#officer michael fanone

[saywhat-politics]

Donald Trump has called the violence against police on Jan. 6 "very minor incidents" while defending his pardons for violent insurrectionists. Four officers who were assaulted by the mob while defending the Capitol on January 6, 2021, former officers Michael Fanone, Harry Dunn and Aquilino Gonell, and DC Metro Police Officer Daniel Hodges, who appears in his personal capacity, join Joy Reid on The ReidOut.

Jan. 23, 2025

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

February 23, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Feb 23, 2025

Something is shifting,” scholar of authoritarianism Timothy Snyder posted on Bluesky yesterday. “They are still breaking things and stealing things. And they will keep trying to break and to steal. But the propaganda magic around the oligarchical coup is fading. Nervous Musk, Trump,

Vance have all been outclassed in public arguments these last few days. Government failure, stock market crash, and dictatorial alliances are not popular. People are starting to realize that there is no truth here beyond the desire for personal wealth and power.”

Rather than backing down on their unpopular programs, Trump and the MAGA Republicans are intensifying their behavior as if trying to grab power before it slips away.

Trump’s blanket pardons of the people convicted for violent behavior in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol were highly unpopular, with 83% of Americans opposed to those pardons. Even those who identify as Republican-leaning oppose those pardons 70 to 27 percent. And yet, on February 20, the Trump Justice Department expanded those pardons to cover gun and drug charges against two former January 6 defendants that were turned up during Federal Bureau of Investigation searches related to the January 6 attack.

Then, on February 21, a number of people pardoned after committing violent crimes, including Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio—who was sentenced to 22 years in prison—and Proud Boy Ethan Nordean (18 years) and Dominic Pezzola (10 years), as well as Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes (18 years) and Richard “Bigo” Barnett, who sat with his feet on a desk in then–House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office (four and a half years), held a press conference at the U.S. Capitol to announce they were going to sue the Justice Department for prosecuting them.

Kyle Cheney of Politico reported that the group followed the route they took around the Capitol on January 6, 2021, then posed for photos chanting as they had that day: “Whose house? Our house.” Protesters nearby heckled the group, and when one of them put her phone near Tarrio’s face while he was talking to a photographer, he batted her arm away. Capitol Police officers promptly arrested him for assault.

A number of the January 6 rioters were visiting the Capitol from the nearby Conservative Political Action Conference being held in Maryland. There, MAGA participants continued to normalize Nazi imagery as both Steve Bannon and Mexican actor Eduardo Verástegui threw fascist-style salutes to the crowd.

Yesterday, Tarrio posted a video of himself following officers who defended the Capitol on January 6 though the lobby of a Washington hotel where the anti-Trump Principles First conference was taking place. According to Joan E. Greve of The Guardian, Tarrio followed officers Michael Fanone, Harry Dunn, Daniel Hodges, and Aquilino Gonell, saying: “You guys were brave at my sentencing when you sat there and laughed when I got 22 f*cking years. Now you don’t want to look in my eyes, you f*cking cowards.” Fanone turned and told him: “You’re a traitor to this country.”

Today, the hotel had to be evacuated after someone claiming to be “MAGA” emailed a threat claiming to have rigged four bombs: two in the hotel, one in Fanone’s mother’s mailbox, and one in the mailbox of John Bolton, Trump’s former national security advisor turned critic. After listing the names of several of the conference attendees—and singling out Fanone—the email said they “all deserve to die.” The perpetrator claimed to be acting “[t]o honor the J6 hostages recently released by Emperor Trump.”

Billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump are also ramping up their behavior even as the public is starting to turn against the government cuts that are badly hurting American veterans, American farmers, and U.S. medical research. The courts keep ruling against their efforts and their claims of finding “waste, fraud, and abuse” are being widely debunked. Rather than rethinking their course in the face of opposition, they seem to be becoming more belligerent.

On Saturday, Trump urged Musk to be “more aggressive” in cutting the government, although the White House has told a court that Musk has no authority and is only a presidential advisor. “Will do, Mr. President,” Musk replied. He then posted a command to federal employees: “Consistent with [Trump’s] instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” Shortly after, emails went out giving workers 48 hours to list five things they had accomplished in the past week.

This sparked outrage among Americans who noted that Musk has spent 24 hours tweeting more than 220 times and engaged in public fights with two of the mothers of his children while allegedly running companies and overhauling the government, while Trump spent at least 12 nights at Mar-a-Lago in his first 29 days in office. S.V. Date of HuffPost noted on February 18 that Trump has played golf at one of his own properties on 9 of his first 30 days in office and that Trump’s golf outings had already cost the American taxpayer $10.7 million.

Reddit was flooded with potential responses to Musk’s demand, scorching it and Musk. The demand also exposed a rift in the administration, as department heads—including Kash Patel, the newly confirmed head of the FBI, as well as officials at the State Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of the Navy—asserted their authority to review the workers in their own departments, telling them not to respond to Musk’s demand.

Then users pointed out that the new government employee email system the Department of Government Efficiency team set up explicitly says that using it is voluntary, and that resignations of federal employees must be voluntary. Musk responded by sending out a poll on X asking whether X users think federal employees should be “required to send a short email with some basic bullet points about what they accomplished” in the past week.

The entire exercise made it look as if the lug nuts on the wheels of the Musk-Trump government bus are dangerously loose. Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo commented: “Drunk on power and ketamine.”

Historian Johann Neem, a specialist in the American Revolution, turned to political theorist John Locke to explore the larger meaning of Trump’s destructive course. The founders who threw off monarchy and constructed our constitutional government looked to Locke for their guiding principles. In his 1690 Second Treatise on Government, Locke noted that when a leader disregards constitutional order, he gives up legitimacy and the people are justified in treating him as a “thief and a robber.” “[W]hosoever in authority exceeds the power given him by the law and makes use of the force he has under his command…ceases in that to be a magistrate; and, acting without authority, may be opposed, as any other man, who by force invades the right of another,” Locke wrote.

Neem notes that Trump won the election and his party holds majorities in both chambers of Congress. He could have used his legitimate constitutional authority but instead, “with the aid of Elon Musk, has consistently violated the Constitution and willingly broken laws.” Neem warned that courts move too slowly to rein Trump in. He urged Congress to perform its constitutional duty to remove Trump from office, and urged voters to make it clear to members of Congress that we expect them to “uphold their obligations and protect our freedom.”

