Alissa McLean

Russia is not winning its war in Ukraine

But Steve Witkoff has agreed to treat them as a victor

It’s a long Russian con to make America complicit — and it makes America weak, and corrupt

White House blew past legal concerns in deadly strikes on drug boats The Trump administration sidestepped skeptical lawyers across national security agencies as it pursued a military campaign against alleged narcotraffickers, officials say.

On the patently unlawful boat strikes

It's hard for USGs to claim ‘mistake of law’ or ‘advice of counsel’ – when they’re firing lawyers who wouldn't sign off on the strikes.

WaPo's new revelations on firings or removals:

1) CIA General Counsel
2) NSC Legal Adviser
3) CIA Mission Center’s lawyer
🧵

Her dad was taken by immigration agents. Now a 12-year-old girl fears she’s lost her only living parent. The separation illustrates a tragic consequence of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown: children left behind after a parent is detained or deported.

"Usually she had warned her father about immigration agents before he went to work on construction sites.

'That one day he was taken, that day we didn’t say anything,' Delila said from her new home ... 'Can I get a second chance?' she choked out."

💔

www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/22/c...

Apparently the dementia handlers supporting Trump haven't told him that Bolsonaro is in a Brazilian jail cell right now.

Right?
And even if it has been “her” DOJ, the DOJ is independent of the White House! It’s only in this effed up timeline that the President and his goons are all up in their business!

Why Donald Trump Seems Taken With Zohran Mamdani Michael Powell

This was one of several moments in the press conference that felt more like a Saturday Night Live skit than a newscast. But perhaps all this was not as improbable as it looked and sounded. Trump bellows and insults and demeans, but so much of that is an act, guff and bullying. His earlier talk of Mamdani as “my little communist mayor” even carried an odd hint of affection, and there was evident admiration in the way in which he spoke of Mamdani’s unlikely mayoral victory. These men are, in their very different ways, populists, Queens men, and sometimes statists; they share a disdain for political establishments. And Trump, the developer, is aware of the extremely high cost of New York real estate, a focus of Mamdani’s campaign.

Every article by a 'savvy' political analyst reads like a focus group transcript with a low-information voter.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Spanberger hints at University governing changes to come - Cville Right Now Appearing on The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart, Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger called a UVA agreement with the feds "a weakened pact", and promised changes are coming in the way the Commonw...

“When people question why the university or president didn’t defend themselves, well because the University counsel was handpicked by our state Attorney General who’s doing the bidding for the Department of Justice,” Spanberger said.

cvillerightnow.com/news/208802-...

As I spent more and more of my life under the care of doctors, nurses, and researchers striving to improve the lives of others, I watched as Bobby cut nearly a half billion dollars for research into mRNA vaccines, technology that could be used against certain cancers; slashed billions in funding from the National Institutes of Health, the world's largest sponsor of medical research; and threatened to oust the panel of medical experts charged with recommending preventive cancer screenings. Hundreds of N.I.H. grants and clinical trials were cancelled, affecting thousands of patients. I worried about funding for leukemia and bone-marrow research at Memorial Sloan Kettering. I worried about the trials that were my only shot at remission. Early in my illness, when I

Just an absolutely gutting essay by Tatiana Schlossberg, a writer, mother of two young children, and cousin of RFK Jr who is dying of leukemia.

www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

RIP Sky

WTF did they *think* would happen? Dummies 🤣

Trump’s offshore drilling plan blasted by California politicians President Donald Trump’s order for new oil drilling off California and Florida drew quick pushback from state leaders, who said it would benefit only petroleum companies: “Our coast is not for...

This is bad for our environment and won't lower costs for drivers. I wrote the state law on cleaning up oil spills when I served in the California State Senate and I know firsthand that this is a terrible idea.

Just a reminder that ICE head Tom Homan was caught taking a $50,000 cash bribe and the Trump administration covered it up.

What “ground” did Harris concede to Cheney?

I think Mamdani is doing what he has to for his voters by charming the pants off Donald Trump, and I'm glad he's got the natural charisma to do it, but I do want to point out that people would absolutely savage Whitmer or Shapiro for doing the same

Special election I’m sure

Day 325 of my year of “every day, take a walk outside.”

I’ve always loved this house. Looks like it has so many fun nooks and crannies!

It’s funny/sad that folks want to pretend that it’s charisma or some magic beans that had the orange demon smiling with the mayor elect of NYC.

What is it about the regressive branch of the Democratic Party that is unable to give grace to a BW but will twist themselves into pretzels to make excuses

It’s deeeeeeeeeeep deep red
We have to put up a candidate of course, but people should not sink a bunch of money into it. It will stay very MAGA.

From a spokesperson for U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin:

People who weren’t alive at this time really can’t imagine what “Who shot JR?” hype was like 😭

Hell has indeed frozen over, and it tells you everything you need to know.

This is what happens when a Republican Party built on corruption and corrosion finally hits the wall.

Are you mental?

Hope Floats? Bipartisan House team introduces ACA enhanced tax credit extension bill which...isn't terrible! Back in September, before the federal government shutdown, I said: At a bare, bare minimum, do not settle for a one- or two-year extension of the eAPTCs. Kicking this particular can down the road for ...

📣📣📣 HOPE FLOATS? Bipartisan House team introduces #ACA enhanced tax credit extension bill which...isn't terrible!

acasignups.net/25/11/21/hop...

They are literally firing all the judges they think might grant relief. They just fired a friend of mine a couple hours ago. They have no shame. The bastards want an assembly line for deportations and nothing more; rubber-stamping bootlickers who’ll yes’sir at every new diktat to deny.

It makes me so uncomfortable 😭

The Olivia Nuzzi Comeback Is Everything Wrong With Modern Media Olivia Nuzzi’s comeback isn’t a personal scandal story—it’s proof that today’s media rewards access, personality, and controversy more than ethics.

"She’s not trying to rebuild her reputation as a journalist—she’s building a different kind of brand entirely, one where being interesting matters more than being ethical, where attention is the only currency that still spends."

The best thing I have read about her. www.mediaite.com/opinion/the-...

I find it extremely surprising that any Democrats voted no on this, other than maybe the Squad themselves

this is not a dunk on Democrats, I would have slammed that rhetorically-meaningless button as hard as I could

“Embarrassing” and “horrifying”: CDC workers describe the new vaccines and autism page "The best way I can put it is it feels like we're on a hijacked airplane."

New from me: I talked to CDC staffers about the new vaccines and autism page. They said things like:

“The best way I can put it is it feels like we’re on a hijacked airplane.”

“I think people are starting to see that we can’t fulfill our mission here.”