The other reason Moscow Mike Johnson wants to enable a shutdown is because thanks to Raul Grijalva's daughter succeeding him in Arizona, Democrats have enough votes with four Republicans to pass the Epstein Files release bill, and somehow Mike is even more scared of that than Trump.
Really American (@reallyamerican): "This is disgusting: In a shocking moment, the distraught wife of an undocumented immigrant is shoved hard into a wall by an ICE agent, and then slammed to the ground. This inhumane treatment cannot be tolerated. 🚨Make sure everyone sees this."
“Republicans are afraid they’ll be unfairly blamed, just because they’ve campaigned for 45 years on killing the government.”
Not a chance. No matter which way it goes the Democrats will be blamed by the media, the voters, and the pundits. If you think about it for just one minute, you do know why this is a lose/lose situation.
It is not clear to me, because I’m not a big picture person, why the utter destruction of the United States was so carefully planned and is being so effectively executed but the bald fact of it is breathtaking. Even so I saw a cartoon this morning depicting a calendar with January 20, 2029 circled and the caption, “Our long nightmare is over”. Surely there is not a fool left who believes this one.
Lois, I don’t think it will be that easy, and there is no going back to normal, but this will not last. It might be 10 or 15 years, but fascists don’t win long term.
I pay because using satire and irreverence to present the news is the only true journalism. The rest is academic exercise, and I exercised my academic already. Also too, I notice that the people making literal millions on their newsletters use paywalls. That's a big no thanks from me.
Dunno why this story of the FEMA dude is back. This was well reported after the flood when he kept his phone off for 24 hours. WaPo archives were down for maintenance?
The Ronnie Raygun effect is back. Laying off, let's call it firing, people for doing their jobs is so 1980s. Or Project 2025 in current parlance. For anyone keeping score. Surely no real people will suffer.
Satire and irreverence the only true journalism? So, you don’t credit stories from war fronts and such or what? Interesting take. I share your appreciation of the intelligence and clear sightedness it takes to write satire and I do enjoy seeing a sacred cow get tipped over. Personally though I find journalism covers a very broad spectrum of reporting on facts.
Jonathan, I personally love TFN. I would love to subscribe, but truthfully until many of you substackers band together to make a block of subscriptions, I will stick with the 3 I currently try have. I read many of you and want to give support to each one, but damn, that can add up quickly for most of us. Please consider joining forces to give some of us with modest means the opportunity to patronize such worthy writing and journalism.
I'm one those who subscribes to several but, being a retiree on fixed and limited income, can only pay to support a few for whom their substacks are solo gigs and their only source of income. C'est la vie.
I have a feeling that we're living in a slightly socialist majority leaning world. Perhaps that's why the socio/psychopathic arseholes are fostering an upsurge in discontent, lashing out and trying to break evrything like spoilt children. Socialism isn't a dirty word. In my country it means a free public health system, and an Accident Compensation system that has removed the necessity for injury lawsuits. No costly health insurance or ambulance chasing lawyers here.
Thanks, Jean. I love this idea! I've noticed just how many Substacks a lot of you subscribe to. Wow! This is why I try to emphasize that it's important to support the ones you truly can't live without -- and the ones that can't live without individual support. Some of them, frankly, are pretty damn big and have investors and all that stuff. So, yes, by all means I encourage everyone to be judicious and strategic in their support. As corporate media continue to crumble, it'll be all the more important to elevate those outlets you value most and that you believe offer the most. Thank you, Jean!
"the cracks in your dam start to show when you flood the zone with bullshit." This brightened my day in ways which are not measurable. (So don't ask me for proof) Thanks again for educating me!
"On a growing range of issues, a growing number of congressional Republicans are publicly breaking with Pres. Donald Trump, who’s publicly breaking."
> "Father, the sleeper has awakened!" "Dune"
* At least some of the somnambulist RINOs are becoming aware of just how much the majority of Americans dislike, no, loath, what their party is doing to the country at the demand of a sad, little, ignorant, sociopathic, megalomaniacal, narcissistic, vindictive, functionally illiterate, self-delusional, con artist: the Fulvous Fuckwad (if you couldn't tell by the description).
* The Halloween Orange Hemorrhoid has been "publicly breaking" for decades. It's just that as the dementia becomes more noticeable, the extent of his breakdown also becomes more noticeable.
