Melissa DeChandt

I am a mom and a scientist. She/Her

[Melissa DeChandt @MDechandt]

@RepMTG You are the saddest joke of an elected official. No words for how vile you and everything that you say, do, support are.

[Mary L Trump @MaryLTrump]

Many in the media are missing something big in the news about Donald’s failure to secure a bond.

It’s not just that Donald owes a vast sum of money and doesn't seem to have enough cash to pay his debt.

It’s that he’s an even greater national security risk than he already was — by being the presumptive Republican nominee for president of the United States who desperately in need of massive infusions of cash.

Today, Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) pointed out that “any foreign adversary seeking to buy a President knows the price.”

That price is half a billion dollars — plus interest.

[James Tate @JamesTate121]

Letitia James to Billy Baldwin: "I'm automatically attracted to assets -- I just start seizing then. It's like a magnet. Just seize. I don't even wait. When you're a state attorney general, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the airplane. You can do anything."😃Love this WOMAN!

[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

[Melissa DeChandt @MDechandt]

@EdKrassen Maybe he can ask Taylor Swift first a cash loan? She actually has $$.

[Melissa DeChandt @MDechandt]

@crazyclips_ How mortifying and horrific to be the parent of the sociopath hitting the other student. That behavior is learned from somewhere.

[Melissa DeChandt @MDechandt]

@GovKristiNoem You are vile, as is your rhetoric. Stay in SD and work on expanding Medicaid to provide health insurance for the half of your state that goes without.

[Shannon Watts @shannonrwatts]

NEW: With some votes still being counted, the tally of @MomsDemand volunteers who won election for office up and down the ballot across the US this week stands at 125, highlighting the political power of our volunteers as candidates for office: https://t.co/tM8pZofqun 🧵

[David Barber @Barber4Arkansas]

This is your reminder that less than 25% of the adults in Arkansas voted for Sarah Huckabee Sanders. We are not a red state, we're a non-voting state.

[Melissa DeChandt @MDechandt]

Vote.

[Melissa DeChandt @MDechandt]

@thehill This and she are gross. #VoteBlueToProtectYourRights #VoteBlueToSaveDemocracy

[Asm. Al Muratsuchi @AsmMuratsuchi]

Thank you @CAgovernor Newsom for signing my Assembly Bill 1740 to help crack down on catalytic converters!

https://t.co/VH9neqLk60

[Melissa DeChandt @MDechandt]

This. All day. I urge everyone to watch this and see what an elected official advocating for their constituents looks like. #WomensRightsAreHumanRights #FemaleMedicalAutonomy

[Ricky Davila @TheRickyDavila]

Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin just put all fascist Republicans on blast. Powerful and concise. This is the kind of fight we need to see.

[Melissa DeChandt @MDechandt]

This is the most unbelievable race I have ever watched.

[Mūrūthi @Ngartia]

THIS IS THE MOST SHAMELESS FLEX I HAVE EVER WATCHED IN MY LIFE!

WHAT?!

MARY MAGIC MANEUVER MOVES MORAA!

🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪
https://t.co/2DbzzQp9U7

[Melissa DeChandt @MDechandt]

Excellent piece. We must all stand up for and stand with the women of Iran. #WomensRightsAreHumanRights

[Slate @Slate]

What the latest protests are really about. https://t.co/84gjAQSDpH

[Rep. Jamie Raskin @RepRaskin]

The @WhiteHouse just released its anti-hunger, nutrition and health agenda—including my proposal to expand vegetarian options at federal facilities!

@POTUS is charting America’s course for our sustainable, equitable food future.

[Melissa DeChandt @MDechandt]

@JRMajewski Shame on you.

[Melissa DeChandt @MDechandt]

Are you registered to vote? #NationalRegisterToVoteDay @33rdPTA @CaliforniaPTA

[Melissa DeChandt @MDechandt]

Beautiful speech welcoming new Americans. #NationalVoterRegistratonDay

[Jason Kint @jason_kint]

US Attorney General Merrick Garland made a remarkably powerful speech over the weekend after swearing in the newest citizens at Ellis Island. Threading it here with the highest recommendation (ten minutes!). I’ll play it for my own kids this evening. 1 of 5

[Andy Slavitt @ASlavitt]

Tomorrow I dive into what has happened to the Supreme Court. And what has happened to all the courts over the last 4 years as we face a very different justice system.

Please join me & the amazing @Dahlialithwick. Dropping at 3 am Eastern.