Reject the GOP plan to track pregnancies with a federal database!

Slovakia's prime minister shot in attempted assassination

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Trump pulls unhinged stunt at court
On the cusp of jail time after violating Judge Merchan gag order no less than TEN times, Trump has found himself in the personally unacceptable position of being unable to attack his enemies — so he's turned to his weenies in Congress to do it for him. Rep. Cory Mills, Rep. Byron Donalds, and presidential also-ran Vivek Ramaswamy all showed up to rage at the judge, the prosecution, the witnesses, and the entire trial itself on behalf of the MAGA cult leader. More shocking was the arrival of the freaking House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is so devoted to his Christian morality that he made time to attend the trial of a serial sexual predator for paying hush money to a porn star with home he cheated on his postpartum wife. Let's hear it for those GOP FaMiLy VaLuEs! But in all seriousness, it is an extremely bad sign for democracy and the rule of law in this country that the ostensible leader of Congress is using his position to try to influence an ongoing trial on behalf of a career criminal.

Take Action: Tell Judge Merchan to jail Trump for violating his gag order!

"No record:" French officials say Kristi Noem lied about canceling meeting with Macron
Has there ever been a more disastrous book rollout than that of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem's "autobiography?" In the wake of Puppymurdergate and the debunking of her entirely fictitious Kim Jong Un story comes yet another tall tale about a meeting with a foreign leader, this time French President Emmanuel Macron. Noem wrote in her book that she canceled a meeting with Macron after he made an "anti-Israeli" comment (meaning he criticized their atrocious human rights record), but it turns out that encounter ALSO never happened. NBC News reports that "a representative from the Élysée Palace disputed Noem's account, saying there’s no record of a scheduled meeting, nor was there an invitation extended to her." Noem never explains why the president of France or general secretary of the DPRK would be meeting with the governor of South Dakota and it's hard to understand how she thought she could get away with these ridiculous lies. The schedules of world leaders are meticulously tracked! She's certainly one of what the French would call "les incompétents."

Take Action: Close the gender pay gap and pay women a fair wage!

GOP Senate candidate unveils terrifying anti-abortion plan
Ruben Gallego for Arizona: Imagine Americans being arrested simply for trying to seek reproductive healthcare. That’s the future we face if MAGA extremist, insurrectionist, and anti-choice zealot Kari Lake is elected to the Senate. During the public discourse on Arizona's 1864 abortion ban, Lake publicly complained that “the only people who can enforce that law are our sheriffs. And we need to start asking the sheriffs if they’re willing to enforce that. I don’t think they are.” What she’s really saying is that law enforcement should be used to enforce abortion bans — which means having cops arrest and prosecute those seeking reproductive healthcare, no matter the reason. Ruben Gallego, a dedicated champion for reproductive rights, is running against Kari Lake to make sure that never happens. Will you chip in to elect Ruben Gallego and make sure Kari Lake never gets a chance to put her heinous plan into action?

American medical mission trapped in Rafah, facing death by dehydration
Over 20 American doctors and medical workers are trapped in Gaza as a result of Israel’s post-invasion closure of the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, according to sources with knowledge of the plight of two ill-fated medical missions. Israel has blocked fuel, food, and water from entering Rafah for over a week, leading to severe dehydration among the general population, as well as among the doctors on mission. Among the stranded doctors is Adam Hamawy, a plastic surgeon and Army veteran from New Jersey who was shot down with now-Senator Tammy Duckworth in Iraq. Duckworth credits Hamawy with saving her life. The doctors are rationing water, and at least one physician is in poor health and is on an IV drip to combat dehydration. The State Department says that it is "aware" of the stranded doctors and is "continuing to work around the clock with the government of Israel" but stresses that the situation is "very complex." That's one way to put it.

"Alabama is not Michigan:" GOP Gov. Ivey signs anti-union bill as Mercedes workers vote on joining UAW
The GOP is scrambling to keep workers from getting any leverage in Corporate America's endless struggle to pay its workers as little as possible, rapidly passing and signing into law a bill that would punish any company that voluntarily recognizes a union. Seemingly not content to let companies OR women make decisions for themselves, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey justified the move by saying, "We want to ensure that Alabama values, not Detroit values, continue to define the future of this great state.” Those values, it seems, are institutionalizing rampant poverty and something akin to diet slavery. Workers at the Tuscaloosa Mercedes-Benz plant began their unionization vote on Monday, the latest in a $40 million unionization drive at car manufacturers across the South that could be the herald of a new dawn for American labor — and the GOP is beyond terrified.

