RIP Charlie Kirk. No ifs, no but this, or but that. He was murdered in cold blood for his advocacy, speech, and beliefs. I stand with those who grieve this terrible crime. That’s all for today.

It's not about Jimmy Kimmel. It wasn't about Colbert. It wasn't about the CBS interview with Kamala Harris or George Stephanopoulos, either. Trump is finally coming out with it. Don't make him look bad. Or even joke about it. www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...

Anticipatory obedience www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/reversing-...

What happened to Charlie Kirk is horrific. I join the calls to condemn political violence and wish for his recovery.

The Epstein birthday book was the celebration of a sexual predator for his sexual predation. No other way to read it. www.thebulwark.com/p/donald-tru...

NEW: "It actually might be illegal....There’s a provision that allows military lawyers to work in certain areas, but this is not one of those areas." www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-hegs...

This is why I’ll never give up on libertarians. When it matters, sometimes, the principled ones are the only functioning conscience of the GOP.

Read @radleybalko.bsky.social at @rollingstone.com today: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Trump is against wars in foreign countries but for war on US cities. That’s a fair assessment of his current policy, yes? See his words about Chicago in my previous post. Are we supposed to laugh because it looks stupid?

File this under “it’s all a joke until it’s not.” www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/hes-just-j...

Despite what his far-right American admirers believe, Orbán is not popular in his own country. A lot of his staying power is just that: inertia, which has given rise to a feeling in Hungary that he is inevitable. Yet things in Hungary have started to move.

Spencer Kuvin, Epstein's victims' lawyer, says the FBI interviewed 40+ girls, some just 14, and prepared a 54-count indictment. Then came the secret plea deal that let Epstein walk. Those interviews are in the files. Kuvin says Alan Dershowitz scoured the girls' MySpace pages to smear them as liars.

Some media outlets reported that Trump was joking when he made this comment. About that: www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/hes-just-j...

Mood in Hungary "is palpably different" than a year ago, with people "more comfortable criticizing Orbán in public.…Public figures speak about the 'Orbán regime' instead of the 'Orbán government.'… "In response, the rhetoric from the regime…has become more threatening, violent, and openly fascist."

Cerin is currently giving a master class in appropriations and impoundments. If you are into that kinda thing. :)

This is a take that’s been heavy on my mind for quite some time. Trump’s absurdity and autocracy go hand-in-hand. The absurdity provides plausible deniability for the autocracy to take root. It’s all a big joke until…it’s not. open.substack.com/pub/protectd...

It's being reported that the Pentagon is authorizing military lawyers to serve as immigration judges. This is a threat to the Constitution. Don't say we didn't warn you. From the archives:

Thank you Ray Dalio for speaking up.

BREAKING: Judge Breyer rules that President Trump's deployment of the military to Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act, says Trump is using military as a "national police force with the president as its chief." Injunction granted. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

So the troops can stop doing litter pickup outside the WH and can go home now, right?

Hey D.C. friends! If you see billboards or posters in the District from @ofthebraveusa.bsky.social demanding federal agents take off their mask, be sure to take a picture and share it!

Public servants should face the public. So why are federal agents wearing masks to hide their faces? Check out our mobile billboard driving around Washington, D.C. right now demanding federal agents take their masks off!

“Every day little children came into Union Headquarters, some with their hands off, some with the thumb missing, some with their fingers off at the knuckle. They were stooped things, round shouldered and skinny. Many of them were not over ten years of age…”

When you think about this as Trump taking control of the Capitol city this makes more sense.

Vance on undermining the Federal Reserve: "I don't think we allow  bureaucrats to make decisions about monetary policy and interest rates without any input from the people that were elected to serve the American people...POTUS is much better able to make these determinations."

Three of the officials who have resigned in protest, outside CDC HQ just now with their colleagues. In his resignation letter Dr Demetre C. Daskalakis (on the right) warned that the Trump administration “risks our personal well-being and the security of the United States.” (📸 Sam Stein)

“What if Democrats Simply Said That an Unpopular President Deploying the Military Against His Own Citizens Is Quite Troubling?” By @benmathislilley.bsky.social

Oh look, the military is being abused again to accommodate Dear Leader.

This is a real photograph of Washington, DC this week, where the United States president has ordered military occupation in peacetime, and ordered the display of colossal portraits of himself. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

WTF RFK Jr.: "I know what a healthy child is supposed to look like. I’m looking at kids as I walk through the airports today...and I see these kids that are just overburdened with mitochondrial challenges...and I know that’s not how our children are supposed to look." www.c-span.org/program/publ...

Elementary school children are having to navigate thru a standing clutch of masked…who are they? “This is ridiculous,” a woman can be heard saying. Yes. And insanely dangerous.

This morning: MPD and ATF conducted a massive paramilitary operation, with officers in masks and camo, in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood of DC within 500 yards of an elementary school while neighborhood children were heading to school. On their third day of classes.

To put a pin on this: They’re being made to pick up trash outside the *White House* Which is well maintained! Because, what, Trump didn’t think his view was “beautified” enough and he’s going to make the troops get on their knees and clean it for him? They do not deserve this. Send ‘em home.

Send them home. Trump is making them stand around and act like groundskeepers. They need to be on standby for real emergencies in their own states. Not as Trump’s pretend palace guards.

A mixed bag of LEOs patrolling the crime ridden paths by the Lincoln. Hopefully refreshment vendors are holding proper licenses.

Trump is arming the National Guard and taking them away from their jobs and families to pick up trash around Lafayette Square, the National Mall, and the Tidal Basin. www.fox5dc.com/news/nationa...

Don’t let them tell you he’s joking. He’s putting armed troops in the streets. Not a joke. Not a drill.

Missouri Republican Rep. Mark Alford: "I do not think that we should be sending National Guard into other cities unless the governor, unless the governor [asks],” he said. www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...

At this point, it's impossible to know if Bolton mishandled classified intel. We are being kept in the dark. What is known is that the Trump Admin wanted to menace and intimidate Bolton and other Trump critics. The leak to the NY Post is the big clue. shorturl.at/SXSb7

“A lot of people are saying: 'Maybe we like a dictator’,” said the President of the United States, verbatim, in the Oval Office. The same day that he ordered mobilization of “specialized” military units in all 50 states—under his personal command—in peacetime, to “quell public unrest” by Americans

Again, the WSJ repeats this idea the Bad Things were hard to "imagine." (They did this last week with the Bolton editorial.) Not hard to imagine. He said he would do this stuff. His critics pointed that out. And many people refused to believe it.

Newsweek: Legacy tractor maker John Deere has announced layoffs at three Midwestern facilities as the company grapples with declining sales and the effects of tariffs on its bottom line. www.newsweek.com/john-deere-a... Workers are getting notice of termination this week.

WTF.

Chris Christie was investigated. This is Trump threatening Christie for his speech. Period.

When the gov't becomes the biggest stakeholder in your company, that's only the beginning of the meddling. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

"Fewer people will get immunized from potentially deadly diseases. And while it’s true that what doesn’t kill you can make you stronger, it can still kill you." RFK Jr.’s Workout Videos Come With a Dangerous Hidden Message open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

If progressives want a wealth tax, there is a proper way to do that by passing legislation thru regular order. Endorsing Trump’s autocratic one-off shakedowns that happen in the Oval Office that cuts out Congress is not the way.

The best, most accurate look at the DC occupation is coming from the locals: local news & local residents capturing violent arrests, peaceful protests, safe tourist spots overrun with bored troops. It's a powerful reality check on Trump propaganda. My latest: open.substack.com/pub/jennifer...

This is supposed to be impressive?