Brian Billman

I just want to make pretty pictures.

click.

[Sarah Kendzior @sarahkendzior]

Three recent approaches to a coup plot:
1) Germany -- stop the coup before it starts
2) Brazil -- round up insurrectionists after they attack
3) US -- Seat the seditionists in Congress, pass the buck on investigation, and allow the head insurrectionist to run for president again

[Andrea Chalupa @AndreaChalupa]

"The Biden admin's military budget is enormous, but of the $858 billion budget, only $800 million is going to Ukraine. Don't fall for the propaganda blaming Ukraine for the size of the budget."
- @sarahkendzior https://t.co/PdjKnlu785

[Ted Lieu @tedlieu]

Your regular reminder that Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan and Speaker Kevin McCarthy both ignored bipartisan congressional SUBPOENAS.

[Nicholas Grossman @NGrossman81]

When criticized for acting like a stenographer for a liar who backed a coup attempt and is trying to spin it away, effectively using one's position as a Reuters reporter to launder his manipulations, "my tweet merely reports what he said" is a bad defense. That's the criticism.

[Bandy X Lee, MD, MDiv @BandyXLee1]

Here is what will happen with the new House of Representatives: They are going to criminalize others in order to exonerate themselves.

This is what happens when the real criminals are not held accountable.

[Will Stancil @whstancil]

Merrick Garland has delayed doing anything about high-level Jan. 6 conspirators for so long that they’ve had time to get re-elected and then create an entirely new committee dedicated to fighting their own investigation

[Monika Bauerlein @MonikaBauerlein]

And lest we move the Overton window to recast the McCarthy wing as moderates, @DavidCornDC reminds us that of the 222 current GOP House members, 53% voted against certifying the election results AFTER the Capitol was ransacked. Including the new Speaker. https://t.co/WMgwH4ljlp

[Charlie Savage @charlie_savage]

The House report on IRS not auditing Trump left unanswered whether the “mandatory” presidential audit program was generally broken or Trump got special treatment. Turns out Obama got audited all 8 years & Biden’s already been audited twice. W/ @arappeport https://t.co/LpDJGbOSA8

[Tristan Snell @TristanSnell]

Republicans now warning that releasing Trump’s tax returns could mean releasing Supreme Court justices’ tax returns.

Exactly. For example, Americans deserve to know who paid off Brett Kavanaugh’s $92,000 country club balance, $200,000 in credit card debt, and $1,200,000 mortgage

[Absurdistwords @absurdistwords]

20 years ago America told me to deal with terrorists:

"If you see something, say something"

I've been saying there's white supremacist fascists trying to kill us ever since.

America keeps telling me to STFU

[kottke.org @kottke]

Adolfo Kaminsky forged 1000s of papers to help Jews flee the Nazis; "If I sleep for an hour, 30 people will die." https://t.co/eAv8KLfsME

[Steve Stewart-Williams @SteveStuWill]

Wow! Scientists have observed a single-cell alga evolve in real time into a multicellular organism. The transition took around a year and was caused by the introduction of a predator into the environment. https://t.co/yBzZgGSgyD

[Cheri Jacobus @CheriJacobus]

New York Times is more upset about President Biden hosting his granddaughter's wedding at the White House than they were about Donald Trump illegally hosting the RNC convention at the White House.

[Chris Pirillo @ChrisPirillo]

#protip: you can benefit from mastodon without actually using it ~ every account auto-generates an rss feed ~ if you don't remember the beauty of rss, you can subscribe to it from any feed reader and always be up-to-date ~ so, if you dont use mastodon, at least sub to feeds

[. @GregTSargent]

Here's the thing: The press needs to distinguish between oversight conducted in good faith and in the public interest, and sham investigations/obvious abuses of the process.

If media coverage doesn't make that clear next year, it will be disastrous.

https://t.co/tMp27lteaA

[Protect Democracy @protctdemocracy]

Trump announcing his presidential candidacy shouldn’t protect him from criminal charges. Past POTUS candidates have been investigated for crimes, & there's no law or rule, fed or state, allowing a person to shield themselves from criminal accountability by running for office. /1

[Pat Dennis @patdennis]

Sick of people calling everything in crypto a Ponzi scheme. Some crypto projects are pump and dump schemes, while others are pyramid schemes. Others are just standard issue fraud. Others are just middlemen skimming of the top. Stop glossing over the diversity in the industry.

[rands @rands]

The Seven Circles of Meeting Hell

[The Recount @therecount]

Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA): “This is the Republicans all day long: ‘Inflation’s bad!' No shit, Sherlock. Of course inflation’s bad. I too go to the grocery store. That is not a policy statement.”

[Pat Dubois @patdubois]

as a Canadian, this is how it feels watching American elections these days