Mary Shurtz
@punkichu.bsky.social
Cranky millennial progressive woman. Things aren't going great.
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
Just a reminder: Tillis persuaded the woman Hegseth allegedly raped to come forward with her story, and told her that if she did, it would sink the nomination.
She did. At great risk to herself. Tillis then cast the deciding vote for Hegseth.
Because he’s a goddamned coward.
She did. At great risk to herself. Tillis then cast the deciding vote for Hegseth.
Because he’s a goddamned coward.
Outgoing Sen. Tillis regrets pivotal vote for Hegseth: ‘He’s an actor. He’s not a manager’
Outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis spoke to MS NOW about regretting his vote to confirm Pete Hegseth and his strained relationship with Trump.
www.ms.now
October 5, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Just a reminder: Tillis persuaded the woman Hegseth allegedly raped to come forward with her story, and told her that if she did, it would sink the nomination.
She did. At great risk to herself. Tillis then cast the deciding vote for Hegseth.
Because he’s a goddamned coward.
She did. At great risk to herself. Tillis then cast the deciding vote for Hegseth.
Because he’s a goddamned coward.
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
Peter Magyar is currently enacting a Liberal Currents fantasy where he amends the constitution to ban anyone associated with the old regime from ever holding office again and is somehow polling at 68% (he won with 53%) and I’m not saying that’s possible anywhere else but Dems should like, ask him
September 29, 2026 at 6:46 PM
Peter Magyar is currently enacting a Liberal Currents fantasy where he amends the constitution to ban anyone associated with the old regime from ever holding office again and is somehow polling at 68% (he won with 53%) and I’m not saying that’s possible anywhere else but Dems should like, ask him
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
You have staffers to know about sports and stuff so you don’t get embarrassed like this. The problem with hiring groypers is that all of their normal guy knowledge has been removed and replaced with theories about skull shapes.
A phenomenal moment in the Senate.
Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., claims he has evidence Jack Smith went to a HAWKS game in Atlanta.
Smith denies it.
Schmitt declares he has busted Jack Smith for perjury.
Smith, vexed, says he went to HAWKEYES game in Maryland.
WATCH IN FULL, UNINTERRUPTED
Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., claims he has evidence Jack Smith went to a HAWKS game in Atlanta.
Smith denies it.
Schmitt declares he has busted Jack Smith for perjury.
Smith, vexed, says he went to HAWKEYES game in Maryland.
WATCH IN FULL, UNINTERRUPTED
September 29, 2026 at 9:45 PM
You have staffers to know about sports and stuff so you don’t get embarrassed like this. The problem with hiring groypers is that all of their normal guy knowledge has been removed and replaced with theories about skull shapes.
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
The Trump era has really fucked everyone up in profound ways. Turns out electing the physical embodiment of the most demonic things about American society to the Presidency was a mistake
September 29, 2026 at 4:55 AM
The Trump era has really fucked everyone up in profound ways. Turns out electing the physical embodiment of the most demonic things about American society to the Presidency was a mistake
This was the article I have needed, weaving the different threads of corruption + int'l bullying to show the full tapestry of chaos that has been wrought.
There are legit criticisms of how the US has always exerted power to "protect US interests" abroad, but the unmasked graft + fascism is NEW.
There are legit criticisms of how the US has always exerted power to "protect US interests" abroad, but the unmasked graft + fascism is NEW.
Trump's foreign policy is not isolationist. On the contrary, his ideologues want to build an international empire run by far-right political movements who serve American crypto, mineral and tech companies, many with links to the president.
Read more here:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Read more here:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Empire of Grift
Far-right ideologues have transformed American foreign policy into a tool of private gain and antidemocratic reaction.
www.theatlantic.com
September 26, 2026 at 2:36 PM
This was the article I have needed, weaving the different threads of corruption + int'l bullying to show the full tapestry of chaos that has been wrought.
There are legit criticisms of how the US has always exerted power to "protect US interests" abroad, but the unmasked graft + fascism is NEW.
There are legit criticisms of how the US has always exerted power to "protect US interests" abroad, but the unmasked graft + fascism is NEW.
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
i really can’t bring myself to care about AI anthropomorphism debates. “is AI thinking?” i don’t know. is a calculator calculating? questions for the philosophers. what’s important is that we put sam altman in prison.
