When John Roberts agrees with a Republican policy he will "conclude ... as a matter of law" he has "a solemn obligation to preserve it." If he doesn't like (most likely a Democratic) policy he will "conclude ... as a matter of law" that he needs to "stuff it in the garbage."
He pitches & hits.
In my view, John Roberts's most impressive PR accomplishment is persuading an entire generation of Supreme Court commentators that he is anything other than a Republican politician who uses legalese to implement policies that Republican voters want
seems only fair that this "freedom" to not have a flu vaccine should be mandatory for Hegseth and his top aides - and, of course, for Commander-in-Chief too
@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.
Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is arguably Democrats’ best chance for flipping a Senate seat in 2026.
So of course, Republicans have launched a politically motivated investigation that mirrors his Republican opponent’s attacks
They not only won’t cancel; they’ve handed the entire event over to the fascists.
Stephen Miller and Pete Hegseth are sitting at CBS’ table.
FCC’s Brendan Carr has actually been invited, while he’s trying to take away press freedoms.
I had the opportunity to confront Pete Hegseth's bigoted spiritual mentor, Pastor Doug Wilson, and call him out on his history of hate, his misreading of the Bible, his hijacking of Jesus, and his cosplay Crusading.
It was worth it.
Sorry to be overly sincere for a second, but here's why we decided to persevere through all of the bullshit and take over InfoWars.
There's just gotta be a line somewhere.
Thank you @pablo.show for letting me talk so openly about this.
@ohhousedems.bsky.social leader Dani Isaacsohn told me they will have candidates in all 99 House districts. They will all be knocking doors as they seek to end GOP supermajority. And it's a very helpful GOTV operation for Sherrod Brown and Amy Acton
New: When No One Was Looking, Ohio Became a Swing State Again
A year ago, the widespread assumption was the Ohio Senate seat held until last year by JD Vance would stay red. Now Republicans are openly panicking about Ohio.
time.com/article/2026...
With the help of the Sandy Hook families, The Onion has reached a long-awaited deal to take over InfoWars.
We've enlisted the help of @timheidecker.bsky.social, who will be InfoWars' Creative Director.
Please stand by for more.
![MS STW Senate GE Benchmark Assessment
Apr 12,
2026
Jun 22,
2025
Definitely vote to re-elect Cindy HydeSmith
16% 16%
Probably vote to re-elect Cindy HydeSmith
17% 22%
Total Vote to Re-elect Cindy HydeSmith
33% 38%
Probably vote for someone else 13% 12%
Definitely vote for someone else 40% 34%
Total Vote for Someone Else 53% 46%
[VOL] Undecided 14% 16%
Democrat Scott Colom 36% 35%
Lean Colom 3% 3%
Total Colom 39% 38%
Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith 39% 48%
Lean Hyde-Smith 3% 3%
Total Hyde-Smith 42% 51%
Independent Ty Pinkins 3% N/A
Lean Pinkins 3% N/A
Total Pinkins 6% N/A
[VOL] Undecided 14% 11%
Democrat Scott Colom 40%
Lean Colom 3%
Total Colom 44%
Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith 43%
Lean Hyde-Smith 4%
Total Hyde-Smith 47%
[VOL] Undecided 9%](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:r6wxaadynk3m7sqsyn3r3vrf/bafkreiclw6tafub37hfhrciatnrseh4zzr3a4vvfpaqvd7ickv4eb5rhhq)
MS STW Senate GE Benchmark Assessment Apr 12, 2026 Jun 22, 2025 Definitely vote to re-elect Cindy HydeSmith 16% 16% Probably vote to re-elect Cindy HydeSmith 17% 22% Total Vote to Re-elect Cindy HydeSmith 33% 38% Probably vote for someone else 13% 12% Definitely vote for someone else 40% 34% Total Vote for Someone Else 53% 46% [VOL] Undecided 14% 16% Democrat Scott Colom 36% 35% Lean Colom 3% 3% Total Colom 39% 38% Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith 39% 48% Lean Hyde-Smith 3% 3% Total Hyde-Smith 42% 51% Independent Ty Pinkins 3% N/A Lean Pinkins 3% N/A Total Pinkins 6% N/A [VOL] Undecided 14% 11% Democrat Scott Colom 40% Lean Colom 3% Total Colom 44% Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith 43% Lean Hyde-Smith 4% Total Hyde-Smith 47% [VOL] Undecided 9%
A new poll of Mississippi's U.S. Senate race from Impact Research has Democrat Scott Colom trailing incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by just 3 points.
