September 15, 2026

Rats! Foiled Again. Make That: Rats Foiled Again. Jonathan Edwards & Grey Battle of the Washington Post: “A federal judge on Tuesday barred the Kennedy Center from once again adding ... Donald Trump’s name to the performing arts venue and presidential memorial. U.S. Judge Christopher Cooper reiterated much of the ruling he made more than three months ago when he ruled that the center’s Board of Trustees had illegally voted to add Trump’s name to the building’s facade and ordered them to remove it.... The center’s board is scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon and had originally prepared to consider yet another proposal to recognize Trump on the building’s exterior. 

“But late Monday, Justice Department lawyers told a judge that the board would only focus on the resolution to immediately close the center’s main building. In the materials dropped from Tuesday’s agenda, center leaders say they have exhausted their financial resources and could be unable to make payroll or pay routine maintenance bills 'within a matter of weeks.'... Center leaders have blamed previous management for the institution’s financial problems and said Trump’s name has attracted new donors. But the confidential financial records show that ticket sales and fundraising plunged after trustees added Trump’s name to the building in December.... In May..., Cooper temporarily blocked an earlier attempt to close the building.... Management says new evidence has made the closure urgent.”

Paul Krugman on "the MAGA plot to destroy humanity." This is a good read, and it's not a real plot to destroy humanity, as far as I can tell. It's just that Trump and Hegseth are Dumb, with a big "D," little "u," little "m," don't forget the "b." Or, as Krugman puts it at one point, "Climate denial, we know from decades of experience, is fueled by an unholy trinity of financial interest (fossil fuel companies determined to keep their profits flowing), ideology (conservatives hostile to any form of regulation) and psychological insecurity (real men burn stuff.) AI-risk denial presumably reflects a similar mix of factors." 

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Everything Is Going Very Smoothly. 

Joe Rennison of the New York Times: “The 10-year Treasury yield, one of the most important interest rates in the world, briefly rose to 5 percent on Monday, its highest level in three years, capping a long stretch of turmoil in the bond market that has pushed up borrowing costs for companies and consumers. Rates have reached levels that some worry could pose a risk to the economy. The rise in bond yields, which move in the opposite direction to prices, has been fueled by the effects of the war in the Middle East, worries that government spending is out of control and the explosion of spending — and borrowing — by artificial intelligence companies. The Trump administration has tried to ease Treasury rates by intervening in financial markets, including by aggressively buying back billions of dollars of its bonds. But those efforts have failed to placate bond investors who on Monday pushed yields past 5 percent, as oil prices remained well above $100 a barrel, driving fears of higher inflation. The yield eased lower later in the day, falling to around 4.95 percent.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Joe Rennison of the New York Times: “Technology stocks around the world fell on Monday, after a chorus of senior executives at artificial intelligence companies called for slowing down the rapid pace of development of the transformative technology. The Nasdaq Composite index, which is made up of many of the technology companies that have driven the broader stock market higher in recent years, fell 1.3 percent as trading opened in New York. Nvidia, Intel, Oracle and other companies at the forefront of the A.I. build-out posted declines. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange’s semiconductor index, a benchmark for the companies involved in designing and manufacturing the computer chips that power A.I., fell 5.5 percent.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jenny Gross & Gregory Schmidt of the New York Times: “Oil prices jumped above $109 a barrel on Monday on concerns that energy supplies from the Persian Gulf would be further diminished by a drone attack on a critical pipeline in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian Energy Ministry said it had closed its East-West Pipeline as a precautionary measure, but the shutdown came after reports that the Houthi militia had seized a strategic Red Sea island and a port city, which could further choke shipping in the area. Already, most shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, has been halted. The East-West Pipeline, which shuttles oil from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, has become an important workaround for Saudi oil exports. Adding to the uncertainty, a planned meeting between Iran and several Gulf Arab countries it has attacked during the war was indefinitely postponed on Sunday.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) 

⭐Seven Supremes Show They Have Some Touch with Reality. Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: “The Supreme Court has rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to enforce new mail-in ballot delivery rules that threatened to severely disrupt the looming midterm elections. In a ruling Monday, the justices left in place a lower-court decision that blocked the Postal Service from implementing the new requirements in the coming weeks due to the potential that millions of voters could be disenfranchised by not having their ballots delivered. Most of the high court’s majority did not offer a detailed rationale for their decision, which took place on the court’s emergency docket, saying simply that the Trump administration’s position was unlikely to succeed and that the legal factors at issue did not favor lifting the lower-court ruling. In a brief concurring opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said in his view that 'state and local election officials do not have sufficient time to reasonably implement the rule before the election.' Two members of the court dissented — Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.” (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times report is here; this is a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times liveblogged developments. This is a gift link. From the linked item at 8:35 pm ET: “In a one-paragraph explanation, the court’s majority wrote that the government was 'unlikely to succeed on the merits' at the conclusion of additional litigation on the issue. The majority’s order was unsigned, which is typical in emergency rulings. It gave no vote count. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh ... wrote a one-paragraph concurrence. Writing for himself alone, he said that there was 'at least a fair prospect' that new mail ballot rules issued by the Postal Service fell within its purview under federal statutes, but that allowing those changes so close to the midterms 'would be arbitrary and capricious' because state and local elections officials would not have 'sufficient time to reasonably implement' the changes. In an eight-page dissent, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, wrote that he would have allowed the Trump administration plan to go into effect for the midterms.” These two grumpy old men remain, not surprisingly boing-boing bonkers. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Here's the one-page ruling and eight-page dissent, via the Court. ~~~

~~~ Ann Marimow of the New York Times elaborates on Sam Alito's dissent, which Clarence Thomas joined. The link is a gift link. ~~~ 

~~~ Rick Hasen of Election Law Blog does a much better job than does Marimow on Alito's dissent: "There will be further litigation after the midterms to determine if the rule is within the USPS’s statutory authority and is constitutional.... The Supreme Court did not even need to reach the question of the constitutionality of the rule and its permissibility under federal statutes because on the weighing of the equities and the public interest, this was a case that tilted sharply away from the government’s position. The district court had found this massive disenfranchising effect and electoral chaos, and a lack of evidence that the USPS rule would prevent an appreciable amount of voter fraud. The government did not contest those findings, making them background facts that the Supreme Court was bound to accept. BUT, the Court ... also found that the government was not likely to succeed on the merits of having the power to put these rules in effect[.]... Justice Kavanaugh wrote separately to disagree on the merits point; he agreed on the equities....

