August 20, 2025

Here's Heather Cox Richardson on why Trump doesn't want to hear how bad slavery was. MB: Richardson & I essentially agree, but I would go at it from a slightly different angle. In my view, Trump thinks only a tiny percentage of people are "worthies"; they are almost all White and almost all male, but it looks as if a few "conditional worthies" are allowed into the league of extraordinary gentlemen. The rest of us are expendable, and some are more expendable than others: ~~~

Today we learn that Republican law enforcement is harassing these three Democratic officials: (1): Letitia James, New York State's Attorney General; (2) Texas State House Rep. Nicole Collier; and (3) Texas State House Rep. Sheryl Cole. (Thanks to akaWendy for the link to Cole's BlueSky skeet.) Besides being elected Democratic officials, these three public servants are Black women. Coincidence? I doubt it. Cole's skeet, BTW, attests to Collier's wisdom in choosing to refuse state police minders; Cole's "escort" made a scene in front of her constituents & threatened to arrest her.

Trump Goes After Another Black Female Leader. Patrick Svitek & Andrew Ackerman of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, in his latest effort to bend the independent central bank to his will. The pressure campaign, if successful, could give Trump a majority of allies on the board and allow him to fulfill his goal of lowering interest rates, even as the Supreme Court has pushed back on his attempts to exert direct control over the independent and powerful body. 'This marks a new escalation in attacks on Fed independence,' noted Derek Tang, an economist at LHMeyer, an economic consulting firm.” ~~~

     ~~~ Don Moynihan on Substack: "One trademark of an authoritarian regime is the use of the legal system to target political opponents and forgive friends. This has the effect of undermining our basic conception of the law as a set of rules that is fairly and consistently applied. It also centralizes authority and undermines government capacity. Trump’s call for Federal Reserve member Lisa Cook to resign, under the threat of a DOJ investigation, is a clear example of this type of authoritarianism.... Now it is not just Trump’s opponents who are potential targets. It is anyone who is in his way. Trump has fired career bureaucrats, and the heads of independent agencies, with the acquiescence of the Supreme Court. But the Supreme Court explicitly identified one exception to Trump’s purges: The Federal Reserve.... If he cannot fire them, Trump might be able to force their resignation, assaulting central bank independence via threats and intimidation.” Read on.

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: “Top Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, alarmed by ... [Donald] Trump’s moves to withhold funding approved by Congress, have teamed up to add new safeguards to next year’s spending bills that would ensure the Trump administration allocates federal dollars as lawmakers intend. The little-noticed moves are part of a quiet escalation in the battle between the legislative and executive branches over federal spending powers.... The changes may not survive negotiations with the House, where Republicans have been far more deferential to Mr. Trump.... The changes come as the White House Office of Management and Budget and its director, Russell T. Vought, have sought to assert extraordinary executive branch control over spending, arguing that the levels set by Congress are a ceiling, not a floor.”

Hurubie Meko of the New York Times: “A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday denied the government’s request to unseal grand jury testimony from the prosecution of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.... In his 14-page opinion, Judge Richard M. Berman said that the only witness presented to the grand jury had been a single F.B.I. agent. The information in the transcripts, Judge Berman said, 'pales in comparison to the investigation information and materials in the hands of the Department of Justice.'... Judge Berman’s opinion about the transcripts came about a week after a different Manhattan judge denied the government’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts from its investigation into [Epstein's partner in crime] Ghislaine Maxwell....”

Tom Nichols of the Atlantic: “[Tuesday] morning, the commander in chief made clear that he does not understand the largest war in Europe, what started it, or why it continues. Worse, insofar as he does understand anything about Russia’s attempted conquest of Ukraine, he seems to have internalized old pro-Moscow talking points that even the Kremlin doesn’t bother with anymore.” Thanks to akaWendy for this gift link. MB: Trump's profound ignorance is either a put-on on he for so long embraced bullying that it has made him crazy. Every normal person knows that an unprovoked invader causes a war -- when the invaded nation fights back. I suppose if a bully walks past you and punches you in the nose for no apparent reason, he might say that your very presence annoyed him enough to punch you. Trump may have grown up believing in the rectitude of that kind of power dynamic.

