“Put simply, the DOJ cannot be trusted with making mandatory disclosures under the act.” @RepRoKhanna & @RepThomasMassie ask a judge to appoint a special master to compel Trump’s DOJ to obey the law and release the Epstein files. #TrumpEpsteinCoverup khanna.house.gov/sites/evo-su...

Interesting fact. Make of it what you will. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s visit to Beirut today was not wholly business. He brought his whole family with him. He’s expected to remain in Lebanon for the foreseeable future.

What a surprise that Vance’s reaction to this woman’s murder is to try to exploit it as an opportunity to improve his chances of getting elected in 2028.

This is a US government official calling for any US citizens who dissent from his immigration policy preferences, and "get in the way" of federal officers, to be executed by being shot in the face. By "get in the way" he means: being present, unarmed, dissenting, & driving away, without attacking.

A Message for ICE:

Even if you take ICE's bullshit at face value, why didn't the officer shoot the tires? Why didn't he discharge a warning shot in the air? Or, you know, just slap the side of the car and ask her to stop? Why did the ICE agent shoot her at point-blank range, murder her, and then walk away?

jackbooted regime thugs are invading cities and shooting people in the face america, 2026

Where the hell are Google and Apple enforcing their app store terms of service on X? Grok doing CSAM should instantly be a removal from the app store. Any other app doing this would be pulled instantly. Journalists should be asking for comment from these companies.

The Trump doctrine exposes the US as a mafia state | Jan-Werner Müller

CBS News has fully fallen, and I hope the honorable journalists left there are looking for quick, safe landing pads. I know the expectation is always “Just quit!” but that’s hard for most normal people to do without going broke. My thoughts are with all of them. This is grotesque.

King Charles Seeks to Restore British Rule Over U.S.

Sickening — the White House has put up a site about 1/6 painting himself as a hero and Pelosi, The Capitol Police, and Mike Pence as the villains. An attempt to rewrite history before our eyes. www.whitehouse.gov/j6/

The United States is behaving like a rogue state. The President has carried out an illegal act of war, kidnapped a foreign head of state, and is now threatening military action against NATO allies. This is a constitutional crisis. Impeachment must be on the table.

Congress has ignored the federal law requiring hanging in the Capitol by 3/2023 the plaque promising never to forget the heroism of those who risked all to defend Congress’ members and the Constitution. This essay by the great Jamie Raskin makes good on that promise. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/o...

🎯CHATTANOOGA — Times Free Press editor @bensessoms.bsky.social : “IRAQ, BUT DUMBER… It took only three days into the new year for Trump to continue the unmitigated mayhem of 2025, to further shame the country and Constitution he swore to protect and defend.” www.timesfreepress.com/news/2026/ja...

Re-upping this piece I wrote in February about how Republicans are re-running the "Lost Cause" playbook on January 6, to convince future generations it was a noble act of patriotism and not a bunch of violent thugs trying to overthrow the government: paulwaldman.substack.com/p/january-6-...

Trump’s illegal attack on Venezuela and support for Maduro’s successor has emboldened the remaining members of the regime. They’re now conducting a crackdown. The Union of Journalists and Media Workers in says at least 14 journalists were detained yesterday.

"The U.S. oil industry needs Trump to swoop in and add another few million barrels a day of production like it needs a hole in the head." prospect.org/2026/01/06/t...

refusal to knuckle under to Trump’s cultural assaults puts the spotlight back on spineless institutions (e.g., the Paul Weiss law firm, Columbia University, the Washington Post) that have self-censored

It’s hard to imagine better free advertising than this. Hilton: 📈

it gets darker by the hour

On the 250th anniversary of America’s founding as a grand experiment in democracy, we are now a rogue state, a global pariah, writes @inquirer.com's @willbunch.bsky.social. #NoKings #venezuela

A thousand amens to this piece by @willbunch.bsky.social:

Have they announced yet how much the taking over of Venezuela will reduce Americans' health care premiums?

That was probably the most shocking part. So much bullshit is expected. But this was like extra credit bullshit.

