Pardoning the criminals who tried to overturn an election to keep you in power and creating a $1.776 billion slush fund for them seems like exactly what you would do if you wanted them to do it again.

This is easily the saddest time in American history. The absolute worst people are systematically destroying the country, and our system is completely failing to stop them.

I sure hope some Dems in leadership are reading @brianbeutler.bsky.social ! @murray.senate.gov @cantwell.senate.gov @jayapal.house.gov Dems must come into power with decisive energy, not timid dithering. Chuck Schumer must go, and Hakeem Jeffries, too, we need more fight and less conciliation.

This piece could be called “why removing @colorado.gov Jared Polis is so important,” but I went with something more melodramatic. Polis is just a symptom, after all. www.offmessage.net/p/bracing-fo...

Putin is heading to China, where Russia and China are expected to sign around 40 agreements and unveil a declaration on a “multipolar world.” Trump came home with no deals. The contrast is humiliating.

Mamdani: I cannot help but think of the words of our 40th president, Ronald Reagan. He famously said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the govt & I'm here to help'" I think nine more terrifying words are actually, "I worked all day and can't feed my family"

This is THEFT. There is no other word for it. They are stealing almost $1.8 BILLION dollars to pay Trump‘s allies, despite knowing that these people are not legally entitled to any money and be laughed out of court if they filed a lawsuit for money damages.

Incredible- Trump's $2 billion taxpayer-subsidized slush fund comes with a legal disclaimer that basically says "we are not responsible for any crimes committed with this money"

This is the most corrupt act of the most corrupt presidency in American history.

As Trump prepares to meet with top aides to discuss next steps in the Iran war, his Fox News Cabinet is telling him to escalate because he "holds the cards.”

DOJ sets up corrupt $1.776B "Anti-Weaponization" compensation fund, ostensibly linked to collusive settlement of Trump's meritless $10B suit against IRS. Acting AG Todd Blanche directly involved. www.justice.gov/opa/media/14...

The idea is tell right wing Trumpers that it’s okay to seize the Capitol. You will be pardoned and hugely compensated. He’s creating an army of violent insurrectionists.

I'm old enough to remember when the US government had ethics rules. And astonishingly, officials were actually expected to obey them. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

I admit that extorting one’s own government had not occurred to me. abcnews.com/US/trump-poi...

NEW STORY: MAGA is winning its war against American elections @yvonnewingett.bsky.social @shaneharris.bsky.social and I report, with the universe of people pressing debunked theories now so broad that it’s a feature of the system. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

This is amazing - @kevinolearytv 🤡 is fearmongering about Chinese agents opposing his giant Utah data center… but it’s 2 young local girls in Utah who hilariously call him (and his “dumbass hat”) out👇🏽 Full: www.instagram.com/reel/DYU074V...

MORE: Adani's lawyer went to Trump's DOJ and made a proposal: If prosecutors dropped the charges, Adani would be willing to invest $10 billion in the American economy and create 15,000 jobs.

Elon Musk Said He’d Stop Political Spending. He’s the Third-Largest Donor in the Midterms gizmodo.com/elon-musk-sa...

This would constitute one of the most brazen, most appalling acts of corruption in U.S. history. I know we’re numb to all of this but this is a seven-alarm fire. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/b...

In a functional democracy, this would be a career-ending scandal.

Breaking News: The Justice Department is said to be considering settling a lawsuit President Trump filed against the IRS over the release of his tax returns.

Perfect campaign ad for the upcoming Midterms. 👌

Obviously Dems need to play to win (that is, to make Trump more unpopular by fighting him on every front). But here they are failing to respond to an obvious element of a coup plot, and, well… it darkens my outlook for November and beyond. www.offmessage.net/p/a-terrible...

If anything is going to push Democrats to finally accept Supreme Court reform, it's gotta be the past two weeks talkingpointsmemo.com/news/supreme...

District court could, in theory, say that this map is still unconstitutional. But Alabama will try to run out the clock/SCOTUS has a fascinating habit of ruling that only maps that hurt Republicans are produced too close to elections. Really mask off with this one

The VRA and Virginia decisions should be a learning moment for Dem opponents of zero-sum street fighting against Republicans. There’s a lot in this piece about what these corrupt judges revealed about themselves and the institutional right. But this is the key. www.offmessage.net/p/republican...

I had no idea the founding of Mothers' Day was an antiwar movement. From Letters From An American: "Mothers’ Day was not designed to encourage people to be nice to their mothers. It was part of women’s effort to gain power to change society." open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

please read this 2016 piece by Sarah Kendzior we had so much warning “This is an American authoritarian kleptocracy, backed by millionaire white nationalists both in the United States and abroad, meant to strip our country down for parts, often using ethnic violence to do so.”

This is somber, but so important to watch so as to better understand what type or portent #tennessee and #virginia rulings are. substack.com/@timmiller15... Thanks @timmiller.bsky.social and @adamserwer.bsky.social for saying it all out loud.

Credit: Politically Exasperated

It broke my heart when I read it then, and it still does a decade later. ”…Protect the vulnerable and encourage the afraid. If you are brave, stand up for others. If you cannot be brave—and it is often hard to be brave—be kind.”

NEW: zeteo.com/p/texas-ice-...

I wrote this in 2016.

This week on @washingtonweekpbs.bsky.social @theatlantic.com : x.com/washingtonwe...

The President of the United States is a danger to the United States. And Congress and SCOTUS are complicit. 🇺🇸

👀 “Article VI, Section 9, of the Virginia Constitution gives the legislature unlimited authority to set the retirement age for judges.” Virginia law provides VA Dems a simple solution to overturn the state’s rogue scotus’s redistricting ruling - retire it - and then appoint a new one.

We have a year’s worth of economic data since Liberation Day, when President Trump announced much higher tariffs on most imported goods and countries, and the data are definitive; the tariffs have done significant damage to the economy.

It’s telling that Alabama took 14 years to implement Brown (you MUST desegregate) and < 14 days to implement Callais (you CAN eliminate Black districts if you call them Democratic, but you don’t HAVE to).

The wildest thing about the release of new files on UFOs is that Donald Trump was mentioned in the Epstein files over 38,000 times.

Attorney Kurt Olsen once worked to try to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss in court and was later sanctioned by judges for making baseless allegations about Arizona elections. He is now Trump’s director of election security and integrity.

sounds bad when you put it that way

Total Jobs Created by Party (1989-2026): Democratic Presidents 50,600,000 Republican Presidents 1,469,000 The biggest scam the GOP has ever pulled off is convincing people that Republicans are good for the economy.

MacFarlane: Democrats are riding this wave of momentum toward the midterms. But there are concerns that the Supreme Court and local courts could just steal it.

GOP Rep. Max Miller is accused of abusing his ex-wife, including by hurling boiling water at her in front of their infant. Miller is who tried to give US veteran benefits to Israeli soldiers & said Palestine was going to “get eviscerated and go away…as we’re going to turn that into a parking lot.”

JUST NOW: Rep. Todd Warner walks into the house to strip majority Black Memphis or representation wearing a trump flag as a cape as Rep. Camper of Memphis looks on Video: www.instagram.com/reel/DYCuFmt...

This dropped around the same time as this interview - Neil Gorsuch on Megyn Kelly’s show. He was talking about how “young conservatives must have courage to stand by their beliefs.” Sounds apolitical to me!

“… for purposes of dodging the War Powers Act”

I joined NY’s Cutest on the Bergen Bike Bus that they ride to school every Wednesday, rain or shine. We’re adding bike boulevards and more pedestrian space on Bergen and Dean Street, from Court Street to East New York Ave. It was a wonderful kind of day.

EXCLUSIVE: My latest story for @theatlantic.com : www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Five-byline alert: 🚨 “.. Trump’s abrupt reversal on his plan to help ships go through the Strait of Hormuz came after a key Gulf ally suspended the U.S. military’s ability to use its bases and airspace to carry out the operation ..” @nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com/politics/whi...