Roy Edroso Breaks It Down

. [Transcript from the President’s final rehearsal tape] People in America, you remember what I told you, couple years ago, when I got back in here, I was gonna take care of all the evil scum and communists that tried to make it look like I didn’t win all three elections, which I did. That’s why I made that face in this picture, my official picture, here. Scary, right? If you’re a communist you should be scared. Anyway.

I guess I’m in a glossing mood: I’d like to recommend Luke Savage’s “Socialism’s Critics Are Running On Empty” and endorse and expand on some of his thoughts. Savage starts with some of the tantrums thrown by rightwingers over the recent political successes of Democratic Socialists (I’ve written about this too) and how absurd they must sound to normal pe…

I often pimp the work of the great Hamilton Nolan, but today he had one that really lit me up, entitled “Don’t Take Advice from your Enemies.” It starts with a bunch of grafs from rightwing columnists telling Democrats what they ought to do insead of what they’re doing — in some cases, about the Maine Senate race which Graham Platner lately led, but in …

Do you believe in God? Me, I’m not sure. Technically that makes me agnostic, which I suppose mostly means “gutless atheist.” I lean more toward the possibility of God, however, than toward the possibility of none. I look at the world, and its people, and at my consciousness and humanity’s, and I am not convinced this is just a random fluorescence, o…

Guess what? For the first time in two months I rode my bike — not the stationary bike at physical therapy but my own velocipede — to the liquor store. I know, as the need is sorest so the answer comes soonest, right? I’d walked there a few days back, but since my operation I’ve been afraid to use the bicycle, mainly because 1.) the ortho NP laid so many …

I know a lot of people dislike Noah Smith, but Brad DeLong, who is terrific, likes him well enough to cross-post one of his items at his own Substack, and that post got me thinking (perhaps its greatest achievement!) about the rightwingers’ pitch to Americans, and why its evident economic failures don’t seem to matter very much. (Don’t seem to matter ver…

[What looks like the parlor of a small Southern governor’s mansion, with touches of Extended Stay Hotel. Two thirtyish white men, PELLMAN and MENSPHER, wearing seersucker, are reading their phones — PELLMAN in an armchair, MENSPHER stretched out on a divan. A TV on one wall silently plays Fox News. At the far end of the room is a hospital bed with monitors; in the bed, reading Southern Living magazine, is someone in pajamas who looks like MITCH McCONNELL.

[Had a little issue Monday night, so I will be brief.] I don’t think you should feel bad if you wanted the Democratic candidate for the Senate from Maine to win the 2026 election. You might feel awkward, as the candidate, Graham Platner, has now been very credibly accused of sexual assault and many of his prominent backers are withdrawing their support.

[A dystopian hellscape — distant, ruined buildings, green mist, smoking waste pits, etc, A gaggle of dystopia habitués — dressed in variations gear from Mad Max, The Fifth Element, A Clockwork Orange, etc. — come in, roaring and dragging MARK ZUCKERBERG, who wears a running suit stained with dirt and blood; blood also appears on his head, and he has a f…

[The rather Spartan office of Israeli prime minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU — lacquered wood desk, Israeli flag, bookcases, upholstered chairs, rugs etc. NETANYAHU is seated, talking to YOSEF GLUCKMAN, a young advisor, who holds and reads from an iPad.] GLUCKMAN: The numbers are good, Adoni. Hurrying the election was, b’ezrat hashem, the right move. NETANYAHU: Good, but we can’t rely on the Almighty. Go down today to the campaign office, see how they’re doing. I don’t want them getting lazy.