A Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel handed down a ruling this week that would significantly change how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prosecutes cases.
Continue reading “How The Fifth Circuit Used An SEC Case To Declare Open Season On The Administrative State”Christian Nationalism’s Central Role In The Election Truther Movement
Journalist Sarah Posner discussed her recent article for TPM, “How Christian Nationalism And The Big Lie Fused To Fuel Doug Mastriano’s Candidacy,” on MSNBC last night. Watch:
Continue reading “Christian Nationalism’s Central Role In The Election Truther Movement”5 Points On The Mess New York’s Redistricting Has Made For Democrats
Unlike in red states, where Republicans have largely been able to gerrymander their congressional maps with impunity, New York Democrats were stopped by the highest court in the state. The task of drawing the state’s districts was then assigned to an independent expert.
Continue reading “5 Points On The Mess New York’s Redistricting Has Made For Democrats”Fashing Very Strongly
The racist mass shooting in Buffalo seems to have brought us to something of a turning point in the American right’s embrace of “Great Replacement” theory as an operating framework of politics. Rather than running away from Great Replacement thinking, they’ve essentially said, “But it’s true. We can’t help that this one guy took things too far.” Indeed as you can see from our headline piece, Matt Schlapp of CPAC is now suggesting ways to limit political violence within the framework of Great Replacement politics. If you’re worried about immigrants “replacing us” the best strategy is to make more of “us,” by which he means ban abortion and thus increase the birth rate of “us.” Sort of a kinder gentler Great Replacement theory, though possibly not that kind or gentle if you have an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy.
Schlapp didn’t explicitly refer to white babies and brown babies. But I’m not sure he really had to.
Continue reading “Fashing Very Strongly”Emails Show Ginni Thomas Lobbied State Lawmakers To Subvert Election
Ginni Thomas, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife and a well-connected right-wing activist in her own right, lobbied two Republican lawmakers in Arizona to overturn the 2020 election results, emails reported by The Washington Post show.
Continue reading “Emails Show Ginni Thomas Lobbied State Lawmakers To Subvert Election”Mastriano’s Master’s Thesis Fearfully Imagines A Woke Dictator And A Civilian ‘Putsch’
Years before he helped fuel an insurrection at the Capitol, future Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano (R) was writing dystopian fanfiction that warned of a “civilian putsch” that would arise if the military didn’t take a stand to uphold a culture of conservative ideology.
Continue reading “Mastriano’s Master’s Thesis Fearfully Imagines A Woke Dictator And A Civilian ‘Putsch’”Big Pictures and Small in Ukraine
I went back and forth over whether to share this email from TPM Reader ME. But I decided to do so because I think he focuses our attention on aspects of the Ukraine war which aren’t at the top of the headlines but are central to how this conflict turns out and how the conflict plays out beyond Ukraine’s borders. I confess that while I certainly knew how Ukraine is the “breadbasket of Russia” or the “breadbasket of Europe” I didn’t appreciate how central Ukrainian grain production remains in our globalized 21st century world when so many regions of the world have been opened to mechanized agriculture and the trade systems that move grain production worldwide.
Continue reading “Big Pictures and Small in Ukraine”CPAC Leader Offers White Nationalists A Solution To ‘Great Replacement’: Abortion Ban
CPAC leader Matt Schlapp isn’t pushing back against white nationalists’ conspiracy theory that immigrants are replacing white Americans. In fact, Schlapp has an idea to allay their fears.
Continue reading “CPAC Leader Offers White Nationalists A Solution To ‘Great Replacement’: Abortion Ban”Trump About To Ditch A Drowning Perdue
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
No Time For Losers
Ex-Georgia Sen. David Perdue’s gubernatorial campaign is facing a total bloodbath on Tuesday, but Trump isn’t really interested in rescuing his endorsee, who the ex-president believes isn’t trying hard enough to defeat incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp (R), per NBC News.
- The ex-president isn’t planning on holding any more rallies for Perdue before the primary, according to a Trump associate.
- A Perdue spokesperson denied that the candidate had stopped trying by pointing out the existence of Perdue’s campaign website, where campaign events are “posted publicly.”