“Otherwise,” Neem writes, “Americans will be subject to a pretender who claims the power but not the legitimate authority of the presidency.” He continues: “Trump’s actions threaten the legitimacy of government itself.”

In the Senate, on Thursday, February 20, Angus King (I-ME) also reached back to the framers of the Constitution when he warned—again—that permitting Trump to take over the power of Congress is “grossly unconstitutional.” Trump’s concept that he can alter laws by refusing to fund them, so-called impoundment, is “absolutely straight up unconstitutional,” King said, “and it’s illegal.”

“[T]he reason the framers designed our Constitution the way they did was that they were afraid of concentrated power,” King said. “They had just fought a brutal eight-year war with a king. They didn’t want a king. They wanted a constitutional republic, where power was divided between the Congress and the president and the courts, and we are collapsing that structure,” King said. “[T]he people cheering this on I fear, in a reasonably short period of time, are going to say where did this go? How did this happen? How did we make our president into a monarch? How did this happen? How it happened,” he said to his Senate colleagues, “is we gave it up! James Madison thought we would fight for our power, but no. Right now we’re just sitting back and watching it happen.”

“This is the most serious assault on our Constitution in the history of this country,” King said. “It's the most serious assault on the very structure of our Constitution, which is designed to protect our freedoms and liberty, in the history of this country. It is a constitutional crisis…. Many of my friends in this body say it will be hard, we don't want to buck the President, we'll let the courts take care of it…. [T]hat's a copout. It's our responsibility to protect the Constitution. That's what we swear to when we enter this body.”

“What's it going to take for us to wake up…I mean this entire body, to wake up to what's going on here? Is it going to be too late? Is it going to be when the President has secreted all this power and the Congress is an afterthought? What's it going to take?”

“[T]his a constitutional crisis, and we've got to respond to it. I'm just waiting for this whole body to stand up and say no, no, we don't do it this way. We don't do it this way. We do things constitutionally. [T]hat's what the framers intended. They didn't intend to have an efficient dictatorship, and that's what we're headed for…. We’ve got to wake up, protect this institution, but much more importantly protect the people of the United States of America.”

Senator King, along with Maine governor Janet Mills, who stood up to Trump in person earlier this week, are following in the tradition of their state.

On June 1, 1950, Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) delivered her famous Declaration of Conscience, standing up to Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-WI), who was smearing Democrats as communists. “I think that it is high time for the United States Senate and its members to do some real soul searching and to weigh our consciences as to the manner in which we are performing our duty to the people of America and the manner in which we are using or abusing our individual powers and privileges,” she said. “I do not want to see the Republican party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny—Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.”

On July 28, 1974, Representative Bill Cohen (R-ME), who went on to a long Senate career but was at the time a junior member on the House Judiciary Committee, voted along with five other Republican members of the committee and the Democratic majority to draw up articles of impeachment against Republican president Richard Nixon, fully expecting that the death threats and hate mail he was receiving proved that that vote would destroy his political career. But, Cohen told the Bangor Daily News, “I would never compromise what I think is the right thing to do for the sake of an office; it’s just not that important. Only time will tell if the people will accept that judgment.”

Days later, the tape proving Nixon had been part of the Watergate coverup came to light. “Suddenly there was a switch in the people who had been defending the president,” Cohen recalled. “That’s when people back in Maine, Republicans, started to turn around and said, ‘We were wrong, and you were right, and we’ll support this.’ ”

It’s a good week to remember that politicians used to use as a yardstick the saying: “As Maine goes, so goes the nation.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[blobmanwhotries]

SEE, I TOLD YOU I CAN MAKE ART

information below bc trust me y'all probably confused lmao

The character in this drawing is Viktor, a character from the Five Nights at Freddy's Dating Simulator "Five Nights at Flirting." The game is more of the Rebornica style (using Vincent, Chris the Janitor, etc). I highly recommend the game, it's free!

That being said, spoiler warning for that game's content, in case you haven't seen it.

Key:

OG = Original

AU = Alternate Universe

RWQ = RWQFSFASXC, Shadow Bonnie's "Name"

FNaF = Five Nights at Freddy's

FNoF = Five Nights of Flirting

"The Crew" = Day/Nightshift Guards

Viktor is one of the protagonists in the game. Not much information is out there on him, other than him being the father of another more major character, Barbie, and him being dead. He was either a day/nightshift guard or he was the owner of the building, I can't remember.

In FNoF, agony and remnant isn't part of the game. Neither is the OG Afton family. A lot of canon FNAF things is not part of the FNoF universe. If it is, it isn't explicitly said - but in my and my friend's canon, we added a LOT of FNaF lore into it. Doing this gave us the opportunity to build upon the characters and really expand the universe.

In FNoF, I believe Viktor was killed in the Fazbear's establishment. This didn't change.

What did change was the motive and the method. Dave and Jack, the murderers of the children in our canon, killed Viktor by putting him in the spring bonnie suit. Think FNaF 3 Springtrap but on a different guy.

He, alongside the dead children, haunt the building as ghosts. One major thing:

He's not malicious during the nightshift.

(here on out are ideas, headcanons, fanon lore, etc)

Viktor actually just watches. Hangs around. He feels awful for the kids and that he can't do anything to stop their rage - so he usually lingers around the night guard in the office.

I like to think that he kind of has a role on causing the hallucinations in the night guards - more specifically Mike Schmidt (NOT Michael Afton).

Only after the first establishment (FNaF 1) closes down and the crew moves to the next establishment (FNaF 2) can Mike able to see Viktor's ghost properly. He's the first one of the crew to meet him after his death, with the exception of maybe Vincent (who in our original canon, did NOT kill the kids).

Hopefully that makes sense? I might go back and edit this when I'm more coherent but this is what you're getting for now lmao

With that out of the way, let's get into the shadow bonnie thing.

Let's start off with the fact that in the beginning of this, I just wanted to spice things up. I blurted out the idea of Viktor being RWQ to my friend and have been building off of that since.

1) RWQ is never outright malicious. Not in canon games, at least. In FNaF 2, the worst he would do is crash your game. Otherwise he just existed in the office.

Viktor, like RWQ, is not outright malicious. He just watches the security guard in the office. Hoping that they'll make it through the night in peace.

