Inflation Jumps! Faster rate than in three years. Thank you, Trump and Vance 😡 www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/b...

"The event was so unserious that it could’ve been an SNL skit, and at the same time it epitomized the whole pathology of this administration—which, to be fair, certainly might be affecting people’s will to reproduce." And yes, it sounds like Gilead! By @lebassett.bsky.social:

Out like a light

Last week, ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos released poll findings on how Americans view Trump. Though the headline focused on his approval rating dipping to the lowest of his term (37%), the standout statistic was that only 35% of Americans approved of the way Vance is handling his role as VP.

“We need to be prepared, given that it’s not hard to see more extreme members and Trump himself pushing something like this between November and January…We should be clear: It would be a coup d’état, an attempt to overthrow constitutional government altogether.” www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-vra-ru...

WTAF does “under-babied” mean, Mr. Oz?

Clearly they'll never learn. “Bill Cassidy sold his soul to the devil, and he didn’t get anything for it.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/o...

The Trump administration is hosting an event on the national mall this Sunday to "give thanks for God's providence, reflect on our nation's story, and rededicate America as One Nation under God." Well, about that ...

“The way this conflict played out has made something distressingly clear: We are facing nothing less than the collapse of American democracy as we have known it.” Truth from @paulwaldman.bsky.social in @atrupar.com’s PN: open.substack.com/pub/aaronrup...

Poignant, sobering and beautiful essay by @mollyjongfast.bsky.social. A must read 🩵 www.nytimes.com/2026/05/10/o...

#VeniceBienale. My sister's show: Richard Prince & Arthur Jafa are two of our greatest “appropriators,” grabbing bits & pieces of popular culture and presenting them as gripping art. A fascinating two-artist show curated by Nancy Spector for the Prada Foundation. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/09/a...

Red states can cancel elections and redraw the maps to cut out Black representation without any voter input, and no one stops them. Blue state asks the voters if they wanna redistrict, the voters say yes, and the court strikes it down.

There it is

This is blowing my mind

One lesson to take from this abysmal moment is that no victory is permanent and politics never ends. The right knew it, and the left can no longer ignore it. But that also means that the horrors now being unleashed on the country can be undone. By @paulwaldman.bsky.social in @atrupar.com’s PN:

"Howard Lutnick’s Ties To Epstein Explained" @alisond64.bsky.social for Forbes

Yeah buddy I’m sure that was it.

NEW: I’ve written a call to arms. Journalists are being murdered in unprecedented numbers by a Western ally that operates with total impunity. Enough. Publishers & editors have failed us. But if we can’t speak up about this, what is journalism even for? open.substack.com/pub/broligar...

Rubio’s refusal to properly honor Foreign Service Day & the 300+ FSOs who died while serving, is an affront to their service. Now, he's firing 250 of these non-partisan civil servants while we are in the middle of a war that is testing our alliances & endangering Americans around the world. [1/2]

“Our old democracy is dead. If we don’t want Jim Crow and rule by the Klan, we’d better be willing to rip up our current institutions and make better ones.” Nailed by @nberlat.bsky.social in @atrupar.com’s PN: open.substack.com/pub/aaronrup...

VA conducted internal investigations into employees who attended vigil for Alex Pretti www.cnn.com/2026/05/05/p...

"Donald Trump utters or does something vile, and the media notes it and moves on. Or he does something outrageous, and the media takes the edges off it with polite wording. And moves on. Or he acts in a way that no other public figure could do, but somehow he gets away with it. Everybody moves on."

NEW POLL: 66% of Americans want off this train. The other 33% includes Republicans in Congress with no spine.

A new poll found that most Americans say they believe President Trump is mentally and physically unfit to serve as commander in chief.

It's about time! Trump's macho magic appears to be fading, especially among young men. In 2024, 49% of men aged 18-29 voted for him. Now only 28% approve of him, finds a Harvard/IOP poll. www.economist.com/united-state...

"In pondering where that military misadventure leaves both the United States and the future security of the world, a more fitting name might be Operation Colossal Blunder." Boom 🎯 By @scottanderson.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/o...

