by SCOTUS regarding immigration and due process.
The resolution after the preamble is as follows:
That New Mexico’s Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners declares its support for the role of the United States Congressional delegation of the State of New Mexico to lead their colleagues to stand up and reclaim their Constitutional duty to be an equal partner in the administration of the U.S. government, to work hand-in-hand with the Judicial Branch to ensure that the Constitution is not violated by the Executive Branch, and to ensure that illegal or unconstitutional actions that have occurred are overturned.
I plan to submit the draft to the five-member Board. Four are Democrats, including the Chair and Vice Chair, and only three votes are needed to pass a resolution. This is my second correspondence, and I hope to be more successful by providing this draft and offering to meet with the Board, submit testimony, and bring others to any relevant hearing to testify and have our concerns entered in the public record.
Wow, that’s fantastic. Do you have a link to the draft?
I uploaded it for you. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xSGrq8kPMRkhAYHkkmRybB7Qb15ajywq/view?usp=sharing
Thank you!
Deborah, could you change the settings so that "anyone with the link" can view your document? I'd love to get ideas for my county commissioners! Thanks to you and Randy Gold -- this is a great idea!
I made the change.
yes, amazing Deborah.
Really nice approach! Thanks. It teaches a foundational civics lesson and, is worded positively, and can't be coopted by a right-wing person pretending it means something else. We need more samples and a national network. I've spoken with my City Councilor, but to make an impact (and provide a little safety), this has to happen in hundreds of cities and counties.
The credit goes to Randy Gold !
Just forwarded this on to a dear friend in Oregon to use. Thank you for sharing
Deborah, I’m late to catch up on Hopium, but this is such an encouraging and inspiring post. Just wonderful!
I just made contributions to Abigail Spanberger and the Hopium 7.
thank you
I’m still trying to get my head around this but I believe Democrats need a way to talk about the deficit and debt that people can understand, and a plan to deal with it. Multi trillion yearly deficits are unsustainable. I know it’s complicated and the proportion relative to GDP is an important metric but we need to figure out how we fund our priorities without breaking the bank. I personally support much higher taxation on the wealthy, and there is a lot of waste in the DoD that should be cut (and currently politically toxic to touch), but we also need creative solutions. I hope our 2026 and 2028 candidates address this issue head on.
Voters do not like deficits.
I think the whole package at once, because it is linked and so terrible:
Higher prices due to higher taxes (tariffs), lower taxes on billionaires, fewer government services, and higher deficits.
Having our credit rating lowered is not going to help.
I re watched the interview with Abigail Spanberger and made notes. I’m going to highlight this postcard campaign to my hub writers this week. (Will obviously credit your interview as my source.) I plan to do this with our AZ campaign too. I want to share the reasons these campaigns are important.
The Reckoning That Wasn't --- This essay has a lot of food for thought. I feel it's important to put it out there. https://the.ink/p/the-reckoning-that-wasnt-1ac
Hi friends - today, I sent messages to our Illinois AG, Kwame Raoul, to thank him for his strong participation with the other 22 Dem AGs in pushing back against Trumps threats to states; also a message to Governor Pritzer in thanks for his strong fearless leadership. Messages to Senators Durbin, Duckworth and Rep. Sorenson to continue to work tirelessly to push back on any thing that doesn't represent good for American people - there are so many issues! Even on days when it feels toothless and immaterial, I contact them anyway. I have great electeds in Illinois!
Self-reporting. Called my electeds 3 times this week & used the Hopium proposed script. Also sent 3 emails to electeds (via forms). Sending anti-tariff accountability postcards to voters in GOP-held districts through ActivateAmerica.vote and also sending cards for Gina Ortiz Jones’ mayoral runoff in San Antonio through PostcardstoVoters.org
I've been stumped by this revisiting of Biden's age going on lately. What is the purpose of this? He's no longer in office and is not actively endorsing anyone. I don't get what is going on. Is it part of totally obliterating his sound economic record compared to our current situation?
Heather Cox Richardson calls it “Narrative Warfare.” Aaron Rupar suggested it is to distract from the negative things 47 is doing, and the Moody’s downgrade.
Jake Tapper's book is driving the discussion. But will make it far harder for us to keep pretending Trump is not in far worse shape than Biden ever was.
Exactly!!
The best way to put this non-story to bed is not to engage with the media that’s rehashing a ship that sailed. It’s a distraction.
I never share anything like this - same with the Comey thing for the reasons you describe. I do think it’s interesting to try to figure out the angle behind the latest rage farming efforts, because it is intentionally done.
