Trump continues to wield funding threats, but they seem to have backfired. His withholding of infrastructure funds in NJ has been a “pure gift” for Dems in the gubernatorial race. From Robert Kuttner: trib.al/C8cxD1X

Has to be understood as a threat

Alpha Warriors

Feels like, between .. 1. “No Kings” rally 2. Benioff apologizing 3. Young Republicans getting suspended 4. Universities rejecting White House “contracts” .. authoritarianism got something of a margin call this week.

No Kings! Red Bank NJ. Thousands line the streets. The crowd is psyched

This is the best political news I’ve seen in a very long time — so please pass it on👇 Each state can limit Citizens United in their own state & they don’t have to wait for other states to do it. Our new @rollingstone.com piece based on our new book MASTER PLAN. Get the book at LeverNews.com/book

NEW: “Bands of masked men apprehending people in broad daylight in the streets and hauling them off. Disappearing people to a third country,” a former DHS official said. “We’re at an inflection point in history right now and it’s frightening.”

Even though few things shock me these days, this is a real eye opener about what this country is facing going forward. www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Pritzker goes there on Trump: “This is a man who’s suffering dementia…It’s just something in the recesses of his brain that is effectuating to have him call out these cities.” Via Chicago Tribune

So this is funny. The administration just issued a rule slashing foreign agricultural worker wages. And to justify it, in a public filing, Trump's Labor Department alleges that Trump's immigration enforcement has devastated the Ag workforce and caused a "risk of supply shock-induced food shortages."

Oooops

How can you tell Democrats have the upper hand in the week-old shutdown fight? Marjorie Taylor Greene just endorsed their key demand. From the great @citizencohn.bsky.social www.thebulwark.com/p/democrats-...

Kristi Noem confronts enemy combatants in the Portland war zone today.

Absolutely ridiculous. We must guarantee back pay after this shutdown that Trump and Republicans led us into. Our federal workers rely on their paychecks to pay rent, support their families, and feed their kids, just like the rest of us. They deserve better.

It seems clear—I think to everyone, now—that a false and illegal invocation of the Insurrection Act is coming before the end of the year. Media outlets should be telling us how they will prepare for this potential Treason. State governments should be telling us. Activists should be developing plans.

It’s very interesting that it wasn’t mentioned that Allen Pascual & Marcos Arroyo are registered republicans INVOLVED WITH THE COUNTY PARTY - Arroyo: www.insidernj.com/press-releas... - Pascual: www.insidernj.com/press-releas...

He’s trying to provoke a war.

wizard frog is insane

"This country has a longstanding and foundational tradition of resistance to government overreach, especially in the form of military intrusion into civil affairs. ... "This historical tradition boils down to a simple proposition: this is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law."

WAPO: “.. the capital expenditures made by a small number of companies are now contributing more to GDP than the spending of all of America’s consumers.” @washingtonpost.com #GDP www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

“.. Some energy experts say West Virginia is a harbinger of what could happen .. “.. As residents’ electricity prices have increased, nearly one out of five customers of the leading utility .. is behind on monthly bills.” @nytimes.com $AEP www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/b...

“.. AOC and Bernie are like a Phish show: they can just jam out in their niche, and fans go wild,” he said. By contrast, “Schumer has to do the Super Bowl halftime show and make half the country happy. .. AOC just has to keep growing her email list." @politico.com www.politico.com/newsletters/...

New Jersey 🍕🛣️ Vote-by-mail update Total: 61,258 (+32,177 since 9/29) Ballots by party registration: 🔵 Democratic 62.1% | 38,026 ballots 🔴 Republican 24.8% | 15,167 ballots ⚪️ Unaffiliated 13.2% | 8,065 ballots Percent of ballots returned: 🔴 8.6% 🔵 7.3% ⚪️ 3.9%

In tonight’s New Jersey Lt. Gov debate, Jack Ciattarelli’s running mate Jim Gannon said - out loud - that new taxes are on the table for NJ residents…EXCEPT FOR MILLIONAIRES!!! Clip via @umichvoter.bsky.social on X.

So Jack Ciattarelli's decision to circulate Mikie Sherrill's social security number & other personal information in the NJ Governor's race isn't going to play out like he hoped. I'm seeing a lot of grassroots folks who weren't involved now committing themselves 100% to seeing that Sherrill wins.

Targeted attack on a dockside restaurant in North Carolina. Three dead. Suspect a former Marine sniper in Iraq and Haiti who tried to sue the US govt for “genocide against straight men by the LGBQT community.” Flags at half mast? Endless op-eds? Victims’ faces on coins? www.cnn.com/2025/09/28/u...

The Ciattarelli campaign clearly saw the leak of Sherrill’s military records as a good attack: “she was involved in a cheating scandal!” on the theory that it would undercut her military service narrative. But the details of it, and the ugly nature of the leak, seem to be rebounding against them.

“.. Life is long, and the sword being wielded against the renewables industry right now will likely boomerang back in 3.5 years against traditional energy.” @nytimes.com $XOM www.nytimes.com/2025/09/27/b...

War ravaged Portland.

War-ravaged Portland

the president just said the military should start shooting american civilians if they want to

Jack's biggest donor was sued for using an algorithm to jack up rents on New Jerseyans across the state. And we're really supposed to believe he's going to make this state more affordable? Get real. gothamist.com/news/real-es...

Argentina, a tale in three parts:

Oof.

Tom Homan took a bag of cash from an undercover FBI agent the right way. by Ezra Klein

I am once again saying that after the federal fiscal year ends on Sept. 30th and thousands of Virginians lose their paychecks, the electoral fallout is going to be massive by November

An early look at next week’s cover: "Remote Control,” by Barry Blitt. nyer.cm/6ApBXER

Report: You To Be Fired For Reading This Headline About Charlie Kirk

We're witnessing the most aggressive, fanatical crackdown on free speech in my lifetime. The speed and breadth of government censorship and private sector and nonprofit capitulation has been astonishing. As has the lack of urgency/silence from people who've long claimed to care about this stuff.

Acts of political violence aren’t acceptable. Non-political school shootings aren’t acceptable. Sacking the legislature isn’t acceptable. Military occupation of peaceful American cities isn’t acceptable. Abductions conducted in courthouse hallways by masked agents of the state aren’t acceptable.

sad about future

Wait isn’t this the war Grandpa Don dodged?

Only someone who avoided the draft would want to rename the Department of Defense to the Department of War.

I was already pretty done with the news media but seeing clips yesterday from the Sunday shows where an anchor is like “but what if living in a Police State does reduce car jackings? Why would you be against that?” probably was the end

You walk away from the fire hydrant spewing water for a few hours and come back expecting somehow that it would have stopped. But of course it hasn’t. It’s still spewing. That’s the current Trump-driven news cycle.

✅ Dems have overperformed by an avg. 16 pts across 36 Special Elections so far this year, including *flipping* 3 GOP seats! NEXT UP: 9/02: FL SD-15: LaVon Bracy Davis 9/02: FL HD-40: RaShon Young 9/09: VA-11: James Walkinshaw Keep it going; donate today! #Blue25 secure.actblue.com/donate/speci...

Ketamine is killing our billionaires. Why don’t liberals care?

used to be you could get an indictment against a ham sandwich. now you can't even indict a guy who throws a ham sandwich. folks, www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/u...