With leaners added, she's ahead 47%-44%.
Trump won Mississippi by 61%-38% in 2024.
www.splcactionfund.org/wp-content/u...
a screenshot of polling findings about American's disapproval of Trump's war with Iran
The numbers for Trump on his disastrous #IranWar continue to be brutal.
The war, and Trump's handling of it, have been awful for Trump since day 1, but what's often overlooked is the intensity gap is massive and a far bigger problem for him than just the topline opposition. People HATE this war.
There's a war on for your mind.
theonion.info
@ruralorganizing.bsky.social
Virginians Go To The Polls To Help US Save Democracy
"Our friends at Rural Ground Game have reached well over 700,000 Virginia voters and secured tens of thousands of YES votes."
open.substack.com/pub/ruralorg...
Screenshot of FB post by Jason Silverstein (https://www.facebook.com/jason.silverstein3/posts/pfbid02ugMp6cDB7nMn5vF6wQsvzraix4AQNpWfJyoTY2Wg2dFFq9qyLt1TjzbikqB4tENBl) with photos of Steve Bannon in Hanover, VA at a "VOTE NO" rally
Need some more motivation to vote YES tomorrow??? Also, look at that crowd!!! LOL bluevirginia.us/2026/04/mond... h/t Jason Silverstein
Claims Israel never talked him into it but by the end of the post, in another head spin, he’s back to “regime change,” Israel’s goal from the beginning.
We must use US taxpayer dollars to backstop the UAE
Which is facing economic problems caused by the war Trump started and doesn't know how to win
A war encouraged by leaders of the UAE
Who have given hundreds of millions in bribes to Trump, his family, and associates
Judicial elections matter; this was a 4-3 en banc decision of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania in which one Republican sided with three Democratic judges against the other three Republicans, applying our state Equal Rights Amendment and state constitution to protect reproductive autonomy.
Articles about Jared Kushner's diplomatic role with Iran that mention Kushner has received billions from the Saudi government (2/28-4/19):
NYT: 5 of 58
WashPost: 1 of 43
WSJ: 0 of 40
AP: 0 of 26
CNN Wire: 0 of 18
NY Post: 0 of 17
Chicago Tribune: 0 of 4
LA Times: 0 of 4
Boston Globe: 0 of 2
Elderly Irishman deported by US to Costa Rice.
The US is increasingly sending deportees to countries where they have no connections. Shannon Airport is frequently used as a refuelling stop by aircraft involved in these operations, as reported by @gillianbrockell.com
New euphemism for "pure, unadulterated horseshit" just dropped
Learn whatever you want about "law," it doesn't matter because GOP Justices blew up the entire process of deciding cases based on chats with rich friends and stuff they watched on TV. That was the entire basis on which SCOTUS switched to the shadow docket.
The rise of Swalwell was not surprising — stupid bad men succeed all the time.
His fall, however, has shocked me. Part of why he faced consequences is the horrific nature of what he did.
But I also suspect it’s partially bc of the way the story broke: Content creators were the tip of the spear.
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...
@siriusxmprog.bsky.social "State of the States" this weekend:
@jordanz.bsky.social for deep dive on flippable state leg races and ballot measures www.progressreport.news
@ohhousedems.bsky.social leader Dani Isaacsohn on their affordability agenda & candidate recruitment
www.ohhousedems.com
Over just five days, the justices had decided the issue. Even as they debated the Obama plan’s possible burden on the power industry, in the entire chain of correspondence obtained by The Times, not a single justice, conservative or liberal, mentioned the dangers of a warming planet as one of the possible harms the court should consider.
Another data point in “originalism is a fraud.” So much for the law is the law we can’t think about the impact. They rail against “results oriented judging” in public but when their corporate clients make requests they know exactly what to do. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...
“In public, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has cultivated a reputation for care and caution. The papers reveal a different side of him. At a critical moment for the country and the court, the papers show, he acted as a bulldozer in pushing to stop Mr. Obama’s plan.”
bringing back shame and social sanction for being a bigoted asshole is good, actually
