Tell the media to stop treating Biden’s age like a bigger deal than Trump’s MANY crimes!

Daily Dose of Democracy:

Indicted ex-FBI informant told investigators he got Hunter Biden dirt from Russian intelligence officials
It turns out that not only was the GOP's ace-in-the-hole Hunter Biden witness Alexander Smirnov lying his ass off, he also had extensive connections with Russian spies, who gave him the "dirt" that he used to fuel the GOP's baseless witch hunt against the President and his family. Which would make the Republican Party eager accomplices in a Russian plot to make false accusations against major American politicians. AGAIN.

Take Action: Demand ALL US companies stop doing business with Putin in Russia!

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Democrats score the massive victory we've been waiting for
New legislative maps in Wisconsin signal a new day for the Democratic Party, and the effects could be more wide-ranging than we could have hoped for.

Take Action: Reelect Sen. Tammy Baldwin and protect our Senate majority!

atAdvocacy gears up to help beat Republicans and re-elect President Biden
atAdvocacy: In 2024, we’re committed to bringing you the best newsletter you’ll ever find in your inbox AND pushing back against Trump’s attacks on our democracy so Democrats can win up and down the ballot nationwide. Will you chip in to help support our work and help us make your morning read even better?

Trump allies prepare to infuse Christian nationalism in second administration
POLITICO has obtained documents showing that a right-wing think tank is preparing plans to make a second Trump White House even more openly Christian nationalist (the unspoken word here is "white"). Russell Vought, a Trump admin alumnus and leader of the Center for Renewing America think tank, is spearheading this self-declared Christian nationalist plan to address the imaginary attack on Christianity that the woke left is doing. The CRA's proposals include — hold on to your seat — ending pregnancy surrogacy, ending no-fault divorce, ending sex ed in schools and stopping "policies that subsidize single motherhood." He also plans to use the Insurrection Act to squash anti-Trump protests from day one, using the very same laws passed to stop future Trumper attacks on democracy to repress our First Amendment right to protest. The stakes just keep getting higher and higher — we can't let this dictatorial zealot and his weirdo cronies get anywhere near the White House ever again.

Take Action: End child poverty in America by expanding the Child Tax Credit!

GOP privately expects government shutdown
The Republican Party has trapped itself in a self-destructive loop of dysfunction from which it can't extricate itself without self-imploding. Here we are again, for what feels like the seven hundredth time in six months, on the brink of a government shutdown as House Speaker Mike Johnson is once again caught between the hard place of Congress' fiscal obligations and the rock of the unhinged Freedom Caucus extremists. The government has ten days before the money runs out, and one lawmaker told Axios that "people are predicting a shutdown even if it's just for a few days." Another subcommittee member said that they're either "close to reaching a deal or it's about to blow up," which has pretty much been the status quo of the House ever since the GOP took over. Every week brings a new low for these bozos.

Take Action: Tell Congress to end legacy enrollments at taxpayer-subsidized Ivy League schools!

Donald Trump again compares his criminal indictments to imprisonment and death of Putin’s top rival
For the second time this week, Donald Trump had the stunning nerve to compare himself to the recently deceased Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who, need we remind you, was poisoned by the Russian government and imprisoned near the Arctic Circle. Apparently, this is the exact same as being found guilty of doing absurd amounts of financial fraud and defaming his rape victims and having to pay fines for it. “It is a form of Navalny, it is a form of communism, of fascism,” said Trump, once again showing that masterful command of the English language and capability to understand concepts that one expects from a presidential candidate.

Raskin blasts GOP's top Biden impeachment witness Tony Bobulinski over interview with Oversight panel
The bumbling, slapdash, and laughably incompetent GOP efforts to impeach President Biden over imaginary scandals were roundly skewered by Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, who roasted the GOP's primary witness for behaving like a Trumpian jackass in his congressional hearing. "Your client's interview was chaotic to the point of burlesque as he repeatedly yelled, shouted, filibustered, and hurled outlandish and baseless accusations and insults against Democratic Members and staff...Mr. Bobulinski did not offer any evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden." Republicans responded to this by doing what they've been doing for months now: putting on a show of weeping and moaning and promising scandalous evidence...but never actually producing any, which it ultimately doesn't need to do. All they need is to repeat their lies over and over to the point where it muddies the waters and sinks into the public consciousness — which is why it's so important for Rep. Raskin to push back in such a public takedown.

Bombshell court ruling signals disaster for Trump in November
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: Not great for Trump...

Elizabeth Warren urges regulators to block Capital One’s takeover of Discover
The hungry, hungry hippos of corporate America are once again growing larger as two financial behemoths prepare a gargantuan $35 billion merger — but not if Sen. Warren has anything to say about it. The Massachusetts Democrat urged regulators to block the deal, warning that it “threatens our financial stability, reduces competition, and would increase fees and credit costs for American families...This Wall Street deal is dangerous and will harm working people." The proposed acquisition comes just days after a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report accusing Capital One of predatory practices, including charging interest rates over 30%.

February is continuing Earth's record warm streak
Welp, it looks like 2024 is starting off right where 2023 ended: in all-time record heat territory. Record warm global average surface temperatures have continued through mid-February, with no indications of a cooldown that might prevent the month from setting a record. The waters of the North Atlantic are reaching temperatures usually seen in July, which should be extremely alarming to everyone who isn't on the payroll of an oil company.

Texas to build 80-acre base in Eagle Pass for National Guardsmen
Governor Greg Abbott is doubling down on his militarization of the border by building a giant $500 million military base at Eagle Pass to house all the National Guardsmen he'll need to point guns ominously at Honduran children trying to cross the border. It will accommodate 1800 troops and will include a 15,000-square-foot dining facility with 24-hour service of “chef-driven meals” and “buffet style meals,” a fully equipped fitness center, a recreation center with a library and arcade, an outdoor basketball court, and a sand volleyball court. In Abbott's characteristically corrupt fashion, the project was awarded without competitive bidding, due to Abbott’s perpetual border disaster declaration that suspends state contracting laws.

US vetoes UN resolution calling for immediate ceasefire in Gaza after proposing a temporary halt in fighting
For the third time, the US has vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as the death toll climbs to 29,313 people killed. The Biden admin argued that supporting it would jeopardize the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas. In its place, the Biden admin has offered a much weaker resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire “as soon as practicable” and voiced opposition to Israel's planned invasion of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians have fled the onslaught of the IDF.