Take Action: Rename a prison after Trump instead of an airport!

GOP candidate debuts absurdly homophobic slogan
Valentina Gomez, who is apparently running for Missouri secretary of state and not captain of the middle-school dodgeball team, has debuted a deeply embarrassing and offensive new ad. Gomez posted a video where she’s running in the middle of a street — inexplicably wearing a bulletproof vest and athletic shorts — and saying: “In America, you can be anything you want. So don't be weak and gay. Stay f**king hard.” The video then shows a picture of her holding an assault rifle. It's been a long time coming, but it's still very, very strange to watch the continued devolution of the GOP in real time. ME STRONG. GUN BOOM. ME VOTE LADY STRONG BOOM?

Take Action: Tell President Biden to decriminalize marijuana!

Kansas City Chiefs' Harrison Butker bashes President Biden and Pride month, tells women their place is in the kitchen in incendiary commencement speech
The star NFL kicker shoved his jackbooted foot squarely up his Butker when he used his platform as commencement speaker at Benedictine College to deliver an absolutely unhinged, Catholic extremist rant, in which he lambasted "gender ideologies," Pride Month celebrations, President Biden, abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, and "degenerate cultural values." As if that wasn't enough, he told the students that women had "the most diabolic lies" told to them and that one of the most important titles of all was "homemaker." "Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world." Somehow we have a feeling these bigoted and outrageously regressive comments won't spark one-tenth the controversy that Black NFL players fighting for social justice will.

Biden gets good news ahead of November
About time.

Report: Texas tax dollars diverted to out-of-state charter schools founded by Houston schools superintendent
From the outset, it was fairly obvious to all involved that the right-wing push to privatize education was just a greedy attempt to point the public money hose into conservative buckets — but the grift playing out in the banana republic of Texas is truly shocking to behold. A report by Spectrum News alleges that millions of Texas education tax dollars were diverted out-of-state to a network of charter schools in Colorado that were founded by Houston Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles. Of course, the schools themselves sucked, with internal school records and a nationally recognized school rating agency indicating that the three Colorado schools have struggled with performance, enrollment, and finances. One was even forced to close last year. Jackie Anderson, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, immediately called for a federal investigation, slamming Miles for using "our public school system as his own personal piggy bank." Seeing as Gov. Greg Abbott is spearheading the GOP efforts to destroy the public school system and replace it with for-profit charters, it is very unlikely Miles will see any consequences coming from the state — this kind of corruption is the whole point of the entire project.

Miss USA and Miss Teen USA’s mothers speak out: "They were ill-treated, abused, bullied, and cornered"
Unsurprisingly, the nation's premier objectification-of-women contest that was once Donald Trump's ticket to spying on teen girls' changing rooms does not treat its contestants OR winners well behind the scenes. After both Miss USA and Miss Teen USA abdicated their titles, their mothers stepped forward to tell their daughters' stories, as the girls themselves are still restrained by NDAs. “The job of their dreams turned out to be a nightmare,” Miss Teen USA's mom Barbara Srivastava said on Good Morning America on Tuesday, sitting alongside fellow mom Jackeline Voigt. “We could not continue this charade. The girls decided to step down and give (up) their dream of a lifetime — a crown, a national title. Why would two girls decide to give that up?” Miss USA Noelia Voigt's resignation letter accused the organization of “actively building a culture of fear and control, the antithesis of women’s empowerment, that is…unsafe for future titleholders and employees.” Gee, sounds like just the sort of organization Trump would run. It appears not much has changed in the nine years since the MAGA cult leader sold the racket to NBC.

House Democrats launch investigation into Trump’s alleged offers to oil executives
House Democrats are now officially probing the stunning allegation that Big Oil and its lobbyists are literally writing executive orders for Donald Trump to pass if he gets back into the White House, rolling back all of President Biden's huge climate wins and damning our world to an ecological disaster of unprecedented proportions. In exchange for this, Trump wants a billion dollars as part of an outrageous pay-for-play scheme to subvert our democracy with dark money and ensure that our grandchildren don't have a healthy planet to enjoy. This is a truly outrageous show of corruption that warrants congressional action ASAP!