"Larger, and harder, muscles than most": American Politics, June 2026

Have at it.

No dignity, I like the way you work it ...

american politics, june 2026: a pedophile looks at 80

hearing the title track in my head in a KMFDM-style

Muscle and hate

american politics, june 2026: a pedophile looks at 80

excellent

honestly it’s kind of insane how relevant Nitzer Ebb’s “Join in the Chant” is

All I know is, should the Maine guy get elected and accrue actual power, we can be absolutely sure that power will not make his behavior worse.

we can be absolutely sure that power will not make his behavior worse.

if your point is that power always makes people behave worse, then that should apply equally to every candidate for every office everywhere, so it has no practical application here. if it doesn't always apply then there is no grounds for certainty.

I don't know if I had a point beyond an easy jab at the guy, but I do know that, as history has shown again and again, power rarely makes people behave *better*.

possibly applies even more to people with a bunch of red flags

Which is to say, as soon as he gets elected he's probably going to get a skull tattooed on his forehead and start sexting everyone with a cell phone.

It'll be like that U2 album, except when you look at your phone it will be a Platner dick pic.

sad but true

like all of us, I can imagine a far better person I'd rather see elected to the Senate. imagination can be cruel.

as history has shown again and again, power rarely makes people behave *better*.

Go Go Godzilla

Platner probably got one of these on his back
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Boc.png/1280px-Boc.png

ok watch it

like all of us, I can imagine a far better person I'd rather see elected to the Senate. imagination can be cruel.

If only the party had nominated Saint Johnny Unbeatable! (Meaning "saint" in the strictly non-religious sense, of course, because you can't trust those churchy types.)

unperson i'm having trouble figuring out what is sarcasm and isn't, sorry? i haven't been glued to this thread so i'm just reading your posts in isolation, so i'm probably just confused heh

but, just to give an example of how i think i might be misreading you, it _seems_ like you're using sarcasm voice (here and at the end of the last thread) to criticize those who have problems with platner's...issues?

and if i'm right on that, then i guess your stance is like "pobody's nerfect, just support the democrat, he'll be better than susan collins"?

but again i think i'm misreading everything, confused

especially in response to other vaguely sarcastic posts

He won't just be better than Collins, he'd be better than any other Democratic challenger currently nominated for the US Senate.

let's not be hasty

i guess your stance is like "pobody's nerfect, just support the democrat, he'll be better than susan collins"?

No. My stance is that based on the platform page on his website and every video of a speech or an interview I've seen him give in 2026, Graham Platner would be the leftmost senator in the Democratic Party. And that people who say no one should vote for him because he used to be a Reddit troll, or because he got drunk and got a fucked-up tattoo, or (worst of all) because he was texting with women who are not his wife, have their fucking heads up their asses.

I'm completely ok with saying people should vote for someone else in the primary. Assuming he wins, I'm also ok with saying they should vote for him in November, but I am 100% going to point out he's a nazi at every opportunity because Democrats really should do better.

He's not a fucking Nazi.

Just mentally copy and paste that under every post here that says he is from now on.

you can say it a million times, but he fits the profile perfectly

xp that's clear, thanks unperson! probably don't need to put have their fucking heads up their asses in italics but hey, when you have 100% knowledge about the future, that's a gift and you gotta do what you gotta do

you can say it a million times, but he fits the profile perfectly

What are you, the Mein Hunter?

i'm actually bothered more by his sexting with half a dozen people up until his wife and campaign confronted him about it last fall. it's not about the character thing, it's more like that's a really bad sign about his leadership qualities (putting the campaign at risk with his personal behavior) and it says that when his dick is involved, he makes very bad decisions. that's not in the distant past or a dumb tattoo - it speaks to who he is right now

but my head is way up here in my ass and it's been dark ever since my headcam ran out of batteries so i don't know

the tattoo stuff, i think, is also really dumb and a very ominous sign about how dumb this guy has been.

but yeah, you can know all that and also hold unperson's perspective - that before he fucks up and has to step down for a scandal, he'd be a reliably progressive vote in the senate, that would be awesome. a reasonable person can believe all the worst about platner and still vote for him. a reasonable person could also be aware of just a bit of platner's life and choices and decide not to vote for him because of that. neither one of those decisions are cause for belittling each other here

up until his wife and campaign confronted him about it last fall.

