made in hialeah

...a Miamian living in Mainz...

[Rick Wilson @TheRickWilson]

I wrote this knowing a lot of my old friends in Washington are going to hate this one, but it's necessary.

The Power Addict: A Cold-Eyed Look At Lindsey Graham

Link in bio and comments.

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

No nation, no society, and no international order can call itself just and humane if it measures its success solely by power or prosperity while neglecting those who live at the margins. Indeed, Christ’s love for the least and the forgotten compels us to reject every form of selfishness that leaves the poor and the vulnerable invisible.

[Ben Rhodes @brhodes]

Let it haunt Trump and his racist followers that future Americans will embrace the Obamas as beloved figures while studying him as a stain on our history.

[Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof]

In impoverished countries, I see moms carry their babies for miles to get them vaccinated, because they understand that vaccinations save lives. And in the US I see charlatans diminishing vaccines in ways that will cause kids to die.

[Jack Hopkins @thejackhopkins]

Let me say this as clearly as possible, because people keep getting it wrong.

Republican lawmakers didn’t stick with Trump because they were hypnotized...terrified...or somehow helpless.

They stuck with him because he’s one of them.

Trump didn’t corrupt a moral party. He exposed a corrupt one.

If Trump were merely embarrassing...reckless...or rude... they would have dumped him years ago. Politicians abandon liabilities fast. What they don’t abandon...are mutual liabilities.

Trump normalized behavior that many of them were already guilty of: ethical shortcuts...financial murkiness... abuse of power...contempt for oversight... lying as policy.

He didn’t invent the rot...he gave it cover.

And here’s the part people don’t like to hear:

For a lot of Republicans in Congress, Trump isn’t the risk.

Accountability is.

Trump absorbs attention like a sponge. While everyone is watching his circus...others operate quietly in the shadows. He’s not a distraction...he’s a shield. A very useful one.

Once they crossed certain lines together...election lies, January 6th...obstruction...weaponization of government ...there was no clean exit.

Loyalty became self-preservation. Defection meant subpoenas...investigations...and career death.

That’s why the so-called “good Republicans” vanished.

They weren’t persuaded. They were purged. Retired. Primaried. Marginalized. What you’re seeing now isn’t universal agreement...it’s selection pressure.

Only those comfortable with ethical decay remain.

This is how systems rot. Not with villains twirling mustaches...but with people who decide, one compromise at a time, that survival matters more than principle.

Trump didn’t take over the GOP.
The GOP recognized itself in Trump.

And that’s why expecting them to “come to their senses” is a fantasy.

You can’t ask people to enforce standards that would incriminate them.

The alliance holds...because it has to.

That’s not psychology.
That’s incentive structure.

And until people stop confusing fear...with complicity... they’ll keep being shocked by behavior that was always predictable.

[Lars Christensen @MaMoMVPY]

The problem isn't Trump. The problem is the US.

When the outside world observes Trump's insane behaviour and his threats against allies, and we at the same time observe that there is no real action from the US public, Congress, the US Supreme Court, or the US media about this insanity, we will all have to conclude that the US accepts this behaviour.

The public in the US think the US is entitled to a certain position in the world where there is no room for decent behaviour and where there are no norms and rules.

That means that we all have to conclude that the US — not only Trump — has betrayed the international order that the US, with its Western partners, were the main architects of after the Second World War.

This is the conclusion that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney so clearly laid out in his speech at Davos yesterday. We simply cannot trust the US to play by the rules any more. Therefore, we also fundamentally have to ask ourselves — should we trust the financial and economic structure which is an integral part of the global rules-based order?

Americans live in the illusion that the US can do everything on its own, despite the fact that the US for nearly 20 years has lived beyond its means.

US private and government consumption has been funded by, among others, European central banks and pension funds. But we now have to ask ourselves — why would we trade in dollars? Why would we put our savings into US Treasury bonds?

If the US is not a rules-based society, we cannot trust the dollar to be a stable currency, and it would be insane to hold dollars. As domestic US institutions are eroded and governance structures destroyed, the US will be turned into an emerging market economy — or more accurately, a de-merging economy.

