TGIF! [DOT 30/1/26]

30/1/26 MegMegMcGee 20

Happy Friday! Hope everyone had a great week. I’m headed to Nashville tomorrow for work. I hear it’s still freezing. My cousin lives there and they are still on generator power at their house. Hopefully I get to do at least a few fun things besides work.

I didn’t read this, I assume the Dems just gave in whatever Trump wanted?

Senate Democrats reach deal to avert partial government shutdown
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/29/senate-democrats-deal-dhs-funding-bill

That one guy lasted less than two Scaramuccis.

More staff shakeups at the Kennedy Center
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/29/nx-s1-5692872/kennedy-center-resignation

Wut

This is so unhinged

— Laura Bassett (@lebassett.bsky.social) 2026-01-29T21:34:52.840Z

Critics aghast as White House displays framed photo of Trump with Putin
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/29/trump-putin-white-house-photo

911 I’d like to report a murder:

Hello, I'd like to report an evisceration. (Rep. Moore is a Wisconsin Democrat; Ron Truess is "Regional Director for Office of US Senator Ron Johnson")

— Doktor Zoom (@doktorzoom.bsky.social) 2026-01-29T20:31:00.588Z

Have a great day!

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20 Comments

  1. …yesterday rather got away from me so I never did get to ask folks how much they’d seen about this stuff…&…this bit is technically from the NYT & all but

    On Friday, University of Minnesota student groups have called for a national shutdown. Working with hundreds of organizations in 46 states, organizers said they are encouraging Americans to abstain from daily activities to grind the economy to a halt.

    ā€œNo work. No school. No shopping. Stop funding ICE,ā€ their website reads.

    The student groups taking the lead on organizing include the universityā€™s Somali Student Association and Black Student Union. They are also encouraging high school students across the country to organize walkouts. The Somali community in Minneapolis has been a specific target of the Homeland Security operation.

    ā€œThey wanted to intimidate us and to spread fear in our hearts, but that isnā€™t going to work. Thatā€™s exactly why we are going back,ā€ Dahir Munye, the president of the Somali Student Association, said while announcing the shutdown at Minneapolis City Hall on Wednesday. ā€œThe only way to truly fight back is to extend and expand the shutdown movement from last Friday.ā€

    …where this would be their website

    https://nationalshutdown.org/

    …not to be confused with, say, this one?

    https://generalstrikeus.com/aboutus

    …it does not appear to be a thing I can find much mention of across the homepages of news orgs on…roughly…a couple of mainlands & island or two…in anything that might reasonably be called the mainstream…so…my guess would be you could ask a lot of people in britain who had heard about pretti & good…& might be following the funding stuff in congress & the senate…& those wouldn’t have the first idea what you’re talking about & don’t remember there having been anything but a snow day when minneapolis called that a general strike a week or so in advance…so I’m curious to know if people heard more about it than that suggests as a baseline?

    • i had heard there was going to be a general strike/shutdown… but not when exactly…and tbh..ive not heard any mention of it since over here

      and tbh…i think the only reason i heard about it was coz people were saying they could never pull one off on such short notice

      • …they did…apparently the snow coming in to shut a lot of stuff down sort of let that one get passed over without much remarking upon…but…the one they called that which was for today I haven’t seen anything to tell me how many of the…best part of 1,000 businesses it was that put their names to the last one did the thing again…but the student side of the thing asked for walkouts in other places & that seems to have been something that happened on a bunch of campuses in a bunch of states today?

  2. …so…the other thing I’d love for someone to make clear for me would be whether madam lindsey of the fainting couch’s inability to un-clutch their pearls long enough to not break unanimity because that would wave goodbye to the possibility of a payout hitting the pocket

    NO SENATE VOTE TONIGHTCouldnā€™t get all senators to allow a speedy vote. Schumer tells reporters Lindsey Graham is blocking it. ā€œThatā€™s the holdup,ā€ Schumer tells reporters. Graham wants to keep a provision letting him sue to pocket $500,000 over J6 phone records seized.

    — Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur.bsky.social) 2026-01-30T04:28:39.996Z

    …did or didn’t prevent some or all of this passing the senate yesterday?

    In case everyone’s as confused as me, this is what happened tonight in the Senate

    DHS defunding is still on the table, just without triggering a full shutdown
    screenshot of social media exchange explaining then confirming that denying DHS spending passage through Congress no longer means a shutdown of other aspects of government

    …because

    People just going out here saying the literal opposite of what happened. Thune caved! Thune did! This is a cave by Thune and Senate Republicans, any possible way you cut it.

    — John (@johnlk.bsky.social) 2026-01-29T23:48:07.022Z

    …on the one hand

    For some optimism, I just want to note that my post has nearly as many likes as Ali's even though he has 150 times more followers than I do. I generally dislike going semi-viral, but that's kind of nice to see.

    — John (@johnlk.bsky.social) 2026-01-30T04:15:12.922Z

    …it’s a better showing than they’d been making so far…which…is better than that nothing…but…pretty clearly it’s got to be more than it sounds like when the 2-weeks are up?

