Michael Mechanic
@michaelmechanic.bsky.social
Mother Jones editor; author of "Jackpot," an "entertaining and eviscerating" (Jane Mayer) book on America's wealth insanity (readjackpot.com); piano player turned punk rock drummer turned old-time fiddler; dad of Gen Zers; gardener; curmudgeon about town.
Pinned
It's a good day when your book shows up on a senator's desk. You can get your own copy via ReadJackpot.com/order
Reposted by Michael Mechanic
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation seems to be throwing some shade at ICE.
November 22, 2025 at 2:15 AM
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation seems to be throwing some shade at ICE.
Putin is a monster and a terrorist, as evidenced by his deliberate bombing of civilian residential buildings, and no US government should take his side.
Rewarding a dictator-aggressor always leads to another war. One that is usually even worse.
November 22, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Putin is a monster and a terrorist, as evidenced by his deliberate bombing of civilian residential buildings, and no US government should take his side.
Reposted by Michael Mechanic
As a retiring but still sitting member of the House, MTG has the opportunity to read into the public record documents that otherwise could not be released... and would be protected by the constitution's speech or debate clause from prosecution.
November 22, 2025 at 2:21 AM
As a retiring but still sitting member of the House, MTG has the opportunity to read into the public record documents that otherwise could not be released... and would be protected by the constitution's speech or debate clause from prosecution.
Trump always likes the last person he talked to. We'll see what he posts tomorrow.
Q: Are you affirming that you think President Trump is a fascist?
MAMDANI: I've spoken about--
TRUMP: That's okay. You can just say yes. I don't mind.
MAMDANI: I've spoken about--
TRUMP: That's okay. You can just say yes. I don't mind.
November 21, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Trump always likes the last person he talked to. We'll see what he posts tomorrow.
More and more de facto bribery, yes. But what has really changed is that these people used to give to both parties pretty equally—like, each side had its own billionaires. Now they're just straight up backing the oligarchy machine. No civic duty or social responsibility at all. Zero. Zilch.
We spent a year investigating billionaires for @washingtonpost.com.
We found: the wealthiest 100 Americans gave $1.1 billion to influence the 2024 elections — 140x more than they did in 2000. And almost all of that giving boosted Republicans.
washingtonpost.com/politics/int...
We found: the wealthiest 100 Americans gave $1.1 billion to influence the 2024 elections — 140x more than they did in 2000. And almost all of that giving boosted Republicans.
washingtonpost.com/politics/int...
November 21, 2025 at 7:55 PM
More and more de facto bribery, yes. But what has really changed is that these people used to give to both parties pretty equally—like, each side had its own billionaires. Now they're just straight up backing the oligarchy machine. No civic duty or social responsibility at all. Zero. Zilch.
What Steve Wozniak gets at below is kind of what my book, "Jackpot," is about. So if you're looking for gifts for family /friends... It is said to be a good read. Here's a little taste: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
November 21, 2025 at 7:50 PM
What Steve Wozniak gets at below is kind of what my book, "Jackpot," is about. So if you're looking for gifts for family /friends... It is said to be a good read. Here's a little taste: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Reposted by Michael Mechanic
WHERE ARE THEY TODAY ???
November 21, 2025 at 2:24 AM
WHERE ARE THEY TODAY ???
“They had seen me before, so they thought they were just going to speed away. I was like, ‘Ha ha, bitches, I got a new scooter!’”
If you're needing a little Friday shaudenfreude...
If you're needing a little Friday shaudenfreude...
“I told everybody: ‘I’m retired, I sit home all day. If we get any reports of ICE in the neighborhood, somebody text me, and I’ll run over on my scooter and go yell at them.’”
Meet the veteran who chases ICE on a scooter
Clifford “Buzz” Grambo patrols the streets of Baltimore to keep his neighbors safe—and make federal agents uncomfortable.
www.motherjones.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:21 PM
“They had seen me before, so they thought they were just going to speed away. I was like, ‘Ha ha, bitches, I got a new scooter!’”
If you're needing a little Friday shaudenfreude...
If you're needing a little Friday shaudenfreude...
Mar-a-Lago first.
White House announces new oil and gas drilling off California and Florida
But Sunshine state Republicans might oppose drilling off state’s famous beaches that keep tourism dollars coming in
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Mar-a-Lago first.
Everything is fine.
DOJ is now recruiting for immigration judges by calling them “deportation judges.”
That’s seems really bad.
That’s seems really bad.
November 21, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Everything is fine.
Quite the combo here, signaling all's totally well with our nation.
November 21, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Quite the combo here, signaling all's totally well with our nation.
Trump pardons these white-collar crooks, and they go right back out and re-offend. Maybe they see him grifting and want their piece. A lot of blue-collar J6 thugs he pardoned have also committed new crimes. He's even re-pardoned some of them. There's never gonna be another like him, one would hope.
A Fraudster Pardoned by Trump Gets 37 Years for Running Ponzi Scheme
www.nytimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Trump pardons these white-collar crooks, and they go right back out and re-offend. Maybe they see him grifting and want their piece. A lot of blue-collar J6 thugs he pardoned have also committed new crimes. He's even re-pardoned some of them. There's never gonna be another like him, one would hope.
It's funny, the head of Oath Keepers made the same ask, except it turns out he and his followers didn't care about that. They just hated the idea of a Black president, and proceeded to attack the US Capitol on Jan. 6. And then Trump pardoned the lot of those (actually) seditious bastards.
U.S. legislators: "Soldiers and sailors, if you are ordered to kill someone and you believe the order is unlawful, don't do it. Remember your oath to The Constitution.
