Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Their shamelessness is their super power.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

The lights are all blinking red.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

Giving up is unforgivable.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

… gradually, and then suddenly.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

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She must take after her mom…

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Maurene Comey, daughter of James, pens a good-bye note to colleagues after she was fired by Pam Bondi:

Maurene Comey’s farewell note to the SDNY after being fired by the Trump administration. Yet another warning.

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— David Corn (@davidcorn.bsky.social) July 17, 2025 at 11:53 AM

Good for her.

I know nothing about Ms. Comey except that her father is a self-aggrandizing jackass. His cathedral-sized ego — his insistence on inserting himself into a critical national election in its waning days rather than follow the clear rules of his job — is part of the reason we’re in this abominable pickle. And now, in addition to contributing to the destruction of the institutions Comey served, his child’s career is collateral damage.

But Maurene Comey isn’t the only daughter of a fool who still tries to do the right thing. I read somewhere that in the aftermath of the 2016 election, James Comey’s wife and daughters were furious with him for meddling. It sounds like they’re smarter than their spouse/father.

Also, it’s unclear to me why the Trump brain trust believes firing the woman who prosecuted Epstein and Maxwell will quiet the fury of the MAGA base. Just more flailing, I guess.

***

Speaking of flailing, the Bezos-degraded Washington Post offered a buy-out to one of its better columnists, Philip Bump, and he took it. A relevant excerpt (and gift link) from Bump’s last WaPo column:

When institutions crumble, strongmen step in
Trump wants to be the sole authority. With trust in institutions cratering, he sees his opportunity.

What would it take to put the swirling conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein to bed? Nothing complicated; just an authoritative, trusted voice articulating the truth about what occurred and what is or isn’t still being kept under wraps. The sort of thing that might have come from an attorney general or a president a few decades ago and offered, if not a perfect defusing, at least a credible counternarrative.

But those days are very much over. The current attorney general and president did try to stamp out the rumors, but both because of their own personal track records and because of the decreased confidence that Americans have in their positions, it simply didn’t work. President Donald Trump has since attempted to strong-arm his supporters, demanding they accept his presentation of the case, but even that hasn’t worked — in part because he has spent the past decade doing everything in his power to erode the trust in authority that would really be useful for him now…

This is nonetheless more favorable terrain for Trump than for the American system. As New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan once wrote (here in The Post), “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”

Trump has for years stoked the idea that actually, having your own facts is fine. And even as his base chooses facts that he finds inconvenient in the moment, he’s still pushing toward the next phase: Everyone is entitled to the facts that Trump presents.

What institutions of power will be left to disagree?

Good question.

Open thread.

She must take after her mom…Post + Comments (73)

If It Makes Them So Godsdamned Nervous…

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Bold move by Texas to say that the First Amendment only applies during daylight hours.

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— Mike Masnick (@mmasnick.bsky.social) July 16, 2025 at 12:10 PM

Update: This article was published on June 5. Since then, Gov. Greg Abbott has signed Senate Bill 2972 into law. It will take effect Sept. 1.

Texas lawmakers trying to muzzle campus protests have just passed one of the most ridiculous anti-speech laws in the country. If signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, Senate Bill 2972 would ban speech at night — from study groups to newspaper reporting — at public universities in the state.

Ironically, the bill builds on a previous law passed in 2019 meant to enshrine free speech on Texas campuses. But now, lawmakers want to crack down on college students’ pro-Palestinian protests so badly that they literally passed a prohibition on talking.

We’re not exaggerating. SB 2972 would require public universities in Texas to adopt policies prohibiting “engaging in expressive activities on campus between the hours of 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.” Expressive activity includes “any speech or expressive conduct” protected by the First Amendment or Texas Constitution.

The overnight ban on expressive activities is unfathomably broad. Off the top of our heads, here are just a few examples of what such a policy would prohibit on campus between 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.: Meeting with other students to socialize or study, writing an email, working on a research paper, posting on social media, reporting for the student newspaper, wearing a T-shirt with a slogan, dancing, playing music, painting a picture, or praying at a sunrise service…

Gotta admit, my gutter mind went straight to a recent multi-media story in the Washington Post — “Finding hope at Drag University”: [gift link]

HOUSTON — The email said they’d spend the weekend in drag, so Chloe Montgomery packed the only dress she owned. It was white with a flower print, feminine in a way she found fresh. The first time Montgomery saw the dress, she’d felt the thrill of becoming herself. But eight months had gone by, and she hadn’t worked up the courage to wear it. Maybe this weekend, she told herself.

