Congratulations to Garlin Gilchrist on winning the Michigan Democratic Party's endorsement for Secretary of State!

The United States is destroying itself | Rebecca Solnit The daily news can’t adequately convey the administration’s sabotaging of our government, economy, alliances and environment

“The United States is being murdered, and it’s an inside job. Every department, every branch, every bureau and function of the federal government is being fatally corrupted or altogether dismantled or disabled.”

The Inside Story of Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court

There’s so much to say about the remarkable reporting from Jodi Kantor & Adam Liptak—and I’ll say a lot of it in Monday’s newsletter.

But the most striking thing about all of it is the role & behavior of Chief Justice Roberts. “Calling balls and strikes” this ain’t:

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...

“Faith does not separate the spiritual from the social. Indeed, it gives Christians the strength to interact with the world, responding to the needs of others, especially the weakest.” - Pope Leo

Pope Leo at final Mass in Cameroon: “No one must be left alone to confront life’s adversities. For this reason, every community has the obligation to create and sustain structures of solidarity and mutual aid in which, when faced with crises.” www.vatican.va/content/leo-...

Scaramucci just said Trump attacked the Pope to keep Vance small (who converted to Catholicism & just published a book about it). Trump cannot tolerate anyone else in the spotlight. Hang on, this is the clip:

NYT headline "Vance Says the Pope Should Be More Careful When Talking About Theology"

one of the best NYT headlines ever. We have newly baptized JD Vance telling the "infallible" Pope how to do the religion part of his job

I'm as lapsed as a Catholic can be (don't tell my mother) but even i know that is not how it works

From this morning on Joseph Campau in Hamtramck (8:45-9:00am)

Pope Leo could do a funny and ex-communicate every Trump loyal Catholic blaspheming the Church and the US Constitution. Bye bye Vance, Alito, Kavanaugh, Coney Barrett, Leonard Leo, Opus Dei Federalists, etc. The sky (Heaven) is the limit!

Most adults JD Vance's age have worked at jobs longer than JD Vance has been Catholic.

Indeed, I owned a pair of flip flops before that lasted longer than JD Vance's name has even been "JD Vance."

Where's his medical equipment? Do doctor's get illuminated palms in medical school? Do people pray to doctors? Did Trump the "doctor" kill the soldiers we see ascending into heaven? Do they have grounds for a malpractice suit?

If the "doctor" Trump saw on his last medical visit looked like that image, he's much sicker than we thought.

Trump’s blasphemous post depicting himself as a healing Christ after just starting multiple deadly wars and stripping health insurance from more than 20 million Americans

Trump, 79, Posts Himself as Christ After Bonkers Pope Attack The image depicts Trump as Jesus healing a sick person with his touch.

President Donald Trump followed a bizarre rant against Pope Leo XIV with an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ.

Pope Leo VS Trump

Cardinal Joseph Tobin criticizes the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign.

“When they have to hide their identities to terrify people, when they can actually violate other guarantees of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, well, I think somebody's got to call that out,” he says.

www.theguardian.com Ex-CIA director calls for ousting Trump: ‘25th amendment was written with him in mind’

Ex-CIA director calls for ousting Trump: ‘25th amendment was written with him in mind’ #TheGuardian

Inside the $4 billion industry built on America's school shooting epidemic Filmmakers Jessica Dimmock and Zackary Canepari examine a troubling new market.

The entrepreneurs who are part of the booming school safety industry face a cruel irony: they are dependent on the uniquely American epidemic of school shootings.

A Retrospective on Bidenomics - The American Prospect Joe Biden listened to the left on full employment. But the lasting effects were wanting, and the politics were brutal.

I did a deepish dive into the legacy of Bidenomics--why it worked economically quite well, but politically not so much prospect.org/2026/04/07/a...

Chicago Rob’s got the goods 🔥🕊️

I've studied so many concentration camps through history that held vulnerable people in just this kind of crowded squalor. You demonize people, you demand more arrests, this is what you get. It already has its own budget and its own momentum, and is on track to go much further, unless we stop it.

Quote engraved in stone from the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C.

California ICE shooting victim is ‘loving father,’ not a gang member, family says The attorney and family of Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, a 36-year-old father shot Tuesday by immigration agents in the Central Valley, are seeking answers and disputing statements made by ICE.

The attorney and family of Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, a 36-year-old father shot Tuesday by immigration agents in the Central Valley, are seeking answers and disputing statements made by ICE.

Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez:

“The Government of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they show up with a bucket.”

🍿

Pentagon Threatened the Pope After He Criticized Trump It was so bad that Pope Leo changed his plans to travel to the U.S.

This thin-skinned mafia administration is insane.
newrepublic.com/post/208820/...

Teen who went to photograph L.A. 'No Kings' rally shot, blinded by Homeland Security agent, attorney says Tucker Collins, an 18-year-old freshman at USC, attended a 'No Kings' protest in Los Angeles on Mar. 28. He ended up getting shot in the eye with a less-lethal projectile by a Department of Homeland S...

"Tucker Collins, an 18-year-old freshman at USC, attended a 'No Kings' protest in Los Angeles on Mar. 28. He ended up getting shot in the eye with a less-lethal projectile by a Department of Homeland Security agent and is now blind."

GOP War on Health Care Destroying Hospitals at Home and Abroad More than 800 health care facilities are at risk or have already closed since Republicans severely cut funding last year. The worst is still ahead.

Since the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, more than 800 hospitals, nursing homes, maternal wards, psychiatric centers, and other health care facilities across the country have either closed entirely, cut services, or are at risk of doing so. buff.ly/GKpC6ug

ICE Agents Detain Newlywed Spouse of Soldier Training to Deploy

Infuriating and disgraceful. Trump and Markwayne Mullin, and for that matter the United States Congress, could stop this at any moment.

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/05/u...

The President of the United States commemorates Easter by threatening war crimes and dropping an F-bomb

We need a new president, immediately, insomuch as this one has lost all control over his faculties

Hey media--

Pam Bondi is not a victim -- she willingly carried out Trump's political agenda to prosecute his political enemies and undermine free and fair elections.

Todd Blache is not shouldering a "burden" or "walking a tightrope." He is a willing accomplice.

Language matters.