If the US threatens the territory of allies, then the US acts as an authoritarian bully nation. Nobody in their right mind would lend money to the US government. If the US doesn't live up to its international obligations and respect the sovereignty of other nations, why would we expect the US government to honour its debts?

If Trump can tariff nations that will not give up their territory, then there is certainly no reason to believe that the US will not introduce capital controls. And if that is a risk, why would you risk investing in the US?

It is not a question about Europe standing up to the US. It is a question about being prudent with our investments — about reducing risks.

Every day Trump remains in office, distrust of the US increases, and the cost for the US will go up day by day. And this is irreversible. It takes years to build trust, but you can destroy it by your actions in minutes.

Europe has now completely lost trust in the US. And so has Canada. It is up to the people of the US to demonstrate that Trump is an 'outlier', and it is up to the American people to stop him.

If you don't do that, we will have to assume that this is what the US is about — whether the name of the President is Trump or something else, whether the President is a Republican or a Democrat.

[Mark Carney @MarkJCarney]

Now is the time to fight for our values.

[Brian Allen @allenanalysis]

This clip is exactly why the White House didn’t want Gavin Newsom anywhere near Davos.

Because he doesn’t do the “bow your head and smile” routine.

He says it out loud, on camera, in front of the world and makes Trump’s chaos look as unserious as it actually is.

[CALL TO ACTIVISM @CalltoActivism]

OMG - This is humiliating. The boos were so loud that he couldn’t hear himself speak.

And a woman yelled “traitor” right to his face:

[Senator Mark Kelly @SenMarkKelly]

Over twenty-five years in the U.S. Navy, thirty-nine combat missions, and four missions to space, I risked my life for this country and to defend our Constitution – including the First Amendment rights of every American to speak out. I never expected that the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense would attack me for doing exactly that.

My rank and retirement are things that I earned through my service and sacrifice for this country. I got shot at. I missed holidays and birthdays. I commanded a space shuttle mission while my wife Gabby recovered from a gunshot wound to the head– all while proudly wearing the American flag on my shoulder. Generations of servicemembers have made these same patriotic sacrifices for this country, earning the respect, appreciation, and rank they deserve.

Pete Hegseth wants to send the message to every single retired servicemember that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way. It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.

If Pete Hegseth, the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country’s history, thinks he can intimidate me with a censure or threats to demote me or prosecute me, he still doesn’t get it. I will fight this with everything I’ve got — not for myself, but to send a message back that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don’t get to decide what Americans in this country get to say about their government.

[made in hialeah @madeinhialeah]

https://t.co/eKG9NKUYpY

[made in hialeah @madeinhialeah]

Biden warns UN against allowing Russia to ‘brutalize’ Ukraine without consequence - live https://t.co/EvC8X7IM55

[Brian Krassenstein @krassenstein]

It is rather ironic to watch Republicans root against what appears to be the Wagner Group trying to take Moscow.

Former Rep Adam Kinzinger just said it best:

“This is a massive blow to the Russian republic and a massive blow to their military effort and I will also say, it is a massive blow to the people here in the United States like Tucker Carlson, who have been parroting Putin talking points.”

[Maria Popova @themarginalian]

This should be on the wall of every newsroom and every classroom and every living room: The Baloney Detection Kit – Carl Sagan's timeless tenets of bullshit-busting and critical thinking https://t.co/aYoTeRK3iu

[made in hialeah @madeinhialeah]

@elissaben70 Hang in there ❤️

[made in hialeah @madeinhialeah]

https://t.co/K9CCatIRsI

[made in hialeah @madeinhialeah]

I just voted in the @tennishallofame Fan Vote! https://t.co/CKGg46G5yo via @TennisHalloFame

[Sahil Kapur @sahilkapur]

“Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain,” @Liz_Cheney says at January 6 hearing.

[NPR @NPR]

Towards the end of her opening remarks, Rep. Liz Cheney offered a stark message to members of her party who continue to support former President Donald Trump and downplay the events of Jan. 6.

https://t.co/1fyTfRmUXO

[made in hialeah @madeinhialeah]

Starbucks and Taco Bell hope to turn NFTs into the new loyalty points https://t.co/1yCzdR3082 via @qz