Top military lawyer raised legal concerns about boat strikes The lawyer at U.S. Southern Command, which oversees the operations against alleged drug-smuggling boats near Venezuela, disagreed that the strikes are legal and was overruled, according to six sources...

The senior military lawyer for the combatant command overseeing lethal strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats near Venezuela disagreed with the Trump administration's position that the operations are lawful — and his views were sidelined, according to six sources with knowledge of the legal advice.

MAGA reacts to Trump’s meeting with Mamdani.

A tweet from “Aaron Rupar @atrupar” reads: “Mark Kelly: ‘He’s talked about sending troops into more cities, he’s talked about invoking the Insurrection Act… You don’t have to go too far back… when he went to his Sec Def & said, “Can’t we just shoot these protesters in the legs.” That is an example of an illegal order.’” Below is a CNN screenshot with two anchors speaking on-air. The chyron reads: “TRUMP ACCUSES DEMS OF ‘SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, PUNISHABLE BY DEATH.’”

If and when Trump or Hegseth gives the order to fire upon U.S. citizens, the military must remember their oaths are to our Constitution, not to these madmen.

November is National Family Caregivers Month. I want to recognize all the caregivers out there who are doing the hard work of taking care of loved ones, often without pay or adequate support.
 
I see you and I'm going to be working hard to make sure you get the support you need.

This Week In The Big Picture It may not feel like it most days, but Donald Trump’s authoritarian ambitions have been seriously kneecapped by the courts.

Trump’s getting blocked in court, and MAGA’s losing its grip on the culture. Two stories this week that show how the tide is turning. thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p/week-big-p...

STOP THE TRUMP SHUTDOWN

If you agree that no one should have to go hungry in America, hold your Republican elected officials accountable and otherwise help end this shutdown. indivisible.org/campaign/sto...

Tell Congress: Fully investigate the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case Contact Congress today!

Only 117 to go until we get to 17,500!

Help us push for an investigation into Trump's Epstein scandal HERE: actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...

Tell Congress: Pass the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act Contact Congress today!

Congressional offices are closed, but their inboxes aren't. Demand Congress pass this bill to release the Epstein files--YOU CAN DO IT NOW HERE:
actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...

Obama: They never miss a chance to scapegoat minorities and D.E.I. For every problem under the sun. You got a flat tire? D.E.I.. Wife mad at you? D.E.I..

Kristi Noem's Big Lie Debunked As Spanberger Slams Trump and Buttigieg Blasts His 'Mob Boss Politics' While maga melts down, the resistance rises

In case you missed today's great news!

12 and 15

Handin' out pocket-sized Constitutions to trick or treaters this year. Go get a Snickers bar next door, Waldo. Uncle George is hooking you up with the Separation of Powers and whatnot.

YouTube video by Democracy Docket Rachel Maddow & Marc Elias Break Down Trump's DOJ Poll Monitor Scheme

Rachel Maddow and I discuss a shocking new move by the Trump administration: sending Department of Justice “poll monitors” — handpicked by Pam Bondi — to California and New Jersey just days before the November elections and why this poses a grave threat to free and fair elections.

This really was one of my main takeaways

Idaho prosecuted the FBI sniper at Ruby Ridge for manslaughter.

A different DA then got elected and dropped it, but that was after the Ninth Circuit said he didn't have sovereign immunity and could be tried on state charges. It's a high bar to clear but it's not impossible.

it's hard to Nazi what's going on here

Of course this all comes immediately after Petro accused the US of murdering an innocent Colombian fisherman causing Trump to rage on Truth Social and issue threats.

If you’ve been hoping for good news on the gerrymandering front, Virginia is your delightful surprise of the month! State legislators stepped up to the plate and announced an aggressive response to red states’ redistricting, with the potential to wipe out their gains. My write-up is in the replies.

Chicago Federal Judge Hauls Bovino in to Court A Chicago federal judge on Friday demanded that CBP commander and federal...

A Chicago federal judge on Friday demanded that CBP commander Greg Bovino appear next week in her courtroom after he was accused of openly violating one of her orders.
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/chicago...

“The use of force that I’ve seen has been exemplary — the least amount of force necessary to accomplish the mission,” Bovino told @cbsnews.com Friday. “If someone strays into a pepper ball, then that’s on them. Don’t protest and don’t trespass.”

Stephen Miller on Fox threatens to arrest JB Pritzker for "seditious conspiracy" and says, "to all ICE officers: you have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties. And anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to stop or obstruct you is committing a felony."

I smell state prosecutions.

YouTube video by Reagan Library President Reagan's Radio Address on Free and Fair Trade on April 25, 1987

So they didn’t like the ad. Let’s just post Reagan’s 5 min speech against tariffs as it appears on YouTube.

Over and over. On all platforms (some of y’all are still on X).

*1981 Sherrilyn horrified by 2025 Sherrilyn saying “let’s post Reagan’s speech.”

youtu.be/5t5QK03KXPc

ICE officers should not take legal advice from this ignorant Trump crony, who is practicing TrumpLaw without a license. If federal officials engage in violent crimes, they could well be indicted and convicted by state law enforcement authorities.

Why Anti-Voting Activists Are Using the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Election to Spread Disinformation Read about the fight for democracy from activists, elected officials, legal experts and others.

State Supreme Court races used to be sleepy affairs that hardly gained much national attention. Now, they’re peaking the interest of right-wing groups who want to use them to influence people into voting for measures that advance their own agenda. https://bit.ly/3JeB3Ax

A tweet from Matthew Gertz reads: “The Orbanization of the U.S. media is happening in plain sight, with the president using regulatory power to direct the sales of news outlets to his wealthy allies.” It quotes a post from Charles Gasparino reporting that a Trump administration official said the government favors Paramount Skydance in acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, with regulatory obstacles planned for rival bidders.

This is how oligarchs wind up helping tyrants and get favors back for it.

Hegseth doesn't dispute the existence of a memo planning for the establishment of a "National Guard response force that's gonna be trained in crowd control and civil unrest and deployed in all 50 states by April 2026."

Brought to you by the same voters who started losing faith in the government when government forces attacked the Branch Davidian complex in Waco in 1993

....sigh

Yes of course it's The Epstein Ballroom. Always will be.