U.S. President: "Kill the legislators."
Am I missing something? Anything at all?
I still have characters left, if so.
U.S. President: "Kill the legislators."
Am I missing something? Anything at all?
I still have characters left, if so.
November 21, 2025 at 12:23 AM
It's funny, the head of Oath Keepers made the same ask, except it turns out he and his followers didn't care about that. They just hated the idea of a Black president, and proceeded to attack the US Capitol on Jan. 6. And then Trump pardoned the lot of those (actually) seditious bastards.
Johnson also refused to let the South rejoin the Union under Black leadership, leading to the "redemption"—a brutal anti-Black domestic terror campaign, one of whose leaders, Benjamin Tillman, would become a senator. Not until the 1970s would any southern state elect a Black leader to Congress.
Before the midterms of 1866, President Andrew Johnson called his congressional opponents traitors and said they should be hanged.
Voters were so profoundly moved by his words... that they gave his opponents a supermajority in Congress, and the nation got the Fourteenth Amendment.
Voters were so profoundly moved by his words... that they gave his opponents a supermajority in Congress, and the nation got the Fourteenth Amendment.
November 21, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Johnson also refused to let the South rejoin the Union under Black leadership, leading to the "redemption"—a brutal anti-Black domestic terror campaign, one of whose leaders, Benjamin Tillman, would become a senator. Not until the 1970s would any southern state elect a Black leader to Congress.
There is nothing "frank and honest" about calling someone "piggy," unless of course, that someone happens to be...
miss piggy from the muppet show says whatever in front of her face
ALT: miss piggy from the muppet show says whatever in front of her face
media.tenor.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:03 AM
There is nothing "frank and honest" about calling someone "piggy," unless of course, that someone happens to be...
All these right-wingers are gung-ho to make sure every embryo is carried to term, and yet they also advocate gutting environmental regulations designed to ensure those babies have clean water to drink and air to breathe—not to mention a future on Earth.
Just some of the things I think about.
Just some of the things I think about.
November 20, 2025 at 11:59 PM
All these right-wingers are gung-ho to make sure every embryo is carried to term, and yet they also advocate gutting environmental regulations designed to ensure those babies have clean water to drink and air to breathe—not to mention a future on Earth.
Just some of the things I think about.
Just some of the things I think about.
Listen up.
Senator Murphy sounds the alarm as Trump calls for the deaths of Dems who served the country to be killed for reminding the military their loyalty is to the constitution not to him 🇺🇸
November 20, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Listen up.
Lying under oath—channeling their mendacious orange boss
Ellis repeatedly accuses multiple CBP and ICE officials of lying (under oath) and says their "widespread misrepresentations call into question everything" they "say they are doing in their characterization of what is happening." She broadly discredits their testimony as objectively false.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis just handed down the written opinion version of her preliminary injunction order, regarding use of force by federal agents in Chicago.
It's the one already put on hold by the 7th Circuit.
It's 233 pages.
Here you go: cst.brightspotcdn.com/49/34/daecfb...
It's the one already put on hold by the 7th Circuit.
It's 233 pages.
Here you go: cst.brightspotcdn.com/49/34/daecfb...
November 20, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Lying under oath—channeling their mendacious orange boss
Instead of just chasing the news cycle, I wish reporters who covered the president would ask questions like, "Do you regret abruptly defunding USAID, given that your decision has already killed hundreds of thousands of people?"
November 20, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Instead of just chasing the news cycle, I wish reporters who covered the president would ask questions like, "Do you regret abruptly defunding USAID, given that your decision has already killed hundreds of thousands of people?"
Reposted by Michael Mechanic
Reposted by Michael Mechanic
private equity buys a company and immediately starts torturing their employees and the money
November 20, 2025 at 1:48 AM
private equity buys a company and immediately starts torturing their employees and the money
Trump wants these people executed, apparently.
This is a stunning thing to even have to see Members of Congress say out loud. Absolutely chilling. And inspiring.
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship.
November 20, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Trump wants these people executed, apparently.
Reposted by Michael Mechanic
ESQUIRE: “ICE is hiring literally anybody, and it’s terrifying… people who flunk the exam, criminal records… yet they’re allowed to tear children from their beds at night.”
www.esquire.com/news-politic...
www.esquire.com/news-politic...
November 20, 2025 at 5:05 AM
ESQUIRE: “ICE is hiring literally anybody, and it’s terrifying… people who flunk the exam, criminal records… yet they’re allowed to tear children from their beds at night.”
www.esquire.com/news-politic...
www.esquire.com/news-politic...
Reposted by Michael Mechanic
The president is calling for members of Congress to be executed.
Also known as Thursday.
Also known as Thursday.
November 20, 2025 at 2:33 PM
The president is calling for members of Congress to be executed.
Also known as Thursday.
Also known as Thursday.
Reposted by Michael Mechanic
The U.S. government is now inarguably spreading medical disinformation that is going to kill babies preferentially.
Period.
This is an INTOLERABLE. UNPRECEDENTED. DANGEROUS. ATTACK. ON ALL OF US.
Period.
This is an INTOLERABLE. UNPRECEDENTED. DANGEROUS. ATTACK. ON ALL OF US.
November 20, 2025 at 3:29 AM
The U.S. government is now inarguably spreading medical disinformation that is going to kill babies preferentially.
Period.
This is an INTOLERABLE. UNPRECEDENTED. DANGEROUS. ATTACK. ON ALL OF US.
Period.
This is an INTOLERABLE. UNPRECEDENTED. DANGEROUS. ATTACK. ON ALL OF US.