"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.

it is, really - designed in the late 40s. construction took way longer, i think because it was more ambitious/innovative, and didn't have the rush-job timeline you'd have if it were a world's fair centerpiece.

you better not be talking about the Sunsphere

I saw the arch up-close in person for the first time last summer and it is totally awesome, I wish I had planned my trip better and made going to it the focus instead of "oh hey if we have some time let's do this"

I once ate in the Sunsphere restaurant. it did not revolve like the restaurant inside The Ball in Dallas did (does?) and i spent many nights wondering what it would have been like if it had

guys every once in awhile i shudder awake at the fact that we live in a world where JARED KUSHNER and JD VANCE are making national security decisions with geopolitical implications. JARED KUSHNER and JD VANCE.

cough RFKjr cough

Wait I've never been to the arch (or SL at all) and now I really want to go!!

I went there like thirty years ago, it's pretty cool

Important to remember that as iconic as it is, the time before the Arch is in living memory, and not yet a symbol of the city. Here is a photo my mother took in 1965.

https://i.postimg.cc/5YJb3L4N/img223.jpg

Legend has it that on the day of completion, one leg needed to be cooled with fire hoses as it was expanding in the sun.

To f hazel: there is a group of things that longtime St. Louisans (like my parents) cannot ever shut up about. The Arch is one. The 1904 World's Fair is another.

Jonathan Franzen's book The Twenty-Seventh City is, in large part, about how captive the city is to the memory of its peak. And how embarrassed it is to have fallen.

I meant to write * when it was not yet a symbol *,

Saint Louis is one of those cities that is less than half of their population at its peak.

It is sometimes said to have been "strangled by the white noose of the suburbs," not my phrase but a vivid one.

We went to SL a couple years ago. The arch and the City Museum are badass.

yeah i mean now if someone said “meet me in st. louis” i’d suggest we meet somewhere a bit nicer

Gross

tbe privacy policy link keeps endlessly looping to the landing page for me, anyone got an alternate? I’ve been trying for 40 minutes

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"Donald Trump" obv

alexander graham bell was a scot/Canadian

Little Mike tying the SAVE act to the National Defense Authorization Act is some shit

there is a group of things that longtime St. Louisans (like my parents) cannot ever shut up about. The Arch is one. The 1904 World's Fair is another.

I assumed for a long time that the Arch WAS built for the 1904 World's Fair! I like the vibe of the derelict plazas of World's Fairs from the distant past like Knoxville or San Antonio, their sleeping optimism

No surprise that Washington Post has just confirmed that Trump’s claim that his ballroom would be built by donations is a lie.

Trump is using a $500M no-bid contract to build his White House ballroom
The secret agreement was routed through a White House office that typically handles repairs and furnishings and is exempt from competitive bidding requirements.

I’m willing to bet this project will fail as every other of his has

Well as usual he's better at the demolition part than anything else. He is demolishing a lot tho.

I am seeing for many things under Trump 2 that they figured out that if you just call something an “emergency “ that needs to be addressed quickly, you can then do no-bid contracts without public announcement it seems or having to go through the process of taking multiple bids or analyzing whether the project should happen at all.

Maybe a future Congress could tighten the language.

it’s an emergency that Trump needs his rape dungeon

I say we combine the ballroom with the algae pond to cut costs

Xpost

Sic, this should have the gist

https://www.cjr.org/feature/carpenter-media-ominous-takeover-local-news-tuscaloosa-alabama-homer-alaska-pleznac-charlie-kirk.php

say we combine the ballroom with the algae pond to cut costs

that was a no-bid contract to his friends too, and they did such a great job, might as well take on that ballroom to make it the tackiest piece of shit of all time

also sort of a non sequitur but i propose that we tear down the statue of liberty, because what a fucking joke it is in light of today's supreme court decisions (discussed on the other thread, but i thought i'd put my tear down the statue of liberty proposal here because it will be my lasting accomplishment in life if it comes true)

or maybe we can just destroy a 9th of it for every SC justice that makes a mockery of justice

xxp catch-and-kill operations on US journalism all the way up (bezos) and down (carpenter) the line

Sinclair Broadcasting who bought the Baltimore Sun and other newspapers and tv stations have been firing reporters , killing publications, and putting out Fox News takes on local news for awhile.

