Mollie Hampton

I would say we're farther away from fascism, and from authoritarian takeover, now than we were a year ago, when I was a *lot* more worried. (Go listen in on my recent podcasts with Charlie Sykes and others over the past month.)

Do you feel overwhelmed? Tired? Exhausted with the constant news cycle?

I want you to know: that's their goal.

They want you checked out. They want you burnt out. I get it. I feel it.

Take a break, but don't give up. When you give up, they win.

ON REDDIT — allegedly a mailer went out threatening Republicans to go vote in the TN-7 special election:

“Party leadership would be very disappointed” “You can’t afford that on your record” “your neighbors are watching” “we are compiling a list”😕
www.reddit.com/r/pics/s/NTd...

I have no words for this.

EPSTEIN TRUMP EPSTEIN TRUMP EPSTEIN TRUMP EPSTEIN TRUMP EPSTEIN TRUMP EPSTEIN TRUMP EPSTEIN TRUMP EPSTEIN TRUMP EPSTEIN TRUMP EPSTEIN TRUMP EPSTEIN TRUMP...

🔥 WATCH: “I don’t want to hear about the Biden administration— you’re here on behalf of the Trump administration.”

@ossoff.bsky.social won’t let Trump’s budget guy russ vought get away with the Biden-blaming they all try to do.

Ouch. #TrumpsTrillionsTransfer

Banning Plastic Bags Works to Limit Shoreline Litter, Study Finds Using crowdsourced data from shore cleanups, researchers found that areas that enacted plastic bag bans or fees had fewer bags littering their lakes, rivers and beaches than those without them.

In places throughout the U.S. where plastic bags require a fee or have been banned, fewer bags end up at the water’s edge, according to research published Thursday in Science.

It’s not hyperbole to say that the deaths in Minnesota are on the GOP’s hands. They’ve built this political environment and they’ve allowed a demagogue to spread hate. This is entirely on them.

👇👇

Sen. Kevin Cramer on raising the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25: "I don't even know why we have a 'federal minimum wage' to be honest ... I think the market works really well ... I just think manipulating markets with mandatory wages doesn't make any sense."

Trump Rages at His Own Appointed Judge in Explosive Tariff Tirade The president fumed about the tariff ruling a day after it was issued.

President Donald Trump blew up at his own appointee to a federal trade court that struck a massive blow to his tariff agenda.

J. D. Vance Warns Courts to Get in Line The Vice-President says it’s time for Chief Justice John Roberts to step in and make judges behave. He’s wrong.

Vance was speaking to the New York Times’ Ross Douthat about the Trump Administration’s nearly unbroken string of court losses
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

I’m so very sorry for your loss. What a good boy he was and I know how much you will miss him. 💔

CDC ends Covid vaccine recommendation for healthy kids and pregnant women Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a Covid vaccine critic — made the announcement on X.

NEW - The CDC will no longer recommend routine Covid shots for healthy children and pregnant women, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on X. Reporting w/ @erikaedwards.bsky.social

www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

Go Henry! Good job!

Honoring those who gave everything in service to this country. Today isn’t about celebration—it’s about remembrance, gratitude, and reflection.

Tariffs, Tokens, and Takedowns: Trump’s Week of Desperation and Defeat As markets nosedive and courtrooms slam the brakes on his overreach, Trump spins fantasy victories while grifting off crypto bros and alienating the planet. At least the turtles are winning.

Markets are plunging. Trump’s threatening the EU, grifting crypto whales, and claiming credit for a #Ukraine peace deal that isn’t done. Meanwhile, the courts are blocking his worst impulses, and yes, turtles are quietly winning. #memecoin #macron
open.substack.com/pub/marygedd...

GENERAL MCCHRYSTAL: “I think people are bothered by the lack of seriousness (at the Pentagon under Hegseth) — it’s a team. No one in the military cares if you’re trans. They want to get the job done. And what best defends us is EVERYBODY.”

Trump Budget Cuts Hobble Antismoking Programs

Efforts to drive down the smoking rate have worked: We're at a 75-year low for smoking and a 25-year low for vaping. Now the CDC office credited with some of that work is gone.

I met with teens in West Virginia who were sad to see their anti-vaping group cut:

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/h...

So offensive.

Former aide who refuted Trump's false 2020 election claims is under federal investigation A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Chris Krebs is “under active investigation by law enforcement agencies” but declined to say why.

A former senior cybersecurity official who refuted President Donald Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was “rigged” is under federal investigation, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson.

Sen. Ossoff: Who out there in the American public is sitting at home demanding that we shut down cancer research and Alzheimer's research?

SCOTT PELLEY says ‘60 Minutes’ executive producer Bill Owens resigned after Paramount started meddling in their content, because they wanted to get their merger approved by Trump — specifically mentioning their coverage of Israel and Trump.

A U.S.-China Trade War With Students and Tourists as Potential Pawns With travel warnings and revoked visas, the two superpowers locked in a bruising trade war may make students and tourists their bargaining chips.

The trade war between the U.S. and China is already eroding far more than just economic ties. The rapid expansion of the battlefield, from trade to culture and education, underscores how fragile the relationship between the U.S. and China has become.

The reason I have been unwaveringly NeverTrump from the beginning is it’s always been obvious to me that Trump is a bad person whose personal values are fundamentally at odds with the values of American liberal democracy. Not a flawed person, as we all are. But a bad person.

This would mean we would have 104% tariff on ALL goods from China

Ossoff: He’s so consumed by his efforts to secure revenge, crush his enemies, and conquer Greenland that he’s doing nothing for the people who elected him. His entire domestic agenda is tax breaks for the wealthy, rounding up immigrants, revenge, and centralizing as much power as he can..

@nedprice.bsky.social: "The irony of this is that Jeffrey Goldberg probably did more than all of these supposed custodians of our national security combined to protect our national security by reporting on this. If this gets them to stop this practice, that is to our collective national benefit."

Preach