Call on Congress to ban assault weapons!

Sunday Dose of Democracy:

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Trump crashes and burns at his own pep rally
The convicted felon and 78-year-old cult leader stood before throngs of MAGA followers in Wisconsin and claimed that CHILDREN are going to school in the morning and returning home having had gender-reassignment surgery. Seriously. We can't believe this requires a rebuttal, but literally ZERO kids are going to school, undergoing surgery, then returning home to deliver parents the shock of their lives. None. Not one. But when you are running a morally bankrupt campaign fueled by nothing but fear and rage, you'll sure as shit say anything to gin up your base, apparently. We cannot let this delusional, unhinged con man anywhere near the White House ever again. He is at once beyond parody and an existential threat to the future of our democracy.

Take Action: Tell social media to crack down on "deepfake" misinformation!

Why is JD Vance still following this Hitler apologist?
Hafiz Rashid, The New Republic: Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance still follows a self-proclaimed historian who this week claimed that Winston Churchill was the “chief villain of World War 2”— not Adolf Hitler. Vance follows Darryl Cooper from both of his accounts on X (formerly Twitter). Cooper drew increased attention Tuesday after X CEO and fascism enthusiast Elon Musk promoted Tucker Carlson’s interview with the controversial figure on his podcast, calling it “Very interesting. Worth watching.” After the interview was criticized by figures on the right and left, Musk deleted his tweet, but not before both he and Carlson were attacked for giving pro-Nazi propaganda a platform, especially since Carlson said Cooper “may be the best and most honest popular historian in the United States.” As more scrutiny was focused on Cooper’s views, particularly his white nationalist sympathies, X user @styledape discovered two prominent followers of Cooper’s @martyrmade X account: @JDVance and @SenVancePress. The fact that Vance follows such a personality suggests that he may hold similar views to Cooper but begs the question of why the Ohio senator would continue to follow him on two major social media accounts. Then again, Vance’s addition to Donald Trump’s presidential ticket has been followed by some damaging revelations from the past few years.

Take Action: Pass President Biden's “No One Is Above the Law" constitutional amendment!

New poll shows VP Harris and Trump NECK AND NECK in crucial swing state
WisDems: A new Emerson College poll shows presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and would-be-dictator Trump tied at 47% in the absolutely-must-win swing state of Wisconsin. The road to the White House and a Senate majority runs through Wisconsin, and Wisconsin Democrats are building a state-wide get-out-the-vote grassroots organizing machine to knock on every door and visit every county for VP Harris. But they can't do it alone. Will you chip in to help the best state party in the country save our democracy from Trump and his radical Project 2025 cronies?

How the media sanitizes Trump's insanity
Parker Malloy, The New Republic: This “sanewashing” of Trump’s statements isn’t just poor journalism; it’s a form of misinformation that poses a threat to democracy. By continually reframing Trump’s incoherent and often dangerous rhetoric as conventional political discourse, major news outlets are failing in their duty to inform the public and are instead providing cover for increasingly erratic behavior from a former—and potentially future—president. The consequences of this journalistic malpractice extend far beyond misleading headlines. By laundering Trump’s words in this fashion, the media is actively participating in the erosion of our shared reality. When major news outlets consistently present a polished version of Trump’s statements, they create an alternate narrative that exists alongside the unfiltered truth available on social media and in unedited footage. Voters who rely solely on traditional news sources are presented with a version of Trump that bears little resemblance to reality. They see a former president who, while controversial, appears to operate within the bounds of normal political discourse—or at worst, is breaking with it in some kind of refreshing manner. "

Take Action: Keep the 10 Commandments out of public schools!

Israeli forces shot an American in the West Bank. The US government doesn't seem to care
Prem Thakker, Zeteo: Three weeks ago, Israeli forces shot an American teacher from New Jersey. In the aftermath, Amado Sison told me that while Palestinians showed him “so much warmth and love,” he has heard little from his own government. This despite President Joe Biden declaring in February that “If you harm an American, we will respond.” Sison was shot near the northern West Bank village of Beita, where Israeli settlers have attempted, for more than 10 years, to seize Palestinian land. He was there as part of the activist group Faz3a’s international campaign to provide a protective presence for Palestinians. “If Israeli soldiers are willing to shoot a non-violent unarmed American citizen from behind, just imagine the level of violence they direct at Palestinians when no one is there to document the settler and IDF’s violence,” Sison said in a statement from his hospital bed after the shooting. Israeli forces have killed at least 623 Palestinians in the West Bank since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza.

The real story of January 6 is found in mountains of shocking evidence
Michael Kunzelman, Alanna Durkin Richer, Cal Woodward, AP News: Inside Washington’s federal courthouse, there’s no denying the reality of Jan. 6, 2021. Day after day, judges and jurors silently absorb the chilling sights and sounds from television screens of rioters beating police, shattering windows and hunting for lawmakers as democracy lay under siege. But as he seeks to reclaim the White House, Donald Trump continues to portray the defendants as patriots worthy of admiration, an assertion that has been undercut by the adjudicated truth in hundreds of criminal cases where judges and juries have reached the opposite conclusion about what history will remember as one of America’s darkest days. The cases have systematically put on record — through testimony, documents and video — the crimes committed, weapons wielded, and lives altered by physical and emotional damage. Trump is espousing a starkly different story, portraying the rioters as hostages and political prisoners whom he says he might pardon if he wins in November. Many Republicans have lined up behind Trump to minimize the violence and push these lies: Police welcomed the mob into the building. Undercover FBI operatives and left-wing antifa activists instigated the attack. His running mate, JD Vance, has echoed Trump's claims that Jan. 6 defendants are being treated unfairly, referring to them in a 2022 social media post as “political prisoners," and describing their “captivity” as "an assault on democracy.” The disinformation campaign has taken root in a vast swath of the country. About a year after the attack, only about 4 in 10 Republicans recalled it as very violent or extremely violent, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. Three years after the riot, a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll found about 7 in 10 Republicans said too much is being made of it.

Brian Tyler Cohen makes MAJOR announcement
Shameless by Brian Tyler Cohen: Everybody's favorite YouTube commentator, podcaster, and MSNBC contributor Brian Tyler Cohen has written a book, SHAMELESS: Republicans’ Deliberate Dysfunction and the Battle to Preserve Democracy! Shameless breaks down the lies and hypocrisies of a Republican Party steeped in MAGA mania and what steps Democrats must take to fight back, with a special foreword by Rep. Jamie Raskin. Pre-order your copy here!