Montana Field Trip Report! Tabs, Wed., July 29, 2026

Morning news roundup and pretty pictures!

Tabs gif by your friend Martini Glambassador!

Look who’s back! Back again!

Let’s start straight off with a nice time, we could use it. New James Talarico/Ken Paxton poll numbers aqui! Click through for some absolutely deranged photos of the candidates: Paxton looks like he’s wearing an Edgar suit, and Talarico looks like Hermey the elf who wanted to be a dentist. Plus numbers :D (Texas Tribune)

Now cover your eyes and run real fast past this one, about the toddler found crying in a field next to her murdered parents we deported to Guatemala, you don’t need to read that. (STLPR)

DHS numbers nerd resigned. Good for DHS numbers nerd. (Wired)

I haven’t read this lady’s essay about her long-ago affair with Gavin Newsom, but what am I going to do, NOT link you this lady’s essay about her long-ago affair with Gavin Newsom? As if. I will say “Ruby Rippey” is a very good name for a woman having an affair with a politician. VERY good! (Vanity Fair)

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This is what a data center sounds like. HOOOO-EY. (Gizmodo) The haters’ guide to them? Ayup! (Drew Magary at SF Gate) Relatedish, these perv glasses. (Oligarch Watch)

CBS News is still doing good work despite it all. Like what the fuck is this, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointing Ashley Moody to the US Senate, and she turned around and gave his wife Casey all of the dough? (CBS News)

New York Post full of shit again, Mamdani edition (again). (Popular Info)

Midwife argues she needs to not argue with vaccine-hesitant -idiotic clients but is somehow supposed to I don’t know mindmeld them without a lecture I guess. I simply would not be able to, I think. But if she manages it, bless her, lord’s work, etc. (Stat News)

Is “hating Anthony Fauci six years later” enough to get Republicans to turn out the vote? I mean, it could happen I guess. (No More Mister Nice Blog)

This thing’s dumber than the Italian space lasers. Rightwing idiot Trumper Argentine president Javier Milei says the US Democrats did some kinda CONSPIRADAD to make people mad at Argentina during the World Cup because of how we hate freedom, like Argentina wasn’t capable of pissing off the world all by itsself. (The Guardian)

Some optimism from Frederick Douglass, because we could fuckin use some! (Ryan Cooper at The American Prospect)

And we’re coming full circle with James Talarico again, and what is manhood and Murica? Adam Serwer has thoughts! (Gift link The Atlantic)

What time is it? MONTANA WONKMEET PIX TIME! Some of you did not find us and I am so sorry and I love you. On the other hand, I had food poisoning from the most delicious bowl of ramen I have ever (luckily only half-) eaten, so I wasn’t the most greatest happy fun ball of all time anyway. But you could have met all these nice folks, plus some people who were there either later or earlier! They were so fun and nice!

They came to Missoula, Montana, from everywhere and I mean everywhere US at least: We had folks from Alaska, the Florida Keys, Texas, I think Virginia?, and DC. Also a very good dog named Noodle. It was hot as shit, and again, I had food poisoning, but that didn’t stop people from coming and sitting in the hot goddamn wind next to the river. Also our friend Rene (not pictured because Did Not Attend) made cupcakes. She even got the W right!

The day before our party, being on a NINE DAY VACATION, WHICH I NEEDED, TELL YOU WHAT, we floated the Clark Fork. Not pictured: The eagle flying six feet off the water, headed straight for Shy’s head, holding a fish and chased by a second eagle. It was fuckin awesome. Then it fought with a hawk, but I didn’t see that part, I had gotten spun around.

Those first pictures are in Greenough Park, where Shy took me on the 24th day of our 24-day first date, 12 years ago now almost and which you can see aqui on Take Your Family for a Walk Day in winter white wedding! And in that second row of pictures (pictured: me! and Shy!) you can see a stretch of river behind Shy’s shoulder there where we met the nicest Nazi when Donna was a baby a decade ago. He really was! Couldn’t have been nicer, young Loki, and it took a while to realize his tattoo was a Graham Platner-sized and -placed swastika on his tit. #Relevant!

Before spending three days in Missoula, we stayed five days on a ranch outside Ronan, under the Mission Mountains, close to our good son, daughter-in-law, and fresh new granddaughter, Lucy.

Driving up to the ranch, hosted by the genuinely nicest rightwing Christians, Shy wanted to know why exactly we’d ever left Montana again? I had to remind him how people reacted to our girls wearing masks just because there was a global pandemic (like they wanted to hurt our small child and grandchild, or else just us), and to our mixed-race granddaughter existing (their faces were quite loud!). But oh were these nice people, and oh was their land beautiful.

You guys want to see all the liberals in Polson, Montana? Meet my best friends, Susan and Tika. Everybody say hiiiii Susan and Tika!

This has been your Montana field trip report, GOODBYE.

WONKMEETS AHOY. CLEVELAND (Aug. 8), PITTSBURGH (Aug. 9), SAN FRANCISCO IN HONOR OF FUKUI (Aug. 21), WINDSOR, MASS (camp near but not at Paul and Holly’s, Labor Day weekend)! Atlanta has been postponed. TIME TO PARTY!

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