Commentary: Chaos is the leader in California's hot mess of a governor's race Eric Swalwell's exit gives the also-rans a chance to surge into contention alongside Katie Porter and Tom Steyer. Will uninspired voters finally take interest?

NEW: With Swalwell out, will Tom Steyer's money make him California's next governor? Is the race now Katie Porter's to lose? Can one of the Dem also-rans surge into contention?

@anitachabria.bsky.social and me ponder the ponderables and a few of the imponderables.

www.latimes.com/california/s...

Commentary: Why now? Because that's how trauma works. Get over it Why are Eric Swalwell's accusers coming forward only now, just weeks before the California gubernatorial primary? That's the kind of question predators want us to keep asking.

Why now? Because that’s how trauma works. Get over it

Ask Cassie Ventura. Ask Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Ask E. Jean Carroll. Dolores Huerta. Simone Biles.

@anitachabria.bsky.social

www.latimes.com/california/s...

Commentary: Why now? Because that's how trauma works. Get over it Why are Eric Swalwell's accusers coming forward only now, just weeks before the California gubernatorial primary? That's the kind of question predators want us to keep asking.

Why now? Every time a woman comes forward with her story of sexual assault, this is the first question. OK, maybe the second—after some variation of “Are you a lying slut?”
On behalf of all survivors everywhere, let me give you some answers to “Why now?” www.latimes.com/california/s...

Commentary: The real questions facing the courts after Riverside County sheriff seized those ballots Gubernatorial candidate and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco seized November election ballots using secret warrants in a bid to investigate election fraud, a popular MAGA topic.

‘Once the chain of custody ... is broken, as they have been with these, you’ll never count them in a way that you’ll be able to get reasonable confidence from the public. It puts the entire election process in jeopardy.’

Via @anitachabria.bsky.social

www.latimes.com/california/s...

Commentary: The Pentagon is demanding to use Claude AI as it pleases. Claude told me that's 'dangerous' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has threatened Anthropic, the maker of Claude AI, that if it doesn't turn over full use of the powerful tool by Friday, the company will face severe repercussions.

Could Claude be trusted to feel that loyalty, the patriotism and purpose, that our human soldiers are guided by?

“I don’t have that,” Claude said. So an American life has no greater value than “a civilian life on the other side of a conflict.” www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

Commentary: The Pentagon is demanding to use Claude AI as it pleases. Claude told me that's 'dangerous' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has threatened Anthropic, the maker of Claude AI, that if it doesn't turn over full use of the powerful tool by Friday, the company will face severe repercussions.

Recently, I asked @anthropic.com's Claude if it could be dangerous in the wrong hands.
“Yes. Honestly, yes,” Claude replied. Which is why what @darioamodei.bsky.social is doing is so important.
www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

If you missed the SOTU, the team at @democracydocket.com put together a cut of the voter suppression and election subversion portion of the evening.

This is the fight of our generation and Democracy Docket is on the front lines. Support it by subscribing now. bit.ly/4qmEiFz

Commentary: Boring, nasty, predictable: Trump's speech relies on game show theatrics that fall short In his State of the Union address, President Trump relied on showmanship and exaggeration to bolster his unpopular policies, but buried inside the theatrics were policies that could threaten fair elec...

The cost of chicken butter is down, Trump rambled, perhaps mowing over a comma meant to separate the two commodities. I don’t know what chicken butter is, but apparently I can afford it. www.latimes.com/politics/new...

Commentary: At San Quentin, Newsom shows off the anti-Trump model of public safety Gov. Gavin Newsom last week visited San Quentin prison to celebrate a milestone in turning the once-notorious lockup into a model of progressive public safety.

“This is not left or right,” said @governor.ca.gov. “This is just being smart and pragmatic and you know, I just ... I believe people are not the worst thing they’ve done.” www.latimes.com/california/s...

A reminder that there are only two days left to see John Akomfrah’s The “Hour of the Dog” at the @artbma.bsky.social. His stunning film installation features many of mugshots of young - very young - activists who were arrested during the Civil Rights Movement.

Mugshots can reverse the narrative.

I get tired of saying it, but I’ll say it again: the nature of oppression in America is that they workshop it first on Black, Latino, Asian & Native people.

But it is always, in the end, coming for everyone.

The arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are a test for every MSM member with a platform. If you are not voicing your outrage at this blatant violation of the First Amendment, you are utterly discredited as a journalist.

the arrest of journalists in minneapolis, including don lemon, is more evidence that the only move the administration knows how to make is to use force, and does not know how to respond when that force is met with defiance and indifference.

It's not quite the most pressing issue at the moment, but the American people absolutely have a right to know the names of the federal officials who shot and killed a man peacefully protesting, who was on his knees, prone in the street when they shot him in the back.

