Tell the Taliban to let girls go to school!

Daily Dose of Democracy:

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Trump faceplants with tortured Hail Mary on abortion
The disgraced ex-president released a tortured, meandering statement on abortion, trying — and failing — to thread the needle on appeasing radical right-wing crusaders while somehow not alienating the clear majority of Americans who are resoundingly in favor of bodily autonomy. Trump's bullshit "leave it up to the states" argument is meant to signal to his far-right flank that he's really with them while providing political cover to pretend otherwise for purposes of winning the general election. Let's be clear. Donald Trump and the Republican Party have been nakedly forthcoming about their intention to ban abortion outright. Full stop. At the local level, the state level, and — should they manage to wrest control of Congress and the White House — the federal level. Any attempts by the fraudster and his campaign to suggest otherwise must be met with withering contempt. Receipts and more receipts, if anyone's aunt or uncle needs them.

Take Action: Pass the Equal Rights Amendment now!

Special counsel Jack Smith urges Supreme Court to reject Trump's presidential immunity claim
Special prosecutor Jack Smith's team has laid out a sweeping case for why, obviously, the Founding Fathers didn't intend for the president to be immune from all criminal prosecution “The Framers never endorsed criminal immunity for a former President, and all Presidents from the Founding to the modern era have known that after leaving office they faced potential criminal liability for official acts,” wrote the prosecution in their 66-page brief. Two courts have already rejected Trump's bullshit arguments, leaving the Supreme Court as the final arbiter for whether the cult leader will face justice for his crimes — and any future crimes he might commit if he someone manages to weasel his way back into the White House.

David Hogg launches movement to build the next generation of Democratic leaders
Leaders We Deserve: If we’re going to take the fight to Trump and his army of creepy young white nationalists, we’re going to need our own team of young leaders ready to fight for a better tomorrow. Will you chip in to Leaders We Deserve and help build the next generation of Democrats to take our party into the future?

"Genocide": Elizabeth Warren sounds alarm about Israel's war in Gaza
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren is warning that Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza, which has killed more than 33,000 people, could legally be considered a genocide. Video of Warren's recent speech, which she gave last week at a Boston-area mosque, began circulating on social media on Monday. The death toll in Gaza, which includes at least 13,000 children, is considered a low estimate due to the difficulty in counting the dead. "If you want to do it as an application of law, I believe that they’ll find that it is genocide, and they have ample evidence to do so," Warren said, speaking at the Islamic Center of Boston in Wayland, Massachusetts. She was responding to an audience question about the International Court of Justice ruling that it was "plausible" Israel has committed acts of genocide in Gaza. Warren, who faced criticism for initially backing Israel's military response in the wake of the Hamas terror attacks on October 7, told the gathered audience, "It is wrong to starve children within a civilian population in order to try to bend to your will. It is wrong to drop 2,000-pound bombs, in densely populated civilian areas." Warren’s new stance is the latest example of Democrats criticizing Israel’s actions in a brutal campaign that has extended into its seventh month with no end in sight.

Take Action: Find a cure for Parkinson's!

Trump-backed Senate hopeful in Wisconsin says nursing home residents should not be allowed to vote
Eric Hovde, Trump's handpicked candidate for Senate in Wisconsin, floated a bizarre and mindnumbingly stupid idea that people living in nursing homes should be disenfranchised because they're simply too old and close to death to be "in a point to vote." Interesting campaign strategy you got there, Eric! Alienate tens of thousands of senior voters by casually suggesting they don't deserve a say in our elections because they're old. Did you focus group that strategy?

Take Action: Stop tax breaks for Republican dark money corruption!

