Urban Larson

it's time for journos to start asking Johnson meta questions

"Speaker, on 5 occasions last week you said 'I haven't seen it' when asked about news events w/big implications for public policy. Do you ever read the news, and do you agree it's problematic for the Speaker to be so woefully uninformed?"

If we were a Republic functioning as intended with separation of powers, checks & balances, House Oversight would be conducting an investigation into the Zhao pardon that Trump doesn’t remember, his involvement with Trump’s crypto company, & the foreign investors. But we aren’t.

Trump is not actually president. Who is running the White House? This pardon is legally invalid.

Kash Patel in 2023: “I’m just saying Chris Wray doesn’t need a government funded G5 jet to go to vacations. Maybe we ground that plane. $15,000 every time it takes off. Just a thought.”

Here’s a link to the USDA announcement stating that food stores can’t offer discounts to SNAP recipients—complete with propaganda blaming it on the Democrats.

www.fns.usda.gov/snap/ebt/ret...

‘This Is Voter Intimidation’: Outrage Erupts as Trump Admin Sends ICE to Polling Locations With millions geared up to vote in a key off-year election, including a hotly watched redistricting measure in California, the Donald Trump administration has ignited fierce backlash by deploying fede...

Outrage Erupts as Trump Sends ICE to Polling Locations

With millions geared up to vote in a key off-year election, including a hotly watched redistricting measure in CA, Trump has ignited fierce backlash by deploying federal election monitors—sparking accusations of “blatant voter intimidation."

Crazy how much some media has normalized the idea that voters are taking a risk if they elect governors/mayors who will defy Trump. That he’ll threaten their funding, etc.

Try to imagine, say. Greg Abbott being asked if he’s worried that Biden will punish Texas over his lawsuits.

I have watched this work locally. When things are going terribly and the local GOP abandons their people and the local dems show up with food pantries and stuff to help anyone who needs it. It bleeds through the noise. Sometimes it radicalizes them into our cause.

But we get NO support down here.

Trump may strike Venezuela. His team makes that very risky. Take a close look at who is advising the president on U.S. policy.

🧵New piece from me @goodauth.bsky.social on risks of striking Venezuela, focused on the added risk from Trump team of loyalists. Hint: it has to do with centralized role of Rubio, the nation's top diplomat, and the incompetence of advisers like SecDef Hegseth. 1/
goodauthority.org/news/trump-m...

Living in corruptionville really stinks, doesn't it?

And again, a pattern of putting out statements accusing people of serious Federal crimes and then releasing them hours or days or weeks later with no charges. And no retraction.

It’s *definitely not a closed-loop bubble. Nope.

This quote continues to rattle me to my core:

"So what you’re telling us is you need less evidence to kill somebody than you do to hold them."

That's Rep Adam Smith to Pentagon officials in a briefing on Trump's illegal boat bombings. As he told me in this piece, they didn't answer his objection:

Trump posts his worst-ever net approval rating in a CNN poll this morning, 37% to 63% (-26) s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

“I Don’t Feel Safe”: Black Memphis Residents Report Harassment by Trump’s Police Task Force A pastor was pulled over for looking lost. A 72-year-old was marched out in his bathrobe due to mistaken identity. Memphis’ mayor welcomed the federal law enforcement surge, but some residents say the...

They were sleeping, driving, walking in Memphis. Then Trump’s police task force came.

Law enforcement surge established to focus on violent crimes has ensnared innocent residents going about their everyday lives.

@wendicthomas.bsky.social @kathsburgess.bsky.social for @propublica.org @mlk50.com

Trump sued 60 Minutes for editing a Kamala Harris interview to “make her look better.” Yesterday, 60 Minutes edited Trump’s interview, removing numerous outrageous claims, which made Trump look less insane. Will Trump sue them for it?

"It became necessary to destroy the town to save it."
–U.S. military officer during the Vietnam War

It’s clear who the aggressors are. Keep remaining nonviolent, and record EVERYTHING. All of these masked ICE thugs will be held accountable.

#Thugs

"Leaving his home in Ontario to work at a food bank Thursday morning, Carlos Jimenez pulled over to warn a group of federal agents that they should wrap up their stop of a car quickly because school-age children would soon gather there to take the bus, his lawyers said Sunday."

Women dancing for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago guests

Exactly. Show him his post first. Put it up on a screen. Then ask him virtually any question about any word, phrase, or sentence in it.

1/ This week, SCOTUS will hear Trump’s tariffs case, arguably one of the most important all term. It’s important to understand that this is not a case about tariffs in general or whether they are good policy. It’s about whether Trump had the authority to impose them.

He Alone Tracked Leaky Oil Wells in National Parks. He Was Let Go.

Forrest Smith, the only National Park Service engineer cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells, lost his contract, leaving 93 orphaned wells on park lands unmanaged. These leaking wells release methane and toxins, threatening human health and the environment.

-Sep 30: USDA releases guidance saying they can use contingency fund
-Oct 10: USDA tells states to prepare for lapse
-Oct 23: USDA deletes guidance saying they can use contingency fund
-Oct 24: USDA says it can’t use contingency fund
-Oct 31: Courts tell USDA to release funds
-Nov 1: no funds go out

Billionaires in the US now hold $7.6 trillion in wealth, an increase of almost $5 trillion in less than eight years.

After 3-Day Trial, Trump Appointee Judge Grants Preliminary Injunction Blocking Guard from Portland Judge Karin Immergut handed down a preliminary injunction late Sunday night, keeping...

Judge Karin Immergut handed down a preliminary injunction late Sunday night, keeping the National Guard out of Portland.
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/three-d...

Facts matter…this is true. 💙

Trump was gifted a crown belonging to a king who claimed power from heaven. Silla’s kings rose by centralizing absolute power… and eventually collapsed under the corruption and rebellion. This was expert-level trolling by S. Korea, but Trump is too absorbed in himself to notice he’s the punchline.