I considered the original "game crash" as maybe the guard passing out from sudden shock - which leads to,

2) In our canon, Viktor slowly becomes a being of agony over time. This is going to be hard to explain.

To sum it up, agony in our canon is the lingering emotions after a major event - emotions that cannot leave and can build up over time.

I think we can agree murder would stir up some very strong emotions from the victims, right?

This explains why the children are so vengeful - because of the agony from their emotions. And, of course, the fact that they're children and aren't able to regulate such powerful emotions, taking it out on any night guard. Blinded by rage, you could say.

Viktor isn't vengeful in comparison only because he can regulate his own emotions better. He knows that the night guards aren't the ones who killed him. He knows who did, but he's trapped at the building since he died there. And because the agony of the dead children latched onto him, making him unable to leave on his own.

Over time, the agony grows more and more potent. Even if he's still passive, the first form you see of him will not be human - it will be the silhouette of what he died in. What he was killed in. A forever reminder of what happened.

I've considered the "fainting" thing because I'd imagine looking to the side and suddenly seeing "bad vibes" personified is going to give someone quite a shock.

3) When coming up with this idea, I didn't make the connection of Viktor being RWQ and the FNaF 3 mini game until way later. When I did, I must say, I pat myself on the back for finding another way to validate and explain my idea. One of the theories for that mini game was that Shadow Bonnie was an employee who got springlocked, probably forcibly. You know who else got springlocked forcibly?

Viktor.

Viktor's death is a HUGE deal in our canon. Who killed him, whether he lives or not, the method - we've considered a lot of outcomes. The most common thing of all of them is the fact that Viktor always plays a role in being a reminder of what happened at Freddy's.

Even after FNaF 3 events, he still remains - only now he's attached to Vincent (who may or may not have killed the children depending on the AU).

My friend and I are super proud of this interpretation of FNoF. We've put a lot of thought into it - and we're nowhere near done with it. A lot is subject to change. But for now we're satisfied.

Sorry for such a long ramble. I'm sure this is barely comprehendible. Feel free to comment or send in questions on anything you want to know more about; other characters, more background information - don't be shy, I don't bite :)

[urialnathanonwright]

Trump's Pardons: A Betrayal of Justice and an Assault on Democracy

Ladies and gentlemen, what we are witnessing is nothing short of a seismic assault on justice, accountability, and the very fabric of our democracy. Former President Donald J. Trump, in a decision that reeks of contempt for the rule of law, has pardoned virtually every individual involved in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Let’s be crystal clear about what this means. This isn’t just a political calculation. This isn’t just a nod to his most fervent supporters. This is a brazen act of undermining the foundational principles that govern our nation — a nation built on the belief that no one, not even those who chant your name in rallies, is above the law.

For Trump to issue such sweeping pardons, including for individuals who violently assaulted police officers — men and women who put their lives on the line to protect this nation — is beyond abhorrent. It’s an insult to every officer who stood on the front lines, to every American who believed in accountability, and to every democracy-loving citizen who watched in horror as the Capitol was desecrated.

The excuse offered by Trump and his allies. That these individuals have "suffered enough" or that the justice system is "broken." Let me tell you what’s broken: the moral compass of anyone who believes that attacking the very heart of American democracy can be washed away with a stroke of a presidential pen.

Michael Fanone, a hero who endured a stun gun to his neck and countless injuries in defense of this country, called it “outrageous.” And he’s right. It’s a betrayal of every officer who bled, every family who mourned, and every citizen who believed that justice would be served.

And yet, this should come as no surprise. This is who Donald Trump is. A man whose primary loyalty is to himself and his political expediency, not to the Constitution he swore to uphold. He’s a man who equates the loss of his Twitter account with the suffering of those imprisoned for storming the Capitol, who sees justice not as blind but as something to be wielded as a weapon against his enemies and a shield for his allies.

To those who claim Trump was merely keeping a campaign promise: shame on you. Promises to undermine justice and exonerate the guilty are not campaign promises — they are threats. They are warnings of a descent into autocracy.

Let us be unequivocal: pardoning those who participated in an insurrection is not leniency. It’s complicity. It sends a message to every extremist, every would-be rioter, and every authoritarian that violence in the name of power will be forgiven, that the ends justify the means, and that the rule of law is nothing more than an inconvenience.

We must stand united against this. Not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans. Because if we allow this to stand, we are tacitly accepting that our democracy, our rule of law, and our very identity as a nation can be traded away for political expediency and applause lines at rallies.

Donald Trump may have pardoned them, but history will not. The arc of the moral universe may be long, but it bends toward justice — and it will not bend for Donald Trump.

[misfitwashere]

Here's how Trump's vengeance machine works 

He's the mob boss who keeps his hands clean while others do his dirty work. 

ROBERT REICH

JAN 24

Friends,

Sorry to intrude on you again today, but now that we have come to the end of the first week of Trump II, there’s much to say about the new regime. 

For one thing, Trump’s vengeance machine is even more dangerous than it was before.

The Biden administration had given security protection to Trump’s former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, his former top aide, Brian Hook, and Trump’s former national security advisor, John Bolton. That was because of credible intelligence showing all three in danger of being killed by agents of Iran. During the first Trump administration, they had authorized the drone strike that killed the powerful Iranian general Oassim Suleimani in early 2020, and Iran is out to get them. 

The outgoing Biden administration privately told the incoming Trump administration that the threat against the three continued. “As recently as the end of last week, two separate government representatives, two separate government agencies called,” Bolton told The New York Times. “They said our current assessment is that the threat level remains the same.”

But on Tuesday, with no explanation, Tump revoked their security protection. They are now at the mercy of Iranian agents in America. 

What had they done to deserve this treatment by Trump? They had committed the sin (in Trump’s mind) of being more loyal to America than to him.

Pompeo had warned Republicans at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2023 not to look to "celebrity leaders" with "fragile egos. Hook was part of the old Republican foreign-policy establishment (Trump fired Hook on Monday). Bolton had become an outspoken critic Trump. 

If you think Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, will protect them from violence, think again. All three are on Patel’s enemies list, which is basically Trump’s enemies list. (I’ll have more to say about Patel next week when he’s up for senate hearings.)

This is how the Trump vengeance machine works. Trump is the mob boss who keeps his hands clean while others do his dirty work. 

Who else is likely to do Trump’s dirty work? 

