Blog Posts

Weekly Reader — 5/24/2026

Another in a (generally ) weekly series of posts with interesting reading / viewing material (note: some linked articles contain adult language).

We’re all a bit overwhelmed by the steady flow of dread in the news — it’s my contention that there are just a handful of key stories in the news each week, but we’re flooded by a million “hot takes” on those few things. So I’m organizing these posts along the lines of (no more than) 5 things a week. Look over the things’ titles, see which of them are of interest, read into them as far as you want to go — an easy way to implement a media diet!

Thing 1 —  Trump goes to China

So Trump went to China to talk about Iran, AI, and Taiwan. He came back without any agreements, but did manage to make the U.S. look smaller on the world stage. China’s Xi referred to the Thucydides trap of the two countries’ trajectories; Trump took a while to respond since, of course, Thucydides is a big word and his folks had to look it up for him. Even then, he drew the wrong message from it.

Trump leaves China without breakthroughs on Iran, Taiwan or AI

A Tale of Thucydides

Xi Told The Truth About America. The President Heard A Thank You Note.

Why Desperate Trump Can’t Spin This Failure: Biographer

They Were Playing Different Games

(Dobbs) “That’s Not A Good Look For Us.”

May 15, 2026 (HCR)

Thing 2 —  Iranflation

Things still aren’t going well with Iran, and it’s driving inflation in the U.S. via fuel prices. Trump, naturally, blames Obama and Biden.

Trump didn’t expect Fox News to bring the receipts on his broken Iran war promises

Neither Winning Nor Leaving

Trump’s Big Inflation Problem

Trump Has Officially Lost The War In Iran And The Great Energy Collapse Of 2026 Is Coming.

This War’s Lies Are Different—And More Dangerous

Trump Lost Iran

THE BOY WHO CRIED HORMUZ: The Complete Clusterfuck of Trump’s Iran Timeline

Biden And Obama Push Inflation To Highest Rate Since May 2023, Those Monsters

The Iran war is hitting home as gasoline prices fuel inflation surge of 3.8% in the US

US inflation jumped to 3.8% in April as war with Iran continues to drive up prices

My President Went to China, and All I Got Was Even More Expensive Gasoline

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins leaves a panicked Jim Jordan stammering after she throws his own words back in his face

Thing 3 —  Open corruption

The regime isn’t even trying to hide their cons anymore. The latest is a $1.8 Billion slush fund for those that took part in the January 6 pseudo-coup attempt. Oh, and it includes legal language blocking the feds from pursuing any tax / fraud cases against any of the Trumps!

Trump’s Golden Age Has Arrived—It’s a Golden Age of Grift

Kleptocracy

Almost as good as a pardon

The January 6 Cashback Program: Loyalty Points for Insurrection

Trump Just Stole Your Money!

Trump’s justice department scrubs its website of news releases about January 6 defendants

(Dobbs) Drip. Drip. Drip.

US justice department ‘forever’ bars IRS from auditing Trump’s past tax returns

It’s Not Just Separate Money Grabs. It’s A Whole Profit Machine.

Officers who defended Capitol from rioters sue to block payouts from $1.8B ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

May 20, 2026(HCR)

(Dobbs) The Banana Republic Is Alive And Well

A shameless grift: Trump cashed in after his administration boosted a company he was betting on

All The President’s Thefts

UPDATED: Trump & Cronies’ Top 10 Corruption Scandals

Trump’s Corruption: By the Numbers

The Looting of America

(Dobbs) More corruption. Out in the open. No oversight. It never stops.

Thing 4 —  Tina Peters

Gov. Polis commutes the sentence of Colorado’s own election denier / voting machine hacker. CO Dems censure him, but he doesn’t appear to care.

Colorado governor cuts Tina Peters’ prison sentence in half, will release her on parole June 1 (Colorado Sun)

Gov. Jared Polis reduces Tina Peters’ sentence, says she will be released June 1 (Denver Post)

Colorado governor commutes sentence of election denier Tina Peters (The Guardian)<

Colorado governor grants election denier Tina Peters clemency, reduces sentence (Democracy Docket)

Polis shortens Tina Peters’ prison sentence, orders her paroled on June 1 (CPR)

Colorado Democrats officially censure Gov. Jared Polis for Tina Peters clemency (Denver Post)

Colorado Democrats censure Gov. Jared Polis over Tina Peters commutation (CPR)

Gov. Jared Polis faces political pile-on after freeing Tina Peters

Jared Polis says his Tina Peters decision “will be remembered fondly,” despite growing outrage

Gov. Jared Polis brushes off party’s censure over Tina Peters clemency, saying he’s ‘really proud to be a Democrat’

Granting Tina Peters Clemency Is a Big Mistake

What The Actual F*ck Is Wrong With Colorado Dem Gov Jared Polis?