Montgomery had spent six weeks attending classes at Drag University, a free program that taught Black and Latino Texans not only how to lip sync and put together an outfit, but how to navigate life in a state that has long led the way in curtailing LGBTQ+ rights.

There was so much Montgomery was afraid of. She didn’t know how to dance or apply makeup. She worried she’d look bad in the dress. She hadn’t told most of her friends or colleagues she was transgender, and increasingly, both her state and the country were targeting people like her. In March, one Texas state lawmaker had introduced a bill to make transitioning a felony. It stalled. And President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders that targeted trans people, including one that deemed it the official policy of the United States that sex is not mutable — a stance shared by two-thirds of Americans.

The growing anti-trans sentiments terrified Montgomery, but this was Drag University’s final weekend and she knew she couldn’t waste it on her fears. The organizers had rented a bright and airy house with a pool and sprawling trees. Montgomery looked out across the expansive yard and told herself that this weekend, she would do the things that scared her. Soon, she and the others would graduate, and she would no longer have Drag U to buoy her each week. She would have to lift her own self up…

The group spent the first day of the getaway talking to a Harris County family court judge who presides over name changes. Though Texas has tried to outlaw many aspects of transitioning, for now, adults can still decide what to call themselves.

Your name, Judge Lillian Alexander told the group, is “what you want it to be. And I honor that. So I’d like each of you to tell me your name.”…

If It Makes Them So Godsdamned Nervous…Post + Comments (47)

Thursday Morning Open Thread

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The Democratic nominee for governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, maintains a double-digit lead over her Republican opponent, according to a new poll.

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— Politico (@politico.com) July 16, 2025 at 2:37 PM

===

well, that ought to tamp down on the rumors, great work, everyone

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— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) July 16, 2025 at 6:51 PM

Maurene Comey, who prosecuted Jeffrey Epstein and is former FBI Director James Comey’s daughter, was fired Wednesday from her job in the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, according to two people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The reason for her firing was not immediately clear. She did not immediately respond to phone calls and an email seeking comment. Spokespeople for the Justice Department and the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment.

Comey, who had worked in the U.S. attorney’s office for nearly a decade, prosecuted both Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell…

Comey’s firing also comes as the Trump administration is reportedly investigating her father, whom Trump has long reviled. The investigations apparently relate to James Comey’s role in the probe of links between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia, as well as a recent Instagram post by James Comey that Trump allies saw as threatening to Trump.

And in recent months, Maurene Comey has been the target of renewed attacks by voices in Trump’s right-wing base, including Laura Loomer, who called on Bondi to fire her in May. More recently, Loomer has been leading the MAGA base’s outcry over the Justice Department’s decision not to release further Epstein-related documents.

Maurene Comey was given no explanation for her firing, according to a third person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly. That person also said the decision to fire her didn’t come from the office’s interim U.S. attorney, Jay Clayton, meaning it was likely made by someone at the Justice Department’s headquarters…

=====

Look! Over there! A distraction…

good luck next year joni ernst

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— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) July 16, 2025 at 4:51 PM

Thursday Morning Open ThreadPost + Comments (256)

Repub Corruption Open Thread: Don TACO, King of All Scammers

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Trump’s Finances Were Shaky. Then He Began to Capitalize on His Comeback
Contrary to the president’s assertions, records filed in the NYAG fraud case against him suggest that his riches were not the product of a steady and strong empire
by @russbuettner.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/u…

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— Wendy Siegelman (@wendysiegelman.bsky.social) July 2, 2025 at 12:32 PM

I’ve seen some discussion in the comments about the Oval Office Occupant being ‘untouchable’ because of his wealth… but maybe people have forgotten how much of that wealth is directly tied to his success in taking over the Republican party. From the NYTimes (paper of record for Our Serious Media), actual reporter Russ Buettner explains “Trump’s Finances Were Shaky. Then He Began to Capitalize on His Comeback”: [gift link]

Last spring, even as Donald J. Trump’s march back toward the White House dominated public attention, his finances, largely out of view, faced serious threats.

