*nudge* sorry, nothing's coming in and this is going to keep getting bigger if we don't fix it.

Hope John Roberts, who assured us that absolute immunity would prevent presidents from going after their predecessors, sees this

Republicans: [unsavory tactics]

Media: Gosh, that’s some maneuvering.

Democrats: [punch back]

Media: We need to ask ourselves if this is the sign of a healthy democracy.

Exclusive: US turns to Ukrainian counter-drone tech after Iran attacks, sources say By David Jeans April 22, 202611:03 AM GMT+1Updated 1 hour ago A damaged U.S. E-3 radar aircraft at Prince Sultan Air Base A damaged U.S. Boeing E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control aircraft following an Iranian strike on the airbase, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia in this picture obtained from social media released on March 29, 2026. SOCIAL MEDIA/via REUTERS/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Turns out Ukraine not only had some cards, but the US has decided to use them.

😜

www.reuters.com/business/aer...

New poll: 55% support impeaching Trump Support for impeachment rivals levels during Donald Trump's first presidency, when he was impeached twice, and for impeaching Richard Nixon after the Watergate scandal

Support for impeaching Trump is at 55%, according to a new Strength In Numbers/ @Verasight.io poll, with 37% of adults opposed. Crucially 1 in 5 of Trump’s own voters support impeachment.

Read and share:

www.gelliottmorris.com/p/2026-04-22...

RFK Jr. Says Measles Outbreaks Not His Fault: ‘I’ve Never Been Anti-Vaccine’ The HHS secretary, known for spreading disinformation about vaccine safety, falsely claimed people aren’t getting vaccinated because “the government lied to them during COVID.”

Welcome to Day 2 of RFK Jr. testifying on Capitol Hill.

Yesterday, RFK -- who has spent decades spreading disinformation about vaccine safety -- testified to Congress that measles outbreaks aren't his fault and said he's "never been anti-vaccine." Really. Really! www.huffpost.com/entry/rfk-me...

Rep, Stansbury: Happy Earth Day! The fight to protect our lands, waters, and wildlife is on. YouTube video by Rep. Melanie Stansbury

It’s Earth Day. Republicans are using the House to try to gut the fundamental programs that protect our planet: the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Clean Air Act.

We’re fighting for our lands, waters, and wildlife. And we won’t walk away from that legacy!

The FBI is totally implicated by the DOJ's own logic in the SPLC indictment. I hadn't thought of the possibility that they are laying the groundwork to suggest that the FBI was responsible for Jan. 6 (one of the main narratives of the right), but it is possible

*nudge*

Yes indeed.
That’s how elections work.

People vote for what they want.

Democracy is no authoritarian’s friend.

Blogkeeping Notes For Spring 2026 Hi friends, this isn't a real blog post. This is my every-few-months boilerplate where I tell everyone where to find me when I'm not here and how to support my work.

We're still in a miserable fix with the utility bill and the bank overdraft, and the fees coming out at midnight are going to eat what progress we made. The tip jar is in here, and thank you very much to my readers, I'll have fresh writing up soon!

www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

On Middle Age, And The LaBelle Special I'm calling the sunflowers "The LaBelle Special. "Sunflowers are a flower that cross pollenates with ridiculous ease...

They’ve done their best to clean me out. But every time I come to check on the garden, there are more sunflower seedlings cropping up where I meant to plant something else. They are my own flower, Mary Pezzulo’s LaBelle Special, a flower the birds made for me.
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

On J. D. Vance, Just War Doctrine, And The Pope J. D. Vance is a Catholic. He's acting like a horrible Catholic right now, but he's Catholic. Catholics don't have to be lovey dovey...

You’re allowed to say that Just War Doctrine as it’s currently articulated isn’t the very best way of talking about our law against killing and propose a better one. But it’s definitely wrong to announce “killing is good, actually.” Killing is bad.

www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

Though Mountains Fall The Ancient of Days, who does not age or change or disappear, even though the mountains fall. It hurts to live. But somehow, just then, I didn't mind.

Sometimes I love that store, but I don’t like to look at that statue. He makes me nervous. When I see him, I’m afraid I’m going to get into trouble.

www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

Trump Attacks Pope Leo In A Deranged Rant We need to talk about the spat between the Trump Administration and the Pope one more time.

It ought to be terrifying, because this is a man with access to the nuclear codes who has signaled that he’s perfectly fine with genocide, and he’s completely out of his mind. But it’s so tawdry and idiotic that I can’t think of it that way.
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

Theology Of The Trillium A trillium is a flower in the lily family, which looks like something out of a fairy tale. It has three long white petals...

The staircase led to a pier where I could feel the water rocking, even though the surface of the lake was nearly flat.