Meanwhile surviving reporters and Dem congress members are stuck also confronting blatant coverups, lies and disinterest from horrible authoritarian jerks like budget director Russell Project 2025 Vought who is "testifying" on the hill today:

POCAN: Do you know how much we've spent on the war on Iran so far?

VOUGHT: We've spent about 30 billion

P: People are saying it's more like $100b

V: I'm just telling you what I heard from the Dept of War

Tomorrow we can open a new thread. If only it were as easy to move past the shitstorm called the Trump Administration, the 119th Congress, and the Supreme Court.

This interview with Abdul El-Sayed is really good. The interviewer starts out trying to gotcha him, but by the second or at most third question he's already been batted back, and they have a substantive conversation. Kind of amazed Bari Weiss even let it see the light of day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FofXOB5T2s

the fuck is this shit? Another lee greenwood showcase

Donald Trump has announced that Republicans will stage their first ever national convention ahead of the midterm elections, a move aimed at energizing voters as the party fights to hold its narrow congressional majorities in November.

The two-day gathering will take place in Dallas on 9 and 10 September, marking a break from the longstanding tradition of holding national conventions only during presidential election years. Trump confirmed the plans on Tuesday in a Truth Social post, describing Dallas as “One of my favorite places in the World”.

“It has never been done before, and will be a truly Historic Event,” he said, promising the convention would feature “Great Entertainment”.

It won't be a convention because the attendees won't be delegates and won't have any jobs to do -- like nominating the party's presidential and vice presidential candidates. At most it'll just be an extra long Trump rally with multiple day's worth of adoring speeches, and attendance by Trump's invitation only. Who knows? He might even charge admission. It's anyone's guess. But I look to see Kid Rock showing up in some capacity.

It won't be a convention because the attendees won't be delegates and won't have any jobs to do -- like nominating the party's presidential and vice presidential candidates. At most it'll just be an extra long Trump rally with multiple day's worth of adoring speeches, and attendance by Trump's invitation only.

They really haven't figured out yet that this kind of shit not only doesn't energize their cult anymore, it actively enrages Democratic voters. So yeah, I'm 1000% in favor of this idea.

TV networks aren’t going to cover a pointless convention either.

Wow, a reddit thread from inside the Fair: https://www.reddit.com/r/washingtondc/s/eaLRzfWzLQ

thats exactly what I expected it to be like but its still crazy to see an actual trip report

Melat Kiros appears to have knocked out incumbent Diana DeGette in the Colorado House Democratic primary. Kiros was literally born the year DeGette was first elected to the House.

It would appear that many Democrats are responding positively to the rhetoric of unambiguous, vigorous, complete resistance against the politics they see coming from the Republican Party and a reassertion of the rights of all Americans, not just self-proclaimed "real Americans". I approve.

If only the party leaders were able to recognize this is what people desperately want.

I think the problem the party leaders are having is that most versions of that no longer have them as party leaders. These are mostly people fighting for their own salaries and positions.

And I don't mean only or even mostly inside the party, it's also the whole attached ecosystems, the commentariat, the think tanks. People with corporate jobs that feed off of all of it.

It's a process. A too slow process, but a hopeful trend.

Yeah, the panic is a good sign.

Do we have a July 2026 thread yet? Apparently Mitch McConnell was taken to George Washington University Hospital on June 14, and I didn't see any signs of that upthread.

okay, I started one

New July thread: The Saddest of Ferris Wheels - American Politics, July 2026

He is now an assistant metro editor at the Seattle Times.

lol grim