Trump has pardoned all the men who attacked the U.S. Capitol on his behalf on January 6, 2021. Trump says they were not violent and did not have weapons — but the world saw their violence; they were also caught on video. Nearly 175 used dangerous or deadly weapons, according to prosecutors. 

They also threw Nazi salutes, posted they intended to start a civil war, vowed “there will be blood,” and called for the lynching of Democratic lawmakers. 

They attacked police with flag poles, bear spray, and a metal whip. They choked officers with their bare hands. They were convicted for, among other things, “hurling officers down a flight of stairs and plotting to kill FBI agents investigating the attacks.” 

A video shows them attacking Officer Michael Fanone, who suffered a heart attack and traumatic brain injury that day. Later he and his family received death threats after he testified in Congress on the incident. They beat Police Officer Daniel Hodges and crushed him in a door, his mouth filled with blood while he cried out for help. 

Now, courtesy of Trump, all these thugs are back on the street. Does anyone really think they will live out the rest of their lives peacefully?

Some of the police officers, including those who testified in January 6 cases, have said they fear for their safety now that the insurrectionists have been released.

“I JUST GOT THE NEWS FROM MY LAWYER… I GOT A PARDON BABY! THANK YOU PRESIDENT TRUMP!!!” Jacob Chansley, dubbed the QAnon shaman as a reflection of his horned-animal headdress and body paint that day, posted on X. “NOW I AM GONNA BY SOME MOTHA FU*KIN GUNS!!! I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!” 

Jackson Reffitt, who reported his father Guy’s participation in the January 6 riot and was a key witness against him, told reporters he fears for his life now that his father is free.

When Stewart Rhodes, leader of the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the riot, the judge said: “You are smart, you are charismatic and compelling and frankly that’s what makes you dangerous. The moment you are released, whenever that may be, you will be ready to take up arms against your government.” And, presumably, arms against Trump’s enemies. 

How many nut-jobs does it take to physically attack someone whom Trump has deemed an enemy? Just ask Paul Pelosi. 

Trump doesn’t deliver violence himself. He just says awful things about a person who has crossed him, like Nancy Pelosi, knowing this will be enough to trigger threats or actual violence by one of his followers. 

Ask the judges and prosecutors who have tried to hold him responsible. 

It doesn’t matter if the awful things Trump says about them are outright lies. In 2018, Trump tweeted a video of Rep. Ilhan Omar that falsely claimed she was dancing on the anniversary of 9/11. She received death threats.

Trump directs his mob with winks and nods. “You had some very fine people on both sides,” he says, reassuring violent bigots where his sympathies lie. 

“Stand back and stand by,” he says, teeing up the thugs, and then: "Big protest in D.C. on January 6th Be there, will be wild!" 

His henchman Elon Musk gives a Nazi salute and then denies that’s what he meant, but the neo-Nazis get the message. 

Trump’s vengeance machine isn’t only about retribution. It’s also intended to intimidate Trump critics — force them to think twice before sounding any alarms, and chill public knowledge or debate about what Trump is doing. 

Be warned. Be safe. And to the extent you can, protect people Trump slams. 

[onlytiktoks]

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-jan-6-rioters-pardons-back-the-blue-rcna188849

Full video ↓

[kittypatch]

There’s a special kind of madness in America these days—a high-octane, batshit insanity powered by MAGA hats, grievance, and cheap vodka. And at the epicenter of this lunacy, like a lightning rod attracting the worst our country has to offer, stands Michael Fanone, the former cop who dared to call Donald Trump an authoritarian to his face. For his trouble, Fanone was beaten nearly to death with a flagpole on January 6, 2021, only to watch as Trump’s cultists were welcomed back into polite society with open arms, presidential pardons, and the smug satisfaction of knowing their crimes had been wiped clean by the stroke of a pen.

This is no ordinary story of political dysfunction. No, this is an obscene carnival of cowardice, starring a former president who should be pacing around a cell but instead plays golf and whines on Truth Social. The aftermath of January 6th has turned into a grotesque sitcom with a laugh track straight out of hell. And Fanone? He’s the guy left holding the flaming bag of shit—literally.

Before we get to the pardons, let’s talk about Fanone’s mom. A 78-year-old woman minding her own business in Virginia became the target of a campaign of terror so vile it would make your stomach turn. First, some jackass decided to swat her house. For those unfamiliar, swatting is when some anonymous coward calls the cops and pretends there’s an active shooter, sending armed officers to storm the home of some unsuspecting victim. In this case, the victim was an elderly woman whose only crime was giving birth to a man who helped fight off a mob of Trump’s supporters.

But the lunatics weren’t done. Someone else threw a brick at the window of her home. Then, while she was raking leaves in her front yard, another gutless wonder drove by and chucked a bag of excrement at her. A bag of excrement. Let that sink in. Somewhere out there, a person woke up one morning, decided to take a dump, put it in a bag, and hurl it at an old lady. If there’s a clearer metaphor for the state of Trumpism, I’ve yet to see it.

But the real obscenity, the pièce de résistance of this farce, is Trump’s pardons. One by one, the cretins who beat Fanone and other officers senseless were granted get-out-of-jail-free cards, courtesy of the man who incited the riot in the first place. You’d think the assault of a police officer would be a red line even for Trump’s base, but no—these people weren’t just forgiven; they were celebrated. Heroes of the “patriot” movement. Martyrs to the cause of Make America Great Again.

Legally, those pardons mean Fanone and the other officers are no longer considered victims of crimes committed on January 6th. Think about that. The man was dragged into a mob, beaten unconscious, and suffered a heart attack while defending democracy—and now, thanks to Trump, the perpetrators’ crimes technically never happened. As if the blood spilled that day could just be swept under the rug like some embarrassing accident at a Fourth of July barbecue.

Fanone can’t even get a restraining order against the people who assaulted him. Why? Because under the law, they’re no longer criminals. A restraining order requires evidence of ongoing harassment or threats, and thanks to Trump’s golden ticket of clemency, these goons can walk around with their heads held high, free to harass, intimidate, or worse, without any consequence.

Oh, and if Fanone wanted to file a restraining order, he’d need their addresses, which are conveniently protected. So he’s stuck in a Kafkaesque nightmare where the system that should protect him has been gutted, leaving him exposed to the whims of the very people who tried to kill him.