“This will be Polis’ legacy and may it haunt him forever”

Littwin: In reducing Tina Peters’ sentence, Jared Polis taught us where arrogance leads

Thing 5 —  DNC’s 2024 ‘Autopsy’

After months of foot-dragging, the DNC finally released its autopsy of their failed 2024 election efforts — and it’s… certainly a mess. Filled with missing material, misspellings, and other editorial flaws — while simultaneously lacking any meat w.r.t. substantive issues. Biden’s age-related issues? Unmentioned. Gaza? Same. The lack of a convention? Ditto. The DNC chair may not / likely should not survive this.

The Least Curious People in America

The DNC Autopsy Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

The DNC’s “autopsy report” is even worse than you think

Democratic chair faces calls to quit over ‘shambles’ of election autopsy release

Qasm Rashid

Why the DNC autopsy report matters

Weekly Reader — 5/10/2026

Another in a (generally ) weekly series of posts with interesting reading / viewing material (note: some linked articles contain adult language).

We’re all a bit overwhelmed by the steady flow of dread in the news — it’s my contention that there are just a handful of key stories in the news each week, but we’re flooded by a million “hot takes” on those few things. So I’m organizing these posts along the lines of (no more than) 5 things a week. Look over the things’ titles, see which of them are of interest, read into them as far as you want to go — an easy way to implement a media diet!

Thing 1 — Justice, and the lack thereof

The Virginia Supreme Court struck down revised voting maps that had been instituted by voter approval — this, coupled with last weeks’ U. S. Supreme Court decision eviscerating the Voting Rights Act fired off a flood of gerrymandering in the South. It may net Republicans only 6 House seats in the upcoming midterms, but it’s devastating for minority and poor voters in old Confederate states.

The GOP lit the match. The Supreme Court banned the fire department.

‘This is not democracy’: voting rights activists shocked by speed of US states moving to stifle Black voters

The Consequences of Democratic Defeat in the Virginia Supreme Court, and Two Steps You Can Take to Fight Back Right Now

Inside the redistricting apocalypse

My Daily Editorial Note (Macfarlane News)

Tennessee redistricting plan splits Memphis neighbors and reshapes midterms as other states follow

Supreme Court Used Bullsh*t Data From DOJ Hacks To Kill Voting Rights Act, Surprise!

The Receipts Have Lifetime Appointments

Thing 2 — The Iran “excursion”

The mess in Iran, whatever you call it, continues to neither go well (for the U.S.) nor to actually end. Trump announced a plan to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, only to have Saudi Arabia put the kibosh to it. And it turns out that Trump and Hegseth have been lying to us all along — the toll of damage to U.S. assets and personnel have been far higher than they admitted to. Meanwhile, some unexpected impacts of the non-war are starting to make themselves felt as well.

US, Iran no closer to ending war as Gulf clashes flare

US military says it intercepted Iranian attacks on 3 Navy ships in Strait of Hormuz

US and Iran exchange fire, but Trump says ceasefire still in effect

US denies Iranian report warship was struck by missiles

Damning Intel Leak Reveals How Trump Is Failing in His Main War Mission

Trump shelved ‘Project Freedom’ after Saudis refused use of bases and airspace

Manic Trump’s Scramble to Fix Catastrophe Immediately Backfires

Trump Hurls Top Goons Under the Bus With Humiliating U-Turn

‘Not a good sign’ Trump’s White House was blindsided by CIA’s Iran report: ex-diplomat

Epic Lies

The Return of the Credibility Gap

What India’s Diet Coke Shortage Means for the U.S.

Thing 3 — Trump’s poll numbers continue to drop

Trump’s approval ratings plummet amid Iran war and sky-high gas prices, poll finds

Trump’s Approval Rating Plunges So Low It Breaks Pollster’s Graph

Delusional Trump, 79, Rages at Embarrassing ‘Fake’ Poll Numbers

Weekly Reader — 5/03/2026

Another in a (generally ) weekly series of posts with interesting reading / viewing material (note: some linked articles contain adult language).