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S. V. Date of the Huffington Post: “Free from the supervision of European leaders..., Donald Trump on Tuesday reverted to form, blaming Ukraine for getting invaded by Russia and making dictator Vladimir Putin’s arguments on his behalf. 'Russia is a powerful military nation.... It’s a much bigger nation,' Trump said in a 25-minute, phoned-in appearance on Fox News’ morning show. 'You don’t do that. You don’t take ― you don’t take on a nation that’s 10 times your size.'... Trump again offered warm words for Putin, who has been charged with war crimes for his conduct in the invasion...: “You saw that when he got off his plane, I got off my plane. There’s a warmth there that you can’t ― you know, there’s a, there’s a decent feeling.'... And Trump suggested that Ukraine brought Putin’s brutal invasion on itself by seeking to join NATO: 'It was always a no-no, you could not. Russia said, “We don’t want the so-called opponent or the enemy,” let’s use that term, “We don’t want them on our border.” And they were right.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Notice how in the last few sentences I've cited, Date explains what Trump seems to mean, then quotes Trump's incoherent run-on gibberish. 

Barak Ravid of Axios: "Senior officials from the U.S., Ukraine and several European countries are expected to work in the coming days on a detailed proposal for security guarantees for Ukraine, likely involving U.S. air power.... After months of refusing to discuss the issue..., [Donald] Trump has come around to the idea of U.S. involvement in such a scheme. In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Trump stressed there will be no U.S. boots on the ground but said he is open to providing American military air support to any European military forces stationed in Ukraine.... Two sources ... said a U.S.-European-Ukrainian commission was formed to draft a proposal for security guarantees. The commission is headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with national security advisers from Ukraine and European countries also participating...."

I think he wants to make a deal for me. Do you understand that? As crazy as it sounds. -- Donald Trump, to Emmanuel Macron, Monday, caught on an open mic  

David Rothkopf of the Daily Beast, republished by Yahoo! News: “On Monday, at the White House, in order to placate the pathological narcissism and delusions of grandeur of America’s president, European leaders one after another fawned over Donald Trump even while each knew they were actually meeting with him to try to contain his worst impulses.... Some countries have a foreign policy. Given trade deals, the Ukraine rare earths deal earlier this year, and this promise of payment for U.S. muscle, it’s clear that Trump and his captains like Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff are actually running a protection racket.” Rothkopf goes on to relate a number of daunting obstacles to peace, ending with this one: Trump is “cracked and to get from here to a settlement everyone is going to have to deal with his mental illness throughout this.”  (Also linked yesterday.) 

Vivian Salama & Jonathan Lemire of the Atlantic: After [Monday's] international intervention, “Top European officials said that they remain cautiously optimistic at best about the prospects that U.S. mediation can end the Ukraine war, and some expressed skepticism with regard to Trump’s abilities and intentions. Yet they have little choice but to follow his lead: An end to American support for Kyiv — as fickle as it may be — would prove devastating to the Ukrainian cause.” And the writers clear up that Trump phone call to Putin; it was not during the meeting with European leaders but “... in between meetings with Zelensky and the European officials....” Thanks to akaWendy for this gift link.  (Also linked yesterday.)  

Tom Friedman of the New York Times: “I am trying to balance ... [Donald] Trump’s commendable desire to end the murderous war in Ukraine with the utterly personalized, seat-of-the-pants, often farcical way he is going about it — including the energy that everyone involved has to expend feeding his ego and avoiding his wrath, before they even get to the hellish compromises needed to make peace.... How is this ever going to work?... Trump does not get what this Ukraine war is truly about.... He feels no gut solidarity with the trans-Atlantic alliance and its shared commitment to democracy, free markets, human rights and the rule of law — an alliance that has produced the greatest period of prosperity and stability for the most people in the history of the world.... To stop this war in a sustainable way, you have to understand ... Putin is a bad guy, a coldblooded murderer. He is not the friend of the president. That is a fantasy that Trump chooses to believe is real.”

