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

Trump's obsession with the Kennedy Center reflects a larger delusion among the MAGA base: that they can bully people into liking them.

And they'd rather tantrum than accept this reality.

https://www.salon.com/2026/02/04/kennedy-center-teaches-maga-a-tough-lesson/

Remember how TPUSA was going to stage an alternative Super Bowl halftime show that would blow Bad Bunny out of the water?

Well, I didn't forget. Shocker! It looks like a disaster.

But it also tells us a lot about TPUSA's grift. Jokes and analysis.

https://www.salon.com/2026/01/30/turning-points-super-bowl-alternative-to-bad-bunny-looks-like-a-flop/

Can MAGA leaders getting pregnant kick off a new American baby boom?

Right wing media thinks so. But no one else does — including Republican voters!

Check out this week's Standing Room Only, premiering now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGj4tOjggYk

Last week, MAGA was claiming they're the *real* victims because some protesters called out a church who has an ICE agent pastor.

They're both babies and liars. But I also dug into the church.

It's the church that declared empathy is a "sin." Analysis.

https://www.salon.com/2026/01/26/pro-ice-churches-should-be-shamed/

Yes, the propaganda pregnancies of Usha Vance, Karoline Leavitt and Katie Miller are pathetic.

But it's also not working. Even MAGA audiences don't seem to really care. And they don't think these women are going to inspire a national baby boom.

https://www.salon.com/2026/01/22/dont-buy-magas-baby-boom-hype/

New polling data shows that it's getting increasingly embarrassing to identify as a Republican, and so Trump voters are slinking away and pretending it never happened.

https://www.salon.com/2026/01/19/some-trump-voters-are-sneaking-away/

I've been planning to write for a long time about how ICE and their allies sure are a bunch of whiny bitches, for all they talk about how tough they are.

I'm sad that this is the occasion.

But by god, these "tough" guys are pathetic cowards.

https://www.salon.com/2026/01/09/ice-is-not-the-victim/

MAGA uses conspiracy theories and false accusations of "groomer" to spin a tale where they're the heroes and liberals are villains.

In 2025, the Epstein files revealed the truth: they are, as MAGA voters always were, supporters of sexual violence.

https://www.salon.com/2025/12/29/in-2025-epstein-showed-maga-who-they-really-are/

It's a risk, but a prediction: The White House ballroom will never be built.

Every red flag for a bunk project is waving. Yes, it's symbolic.

It's why Trump is grasping at cheap ploys like renaming the Kennedy Center. He can't build stuff, just steal.

https://www.salon.com/2025/12/19/the-white-house-ballroom-will-never-be-built/

The simplest explanation for why Susie Wiles was so honest about Trump to Vanity Fair: like most Republicans, she's focused on post-Trump plans.

Like the rest of us, Republicans are just waiting for him to die, so we can all move on.

https://www.salon.com/2025/12/17/republicans-are-quiet-quitting-on-trump/

New Standing Room Only! Today's excerpt is about why I do not think Trump's "reversal" on the Epstein files is real. He's done this before!

Read and subscribe here: https://salon-standingroomonly.beehiiv.com/p/trump-does-not-want-to-release-the-epstein-files

Music by Young Franco.

People have a good reason to resist acknowledging the male loneliness crisis. They correctly perceive that women are being blamed and told to fix it.

But the real cause is predatory capitalists who profit on keeping men isolated and online.

https://www.salon.com/2025/11/17/dont-blame-women-for-mens-loneliness-blame-capitalism/

The Democratic establishment's ugly reaction to Zohran Mamdani reveals an unpleasant truth.

They would rather lose elections than change.

The addiction to rich donors and consultants is killing the party. But Mamdani shows a path out. An analysis.

https://www.salon.com/2025/11/03/zohran-mamdani-knows-how-to-win/

If the Texas lawsuit against Tylenol seems a little out of the blue, well, it's because Ken Paxton's motives have nothing to do with pregnant women or children.

It's because he's losing his primary race. And he desperately wants Trump's endorsement.

https://www.salon.com/2025/10/29/texas-sues-tylenol-for-the-dumbest-reason/

Get it, loser, I'm writing about Pam Bondi.

Rachel McAdams should sue Pam for that godawful theft of her iconic character, Regina George.

But it does answer the question: Why does Trump keep Bondi around? Read to see why.

https://www.salon.com/2025/10/13/pam-bondi-is-trumps-mean-girl/

Charlie Kirk's memorial was a flop.

The pundit class panicked, thinking it was going to be some huge win for Trump.

But really, it exposed why the MAGA movement can't expand past its base. The thrid rate Christian rock exposes why.

https://www.salon.com/2025/10/01/maga-cant-expand-its-base-and-christian-music-tells-us-why/

In case the misogyny of this fake Tylenol panic isn't obvious enough, RFK made fun of rape victims during the press conference.

Joe Rogan also jumped in, showing this is about controlling and punishing women, not health care.

https://www.salon.com/2025/09/29/rfk-jr-s-tylenol-attack-insults-womens-intelligence/

It's not "sour grapes." Harris's loss tells us a larger story about how male leaders all too often sabotage female leaders.

Men screw things up, ask women to fix it, and then blame women when that proves impossible.

https://www.salon.com/2025/09/26/kamala-harris-is-right-biden-set-her-up-to-fail/

MAGA is fawning over Erika Kirk right now, but there's no way she can keep Charlie's audience.

His bread and butter was sexualized humiliation of college girls — more "Girls Gone Wild" than doing politics the "right way."

His followers won't hear it from a woman.

https://www.salon.com/2025/09/24/dont-worry-erika-kirk-will-never-replace-her-husband/

Looking at RFK's recent moves, including an attack on the hepatitis B vaccine and on painkillers for pregnant women.

The common theme: That all children's health problems are due to "bad" mothers.

This isn't about making kids healthy. It's misogyny.

https://www.salon.com/2025/09/22/rfk-jrs-war-on-vaccines-is-about-shaming-women-not-helping-kids/