Mo Martin

Texas AG Files Lawsuit Seeking to Remove 13 State Democrats From Office Read more here.

🚨BREAKING: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) followed through Friday on his threat to ask courts to remove quorum-breaking Democrats from office, as a group of state lawmakers continues to hold their ground to block a GOP redistricting scheme. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Texas Is the Dry Run for the GOP’s Dismantling of Electoral Democracy As Lone Star State Republicans prepare to do Trump’s bidding, expect the GOP’s gerrymandering war to expand.

I went to the Texas Capitol to cover a redistricting hearing. I left having watched a woman get arrested because a man insisted he was the one attacked.

For the GOP, the system is working exactly like it should.

newrepublic.com/article/1989...
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This is bullshit framing. Yes, the SS needed deeper draft for support boats. But they wouldn’t if he wasn’t there. Vance has made a hobby of being as ostentatiously disruptive as possible bc this entire admin loves to prance around like royalty. It’s the whole reason they’re in this grift.

Israel’s Settler Right Is Preparing to Annex Gaza A radical campaign that began in 2023 is entering its final phase.

In 2023, I wrote about the campaign on the Israeli settler right to expel Palestinians and resettle Gaza, and why it was more likely to happen than many credited. My latest is about how that campaign is closer than ever to succeeding. Gift link:

Exclusive: Inside the Minsk Backchannel Secret talks with Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko show the risks of Trump's latest diplomatic gambit with Putin

“A few minutes into our conversation, the official asked how much it would cost to arrange an interview with TIME, and he sounded perplexed to learn that the process could not involve any kind of bribe.”
Must-read on the secret White House backchannel paving the Way For a Trump-Putin Summit

After six years of adding medical staff, the VA this year is down more than 600 doctors and about 1,900 nurses. The number of doctors on staff has declined each month since President Donald Trump took office. The agency also lost twice as many nurses as it hired between January and June, records viewed by ProPublica show.

Trump admin says everything is hunky-dory at the VA.

But we found that the number of doctors at VA has dropped each month since Trump took office.

Nurses are way down too

We got the records.

www.propublica.org/article/vete...

by @davidarmstrongx.bsky.social @vernalcoleman.bsky.social and me.

Why a NASA satellite that scientists and farmers rely on may be destroyed on purpose The Trump administration has asked NASA staffers to draw up plans to end at least two satellite missions that measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to current and former NASA employees.

Head of NASA Sean Duffy intends to destroy a satellite that collects key data on carbon dioxide and plant health, by causing it to burn up in the atmosphere. The U.S. Dept of Agriculture and private agriculture firms use the data to forecast crop yield, drought conditions and more.

The terrifying reality behind one of America’s fastest-growing dairy brands The dark side of Fairlife — and America’s protein craze.

Fantastic piece by @kennytorrella.bsky.social on the extensive animal abuse and humanewashing at Fairlife.

www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Bloodied Faces, Sobbing Children: Immigration Officers Smash Car Windows to Speed Up Arrests We’ve documented nearly 50 incidents of immigration officers shattering car windows to make arrests — a tactic experts say was rarely used before Trump took office. ICE claims its officers use a “mini...

Citizens, crying kids, pregnant women, people who aren't the target...it doesn't seem to matter who's inside the car when immigration officers want to make an arrest. They smash the window anyway

@mckenziefunk.com & I tracked these arrests all over the U.S. projects.propublica.org/trump-ice-sm...

www.editorialboard.com/instead-of-p...

Video shows Department of Justice official urging Jan. 6 rioters to 'kill' cops The Department of Justice hired a former Jan. 6 defendant who was caught on tape urging rioters to "kill" police. The department calls him a "valued member" of the administration.

On Jan. 6, Jared Wise urged rioters to "kill" cops.

"You are the Nazi. You are the Gestapo," Wise yelled.

Trump dismissed Wise's Jan. 6 case, and the DOJ hired him as a senior adviser.

We got the bodycam video showing Wise on Jan. 6.

www.npr.org/2025/08/07/n...

Trump Against History How is Trump changing our sense of who we are? We asked eminent Yale historian David W. Blight to round up some colleagues to consider the question. Here’s what they had to say.

New! the @newrepublic.com's Sept issue features a great symposium "Trump vs. History," for which I asked the great @dblight.bsky.social to assemble colleagues to reflect on Trump's war on our history. We posted the first four (incl. David's) today; others coming soon! newrepublic.com/series/67/tr...

US sides with El Salvador on eliminating presidential term limits, prompting democracy debate | CNN The US State Department has voiced rare support for El Salvador’s decision to abolish presidential term limits, paving the way for President Nayib Bukele to seek indefinite reelection. Critics argue t...

The U.S. State Department officially supports El Salvador’s removal of presidential term limits—flashing a warning of what’s to come in America.