He’s a war hero, because we work together. He’s a war hero. I guess I am too. -- Donald Trump, on Benjamin Netanyahu, Tuesday ~~~ 

~~~ Matthew Bigg of the New York Times: Donald “Trump praised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel as a 'war hero' for ordering his country’s forces to bombard Iran’s nuclear sites — and then said that the same label should apply to himself. In an interview aired Tuesday with Mark Levin, the conservative talk show host and author who is a prominent supporter of the president, Mr. Trump described Mr. Netanyahu as a 'good man.'”

Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: Donald “Trump accused the Smithsonian Institution on Tuesday of focusing too much on 'how bad slavery was' and not enough on the 'brightness' of America as his administration conducts a wide-ranging review of the content in its museum exhibits. 'The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future,' Mr. Trump said in a social media post.... Mr. Trump made the comments a week after the White House told the Smithsonian that its museums would be required to adjust any content that the administration finds problematic in 'tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals' within 120 days. Taken together, the administration’s examination and Mr. Trump’s post on Tuesday were the latest example of Mr. Trump trying to impose his will on a cultural institution and minimize the experiences and history of Black people in the United States.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: "Still longing for de old plantation, And for de old folks at home. When will I hear de banjo strumming, Down in my good old home?" Alas, Trump's racism is not nearly so benign as Stephen Foster's nostalgic minstrel song.

Alex Horton, et al., of the Washington Post: “National Guard troops from Republican-led states arrived in Washington this week, joining 800 troops already deployed in the capital, as the Trump administration casts the military presence as part of an effort to battle crime. Republican governors of six states collectively mobilized roughly 1,200 additional troops to help President Donald Trump restore public safety in D.C., even though violent crime in the city has been falling since 2023.” ~~~

~~~ If at First You Screw Things Up, Lie, Lie, Lie. Tim Carman & Warren Rojas of the Washington Post: “Since ... Donald Trump announced his takeover of the D.C. police force last week, restaurant reservations have dropped in the city by as much as 31 percent year over year for a single day, according to restaurant booking data. Business owners are concerned that the continued surge in law enforcement could impact their revenue during a vital period of the summer.... The president and White House are disputing the numbers. During a Tuesday call in to ... 'Fox & Friends'..., Trump said his orders have transformed Washington into 'just an incredible place in literally four days.... Did you see what’s happening with the restaurants? They’re bursting.... They were all closing and going bankrupt.' On Monday, Trump disputed local and federal statistics that show crime is declining in the city, claiming in a social media post that 'D.C. gave Fake Crime numbers in order to create a false illusion of safety.'” ~~~

     ~~~ So Then. Perry Stein & Emily Davies of the Washington Post: “The Justice Department is investigating whether Washington, D.C., police manipulated data to make crime rates appear lower, escalating tensions between the Trump administration and local officials who have repeatedly cited drops in violent crime to protest the need for a federal takeover of law enforcement. The criminal probe — being run out of the D.C. federal prosecutor’s office, led by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro — is expected to examine the actions of multiple police officials.... The D.C. police department put commander Michael Pulliam on leave in May and began investigating him for allegedly making changes to crime data, NBC Washington reported last month. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) told the outlet that the police chief had investigated all seven of the city’s policing districts for signs of such manipulation and had concerns only around Pulliam.”

