Notices by Amanda Marcotte (amandamarcotte@mastodon.sdf.org)

Gov. Abbott supports a bill in Texas that is being hyped as a "furries" bill.

When you read it, it's a draconian ban on a common form of children's play: dressing up.

But really, the goal here is to stoke anti-LGBTQ hysteria.

https://www.salon.com/2025/05/12/texas-wants-to-ban-kids-from-playing-dress-up-yes-really/

I wrote about the "Jesus glow" trend on TikTok, and how it perfectly encapsulates the narcissism and moral emptiness of conservative Christianity online.

Literally, the argument for faith is "it'll make you hotter."

https://www.salon.com/2025/05/05/tiktoks-jesus-glow-trend-exposes-the-emptiness-of-social-media-religion/

MAGA media is obsessed with a high school killing in Texas, where one boy stabbed another.

They're making it about race in the grossest way. It's tearing the community apart.

But they don't care. They need to distract from Trump's failures.

https://www.salon.com/2025/04/25/why-maga-media-is-fixated-on-a-texas-teen-case/

Harvard figured out what everyone else in power needs to understand: Complicity with Trump will not save you.

Standing up isn't just the right thing to do. It's the smart thing to do. He will renege on any "deal" you make and come after you anyway.

https://www.salon.com/2025/04/16/harvard-back-against-trump-institutional-resistance-finally-rises-up--and-sets-a-new-model/

RFK's pledge to find "what caused the autism epidemic" in a few short months is a transparent lie, to cover a preordained conclusion.

But digging deeper, it gets much worse: it's about justifying a downright sadistic assault on children's health.

https://www.salon.com/2025/04/14/rfks-pledge-to-discover-the-cause-of-autism-isnt-just-a-ploy--its-a-on-childrens-health/

Both Elon Musk and Christian nationalists call empathy "toxic," "suicidal," and even "satanic."

But what they're really worried about is that empathy is *feminine*.

And in MAGA, a woman is the worst thing a person can be. An analysis.

https://www.salon.com/2025/04/11/magas-on-empathy-exposes-misogynist-fears/

Several male commentators have expressed confusion over why Mike Johnson was mad about the bill allowing new parents to vote remotely.

The answer is simple.

He is a sincere misogynist who does not want women in power. Most Republicans agree. Analysis.

https://www.salon.com/2025/04/03/mike-johnson-melts-down-after-proxy-vote-failure-exposes-magas-pro-family-lie/

Not happy about it, but I called it: the Wisconsin guy whose wife got scooped by ICE on their honeymoon still doesn't regret voting for Trump.

MAGA is a cult and what we know is the worse it gets, the more cult members double down.

https://www.salon.com/2025/03/21/i-dont-regret-the-vote-why-most-stand-by-him-even-as-he-ruins-their-lives/

Musk doesn't seem worried that he and Trump threaten social and economic collapse. On the contrary, it appears that's his goal.

Musk swims in a tech-fascist ideology that believes democracy should be replaced by billionaire dictators — like himself.
https://www.salon.com/2025/03/17/the-dystopian-freedom-cities-dream-fueling-elon-musks-destruction/

MAGA leaders are trying to sell Trump's trade war — and any subsequent inflation and job loss — to the base with talk of "sacrifice."

Their lies sound exactly like the crap prosperity preachers peddle.

This is not a coincidence.

https://www.salon.com/2025/03/14/you-must-sacrifice-maga-excuses-for-trade-echo-prosperity-preachers/

Some Cabinet secretaries resist Musk, but RFK is letting DOGE run rampant.

The reason isn't mysterious: Kennedy sees DOGE as his best opportunity to destroy American health care swiftly.

His plan to make America "healthy": Let disease run rampant.

https://www.salon.com/2025/03/11/rfk-jr-gives-elon-musks-doge-free-rein-to-raid-the-health-agency/

Hegseth's "DEI" purge at Defense is so broad that photos of the Enola Gay got flagged.

That tidbit is funny. The larger story is grotesque, including Hegseth ending the policy barring racial segregation in the workplace.

https://www.salon.com/2025/03/10/enola-gay-will-henceforth-be-known-as-enola-straight-pete-hegseths-dei-paranoia-knows-no-limits/

Trump pretended he was "moderate" on abortion and supports "exceptions" for "rape, incest, and the life of the mother."

This week, he backed states that ban abortion for women who show up at E.R. in crisis, needing an abortion to survive.

https://www.salon.com/2025/03/07/quietly-props-up-the-strictest-abortion-ban-in-the-country/

Why read past headlines: You, extremely online, saw the "not fit to have a job" claim about veterans.

I offer larger context, including why Trump would want to hurt the people who voted for him. Narcissists often lash out most at people who love them.

https://www.salon.com/2025/03/06/not-fit-to-have-a-job-victim-veterans-workers-for-his-on-the-economy/

It's looking very much like Trump is deliberately tanking the economy to punish Americans for not worshipping him as much as he desires.

Like the two-bit abuser he is, Trump's excuse is to blame the victims — a group that includes most Americans.

https://www.salon.com/2025/03/06/not-fit-to-have-a-job-victim-veterans-workers-for-his-on-the-economy/

Republican women voted for Trump, believing complicity would save them.

But now MAGA men are pushing conservative women out of leadership, de facto legalizing abuse, and signaling that the era of "chivalry" will be replaced with the era of eating shit.

https://www.salon.com/2025/02/26/a-woman-is-like-a-child-maga-quickly-turns-its-sights-on-stripping-women-of-power/

You're plugged in and have heard comparisons of DOGE and Gamergate in passing.

I took a deeper dive — but still a short, breezy read — explaining how it goes much deeper than a comparison.

Gamergate was whiner boot camp. DOGE is the Loser Invasion.

https://www.salon.com/2025/02/24/what-elon-musks-on-workers-owes-to-gamergate/

Republicans seem surprised that Trump victim-blames Ukraine for the war.

Feminists aren't surprised. This is how Trump has always talked about sexual violence.

Rape and fascism are related phenomena. Both are how weak, pathetic men feel powerful.

https://www.salon.com/2025/02/21/shouldnt-be-surprised-ukraine--his-views-predicted-this/

RFK's not-so-veiled threat to take mental health drugs away is even worse than it looks at first blush.

He wants to replace these medications with labor camps.

This fits with the larger, eugenics-informed Trump/Musk agenda.

https://www.salon.com/2025/02/19/rfk-s-plan-to-make-america-healthy-again-round-up-people-with-mental-health-conditions-in-camps/

I spoke with Katherine Stewart about her new book, which she wrote after spending much of the past couple of years embedded with the movement to end democracy.

It's called "Money, Lies and God" and is a ground's eye view of American fascism.

https://www.salon.com/2025/02/18/his-mission-is-to-eradicate-woke-jesus-how-money-lies-and-religion-are-abused-to-gut-democracy/