Newly released deposition reveals an incredibly ignorant and maladjusted Elon Musk
The hard-right, billionaire tech bozo was deposed last month over his role in promoting a brazenly false conspiracy theory attacking a random, 22-year-old Jewish man in Oregon, and things did not go well for nüTwitter's head twit. Despite his legal team's best efforts, transcripts from the deposition were released to the public and — hoo boy — they don't do Musk any favors. The world's richest man-child repeatedly amplified a bunk story to his more than 180 million followers on X, accusing Ben Brody — who wasn't even in the state at the time — of taking part in a brawl between the neo-Nazi Rose City Nationalists and the Proud Boys, who had both turned up during Oregon City’s Pride Night Fest to protest the event and spew anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. Musk accused Brody — again, who is Jewish — of being a Rose City Nationalist neo-Nazi AND an undercover federal agent. Without evidence, the ketamine enthusiast and famed electric car exploder claimed the event was a false flag and doxxed Brody in the process. Brody and his family were forced to flee their home amid the fallout and are seeking $1 million in damages as a result. Seems like a few zeroes are missing, but what do we know?

Take Action: Tell Congress to act NOW to stop climate change!

Christian school's pastor cancels Autism Awareness Week, calling it "demonic"
A Christian school in Florida abruptly canceled plans to honor Autism Awareness Week after Pastor Matt Baker sent out a mass email referring to the event as "demonic" and saying that recognizing autism like this amounted to "idolatry." "If Jesus Christ led Trinity, would HE have an Autism Awareness Week? Of course not!," Baker wrote with all the bluster and bravado of street-corner carnival barker. Trinity’s schedule for Autism Awareness Week was no different from anything you'd find in a public school; the goal was to make sure kids with autism are accepted and loved, but that was apparently a bridge too far for Baker, who refused to back down and insisted recognizing autism through this initiative was "diametrically opposed to the teachings of Christ."

Trump delivers FATAL blow to his OWN campaign
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: Brutal.

Ohio to purchase "shoot houses" to train public school staff on how to take out school shooters with firearms. Seriously
The Ohio Controlling Board, which helps oversee changes to the state budget, approved public safety officials' bone-chilling request for $78,028 last month to purchase two "shoot houses" to help train public school employees who are now legally allowed to carry firearms at work, thanks to Republicans' steadfast insistence that more guns are the only solution to too many guns in America. The shoot houses, mobile homes designed for indoor firearms training, were ostensibly acquired so school staff members — you know, math teachers, librarians, cafeteria workers, counselors, and such — can be better prepared "to respond to an active shooter." What could possibly go horribly wrong?

World’s biggest economies pumping billions into fossil fuels in poor nations
The world’s biggest economies have continued to finance the expansion of fossil fuels in poor countries — $142 BILLION from 2020 to 2022, to be specific — despite their repeated public commitments to enacting meaningful climate-related reforms, year after year. Canada, Japan, and South Korea were the biggest sources of such finance in the three years studied, and gas received more funding than either coal or oil. While the G7 had previously pledged to phase out overseas fossil fuel funding by the end of 2022, that is clearly not happening, thanks to trusty loopholes and the global, insatiable thirst for ever-more profits.

Tenth consecutive monthly heat record alarms and confounds climate scientists
Another month, another global heat record that has left climate scientists scratching their heads and hoping this is an El Niño-related hangover rather than a symptom of worse-than-expected planetary health. Global surface temperatures in March were 0.1C higher than the previous record for the month, set in 2016, marking the 10th consecutive monthly record in a warming phase that has shattered all previous records. Let's be sure to continue to do nearly nothing to combat the catastrophe unfolding right before our eyes. We've got quarterly earnings reports to worry about, people!

"I blame myself for Lindsey Graham": Trump continues verbal flogging of hapless Republican senator
The disgraced ex-president and MAGA cult leader continued his attack on Sen. Lindsey Graham after his longtime ally publicly disagree with his latest ruse on abortion policy. On Monday, Trump released a video in which he claimed abortion laws should be left to the states disappointing many anti-abortion politicians and activists who were hoping the serially indicted philanderer would come out in support of a nationwide ban, as he has in the past. Graham was none-too-pleased with the latest move, dared to publicly say so, and promptly drew Donnie's ire: "I blame myself for Lindsey Graham, because the only reason he won in the Great State of South Carolina is because I Endorsed him!" There are so many things in America for which Trump is to blame, but the Republican Party writ large is on the hook for Lindsey. It takes decades of political malfeasance — and a national party apparatus — to prop up a man of such milquetoast mediocrity.