Trump's Attack on Universities, Mob-Boss Edition. Michael Bender, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump has personally stipulated that hefty financial penalties be part of agreements his administration is negotiating with the elite universities. Critics call it extortion.... Federal agencies under Mr. Trump’s control have spent months squeezing elite public and private colleges with civil rights investigations, freezing billions in federal research money and threatening to prevent international students from enrolling. But privately, the president saw dollar signs — and the chance to put his personal stamp on institutions that prize nothing more than their independence.... A hefty payment appears to be a bedrock provision for any deal.... [Mr. Trump] has suggested that challenging his administration as Harvard did raises the stakes... 'Every time they fight, they lose another $250 million,' Mr. Trump said of Harvard in the spring.” MB: Yeah, that's extortion. ~~~

~~~ Trump's Attack on Universities, Ctd. Anemona Hartocollis of the New York Times: “Between the federal government’s heightened vetting of student visas and ... [Donald] Trump’s travel ban, the number of international students newly enrolled in American universities seems certain to drop — by a lot.... Higher education is already feeling the pain and deeply worried about the fallout.... In China and India, there have been few visa appointments available for students in recent months, and sometimes none at all.... Some students have given up on enrolling in U.S. schools entirely out of anxiety over the political environment in the United States. Others are staying away because they worry that even if they were to gain entry, they would effectively be trapped.... International students make up a significant portion of enrollment at elite universities like Columbia, but also at public institutions.... Many international students pay full tuition and are a revenue source that schools have come to rely on....”

John Parkinson of ABC News: "Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr sat for a closed-door deposition Monday as the first witness called in the House Oversight Committee's bipartisan investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.... During a break in questioning, Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky...,told reporters that Barr testified that he did not know anything about a 'client list' and that ... Donald Trump is not criminally implicated in the Epstein files." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Well, it would have been great if Parkinson had thought to interview the committee's ranking member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) ~~~

     ~~~ Emily Brooks of the Hill: “Garcia, though, said Barr during his deposition 'could not clear President Trump of wrongdoing,' calling on Comer to release the full unedited transcript of Barr’s deposition to the public.” MB: Comer does remind me of Barr himself, when Barr rushed out to “pre-interpret” the results of the Mueller report, purposely distorting Mueller's findings by falsely claiming Mueller had exonerated Trump in the Russian election interference investigation. 

Gabbard’s move to yank clearances from a seemingly random list of national security officials is a reckless abuse of the security clearance process and nothing more than another sad attempt to distract from the administration’s failure to release the Epstein files. -- Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee ~~~

~~~ Julian Barnes & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times : Donald “Trump revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former national security officials, many of whom worked on Russia analysis or foreign threats to U.S. elections, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.... At least three current senior officials at various intelligence agencies, all with reputations for nonpartisan work, are among those who lost their clearances and their jobs. They included Shelby Pierson, a senior intelligence official who warned Congress about Russian meddling in the 2020 election; a senior C.I.A. analyst currently serving undercover; and Vinh X. Nguyen, a senior National Security Agency data scientist. Rescinding security clearances appears to be part of a campaign by Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, to reveal what she sees as flaws in intelligence assessments about Russian malign influence operations during the 2016 election.... Critics also say that Mr. Trump has turned the focus onto the 2016 election to distract from questions about the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.” The AP report is here.

Tara Copp, et al., of the Washington Post:  “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s unusually large personal security requirements are straining the Army agency tasked with protecting him as it pulls agents from criminal investigations to safeguard family residences in Minnesota, Tennessee and D.C., according to numerous officials familiar with the operation. The sprawling, multimillion-dollar initiative has forced the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, or CID, the agency that fields security for top Defense Department officials, to staff weeks-long assignments in each location and at times monitor residences belonging to the Hegseths’ former spouses, the officials said.... The Washington Post withheld several sensitive details gathered in the course of reporting this article....

“One CID official expressed frustration with the situation, saying agents were being taken off investigations — 'doing what we are supposed to be doing' — to 'sit on luggage' instead or 'sit in the cars on the driveway.' 'It is literally taking away from [CID’s] law enforcement mission.… You are taking hundreds of people out of the field to provide this level of protection,' the official said.”

Ana Ley of the New York Times: “Federal officials shared a post on social media last weekend that wrongly accused a Connecticut state lawmaker of publishing detailed location information about deportation efforts by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, triggering a torrent of harassment against him. The lawmaker, Corey P. Paris, of Stamford, said that he had received threats against his life and his relatives.... In a message posted on Instagram, Mr. Paris, a Democrat, told followers on Friday that he had learned of immigration enforcement efforts in his district and wanted to warn residents to 'remain vigilant.' The influential right-wing account Libs of TikTok then shared his post on X, claiming that he was 'doxxing ICE’s live location' and 'helping illegals evade arrest and impeding ICE,' even though Mr. Paris had not named any specific places where agents had been seen.... ICE officials republished the post ... and tagged the Justice Department’s account.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I hope Mr. Paris successfully sues ICE, KKKristi & Trump for defamation & endangerment & whatever. For a federal agency to make an accusation against an elected official without making the slightest effort to ascertain the veracity of the accusation is beyond irresponsible. In fact, it's something Trump himself does almost daily. 