I sat on the rough wooden planks and listened to the geese argue.

Hawks circled overhead.

www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

Deeper Than I Know I can't possibly describe for you the richness of the wildflower reserve. It's like a stained glass window spread out over several Appalachian hills...

How can it be that the God Who made the Appalachian Mountains also made Steubenville?
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

Investigating the Good Guys DOJ claims the Southern Poverty Law Center was "paying off" the Ku Klux Klan. The group's track record and common sense suggest otherwise.

A little background on who the Southern Poverty Law Center is and what kind of work they’ve been doing for decades makes it clear that DOJ’s indictment (which is of the center, not of any individuals) is vindictive & malicious, an attack on civil rights work itself. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump THE WALL STREET JOURNAL HAS LOST ITS WAY! An IDIOT on The Wall Street Journal's Editorial Board, named Elliot Kaufman, just wrote an Op Ed entitled, "The Iranians Take Trump for a Sucker." Really? For 47 years, they have killed our people, and many others, and taken advantage of every President, except me - And what did I give to them, a Country in tatters! Their entire Navy is at the bottom of the Sea, their Air Force is gone, their Anti Aircraft and Radar is wiped out, their Nuclear Labs and Storage Areas were OBLITERATED late one dark June evening by our Great B-2 Bombers, their leaders are DEAD, including General Soleimani, their evil genius who destroyed the lives of so many with his favored roadside bombs, the Strait of Hormuz is BLOCKADED and totally controlled by the U.S., with no Ships allowed to go to Iranian Ports - It is said that they are losing 500 Million Dollars a day because of this - Their Country is an Economic Catastrophe, that is hanging by a thread. Barack Hussein Obama gave them 1.7 Billion Dollars in "Green" Cash, flown in by a Boeing 757 to their leaders, and Hundreds of Billions of Dollars in order to help them on their way to a Nuclear Bomb. Other Presidents did nothing to stop them, a BLIGHT on the Office of the Presidency! But despite all of this, I have a MORON on the Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal writing about me being taken for a "sucker." Iran certainly doesn't think so! Neither does anyone else. I guess Rupert Murdoch told him to write it this way, because The Wall Street Journal has lost its way, no longer required reading, just another failing political "RAG!" President DONALD J. TRUMP

The criticism is starting to get to him.

He’s not psychologically capable of dealing with it.

This is an A+ map

Not sure wtf we're doing but it definitely doesn't feel like winning.

Democrats know Trump probably won’t be removed via the 25th Amendment. Here’s why they’re pushing it anyway. While there’s little expectation Trump’s inner circle will turn on him, Democrats can keep Republicans on the defensive about the president’s aberrant behavior.

This is not an either-or situation. Trump is both unable to fulfill his duties and has committed high crimes & misdemeanors.

He needs an independent cognitive assessment now. We can't wait until he gets mad at another country & decides to commit war crimes in the middle of the night.

While Ohioans are hurting, Jon Husted voted 4 times to continue this reckless war in Iran.

No surprise here that graduates are seeing the opportunities available to them in the best big city in the nation.

What to Know About Allegations of Excessive Drinking by FBI Director Kash Patel Kash Patel denies allegations of excessive drinking as officials cited in a new report raise concerns about FBI leadership.

Kash Patel must resign or be fired.

More than two dozen current and former FBI officials are alleging that he has a serious drinking problem. Patel’s own security detail reportedly had to request breaching equipment because they could not wake him.

Getting a PhD and then working outside academia is dope. My advisees who’ve done that are more or less uniformly happy and feel that they’re using the skills they trained on. (I talked to one today who just landed a great gig). Just wanted to convey that to anyone it might benefit.

@SecWar: The War Department is once again restoring freedom to our Joint Force. We are discarding the mandatory flu vaccine requirement, effective immediately. 21 Apr 26

Washington ordered smallpox inoculations for the Continental Army beginning in 1777.

Hegseth, therefore, is taking a mid-18th century, pre-Industrial Age approach to medicine and warfare.

And .. here come the Freedom of Information Act requests for Kash Patel records

DC watchdog group Democracy Forward has formally requested Patel's calendars & any messages from security detail that include words "drinking", "hungover", "inebriated"

democracyforward.org/wp-content/u...

GALLEGO: Earlier today, you told Sec. Kennedy that Trump never demanded you to cut interest rates. Is that your sworn testimony?

WARSH: That is, senator.

GALLEGO: Okay. Well someone here is lying then. Because Trump confirmed he pressed you on interest rate cuts.

200,000 acres of Native Hawaiian land. 100 years of federal trust obligation.

Trump's move: reclassify them as a racial group, not a tribal nation. Same land. New legal category. Zero obligation.

That's not a budget cut. That's a legal erasure. #taxtherich