The Republicans control both houses of Congress and the White House.
When they say this is a Democrat shutdown, they are lying.
When they blame Democrats for the long lines at TSA checkpoints, they could fund TSA now, if they want to.
Trump won’t fund TSA is bc he wants to rig the midterm elections so he won’t be impeached.
Long lines at airports is Trump’s fault
High gas prices is Trump’s fault
High food prices is Trump’s fault
The Iran War is Trump’s fault
Folks thinking of making up a fresh excuse not to #vote in 2026 would do well to digest this article.
Sure, it's "complicated." But if one can pass a driver's license exam or similar piece of cake it's no problem to understand. Special pleading won't cover apathy or indolence.
Cliff Note version: start at "In 2023, it was Republicans controlling 26 delegations, Democrats 22 and two split delegations."
(Not voting is a slap in the face to those who've been disenfranchised, while actually voting is a way of being a proxy for those victims)
Sen. Mark Warner, warning:
“If you’re not worried as a Republican senator that this kind of same litmus test wouldn’t apply to you, then I think you’re missing the picture.”
If one's assumption is that power will never change hands, it's not worrisome.
"Permanent Republican majority" is definitely an aspiration, to be taken seriously.
(Loomer is the beneficiary of a leak of classified information. Hegseth's Signal skilz-- have they improved?)
Sen. Mark D. Warner had arranged a routine visit to the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. He said it was nixed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office after social media posts by far-right activist Laura Loomer.
"My personal research grant, which is used to support the research and travel of my graduate students, as well as fund one month of my own research during the summer quarter, was among the grants suspended in the most recent action against UCLA; I had managed to prioritize the summer funding of my own graduate students to shield them from immediate impact, but am still awaiting my own salary for the research I have already conducted."
I'm acquainted with a number of faculty at a range of institutions similarly struggling to maintain continuity and preserve opportunity. Smart people may find a way where others wouldn't but threading this needle is friction, energy that shouldn't need to be spent in this way.
We read of primary school teachers spending their own salary to support their students. The ethos does not stop at entry to middle school; this passion and open hand is a universal feature all the way through the system.
Generosity thrown into the gutter, slapped in the face.
"There are key areas where Democrats in Congress may have moments of power, the ability to slow a few things down. But to a great degree, the battle is already lost within the federal government until the next election."
Not only the midterm. _Every_ election. There are opportunities to reject the GOP coming up in only a few months.
What would happen if we decided only to pay taxes every two or four years? Fines and maybe jail.
We're being "fined and jailed" metaphorically and in many cases literally right now,
substantially because we're slothful about voting.
Maintaining scientific integrity in the US continues to undergo redefinition thanks to the clammy hand of Russell Vought and his troupe of flying monkeys.
It's all Project 2025, all the way to the bottom. #RememberInNovember.
"Under the new rules, peer review is optional, while ideological litmus tests are standard. Grants will be evaluated against arbitrary standards like "in the national interest," and OMB will be consulted on everything. Even if a grant gets approved, it can be canceled at any point in the future. It provides the administration with the tools needed to slow-walk the spending of any money authorized by Congress.
So Congress can't simply maintain the budget of research agencies and expect that science will be supported as it has been. It has to both allocate the money and set conditions that compel the agencies to actually distribute it."
#RememberInNovember, or at least remember during the 2028 primaries. Gretchen Whitmer has a lot to answer for:
"Gretchen Whitmer, has effectively ousted a clean energy advocate from serving on a board that regulates the state’s energy utilities monopoly, and replaced her with someone who environmental groups charge is an 'industry ally'”.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/03/gretchen-whitmer-utilities-board-clean-energy
CopterDoctor
Doug Bostrom
TheLesserOfTwoWeevils
Obbie King