The real tragedy here isn’t just what happened to Fanone or his mother. It’s what the pardons signify: the triumph of cruelty as a political weapon. Trump has turned victimhood into a brand and grievance into a business model. His pardons are less about mercy and more about sticking it to his enemies. By erasing the crimes of January 6th, he sends a message: “If you’re loyal to me, you can do whatever the hell you want.”

The consequences of this are staggering. It’s not just about Fanone or the other officers who were attacked—it’s about the collapse of accountability. We’re living in a country where the law bends to the whims of a man who treats the presidency like his personal revenge fantasy.

Michael Fanone is a hero, but he’s also a man fighting a losing battle against a system that has failed him at every turn. His mother, an innocent bystander, has been dragged into the fray, humiliated and harassed by people too cowardly to face him directly. And the man who made all this possible is golfing in Florida, grinning like a Cheshire cat while his pardoned goons roam free.

This isn’t just a story about political dysfunction. It’s a goddamn horror show—a cautionary tale about what happens when cruelty and cowardice become virtues, and the people who stand up for what’s right are left to fend for themselves in a country that’s lost its soul.

[queeringhope]

Officer Michael Fanone knows the meaning of law and order and asserts, from hard-won experience, that Trump, our new Mussolini, does not.

[filosofablogger]

In Poor Taste ... To Say The Least!

My jaw dropped and steam began coming out of my ears when I read about the latest board game being released this Saturday, January 6th.  Does the date ring any bells?  Yes, it is the third anniversary of the horrible attack on the United States Capitol – an attack designed to overthrow the 2020 election and allow a wanna-be dictator to remain in office indefinitely; an attack that killed several…

[marta-bee]

Walking home. I was thinking about how in The Hunger Games, the leaders of Panem weren't the ones actually inspiring the revolution. President Coyne until the end worked as a competent governor. Commander Paylor, the army officer from District 8 who actually went on to become president, certainly was. But it was Katniss and Rue and Peeta and Gale and to a lesser extent Finnick, Cinna, maybe even Prim that inspired people to actually do something.

I'm thinking about that what with the thought I keep hearing, that Democrats aren't doing enough to resist Trump. Congressmen particularly. Some probably could and I certainly wish they were doing more. Jasmine Crockett, AOC, and Liz Warren all spring to mind, and I'm sure there are others. But mostly they're competent to do a certain job, which may not always be the same as a revolutionary. They're fine. Some are better than others of course. But I'm not sure they're really sorted to saving us from the current moment. At least we don't just need them.

Danielle Sassoon is inspiring and certainly reminded me we all have integrity. Michael Fanone, the Capitol policeman who was assaulted by the J6 traitors so much he nearly died, and later had his family harassed and protection orders denied after the pardons, seems like he could be another. The former Gen. Milley, too, for having the courage to speak honestly about Trump during the election. All the federal employees who refused to step down when they were fired illegally, or resigned in protest, or risked their own careers in the national interests or to protect their teams (Brian Driscoll at FBI and David Lebryk at Treasury jump to mind).

I'm not trying to let our actual elected representatives off the hook. I wish they were better able to do more. I hope they still will. But as I catalog the news and share it bit by bit, I guess I'm just seeing Katnisses all around me. It's just that they're not in the usual places you'd think they'd be. Then again, these are unusual times.

[tomorrowusa]

« Yesterday was Memorial Day. It’s a good time to reflect on how Americans fought and died so that we may enjoy the freedoms guaranteed to us by a Democratic government, a government that as President Lincoln said, “of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.” Under Trump, this kind of government will perish from the Earth. I don’t mean to scare you. No, no, wait. Maybe I do mean to scare you. If Trump returns to the White House, you can kiss these freedoms goodbye that we all take for granted. And elections? Forget about it. That’s over. That’s done. If he gets in, I can tell you right now, he will never leave. He will never leave. You know that — he will never leave. »

— Robert De Niro Tuesday at a press conference warning about a Trump second term outside the NYC courthouse where Trump is on trial. See the entire event on the video below.

De Niro is a native New Yorker – unlike most of the Congressional MAGA flunkies who flew up to NYC with their matching red neckties to display public fealty to the Dear Leader. De Niro didn't take shit from one MAGA zombie. The whole thing was all very New York.

With De Niro were Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone, two of the police officers who were injured defending the US Capitol from pro-Trump terrorists on January 6th.

The event started off with comments from Biden-Harris communications director Michael Tyler. When giving his personal opinion of Trump, De Niro went further than the Biden campaign may have anticipated; although De Niro had a script, he didn't feel obliged to constantly stick to it. 🙂

[lovemyage-blog]

There’s a special kind of madness in America these days—a high-octane, batshit insanity powered by MAGA hats, grievance, and cheap vodka. And at the epicenter of this lunacy, like a lightning rod attracting the worst our country has to offer, stands Michael Fanone, the former cop who dared to call Donald Trump an authoritarian to his face. For his trouble, Fanone was beaten nearly to death with a flagpole on January 6, 2021, only to watch as Trump’s cultists were welcomed back into polite society with open arms, presidential pardons, and the smug satisfaction of knowing their crimes had been wiped clean by the stroke of a pen.

This is no ordinary story of political dysfunction. No, this is an obscene carnival of cowardice, starring a former president who should be pacing around a cell but instead plays golf and whines on Truth Social. The aftermath of January 6th has turned into a grotesque sitcom with a laugh track straight out of hell. And Fanone? He’s the guy left holding the flaming bag of shit—literally.

Before we get to the pardons, let’s talk about Fanone’s mom. A 78-year-old woman minding her own business in Virginia became the target of a campaign of terror so vile it would make your stomach turn. First, some jackass decided to swat her house. For those unfamiliar, swatting is when some anonymous coward calls the cops and pretends there’s an active shooter, sending armed officers to storm the home of some unsuspecting victim. In this case, the victim was an elderly woman whose only crime was giving birth to a man who helped fight off a mob of Trump’s supporters.

But the lunatics weren’t done. Someone else threw a brick at the window of her home. Then, while she was raking leaves in her front yard, another gutless wonder drove by and chucked a bag of excrement at her. A bag of excrement. Let that sink in. Somewhere out there, a person woke up one morning, decided to take a dump, put it in a bag, and hurl it at an old lady. If there’s a clearer metaphor for the state of Trumpism, I’ve yet to see it.

