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VIDEO OF THE DAY: Judge takes serious action against Trump in court
Well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of Trump's own actions coming back to bite him...immediately! As the serially indicted fraudster is wont to do, Trump began his day by attacking Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over his hush money trial (this is the secret payment to a porn star trial, not Trump's decades of fraud trial or his stolen classified documents trial). The MAGA cult leader called Merchan a "certified Trump hater" and then made the mistake of going after Merchan's daughter, who he targeted for working at a "Super Liberal Democrat firm" — and we all know by now that when Trump targets people, death threats, abuse, and harassment from his minions swiftly follow. His behavior earned the disgraced ex-president an immediate gag order from Judge Merchan, the serious implications of which are broken down in this video by Brian Tyler Cohen and Glenn Kirschner.

Ken Paxton, prosecutors agree to pre-trial deal to drop felony fraud charges
So in one week we've seen the courts slash Donald Trump's bond payment for decades of financial crimes by over half and drop all charges against Texas' criminal Lt. Gov. Ken Paxton for felony securities fraud...in a country where other people are jailed — sometimes for YEARS — for things like having a miscarriage, voting errors, allegedly stealing a backpack, having a stroke, or just being Black in a car. For his crimes, Paxton will endure the hardship of having to pay $300,000 in restitution, take legal ethics classes, and complete 100 hours of community service. What a joke. There are two tiers of justice in this country, and for some odd reason, wealthy, white-collar, white guys seem to get away with their crimes far more often than not.

Trump moves to strip ALL our reproductive rights
Jacky Rosen for Senate: The end of Roe v. Wade has created a nightmare and now Republicans’ presumptive presidential nominee is endorsing a national abortion ban. Sen. Jacky Rosen has been a key leader in the fight to protect our reproductive rights, which is why Mitch McConnell and his cronies are trying to replace her with an anti-abortion MAGA extremist eager to help Trump take away abortion access. Will you do your part to defend our Senate majority and protect our reproductive rights?

Ketanji Brown Jackson dunks on Samuel Alito during abortion hearing
The newest member of the Supreme Court came out swinging against the radical Christian extremist Samuel Alito, who was intent on trying to find justification for banning the drug mifepristone, which is widely used in abortion care. An anti-abortion lawyer tried to argue that the FDA was wrong to allow mifepristone to be sold remotely on safety grounds, and Alito wondered why someone wasn't able to simply challenge the FDA on their safety ruling in court. Justice Jackson turned Alito's question on its head, asking the pharmaceutical lawyer defending the accessibility of mifepristone, "You were asked [by Alito] if the [FDA] is infallible, and I guess I’m wondering about the flip side, which is do you think that courts have specialized scientific knowledge with respect to pharmaceuticals?" Jackson continued, "Do you have concerns about judges parsing medical and scientific studies?" The answer was a resounding yes. Based on his line of questioning (and abysmal track record in general), Alito appears ready to throw the entire pharmaceutical industry into chaos by revoking the FDA's authority to regulate medicines, but thankfully the majority of the high court does not yet appear to be on board.

NBC News cuts ties with former RNC Chair and Big Lie cheerleader Ronna McDaniel
The election-denying Trump toadie didn't even make it a full Scaramucci before an internal revolt forced NBC's hand. Platforming an outspoken conspiracy theorist and far-right propagandist like McDaniel was clearly too much for the rest of the talent at NBC, as hosts like Rachel Maddow and Chuck Todd publicly condemned their own employers for hiring the MAGA lackey. McDaniel was previously ousted from her job at the RNC to make way for the installation of Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who will oversee the embezzlement of the RNC's funds to pay for Donald's ever-growing legal bills. Better luck elsewhere, Ronna!

Trump is selling "God Bless the USA" Bibles as he faces mounting legal bills
"My favorite books are Job and Numbers, because I like BIG Job Numbers. We're gonna do tremendous things for this country, especially with regards to BI-BLE. What an incredible book, I've read all those books, they're the best books I always say, in My God Bless the USA Bible. And we're going to finally kick Sleepy Joe out of Eden — he’s been there forever, frankly — since before Peter Gabriel left Genesis, even. What was with those weird outfits anyway? What a freak, I mean he looked like an alien. We don’t like aliens, do we folks? Invading our beautiful border and also up there in their little ships, bing bing bing bing. There were some great men in this Bible, handsome guys, movie stars, like Matthew, Mark, Luke and JOHN, just like me — Donald John Trump, it’s a beautiful name. Everyone loves the Gospels, but where is the Book of Donald? Perhaps someone can write that one soon, who knows? Anyway, God Bless the USA and My Bibles, which can be yours for $59.99."

Republicans erupt in conspiratorial lunacy over Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse
In a very disturbing sign that Republicans may never ever be normal about anything ever again, disturbed right-wingers took to various propaganda outlets and nüTwitter to offer up the most deranged explanations for Monday night's accidental and absolutely devastating bridge accident in Baltimore. Among the culprits are "the border," COVID-19 "lockdowns," cyber-attacks, "DEI" (in right-wing parlance it just means "hiring nonwhites for literally any jobs"), and — this one really takes the cake — President Biden's infrastructure bill, which GOP Rep. Nancy Mace blamed with a straight face for investing in climate change initiatives and not enough on...bridge repair. The right-wing ideological echo chamber is so ravenous and so frenzied at this point there is literally nothing they won't twist into an opportunity to advance their radical agendas, be it disgusting racism, anti-science quackery, or draconian fiscal austerity. These people do not exist in the same plane of reality that we do, and the consequences of the complete shattering of the conservative psyche are just going to get worse from here.

Kids as young as 14 were found working at a Tennessee factory that makes lawn mower parts for John Deere and others
The "Tuff Torq" company was fined $300,000 for hiring 10 kids to work at their factory — and not just children, but immigrant kids, who are significantly more exploitable due to language barriers and their inherent fear of immigration authorities. This is the great future that the Republican Party envisions for America — a land where poor Brown children toil late at night at a goddamn lawn mower factory, putting their lives and limbs in significant danger all so some corporate fatcats don't have to pay a full salary to an adult. Since 2018, we've seen a 152% increase in the illegal employment of children, and it's not hard to figure out why!

Sexual assault lawsuit against GOP big wig Matt Schlapp is abruptly dropped
The GOP operative who accused American Conservative Union head Matt Schlapp of sexual assault in a $9.4 million suit has suddenly dropped his claims. “The Schlapps have advised that the statements made about me were the result of a misunderstanding, which was regrettable. Neither the Schlapps nor the ACU paid me anything to dismiss my claims against them," said former Herschel Walker staffer Carlton Huffman, who did not remark on whether or not a loaded gun was pointed at his head when he issued this statement. Seems pretty suspicious!

Customers from the East Coast to the Midwest could see costly impact from Baltimore bridge collapse
The shocking collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after a cargo ship lost power and careened into it will unfortunately have wide-ranging effects beyond the tragic loss of life and the sudden loss of a vital transportation artery. The Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest in the country, has been forced to halt vessel traffic indefinitely, which will create a bottleneck of goods coming into the country. The port handled 52.3 MILLION tons of international cargo, worth about $80.8 billion, last year, and it's still very uncertain how fast construction crews will be able to clear the rubble and restore the flow of shipping. The biggest impact is likely to be on hazardous materials, which cannot be trucked through tunnels, adding delays and heavy fuel costs. To make matters worse, Baltimore is the largest entry point in the United States for large agriculture and construction equipment like tractors, combines, and the rest — and planting season is just about to begin. Ooof.