Mark Wright

IRS, White House clashed over immigrants’ data before tax chief was ousted The Trump administration’s move to push out IRS Commissioner Billy Long came after the agency said it couldn’t release some information on taxpayers suspected of being here illegally.

The IRS clashed with the White House over using tax data to locate suspected undocumented immigrants just hours before Trump officials fired IRS Commissioner Billy Long.

Long's dismissal makes his tenure now the briefest in the agency's 163-year history.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

other98

This is what Trump's Justice Department just said in court: "Speaking Spanish or working in construction ... can heighten the likelihood that someone is unlawfully present in the United States." ... It's just blatant racism masquerading as official policy.

there’s something in the air because i was just chatting about this with a coworker. there was fear & uncertainty but there was also this incredible sense of “we’re in it together”. people went outside, distilleries churned out sanitizer, friends knit masks. bet the New Deal felt like that.

What if History Died by Sanctioned Ignorance? We must mobilize now to defend our profession, not only with research and teaching but in the realm of politics and public persuasion.

All authoritarians must be propagandists. Destruction of facts leaves the dictator as the only source of "truth." There must be 100 ways to participate in the opposition. Preservation of history and spreading facts among them. newrepublic.com/article/1983...

A red dragonfly on a leaf

It took about 20 tries to get this lovely Common Darter dragonfly (Sympetrum striolatum) in focus so excuse the weird framing but loooook how pretty!

To my critics who say that my position urging Democratic governors to redrawing maps is simply a race to the bottom, I say this:

The only thing Donald Trump understand is overwhelming force. We shouldn't bring knives to a gun fight, we should be missiles. Unilateral disarmament is not an option.

Who's Better? Tony Romo or Dak Prescott This Month's Founders' Choice is going to tackle one of our city's favorite debates.

EW: I finally did it - Romo vs Dak api.omarshehata.me/substack-pro...

Back in the days of #exvangelical Twitter, I hoped this guy would end up as a footnote.

Cornyn is a bastard.

These GOP Lawmakers Referred Constituents to the CFPB for Help. Then They Voted to Gut the Agency. Many of the same Republican lawmakers who have targeted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for cuts have collectively directed thousands of constituents’ complaints about banks, credit cards,…

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, voted for cuts to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but he’s also routed more than 800 of his constituents’ complaints to the agency — the most of any current lawmaker from either party, ProPublica found.

By @joeljacobs.bsky.social

The Heritage Foundation and Christian Nationalists think they’re really having their moment right now. Historically, extremists have never fared well in this country. Don’t mistake momentary momentum born of incompetence and grifting for real political strength.

The fact that Trans service members who are forced to leave the military are being denied early retirement pension if they are 15-19 years in, is angering and should anger all Americans.

Meanwhile the draft dodging fat-assed douche canoe clown balls of a President dodged the draft.

Air Force Denies Early Retirement for Transgender Men and Women

This is just cruelty for no reason other than to be cruel. It’s inexcusable and the core of everything wrong with this hateful regime.

Air Force Denies Early Retirement for Transgender Men and Women www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/u...

Trump’s Vile Take on Teenager’s Rape Goes Viral as Epstein Woes Deepen Old footage of the president defending convicted rapist Mike Tyson has resurfaced as speculation mounts that the president may pardon Ghislaine Maxwell.

President Donald Trump’s shocking defense of a champion boxer who raped a teenage girl has resurfaced as the president faces intense scrutiny of his relationship with accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION

Violent crime is down in DC, but facts don’t matter to this aspiring dictator

www.cnn.com/2025/08/07/p...

This is just more flood the zone shit to cover for Epstein.

DC is just fine. This is bizarre and just plain bonkers

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy defiantly declared Ukraine "will not give their land to occupiers," after Trump suggested a peace deal would include 'swapping' of territories with Russia.

"The answer to Ukraine's territorial question is already in the constitution of Ukraine."

I feel this should be a bigger story, right?

What can the FBI do in Texas redistricting fight? Not much, experts say. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has said the FBI granted his request to help bring Democratic lawmakers back to the state. But the bureau appears to have taken few concrete steps.

Sen. John Cornyn said FBI agents had been assigned to help Texas law enforcement track down the more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who left the state amid a messy redistricting fight.

But it's unclear what steps the FBI is taking, if any.

A video arguing that women shouldn’t be able to vote was just shared by Trump’s Secretary of Defense, the guy in charge of our whole military.

And Democratic Party leaders still can’t stand up to this administration?! Our rights are on the line and all our party leaders offer us is silence.

Seems important. Protect democracy? Nah. I’ll try the pastrami on rye instead.

Sadly it's going to be the very worst people in this country who are going to find this job appealing. And they're also going to be untested and essentially untrained. It seems inevitable that even worse things are going to happen.

‘Firmly into break the glass territory’: ICE ramps up recruitment and the job requirement is MAGA Uncle Sam wants you - to deport undocumented immigrants? To "defend your culture"? The Department of Homeland Security is ramping up ICE recruitment with their "Defend the Homeland" campaign. DHS has dropped the age and education requirements, and is throwing cash incentives at applicants - no experience needed. It's becoming clear that this is not about border security. Award-winning journalist Randy Balko argues Americans should be alarmed, "we are explicitly creating a paramilitary for Trump.” University of Toronto’s Dr. Jason Stanley shares his concern and is worried about the impact the job will have on the new inexperienced agents, “what they are doing will affect them for their whole lives…it's brutal work.”

ICE is dialing up recruitment w/ a "Defend the Homeland" campaign after gaining $75B from Trump & Congress. "We are now firmly into break-the-glass territory," says @radleybalko.bsky.social. Fascism expert Jason Stanley warns about the “ideological cover” needed for the “moral injury” of the job.

Found one of those able bodied men who refuse to work & are on free govt health care

Both Democracy Docket and the Washington Post have new stories today about the fight over Texas redistricting. DD is focusing on the GOP weaponizing government. WaPo thinks it is Democrats who are taking a "risk gambit" to fight back.

Support independent, pro-democracy media. hubs.ly/Q03jcjqP0

We’re at the authoritarian tipping point, where the key systems meant to keep democracy in check are being controlled by one side, for example, SCOTUS.

Restoring democracy becomes almost impossible w/out a major systemic shock. It’s moving faster than most people realize & it's becoming too late.

The road to Fascism is lined with people telling you to stop overreacting.

Group of people posing together outside at the Capital Cookout in Ward 7 in Washington, D.C.

As Donald Trump further flames his threats to federalize D.C., we hosted a Capital Cookout in Ward 7 to bring together communities that make the District strong.

This is the real D.C., Donald—and if you can’t see that, maybe watch less Fox News and get out of your gilded palace.

Trump removes IRS boss, Treasury Secretary Bessent takes over for now Billy Long, who was sworn in just under two months ago, was already the sixth person to hold the job this year. He told NBC News he will be the next U.S. ambassador to Iceland.

We’re now on our 6th IRS Commissioner. I think these guys know they don’t have immunity like Trump does. www.nbcnews.com/politics/eco...