- In fact, it looks like Trump’s having second thoughts about giving future endorsements in general, CNN reports: Not just because of Perdue, but also because the Pennsylvania Senate GOP primary isn’t going Trump’s way either. His endorsee, celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz, is still neck-and-neck against David McCormick, and the race will likely face an automatic recount due to the paper-thin margin.
Michigan Elections Chief Says Trump Suggested She Be Executed
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) revealed in an NBC News interview that an inside source told her that the then-president allegedly floated having her arrested and executed for treason during a White House meeting after the 2020 election. A Trump spokesperson denied Benson’s allegation.
GOP Rep. Gave Capitol Tour Day Before Insurrection, Jan. 6 Committee Says
According to the House Jan. 6 Committee, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) gave a tour to visitors “through parts of the Capitol complex” the day before the Capitol attack. The panel also alleged that Republicans on the House Administration Committee (where Loudermilk sits) had denied seeing any tours while reviewing security camera footage of the days preceding the insurrection.
- The Jan. 6 committee pointed to the tour in an information request to Loudermilk on Thursday. The panel asked to meet with the Republican sometime next week.
- Loudermilk on Thursday denied giving anyone a “reconnaissance tour” on that day, claiming that he had only hosted a “constituent family with young children” in the House office buildings who never entered the Capitol building.
- Loudermilk and Administration Committee ranking member Rodney Davis (R-IL) also denied covering up evidence of pre-insurrection tours and demanded that the Capitol Police release the security camera footage. The Jan. 6 committee said in its letter to Loudermilk that it has evidence that “directly contradicts” the Republicans’ claim.
Barr Getting Ready To Testify To Jan. 6 Panel
Former Attorney General Bill Barr has tentatively agreed to give sworn testimony in front of the House Jan. 6 Committee, CNN reports. Axios and CBS News similarly report that the ex-attorney general’s in talks to cooperate with the panel.
- Barr already informally met with the committee vice chair, Liz Cheney (R-WY), and the lawyers on the committee last fall, according to CNN. They reportedly spoke for two hours.
Anti-Cawthorn Group Sets Sights On Boebert
The American Muckrakers PAC, the group behind FireMadison.com that published some of the damning and/or embarrassing content on Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) that led to his ouster, told Insider that with the North Carolina Republican booted out, the new target is Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO).
- The founder of the PAC said the “information” he’s already gotten on Boebert focuses on financial matters (not like the “salacious” stuff on Cawthorn). The Colorado Republican’s already got a shady history there: The Associated Press found last year that the congresswoman had failed to report her husband’s income as a consultant for an energy company.
- Boebert’s primary is on June 28. She’s facing off against Colorado state Sen. Don Coram (R).
Senate Greenlights $40 Billion Ukraine Aid
The Senate voted to approve $40 billion in additional military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine on Thursday, and the resolution is now ready for Biden’s signature. Once he signs it, the total amount of aid the U.S. gave to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion will be $54 billion.
Must Read
“So, Have You Heard About Monkeypox?” – The Atlantic
Elon Musk Exposed
Hmmm, why was Elon Musk putting on a big show about how he was switching to the GOP and how that would inevitably result in a smear campaign against him?
On cue came an Insider report yesterday on SpaceX allegedly paying off a flight attendant Musk had allegedly exposed himself to.
Also lol:
Glee Nostalgia You Didn’t Ask For
I’ve been seeing a lot of Glee content on my Twitter feed over the past few days, and while it was a truly awful show (most fans knew it was an awful show even then, which sounds contradictory but just believe me as a Tumblr veteran), I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make the teensiest bit nostalgic of my Glee fandom days.
So in the spirit of reminiscence, I’m going to serve y’all some of Glee’s top bangers, and I will not apologize for it:
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Defeated Cawthorn Resurfaces With Ominous Post Vowing ‘Dark MAGA’ Takeover
Fresh off of his primary defeat, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) on Thursday re-emerged with a threatening post on Instagram vowing vengeance with a “Dark MAGA” takeover.
Continue reading “Defeated Cawthorn Resurfaces With Ominous Post Vowing ‘Dark MAGA’ Takeover”