-----
"Republicans are afraid they’ll be unfairly blamed, just because they’ve campaigned for 45 years on killing the government."
> "We always get the blame. Name one time that we’ve shut the government down and we haven’t got the blame." Rep Mike Simpson (R-INO)
-----
"The White House is telling agencies to prepare for mass layoffs."
Sorry, but wrong:
> "The memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget directs agencies to consider ***firing*** employees working on any program that is not funded by another law, such as Republicans’ [One Big Blowjob for Billionaires Bill] enacted in July, and which does not align with the president’s priorities. Once government funding is reinstated after a shutdown, agencies should revise their plans to keep only the smallest number of employees necessary to legally operate, the memo says." [emphasis added] https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/09/25/government-shutdown-omb-firings-trump/
* Firing, not laying off.
* You can bet your bippie that "the smallest number of employees" will all be vetted to make sure that their loyalties are to the Corrupt Coral Coward, not the country and Constitution.
-----
"Point being, Republicans can’t agree why it’s Democrats’ fault, but it definitely is."
Consider the Indian parable about six blind men and the elephant:
> "The men were curious about many of the stories they heard, but they were most curious about elephants.
[...]
The first blind man reached out and touched the side of the huge animal. "An elephant is smooth and solid like a wall!" he declared. "It must be very powerful."
The second blind man put his hand on the elephant's limber trunk. "An elephant is like a giant snake," he announced.
The third blind man felt the elephant's pointed tusk. "I was right," he decided. "This creature is as sharp and deadly as a spear."
The fourth blind man touched one of the elephant's four legs. "What we have here," he said, "is an extremely large cow."
The fifth blind man felt the elephant's giant ear. "I believe an elephant is like a huge fan or maybe a magic carpet that can fly over mountains and treetops," he said.
The sixth blind man gave a tug on the elephant's coarse tail. "Why, this is nothing more than a piece of old rope. Dangerous, indeed," he scoffed.
IOW, the RINOs in the Senate, the House, and POTUS are all wrong, they refuse to see the big picture. (And are refusing to put the pieces together. Even if they did, though, they'd still be wrong.
Let's add to your conspiracy theory. When the Fulvous Fuckwad -- when his bloviating, incessant lying, empty threats, his constant inconsistency, and the rest of his crap -- becomes a major liability to the Hidden Hand he'll be removed with maximum prejudice so the cause has another martyr.
"And, bringin’ in the crazy, Trump: Democrats are trying to 'force Taxpayers to fund Transgender surgery for minors.' And also, 'essentially create Transgender operations for everybody.'"
It really is remarkable, and so revealing, how MAGA in general, and Trump in particular, seem incapable of framing the issue of gender transition except as forced surgical castration.
Golly gee, Dr. Freud, I wonder what this tells us about their psychosexual anxieties.
I haven't subscribed for one simple reason: because I feel uncomfortable with the many articles I've read about Substack founders amplifying and promoting right-wing voices, in addition to their stance that "free speech means letting actual, literal Nazis make money on Substack after we take our cut".
If there were an alternative means of subscribing, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
This is GREAT to know and so helpful. I have my own qualms about Substack, to be sure. So far, though, my interest in jumping to another platform has given way to my fears about losing folks or jumping somewhere where I won't grow. I need to revisit this in my thinking. Thank you.
The other reason Moscow Mike Johnson wants to enable a shutdown is because thanks to Raul Grijalva's daughter succeeding him in Arizona, Democrats have enough votes with four Republicans to pass the Epstein Files release bill, and somehow Mike is even more scared of that than Trump.
Too fucking late! You bastards.
So we are going to let this stand! WTF?! 😤
Really American (@reallyamerican): "This is disgusting: In a shocking moment, the distraught wife of an undocumented immigrant is shoved hard into a wall by an ICE agent, and then slammed to the ground. This inhumane treatment cannot be tolerated. 🚨Make sure everyone sees this."
“Republicans are afraid they’ll be unfairly blamed, just because they’ve campaigned for 45 years on killing the government.”
Not a chance. No matter which way it goes the Democrats will be blamed by the media, the voters, and the pundits. If you think about it for just one minute, you do know why this is a lose/lose situation.