SCOTUS issues pause on lower court ban on mail order abortion pills. I don't think anyone in the GOP is interested in refocusing attention on abortion--an issue they resoudingly lose on--so close to midterms they are widely predicted to lose anyway. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/u...

#BREAKING: Justice Alito, acting as Circuit Justice, has just issued administrative stays of the Fifth Circuit's Friday ruling in the mifepristone case (so he's temporarily restored full access to mife). The stay will expire, absent further a order from Alito or #SCOTUS, at 5 p.m. ET on May 11.

America has suffered ignorant presidents, corrupt presidents, and incompetent presidents. Trump is all of these, yet something far worse: He’s the first president to view the presidency not as a sacred public obligation, but as a personal vanity project designed solely to serve himself.

Of all the freedoms hanging in the balance, none is more precious than the right to vote.

Tomorrow morning, we will be dropping a ~12,000 word story on Paul Pressler, the alleged sexual predator who remade the Southern Baptist Convention and helped ordain the marriage between the GOP and white evangelical voters. There is *a lot* in there and I hope you'll read it.

Oooh, this is soooo awesome! Trump’s approval rating for 20-29 year olds has sunk from 48% in January 2025 to between just 25% and 33% in recent months, according to polls by YouGov/the Economist www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

ALERT: I go live in one hour with @katiephang.bsky.social to discuss her first-of-its-kind lawsuit to appoint a special master to release the Epstein files. We discuss standing, harm, and her novel legal theory. Join us! www.youtube.com/live/EACi4dq...

“The goal of this GOP Supreme Court is not to interpret the law. Rather, it’s to take America back to a time where white conservative men ruled the nation unchallenged.” Important read from @deanobeidallah.bsky.social: open.substack.com/pub/deanobei...

"Mrs. Sánchez Bezos is the star of the Met Gala because she represents what fashion, buffeted by social and technological change, has surrendered to: economic inequality in human form, with pink, glossy lips, cinched up in a couture corset." GIFT: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/03/o...

No ID? No Big Mac for you 🤣

The Yale Law School Federalist Society just gave this guy a profile in courage award this weekend.

what kinds of “restaurants” have been asking Todd Blanche for ID

NEW: New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is considering redistricting in light of the Louisiana v. Callais SCOTUS ruling vanquishing minority voter protections. “If Trump is going to attack fair voting, then New Jersey is going to stand up so that we can create a counterbalance,” says Sherrill.

Amen. 🙏🏽

Speaking as someone who has written about aviation for 40+ years (and pilot for 30+), and speaking about someone with zero experience in or knowledge about aviation: Sean Duffy is Pete Hegseth without the hair gel. (Both have Fox/Reality TV background.)

Conservatives think that yesterday’s federal ruling will end abortion pills by mail—it’s not happening. Some abortion providers plan to continue shipping mifepristone 👀 jessica.substack.com/p/the-bigges...

Forcing states to accept animal torture even after they’ve voted against it. I’m nauseated

The race is on to restore southern apartheid. Alabama and Tennessee join Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

My latest on how we bring friction back into our lives and also ensure those leading the way aren’t depleted: open.substack.com/pub/susanmcp...

With @barbmcquade.bsky.social on her new book about mob justice and the dire threat of seashells on a North Carolina beach, and @audrelawdamercy.blacksky.app on the evisceration of the Voting Rights Act.

"Without this method of care delivery, patients using Mifepristone for abortion would be forced to travel, sometimes hundreds of miles, to a health center just to pick up a pill, a requirement that leading medical authorities agree has no safety benefit." By @stevevladeck.bsky.social

There it is. Any questions?

Qatar’s gifted ‘Palace in the Sky’ to go with his ballroom, triumphal arch, crypto billions, Middle East resort deals, corrupt pardons to donors, and an endless list of grifts and scams profiting off the presidency. King Donald ain’t worried about the price of groceries or gas.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin — the third-richest man on the planet — is reportedly spending $57M to defeat California's proposed billionaire's tax. So he and his fellow oligarchs can't afford a wealth tax, but they'll spend a fortune buying elections? See the problem...