We’re all a bit overwhelmed by the steady flow of dread in the news — but it’s my contention that there are just a handful of key stories in the news each week, but we’re flooded by a million “hot takes” on those few things. So I’m now going to organize these posts along the lines of (no more than) 5 things a week. Look over the things’ titles, see which of them are of interest, read into them as far as you want to go — an easy way to implement a media diet!

Thing 1 — White House Correspondents’ Dinner

The White House sent 5 of the 6 top people in the list of presidential succession to the WHCD, provided poor security, and a shooter showed up as well. Fortunately nobody was seriously injured in the ensuing mess, and the would-be assassin was captured, but the follow-up by the administration was less than stellar — the attack is now being used to portray Trump’s proposed ballroom as being urgently needed, and Trump is using it as an excuse to once again attempt to take a comedian off the air (even though his joke was not too dissimilar from one recently told by the White House press secretary).

Die Another Day (Wonkette)

Trump evacuated after shooting at White House Correspondents Dinner

DC gala shooting suspect aired grievances against Trump in writings to family

Don’t be Intimidated (Kinzinger)

The Shooting That Wasn’t

The WHCD shooter’s manifesto reveals how he got closer to Trump than anyone realized

A Shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

On the subject of would-be assassins

Cole Allen’s Christianity

Trump’s authoritarian war on comedy just hit a dangerous new phase — and he’s getting the FCC involved

Trumps call for ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel — again — after morbid joke about first lady

Defiant Jimmy Kimmel Goes Nuclear on Trump and Melania

President Trump Demands ABC Fire Jimmy Kimmel. No, This Is Not From Last September.

Thing 2 — The Supreme Court and the Voting Rights Act

Yes, the “Supremes” went and essentially killed the Voting Rights Act. And they did it early in this term, so now a number of southern states are scrambling to redistrict to further reduce the political power of ethnic minorities in time for the midterms.

The Supreme Court’s Conservatives Just Issued the Worst Ruling in a Century

Don’t Get High on Your Own Supply: The Supreme Court’s Racist Overreach and the Beginning of Their End

The Supreme Court’s Ruling Gutting The Voting Rights Act Has Been Decades In The Making

The Supreme Court Republicans Make America Safe for White Republicans

What the Court Did in Callais—And Why It Matters

Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act ruling makes it harder to protect minority voting power and alters the landscape of future elections

SCOTUS Sinks Voting Rights Act: Evening Roundup

Supreme Court turbocharges redistricting war

Louisiana postpones primaries as states rush to redraw districts after supreme court ruling

15 Ways to Fight Callais

Kamala Just Told The Democrats To Get Fucking Ruthless. And It’s About Bloody Time

Thing 3 — Iran

It’s over… no, it’s not… yes, it is… Hegseth gets feisty when questioned by Congress, and the White House once again attempts to sidestep the Constitution.

Trump’s Iran Fiasco: 20 Disasters Wrapped in One Monstrous Megamess

Bursting Hegseth’s Bubble

The Logic of NACHO

Pentagon Pete Blows Up at Hearing Before Being Shut Up by Republican

Trump Goons Try New Word to Hide His Biggest Catastrophe

Pentagon Pete Hearing Descends Into Chaos as Protesters Slam Him

The War That Keeps ‘Ending’

May 1, 2026 HCR

Congress Can’t Meet Its Own Iran-War Deadline

The Real Reason Trump Doesn’t Want Congress To Vote on War Powers

Thing 4 — James Comey

The DOJ is still chasing after James Comey due to a photo of sea shells, and it’s still stupid.

Manic Trump Desperately Scrambles to Explain DOJ’s ‘Worst Case Ever’

Trump Wasn’t Whacked. But He’s a Whack Job.

 

Weekly Reader — 4/26/2026

Another in a (generally ) weekly series of posts with interesting reading / viewing material (note: some linked articles contain adult language).

SPLC

So the DOJ is now going after the SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center), claiming that the folks that broke the KKK actually are funding racist groups, in order to drum up contributions. It’s a horrific example of the Trump administration’s weaponization of government, plenty of good takes on it — Contrarian | Public Notice | Joyce Vance.