Tapper's book, which has given the media an opportunity to pose gotcha questions to Democrats while letting Republicans get away with actual murder, which is their favorite activity.
Hello everyone—I continue to find good ideas and inspiration in your self reports. Thank you!
Here’s an idea I had while watching people log in to Simon’s talk on Wednesday: I noticed there were a number of attendees hailing from my area (Denver, Boulder, Aurora) and thought it would be great to get together with you in real life.
Lunch, coffee, chat about our resistance activities and maybe even plan some Good Trouble together? If this sounds appealing, please DM me and I’ll help organize. 🙏🏻💖🇺🇸
Good article, with the long list describing the Trump plan particularly compelling. It all makes sense if you just follow the money.
HCR’s letter last night pointed out that the seashell “86” noise is just more distraction and part of their deliberate strategy. A good reminder for me to keep my eyes on the ball.
Spouse and I are going to a Fight for Schools rally in downtown Sacramento today, part of a statewide rally protesting the attack on public education. https://www.cta.org/our-advocacy/fight-for-schools.
Happy Saturday all.
Can we get Trump to do the Alzheimers test? Maybe at a minimum the press can ask him to do it every fucking day.
This would have been FAR easier to accomplish if someone who was having cognitive challenges subjected themselves to professional scrutiny -- and set an example -- and a Challenge.
That's what I consider "leadership."
Well I look at it differently. The fact that this happened with Biden is a reason to keep questioning whether or not something is up with Trump, and to question how can the public know he's not cognitively impaired.
The people who covered up for Biden need to be held to account and shamed so we can move on. Like all good organizations, they can take account by pinning this on the Biden's inner circle. That is the first step to rebuilding trust in the Democratic Party. Admitting it, placing the blame, and moving on.
Amongst other things, we should just keep repeating the questions about Trump. Ask every day when will he take the blood test. Or whatever. Just keep pounding away on a few things.
The Democrats should keep up the corruption focus, including the plane as well. Force the media to keep talking about the $400 million plane and the crypto scams. If we don't keep talking about those things, the media will move on.
I look at it based on my own experience. When I served in the Navy, both my ships had weapons that were "nuclear capable." LOL... NUKES.
A special guard force was assigned to the missile launcher and magazine. And EVERY person considered for that force was given very stringent psychological testing and evaluation. I'm talking 1970s.
This shit has NOTHING to do with politics. And thinking that it does may be a fatal error.
Thomas’ point about stringent psychological testing for anyone involved with the capability to blow us all to smithereens — not to mention in command of negotiations with possibly unfriendly world powers that have similar capacity — is well beyond political concern.
Also, Patrick, I disagree that “the people who covered up for Biden need to be held to account and shamed…”. Consider the great lengths and lies that were promulgated to cover up FDR’s infirmities!
The focus needs to be on the citizen-empowerment and country-strengthening that Democratic administrations accomplish. And focused primarily on the MAGA wrecking ball swinging to bring it all down: destroy the economic structures, trash the cultural and scientific strengths, evaporate the foreign good will, stifle the “Yankee can-do” energy, and trash the Land of Opportunity image.
Well rightly or wrongly there are voters who lost trust in the party because of the Biden situation. That trust has to be rebuilt. So I think most institutions will localize the blame.
The other things you point out sure. We need to focus ob those too. But we need to rebuild trust.
I don’t think shaming anyone ever “rebuilds trust.” My opinion. In a different vein, countless democratic presidential candidates have filed comprehensive financial statements and I do not see any success in having pressured our mad king into similar ethical behavior. Which is another example of why I don’t think trashing Biden’s no-longer-relevant condition would serve any purpose in influencing the current Chief Madman, or his minions to act responsibly.
So we rebuild trust while not admitting fault and not holding the small group of people who lied to voters accountable?
That would be quite a trick to pull off.
My take on Tapper's book: My take -- yes, admit the truth, like we've all been doing, that Biden himself was aging. And also point out the truth -- he commanded a terrific team around him that made our economy boom, strengthened NATO, kept our dollar strong, and gave more Americans and even playing field. Trump has failing people around him who are a wrecking ball. The wrecking ball Republicans and grifting. Magas. Agreed. keep the focus on the corruption - plane, take from us to give to Elon, crypto scams, selling access to the White House, our House.
Person, woman, man, camera, TV. He aced it. What more evidence do we need? :>)
Next time he falls asleep in public, someone needs to get a blood sample.
I listened to the Gillen and Torres interviews while at the gym today. Thought they were both terrific so shared the Hopium gospel with friends and family.