Don’t let Trump delay his criminal trials!

Daily Dose of Democracy:

Donald Trump set to appear in $250 million fraud trial in New York today
New York Attorney General Letitia James' massive fraud lawsuit against the serially indicted con man hits its highest gear yet today, as Donald himself is expected to testify and attempt to somehow refute the overwhelming evidence compiled by the state detailing how he and several top Trump Organization executives — including his eldest sons — fraudulently and grossly inflated the value of the grifter's properties for decades to secure better loans from banks. Expect measured, well-tempered testimony and cosmopolitan restraint from the ex-president today, folks. Just kidding. It's going to be a total sh*t show.

Take Action: Tell the New York trial judge to block Trump from social media!

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Top Republican fails to answer basic question FIVE TIMES live on air
US Congressman and failed House speaker candidate Steve Scalise clearly knows the 2020 election wasn't stolen and that Joe Biden won the presidency convincingly, but he also knows if he wants a future in Trump's Republican Party, he simply cannot concede objective reality. There is no middle, folks. And there aren't two sides. There's fact and there's wild, conspiratorial fiction.

Take Action: Pass automatic voter registration!

Anti-democracy extremists exposed plotting to overturn the will of 2024 voters
Brennan Center for Justice: A new lawsuit in Michigan aims to overturn two major voting rights measures overwhelmingly approved by voters — and to stop voters from ever passing new voting rights laws again. The Brennan Center for Justice is spearheading the fight against this undemocratic power grab and the many similar plots being rammed through state legislatures across the country. Will you chip in to support their efforts and make sure that we have free and fair elections in 2024?

Israel-Hamas war has killed more UN workers than any other conflict
A staggering 88 staffers in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have already been killed since the conflict in Gaza dramatically escalated almost a month ago. The organization's Inter-Agency Standing Committee called for the "immediate and unconditional release of all civilians held hostage" and an "immediate ceasefire" to the 30-day-old war.

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

Trump rips into Iowa governor ahead of her DeSantis endorsement
In a pair of completely reasonable and very eloquent posts on Truth Social, the disgraced ex-president trashed Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds for her expected endorsement of Ron DeSantis, saying that her decision to support the part-time Florida governor and floundering presidential candidate will be the "end of her political career." "If and when Kim Reynolds of Iowa endorses Ron DeSanctimonious, who is absolutely dying in the polls both in Iowa and Nationwide, it will be the end of her political career in that MAGA would never support her again, just as MAGA will never support DeSanctimonious again," Trump thumb-smashed. "Two extremely disloyal people getting together is, however, a very beautiful thing to watch. They can now remain loyal to each other because nobody else wants them!!!"

Take Action: Tell Speaker Mike Johnson: Don't shut down the government!

Criminally indicted, disgraced ex-Trump attorney pleads his innocence...on 60 Minutes
John Eastman, a former attorney for Donald Trump who wrote the con man's so-called "coup memo" that argued for then-Vice President Mike Pence to halt the certification of the 2020 election, decided television was the best place to plead his supposed innocence, despite facing nine criminal counts in Georgia's sprawling, election conspiracy case. Eastman, a far-right lawyer who once clerked for Clarence Thomas, was accused by one judge of cooking up "a coup in search of a legal theory." Not sure if 60 Minutes is the best platform to try out flimsy lines of defense, but it is a free country — at least for the time being for Eastman, anyway.

Elon Musk unveils Grok, an AI chatbot with a "rebellious streak"
Oh, good. The right-wing billionaire tech bozo is unveiling a new AI toy with a built-in "rebellious" attitude. What could possibly go horribly HAL 9000 wrong?

Republicans' extreme move BACKFIRES (Live from Wisconsin!)
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: They finally went too far...

Alabama mayor, Baptist pastor dies by suicide after being involuntarily outed as transgender woman
The small Alabama community of Smiths Station is in shock after the tragic death of Mayor F.L. "Bubba" Copeland, following their involuntary outing as a transgender woman when a local conservative news blog posted photos of them embracing their secret gender identity. Copeland also served as the pastor of First Baptist Church in Phenix City and owned a small grocery store. 1819 News, which has ties to Trump-whisperer and many-shirted white nationalist Steve Bannon, reported last week that Copeland had been engaging in explicit online activities, allegedly posting transgender-specific fiction and erotica they authored, memes, pornography, and photos of themself in women’s clothing online under the pseudonym "Brittini Blaire Summerlin." Activists are not being hyperbolic when they warn that transphobia kills.

Bernie Sanders says Senate should use aid package to force Israel to change
The Vermont independent said Sunday the United States should use billions of dollars in aid as leverage to force Israel to change its ongoing military operation, which is decimating the Gaza Strip. Sanders condemned both Hamas ("an awful terrorist organization") and the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (whom he hopes will be voted out), calling for an immediate end to Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza and a two-state solution to the intractable crisis.

US patients' equity in homes stripped away by relentless hospital lawsuits
A recent investigation by Kaiser Family Foundation found the majority of the nation’s 5,100 hospitals likely use "extraordinary" — and completely legal, we might add — collection measures, including suing lower-income and fixed-income patients and placing liens on their homes to bleed them dry of their hard-earned equity. Even with commercial health insurance policies in place, hospitals routinely bill Americans tens of thousands of dollars they know can never be paid back, creating a cycle of bondage that only intensifies as their health predictably declines. It's almost as if our wildly negligent, for-profit healthcare system is an unconscionable, immoral disaster and should be replaced by universal, single-payer coverage IMMEDIATELY. Almost.