Hungary

In spite of state-controlled media, gerrymandering, death threats, and about every other trick in the book, Hungarians turned out in record numbers to soundly defeat extreme-right darling Viktor Orbán. It’s a relief to anyone concerned with Europe’s future, and encouraging to voters in the U.S. (with some important lessons as well). Good reading from Jennifer Rubin | The Big Picture | Tom Joscelyn & Susan Corke.

Weekly Reader — 4/12/2026

Another in a (generally ) weekly series of posts with interesting reading / viewing material (note: some linked articles contain adult language).

Easter was particularly interesting this year. A few days in advance, at a White House Easter luncheon, Trump’s “spiritual advisor” compared him to Jesus Christ. Doubling down on the blasphemy, Trump then skipped out on church on Easter Sunday, opting instead to post a profanity-laden tweet threatening genocide against Iran.

Trump’s supporters were oddly silent about the whole thing — in spite of its timing, and clear threats of war crimes. Plenty of other folks, though, are questioning his mental health. Democrats are no longer alone now in calling for Trump’s impeachment.

Surprisingly few people, though, noted the parallels between Trump’s ultimatum and the Curse of King Croesus.

There’s also the recent related news of military threats that the Trump administration made against the Vatican (!) earlier this year.

Fortunately, the Iranians gave us a last-minute off-ramp from / ceasefire in the war, which Trump leapt for even though the terms are a big win for Iran. It’s fragile, and so far barely holding. Time will tell…

But things are looking so bad that Melania Trump appears to now be using the Epstein files as a distraction from the Iran war that was supposed to distract us from the files. But will it distract everybody from the return of inflation? And then, there’s The Onion’s take on this.

Weekly Reader — 4/05/2026

Another in a (generally ) weekly series of posts with interesting reading / viewing material (note: some linked articles contain adult language).

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, but let’s kick off with some good news. No Kings 3 — wow! Close to 9 million people showed up in more than 3,300 locations in all 50 states and abroad — congratulations to all that attended!

So many good photos and videos — Daily Beast | NPR | Denver Post | AP | Guardian | Westword | Colorado Sun | Parnas | Dobbs | Rosenberg | Tiedrich.

But now’s not the time to relax, now’s the time for follow-up. Some thoughts on that note from 50501 | The Guardian | America’s Undoing | The Contrarian. Meanwhile, May 1 is the next big get-together — save the date!

Birthright citizenship — wasn’t this settled 150 years ago or so? Trump showed up in person for Supreme Court arguments (the first time a sitting president has ever done so), possibly in an attempt to be intimidating. If so, his move didn’t appear to work, and the justices appear poised to vote against him. More from Mother Jones | Joyce Vance | Heather Cox Richardson | Terry Moran | The Contrarian.

Pam Bondi got the boot — opinions are mixed as to the main reason behind this, but nobody expects that her replacement will be better.

The war with Iran (Operation Epstein Fury) is still a thing, of course. This week, Trump gave a (19 minute!) speech, essentially a low-energy recital of some social media posts in an attempt to justify it. The war is apparently almost over, it just needs 2 weeks of escalation first. He followed the speech with a social media blitz aimed at Europe for not supporting his war. But there’s no easy way out, and the economic impacts of it are just starting.

Voting rights are facing another Trumpian challenge; now that the SAVE act appears to be *really* dead, Trump’s trying to control voting via executive order. It’s unconstitutional, but that won’t stop him from trying.

One last bit of good news — the situation in Texas is looking promising.

Weekly Reader — 3/22/2026

Another in a weekly series of posts with interesting reading / viewing material (note: some linked articles contain adult language).

Leading off, it’s been a rough few weeks for our first amendment rights. Trump’s war in Iran isn’t going as well as he’d thought it would — so his solution is to make unflattering coverage grounds for treason. Brendan Carr, Trump’s FCC chair has a quicker approach to bad press — pull media outlets’ broadcast licenses. Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense War said the quiet part out loud, rooting for Trump’s billionaire allies to complete their takeover of the U.S.’s national news outlets. The DOJ, for its part, managed to get a group of anti-ICE protesters convicted of terrorism charges on slim grounds (stay tuned for appeals). Meanwhile, Trump brags online about MAGA billionaires’ work to consolidate control of the corporate media ecosystem.