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “Lawyers for Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the immigrant who was wrongfully expelled to El Salvador in March, accused the Justice Department on Tuesday of vindictive prosecution for bringing a criminal case against him after he and his lawyers fought his deportation. The accusations, made in a 35-page filing in Federal District Court in Nashville, amounted to an effort by Mr. Abrego Garcia to call out the behavior of the administration, which has been going after him in one form or another for nearly five months.... Mr. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers pointed out that Trump officials first removed him from the United States in violation of a court order. They added that instead of taking the traditional path and quickly returning him, the White House 'began a public campaign to punish Mr. Abrego for daring to fight back, culminating in the criminal investigation' that led to his indictment.”

Weird Behavior. Robert Davis of the Raw Story: "CNN released footage showing Ed Martin, a controversial Trump appointee to the DOJ, taking pictures outside of New York Attorney General Letitia James' home. Abbe Lowell, who currently represents James in a mortgage fraud lawsuit the DOJ filed against her, joined CNN's Brianna Keilar on "The Source" Tuesday night to discuss the department's actions. 'This Justice Department creates new, bad optics every day,' Lowell said." ~~~

     ~~~ Kara Scannell of CNN: “Ed Martin..., Donald Trump’s Justice Department weaponization chief, called for the resignation of New York Attorney General Letitia James and posed for photos outside of her Brooklyn home last week – all as he is conducting investigations into her conduct.... In video obtained by CNN, Martin can be seen posing for photos outside of James’ home.“This is a criminal investigation, not social media,” said Elie Honig, CNN’s senior legal analyst. 'A stunt like that might get clicks, but it’s patently inappropriate for a prosecutor to do and it certainly will give James and her attorney a basis to oppose any indictment, to argue it was prejudicial to the jury pool and that an indictment was brought in bad faith.'” ~~~

     ~~~ MB: The video that accompanies Scannell's report appears to be shot at night, though I suppose it could be a day-for-night thing. MSNBC ran daylight footage of Martin & a colleague standing in front of James' home. The temp ws 88 degrees, MSNBC reported, and Martin was wearing a trenchcoat over a business suit. A neighbor -- clad in shorts and a T-shirt -- approached them and asked what they were doing there. Martin claimed to her that he was interested in knowing if the steps leading to James' brownstone were called a "stoop." So, architectural research.

Wendell Potter: As I testified before the Senate HELP committee last week, "...  the seven biggest publicly traded health insurance companies collectively made $71.3 billion in profits, up more than half a billion dollars from 2023. All while millions of Americans continued to skip their medications, rationed insulin and delayed care due to insurers’ out-of-pocket demands.... The CEOs of those seven companies took home a combined $146.1 million in 2024 compensation. That’s enough to cover annual premiums for thousands of American families." Emphasis original.... Insurers continued to jack up premiums for their commercial customers and overcharge the government." Thanks to RAS for the link.

Margo Arnouyal of the Washington Post: “Red meat prices are skyrocketing in the United States, the world’s largest consumer and producer of beef. Beef and veal prices surged 11.3 percent in July over the year, according to the most recent consumer price index report. That’s nearly four times the price jump of food overall during the same period.... One of the drivers of spiking beef costs is a drought that has ravaged U.S. cattle in key meat-producing states since 2022, causing cattle volumes to collapse this year to their lowest recorded levels since 1951. And now, the Trump administration’s tariffs are hitting major beef suppliers such as Brazil — and are set to push prices for American consumers even higher.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So here Trump is causing inflation on two front: first, by reversing climate change mitigations and second, with his stupid tariffs. 

Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: “... fewer and fewer Americans are choosing to be Democrats.... The Democratic Party is hemorrhaging voters long before they even go to the polls. Of the 30 states that track voter registration by political party, Democrats lost ground to Republicans in every single one between the 2020 and 2024 elections — and often by a lot. That four-year swing toward the Republicans adds up to 4.5 million voters, a deep political hole that could take years for Democrats to climb out from. The stampede away from the Democratic Party is occurring in battleground states, the bluest states and the reddest states, too, according to a new analysis of voter registration data by The New York Times.... For the first time since 2018, more new voters nationwide chose to be Republicans than Democrats last year.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The problem, IMO, is not the party's policies, but its candidates. They are bo-o-o-ring. By far, the most exciting Democratic presidential candidate since 2012 was Bernie Sanders, and though his message was right, he was always too old for the job. Even when Democratic candidates do their best -- and Kamala Harris did her best under the circumstances -- they are all versions of Al Gore losing to a dunderhead. (That Biden managed to pull off a win in 2020 was a miracle, even though he was a far, far more qualified candidate than Donald Trump could ever hope to be.) The Times' findings, BTW, makes Graham Platner a more interesting challenger to Maine's concerned Senator (see links below). 

John Yoon & Emmett Lindner of the New York Times: “When MSNBC announced on Monday that it was being renamed MS NOW, some of the cable network’s biggest stars expressed their support.... Outside the network, the rebrand became a subject of bemusement and mockery.... MSNBC began in 1996 as a joint venture between the National Broadcasting Company, NBC, and Microsoft. Microsoft eventually sold its stake in the venture, but its abbreviation remained in the MSNBC brand. The rebranding is expected by the end of the year as part of MSNBC’s corporate spinoff from Comcast’s NBCUniversal TV empire. The spinoff required the new company to stop using the NBC brand and its signature Peacock, which are both staying with Comcast.”  (Also linked yesterday.) 

Annals of “Journalism,” Ctd. Katie Robertson of the New York Times: “Several of Fox News’s most prominent on-air news personalities made clear their desire to help Mr. Trump shortly before and after the 2020 presidential election, according to a tranche of court documents released on Tuesday in a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox Corporation filed by Smartmatic, a voting technology company. In one text message, [Jesse] Watters ... said to his colleague Greg Gutfeld: 'Think about how incredible our ratings would be if Fox went ALL in on STOP THE STEAL,' a reference to the movement trying to overturn the results of the election. [Jeanine] Pirro..., who is now the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C..., told Ronna McDaniel, then the Republican National Committee chair, in a text in the months before the election: 'I work so hard for the President and party.' Ms. Pirro had been pushing for a pardon from Mr. Trump for her ex-husband, Smartmatic argues. [Maria] Bartiromo ... texted Rudolph W. Giuliani ... about the election results on Nov. 12, 2020: 'I want you to overturn this.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: At last, there are enough declarations here to require Fox to drop the "News" handle and force it to call itself "Fox Brainwashing." 

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Arkansas. Trumpsville? Debra Kamin of the New York Times: “Housing rights experts say [an Ozark Mountains] community restricted to white residents is illegal, but the creators believe they could win a potential challenge in court in the current political climate.... The community’s two architects — a classically trained French horn player who has livestreamed his own sex videos, and a former jazz pianist arrested but not charged for attempted murder in Ecuador — say they must personally confirm that applicants are white before they can be welcomed in.... As the Trump administration rolls back diversity, equity and inclusion policies, cracks down on immigration and offers pardons to white supremacists, some see an opening. In creating their community, the founders of Return to the Land are testing anti-discrimination housing laws that have been in place for 57 years.... Tim Griffin, the Arkansas attorney general, opened an investigation into potential legal violations by Return to the Land after reports on the community were published earlier in the summer in The Forward and on Sky News.”