    Seeing people already jump the gun on this senate deal.

    Guys, this was a GOOD THING.

    DHS is funded for the next two weeks while they negotiate, the White House folded, they wanted longer, they didnā€™t want to separate the DHS funding but they did. This also avoids the risk of filibuster.

    Negotiations continue over the next two weeks, all other agencies are funded for most of the year, unlike DHS.

    This was a fight about separating funding ICE from other agencies. With this separate, republicans can no longer hold the government hostage and allows Dems to negotiate on ICE.

    And if the White House and republicans simply refuse to come to the table in the next two weeks and make a deal, Dems can literally have a shutdown specifically focused on DHS vs the ENTIRE government.

    This is a win.

    I donā€™t give Schumer props often, but this was a win. Letā€™s take it.

    …but…on the other hand

    – appropriators hammered out DHS approps which constrained ICE's ability to use $ for detention, added BBB slush fund oversight, cut BP's FY26 funding by 9% relative to the PB, and restricted DHS's reprogramming authority- this passed the House- the Senate voted it down, w/6 GOP right flank votes

    — Mike Black (@mikeblack114.bsky.social) 2026-01-29T23:53:36.738Z

    …not everyone who has a problem with it is failing to see the parts you could call a win…but…the overlap is suggesting that’s a tough needle to thread?

    Just absolute clownery on the part of Senate Democrats. They are demanding that ICE "create a code of conduct and enforce it."The catch? ICE ALREADY HAS A CODE OF CONDUCT. This means Democrats just got played. šŸ§µ

    — Brandon Friedman (@brandonfriedman.bsky.social) 2026-01-29T23:23:31.114Z

    …&…microcosm’s & all…but this is still a thing people seem to have tried to address across a broader spread of readings than I’ve seen in the supposedly more macro places so I guess I haven’t started to see bluesky the way I do some other microcosms of popular acclaim?

    Obviously give me Bluesky over the Nazi CSAM website every day etc but a very real drawback of its very small size is that a relatively tiny number of anti-Dem wreckers and accelerationist morons end up commanding disproportionate attention and thereā€™s no easy solution

    — Nute Year, Nute You (@nutedawn.bsky.social) 2026-01-30T03:47:36.047Z

    …&…I don’t particularly know this one…although I saw someone who claims to say in a mildly oblique way that they did used to work in senate dem circles & there’s not a small amount of disgruntled in that ex-employment part…they…do seem to be hard to refute about at least some things around & about all this…anyway…if they embedded these would be from senategabe.bsky.social

    Another cycle of blaming Schumer for problems of the entire caucus.

    Itā€™s annoying how the discourse is turning me into a Schumer shill. This is especially so given not only do I think he should step down, he should face criminal charges for providing aid and comfort to insurrectionists.

    But the focus on him is myopic. He does what they want.

    …from which one of the off-shoots goes like this

    I mean, before I give my thought, I just realized that I'm not 100% sure of the answer to this question and it's important. Being the Minority Leader is a choice, right? Like, they don't force you to take it because of seniority or something like that, right?

    — TheSheepMafia (@thesheepmafia.bsky.social) 2026-01-30T02:38:46.832Z

    correct

    Ok, then with respect, isn't part of the deal with taking that title that you are also where the buck stops for the actions (or inactions) of the caucus? I feel like you can't have that title and then dodge responsibility for the actions of your caucus.Not trying to be a smartass, I swear.

    — TheSheepMafia (@thesheepmafia.bsky.social) 2026-01-30T02:44:16.766Z

    I didn’t think you were.

    That’s more of the case in an executive when you are overseeing subordinates. A legislative leader has one vote like everyone else and they can’t force anyone to vote differently.

    You know what, you're dead right, I was absolutely looking at it in that type of context. And problems with Schumer aside, that isn't actually a fair view towards him and what that role actually is.Thanks!

    — TheSheepMafia (@thesheepmafia.bsky.social) 2026-01-30T02:49:47.337Z

    …so…on the one hand…did lindsey prevent the passage of anything that changes anything?

    …&…on the other…what does the “enforce” part look like if there’s already a code of conduct they aren’t abiding by & at least one PD-type force has said they wouldn’t enforce it if a federal order required these goons to show their faces while they ply their trade?

    • Just to summarize, yes, this is a win for Democrats. Now they can attack ICE separately without jeopardizing every other government department. That’s not appealing to people screaming “BURN IT ALL DOWN” but it is helpful for people who depend on other government services.

      The big takeaway is that Republicans folded. They are scared shitless of midterms, and they’re actually pretty willing to throw ICE under the bus if it gets them out of voters’ crosshairs.

      Our problem now is “scared shitless of midterms” also applies to Orange and his gang of thugs in this administration, so we’re going to start seeing some crazy election shit (like that bullshit that Tulsi pulled in Fulton County, GA).