Terry Moran pulls together the big picture on censorship, while Robert Reich has some good thoughts on how we can shut this nonsense down.

Meanwhile, the Epstein files story gets uglier by the day. Now it seems that Epstein was also involved in drug running and money laundering, and more evidence has come to light of his direct ties to Russia’s security apparatus. Also, more payoffs, and a jailhouse coverup. There’s also more dirt (pun intended) on Epstein’s Zorro Ranch.

In case you were curious about the roots of our current problems, Adam Kinzinger has started a series of columns on the history of Trump family corruption — part 1 is out now. On a somewhat related note, another group of “young” Republicans has outed themselves as Nazis — who would have guessed?

Lest you get too depressed from all the bad news, Adam Kinzinger has advice for staying in the fight. One big thing to look forward to: March 28th’s No Kings 3 protest — a handy online calendar helps you get ready. If you can make it, 50501 has some very good reasons to join in.

Meanwhile, Pam Bondi wants to end ethics oversight of DOJ attorneys — please take a minute (before April 6) to leave a comment on this proposal.

Weekly Reader — 3/15/2026

Another in a weekly series of posts with interesting reading / viewing material (note: some linked articles contain adult language).

Almost as if by design, the war with Iran is dominating the news again this week. Some interesting items:

Things have been somewhat quiet w.r.t. the Epstein files this week, but not so with Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico.

What’s the difference between ICE’s detention warehouses and concentration camps? Turns out, there isn’t one. Oh, and even Trump has figured out that his current approach to immigration isn’t a big hit with voters.

Weekly Reader — 3/08/2026

Another in a weekly series of posts with interesting reading / viewing material (note: some linked articles contain adult language).

The “Peace President‘s” war of choice with Iran, formally called Operation Epstein Epic Fury continues apace, and has dominated the week’s news. A few facets of the exercise stand out, though.

The Epstein files — they’re still out there. But 47,000 of them just disappeared from the Justice Department’s database. At least some of them are now trickling back; DOJ promises the rest will follow. Meanwhile, there are new revelations w.r.t. Epstein’s death.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hauled Bill and Hillary Clinton in for depositions, and… things didn’t go as planned. If you have 9 or 10 hours to spend on it, you can now watch the video of their questioning.

Remember when inflation was news-breaking? Between the war with Iran and tariffs, we can expect to see it return with a vengeance.

Looking for another action you can take? If you use AI on your phone or computer, quit ChatGPT — it’s produced by OpenAI, whose president is a big Trump donor, and is being used by the Pentagon without constraints. More info is available here. Anthropic seems to follow better ethical guidelines, anyway.

Weekly Reader — 3/01/2026

Another in a weekly series of posts with interesting reading / viewing material.

So, we’re bombing Iran again — in something called Operation Epic Distraction Fury. You’d think it might come as a surprise to the MAGA folks that voted for Trump as the “peace candidate” who would keep us out of “forever wars.” The situation, obviously, is fast-developing — but some informative write-ups are already available online.

Meanwhile, the Epstein files story just seems to get weirder by the day. Some recent updates:

Trump’s State of the Union address — it was certainly… something. At the very least, it was the longest SOTU speech in U. S. history (nearly 2 hours long), breaking the record he set last year. We didn’t watch, opting instead to wait for the Democratic response (quite good), and read online analysis of the main event.

Some good takes on the SOTU come courtesy of Tom Nichols, Azi Paybarah, Save America Movement, 50501, Paul Krugman, Moira Donegan, David Smith, The Associated Press, Greg Dobbs, Adam Kinzinger, Democracy Docket, Andrew Wilson, Rachel Maddow, AlterNet, and this handy AP fact check of the speech (spoiler alert: so many lies).

While Trump spoke, though, Democratic candidates won three state-level special elections in Maine and Pennsylvania. Particularly good news, since Democratic party leaders still appear to be prioritizing decorum over defending democracy.

At least the folks at Turner Classic Movies knew how to make a statement with their SOTU counter-programming:

Palantir — everybody’s least favorite big brother. As you may have heard, Palantir left Denver for Miami (the corporate offices moved, but they still have software developers here). Westword readers have thoughts about the news.

If you’re having trouble dealing with the feelings engendered by our current situation, a little action may help. Here’s a flyer that 50501 has been handing out: