Good question. I'm not sure who, between the Senate and the state of KY (either the state legislature or the Governor), has the authority to determine what constitutes a vacancy. My guess would be that the Senate rules would govern the decision but I'm not sure. I'll do some more research.

Zactly

Is McConnell alive? How long was his brain starved of oxygen? Is he in a vegetative state? Or is he awake and oriented to person, place, and time? Why did his wife go to China 72 hours after his hospitalization to meet with CCP VP Han Zheng leaving Mitch in critical condition?

KY is 1 of 5 states where US Senate vacancies can be filled only by special elections. apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes...

Good to know!

A federal appeals court has temporarily sided with the Trump administration in a dispute over historical displays at National Park Service sites. The court blocked a lower court order that would have required the NPS to restore signs, exhibits, and other interpretive materials that had been removed.

Americans across the nation are being asked (or ordered) to conserve water, thanks to widespread drought made even worse by a punishing heat wave. And yes, your shorter shower can make a difference. Here's why and what to know.

FEARLESS Black Americans have been confronting hatred with dignity for generations.

Read the article AND read this thread Phil Brickell is the Parliamentary APPG Chair for anti corruption and fair taxation. bsky.app/profile/phil...

Dear AG Sulzberger and Joe Kahn: when might words like corruption be appropriate for @nytimes.com? Seems like deliberate avoidance in this headline. Why? Care to explain to your readers?

BASH: But it peeled off. Why did that happen? BURGUM: It didn't peel off. There was vandalism. There was box cutters. There have been 7 arrests. BASH: There are photographs of people cutting a 350 foot gash in the reflecting pool? BURGUM: Dana, I'm not sure why you keep questioning it

Beshear* can send state police to do a wellness check and anyone who lies about McConnell's status should be prosecuted

‘Once you acknowledge that most of the Americas were inhabited long before 1492, everything changes, starting with the idea that nature in its ideal state is what they used to call virgin wilderness, in which people don’t belong.’ @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

OSC Senior Counsel Charles Baldis allowed the Office of Personnel Management to keep asking federal job applicants to write essays on how they would further President Trump's policies. He has now been nominated to serve as the next Special Counsel. https://ow.ly/PPaE50ZiHl9

Looks like Mayor Z's pied a terre tax is not collapsing the real estate market or causing the wealthy to flee Manhattan after all. Indeed, the opposite. Who could have possibly imagined this scenario? www.realtor.com/news/trends/...

I stand with Major Jason Watson, A True Patriot! 🇺🇸💪 ❤️🌊🫶💙🤟🫰🙆‍♀️👏🙏👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

And yet: all these losers are hiding their faces, not because they fear arrest — I doubt they will break any laws — but because they fear the judgment of a free people — their neighbors and co-workers and friends and family.

Meanwhile, his friend had just become a US citizen that afternoon. However, my father said, at the moment his friend took the oath of citizenship, he became exactly as much of an American as I was.

In the past day... NYT: U.S. Officials Believed Israel Was Plotting to Kill Iranian Negotiators Reuters: Researchers say EU lawmaker who investigated surveillance was hacked by Israeli spyware Why does the West continue treating Israel as an ally when Israel treats the West as an adversary?

There is no end to the corruption… www.pbs.org/newshour/wor...

This an official Vatican photograph of Leo at Lampedusa, Italy - one of the world’s heaviest migrant sites - where he went this morning to pray for migrants who died at sea. This is after turning down the offer to come to the United States.

A grim reminder this 4th of July: The US has the highest incarceration rate of any independent democracy on Earth, making it a leader in mass incarceration. Far too many people are locked up in the “land of the free.”

This should set our hair further on fire. Do not believe for one second that Trump is going to allow free & fair midterms. There is going to be a struggle! Let’s have a national response Democrats & Independents! Please! www.nytimes.com/2026/07/02/u...

One More Time,For Those In The Back.......

Listen to Blue Storm

I am at peace. Cabo Verde lifted the entire diaspora and made us proud.

People who are unfamiliar with the UCMJ may not realize that for an active duty major to do this in uniform, the consequence can be court martial and incarceration. All of it is prohibited, but the wearing of the uniform was an intentional choice, and a likely forfeit of both his career and freedom.

