My fellow liberals, we need to have a hard look in the mirror on this one.

The science supporting gender affirming care for kids has just never been there.

And we should be outraged that organizations like the AMA said otherwise and promoted untested treatments on kids.

https://twitter.com/benryanwriter/status/2026294242130161979

For the example, the drugs used to delay puberty are all taken off-label. Meaning they have never actually been tested for this purpose.

How could we ever let a major medical association recommend treatment using off-label drugs?

And on kids, no less.

Healthcare does not allow for choice. When I have a heart attack, I don't get to choose when to seek care, where to seek care and what type of care to receive.

How can the free market work when the consumer might not even be conscious? Let me give you a hypothetical.

Imagine you are poisoned and there is only one person near you with the antidote.

You will pay literally anything for the antidote and the seller knows it.

Is that a free market?

No. It is a coercive exchange because there is no choice.

Elon is the head of what I call the "Know Better Caucus"

These are Conservatives who know better. They know Trump is an idiot. They know his policies are terrible. They know he is deeply corrupt and every word out of his mouth is the dumbest thing ever said...

...but ... They also know Trump is immensely popular with the rubes and that gives him enormous power.

The Know Betters all hope that if they wear that stupid hat and get close enough to Trump they can get some policy concessions and judges while limiting the damage.

And you know what?

I have been thinking about what protest and resistance should look like in the Trump era and I think I have it figured out.

We need to turn the tables on Right Wing Media and flood their channels with truth relentlessly.

Here is what I mean First of all, we need to realize right now that the old methods of protest will not work.

Filling the streets with signs and shouts will do nothing. If anything, Trump wants it because he can respond with police and try to look tough

Alright Democrats, time for some tough love.

I have been hesitant to post this but I think it has to be said.

There are three toxic words that cost us the election. Three words that made for bad policy and bad politics.

Those words are:

Transwomen are Women To be clear, I believe trans people deserve to live lives of worth and dignity free from discrimination.

I believe in individual liberty and letting adults make that choice.

And that is where the conversation should be centered.

"Transwomen are Women" does the opposite.

If Biden is going to insist on staying in this race, then he needs to change things up.

Here are a few simple things Biden can do to turn things around. 1. Biden needs to go into the press briefing room and answer their questions live on camera 2-3 times a week.

If you want people to believe you are mentally competent to do the job, then walk down the hall and show them.

Let's talk about what a second Trump admin will look like. In particular, let's focus on the regulatory environment.

This will be the most impactful change Trump will make but it will also be the hardest to see. Trump has already promised that, as President, he will fire thousands of career public servants and replace them with cronies.

Of all the things Trump is proposing, this is the most scary because the implications are so big. Especially now that he has "immunity".

Alright, let's talk about the Republican Outrage de Jour

The Value of Mar A Lago

Republicans are furious that a judge, who found Trump guilty of rampant fraud, stated that Mar A Lago is only worth $18M when Trump actually thinks it is worth hundreds of millions.

But.... If you actually read the judges ruling there are two key points the Trumpists are conveniently skipping:

1. The value of Mar A Lago was set by the County tax assessor, not the judge

2. The assessed value of the Mar A Lago was based on certain restrictions.

RESTRICTIONS

Time for an honest assessment of Ron DeSantis

On paper, he is the perfect Republican candidate. Young. Veteran. Ivy League pedigree. Former Congressman. Governor of a swing state he turned solid red.

He should be a no brainer for the GOP. So why is he struggling?

Some ideas: 1. The guy is just awkward.

The delivery of his speeches is best described as a whiny staccato. And his retail politics are somehow even worse. He is just not good at the one-on-one interactions that win you donors, help you in media interviews and ultimately persuade voters.

I know the cool kids believe in the lab leak theory but the evidence still says it was the wet market

1) Almost ALL of the early cases were centered around the wet market

2) We have now found the genetic link to covid in animals in the wet market
theatlantic.com/science/archiv… The fact that all of the early cases of Covid were centered around the Wet Market should have been evidence enough.

But now that we have actually found the genetic link between Covid and animals in the market at that time?

Case closed.

Alright, time for me to post something controversial, y'all. Set your hackles to raised.

Ahem....I don't actually think university and corporate diversity, equity and inclusion offices do much good and I have no real problem if the organization chooses to get rid of them. To be clear, I absolutely support diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. I think every organization benefits from a more diverse workforce, and studies show this is true.

I just think DEI offices are an expensive, ineffective way to get there.

In order for fascism to succeed, they have to get you to distrust democratic institutions first.

They need you to distrust the media, government agencies, universities, experts, doctors and political parties .

And they fill that void with a tyrant they say you can trust. Republicans don't care if you believe them. They want you to be confused. They want you to think BOTH SIDES are at fault and everybody is lying to you...

...except Trump.

The best way to resist fascism is to resist both-siderism.

What Trump actually means here is that he is going to obliterate the civil service, force every Federal employee to swear personal fealty to him and fill the government with cronies and loyalists at every level.

It is a fascist threat that will destroy our system of governance.

https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1632156578626383873

There are so many things that we have to worry about with Trump as President--his desire to go to war with Iran, the fact that he will abandon NATO and Ukraine--but THIS right here, his proposed assault on federal civil servants, has me worried the most.

This. Is. Fascism.

Imagine how safe we would be from violent crocodiles if everyone had a violent crocodile of their own?

After all, the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a croc is with a good guy with a croc. And everyone should be able to open carry their crocodile everywhere they go. We don't want bad guys to think this school is a croc free zone.

Crocs at Starbucks. Crocs at church.

Open carrying Crocs is our constitutional right and the only way to keep your family safe.

BIG THREAD INCOMING

Given that the finances of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been in the news so much recently, I thought I would provide some context and clarification as someone whose education and experience gives him a bit of an inside understanding First, let's just come out and say it. The LDS Church is very, very financially healthy.

Just the investment arm of the Church alone is likely nearing $150B in assets and that does not count the Church's properties, like chapels and temples, around the globe.

Who has two thumbs and was permanently suspended by Twitter for a week but got reinstated on appeal? And you know what I learned?

-Twitter does not add any value to my life and I need to spend less time here.

-Twitter does not give you any explanation when they permanently suspend you. I mean, absolutely none. They just say you are permanently suspended and how to appeal

I volunteer as a translator with asylees coming through the Texas border and I wanted to make a thread on who these migrants are, what help is actually needed and why what DeSantis and Abbott are doing is so needlessly cruel.

Everyone is talking about it, but so few understand WHO ARE THESE IMMIGRANTS?

The first and most important thing you should understand, these are LEGAL asylum seekers. They are not illegals. They are not undocumented.

They have been given permission by our government to enter the US pending their official court date.

I will never understand the people who say "well, I didn't like Trump but I supported his policies."

His "policies" were even worse than his personality.

Just consider the following: 1) Trump walked away from the Trans Pacific Partnership.

The whole point of the TPP was to create reliable trade partners and reduce our reliance on China. We saw how much that hurt us when Covid disrupted supply chains and we had no leverage when China went after Hong Kong