September 25, 2026 at 4:04 PM
i really can’t bring myself to care about AI anthropomorphism debates. “is AI thinking?” i don’t know. is a calculator calculating? questions for the philosophers. what’s important is that we put sam altman in prison.
Absolutely sympathetic to this poor woman, she is in an impossible situation and is being held hostage by at least one bad-faith actor (I am sure many of those who are advocating for the immunocompromised are sincere)
...also the article is hilarious. Clown college. Agents of the state. Hachi machi
...also the article is hilarious. Clown college. Agents of the state. Hachi machi
"You're making fun of queer people" I think most people are pretty sympathetic to the queer woman living out of her truck, $50k in debt, abandoned by her business partners, who thinks she is obligated to sit through 3.5 hour accountability sessions for the crime of wanting to keep the business open.
September 25, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Absolutely sympathetic to this poor woman, she is in an impossible situation and is being held hostage by at least one bad-faith actor (I am sure many of those who are advocating for the immunocompromised are sincere)
...also the article is hilarious. Clown college. Agents of the state. Hachi machi
...also the article is hilarious. Clown college. Agents of the state. Hachi machi
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
"You're making fun of queer people" I think most people are pretty sympathetic to the queer woman living out of her truck, $50k in debt, abandoned by her business partners, who thinks she is obligated to sit through 3.5 hour accountability sessions for the crime of wanting to keep the business open.
September 24, 2026 at 2:41 PM
"You're making fun of queer people" I think most people are pretty sympathetic to the queer woman living out of her truck, $50k in debt, abandoned by her business partners, who thinks she is obligated to sit through 3.5 hour accountability sessions for the crime of wanting to keep the business open.
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
Jeopardy! but it’s one of those sex thrillers from the ‘90s starring, like, Stephen Baldwin.
September 19, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Jeopardy! but it’s one of those sex thrillers from the ‘90s starring, like, Stephen Baldwin.
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
Gonna start referring to Democrats who take anti-trans stances as “Biological Republicans”
September 17, 2026 at 12:02 PM
Gonna start referring to Democrats who take anti-trans stances as “Biological Republicans”
Politicians should govern, and not just play to prevailing winds. It isn't hard: have principles, speak eloquently and persuasively to them, and show they actually fucking mean something to you.
My latest newsletter is a friendly bit of political advice for Democrats.
Don't Surrender On Trans Rights
Many Democrats are running scared on trans issues. They shouldn't be.
stringinamaze.net
September 17, 2026 at 6:29 PM
Politicians should govern, and not just play to prevailing winds. It isn't hard: have principles, speak eloquently and persuasively to them, and show they actually fucking mean something to you.
Sickening
This is APPALLING. The Trump administration is detaining multiple random Somali immigrants with no criminal record at Guantanamo Bay, seemingly because the White House ordered ICE specifically to detain Somalis at Gitmo as part of its effort to punish an ethnic group Trump has attacked.
September 17, 2026 at 12:21 AM
Sickening
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
it is remarkable that this has happened despite a near-unanimous effort from mainstream politicians and news media to prevent it from happening. there's some hope there
During the First and Second Intifadas the gap was, like, 40-50 points. Now that's not only gone but it's gone negative. Incredible work really.
September 15, 2026 at 2:14 PM
it is remarkable that this has happened despite a near-unanimous effort from mainstream politicians and news media to prevent it from happening. there's some hope there
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
Don't forget to get a covid and flu vaccine!
September 15, 2026 at 2:23 PM
Don't forget to get a covid and flu vaccine!
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
you ever see a graph that makes you just sit for a minute and contemplate how stupid everything is
Trump has only declared victory in the Iran war once this month. Concerning.