One of the best things I’ve read in a while:

F.B.I. Agent Who Tried to Investigate ICE Officer in Shooting Resigns

“The agent, Tracee Mergen, left her job as a supervisor in the F.B.I.’s Minneapolis field office after bureau leadership in Washington pressured her to discontinue a civil rights inquiry into the immigration officer, Jonathan Ross…”

This means everyone's home -- any excuse will do.

Commentary: How's Newsom doing at Davos? Just ask Trump Banned from speaking, lauded for his condemnation of Trump and compared to a 1990s Ken doll. Newsom is killing it at Davos.

Blackballing Newsom from USA House was akin to screaming in his face that he’s a big meanie and the president wasn’t going to take it any more. So there! www.latimes.com/california/s...

A group of Epstein survivors just formally demanded that the DOJ Inspector General open an investigation into how the heavily redacted Epstein files were released. They’re demanding action now to release the files and we stand with them.

What can history teach us about what happens when a populist strongman with an idiosyncratic taste for low interest rates undermines central bank independence?

Commentary: Trump’s callous political attack on Rob Reiner shows a shameful moral failure Hours after Rob Reiner and his wife were murdered, President Trump blamed the beloved Hollywood figure for his own death. It's a new low, but also shows just how right Reiner was.

There’s a malevolence so deep in Trump’s post about Reiner that even Marjorie Taylor Greene objected. Commentary: Trump’s callous political attack on Rob Reiner shows a shameful moral failure www.latimes.com/california/s...

Commentary: Homeland Security says it doesn't detain citizens. These brave Californians prove it has The Department of Homeland Security has called fake reports of American citizens being detained. These Californians -- all citizens -- testified in Congress about how ICE locked them up without rights...

‘These abuses only end when the people decide they’ve had enough — not just of the lawlessness, but of the lies that empower it.’

Via @anitachabria.bsky.social

www.latimes.com/california/s...

Commentary: Homeland Security says it doesn't detain citizens. These brave Californians prove it has The Department of Homeland Security has called fake reports of American citizens being detained. These Californians -- all citizens -- testified in Congress about how ICE locked them up without rights...

Homeland Security says it doesn’t detain citizens.

These brave Californians -- prove it has

@anitachabria.bsky.social

www.latimes.com/california/s...

Commentary: 'Quiet, piggy' wasn't a joke. It's a dangerous invitation to violence 'Hostile sexism' has long been linked to political violence, and no president has been more willing to publicly wield it than Donald Trump.

Trump’s aggressive sexism, now seemingly uncontrollable by the man himself, isn’t just a personal foible. It’s a political weapon, and one tied to violence — a war on women that is ultimately part of the war on democracy.

www.latimes.com/california/s...

Commentary: Release the Epstein files, then get rid of the 'Epstein class' California Reps. Ro Khanna and Robert Garcia are leading the charge to make the Epstein files public, but both House members see something larger in the scandal than sex trafficking.

“Epstein and economics” sounds like a stretch on the surface, but it's clear that Americans of all political stripes are tired of the rich getting richer, and bolder. The Epstein files are the bipartisan embodiment of that discontent. www.latimes.com/california/s...

Commentary: Democrats crumble like cookies. Is this really the best they can do? Democrats broke ranks to reopen the government without securing a deal to protect health insurance subsidies for low and middle income Americans.

While the 8 Dems who broke from their party are directly responsible, Democratic leadership should also be held accountable.
Commentary: Democrats crumble like cookies. Is this really the best they can do? www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

Commentary: How can Newsom stay relevant? Become the new FDR The spotlight of Proposition 50 has gone cold. How can Gov. Gavin Newsom remain nationally relevant in his run for the White House?

Must-read Commentary by @anitachabria.bsky.social: How can Newsom stay relevant? Become the new FDR

"It’s time to once again embrace the values — inclusiveness, equity, dignity for all — that too many Democrats have expeditiously dropped to appease MAGA."
www.latimes.com/california/s...

Commentary: MAGA's 'big tent' is burning down amid explosion of antisemitism, racism Fights among conservatives over racism and antisemitism broke out into the open last week.

This column by @anitachabria.bsky.social concludes by asking of Republicans uncomfortable with antisemitism etc—

"will they find the courage to be not just true Republicans, but true Americans, and declare non-negotiable for their party that most basic of American ideals: We do not tolerate hate?"

Commentary: MAGA's 'big tent' is burning down amid explosion of antisemitism, racism Fights among conservatives over racism and antisemitism broke out into the open last week.

MAGA had a total anti-Indian meltdown on social media, revealing a deep, ugly racism toward South Asians. It comes amid the first real rebellion about rampant antisemitism: MAGA's 'big tent' is burning down amid explosion of antisemitism, racism www.latimes.com/california/s...

Commentary: From ‘election integrity’ to voter suppression: America’s long, slow slide Many Americans erroneously believe that Trump won the 2020 election, and the chief water-carriers of that lie are now in powerful government positions.

Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids are just the flip side of the coin to his election fraud claims — both at heart a part of the white Christian nationalism that his administration is now openly embracing. www.latimes.com/california/s...