Jeff Reid

Educator and sometimes writer, fascinated by stories and what they tell us about the world. Writes for @ConciliarPost.

[Sarah Longwell @SarahLongwell25]

Things conservatives told me when I was in my 20’s:

*Character counts
*Crony capitalism is bad
*Russia is our enemy
*Tariffs are taxes
*The Constitution is sacrosanct
*Government power should be limited, restrained, and checked by congress.

Guess they were just joking.

[Kaeley Triller @KaeleyT]

If you are willing to platform a man who calls women names like “cunt,” who covers for pedophiles, who wants to strip women of the right to vote, who thinks bloodied women are sexually attractive, who says American slavery was “mutually beneficial” for both slave owners and slaves…

But you’re not willing to platform a righteous woman because she’s a woman….

[Brian Allen @allenanalysis]

The irony is almost unbelievable.

For years, some conservatives warned that Obama would turn the White House into a celebrity playground, politicize every institution, and treat it like his personal brand.

He didn’t.

Now there’s a UFC event on the White House grounds, corporate sponsorships everywhere, and a cage fight being used as a presidential spectacle.

Trump did to the White House what his critics feared.

The joke wrote itself.

[Josh RR Jokien @joshcarlosjosh]

"I asked ChatGPT" "I asked Claude" well I asked Aragorn son of Arathorn "what about second breakfast?" and he beaned me in the head with an apple

[Billy Binion @billybinion]

It’s hard to imagine a greater irony: a celebration of the American Founding—whose entire purpose was rejecting kings, personality cults, and leader worship—being transformed into a vanity project for one man. The Founders fought a war to escape this kind of politics.

[Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @ReichlinMelnick]

A notable historical fact; the "Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?" moment against Joe McCarthy came when he randomly attacked a low-level employee who worked at the law office of the special counsel in the Army-McCarthy hearings, as a way of getting at the counsel.

[Edward Feser @FeserEdward]

Many Christians and social conservatives assured us that allowing a president to contribute to the degradation of public morals was a price worth paying for the sake of advancing the pro-life cause, avoiding new wars, bringing down prices, Epstein transparency, rooting out corruption, and so on. Now that the president has betrayed every one of these causes, the die-hards among them have no defense other than ever more desperate shrieks of “TDS!” at anyone who tries to break his spell over them. They sold out their principles for nothing. It’s a story as old as Esau.

[Sarah Longwell @SarahLongwell25]

Remember when your boss threatened to wipe out a whole civilization? It was like three weeks ago.

[Jeff Reid @Pilgrmtheolgian]

@SarahSorensongs The logical extension of this line of thought is that God mislead His people until Christ arrived. There should be room to say that Judaism, at least as practiced by ancient Israel, is a true part of God’s will thought not the entirety of it.

[Laura Robinson @LauraRbnsn]

I’m not trying to flex on being a great Christian or anything but I have never in my life had to explain that the golden statue I was worshipping was technically not a calf so you can’t get mad at me

[James Tate @JamesTate121]

Trump called ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott a bitch, and I think we’re long past the point where anyone with a functioning conscience should be expected to shrug and mutter, “Well, that’s just Trump being Trump.” No. That phrase has done enough damage already. It’s the anesthetic we’ve used to numb ourselves to behavior that would have politically incinerated any other president in modern American history. Two professional lip readers independently confirmed what the video appeared to show: as Trump walked away from the press gaggle at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, he muttered, “She’s a bitch,” in Rachel Scott’s direction. The White House, naturally, offered no clarification. No apology. No denial worth taking seriously. Just the usual strategic silence that follows whenever this man says the quiet part out loud and hopes the outrage cycle burns itself out by dinner.
And what exactly provoked His Fragile Majesty this time? Journalism. Rachel Scott did her job. She asked an entirely legitimate question about why this administration appears preoccupied with beautification vanity projects while Americans are dealing with spiking gas prices against the backdrop of yet another Trump-fueled geopolitical mess in Iran. A straightforward question. The kind reporters are supposed to ask. Trump’s response was the usual slurry of grievance and invented drama, claiming Scott “probably don’t see dirt,” insisting the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool had been some sort of national biohazard requiring “11 or 12 truckloads of garbage” to be hauled away, as though the place had been abandoned since the Eisenhower administration. That’s nonsense. The reflecting pool undergoes regular maintenance, including draining and cleaning, as part of standard federal upkeep. But facts have always been optional when Trump needs a dramatic set piece for his performance of wounded masculinity.
This is not just about one ugly muttered insult. This is about a man with a long, unmistakable record of directing particular venom toward Black women who dare challenge him publicly. Maxine Waters? “Low IQ.” Kamala Harris? “Low IQ.” April Ryan. Yamiche Alcindor. Abby Phillip. And now Rachel Scott. The pattern is not subtle enough to require forensic analysis. When Black women do their jobs with intelligence, composure, and precision in Trump’s orbit, he does not engage on substance. He lashes out. He demeans. He attempts to diminish. It’s the behavioral vocabulary of a man who sees confident women, particularly Black women, not as professionals doing their jobs, but as threats to be put back in their place.
And here’s the truly pathetic part: Black women are statistically among the most educated demographics in this country, which makes Trump’s lazy insult repertoire not just racist and misogynistic, but spectacularly ignorant. The man who confuses confidence with insolence and accountability with disrespect continues to reveal exactly who he is, and yet somehow we are still asked, by some corners of this exhausted country, to treat each new offense like an isolated misunderstanding instead of what it plainly is: a character flaw so deeply embedded it has become governing style.
No. We are done normalizing this.
This is not “Trump being Trump.”
This is a president of the United States behaving like a bitter, insecure bully every time an intelligent woman refuses to play decorative furniture in his presence. And yes, that matters.
—Michael Jochum, Not Just a Drummer: Reflections on Art, Politics, Dogs, and the Human Condition

[Bill Kristol @BillKristol]

Those of us in the pro-democracy movement can and should hold both of these positions.

1. We unequivocally reject violence.

2. We will unequivocally oppose efforts by this administration to use last night as an excuse to try to suppress criticism and criminalize dissent.

[Antigone Journal @AntigoneJournal]

Time for the Antigone Spring Books Give-away! 40+ books and pamphlets on offer worldwide. Just repost this message and follow us, and on Sunday 3 names will be drawn. 1st chooses 20 things, 2nd 12, 3rd gets the rest. We'll add details of the items over coming days. Good luck all!

[Matt Nightingale is moving to Threads. @mattnightingale]

The unqualified evangelical embrace of 47 has done more to discredit Christianity than anything else in my lifetime.

[Freyy @Freyy_is]

dear apple, the iPod needs to come back. not for nostalgia. for the parents who want their kids to love music and audiobooks without a browser, social media, and the whole internet attached to it

[Dan McLaughlin @baseballcrank]

Remember, this is the night when Woodrow Wilson slides down your chimney & steals an hour of your life.

[American Solidarity Party 🧡 @AmSolidarity]

Life comes at you fast.

[Jeff Reid @Pilgrmtheolgian]

@BretVDB All that is gold does not glitter

[Jeff Reid @Pilgrmtheolgian]

@parisjrafael @BretVDB And though the lights off the black west went,
Morning at the brown brink eastward springs.

[Sam Stein @samstein]

The White House one hour ago: It's a meme video of the Lion King, stop with the fake outrage

The White House ten mins ago: It was erroneously posted by some staffer*

* a staffer apparently is allowed to post videos directly to Trump's account at all hours through the night? maybe look into that system,