Stephanie M. Smith

HB 219 Maryland Voting Rights Act of 2026 - Voter Intimidation and Suppression “Altering public notice requirements of the State Board of Elections, local boards of elections, and certain municipal corporations with respect to changes in administrative policy affecting voting rights; prohibiting acts of intimidation, deception, or obstruction that interfere with the right to vote; prohibiting local governments from taking any action related to the election process that results in a disparity between members of a protected class and other members of the electorate; etc.”

HB 219 from @stephaniemsmith.bsky.social focuses on combating voter intimidation & suppression: mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/L...

A racist being racist is to be expected.

#NothingNew

So the guy who wanted peaceful protesters in DC to be shot is threatening Iran for shooting protesters there. Have I got that right?

Johnson: It is equally inappropriate for ICE agents to just throw teargas out of a window because people are yelling at them. It is unacceptable for ICE agents to go up and threaten to arrest and harm people because they are honking a horn or exercising a protest, that is unacceptable.

ALA welcomes reinstatement of all federal IMLS grants to libraries Today, the American Library Association (ALA) greeted an announcement by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) that it had reinstated all the agency’s grants.

The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored all previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge

"Restoration of these grants is a massive win for libraries of all kinds in all states."

When the GOP has lost *checks notes*… Ron Paul, we’re really living in the upside down

It’s been 45 days since Adelita Grijalva was elected by the people of Arizona.

Mike Johnson is still refusing to swear her in because she’s the final vote for the discharge petition to release the Epstein files.

😎😎😎😎 GOOD THINGS CAN STILL HAPPEN 😎😎😎😎

The Spinelessness of Thune and Johnson Is Destroying American Democracy | Common Dreams You are destroying the Constitution by dismantling the separation of powers in favor of limitless presidential authority indistinguishable from monarchy or Der Fuhrer.

The Spinelessness of Thune and Johnson Is Destroying American Democracy www.commondreams.org/opinion/john...

Every day, it seems like we tick a little bit closer to midnight.

Would be great if the GOP Congress would quit sleepwalking through this.

If anyone wonders why we call them wannabe authoritarians, here you go.

They’re now shitting on the Bill of Rights.

*This* was an outstanding episode/conversation. This hit hard: "...we all knew the backlash was coming...most of what happened in 2020 was performative...[no] ..societal or structural [changes] that people were asking for..we got symbolic victories and now were being met with structural resistance."

Mary Trump issues "domino effect" warning after Jimmy Kimmel pushed off air

"The Trump regime's descent into full-blown authoritarianism is frightening, but it's not surprising," Mary Trump wrote on Friday.

We just got a glimpse of how Black towns, businesses, churches, schools, homes, and Black bodies were destroyed and killed

In white Utah at a white college at a white rally a white man killed by another white man resulted in anger at… Black people & institutions.. just like in the past.

Evergreen High School shooter embraced Columbine, antisemitism and white supremacy online Review shows that Desmond Holly also posted online about Columbine shooting and a picture of a revolver

The 16-year-old boy accused of shooting two classmates at Evergreen High School embraced conspiratorial, antisemitic and white supremacist social media content

Extremist murders by ideology, 2013 to 2022. www.pbump.net/o/reassessin...

Nichols: Even though these guys come across as clowns, they're clowns with flamethrowers.. They have the machinery of government behind them. These are people that normally would be struggling to hold on to middle management jobs in a department store somewhere

Texas Democrat Sues After Republicans Lock Her In State Capitol Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier was told she was not free to leave the building after refusing to sign a permission slip requiring a 24-hour police escort.

Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier is suing over "illegal confinement" after Republicans locked her in the state Capitol for refusing police surveillance

E.J. Antoni was at the Capitol on Jan 6, and is in the yellow circle

Trump's pick to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics was at the Jan. 6 insurrection

www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...

“Surviving Jeffrey Epstein” is the most-watched documentary right now on Amazon Prime. It came out in 2020. But it’s right at the top (#1) of “most watched” on the site.

In case anyone thought people had forgotten about the Epstein files.

THEY HAVEN’T.

Heat deaths reach 29, Maryland’s deadliest summer since 2012 High heat in Maryland has killed more people so far this year than in all of 2024.

Heat is the deadliest form of extreme weather. This is officially the deadliest heat year in Maryland since 2012 — and we’re only part way through the heat season. W/ @adampwillis.bsky.social in @thebaltimorebanner.com:

Live updates: D.C. faces increased law enforcement amid Trump’s crackdown on crime Get the latest news on President Donald Trump’s second term and the Republican-led Congress.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) argued that President Trump presents a bigger danger to Americans than crime in Washington.

“The crime scene in D.C. most damaging to everyday Americans is at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,” Jeffries wrote on X.

Some inspiration just for you, from James Talarico

Our status as a democracy is in tatters. There's no easy way to build or keep a democracy. The world is watching.

I started raising the alarm on this plan in April.

open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...

🚨 Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, with its 4-3 liberal majority, has struck down the state’s 1849 abortion ban:

www.jsonline.com/story/news/p...

Crockett: We have 83 billionaires. And somehow they have 535 people that are speaking up for them every single day to make sure that when they get married for a second or third or fourth time, that they can go ahead and have another $50 million wedding

Crockett: How is it that you can explain that we still are running up the credit card and we have nothing to show for it except for the fact that we won't have food on the tables and we won’t have health care.

DOJ announces plans to prioritize cases to revoke citizenship Denaturalization is a tactic heavily used during the McCarthy era and one that was expanded during the Obama administration and grew further during President Trump's first term. It's a tool usually us...

"The Justice Department is aggressively prioritizing efforts to strip some Americans of their U.S. citizenship...At least one person has already been denaturalized...June 13, a judge ordered the revocation of the citizenship of Elliott Duke, who uses they/them pronouns."

www.npr.org/2025/06/30/n...