Days after the president blasted the Pope as “weak on Crime,” his own DOJ moved to dismiss criminal cases against individuals convicted of conspiring to use force to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. Some of the conduct for which Rhodes was convicted: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/oath...

Red Notice: Cover is blown on #NAFO fast casual supply and crypto-coordination centers in Europe!

Beautiful again shall be Hungary’s name Worthy of its ancient fame What centuries past have smeared with blight We shall wash off and set aright. We swear by God we shall be free No longer sons of slavery. -- Sandor Petofi open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

How Hungarians ousted Viktor Orbán is a critical case study for people doing the unglamorous but essential work of democracy defense. Here are eight lessons from their playbook.

"FTC officials both threatened Media Matters for its speech and then followed through on those threats." Cato amicus brief urges D.C. Circuit to affirm lower court and block enforcement of the commission's speech-chilling civil investigative demand. [Thomas Berry, Dan Greenberg, & Kimberly Coleman]

Olivia has personal courage and moral clarity. She knows what's at stake.

This is a matter of *PARENTS' RIGHTS*, children's rights, and medical privacy.. not the purview of the genital-obsessed perverts of the Trump administration

Hypothesis: The hard left is objectively pro-fascist.

Don't these people don't realize *WE* are at war and dropping bombs? And that we have a fascist government consolidating power *HERE*? Why the hell are they mobbing Democrats about Israel now?

If you have standards or values, you can be excoriated or investigated for failing to live up to them, if you don't, you are completely free to do anything you want. That is the unavoidable lesson of the last decade of American politics.

You may say I’m a dreamer But I’m not the only one

@pewresearch.org Do you all plan to update or report new data on your Political Typology surveys? I would love to know how things have changed since 2021. www.pewresearch.org/topic/politi...

If we are going to argue about the ideological direction of the Democratic Party, we should each try to understand how we fit in the overall electorate. I know my personal are shared by a small sliver of voters and that coalition and compromise are necessary. You? www.pewresearch.org/politics/qui...

When I was very little I liked H.R. Pufnstuf and Sigmund the Sea Monster. But I matured into a big fan of "Land of the Lost" and "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl"

He filled my childhood with delight (and traumatizing images of hippie's hallucinations made real.) www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/a...

Ukraine has a Space Force!

How is the Archbishop of Canterbury on crime? Tougher than the Dalai Lama?

Desperately shredding documents after losing an election. Another item for Democrats' "things to expect after November 7, 2028" file.

If I had a nickel for every time an obese multiple-divorced English-speaking head of state angrily ranted at the Pope for not respecting his supremacy...

Viktor Orbán's defeat came thanks to a broad, diverse, and patriotic grassroots movement—and shatters the assumption of inevitability that has pervaded illiberal movements across the globe, @anneapplebaum.bsky.social argues. Read more: theatln.tc/CPvne6uz

Join the global fandom of liberal democracy! We live in dark times, but there are some inspiring movements at work. We can draw strength from one another. amifieldsmeyer.substack.com/p/follow-glo...

I like this idea

On a more serious note, this does show the necessity of a big-tent single-issue pro-democracy coalition. Autocrats lose when anti-authoritarianism is the opposition-uniting priority, and win when they can play divide and conquer on lesser issues.

"Stalin's Boots" -- at Memento Park, a site just outside of Budapest where Hungary put the torn-down statutes of former tyrants.

Péter Magyar victory speech: "We want to make a country where no one is persecuted because they think differently or because someone loves in a different way to others." He may not have campaigned as a liberal. But this is a huge change of direction and rhetoric from Orbán’s anti-LGBTQ+ crusade.

In competitive authoritarianism, leaders abuse state power to tilt the electoral playing field in their favor, manipulate the media environment and minimize opposition voices, maybe even steal close elections by lying about fraud. But they usually can't overcome a large majority voting against them.

I had no idea there was a "space window" at the National Cathedral in DC. It even has a moon rock! cathedral.org/discover/art...

Hungary election live: Viktor Orbán concedes defeat in Hungarian election after 16 years in power. #Hungary #OrbanOUT!

Orban concedes defeat. The support of Trump, Vance, Putin, Lavrov, Weidel, Milei, Le Pen, Fico, Babis and many others could not overcome Hungarian anger at a stagnant, corrupt regime www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Hungarians celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising by voting out the Kremlin

For more than a decade American illiberals have journeyed to Orbán's Hungary and returned proclaiming they have "seen the future, and it works!" Heritage Foundation, CPAC, Chris Rufo, etc. have lost their avatar. Thank God.

GUARDIAN: "Viktor Orbán is now speaking at Fidesz’s election night and he says the election result is “clear” as he concedes defeat." www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

It's not just that Orbán losing inspires hope in other competitive-autocratic countries ruled by right-wing nationalist authoritarians. It's that his loss materially changes things in those other countries, because he's been operating as a headquarters and funding source...

BREAKING: Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán has called Péter Magyar to concede defeat in today's election. With 53.45% of votes counted, Magyar's TISZA looks set to secure a super majority. A defeat for Putin, a defeat for Trump, a victory for Europe, and above all, a victory for the Hungarian people.

This alleviates my next biggest worry. The margin was simply too big to rig. Orbán has conceded.

According to Péter Magyar, incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called to concede the election.

America's future is closely linked to the Hungarian election today. There would be no Project 2025 without Orbán's model. Hopefully we will learn how to undo such damage as Magyar's Tisza party takes control.

This is either the biggest dork shit ever or beautiful or both. Amazing: the viral pacers bickering couple were actually yakking about uh the Ben Sasse podcast and hashing out ways to rejigger liberal arts education www.si.com/nba/pacers/v...

Ruszkik haza! [And Russian puppets can go "home" with them all the way to Moscow]

Hideous stuff. In response, I'd like to see a Minnesota Rebel Loon challenge coin. Might be a good fundraiser.

I was introduced to fire science when reading Norman Maclean's Young Men and Fire. He showed how human lives, ecology, physics, weather, and the intrinsic beauty of our forests are all woven together in that discipline. We have a lot of Reconstruction work to do in 2029 and beyond.

Boating is a key part of MAGA identity. And the cost of replacing vessels sunk in Trump boat parades is not trivial. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkjA...

Tomorrow is a very important day for liberal democracy in Europe and the world. Defeating Orbán would remove Russia's most potent agent within the EU and NATO. It would also deprive Trumpism of a model and inspiration for strangling free society.

The four humans who have traveled the furthest from Earth. (Via NASA.)

Love this shot. I think this is a thermal infrared camera, showing how the bottom of the capsule is still glowing due to its warmth after hypersonically ramming the atmosphere — compressing a gas heats it up a LOT when you're moving at superorbital speeds. #ArtemisII

The high altitude footage during reentry was amazing. I have never seen anything like that.

Just sooo beautiful

Godspeed Artemis

We need a constitutional amendment reforming the pardon power--but one of its provisions should be to invalidate all pardons issued in Trump's second term as presumptively corrupt.

Dressing for the Trump economy. "Baby, I put the STAG in Stagflation."