Punish Trump for violating his gag order!

Daily Dose of Democracy:

"Sleepy Don:" Trump sparks Twitter hilarity as he appears to fall asleep at trial
NY Times reporter Maggie Haberman kicked off a stir after she told the whole country how Donald Trump had apparently fallen asleep during the jury selection portion of his porn star hush money trial. “Trump appears to be sleeping. His head keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack,” posted Haberman. Usually "81-year-old falls asleep during court" would not be headline news but Trump is not only running for President and is very fond of calling his rival "Sleepy Joe," which is why social media immediately began mocking him with nicknames like "Sleepy Don" or — our personal favorite — "Don Snoreleone." Perhaps that's why he's always spending time with that pillow guy?

Take Action: Investigate Trump’s new multi-million dollar China scandal!

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Jail on the table for Trump for contempt at criminal trial
A day before his trial was to begin, Trump publicly attacked Michael Cohen, his former fixer and a witness for the prosecution against him. "Has disgraced attorney and felon Michael Cohen been prosecuted for LYING?" wrote Trump on Truth Social. This is a clear violation of the gag order barring him from attacking witnesses and punishments for that could include jail time! Cross your fingers that Judge Merchan is feeling vengeful.

America Drives The Global Plastics Crisis
Ocean Conservancy: Our world and our ocean are drowning in plastic — and it’s mostly our fault. America is the number one plastic waste generator in the world, and the grim truth is that 90% of all plastic waste is NOT recycled. Instead, it piles up in landfills, clogs up the ocean, and drives the climate crisis. But if we can get a strong global plastics treaty signed, we can phase out plastic pollution for good. Add your name to tell President Biden to support the most ambitious global plastics treaty possible to curb the plastic pollution crisis!

The Supreme Court effectively abolishes the right to mass protest in three US states
In a quiet ruling that has huge implications for our First Amendment rights, the Supreme Court elected not to hear the case of Mckesson v. Doe, which leaves in place an extremist Fifth Circuit Court ruling that would allow the state and law enforcement to level potentially ruinous financial consequences at protest organizers if a single attendee at a mass protest commits an illegal act — obviously a preposterous demand that places an impossible burden on those wishing to exercise their constitutional rights to peaceful protest. You won't be surprised to learn that race is at the heart of this decision. BLM activist DeRay McKesson organized a 2016 protest in Baton Rouge over the police murder of Alton Sterling; at the protest, someone threw a rock that struck a police officer in the face, who now seeks to hold McKesson himself responsible for the act. The Fifth Circuit Court's decision openly defies prior Supreme Court rulings, but in today's world of right-wing Calvinball legal interpretation, neither legal precedent, facts, or logic need be taken into consideration. While the Supreme Court could reverse the Fifth's decision in a different case, the right to protest is sharply curtailed in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas for the foreseeable future.

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

Mike Johnson takes risk on separating Israel and Ukraine aid
To the fury of everyone except the whackos in the "Freedom" Caucus, Speaker Johnson is trying to have his political cake and eat it too by putting four separate bills up to a vote: one for military aid for Israel, one for Ukraine, one for Taiwan, and one for the GOP's other foreign policy wishlist. Everyone else, including the White House, wants the House to just approve the bipartisan military aid bill passed in February. But of course, the hardline MAGA cranks refuse to approve any more aid for Ukraine, while the White House has already made it clear they won't be bailing out Johnson and approving aid for Israel alone, so — stop us if you've heard this one before — it appears that Speaker Johnson and the GOP are back to square one and nothing will get done.

Take Action: Tell Congress to protect reproductive rights and repeal the Comstock Act!

Global heating pushes coral reefs towards worst planet-wide mass bleaching on record
Rising ocean temperatures are pushing the world's coral reefs to the breaking point as more than half of all water containing reefs experience heat levels high enough to cause stress and bleaching, which can kill the coral. “Globally we are failing to protect coral reefs and the communities that rely upon them. This is neglect on a global scale,” said Prof Tracy Ainsworth, the vice-president of the International Coral Reef Society, while Coral Reef Watch director Dr Derek Manzello warns that “the bottom line is that as coral reefs experience more frequent and severe bleaching events, the time they have to recover is becoming shorter and shorter. Current climate models suggest that every reef on planet Earth will experience severe, annual bleaching sometime between 2040 and 2050.” The collapse of the world's coral reefs would be catastrophic not just for the environment but also for the millions of people who rely on them for food and tourism income. We need drastic climate action and we need it NOW.

Take Action: Tell Congress to pass clean energy laws ASAP!

Nike draws heat over skimpy U.S. women's track and field uniforms for Paris Olympics
Bruh. Did anyone at Nike bother to check with one single woman before signing off on "Nothing But Thighs" v3000? FOR THE OLYMPICS? How does this happen in 2024?

Trump finally meets his match as his campaign craters
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: There it is.

Two decades after Abu Ghraib scandal, three detainees get their day in US court
A civil trial against a US defense contractor accused of engaging in and directing abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq began Monday in Alexandria, Virginia, two decades after revelations of horrific torture first surfaced. The trial started with testimony from one of the Iraqi men, who said he was beaten, interrogated and left bound and naked for hours on end at the infamous site. The proceeding marks the first time these Abu Ghraib survivors are able to bring their claims of torture by US contractor CACI to a US jury.

Senator Elizabeth Warren claims TurboTax "relentlessly" upsells customers in letter to FTC
Monday was Tax Day, the day that millions of Americans get scammed into handing over their hard-earned money to the devious middlemen who hold the key to navigating the byzantine labyrinth of the US tax code. Their relentless lobbying efforts are the reason its so hard for us to do our damn taxes, and it turns out that's not even the half of it. Senator Warren exposed more of the shady practices of companies like TurboTax who continues to "relentlessly upsell” customers while also sneakily directing them away from services that would otherwise be free. Last year, the FTC found TurboTax guilty of lying to its customers about whether or not its services were free (spoiler: they weren't). It might not be this way forever, though; thanks to the dedicated work of Senator Warren and other progressive Democrats, the FTC is testing a free IRS Direct File service that somehow we don't have already?

Santos’ threatened comeback bid hasn’t raised a single dime
Turns out all this "fundraising" stuff is a lot harder when you aren't just running up your donors' credit cards to buy yourself shoes.

Clarence Thomas absent from US Supreme Court with no explanation
Clarence Thomas was absent from the Supreme Court on Monday with no explanation. The 75-year-old justice also did not attend remotely, as justices sometimes do when they are ill or otherwise cannot be there in person. We're not gonna say it...but we know you're thinkin' it.