Distill Social

State Rep. Karen Whitsett’s record in Lansing has become a case study in political neglect dressed up as defiance. The Detroit Democrat has skipped a staggering 77% of House session days this year, claiming that attending votes and debates simply isn’t worth the drive or the cost of dog care.

In Logan Square, Chicago, a routine afternoon at the Rico Fresh Market turned chaotic when a masked federal agent in an unmarked SUV threw chemical irritant canisters into the street, sending bystanders scrambling.

Michigan kids woke up with a bipartisan school aid budget that delivers.

📚 Record per-pupil funding: $10,050 per student
🥪 Free breakfast & lunch for every child
🧠 Mental health & school safety funding preserved
🚌 Rural busing
📖 Support for special education & literacy
🍎 Teacher bonuses secured

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was arrested along with a number of high profile activists after Israeli forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla, a civilian convoy attempting to break Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza and deliver food and medical supplies.

A unified Democratic delegation is holding the line against a federal government shutdown, accusing President Trump and congressional Republicans of manufacturing a crisis to advance an agenda that is actively dismantling healthcare for working Americans.

Dear MAGAS,

Stop lying. There is zero proof undocumented people are getting free healthcare just like there was no proof they were eating cats and dogs.

Sincerely,
All critical thinkers

While most of us were sleeping, Michigan’s new fiscal year began and lawmakers passed a short-term funding plan to keep things running.

Now the clock’s ticking — they have one week to pass a full state budget.

His priority isn’t you, it’s chaos and cruelty.
He’d rather shut it all down than stop your healthcare costs from going through the roof.

Email Gary | U.S. Senator Gary Peters of Michigan The Official U.S. Senate website of Senator Gary Peters of Michigan

PLEASE REACH OUT AND URGE GARY TO HOLD THE LINE
DC Phone: (202) 224-6221
Send him an electronic message here: www.peters.senate.gov/contact/emai...

🚨CALL TO ACTION: WE Appreciate Senator Gary Peters voting NO today.
Please call Gary and urge him to continue to vote no on the Republican budget so we don't continue to gut healthcare for Americans so the 1% can have tax cuts.
PLEASE REACH OUT AND URGE GARY TO HOLD THE LINE!
DC Phone:(202) 224-6221

From Lansing to D.C., Republicans Trade Leadership for Chaos While Democrats show up to govern, Republicans gamble with schools, services, and national security.

Michigan's budget is back in flux and the military is bored of Trump and Hegseth. Thad and more on our Substack!

open.substack.com/pub/distills...

Congress is paralyzed as House Speaker Mike Johnson, backed by the GOP’s far-right flank, steers the country toward yet another manufactured crisis. Instead of legislating, Republicans are holding the government hostage with political brinkmanship.

HUD’s official site is now blasting out Trump campaign propaganda — calling Democrats “Radical Left” and pushing lies about a shutdown. Absolutely despicable misuse of government resources. This isn’t housing policy, it’s state-run propaganda.

Hegseth’s and Trump's speeches for the leaders of our military were filled with anti-woke and DEI bluster. Trump’s turn on stage only amplified the chaos: after opening with a jest that dissenters could leave (and lose their rank), he drifted through topics from submarines to Nobel Peace Prizes.

Trump: I told Pete we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military.
Training.

He’s not hiding it anymore — he wants to turn American streets into battlefields. This isn’t leadership, it’s a wannabe dictator talking.

Trump: “We want war because we want no wars.”

He sounds like a moron — and worse, the “peace” candidate has dragged us into new wars and turned the Pentagon into his personal Department of War. Dumb and dangerous.

Trump: “We want war because we want no wars.”

He sounds like a moron — and worse, the “peace” candidate has dragged us into new wars and turned the Pentagon into his personal Department of War. Dumb and dangerous.

President Donald J. Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan, crafted with Benjamin Netanyahu, effectively hands Trump sweeping control over Gaza’s future by installing him as chair of a so-called “Board of Peace” that would dictate redevelopment and governance.

Donald Trump’s latest stunt in Portland has taken the authoritarian playbook to new extremes, as he ordered U.S. troops into the city under the guise of quelling unrest and protecting federal immigration facilities.

The newly released tranche of Epstein estate documents makes clear that prominent figures such as Elon Musk, Steve Bannon, and Peter Thiel were in contact with Epstein long after his 2007 plea deal, including proposed trips, business meetings, and personal exchanges.

Donald Trump’s latest maneuver to force a U.S. takeover of TikTok is shaping up less like a national security strategy and more like a billionaire feeding frenzy. Larry Ellison, the Murdochs, and other moguls who treat news and information platforms as toys for influence and profit.

At the United Nations General Assembly, dozens of delegates staged a walkout as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech defending Israel’s devastating attacks on Gaza amid mounting accusations of war crimes and genocide.

The Trump administration's cold, calculated attack on Planned Parenthood is a direct and life-threatening assault on women's health. By deliberately gutting Medicaid funding, the administration has created a healthcare crisis, forcing Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin to halt abortion services.

Michigan’s public schools are on the brink of crisis with just one week left before the state budget deadline, and the Republican-led House, under Speaker Matt Hall, is playing political games while children’s education hangs in the balance.

Jimmy Kimmel’s emotional return to late-night was less about comedy and more about calling out the dangerous climate Donald Trump and his FCC have created for free speech in America.

In a resurfaced 2013 clip, Donald Trump smugly declared that a government shutdown always falls on the president’s shoulders, a shot aimed at Barack Obama at the time. Yet as the U.S. now stares down the barrel of another shutdown under Trump’s own watch, his old words ring hollow.

In his lengthy address to the UN today, Donald Trump railed against the European Union and it's commitment to fighting against climate change, saying that their countries would "fail" if they continued on a path to lowering pollution.

Gretchen Whitmer is pushing back against Trump effort to deploy the National Guard in Detroit, and with good reason. Despite GOP pressure, she insists the request for armed troops is “unwarranted,” pointing out that Detroit’s violent crime, including shootings and carjackings, has been falling.

Jimmy Kimmel is set to return to ABC’s late-night block tomorrow after being pulled off the air “indefinitely” following a controversial monologue in which he accused MAGA stalwarts of trying to exploit the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The UK, Canada, and Australia formally recognized the State of Palestine, marking a major diplomatic break with Israel and the United States. Leaders in all three countries framed the move as an urgent push to revive the possibility of a two-state solution amid deepening violence in Gaza.