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The Bystander

@thebystander99.bsky.social

1.4K followers 2.9K following 2.3K posts

Attorney. Spoonie. Tired most of the time. Criminal justice, disability & autoimmune disease, cats, Dodgers, hopefully something positive every now and then. He/him. Hopes to make sense of all this eventually, but probably won’t.

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The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 12h

What

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 15h

Happily accepted

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 1d

“we’ve been missing something, maybe lots of things, I can do better, help me understand what that is and what you’re looking to hear from me,” and really listen, I think it’d be as energizing and their defensiveness is alienating

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, what these responses just keep missing is, it’s really off-putting to be told that what you’re feeling (after plenty of time to consider it) is wrong, and that you should change it, without THEIR actually any changing anything. If a Dem politician were to just EARNESTLY say:

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The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you THANK you—and wow, it’s been right about that same time for me. Yeah, chronic energy limiting illness is confusing & isolating enough, & then it adds another dimension—throwing an (extra) wrench into what’s left: work, family, therapy, healthcare…it deeply hurts, & it’s so hard to explain

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 1d

Oh my god, also very limited speech here, and this brought a tear to my eye. It’s been something I’ve been learning to navigate and JUST coming to understand how ill-equipped both I and the world around me are for that challenge. Thank you—this is the first time I’ve seen someone else bring it up…

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The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 2d

I really can’t fathom writing the combination of “my work is so damaging & hurtful that I don’t deserve your well-wishes,” BUT, “please pray for me anyway SO I CAN GET BACK TO WORK.” Asshole, you JUST said your work is beastly; why should we specifically pray for you to get back to it?

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The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 3d

This is so important, because one thing they’ve always wanted so badly, and that I think drives them, is to be openly hateful AND for us to think they’re cool at the same time. Which, while impossible, is something they think they can trick/force us into. This sends a clear message against that

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The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 3d

Was just looking at that. Surprising or not, it’s incredibly disappointing

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 3d

Just a fact of life

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 3d

And, even more, I certainly like to imagine that Sliwa thinks it’s causal

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 3d

Can’t imagine there’ve been a lot of starting pitchers who’ve hit 3 home runs in a game, including one AFTER he’s been pulled

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 3d

!!!

Crazy that they were able to rein it in. And yet, even in moderated form, I’m guessing the judge’s clerks are still very much having their morning ruined…

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 4d

New counsel? Or did they just get permission to let the hyperbole go?

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The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 4d

I’ve wondered about this; we’ve seen similar regressions (like post Jan. 6). They second guess; feel insufficiently praised; feel left out of their friends’ rage; I don’t know. But it’s like they each have a telltale heart—only they hear it beating & go mad when someone’s NOT buried in the floor

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 4d

I guess this was as inevitable as the sun’s expansion and eventual consumption of the Earth—which will, at the very least, mercifully put an end to all discussions of the male loneliness epidemic

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 4d

He’s just so substantial

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 4d

The fuck does he care? He doesn’t live there…

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 4d

Yeah, I see one has the classic afterschool kid’s job of “general counsel.” I have to think that every time Vance excuses praising Hitler as “boys will be boys,” the odds increase that we’ll someday see texts from Vance praising Hitler. B/c he’s sure playing a lot of advance defense around that

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 5d

Um, yeah, I second that…

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 5d

Right, so she’s saying that conservatives were traditionally super racist, but got SO GOOD at hiding it at there was a small blip c.2000 where the incoming gen didn’t know, and actually believed the cover story? Only for the racists to re-emerge organically and retake the party? Is that her story?

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 7d

Sad news today. His music will remain the soundtrack to indelible moments in my life, and I’ll always be grateful to have it.

D'Angelo - Chicken Grease (Live)

YouTube video by Funkonaut

youtu.be

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 7d

And he’s in the dugout watching Roki, and it doesn’t even look like he worked today…

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 8d

I’m still paying the price for yesterday’s pain nap

The Bystander @thebystander99.bsky.social · 8d

Ooo, so curious about your thoughts on Cat People. A family friend growing up was involved with making it; I know he had some regrets about some things (and of course how it was received at the time), but was also proud of what they tried to do. I know he’d be thrilled to see it on a favorites list