Bethany Erickson

(Instructive to watch the shifting responses of the two people directly behind him.)

True that Congress hasn't declared war since WWII, but at least presidents would ask permission (via an authorization of the use of military force, or AUMF) before major military operations

It may not feel like it but it is actually a big deal that Trump has now twice skipped even that cursory step

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS. He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do. This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country. We are hearing that many of their IRG, Military, and other Security and Police Forces, no longer want to fight, and are looking for Immunity from us. As I said last night, "Now they can have Immunity, later they only get Death!" Hopefully, the IRGC and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots, and work together as a unit to bring back the Country to the Greatness it deserves. That process should soon be starting in that, not only the death of Khamenei but the Country has been, in only one day, very much destroyed and, even, obliterated. The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD! Thank you for your attention to this matter. PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

War is peace.

Alexandria OCASIO• CORTEZ REPRESENTING NEW YORK'S 14TH DISTRICT OCASIO-CORTEZ STATEMENT ON TRUMP'S COMBAT OPERATIONS IN IRAN 'The American people are once again dragged into a war they did not want by a president who does not care about the long-term consequences of his actions. This war is unlawful. It is unnecessary. And it will be catastrophic. "Just this week, Iran and the United States were negotiating key measures that could have staved off war. The President walked away from these discussions and chose war instead. President Trump flippantly acknowledged the possibility of American casualties, stating "that often happens in war." "Mr. President: this was not an inevitability. This is a deliberate choice of aggression when diplomacy and security were within reach. Stop lying to the American people. "Violence begets violence. We learned this lesson in Iraq. We learned this lesson in Afghanistan. And we are about to learn it again in Iran. Bombs have yet to create enduring democracies in the region and this will be no different. "In moments of war, our Constitution is unambiguous: Congress authorizes war. The President does not. I will do my part to uphold our Constitution by voting YES on Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie's War Powers Resolution. Every member of Congress must join us in rejecting this aimless war. ###

AOC statement:

Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei, his likely successor, has also been killed. (Kan)

This one is evergreen

…Fuck.

Yeah, we need more fundamental change. It's not just that our national roof leaks. The foundation was never poured correctly and has multiple cracks and the whole edifice is sinking by the year.

Gosh, it's almost like the Constitution is broken and we should probably do something about that

seems suboptimal how the timeline keeps getting longer

The passage reads: One of the people I interviewed for the story was Rev. Robert Seymour, who had been Smith's pastor at the Binkley Baptist Church since 1958, when he first arrived in Chapel Hill. Seymour told me a story about how upset Smith was to learn that Chapel Hill's restaurants were still segregated. He and Seymour came up with an idea: Smith would walk into a restaurant with a black member of the church. "You have to remember," Reverend Seymour said. "Back then, he wasn't Dean Smith. He was an assistant coach. Nothing more." Smith agreed and went to a restaurant where management knew him. He and his companion sat down and were served. That was the beginning of desegregation in Chapel Hill.

The passage reads: When I circled back to Smith and asked him to tell me more about that night, he shot me an angry look. "Who told you about that?" he asked. "Reverend Seymour," I said. "I wish he hadn't done that." "Why? You should be proud of doing something like that." He leaned forward in his chair and in a very quiet voice said something I've never forgotten: "You should never be proud of doing what's right. You should just do what's right."

“You should never be proud of doing what’s right. You should just do what’s right.”

When Dean Smith comes up, this story is always the first thing I think of.

www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colle...

~45 minutes outside Minneapolis this afternoon, a small but spirited crowd is gathered to protest outside the gates of Sherburne County Jail.

According to organizers: the jail has held an average of 131 ICE detainees daily for nearly 20 years. As of 2023, the jail makes $110 per detainee per day.

“if you won’t let us use your product to spy on Americans and kill without supervision we will single-handedly destroy your business by fiat” is the single most authoritarian anti-business action I can ever remember any administration taking

I too think more networks should run "pro-America content" like handy explainers on the constitutional limitations on the president's powers and the independence of Congress

This is kind of the logic that leads me to think we need a new moment of constitution-making

I think @normative.bsky.social made this point yesterday, but once you get beyond the outrage of the brutality of the original “arrest” here, you also have to confront the fact that a D.A. CHOSE TO PROSECUTE THIS and a judge SENTENCED HIM TO A YEAR IN JAIL. Total system fail. WTF

Americans Are Leaving the U.S. in Record Numbers More citizens are replanting overseas, drawn by a quality of life made easily affordable by the U.S.’s enviable salaries.

This is such a well done piece that reports out, with hard data and interviews, something profound about what's gone wrong in this country.

www.wsj.com/us-news/amer...

The second you leave this country for even a few days, you realize the place you call home is decaying at an almost exponential pace. The realization that you don't have to live like this is stark, and that nobody in power is taking tangible actions to fix it in your lifetime is even starker.

Mississippi's Black Voters Brace for SCOTUS to Gut Their Political Clout - Bolts Black Mississippians won a key ruling last year in a case that challenges how the state elects supreme court justices. But the U.S. Supreme Court may soon weaken the Voting Rights Act and erase their ...

If SCOTUS strikes down the VRA, Mississippi's GOP will likely eliminate the state's only Black-majority district — tho the state is 37% Black.

It'll have huge implications for the legislature.

But also: it'll likely reverse a new ruling that struck down the state supreme court map. New out today:

Netflix Backs Out of Bid for Warner Bros., Paving Way for an Ellison Takeover

The richest man owns X.

The second and third richest men control Google.

The fourth richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The fifth richest man owns The Washington Post.

And now the sixth richest could soon take over both Paramount and Warner Bros.

See the problem here?

Mifepristone Lawsuit Could Jeopardize National Access to Telehealth Abortion A federal lawsuit led by Louisiana seeks to stop abortion pills from being mailed across the country.

A federal judge in Louisiana could end telehealth access to medication abortion nationwide. 
 
This lawsuit is a blatant attempt to ban abortion. Mifepristone has been safely used for 25 years. It's the most common method of abortion care in America. Women will suffer if access is restricted.

Independent religious, human rights & legal-aid organizations should have regular access to federal immigrant detention centers, including & especially those privately operated. Humane conditions & treatment need to be verified. Assertions that everything is fine are not enough.

There's no replicating this. Trump is a New York socialite before anything else, and thus the Mayor of New York is the only politician in the country he actually cares about.

Mocking up headlines is a genius idea

This week's cover @thelancet.com

I’m a need a blu ray box set of that Watchmen series for sure

III. You Guys Will Burn in Eternal Hellfire If You Affirm.

A first-draft staple for everyone, no?

And if you’re wondering “Why is there a blob in the back?” Well, that’s where the first woman president was supposed to go. More than a century later, it remains unsculpted.

Trump administration cannot force states to supply food stamp data, US judge rules A federal judge on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump's administration from cutting off funding for 22 Democratic-led states to administer food stamp benefits unless they turned over data on millions of people who received the aid.

A federal judge on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump's administration from cutting off funding for 22 Democratic-led states to administer food stamp benefits unless they turned over data on millions of people who received the aid.

The Conference of Catholic Bishops is... not playing around in this brief.

www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...