But the real obscenity, the pièce de résistance of this farce, is Trump’s pardons. One by one, the cretins who beat Fanone and other officers senseless were granted get-out-of-jail-free cards, courtesy of the man who incited the riot in the first place. You’d think the assault of a police officer would be a red line even for Trump’s base, but no—these people weren’t just forgiven; they were celebrated. Heroes of the “patriot” movement. Martyrs to the cause of Make America Great Again.

Legally, those pardons mean Fanone and the other officers are no longer considered victims of crimes committed on January 6th. Think about that. The man was dragged into a mob, beaten unconscious, and suffered a heart attack while defending democracy—and now, thanks to Trump, the perpetrators’ crimes technically never happened. As if the blood spilled that day could just be swept under the rug like some embarrassing accident at a Fourth of July barbecue.

Fanone can’t even get a restraining order against the people who assaulted him. Why? Because under the law, they’re no longer criminals. A restraining order requires evidence of ongoing harassment or threats, and thanks to Trump’s golden ticket of clemency, these goons can walk around with their heads held high, free to harass, intimidate, or worse, without any consequence.

Oh, and if Fanone wanted to file a restraining order, he’d need their addresses, which are conveniently protected. So he’s stuck in a Kafkaesque nightmare where the system that should protect him has been gutted, leaving him exposed to the whims of the very people who tried to kill him.

The real tragedy here isn’t just what happened to Fanone or his mother. It’s what the pardons signify: the triumph of cruelty as a political weapon. Trump has turned victimhood into a brand and grievance into a business model. His pardons are less about mercy and more about sticking it to his enemies. By erasing the crimes of January 6th, he sends a message: “If you’re loyal to me, you can do whatever the hell you want.”

The consequences of this are staggering. It’s not just about Fanone or the other officers who were attacked—it’s about the collapse of accountability. We’re living in a country where the law bends to the whims of a man who treats the presidency like his personal revenge fantasy.

Michael Fanone is a hero, but he’s also a man fighting a losing battle against a system that has failed him at every turn. His mother, an innocent bystander, has been dragged into the fray, humiliated and harassed by people too cowardly to face him directly. And the man who made all this possible is golfing in Florida, grinning like a Cheshire cat while his pardoned goons roam free.

This isn’t just a story about political dysfunction. It’s a goddamn horror show—a cautionary tale about what happens when cruelty and cowardice become virtues, and the people who stand up for what’s right are left to fend for themselves in a country that’s lost its soul.

[urialnathanonwright]

Trump's Pardon Pandemonium: An Assault on Justice and Sanity

If you’ve ever wondered just how far Donald Trump is willing to go to desecrate the principles of justice, public safety, and common decency, look no further than his latest stunt—a disgraceful spree of pardons for violent criminals and corrupt cops. This isn’t just tone-deaf politics; it’s a middle finger to law, order, and every decent human being who believes in accountability.

Let’s start with Trump’s defense of pardoning January 6 rioters, including D.J. Rodriguez, the man who jammed a stun gun into the neck of an officer defending the U.S. Capitol. Trump’s excuse? These people have “already served enough time” in “inhumane” conditions. Seriously? These are domestic terrorists who assaulted the very officers Trump claims to support. But instead of siding with the men and women who held the line that day, Trump’s throwing them under the bus to score cheap points with his base.

And when confronted about Rodriguez specifically, Trump’s first response was, “I don’t know.” Well, isn’t that just rich? The guy who pretends to be the ultimate law-and-order president suddenly “doesn’t know” why he pardoned someone who attacked a cop. News flash, Donald: claiming ignorance doesn’t erase the fact that you’re enabling and excusing violence against police.

Now let’s talk about his pardons for two DC police officers, Sutton and Zabavsky, convicted of murder and obstruction in the death of Karon Hylton-Brown. These weren’t heroes making tough calls in the line of duty. These were men who recklessly chased a young man to his death, tampered with evidence, and lied to cover their tracks. But Trump has the audacity to call them victims—“friends of police,” as he puts it. Friends of police? No, Mr. Trump, these men betrayed the badge, the public trust, and the very communities they swore to protect.

And don’t even get me started on the grotesque falsehoods Trump spewed while defending this decision. He claimed Hylton-Brown was “an illegal,” which is not only categorically false but reeks of the kind of dog-whistle racism we’ve come to expect from him. Hylton-Brown was a U.S. citizen, and his life mattered—a fact Trump is incapable of acknowledging.

Let’s be clear: these pardons aren’t about justice or fairness. They’re about signaling to his base that accountability doesn’t matter as long as you’re on his team. Assault a cop in his name? Here’s your pardon. Commit murder and cover it up? No problem—Trump’s got your back. This isn’t leadership. This is moral cowardice dressed up as populism.

What’s worse, these actions send a chilling message: if you’re violent, corrupt, or outright criminal, you’ve got a get-out-of-jail-free card as long as you’re politically useful to Trump. Meanwhile, those who play by the rules—officers like Michael Fanone, who put their lives on the line to defend democracy—are left to feel betrayed by their own country. And who can blame them?

Trump has always framed himself as a champion of law and order, but the truth is he doesn’t give a damn about justice. He cares about loyalty—to him, and him alone. Whether it’s rioters attacking the Capitol, cops abusing their power, or his own shady dealings, Trump’s only guiding principle is self-interest.

But here’s the thing: we don’t have to stand for it. We can call this out for what it is—a blatant abuse of power and a disgrace to the values this country is supposed to represent. Justice, accountability, and the rule of law aren’t just slogans; they’re the bedrock of a functioning democracy. And every time Trump tramples on them, it’s up to us to push back.

So let’s push back. Let’s make it clear that we won’t let a failed reality TV star rewrite the rules of justice to suit his own ego. Because if we don’t, the next pardon spree might be even worse.

[misfitwashere]

February 23, 2025

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

FEB 24

Something is shifting,” scholar of authoritarianism Timothy Snyder posted on Bluesky yesterday. “They are still breaking things and stealing things. And they will keep trying to break and to steal. But the propaganda magic around the oligarchical coup is fading. Nervous Musk, Trump,

Vance have all been outclassed in public arguments these last few days. Government failure, stock market crash, and dictatorial alliances are not popular. People are starting to realize that there is no truth here beyond the desire for personal wealth and power.”