It is not clear to me, because I’m not a big picture person, why the utter destruction of the United States was so carefully planned and is being so effectively executed but the bald fact of it is breathtaking. Even so I saw a cartoon this morning depicting a calendar with January 20, 2029 circled and the caption, “Our long nightmare is over”. Surely there is not a fool left who believes this one.
Lois, I don’t think it will be that easy, and there is no going back to normal, but this will not last. It might be 10 or 15 years, but fascists don’t win long term.
“Science [not Trump] ought to guide these discussions [not Trump].”
And specifically not tRump's feelings, which he said to the microphone at a press conference, are part of the discussion.
Spock: We have arrived Captain.
Yoda: In disarray, the Republicans are.
Dr. McCoy: It's life Jim, but not as they ever knew it.
Chewbacca: Arrrgh graeerrr RHAALLG!
Scottie: Aye fleabag, ye cannae go messin' aboot wi' tha laws o' physics or yon Furst Amendment laddie.
Spock and Chewbacca? And are they in a firefly class ship called Serenity?
I'd watch that movie. Then again, Firefly is one of my all time faves.
I pay because using satire and irreverence to present the news is the only true journalism. The rest is academic exercise, and I exercised my academic already. Also too, I notice that the people making literal millions on their newsletters use paywalls. That's a big no thanks from me.
Dunno why this story of the FEMA dude is back. This was well reported after the flood when he kept his phone off for 24 hours. WaPo archives were down for maintenance?
The Ronnie Raygun effect is back. Laying off, let's call it firing, people for doing their jobs is so 1980s. Or Project 2025 in current parlance. For anyone keeping score. Surely no real people will suffer.
Satire and irreverence the only true journalism? So, you don’t credit stories from war fronts and such or what? Interesting take. I share your appreciation of the intelligence and clear sightedness it takes to write satire and I do enjoy seeing a sacred cow get tipped over. Personally though I find journalism covers a very broad spectrum of reporting on facts.
I read just about anything I come across, and more that I plan. My favorite form of journalism is satire. I read straightforward pieces also.
I think the Post got more better details on the FEMA disappearance. I should’ve clarified that.
If you were to bore down on every detail then boring it would be.
Not gonna happen until Trump starts going after them. It’s a chicken and egg dilema.
Jonathan, I personally love TFN. I would love to subscribe, but truthfully until many of you substackers band together to make a block of subscriptions, I will stick with the 3 I currently try have. I read many of you and want to give support to each one, but damn, that can add up quickly for most of us. Please consider joining forces to give some of us with modest means the opportunity to patronize such worthy writing and journalism.
Don't worry Jean.
I'm one those who subscribes to several but, being a retiree on fixed and limited income, can only pay to support a few for whom their substacks are solo gigs and their only source of income. C'est la vie.
I have a feeling that we're living in a slightly socialist majority leaning world. Perhaps that's why the socio/psychopathic arseholes are fostering an upsurge in discontent, lashing out and trying to break evrything like spoilt children. Socialism isn't a dirty word. In my country it means a free public health system, and an Accident Compensation system that has removed the necessity for injury lawsuits. No costly health insurance or ambulance chasing lawyers here.
So I can help keep the lights on at TFN.
Thanks, Jean. I love this idea! I've noticed just how many Substacks a lot of you subscribe to. Wow! This is why I try to emphasize that it's important to support the ones you truly can't live without -- and the ones that can't live without individual support. Some of them, frankly, are pretty damn big and have investors and all that stuff. So, yes, by all means I encourage everyone to be judicious and strategic in their support. As corporate media continue to crumble, it'll be all the more important to elevate those outlets you value most and that you believe offer the most. Thank you, Jean!
"the cracks in your dam start to show when you flood the zone with bullshit." This brightened my day in ways which are not measurable. (So don't ask me for proof) Thanks again for educating me!
"On a growing range of issues, a growing number of congressional Republicans are publicly breaking with Pres. Donald Trump, who’s publicly breaking."
> "Father, the sleeper has awakened!" "Dune"
* At least some of the somnambulist RINOs are becoming aware of just how much the majority of Americans dislike, no, loath, what their party is doing to the country at the demand of a sad, little, ignorant, sociopathic, megalomaniacal, narcissistic, vindictive, functionally illiterate, self-delusional, con artist: the Fulvous Fuckwad (if you couldn't tell by the description).
* The Halloween Orange Hemorrhoid has been "publicly breaking" for decades. It's just that as the dementia becomes more noticeable, the extent of his breakdown also becomes more noticeable.