The Trump regime will likely attempt the same, with support from a complicit Congress and Supreme Court.

And when they do, we the people will fight back.

Why you might not know that 2024 was America's safest year since the 1960s An overwhelming majority of Americans, 64 percent, believe that crime increased across the country in 2024, according to a Gallup survey conducted late last year.

1. This week, the FBI released its comprehensive crime report for 2024, which revealed that both VIOLENT CRIME and PROPERTY CRIME reached their LOWEST LEVELS SINCE THE 1960s

This a massive story. But you might not have heard about it, even if you follow the news closely.

Here's why.

Live updates: JD Vance to visit Indiana today amid redistricting fight Redistricting will be among the topics Vice President JD Vance will discuss Aug. 7, 2025 with the governor and legislative leaders.

Vance is in Indiana to help push through a plan to create more red districts to maintain House majority forever. It was never going to be JUST TEXAS.

Gosh I wonder if maybe people don't really like JD Vance coming to Indianapolis to pull a Texas redistricting and probably arrest of the like 3 Democrats not already gerrymandered out of their seats

What makes Israel’s starvation of Gaza stand apart There’s a long history of using starvation as a weapon of war. But this is different.

I wrote about the long history of engineering famines—and what makes Israel’s starvation of Gaza unique: www.vox.com/policy/42262...

JD Vance’s team had water level of Ohio river raised for family’s boating trip Exclusive: Incident raises questions of exploitation of public services, but Secret Service says it was requested for ‘safe navigation’

"JD Vance’s team had the army corps of engineers in Louisville, Ohio, take the unusual step of changing the outflow of a lake to accommodate a recent boating excursion on a family holiday."

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Similar to what was found for hurricanes last year:
“The study of the Los Angeles fires concluded that in addition to at least 30 deaths attributed to the fire, more than 400 other deaths could be blamed on the event, due to interruptions in health care and other factors.”

The Supreme Court prepares to end voting rights as we know it And they don't want you to notice.

Everyone in DC knows that if you want to hide something, announce it on a Friday in August. Better yet, make it nearly impossible to track down.

That's exactly what SCOTUS did last week. But the news is too staggering to hide for long: SCOTUS has decided it's time to destroy the Voting Rights Act.

The future of FOIA Federal employees said they worry about the future of FOIA in the U.S., not only for their sake, but for requesters as well.

Following the firing of FOIA officers by major federal agencies, the government’s transparency workers remain suspended in employment limbo, worrying about the future of FOIA in the U.S. www.muckrock.com/news/archive...

Vice president heads to Indiana to push redistricting, but legalities remain unclear • Indiana Capital Chronicle Gov. Mike Braun was careful in his comments Tuesday about potential redistricting in Indiana to net a GOP seat — or two — in Congress.

Vice president heads to Indiana to push redistricting, but legalities remain unclear

indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/08/05/v...

Donald Trump says FBI 'may have to' get involved in ending Texas quorum break U.S. Sen. Cornyn, a Republican, wants the FBI to use tools he says it has to track lawmakers who “cross state lines.” The president says the federal agency "may have to" get involved.

Impeached Ken Paxton and twice impeached Donald Trump are threatening to send the FBI after Texas House Democrats. It’s an illegal, authoritarian move that will not stand. www.tpr.org/government-p...

DOGE said its cuts saved $200 billion. This announcement todat is another half a billion. But we never, ever hear about tax refunds, tax rebates or lower marginal tax rates. This is the biggest heist in the history of the world.

De-ICEing your town A local organizer explains how to get involved and protect immigrants near you.

So many of you wrote asking for a primer on how to push back against ICE's presence where you live! So this week's Tuesday post skips the usual history lesson. Instead, I talked to Oliver Merino of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, who offered a lot of specifics on how to take action near you.

Question for Mike Flood: With $450 million being allocated to Alligator Alcatraz, and ICE burning through $8.4 million a day to illegally detain people—How much does it cost for fascism? How much do the tax payers have to pay for a fascist country?

This is amongst the most impactful two minutes of broadcasting I’ve ever seen.

By Emma Murphy, International Editor, ITV News. #Gaza

In some ways, the drug prices thing is the platonic ideal of Trump assertions:

An incredibly wrong statement that isn’t sensible much less possible, a media that won’t push back, and an American discourse that will adopt it uncritically, making culture just a hair worse. Great work, all around.

The story of how Trump sells access to the White House - to benefit himself and his family financially and to benefit his political operation - is shocking and sordid.

No President has ever monetized access like Trump has.

1/ It's a story you need to know.

Donor List Suggests Scale of Trump’s Pay-for-Access Operation

The most corrupt White House in history. Here is an account of what people are paying, directly to a PAC called MAGA Inc, in order to meet the president, get pardons, change policy

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/02/u...