Florida. Ron DeLusional. Lawrence Mower of the Tampa Bay Times: “Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that he doesn’t think ... Donald Trump’s desire to ban voting by mail applies to Florida. Asked about Trump’s vow on Monday to 'lead a movement' to end the use of mail-in ballots, DeSantis said he thought it only applied to states that send mail ballots to all voters.... He defended Florida’s system, in which voters have to request a vote-by-mail ballot. 'I think what Florida has is absentee voting,' he said.... Trump’s post on Truth Social made no such distinctions. He wrote that he would issue an executive order to bring 'honesty' to the 2026 elections by getting 'rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS' as well as 'Highly “Inaccurate,” Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES.'” Thanks to Bobby Lee for the link. As Bobby Lee says, “DeSantis is either whistling in the dark or willfully lying” here.

Maine. Theodore Schleifer & Brooks Barnes of the New York Times: “Some of Hollywood’s most prominent Democrats are set to hold a fund-raiser next month for ... Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who is one of the Democratic Party’s top targets in the 2026 midterm elections.... That Ms. Collins is the toast of some liberal donors is something of an odd-bedfellows moment. But the senator has prided herself as independent, with fans among moderate Democratic voters and donors.” The Hollywood folks the reporters name are all on the production side -- Sherry Lansing of Paramount, super sports agent Casey Wasserman, etc. -- rather than talent. ~~~

     ~~~ Annie Karni of the New York Times: “Enter Graham Platner, a 40-year-old oyster farmer and former Marine who served three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, and [announced] on Tuesday ... a long-shot challenge to Ms. Collins, with a campaign focused on making life better for his state’s working class. 'We need to stop using the exact same playbook that keeps losing over and over and over again,' said Mr. Platner, a political unknown who serves as the local harbor master in the tiny town of Sullivan.” ~~~

My name is Graham Platner and I’m running for US Senate to defeat Susan Collins and topple the oligarchy that’s destroying our country.

I’m a veteran, oysterman, and working class Mainer who’s seen this state become unlivable for working people. And that makes me deeply angry. pic.twitter.com/QZfAm528N1

— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) August 19, 2025

Oklahoma. Daniel Wu of the Washington Post: “Teachers from New York and California who apply to teach in Oklahoma will now have to answer questions meant to screen out 'woke indoctrinators' with left-wing views — the latest attempt by Oklahoma officials to push the state’s education system rightward. The test’s 50 questions will cover topics about U.S. government, religion and gender, according to examples shared by the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters (R).” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Texas. “Ms. Collier Refused.” David Goodman of the New York Times: “Nicole Collier, a [Democratic] state representative, slept in the Capitol rather than agree to police surveillance imposed by Republicans after a Democratic walkout. 'I am resisting,' she said.... [Republican legislators prevented their Democratic colleagues] from leaving the Capitol building unless they signed a permission slip promising to return — it looked a lot like a middle-school hall pass — and agreed to have a state police officer follow them until they did. Ms. Collier refused.... On Monday, the House speaker invoked rules that allow him, after a majority vote, to lock the chamber doors and prohibit members from leaving without his written permission. The rules also allow 'by order of a majority of those present' for the attendance of members to be 'secured and retained.'” The link is a gift link. Read on. ~~~

     ~~~ In yesterday's thread, RAS wrote, "Who do you call when the state of Texas and law enforcement publicly hold a woman against her will? And the federal government is violating the Constitution and people's rights constantly so there is no help from the Orange regime or their Injustice Department. Kidnapping used to be a crime before Trump came along and gave Republicans carte blanche." Akhilleus expressed similar outrage. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Eleanor Klibanoff of the Texas Tribune: “State Rep. Nicole Collier, a Fort Worth Democrat who has been on the floor of the Texas House since Monday afternoon, filed a lawsuit challenging the chamber’s authority to put members under police surveillance, according to a filing obtained by Courthouse News.” 

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Canada. Ian Austen of the New York Times: “The union that represents about 10,000 striking Air Canada flight attendants said early Tuesday morning that it had agreed to a tentative contract with the airline, ending a walkout that had disrupted air travel across Canada and stranded thousands of travelers. The proposed contract, which the Canadian Union of Public Employees said in a statement would bring “transformational change for our industry,” came after the union defied two back-to-work orders and rejected the federal government’s plan to force a deal through binding arbitration rather than negotiation.” (Also linked yesterday.)