-----
"Republicans are afraid they’ll be unfairly blamed, just because they’ve campaigned for 45 years on killing the government."
> "We always get the blame. Name one time that we’ve shut the government down and we haven’t got the blame." Rep Mike Simpson (R-INO)
-----
"The White House is telling agencies to prepare for mass layoffs."
Sorry, but wrong:
> "The memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget directs agencies to consider ***firing*** employees working on any program that is not funded by another law, such as Republicans’ [One Big Blowjob for Billionaires Bill] enacted in July, and which does not align with the president’s priorities. Once government funding is reinstated after a shutdown, agencies should revise their plans to keep only the smallest number of employees necessary to legally operate, the memo says." [emphasis added] https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/09/25/government-shutdown-omb-firings-trump/
* Firing, not laying off.
* You can bet your bippie that "the smallest number of employees" will all be vetted to make sure that their loyalties are to the Corrupt Coral Coward, not the country and Constitution.
-----
"Point being, Republicans can’t agree why it’s Democrats’ fault, but it definitely is."
Consider the Indian parable about six blind men and the elephant:
> "The men were curious about many of the stories they heard, but they were most curious about elephants.
[...]
The first blind man reached out and touched the side of the huge animal. "An elephant is smooth and solid like a wall!" he declared. "It must be very powerful."
The second blind man put his hand on the elephant's limber trunk. "An elephant is like a giant snake," he announced.
The third blind man felt the elephant's pointed tusk. "I was right," he decided. "This creature is as sharp and deadly as a spear."
The fourth blind man touched one of the elephant's four legs. "What we have here," he said, "is an extremely large cow."
The fifth blind man felt the elephant's giant ear. "I believe an elephant is like a huge fan or maybe a magic carpet that can fly over mountains and treetops," he said.
The sixth blind man gave a tug on the elephant's coarse tail. "Why, this is nothing more than a piece of old rope. Dangerous, indeed," he scoffed.
[...]
"The elephant is a very large animal," said the Rajah kindly. "Each man touched only one part. Perhaps if you put the parts together, you will see the truth. Now, let me finish my nap in peace."" https://www.peacecorps.gov/educators-and-students/educators/resources/blind-men-and-elephant/story-blind-men-and-elephant/
IOW, the RINOs in the Senate, the House, and POTUS are all wrong, they refuse to see the big picture. (And are refusing to put the pieces together. Even if they did, though, they'd still be wrong.
fnord
Trump is only the front man; when he’s no longer useful he’ll be replaced - my personal ‘conspiracy theory’.
Let's add to your conspiracy theory. When the Fulvous Fuckwad -- when his bloviating, incessant lying, empty threats, his constant inconsistency, and the rest of his crap -- becomes a major liability to the Hidden Hand he'll be removed with maximum prejudice so the cause has another martyr.
fnord
Btw. Krugman also believes the Kimmel episode may well be the beginning of the end for D effingtrumps attempt to take over our country
I do think there’s a growing sentiment out there of enough’s enough.
Upgrading TFN is good karma. I know. I did it.
Thank you, sir.
"And, bringin’ in the crazy, Trump: Democrats are trying to 'force Taxpayers to fund Transgender surgery for minors.' And also, 'essentially create Transgender operations for everybody.'"
It really is remarkable, and so revealing, how MAGA in general, and Trump in particular, seem incapable of framing the issue of gender transition except as forced surgical castration.
Golly gee, Dr. Freud, I wonder what this tells us about their psychosexual anxieties.
Way too much.
"now-unavoidably-pubic-looking"
You make the best German-mimicking words!
Ooh, I should've coined one for that.
I *love* TFN, and I've donated to you via PayPal.
I haven't subscribed for one simple reason: because I feel uncomfortable with the many articles I've read about Substack founders amplifying and promoting right-wing voices, in addition to their stance that "free speech means letting actual, literal Nazis make money on Substack after we take our cut".
If there were an alternative means of subscribing, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
This is GREAT to know and so helpful. I have my own qualms about Substack, to be sure. So far, though, my interest in jumping to another platform has given way to my fears about losing folks or jumping somewhere where I won't grow. I need to revisit this in my thinking. Thank you.
Leave a forwarding address sir. If you, Wonkette and Tiedrich leave Substack, so do I.