His office building in Lower Manhattan generated too little cash to cover its mortgage, with the balance coming due. Many of his golf courses regularly lacked enough players to cover costs. The flow of millions of dollars a year from his stint as a television celebrity had mostly dried up.

And a sudden wave of legal judgments threatened to devour all his cash.

Then, with his clinching of the Republican nomination, everything began to change.

In the following months, Mr. Trump, along with his two eldest sons, Eric and Donald Jr., refocused the family business, forming a series of partnerships, especially in cryptocurrency, with investors who were willing to bank on his victory.

Once Mr. Trump won the presidency in November, that approach kicked into overdrive.

His family business announced numerous new deals that would financially benefit Mr. Trump directly, even as he made policy decisions that affected those industries or that involved countries in which the United States had political interests. Most glaringly, Mr. Trump is now both a partner in several crypto ventures and, as president, crypto’s chief policy regulator, and he has signaled that he wants his administration to have a hands-off approach to digital currencies.

Today, those moves are seen by Mr. Trump’s detractors as a money grab of historic proportions. But an analysis by The New York Times of thousands of pages of internal Trump Organization documents filed in one of the legal actions against him suggests a more urgent motivation for Mr. Trump’s behavior: a need, rather than simply a desire, for easy money to keep his empire intact.

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War for Ukraine Day 1,238: Shaking Things Up

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A painting by Ukrainian artist NEIVANMADE. The words "NEVER AGAIN" are repeated over and over, from left to right and top to bottom, in a faded, washed out black against a white background. Red, the color of blood, runs and drips down across 2/3rds of the painting. "WHILE YOU TOLERATE TYRANTS" is written/painted in the bottom white corner below the three rows of "NEVER AGAIN".

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Before we get started, I wanted to put this above the jump because I intended to include it last night and managed to leave it out:

🚨 Kryvyi Rih suffered about 20 hits in a massive Russian drone attack, according to city defense chief Vilkul.

Another 15 drones are still in the air. Major power outages reported; water supply is running on generators, with pressure drops expected in high-rises.

— UNITED24 Media (@united24media.com) July 15, 2025 at 5:49 PM

Dobropillia, Donetsk Oblast:

Death tall in russian glide bomb attack on Dobropillia has risen to 2.

28 others were injured.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) July 16, 2025 at 3:49 PM

Russia dropped a 500-kg bomb on a shopping area in Dobropillia, Donetsk Oblast. One civilian killed, over 20 injured. Rescue efforts continue as there may still be people trapped beneath the rubble.

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) July 16, 2025 at 1:14 PM

UPD. Two people were killed and 27 injured in russian aerial attack on Dobropillia in Donetsk Oblast.

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) July 16, 2025 at 3:35 PM

Russian aviation struck an “Aurora” store in Dobropillia, Donetsk region, with a guided aerial bomb‼️

Initial reports indicate a significant number of people were killed and wounded. The exact casualty figures are still being determined.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) July 16, 2025 at 11:07 AM

Aurora stores are a multi-market chain in Ukraine. These stores are essentially discounters or ‘dollar stores,’ specializing in affordable, everyday consumer products. The are usually packed.

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) July 16, 2025 at 11:07 AM

President Zelenskyy starts his daily address with an update on the rescue and response efforts in Dobropillia. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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Flailing & Failing (Open Thread)

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Here’s the flailing part.

CNN: President Donald Trump is accusing some of his onetime supporters of being “weaklings” who are falling prey to Democratic “bullshit” about the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — concluding that he no longer wants their support.

The message was the clearest sign yet of the cracks emerging in the president’s coalition, many of whom are loudly demanding more information about the disgraced financier, who has been subject to myriad conspiracies since his death by suicide in 2019. And some of his allies don’t appear to be listening, with Republicans in Congress taking steps Wednesday morning to potentially force the Justice Department to release more documents…

“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullshit,’ hook, line, and sinker,” Trump wrote in a missive on Truth Social. “They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years.”

“I have had more success in 6 months than perhaps any President in our Country’s history, and all these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax,” he wrote. “Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore!”

Okay then. It’s possible that Team Sane underestimated how foundational the Epstein myth was not just to Q-anon loons but also to the ignoramus, generally anti-establishmentarian “manosphere” wankers.

In the linked article, Trump leaves open the door to further revelations at Pam Bondi’s discretion. But Bondi reiterates that there’s nothing from the Epstein files to release.