Rather than backing down on their unpopular programs, Trump and the MAGA Republicans are intensifying their behavior as if trying to grab power before it slips away.

Trump’s blanket pardons of the people convicted for violent behavior in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol were highly unpopular, with 83% of Americans opposed to those pardons. Even those who identify as Republican-leaning oppose those pardons 70 to 27 percent. And yet, on February 20, the Trump Justice Department expanded those pardons to cover gun and drug charges against two former January 6 defendants that were turned up during Federal Bureau of Investigation searches related to the January 6 attack.

Then, on February 21, a number of people pardoned after committing violent crimes, including Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio—who was sentenced to 22 years in prison—and Proud Boy Ethan Nordean (18 years) and Dominic Pezzola (10 years), as well as Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes (18 years) and Richard “Bigo” Barnett, who sat with his feet on a desk in then–House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office (four and a half years), held a press conference at the U.S. Capitol to announce they were going to sue the Justice Department for prosecuting them.

Kyle Cheney of Politico reported that the group followed the route they took around the Capitol on January 6, 2021, then posed for photos chanting as they had that day: “Whose house? Our house.” Protesters nearby heckled the group, and when one of them put her phone near Tarrio’s face while he was talking to a photographer, he batted her arm away. Capitol Police officers promptly arrested him for assault.

A number of the January 6 rioters were visiting the Capitol from the nearby Conservative Political Action Conference being held in Maryland. There, MAGA participants continued to normalize Nazi imagery as both Steve Bannon and Mexican actor Eduardo Verástegui threw fascist-style salutes to the crowd.

Yesterday, Tarrio posted a video of himself following officers who defended the Capitol on January 6 though the lobby of a Washington hotel where the anti-Trump Principles First conference was taking place. According to Joan E. Greve of The Guardian, Tarrio followed officers Michael Fanone, Harry Dunn, Daniel Hodges, and Aquilino Gonell, saying: “You guys were brave at my sentencing when you sat there and laughed when I got 22 f*cking years. Now you don’t want to look in my eyes, you f*cking cowards.” Fanone turned and told him: “You’re a traitor to this country.”

Today, the hotel had to be evacuated after someone claiming to be “MAGA” emailed a threat claiming to have rigged four bombs: two in the hotel, one in Fanone’s mother’s mailbox, and one in the mailbox of John Bolton, Trump’s former national security advisor turned critic. After listing the names of several of the conference attendees—and singling out Fanone—the email said they “all deserve to die.” The perpetrator claimed to be acting “[t]o honor the J6 hostages recently released by Emperor Trump.”

Billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump are also ramping up their behavior even as the public is starting to turn against the government cuts that are badly hurting American veterans, American farmers, and U.S. medical research. The courts keep ruling against their efforts and their claims of finding “waste, fraud, and abuse” are being widely debunked. Rather than rethinking their course in the face of opposition, they seem to be becoming more belligerent.

On Saturday, Trump urged Musk to be “more aggressive” in cutting the government, although the White House has told a court that Musk has no authority and is only a presidential advisor. “Will do, Mr. President,” Musk replied. He then posted a command to federal employees: “Consistent with [Trump’s] instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” Shortly after, emails went out giving workers 48 hours to list five things they had accomplished in the past week.

This sparked outrage among Americans who noted that Musk has spent 24 hours tweeting more than 220 times and engaged in public fights with two of the mothers of his children while allegedly running companies and overhauling the government, while Trump spent at least 12 nights at Mar-a-Lago in his first 29 days in office. S.V. Date of HuffPost noted on February 18 that Trump has played golf at one of his own properties on 9 of his first 30 days in office and that Trump’s golf outings had already cost the American taxpayer $10.7 million.

Reddit was flooded with potential responses to Musk’s demand, scorching it and Musk. The demand also exposed a rift in the administration, as department heads—including Kash Patel, the newly confirmed head of the FBI, as well as officials at the State Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of the Navy—asserted their authority to review the workers in their own departments, telling them not to respond to Musk’s demand.

Then users pointed out that the new government employee email system the Department of Government Efficiency team set up explicitly says that using it is voluntary, and that resignations of federal employees must be voluntary. Musk responded by sending out a poll on X asking whether X users think federal employees should be “required to send a short email with some basic bullet points about what they accomplished” in the past week.

The entire exercise made it look as if the lug nuts on the wheels of the Musk-Trump government bus are dangerously loose. Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo commented: “Drunk on power and ketamine.”

Historian Johann Neem, a specialist in the American Revolution, turned to political theorist John Locke to explore the larger meaning of Trump’s destructive course. The founders who threw off monarchy and constructed our constitutional government looked to Locke for their guiding principles. In his 1690 Second Treatise on Government, Locke noted that when a leader disregards constitutional order, he gives up legitimacy and the people are justified in treating him as a “thief and a robber.” “[W]hosoever in authority exceeds the power given him by the law and makes use of the force he has under his command…ceases in that to be a magistrate; and, acting without authority, may be opposed, as any other man, who by force invades the right of another,” Locke wrote.

Neem notes that Trump won the election and his party holds majorities in both chambers of Congress. He could have used his legitimate constitutional authority but instead, “with the aid of Elon Musk, has consistently violated the Constitution and willingly broken laws.” Neem warned that courts move too slowly to rein Trump in. He urged Congress to perform its constitutional duty to remove Trump from office, and urged voters to make it clear to members of Congress that we expect them to “uphold their obligations and protect our freedom.”

“Otherwise,” Neem writes, “Americans will be subject to a pretender who claims the power but not the legitimate authority of the presidency.” He continues: “Trump’s actions threaten the legitimacy of government itself.”

In the Senate, on Thursday, February 20, Angus King (I-ME) also reached back to the framers of the Constitution when he warned—again—that permitting Trump to take over the power of Congress is “grossly unconstitutional.” Trump’s concept that he can alter laws by refusing to fund them, so-called impoundment, is “absolutely straight up unconstitutional,” King said, “and it’s illegal.”

“[T]he reason the framers designed our Constitution the way they did was that they were afraid of concentrated power,” King said. “They had just fought a brutal eight-year war with a king. They didn’t want a king. They wanted a constitutional republic, where power was divided between the Congress and the president and the courts, and we are collapsing that structure,” King said. “[T]he people cheering this on I fear, in a reasonably short period of time, are going to say where did this go? How did this happen? How did we make our president into a monarch? How did this happen? How it happened,” he said to his Senate colleagues, “is we gave it up! James Madison thought we would fight for our power, but no. Right now we’re just sitting back and watching it happen.”

