From @steveschmidtses

"The rise of Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is what mattered last night. He will be the first black Speaker of the House in two short years. He will be the balm over the next two years that inspires, leads and settles the apprehensions of a skittish country who will pay the price for creating the MAGA majority by their own free will. That is how democracy works.”

#USPol #BlackMastodon

https://steveschmidt.substack.com/p/a-tragic-week-for-america

I know letting the United States default on it’s debt would be horrible. But playing that forward, giving in to right wing radicals would be worse in the long term. Like it or not, this will now be a war. Do we keep Social Security? Medicare? Equal rights? Democracy for everyone? Or fall back to tge 1920’s. Our government and ultimately our democracy must hold the line against these radical terrorists and not give in like the Germans did in the 1930’s.

“Scott Perry (R-PA), who was a key figure in the attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, told CNN’s Manu Raju that among the many promises McCarthy made to get them on board was that he would not agree to raise the national debt limit without significant concessions.

The extremists wanted this control because they seem to believe that if the U.S. stops funding the government, the programs they hate will die. To kill off the government built by FDR’s liberal consensus, they are threatening to do as Trump has advocated: take the government into default.

That is, a few extremists are willing to take our government hostage to get their way, just as extremists did on January 6, 2021.”

3 things I wish everyone understood about #COVID19 now:

- The main risk isn't acute illness or death but chronic harm to hearts, brains & immune systems: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12VbMkvqUF9eSggJsdsFEjKs5x0ABxQJi5tvfzJIDd3U/edit?usp=sharing

- You can get Long COVID following a mild illness: https://fortune.com/2023/01/05/origins-of-long-covid-90-percent-initally-mild-symptoms/

- COVID is evolving to be more dangerous by defeating our immunity protection: https://fortune.com/well/2023/01/06/kraken-xbb15-omicron-covid-variant-most-transmissible-yet-could-spawn-more-immune-evasive-variants-study-china-vaccine-monoclonal-antibodies-breakthrough-infection/

This means we should try to avoid spreading COVID & helping it evolve. And we should be more concerned for ourselves and others. #WearAMask

Here are the 21 Republicans who voted no on giving a Congressional Gold Medal to the officers who defended the Capitol on January 6

Lauren Boebert
John Rose
Andy Harris
Thomas Massie
Bob Good
Louie Gohmert
Barry Moore
Ralph Norman
Matt Rosendale
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Chip Roy
Paul Gosar
Andy Biggs
Warren Davidson
Scott Perry
Matt Gaetz
Greg Steuben
Andrew Clyde
Jody Hice
Mary Miller
Michael Cloud

I'm noticing a lot of "I'm bored of Mastodon, I'm going back to #Twitter" posts.

In case they are genuine, here's what I've found works:

⚫ try to post content, not complaints. People want to engage with you, not your gripes

⚫ try to learn. If you're putting in an effort to be part of the community, the community will welcome you

⚫ Try to avoid posting links to tweets, definitely don't cross-post. People want Mastodon content

⚫ Reply! Reply! Reply! Everyone wants to know someone's reading and considering their content, even you

⚫ Don't lurk. Many of us check for a filled out profile, avatars, and posts, before we follow someone back

⚫ Chill. It's a big new world that doesn't serve everything up to you

⚫ Avoid the trap of rebuilding Twitter here

Feel free to link this post to people struggling with Mastodon. It's what I've found works, and may not work for everyone

The fossil fuel industry is planning to funnel another $1.5 million into the Georgia run-off election in support of Herschel Walker.

Georgia, if you haven’t voted, make sure you do so ASAP.

Vote Warnock.