Israel’s former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has denounced the war his successor, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been waging in Gaza. In a piece for Haaretz, Olmert referred to the current government as a “criminal gang” led by Netanyahu. As a proud American Jew, I agree. www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

As Trumpsters claim they really truly care about antisemitism, note the new Pentagon press secretary. jewishinsider.com/2025/05/king...

Why did Grok suddenly start talking about “white genocide in South Africa” even if asked about baseball or cute dogs? Because someone at Musk’s xAi deliberately did this, and we only found out because they were clumsy. My piece on the real dangers of AI. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/17/o...

Hey neat, we've raised a couple hundred bucks because Rob Manfred sucks ass.

Mr. Springsteen @brucespringsteen.net, during his “Hope & Dreams” Tour launch in the UK last night: “The America I know—is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.” His words are painful to hear but filled with undeniable truth. “We’ll survive this moment.”

man, there is some serious egg on my face right now

I asked my four-year-old about this idea today and I can report that this is not landing well in the four-year-old community

I don't agree with Stephen Miller about a lot, but I agree that I didn't want my kids' school teaching them about communism. They'd surely get it wrong. I made a point to teach my kids about communism at home, where they could get the straight dope. bsky.app/profile/atru...

I know there's a lot going on, but I would like to highlight that Mike Johnson slipped language into an otherwise routine House procedural vote yesterday that now blocks Democrats from forcing an investigation into Pete Hegseth’s Signal scandal, through October.

Trump: “…And if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that. But he’s not.” There’s no “but I think he’s MS-13” carve out in the Supreme Court’s order. It’s brazen defiance.

as everyone knows, the president cannot conduct foreign diplomacy unless the lawyers say its ok first

Notable, especially because the exact same panel has the J.G.G contempt appeal.

A tweet that will live in infamy.

The story actually gets WORSE ICE knew this 2 year old girl was a US citizen And knew there was a guardian who’d keep her in the US Yet they held her in detention anyway Using her AS BAIT to get to her father Only after that failed did they then deport her-without meaningful process Despicable

Funny, you’d think that this would’ve been in one of the declarations about steps the administration has taken. Y’all don’t think the administration could be *lying* do you???

Frankly shocking

NEW! DHS expands on its defiant middle finger to the Supreme Court's ruling that anyone subject to the Alien Enemies Act must get "reasonable time" to be able to "actually seek habeas relief." They say they're only giving 12 HOURS for people to raise an objection, and 24 HOURS total to sue. Period!

On being called DEI and why it isn’t the burn they think it is

Strong disagreement with Mr. Conway here...We are a nation of second chances, when people have changed and made amends, they should be fully restored citizens with all benefits Many of the most committed humanitarians I know are formerly incarcerated The horizon of HOPE is what creates change

I think Drew Ensign broke Judge Wilkinson

I was not familiar with @kendraserra.bsky.social’s game but this 2.5 hour live coverage a disastrous hearing for DOJ in the Perkins Coie case is incredible.

This is like when Republican politicians are asked if the 2020 election was legitimate, and they respond with something like, "I agree that Biden was our 46th president."

I’d say this was a sign that they might actually be doing something if we hadn’t also learned today about the government’s truly insane and unethical response to interrogatories

NEW from @nytimes.com: A bone-chilling account. A Venezuelan man detained alongside the 238 sent to El Salvador on March 15 seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. His name isn't among the names of those sent to CECOT that day and no one spotted him among those men. He's just... gone.

"The Government refuses to respond to interrogatories it claims are 'based on the false premise that the United States can or has been ordered to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador'" (i.e., exactly what SCOTUS held).

In the new SCOTUS Alien Enemies Act case (AARP v Trump), dissenting Justices Alito & Thomas complained that @ACLU gave ND Texas Judge Hendrix less than "45 minutes" to rule. This timeline shows that Hendrix failed to act in the face of 14 hrs of dire warnings: 1/2

NYT: "The newly revealed [Signal chat] was created by Mr. Hegseth. ... He used his private phone, rather than his government one, to access the Signal chat." Worth now reading closely how Justice Department narrowly read Judge Boasberg's order.⤵️ And DoD's Declaration.⤵️

Is everyone in a signal chat with Pete hegseth but me?

Really good, useful report from NBC — but I wish it included the precise times that these events occurred! When exactly did the buses turn around? www.nbcnews.com/politics/imm...

I think we all know the answer to this question

One point that's going to get lost in the discussion of #SCOTUS's intervention in the Alien Enemy Act case: This is the *value* of nationwide injunctions. Without them, you have to go district by district, and the government can try to play games by moving people to districts without relief (yet).

Katsas and Rao. Oof. Pillard in dissent.

As SCOTUS is about to take up a case about the propriety of nationwide injunctions, seems relevant that the admin may be shuttling people between detention facilities in order to avoid district-wide orders not to summarily expel people to an El Salvador mega prison

Insane, indeed.

How long until DOJ argues that he’s the sole decision-maker and cannot be held in contempt?

You don’t say…

"Trump will pardon anybody that gets found in contempt" FINE. MAKE HIM. JESUS FUCK.

“Jaw-dropping” hardly does it justice

!!! The NC Board of Elections reveals that EVEN IF it throws out all the votes contested by Jefferson Griffin and the state Supreme Court, Justice Allison Riggs is STILL on track to narrowly win the race. HUGE news from @bryanranderson.bsky.social: andersonalerts.substack.com/p/riggs-supr...

It's just very very hard to litigate against a party that is not acting in good faith and doesn't care about the penalties the courts have to offer.

Even if you (wrongly) believe that some immigrants lack due process rights, what’s to stop the government from claiming that *you* are an undocumented immigrant; removing you to El Salvador; citing an “administrative error”; and refusing to do anything to bring you back? The answer is due process.

HAPPENING NOW: At the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, Judge Paula Xinis is set to begin a hearing on the government’s efforts – or lack thereof – to “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was wrongly removed to El Salvador. Follow along for updates ⬇️

Good example of what happens when POTUS disregards the requirement to have OLC approve every E.O. and proclamation for form and legality: The President can simply lie about a key factual predicate w/o offering any evidence--and then insist DOJ defend it in court. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/u...

We closed today's show with these words, and they are worth reading again now and every time you need to remember why despair is not an option