Michael Chermside

Michael Chermside

@mcherm.com

My blog: https://www.mcherm.com

202 followers171 following332 posts

Donald Trump promised the nation he would "drain the swamp" of corruption. Instead he swamped us with corruption, sending the nation down the drain.

Maintaining their own list of who is allowed to vote and who isn't is the single most anti-democratic thing I have heard of, and I have heard of a LOT lately.

Like the Supreme Court declaring that the right of parties to do political gerrymandering Trump's the rights of voters to avoid racial discrimination, in a shadow docket order they didn't even sign, issued after voting already started. slate.com/news-and-pol...

slate.comThe Supreme Court Just Transformed Its Horrible Voting Rights Ruling Into Something More CalamitousWhat the Roberts court has just wreaked goes beyond handing an extra House seat to the GOP in the upcoming election.

I want a law firm to file a class action lawsuit against the IRS objecting to their announcement of a $1.7B fund not authorized by Congress. Let every taxpayer who wishes to sign up as a named plaintiff. It would be almost all of us.

Now I want Pope Leo to put out a statement about how Trump is "weak on the sacraments". [https://www.axios.com/2026/04/13/trump-pope-leo-weak-terrible] PS: not really. The strategy of not engaging is actually best.

In late 2029 the world was hit with a global pandemic. Creating a vaccine typically takes several years. In January 2020, scientists tried using mRNA to create a vaccine -- it uses the body to produce the antigen to train the immune system. By March (2 months later!) they had a working vaccine.

It was tested and released to the public less than a year after they began. mRNA is safe and effective, and since then is in use for a variety of things such as a very promising treatment for pancreatic cancer.

In April of 2026, Secretary of Health RFK Jr canceled $500 million of research grants on mRNA and announced that no future grants would support any mRNA work.

That a demented old man occupying the Presidency might lose his marbles and begin ordering the military to start a war and commit war crimes WAS a failure mode that was accounted for in the Constitution. That his full cabinet and majorities of both houses of Congress would support it is not.

@nortverse.com You posted a poll on Patreon asking free members what would convert them to paid. I only discovered your comic recently and I signed up as a free member on Patreon. My intent is to eventually switch to a paid member if I'm still reading the comic after a while. I have ~20 I pay now.

Knocking down the White House with a wrecking ball is bad, but I am MORE concerned about how he is knocking down 250 years of Democracy. Trump AND the Supreme Court are wrong: America does NOT have a King

The murder of Charlie Kirk is yet another tragedy related to the proliferation of guns in the US. So, if we ever manage to re-establish rule by the Constitution in the US, perhaps we should clarify: 2nd amendment as in Miller, not as in Bruen.

@wearechorus.bsky.social One of the results of the controversy stirred up by the Wired article has been that a lot of people (like me!) who had never heard of Chorus are now aware of it. I think it is doing a good job. Are there ways I can contribute to support Chorus (financially or otherwise)?

When you decide to post something talking about the harms caused by Trump's latest budget, please don't call it "The Big Beautiful Bill". Refer to it by its full name: "The Big Beautiful Billionaires Bill".

@aoc.bsky.social In the past I have donated to "official" groups like the DCCC to support key House races. But more recently I feel that I do not trust the Democratic party establishment. You are one of the figures who I DO trust. Can you recommend a fund or PAC to support close House races?

Michael Chermside reposted

What the REAL ID Delay Tells Us About Implementing Proof-of-citizenship Laws | 20 years into the program, millions of Americans still don’t have the right ID to board a plane. If similar dysfunction plays out in our elections, the stakes are much higher than a missed flight, reports @votebeat.org.

buckscountybeacon.comWhat the REAL ID Delay Tells Us About Implementing Proof-of-citizenship Laws - Bucks County BeaconTwenty years into the program, millions of Americans still don’t have the right ID to board a plane. If similar dysfunction plays out in our elections, the stakes are much higher than a missed flight.