September 14, 2026 at 7:35 PM
you ever see a graph that makes you just sit for a minute and contemplate how stupid everything is
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
God upon hearing this:
September 11, 2026 at 12:37 AM
God upon hearing this:
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
Rupert Murdoch should be sent to the Hague
September 10, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Rupert Murdoch should be sent to the Hague
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
Any answer other than “who gives a shit, republicans are using a dozen kids playing JV volleyball as a distraction from looting the county and covering for elite pedophiles” is cowardly horseshit
Talarico: "I oppose trans athletes playing in girls' sports if it endangers safety or fairness"
September 9, 2026 at 9:11 PM
Any answer other than “who gives a shit, republicans are using a dozen kids playing JV volleyball as a distraction from looting the county and covering for elite pedophiles” is cowardly horseshit
This is the hill I will die on. The state I grew up in (Utah) was/is an absolute haven for unregulated supplement and essential oils companies with outlandish health claim. Our decades-long senator Orrin Hatch bent over backwards to keep them unregulated. It's a fixable issue, regulate it!
I think MAHA is very straightforwardly the triumph of the snake oil salesmen and the way we beat it is the same way you always beat snake oil salesmen: regulate their claims
September 7, 2026 at 4:02 PM
This is the hill I will die on. The state I grew up in (Utah) was/is an absolute haven for unregulated supplement and essential oils companies with outlandish health claim. Our decades-long senator Orrin Hatch bent over backwards to keep them unregulated. It's a fixable issue, regulate it!
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
I know this is a common belief, but it’s not true. If people went anti-vaxx/MAHA because they were excluded from the medical establishment, we would see sky-high rates among poor people, minorities and the uninsured. We don’t.
September 6, 2026 at 8:42 PM
I know this is a common belief, but it’s not true. If people went anti-vaxx/MAHA because they were excluded from the medical establishment, we would see sky-high rates among poor people, minorities and the uninsured. We don’t.
It's the little things
Neither for the first nor the last time:
Vance is an absolute piece of shit, yet it delights me that he hasn't a clue how ghastly and utterly uncharismatic he is.
Vance is an absolute piece of shit, yet it delights me that he hasn't a clue how ghastly and utterly uncharismatic he is.
JD Vance on the 25th anniversary of 9/11: "As you guys can probably guess, I'm really looking forward to hanging out with Joe Biden. I'm sure we'll have many many intense intellectual conversations. We'll have a great time."
September 3, 2026 at 7:44 PM
It's the little things
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
I think people catching measles then dying is bad, and that the govt should see zero measles deaths as the goal—like America had until recently—rather than see measles as a positive, culling the population of people with other health conditions.
Sorry to get so partisan, but that’s how I feel.
Sorry to get so partisan, but that’s how I feel.
Come the fuck on
September 3, 2026 at 6:52 PM
I think people catching measles then dying is bad, and that the govt should see zero measles deaths as the goal—like America had until recently—rather than see measles as a positive, culling the population of people with other health conditions.
Sorry to get so partisan, but that’s how I feel.
Sorry to get so partisan, but that’s how I feel.
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
1996: can't use the internet without your phone
2010: the internet stretches before you like the vast expanse of a new frontier. You dance through it, unhindered. Unburdened. You have never heard of 2-factor authentication.
2026: can't use the internet without your phone
2010: the internet stretches before you like the vast expanse of a new frontier. You dance through it, unhindered. Unburdened. You have never heard of 2-factor authentication.
2026: can't use the internet without your phone
July 19, 2026 at 11:48 PM
1996: can't use the internet without your phone
2010: the internet stretches before you like the vast expanse of a new frontier. You dance through it, unhindered. Unburdened. You have never heard of 2-factor authentication.
2026: can't use the internet without your phone
2010: the internet stretches before you like the vast expanse of a new frontier. You dance through it, unhindered. Unburdened. You have never heard of 2-factor authentication.
2026: can't use the internet without your phone
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
The xenomorph in Alien (1979). She is doing so well: feeding herself, growing, maturing, the perfect organism, her structural perfection matched only by her hostility; a survivor, unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality. And then Ripley just blows her ass out into space.
Name a character who deserved better.
August 29, 2026 at 3:42 AM
The xenomorph in Alien (1979). She is doing so well: feeding herself, growing, maturing, the perfect organism, her structural perfection matched only by her hostility; a survivor, unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality. And then Ripley just blows her ass out into space.
Reposted by Mary Shurtz
When Hitler shoots Röhm it represents a meaningful authoritarian escalation, even though you can hardly be sad about Röhm being gone.
August 28, 2026 at 9:20 PM
When Hitler shoots Röhm it represents a meaningful authoritarian escalation, even though you can hardly be sad about Röhm being gone.