Tell the Scholastic Book Fair to stop catering to right-wing bigots!

Daily Dose of Democracy:

Trump’s ridiculous claim of immunity from prosecution defies American history, prosecutors say
Special counsel Jack Smith brought the hammer down on the serially indicted con man and his preposterous assertion that he's functionally immune to any prosecution because he was the president. In a sweeping 54-page filing that Trump will never read, Smith schooled Donald on important historical precedents that explained how, in fact, the founding fathers envisioned the prosecution of former presidents for crimes that may occur while in office. It's all in the Constitution Trump purportedly loves but definitely has never read.

Take Action: Expel Matt Gaetz from Congress!

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Jake Tapper delivers knockout blow to Jim Jordan in mere seconds
Tapper landed the perfect one liner on the radical, right-wing hardliner over his disgusting efforts to bully his way into the speakership.

Take Action: Tell Congress to boost funding for food stamps!

Innocents die as Isreal-Hamas war rages
MoveOn: The recent violence against civilians by Hamas and the military response by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has already killed over 3,000 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis and wounded thousands more, with hundreds of people held hostage and hundreds more missing. We need a ceasefire NOW to stop the senseless bloodshed. Will you add your name to demand an immediate end to the killing on both sides?

Jordan vows to stay in speaker race as tensions erupt inside GOP meeting
Things did NOT get any better for Jim Jordan on Thursday as he called off a third vote for the speakership to meet with holdouts in a desperate attempt to ~~bully~~ sway them to his side. The expletive-laden meeting apparently grew very tense, with Kevin McCarthy screaming at Matt Gaetz to sit down, while another congressman reportedly nearly lunged at the Florida blowhard. In the end, the anti-Jordan holdouts, well, held out. There is no end in sight for the House GOP — and it's pretty clear at this point they don't deserve one.

Take Action: Tell President Biden to take climate action ASAP!

In the latest sign of House chaos, now even the TEMPORARY speaker is threatening to quit
Obstinate Republicans in the MAGA clown caucus are refusing to formally expand the powers of temporary House Speaker Patrick McHenry. Instead, several GOPers began floating the idea of playing Congressional Calvinball with the rules to get McHenry to pass bills anyway without a formal vote, which he is very much not willing to do. "If you guys try to do that, you’ll figure out who the next person on Kevin’s list is," said McHenry, referring to ex-Speaker McCarthy's secret list of temporary fill-ins. It may be close to Halloween, but McHenry clearly has no intention of letting MAGA goons One Weird Trick their way out of doing their damn jobs and choosing an actual speaker.

Take Action: Defend the right to read and fight GOP book bans!

Biden: America at "inflection point" in Israel and Ukraine
During his second-ever Oval Office address, President Biden reaffirmed America's commitment to protecting democracy around the world (when it suits us) and made an impassioned plea to Congress to get its shit together and pass military aid packages for both Ukraine and Israel. Using language that eerily evoked the days after 9/11, Biden declared that “history has taught us when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction. They keep going, and the cost and the threats to America and the world keep rising.” He accused Hamas and Putin's Russia of wanting to “completely annihilate a neighboring democracy.”

Trump co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro rejected plea offer from Georgia prosecutors
While failed Kraken conjurer Sidney Powell gave in and started spilling the goods to prosecutors, election theft co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro refused a deal that involved pleading guilty to a single felony racketeering charge, paying a $10,000 fine, and testifying against Donald Trump. Instead, jury selection for his trial begins tomorrow. Bon appétit!

The possibility of a DEMOCRATIC Speaker surges into spotlight
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: Whoa...

California interim Sen. Laphonza Butler will not run for full term in 2024
The recently appointed Butler made the announcement that she will not be seeking a full term in 2024. “Knowing you can win a campaign doesn’t always mean you should run a campaign,” Butler said in her statement. “I know this will be a surprise to many because traditionally we don’t see those who have power let it go. It may not be the decision people expected but it’s the right one for me.” That sound you just heard was the collective sigh of relief from senatorial hopefuls and current Democratic House colleagues Barbara Lee, Katie Porter, and Adam Schiff, who already have plenty of competition between each other and whichever billionaire-bought-and-paid-for candidate the GOP eventually trots out in the general election.

State Department officials report “mutiny brewing" over Israel-Palestine policy
President Biden's approach to the ongoing violence in Israel and Palestine is fueling mounting tensions at the US State Department. Staff feel as if Sec. of State Antony Blinken is uninterested in the department's own experts' advice as the US focuses on unilaterally supporting Israel’s expanding operation in Gaza, where Hamas is based. "There’s basically a mutiny brewing within State at all levels," one official said. Diplomats are reportedly preparing a "dissent cable," a consequential statement of serious disagreement, criticizing American policy that goes to the agency’s leaders through a protected internal channel.

Inside the psychiatric hospitals where kids are a "gold mine"
Turns out for-profit "healthcare" companies see vulnerable, abused kids not as people to be nurtured and helped but as meatbags to be pumped full of meds and further abused in order to rake in incredible profits. Universal Health Services, the nation's largest psychiatric hospital chain, made $13.4 billion last year and stands accused of admitting patients who didn't need to be there, failing to provide adequate treatment and staffing, billing insurance for unnecessary services over excessive lengths of time, and improperly using both physical and chemical restraints and isolation tactics on their patients. Fun fact — if you combine profit and healthcare, the patient will ALWAYS suffer.

Child as young as 11 operated forklift at Kentucky distribution center, authorities say
America's regression to a Dickensian dystopia continues apace with the recent discovery that a Kentucky distribution center illegally employed an 11-year-old and a 13-year-old for MONTHS. How...does this happen? What's next? After-school chimney sweep programs?