A few hours later, Bondi swatted away the possibility that she could release more case files, suggesting instead that last week’s memo declining to release files on Epstein “speaks for itself” and rejecting questions about making more documents public.

Remember, Bondi once hosted a gaggle of moronic “influencers” and sent them home with binders on Epstein, with promises of more to come. She has humiliated them. I’m open to theories, but it’s hard not to see that as an incredibly stupid bit of political malpractice.

***

In addition to the flailing, there’s the failing. The “unprecedented success” Trump fumes about is as elusive as the Epstein client list. The Big Billionaire Blowjob bill is unpopular now (and just wait until people find out what’s in it). Inflation is up, and the economy is starting to wobble thanks to Trump’s relentless and idiotic attacks on its load-bearing components.

I heard a clip of Hakeem Jeffries on Chris Hayes’ show, and Jeffries linked the Epstein matter to Trump’s general billionaire servicing and epic corruption. Seemed like a smart way to talk about it to me, as if it’s all of a piece, because fundamentally, it is.

The “presidential library” bribes Trump is receiving from giant corporations and tech titans are openly corrupt, as is the crypto grifting. Maybe none of this will matter. Maybe nothing will ever matter and Trump will get away with everything forever.

Or maybe the whole rotten edifice is about to fall into the abyss. I’m on Team Abyss.

Open thread.

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Excellent Read: The Past Isn’t Dead…

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we had a whole debate on this in the 1860s and ended up bayoneting to death the people who thought that some classes of people did not deserve equality before the law.
Just something to consider, you know. In the abstract.

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— Sky Marchini (@sky.skymarchini.net) July 16, 2025 at 11:50 AM

Fascinating read: Jamelle Bouie with an interviw on how “The Civil War That Never Ended” [gift link]:

Rather than write a column for this Independence Day weekend edition of the newsletter, I decided to chat with Zaakir Tameez, a recent graduate of Yale Law School, about his new biography of Charles Sumner, the Massachusetts senator and great antislavery proponent who helped change the course of American history.

I hope you enjoy the discussion, which has been edited for clarity…

So what brought you… to wanting to take on the project of writing a biography of Sumner?

I never planned on writing a book. The project started in a class in law school where I was reading the brief filed by Thurgood Marshall and the N.A.A.C.P. in Brown v. Board of Education. And as I’m reading this brief, I stumble on the name of Charles Sumner, who was cited not once, not twice but more than 40 times.

And I’m amazed by this because I knew about Charles Sumner as this U.S. senator who had been caned on the Senate floor as a prominent politician during the Civil War. What I did not know is that more than 100 years before Brown, Charles Sumner tried to integrate the schools of Boston in a case at the Massachusetts Supreme Court, where he argued that the equality provisions of the Massachusetts Constitution and the Declaration of Independence had to be implemented in law, such that there can be no separate schools.

Marshall took this argument by Charles Sumner, cited it point by point, redeveloped it and then said — and I’m paraphrasing — that credit goes to Thomas Jefferson for saying all men are created equal. But it was none other than Sumner who insisted that equality should be implemented in law. And given my own interest in Jefferson and at U.Va. and my interest in the history of race and slavery in this country, I thought Charles Sumner’s story needed to be told again.

Tell us about Charles Sumner in Boston. What is his family background? What brings him to the place where he is fighting for integration in Boston schools?

So Charles Sumner grew up in a series of contradictions. I’ll tell you just two. First, he’s a third-generation Harvard-educated man. His father went to Harvard, his grandfather went to Harvard, and he went to Harvard. But he also grew up in poverty because his father was a bastard child of his grandfather. Didn’t have any of the wealth and privileges that came with that. His father also was just a lawyer who was really bad at being a lawyer. He just couldn’t seem to make any money. And so they grew up impoverished. His mom was a seamstress.

That leads to the second contradiction, which is that Sumner grew up in a predominantly African American neighborhood in Boston in the 1810s and 1820s because his parents could not afford to live in any other part of town and also because his father was a true racial egalitarian. He was known to tip his hat walking past Black Bostonians. He always said that he wished for the day when Black people would be judges in Boston. Interestingly, he insisted on using the term “people of color” to refer to his neighbors. I thought of this as a modern term, but I see it in his diary…

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