      • …I guess that the reasons the two questions seem connected for me is that on the one hand it is genuinely hard for me to see what item they think they can hold an enforcement line on when it comes to their proposal to “rein ICE in”…since that has been the opposite of working in any way it needs to…& if they spend their 2 weeks dickering away *from* there in a spirit of “it’s our turn to concede since you let us pick the timeline” then the distance closed on closing down the real-time operation(s) by making the money be not-there looks like a lot of nothing…&…further afield in places that maybe it rains a lot & only used to be “in europe” throwing a couple of names & faces under some buses actually does get people to buy that change of tone stuff about the worst being over in minnesota & it’s not as bad as the alarmists make out

        …&…if what graham did is meaningful obstruction in even a delaying-the-inevitable sense…& only requires his vote to pull off…then why isn’t schumer doing that like a stuck record?

        …the GOP pretty much wrote the playbook on how to prevent an administration making legislative progress…why aren’t procedural grenades getting tossed about with abandon in the path of this shit…set some precedents that run counter to all the “unprecedented” shit…seems like a not unreasonable expectation a potential voter might have if any of this works the way it says in the instructions?

        • …I know the josh johnson routines run longer than maybe people have time to spare for those…& likewise that he isn’t the only person you can find who mentions it…but the stuff palantir is the poster-child for isn’t just in the US & isn’t just attached to the stuff we use ICE as shorthand for…but…it’s part of why we’re a good deal farther down this road than the people who claim to be in the wheelhouse say…further, too

          A Minnesota woman observing ICE agents in her car was cornered on one-way streets. An agent approached, called her by nameā€”citing facial recognition. Days later, her Global Entry and TSA privileges were revoked, with no explanation.

          — Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix.bsky.social) 2026-01-30T11:55:57.845Z

          …the shit they’re hacking together from places DOGE *alone* had no business exfiltrating it to databases with all the wrong controlling interests…is a frankenstein’s monster however much it looks like a clowncar?

          Like I said

          — Eliot Higgins (@eliothiggins.bsky.social) 2026-01-30T13:18:04.297Z

          …if you don’t believe me try looking at the view down the rabbit hole of arguing that the clip with the kicked out tail-light is AI…or go look at what parker malloy wrote up about it

          …damn it…I really do have other shit to do today that I need to be what I’m actually thinking about…so…at least it’ll look like I’ve stopped for a bit?

      • Iā€™m actually surprised considering that their voter base is all rabid racist dipshits who are cheering this ICE bullshit on. Also midterms are an eternity from now, considering how the vast majority of these fuckers donā€™t have two brain cells to rub together. Kind of shocking that Republicans would risk the wrath of their Lord and Savior.

      • The other big thing is republicans wanted 6 weeks of DHS funding and got 2 weeks.
        6 weeks is hope enough that things simmer down between now and then if DHS manages to stop executing people on the streets.
        2 weeks is not long enough to change the public perception of what ice and DHS are doing.

    • Yeah, that was a win and a lot of people read the headline only (and possibly incorrectly!) and mistook what really happened. There’s still time for the Dems to cave; it just isn’t right now.

      The two things I do think people are rightly concerned about are a) they do keep publicly asking for things that are already explicitly enshrined in federal law, and that’s not exactly inspiring and b) this is all a test drive for “what are you going to do should you win the House in November” and if the answer is “roll the clock back to the 2024 status quo” it’s not gonna be nearly enough to repair any of the damage already done.

    • I wish we could get the backstory, but it’s probably pretty straightforward.

      Couch: “Hey, guys, I got this great new job working for fascists booking acts at the Kennedy Center.”

      Everybody else: “What the actual fuck, dude? Are you out of your goddamn mind?”

      Couch: “You think it’s a bad idea?”

      -OR-

      First day on the job, Couch is working his Rolodex. “Yeah, I was wondering if you’d perform at the Kennedy Center? Wait, what? No, I don’t think I can put my head there. And honestly, what does my mother have to do with this? Oh, okay. Can I put you down as a ‘maybe’?”

  5. Also, because i’m not sure many folks saw it yet, Everlast (yes, House of Pain’s Everlast!) released a song for us here, too.

    He did it pretty much on the down-low, and there *isn’t* a lot of press out there about it, like there is with Springsteen’s new song, but if you liked the bluesey-folksy-rock of “What It’s Like” off his album “Whitey Ford Sings the Blues”?

    You’ll probably like this one, too.

    And bonus, it has some of Jolly Good Ginger’s protesting from the past couple weeks on it–including at the end.

    Although *not* that classic “You look like a Soup Sandwich!” quip from the night over on Lyndale Avenue North, when an ICE agent shot Julio Sosa-Celis in the leg after following him home.

    That was the night they threw the smoke bomb under the Jackson family’s vehicle, too!

    https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/22/man-shot-in-leg-by-ice-in-minneapolis-did-not-attack-officer-women-say

    https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minneapolis-ice-detained-federal-court-appearance-shot-in-leg/

    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c205677pxvxo

    https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/17/us/minneapolis-family-tear-gassed-ice

    https://www.fox9.com/news/children-hospitalized-flash-bang-hits-van-jan-15

    https://www.wowt.com/2026/01/18/6-month-old-revived-with-cpr-after-tear-gas-floods-familys-suv-amid-ice-protests/

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