Michael Chermside reposted

"Attorney General shall initiate appropriate action to repeal or amend the implementing regulations for Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for all agencies" What's Title VI? "prohibits discrimination against or otherwise excluding individuals on the basis of race, color, or national origin"

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It seems to me that massive world-wide tariffs should fall under the "major questions doctrine" since the Constitution clearly reserves the right to tax for Congress. Unless the true guiding principle of the major questions doctrine is which party proposed it.

Michael Chermside reposted

Those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive. No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief. 1/ A 🧵 to explain his plan and how we fight back.

I have a free open source project that I have built for schools to use. One school system says "any outside vendor provide evidence of having cyber insurance". Does anyone know of an open source project that obtained cyber insurance? If so, who did they work with and how was that done?

Michael Chermside reposted

Fellow NSA - National Security Agency veterans. Look at what’s happened at the National Cryptologic Museum. They covered up with brown paper the photos of Women in American Cryptology. All in response to President Trump’s anti-diversity executive order.

Michael Chermside reposted

one thing i’m stuck on is this idea that “masculine” energy means license to act like a chud in public, as opposed to more traditional notions of public masculinity, such as those that put a premium on the performance of integrity, honesty, honor and generosity.

Michael Chermside reposted

Michael Chermside reposted

There is never any shame in using the library, and much benefit in doing so. They are the closest thing to an unmitigated social good that we have in these United States, which is why the hard right is gunning so fervently for them these days. A world without libraries and librarians is a poor one.

Jennifer W. Hanson@jenniferwhanson.bsky.social

My book-buying budget is not what it once was, which is precisely why I’m using the library more. It also gives me the opportunity to read books that I’m not sure I want to add to the home library (not that there’s a lot of room to do that anyway).

Michael Chermside reposted

Essential to *any* discussion of Trump’s abortion position is this: “Right now, a majority of Republicans in Congress support an argument that could lead to an effective nationwide abortion ban without the passage of any new legislation. That is a fact.” I dig into this and much more at Law Dork.

lawdork.comDon't fall for Trump's new abortion position claimsTrump's purported abortion position is unrealistic, unworkable, and unpopular. He's just saying it because he wants to win. He told us as much.

Yesterday was the finale of the latest arc of our role playing game (Call of Cthulhu), and as we attempted to destroy the evil McGuffin we were attacked by a crew of the cultists who had been plaguing us throughout the whole arc, as well as the vampire who had been following us. 1/5 #TTRPG

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The battle was successful, but two members of the team went insane. The party split, nearly falling out with each other but finally the sane folks rallied and we destroyed the McGuffin. In the aftermath, one of us threw themselves from the window of the spire to their death. 4/5 #TTRPG

It was glorious, and completely appropriate for the genre. Nicely done Dave (the GM). I'm looking forward to the next game (Star Wars) starting next week. 5/5 #TTRPG

Yesterday was the finale of the latest arc of our role playing game (Call of Cthulhu), and as we attempted to destroy the evil McGuffin we were attacked by a crew of the cultists who had been plaguing us throughout the whole arc, as well as the vampire who had been following us. 1/5 #TTRPG

We were ready, having procured massive amounts of garlic and called in favors earned earlier to have two squads of well-armed troops (but they were rapidly overwhelmed). 2/5 #TTRPG

In every single session, one character had suggested using his magic spell to treat with the Elder Deep Ones, and every time we told him, "No -- it's much too dangerous!"; this time we told him to do it. 3/5 #TTRPG

Michael Chermside reposted

The Seventh Circuit allowed Indiana's law banning gender-affirming medical care for minors to go into effect for the first time Tuesday in an unusual, questionable order. I dive into what happened — and why it’s so troubling — at Law Dork tonight.

lawdork.comSeventh Circuit restricts trans minors' rights in Indiana without a word explaining whyThe appeals court allowed Indiana's law banning gender-affirming medical care for minors to go into effect for the first time Tuesday in an unusual, questionable order.