“This is the most serious assault on our Constitution in the history of this country,” King said. “It's the most serious assault on the very structure of our Constitution, which is designed to protect our freedoms and liberty, in the history of this country. It is a constitutional crisis…. Many of my friends in this body say it will be hard, we don't want to buck the President, we'll let the courts take care of it…. [T]hat's a copout. It's our responsibility to protect the Constitution. That's what we swear to when we enter this body.”

“What's it going to take for us to wake up…I mean this entire body, to wake up to what's going on here? Is it going to be too late? Is it going to be when the President has secreted all this power and the Congress is an afterthought? What's it going to take?”

“[T]his a constitutional crisis, and we've got to respond to it. I'm just waiting for this whole body to stand up and say no, no, we don't do it this way. We don't do it this way. We do things constitutionally. [T]hat's what the framers intended. They didn't intend to have an efficient dictatorship, and that's what we're headed for…. We’ve got to wake up, protect this institution, but much more importantly protect the people of the United States of America.”

Senator King, along with Maine governor Janet Mills, who stood up to Trump in person earlier this week, are following in the tradition of their state.

On June 1, 1950, Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) delivered her famous Declaration of Conscience, standing up to Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-WI), who was smearing Democrats as communists. “I think that it is high time for the United States Senate and its members to do some real soul searching and to weigh our consciences as to the manner in which we are performing our duty to the people of America and the manner in which we are using or abusing our individual powers and privileges,” she said. “I do not want to see the Republican party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny—Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.”

On July 28, 1974, Representative Bill Cohen (R-ME), who went on to a long Senate career but was at the time a junior member on the House Judiciary Committee, voted along with five other Republican members of the committee and the Democratic majority to draw up articles of impeachment against Republican president Richard Nixon, fully expecting that the death threats and hate mail he was receiving proved that that vote would destroy his political career. But, Cohen told the Bangor Daily News, “I would never compromise what I think is the right thing to do for the sake of an office; it’s just not that important. Only time will tell if the people will accept that judgment.”

Days later, the tape proving Nixon had been part of the Watergate coverup came to light. “Suddenly there was a switch in the people who had been defending the president,” Cohen recalled. “That’s when people back in Maine, Republicans, started to turn around and said, ‘We were wrong, and you were right, and we’ll support this.’ ”

It’s a good week to remember that politicians used to use as a yardstick the saying: “As Maine goes, so goes the nation.”

—

[milkbath69]

Heyy

I remember you were you saying that you dislike tlb fanon bc it was ooc... so what do you imagine the boys would be like, then?

Why do you like the greasers? Is it solely because of canon or do personal headcanons make them appeal to you?

I think I like Zoe because she's aggressive and assertive. I've always admired girls who stand up for themselves, especially if it's in a cunty, firey way. Fearless, I guess. Brave. But yeah, I see what you mean about Jimmy and Zoe's romance being rushed.

Love the little devil horns for Jimmy...I would honestly wear them year round if I could get away with it.

Do you play Jimmy as more 'nice' in the game? Or do you make him a ruthless asshole? I was... mostly nice. Ocassionally, I would antagonize the nerds or the jocks, if they pissed me off. I also weirdly loved driving the lawn mower from the mini game. I even saw a lawnmower you could drive irl and I was tempted to steal it. Weird times.

Do you have a favourite Gorillaz character? Or are you solely into the music? I like Murdoc because he's a fruity satanist. He's undeniably a piece if shit, but idk... I relate to the misfit aspect of his character. And what songs do you like by the band? Off the top of my head, it would be rhinestone eyes, on Melancholy Hill.

I also wanted to wish you a Happy New Year. I hope you have an awesome night and all the best for the upcoming year.

for the lost boys mm all the stuff that i have seen has been x reader stuff and its been uh not great... from what ive seen people tend to make them like instantly fall in love with the reader because she is just SO different from everyone else on the boardwalk or she's just unafraid of them or some other dumb reason and like that doesnt make sense at all?? like did we all watch the same movie they kill people they killed that boardwalk security officer and he sure as hell wasnt afraid of them. i guess in my mind theyre a lot more gay (seriously why is the reader always a female did we watch the same movie they wanted michael BAD) a lot more violent, and a lot more bitchy because they arent nice people in the slightest and i think its a little ridiculous how fanon makes it seem like they are OR they would be just for y/n because people lets be real. michael emerson was the y/n and they were pretty bitchy to him

to be honest i like the greasers the most because of their outfits and i think their theme is the best (though all the clique themes are so good) i dont really interact in fandom spaces much besides fanart or fanfiction so i dont really have any headcanons for them. i did hear one of them say "stay gold ponyboy" as i was running through the autoshop once which i liked bc surprise!!! im also a big outsiders fan

i can see why people are fans of zoe bur for me she was introduced too late for those parts of her personality to really show yk? her character as a whole felt like a big afterthought to me especially in the cut scenes with jimmy

oh i was a cunt with jimmy. i beat up like everybody every chance i got LMAOO around like 50% of my gameplay was just me beating up people who didn't deserve it. i would be fighting with the adult townies, jocks, greasers, prefects, basically EVERYONE. most of the time they had it coming though. they kept insulting the fit! they had to be beaten up. i do remember one time i made jimmy stay up all night fighting people at the carnival and when he woke up HE HAD NO CLOTHES??? WHO ROBBED HIS ASS?? WHO WAS SO DESPERATE THEY NEEDED A FIFTEEN YEAR OLDS SHIRT, SHOES, PANTS, DEVIL HORNS, AND THE LITTLE BRACELETS??? LIKE ??

my fav character would probably be russell but tbh after around the song machine? i think ? i stopped listening to their new albums. cracker island just sounds so bad and dont even get me started on that GOD AWFUL album art. i have so many gorillaz songs i like its hard to choose.. i got introduced to them by rhinestone eyes so thatll always hold a special place in my heart and plastic beach as a whole is my favorite album. i think maybe 5/4 or sleeping powder might be my favorites but its hard to choose

thank you!!! happy new years to you too!! i hope you have a good year aswell!! im actually going to be able to go to the outsiders museum from like january 8th to the following monday idk the exact date so im starting my year off right :p