Joshua Croke (they/them)

#QueerForCities I work to cultivate equitable, just & joyful communities & build thriving cities. Founder @ActionDesignCo • Creator/Host @PublicHearingMA

[Joshua Croke (they/them) @JoshuaCroke]

Find me here as I begin a transition off trash company apps and products.

Also, fill this out to stay connected in cooler ways, as I shift to more analog living (postcards, zines, bulletins, etc) 😎: https://t.co/X0c50ZuKch

https://t.co/8ajt9xZQrI

[Joshua Croke (they/them) @JoshuaCroke]

✌️ Catch me somewhere else (bye, El*n) https://t.co/8ajt9y0ohg

[Joshua Croke (they/them) @JoshuaCroke]

@GuillermoCJr @GoBrightline Yes! I love Brightline and it would be amazing to have something like it in MA. I picture the brand West East Rail, “WE” Rail … and I’m just rereading that 😂

[Governor Maura Healey @MassGovernor]

Today, women in Florida have fewer freedoms than their mothers and grandmothers as an extreme abortion ban goes into effect.

Massachusetts won’t go back. Not now, not ever.

[Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com on Bsky @ErinInTheMorn]

Incredibly devastating ruling out of the Supreme Court for transgender people. The Supreme Court has allowed Idaho’s gender affirming care ban to go back into effect for everyone but the plaintiffs.

No sugar coating this one, it’s devastating for trans youth nationwide.

[CALL TO ACTIVISM @CalltoActivism]

A British writer penned the best description of Donald Trump I’ve ever read:

“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?”

A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.

• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.

God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?' If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.”

-Nate White

[Ilhan Omar @IlhanMN]

Let me be clear: No human being is illegal.

[Victor Shi @Victorshi2020]

Holy cow. Seth Meyers spent 90 seconds on his show last night reminding his viewers everything that Donald Trump has said I done & it is absolutely perfect. This is how it’s done & we need so much more of it. Watch & share this.

[Rep. Jim McGovern @RepMcGovern]

Watching @POTUS Biden look the GOP in the eye and commit to protecting the right to an abortion for every woman across America is so powerful. I’m right behind him in this fight. Democrats will continue fighting against Republican attempts to ban abortion nationwide! #SOTU2024

[Joshua Croke (they/them) @JoshuaCroke]

@GuillermoCJr I want to see Amy Adams recite this word for word and tear her performance apart 😂

[Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com on Bsky @ErinInTheMorn]

Aaaand we've got an "I've got your back" to trans people.

Which might have sounded good 4 years ago, but right now, for a lot of trans people, it rings rather hollow.

[Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com on Bsky @ErinInTheMorn]

Not going to lie, Biden sounds pretty strong tonight at the State of the Union. It's a fiery speech in defense of Democracy, strong pushes for IVF and reproductive freedom. More importantly, I think it is going to quell some of the rumors that he's too old/not lucid.

[Joshua Croke (they/them) @JoshuaCroke]

@GuillermoCJr It was so cringe. I was like, her acting is terrible.. wait, should she be acting? She shouldn’t be acting.. but, oh.. she’s acting. And it’s terrible.

[Rep. Jim McGovern @RepMcGovern]

🚌 BIG NEWS: @WorcesterPublic Schools will get $5.8 million in federal funding for 15 new ELECTRIC school buses.

Every dollar will come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law led by @POTUS & @HouseDemocrats. We're giving students the clean & reliable transportation they deserve!

[George Takei @GeorgeTakei]

Those were the days!

[George Takei @GeorgeTakei]

Snailed it.

[Joshua Croke (they/them) @JoshuaCroke]

@colleenwst11 @SueMailman Not sure if you read this thread. 3/3 is a critical piece here. Sue is not making these requests for herself, but to make SC more equitable and accessible for more of Worcester’s residence. I believe in this cause! Pay people for their labor! #WorcPoli

[Joshua Croke (they/them) @JoshuaCroke]

@nwinfield Thank you for your recent coverage of the Pope's approval of blessings for same-sex couples in @BostonGlobe. As an LGBTQ+ nonprofit founder in @TweetWorcester where the Diocese has enacted anti-LGBTQ+ policies in schools, we have thoughts: https://t.co/igwK5jqQ6v

[Joshua Croke (they/them) @JoshuaCroke]

@arbetter Gagged, 😂. Mine was Berkeley, CA lol

[Joshua Croke (they/them) @JoshuaCroke]

Always down to talk @TweetWorcester if you’re interested, @SamZTurken! Especially; now that Worcester is more hyped, are the artists, BIPOC, immigrant, & queer folks who made it special benefiting from its growth? I have thoughts.. 🙃

https://t.co/Ievl9EAqzb