That's not what happened. He stopped sexting a year before his campaign started. His wife brought it up in a campaign meeting when they were discussing dirt that could be dug up. And someone fired from the campaign leaked what she said to the NYT.

platner is hot af. i'd go flatner for platner.

need alfred's opinion tbqh

In funnier news, Trump is now backing away from the J6 payout fund... according to Axios:

The Trump administration plans to drop its controversial $1.8 billion "weaponization" fund the president sought to compensate alleged victims of prosecutorial conduct under his predecessor, two senior administration officials told Axios.

"It's dead for now," one of the sources said.

Why it matters: Bashed as a political slush fund that could be tapped by those convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, Trump's proposal has drawn bipartisan pushback in the GOP-led House and Senate.

Of course, the whole Payout fund to J6ers was a compromise--Trump just wanted to take the money for himself.

This CNBC article is fun, too.

Trump tells CNBC: ‘I don’t care’ if Iran negotiations are over

President Donald Trump on Monday shrugged off the possible collapse of peace negotiations with Iran, telling CNBC, “I don’t care if they’re over, honestly.”

“I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less,” Trump told CNBC’s Eamon Javers in a phone interview midday Monday, saying he thought the protracted discussions “started to get very boring.”

Trump had been asked about the prospect of Iran ending talks with the U.S. in light of reporting earlier Monday that Iranian negotiators would take that step — and also move to “completely block” the Strait of Hormuz — due to Israel’s military operations in Lebanon against the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah.

Asked if the Iranians told him that they are not going to negotiate further, Trump said, “No, they haven’t.”

...

In his call with CNBC, Trump said he wasn’t worried about oil prices, which had spiked after Iranian state news outlet Tasnim reported earlier Monday that Tehran was halting negotiations and clamping down on the Hormuz Strait.

“I think the oil will be dropping like a rock in the very near, you know, the very near distance,” Trump said.

But he also insisted that Americans who understand the importance of halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions will not mind higher gas prices as a result of the war.

“Once you explain that this is all about Iran having a nuclear weapon, people are willing to pay a little bit more,” he said.

Trump asserted that prices at the pump will drop “very quickly.” But he also repeatedly signaled he was in no hurry to restart the stalled negotiations with Iran.

“If they’re over, they’re over. If they’re not, you know, I think they took too much time. Frankly, I thought they started to get very boring,” Trump told CNBC.

every day, i wake up hoping that he has died

I wonder what would win if you gave people a choice between $3 a gallon gas and Iran w/nukes and $5 gas and no nukes in Iran.

Trump just wanted to take the money for himself.

he was, after all, the ultimate J6er!

I wonder what would win if you gave people a choice between $3 a gallon gas and Iran w/nukes and $5 gas and no nukes in Iran.

i had a similar thought, and i think we both know the answer

Too many people would be cool with anything if Trump gave them $3. "You are now all better off today than you were yesterday! You're welcome!"

i have a feeling that’s why his signature is going to be on our cash

All the cash in going to say "pay to the order of Donald Trump," and then his signature, and then he will get all the money.

Trump asserted that prices at the pump will drop “very quickly.” But he also repeatedly signaled he was in no hurry to restart the stalled negotiations with Iran.

“If they’re over, they’re over. If they’re not, you know, I think they took too much time. Frankly, I thought they started to get very boring,” Trump told CNBC.

He truly is the President this country deserves, like an avatar of our collective stupidity.

"I'm bored. Let's do something else."

I'm glad he can at least still be frank with us.

There's one in the SoMa in San Francisco

There's a Costco in Long Island City Queens. We joined it last week. I've never been.

We always ignored it because living in NYC we have ZERO space for storage. What I wouldn't do for a basement. Or even a pantry.

But was reading about some of the benefits online the other day and decided there's enough.

It's across the street from the Noguchi Museum where my wife works and she drives to at least once a week, so that's very convenient for us.

There's also a BJ's a few blocks from us on the Long Island City/Sunnyside border.

Both of them have big parking lots. Don't underestimate how many people in NYC (or presumably other urban centers) have cars, though a lot of people go to this costco by public transit (which isn't easy, there really isn't any trains near there) or walk out with "granny carts" filled with toilet paper or whatever.

xp that's interesting. I should say there is one in the Montreal city limits, and it looks like you could get there by bus (from certain neighbourhoods, it wouldn't be that bad a commute), but yeah then you have other problems after you've paid.

oh I know lots of city people have cars. jaymc mentioned there are two in Chicago, which doesn't surprise me at all as that is a much more car-dependent city than you might expect IME. it was more that owning a car is a significant challenge for people who are struggling—which isn't to say poor people don't own cars, they definitely do, but it's a big part of the poverty trap aiui

I would peg Costco's demographic as people who live in a single-family detached house and have a steady, reliable income, but not necessarily above the median income.

