I may look incredibly powerful & alarmingly sexy..

(via @zyrafowe-sny)

There's a definitive uptick in messaging that seems intent on dividing the left.

And I'm absolutely not saying that everyone who is critical of any political party is a plant (we should critically examine the words and actions of our representatives), but isn't it interesting that when the left starts uniting against conservatives, suddenly we're fighting against each other?

I wonder why that could be? I mean, it's certainly no tactic I've ever seen employed before. For instance, no billionaires have ever tried to divide the working class by race or gender or whatever to prevent an uprising, right? If true, this is completely new!

That last bit is sarcasm, guys (gn), if that wasn't clear.

But I also believe we should be strategic about the criticism we level at them when we see what they are (or aren't) doing in response to this "smash and grab" administration. Especially if we want to see them make the moves we want. Especially if we want them to pay attention.

Because I keep seeing things like "Why don't they just do what McConnell did?!"

And the answer is very simple: because a lot of McConnell's playbook won't work on conservatives at this point.

The Republicans in the House, Senate, White House, AND THE SUPREME COURT have made it very clear that they do not care about following existing procedures, policies, or precedents.

Much of McConnell's moves relied on the fact that Democrats believed that the system was working (or at least were concerned about the optics of defying or even just circumventing established procedures, policies, and precedents). Not to say they never did these things and definitely not to say there are no law breakers among the Dems (there's plenty evidence showing corruption on both sides of the aisle, I know). But McConnell's methods worked because he knew Dems wouldn't just ignore him and do what they wanted anyway.

But Republicans do not share this belief in the system. Nor do they care about existing procedures, policies, and precedents or the optics of defying them. They believe they are above the system. Whether it's the power, the privilege, or some imaginary "order from on high," they believe it is their god- and/or voter-given right to do whatever pleases them however they can get it done, especially with President Musk, VP Trump, and the man that can only be described as being the first human made entirely out of spoiled mayonnaise (Vance) in charge.

Do you remember before he was sworn in, in January? Do you remember how they were talking about installing people in positions without congressional approval? How if the Dems shut everything down, they'd use loopholes to achieve their goals anyway?

They have a plan for handling Democratic offense because they know Democrats will, at least legislatively, play by the rules, while Republicans openly bend and defy them.

So Democrats have to find another way of attacking this earth-shattering attack on democracy that doesn't rely on Republicans following the law or being reasonable or even willing to negotiate.

Because let's be clear: Republicans are not negotiating right now. They are cutting Dems out of every conversation they can, like Musk and Trump and Vance are doing to Ukraine.

So, basically, yes, we need to levy criticism against our elected officials who aren't doing enough (or anything at all). We need to hold them accountable (no matter which side of the aisle they are on). We need to call them out when they say dumb shit (like maybe people should respond to Pres. Musk's work email) and we need to be clear about the actions and changes we want to see.

It's time to take a leaf out of the MAGA playbook and get fucking loud and belligerent. We may be ants, but there are far more of us than them, and they are scared of us because we have the power to take theirs. That's the whole reason they're stripping people of rights at every opportunity. It's why they're stripping our protections. Because a beaten and demoralized populace is a compliant populace.

The internet was supposed to be a place for connection and creativity. But it’s being flooded with AI text, algorithmic hostility, and platforms turning against the creatives who made them vibrant in the first place.

Tech giants have gone all-in on AI at creators’ expense. Google’s AI is baked into everything, prioritizing machine-generated slop over human work. Microsoft Word now suggests AI-generated “improvements” on every new line.

The Trump administration’s massive AI investment means there’s little incentive for tech giants to slow down the exploitation anytime soon. (Meta? Just caught training AI on 81.7 TB of pirated books.)

Big tech isn’t waiting for legal mandates to censor content—its platforms are restricting creative expression to appease political and corporate pressure, manufacturing consent in real time.

Read our full post over on the blog!

- The Ellipsus Team xo