He's an amazing orator and gives the most powerful voice to the DSA's vision. He's also shown in NYC that government of the people, by the people, for the people works. Democrats better heed the call. #news #following #universal #EconSky #AcademicSky

3/ bsky.app/profile/jenn...

2/ bsky.app/profile/jenn...

“Polymarket [Backed by Peter Thiel] Allegedly Paid Influencers to Stage Fake Wins … According to [WSJ], Polymarket & its contractors reportedly built near-identical clone sites — including a domain called poiymarket.com — where creators cld simulate trades without risking real money.” 6/23/26 … 1/

What this article unfortunately leaves out is that fired National Endowment for the Humanities program staff had to *~interview~* for the very same jobs from which they were fired last year. And the agency gave far fewer "offers" for people to return than the 116 positions they slashed. #NEH

Richard Felger, desert botanist, was a global visionary. This is a book both by Richard Felger and about him—a portrait of one of the great scientific personalities of our time. uapress.arizona.edu/book/the-bot... Thank you to The University of Arizona Press for being a sponsor of #Botany2026!

By speaking out, this Major has likely relinquished his right to millions of dollars of future benefits and entitlements of his service. Health insurance, pension, etc. When Hegseth was threatening Mark Kelly an other veteran members of Congress, that’s what he was after. Not a small show of courage

For America's 250th, I read Frederick Douglass’ speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” on the House floor—for the first time in history. His speech endures as a mirror & mandate for us all—to confront our inequities while fighting for an America as good as its promise.

Must get confusing sometimes when the people running a 24/7 political party operation and the people running the federal government are the same people.

Friday Friends #11 @whodat35.bsky.social @billyjackliberal.bsky.social @love4billyjack.bsky.social @tonysomo.bsky.social @saltymichael.bsky.social @karacktekus.bsky.social @billy-x.bsky.social @becket58.bsky.social @nomoretyranny.bsky.social @tonyinmarin.bsky.social @batguan0.bsky.social

#ResistanceRoots Aaron Henry was born on this day in 1922 in Dublin, Miss. He was a pharmacist and one of the most resilient civil rights leaders and politicians of the 20th century. His work showed how localized power, grassroots operations and a willingness to compromise fuel systemic change. /1

Jack Smith: I'll give you an example from from my life. I resigned as special counsel. I know I need to get a lawyer because the president has said he wants to jail me for doing my job. And so I retain lawyers, as soon as that becomes public, the president and the justice department target that firm

They are arresting U.S. Air Force Officers for free speech and U.S. Olympians for curiosity—but not rich men for raping children with Jeffrey Epstein.

May I add consumerism? For decades voters have voted for tax cuts without bothering to learn anything else about the candidates, made Jeff Bezos one of the world’s richest men, bought ever-bigger cars, disposable clothes & appliances, etc. ,i.e. our focus was elsewhere.

The American legal system is being abused in order to pander to the president's fantasies and make them seem real www.nytimes.com/2026/07/02/u...

NEW: This is too much. The DOJ accidentally emailed copies of Volume II of Jack Smith's final report to the lawyers representing a woman they charged with obstruction of justice for emailing Volume II of Jack Smith's final report. My latest: www.muellershewrote.com/p/doj-accide...

More good news from NYC! Arts funding always suffers during hard times, so this is truly welcome. hyperallergic.com/nyc-mayor-ma...

👀👀 DOJ inadvertently delivered Volume II of Jack Smith's report to the lawyers representing a defendant accused of improperly accessing/sending the report to herself. They notified Judge Cannon of the breach today. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Here’s Major Jason Watson of the US Air Force holding a sign that reads: Impeach/Convict/Remove! You can see him getting arrested for protesting in uniform at the Capitol. This guy’s a hero! Let’s give him a medal for his service and bravery! 👏👏👏

We need more journalists like Katie Phang! She is showing the MSM how real journalism happens. The American people have less and less unbiased media options. Independent journalists are our best source of the truth! #SheShed

Two years ago, my colleagues and I were sued by Stephen Miller's America First Legal. The Hines v Stamos case — built atop a number of false allegations — was a central element of the "censorship industrial complex" myth. Today, that case was dismissed (by a Trump judge in LA). We won.

A huge thank you to Major Watson for his dedication to this country and our constitution. If you don’t see this as patriotism, you’re doing it all wrong! #ProudBlue #Pinks

Crypto was invented to drain small investors and give the super-wealthy a convenient way to bribe the president.