Watch Trump's name be removed from the Kennedy Center:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAhm880quUg

i can't lie, i was hoping to see the bastard's name get ripped down by a joyful mob the day he dies, but then again it's only 10:17 am PST.

the day is young

Using Hawaii time gives us even more latitude for today being Trump Death Day!

not gonna lie, pulling his name off is absolutely a form a public humiliation and I know he'll see it that way, and this brings me a small modicum of weekend joy

(there's a crowd, and they're cheering!!)

Costco is for thrifty people, not wealth-flaunters *or* the paycheck-to-paycheck demographic.

Yes you save money but you need to be able to swing a $200 shopping trip for things that you have the space to store and use for months.

otm

we never had costco where I grew up but were members now in LA where my wife is from. we use it for toilet paper and stuff but I find being in there insanely depressing, there’s something about the way people move through there that makes them feel like drones in a dystopian hellscape

Friends, usually the ones with husbands and/or families, ask me continuously why I'm not a Costco member. "I don't have the storage space," I say. Also: I genuinely don't mind going to the grocery store for things. I don't need to hoard for the month.

yeah I enjoy going to the store 5x a week or so!

I am walking distance to three grocery stores and I am walking for fun/exercise already; I have no trouble shopping almost every day.

Like, I can intellectually understand meal planning. But in practice, how am I going to know what I'm going to want to eat five days from now?

I've only been in a Costco a handful of times and I find it baffling and overwhelming, like a hayseed country mouse arriving in Times Square

lol that ends up happening too. I go to the store for coffee and chicken thighs, come back with dishwasher soap and canned black beans.

xxpost

re: the Kennedy Center—they should take down the stupid photos of him and Vance glowering over one of the entrances.

that’s really them it gives them a place to go during the day

heheheh
A federal judge on Friday struck down a last-ditch attempt by the Kennedy Center’s board to keep President Donald Trump’s name on the building.

Presumably they paid their attorney using Kennedy Center funds, too.

they're tripping on the optics - all about the optics of having his name publicly yanked off the building. I love it

Someone needs to set up a camera in case they do it in the middle of the night.

that MS NOW ^^^^ feed is still going... they're still just setting up the scaffolding. Not sure when they're not just using a cherry-picker

so angry that they bankrupted the center and the National Symphony and center employees (who are all union members) are jerked around.

They should remove Kennedy's name too while they're at it.

They put the scaffolding up, then went to lunch. The live feed continues.

Oh, they're back now. And putting up more scaffolding!

They should remove Kennedy's name too while they're at it.

he sucked too but as far as I know not a rapist

The Center

serious suggestion: it should be named after Mstislav Rostropovich, the great cellist and humanitarian who also conducted the National Symphony in the ‘90s.

Also I really want to hear Trump try to pronounce it.

looks like it's raining in DC? Anyway, they've stopped work again

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Oil ships on fire, bone spurs glittering. Signage uninstalled in rain.

"I've seen things... you people... wouldn't believe. Army copters on fire off the Strait of Hormuz. I watched phosphenes glitter in the dark dozing at the Garden late. All this... idiocy... will be livestreamed on MS NOW, like Kennedy Center signage removed in rain. Time to die."

Um

just riffing

In metaphorical news, giant elephant pisses all over Texas GOP convention

https://bsky.app/profile/robertdownen.bsky.social/post/3mo4kizatuk2k

So happy to see this was literal

The live feed of the Kennedy Center is picking up. Midnight deadline!

The crowd noise is funny.

Do the C-span reporters know they're on a hot mic?

They are definitely not going to meet the deadline, but I doubt there’ll be any penalty for that.

crowd really fails at fun chants

lol of course they put up a tarp to block the view. But they’re just setting themselves up for a big reveal when they lower it.

Yeah, the wave of cheers when the tarp comes down is gonna be something.

I have to figure the workers don’t want to become MAGA targets when they’re filmed pulling Trump’s name down.

They've told the judge that the name is down, but the tarp is still up. Maybe they'll just leave it up indefinitely.

Possibly the board thinks they can get the SCOTUS to sign off on the name change via the shadow docket. If so, the court hasn't given them any reason to think otherwise.

that would be amazing if they did, like saying some nonsense about impinging the authority of trump’s board of flunkies because the were acting within their scope of duties. i mean, stealing money, changing org names, this is what boards are for doing

No workers in sight, it's the weekend so I assume the tarp will stay up at least until Monday lol. The Tarp and Kennedy Center.