Notices by Matthew Merkovich! (mattmerk@mastodon.social)

I think of stories where the tyrant of a villain is sent into exile with nothing, and from then on he must live as a powerless commoner. Now I just want to see it in real life.

@troed @Dianora It’s just one more example of #WeaponizedHypocrisy. It’s just a tool to them, and they know exactly what they’re doing.

#Dune, but instead of forbidding computer technology, what’s forbidden is wealth.

@Crow @bruno_j_navarro I was about to say! And earlier if you take things like operation paperclip and more into consideration.

@oli All of these people are garbage. I just love how they keep trying to bury this story like it was some kind of hoax or mass delusion. https://lawandcrime.com/politics/feinstein-once-pushed-for-the-prosecution-of-black-activists-to-keep-the-confederate-flag-flying-in-san-francisco/
@blogdiva @seachanger

@uxmark Ford is terrible, but seeing him do this shows at least some fracturing of the phenomenon of global Trumpism.

@blogdiva As a Gen-X cisgendered white guy, holy hell is this right on the money!

@br00t4c If only he had achieved some level of government power to actually do something about it.

#Democrats
#StagedOpposition
#ExcuseMakers

@pluralistic I knew someone who worked for McKinsey. I’ve also known several Scientologists. What I’ve learned from both of these associations is that no matter how deep you dive to write an exposé into either of these cults, the truth is much, much, much, much, … much worse.

@LillyHerself This is so good, I’m migrating it to my IRL shares!

@br00t4c This article feels like it was written by NextDoor.

@cstross LOL! I’m laughing because I had a college English professor once say (tongue firmly in cheek—but was it really?) that people are stupid, and you have to repeat whatever you are trying to say multiple times. His number was five.

@mcc I would pose this question to @AnarchoNinaWrites
I'm frankly not up to the theory end of this task. I get anarcho-syndicalism conceptually, but I never got past how having a trade-union-centric approach could ever lead to abolishing the state. I've always viewed trade unionism as a pure democracy in the workplace at whatever scale, but that results in stratification of leadership. So like I said, I'm useless on the more granular theory here, and would love to hear more myself.

Corollary to the RFK polio vaccine debacle/atrocity/etc.:

This is a common tactic of the GOP. They go for broke in their policy proposals. All in. 100% commitment to whatever extreme they want.

Compare this to the Democrats who enter these negotiations from the collegial standpoint of “let’s compromise.”

If Democrats were serious, they’d be suggesting nationalizing 100% of healthcare, or jailing billionaires, or expropriating billionaire bank accounts, or …

But you see, they’re not serious.

@gwynnion Reposted because this particular post, from this fine thread, is pure and evergreen!

@adamconover I'm sad there are no Colorado dates, one of the states that Trump actually didn't win in the last election. Le sigh. I shall, however, keep my fingers crossed for the future.

@br00t4c They are both on my Luigi nomination list.

I like articles with which I can quibble at the edges, like this from @pluralistic. It ends with the passage:" As a character in 'Radicalized' says, 'They say violence never solves anything,' but to quote The Onion: 'that's only true so long as you ignore all of human history.'"

In my lifetime nothing has moved the needle on discussing the crime of for-profit health care more than recent events.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/12/09/radicalized/#deny-defend-depose

An remember while reading, John Wayne Gacy was a family man with children.

@dalias @RMiddleton @ScribblerRVA @StillIRise1963 I’ve said it for decades now: Gen X’s biggest sin was not stopping our parents. (Though over time I’ve learned that was because most of Gen X never broke free of their parents’ politics.)

I think we need to stop surveying people for how they feel about “the economy,” and need to start surveying them for their definition of the phrase “the economy.”