VIDEO OF THE DAY: Sec. Buttigieg leaves right-wing host silenced on his own show
The Dept. of Transportation secretary entered the Squawk Box...but it was CNBC host Joe Kernan who was left squawking in protest as Buttigieg deftly dismantled his anti-Biden talking points.

Take Action: Call on US leaders to invest in preventing gender-based violence!

Sen. Bob Menendez hit with new conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges
Embattled New Jersey Sen. and man with many gold bars Bob Menendez, who somehow still has his job, was indicted on a DOZEN new criminal charges related to a years-long bribery scheme involving the governments of Egypt and Qatar. Among the new charges in the superseding indictment are conspiracy, obstruction of justice, public official acting as a foreign agent, bribery, extortion, and honest services wire fraud. While Mr. Menendez should obviously be held accountable for his years of misdeeds, we can't help but wonder when justice will come for Jared Kushner and his shady business deals with Middle Eastern governments.

Take Action: Tell President Biden to stand up to Big Gas and make our buildings safer!

Bombshell court decision has massive implications for Trump
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: Wow.

Radical, right-wing Holocaust denier Mark Robinson wins North Carolina's GOP gubernatorial primary
Nothing illustrates the decrepit state of the modern Republican Party than the rise of Mark Robinson, a Hitler-quoting, Holocaust-denying, gay-bashing, conspiracy-flouting antisemite who believes that Christian society must be led by men and believes LGBTQ people are "filth." Robinson, the state's current lieutenant governor, will face Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein for the governorship, presenting North Carolinians with a very stark choice this November — a deranged extremist or a dedicated public servant. Tough call.

Take Action: Pass the assault weapons ban!

Liberty University to pay $14 million for covering up on-campus crime
You will not be surprised in the slightest to learn that Jerry Falwell's evangelical indoctrination center masquerading as a "college" has been hit with a historic fine for systematically covering up sexual assault crimes by its students, punishing victims who came forward, and failing to properly record campus crime statistics. "Consequently, victims of sexual assault often felt dissuaded by Liberty administration’s reputation for punishing sexual assault survivors rather than helping them. Such fears created a culture of silence where sexual assaults commonly went unreported," concluded the final review. Of course, Liberty U. markets itself as one of the safest campuses in the country, but enabling sexual assault is sadly par for the course when it comes to the radical, religious right wing.

Take Action: End hair discrimination! Pass the CROWN Act ASAP!

Scanners that spot smuggled fentanyl at the border sit unused because Republicans have not provided the funding to install them
Republicans love loudly honking about drugs coming across the border and the opioid epidemic ravaging small-town America when they can blame Democrats for it, but when it comes to actually *doing* anything about the crisis, they don't seem to have much urgency. Customs and Border Protection has spent millions of taxpayer dollars on the most up-to-date, high-tech scanners to spot fentanyl crossing the southern US border, but most of them are sitting in boxes because the GOP blocked the funding request to install them. These scanners are key to helping stop the flow of deadly drugs across the border, which are brought in almost entirely by American citizens or Mexican nationals with legal authorization to cross the border (and nearly NO super scary "migrants") and hidden everywhere you can imagine — but once again, the GOP is the primary obstacle to progress in America.

Nikki Haley wins her first state, immediately drops out of GOP race
The former South Carolina governor's futile, longshot bid to become the Republican nominee for president came to an abrupt and unceremonious end after wasting tens of millions of dollars to only win the very blue state of Vermont by just four points. Haley's campaign managed to stay in the race this long largely out of spite and cope, as GOP "establishment" bigwigs poured shocking amounts of money into her war chest despite her failure to come within single digits of Trump in any state save Vermont. However, it did serve to remind us that even the so-called "moderate" Republicans are mostly awful people with very awful policies, and we would not be at all surprised to see a begrudging Trump endorsement from Haley shortly.

MAGA is now losing its mind over a Doritos boycott, because of course
Right wingers are melting down because the iconic chip brand's Spanish division is partnering with transgender activist and singer Samantha Hudson. Conservative activists are accusing Hudson of being a pedophile over an edgy tweet that she wrote...when she was 15 years old. Is nothing safe? Beer is woke. Football is woke. Country pop stars are woke. Now chips are woke, too! Argh! Pretty soon there will be nothing left that conservatives will allow themselves to enjoy, all because of unchecked, irrational hatred for people who dare to be different than them. What a sad, miserable existence.

Ads on Instagram and Facebook for a deepfake app undressed a picture of 16-year-old Jenna Ortega
Meta's historically appalling content moderation policies have clearly not improved, because its platforms have been hosting ads for apps that create deepfake pornography — including one which used a picture of a child celebrity. Congressional. Regulation. NOW.

Adam Schiff beats progressive opponents Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, will face former MLB player Steve Garvey in bid to replace the late Dianne Feinstein in US Senate
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of Los Angeles, who led the first impeachment inquiry of Donald "Quid Pro Quo" Trump, will face Republican Steve Garvey, who was really good at baseball once upon a time, in a general election runoff to decide who will represent California in the US Senate. Schiff thwarted longer-shot bids by fellow Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, who largely split the progressive vote, all but assuring Schiff's ascension to the top of the heap where he will be heavily favored to claim Feinstein's old seat.

Goodbye, Super Tuesday

Surprise, surprise

Hope...

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