"If you’re mad today, show it in the streets, then call your member of Congress and let them know that a sternly worded letter won’t cut it. Trump’s illegal war demands nothing less than his impeachment..." AGREED 💯

Trump is trying to distract us from the Epstein files by launching a military invasion from the same golf resort that trafficked children to Epstein.

NYT gonna NYT: "Both Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Maduro identify as socialists, though they have no relationship.” — would be funny if they did this every time you write about two capitalists. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/w...

Still mind-blowing that a top admin official was revealed to have taken $50,000 in cash in a paper bag from people looking for government favors, the reaction of the administration was "Whatever losers, this is how it works now" and bigshot news media said "If you say so, we'll forget about it"

NEW: Citing a "large docket of cases", a Justice Dept attorney asks a court to DELAY the upcoming deadline for the Trump Admin to respond to a lawsuit, which seeks to require the hanging of the Jan 6 plaque honoring police at the Capitol Federal law required the plaque to be hung by 2023

President-elect Trump reportedly balked at submitting names of likely nominees to the FBI for background checks. That's a basic step intended to flag possible financial conflicts or ethical problems, like Tom Homan's bribery probe.

Suspending Doctors Without Borders is definitely a thing healthy countries do

An essential development over the past decade-plus is that the ignorant went from feeling chastened when their ignorance was revealed to banding together and deciding that, actually, they were right. They might disagree at times, but they agreed that ignorance itself was an indicator of trust.

THREAD. @donmoyn.bsky.social’s detailed, multi-thread dismantling of the distorted and deliberately obtuse reporting in the @nytimes.com on the significance of Gov. DeSantis’ takeover of New College is essential reading. And pls don’t waste time commenting that you don’t read the Times.Millions do.

The first time I searched Trump, there were over 900 records found. I also confirmed there are now 332.

Putin has been trying to make Ukraine fail for a quarter century

HUMPHREYS COUNTY: “In press conferences and vigils after the blast, Davis often shed tears and paused while speaking… Sheriff Davis' empathy, grace and servant leadership explain why the editorial board has named him 2025 Tennessean of the Year.” www.tennessean.com/story/news/c...

ICE is not allowed to use deadly force unless someone is poses an immediate danger to themselves or others. So, I will take the claim that the people who were shot tried to run over the ICE agents with a large grain of salt.

Side note: Sinatra’s mom Natalina “Dolly” Garaventa, a midwife by trade, ran an underground free abortion clinic, chained herself to a fence to fight for women’s suffrage and was an extremely influential organizer for the Democratic Party www.irishtimes.com/opinion/eamo...

Conservatives are upset that this new breed of TPUSA weirdos don’t have the sense to keep the antisemitism hidden any more.

As I detailed in ONE NATION UNDER GOD, the religious nationalism of the Cold War era was deliberately broadly drawn. Invocations of a broadly drawn "God" were fine, but references to Jesus Christ were understood to be far beyond the pale.

ICE’s occupation in Memphis, the largest Black-majority city in the country, has reshaped daily life, keeping kids out of school and parents from work, turning grocery shopping into a mission that risks one’s family being torn apart.

Murdering nonwhite people, in the name of “Christianity,” on Christmas Day, is peak MAGA Christianity.

Can we fill the TL with suggestions of untapped archives/collections? That would be a lot of fun! I think there's quite a bit of material in the Gregory Bateson papers at UCSC Special Collections that has yet to be written about.

‘Paracelsus, a vicious critic of Galenic doctors (“a misbegotten crew of approved asses”), transformed the field of alchemy by instructing his peers to make medicines, not gold.’ Nick Richardson on alchemy. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

The lecturer in question is our colleague in children’s literature studies. She is a brilliant scholar and from all accounts a gifted teacher. This ruling is infuriating… at the end of the day, it is our students’ education that will suffer.

The genocide will continue until morale improves.

I don't think free speech on campus ought to mean that a young coddled bigot gets to use their ignorance to casually destroy the career of a knowledgeable trans person on a random Wednesday

NEW: last night, the US govt launched an assault on the ‘global censorship industrial complex’, aka European tech researchers/campaigners. It’s a deeply chilling move & speaks as to why we need international solidarity more than ever. open.substack.com/pub/broligar...