"The voters make no appearance whatsoever in Justice Alito’s reasoning. He, like the government, does not dispute that using the rule in 2026 would disenfranchise millions of our most vulnerable people. He doesn’t care. It’s despicable and antidemocratic." ~~~

~~~ Eric Loomis in LG&$: "Me, I find it more interesting that the two justices appointed by supposedly better than Trump George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush were happy to give Trump whatever he wants on any occasion. There’s really almost no substantive difference on policy between Trump and the Bushes and that includes Old Man Bush. There’s a huge stylistic difference of course, but, you know, HW appointed Bill Barr as AG because he also liked the idea that it was legal for him to do whatever he wanted to." ~~~  

~~~ Chris Cameron of the New York Times: “A bipartisan coalition of elections officials, voting rights groups and nonpartisan watchdogs cheered Monday’s ruling by the Supreme Court that blocked ... [Donald] Trump’s effort to upend the vote-by-mail system just weeks before the midterm election. Democratic and Republican elections officials expressed relief at the court’s decision, noting that in many states ballots had already been printed and sent in the mail. More than a dozen states are set to mail ballots by the end of the week.” The link is a gift link. Here's a Democracy Docket report. ~~~

Nick Corasaniti, et al., of the New York Times: “Mr. Trump’s repeated false attacks on voting by mail, and the monthslong legal back and forth over whether he could restrict the practice through the Postal Service, have left many voters baffled. With the legal question now settled, election officials at the state and local levels will now shift their focus to communicating to voters that they can trust that they can securely continue to vote by mail without federal restrictions.... 

“Mr. Trump has worked to sow doubts about the American electoral process for years, telling lies about election outcomes and making false claims of fraud. (Lawsuits filed by Mr. Trump and his allies challenging the results of the 2020 election were repeatedly rejected.) He often assails mail voting, despite voting by mail himself. This year he has aggressively pushed to regulate elections, despite the fact that the Constitution leaves the administration of elections to the states. He has mobilized multiple agencies under the executive branch, exacerbating confusion and doubt among the American electorate.” The link is a gift link. MB: Maybe we ought to give Times reporters a star of a little plastic trophy each time they work in the (easily-proved but seldom articulated) statement, "Trump lies," as Corasaniti & friends do here. 

~~~ Zach Montague of the New York Times: “As the Supreme Court weighs the legality of a Trump administration plan to change mail-in balloting, a second lower court judge ruled overnight on Sunday that the plan is likely illegal and should be blocked before the November election. The ruling by Judge Carl J. Nichols, a Trump appointee, delivered another blow to ... [Donald] Trump’s effort to add new conditions that could make it harder to vote by mail and easier for the federal government to scrutinize state voter rolls while searching for evidence of fraud. The Supreme Court is considering a similar ruling by a different federal judge based in Massachusetts.... Judge Nichols, of the Federal District Court in Washington, wrote that the Trump administration had not identified any 'evidence that there will be significant fraud in the upcoming elections' if he halted the rule. On the other hand, he wrote, there was an 'increased risk that a significant number of otherwise appropriate absentee or mail-in ballots will ultimately not be counted in the upcoming elections' if the rule took effect.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Greg Jaffe, et al., of the New York Times: “Current and former military officials describe Mr. Hegseth’s tumultuous tenure as a persistent distraction that has pulled top leaders away from focusing on [urgent] priorities and fed a climate of mistrust in the top ranks.... Many current and former military leaders said Mr. Hegseth has instead targeted the military’s most combat-tested leaders, hollowing out an institution at war.... Senior officers have also raised doubts about Gen. Dan Caine, who as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the primary military adviser to Mr. Hegseth and Mr. Trump.... A question asked by officers up to and including four-star generals is whether the chairman has been unwilling or unable to protect the force from the culture war Mr. Hegseth is waging.” The link is a gift link. See also Akhilleus' commentary yesterday on this bit of reportage. (Also linked yesterday.)

Kalley Huang, et al., of the New York Times: “Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive, was talking about artificial intelligence at a conference in Los Angeles on Monday when he was interrupted by a phone call.... [Donald] Trump was on the line. He wanted to discuss A.I., and wasn’t thrilled about all the recent talk of the dangers of A.I. and how the government needed to step in and do something about it. 'It’s a hoax,' Mr. Trump said during the five-minute call, which Mr. Huang put on speaker. 'The robots are not going to be taking over the world. That’s not going to happen.' The theatric phone call from Mr. Trump made it clear that in Silicon Valley’s roiling debate over what to do about A.I., the president is very much on the side of executives who argue worries about safety are overblown and the government should avoid regulation. His disinterest in government involvement runs counter to pleas from leading A.I. companies like Anthropic.” The link is a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It appears to me that some advisor with a financial interest in advancing A.I. technology (Don Junior? David Sacks? [Trump's A.I. & crypto czar]) has represented A.I. capabilities to Trump in the way one would explain a complex concept to a child. Thus, Trump understands that cautious (or self-interested!) worrywarts are claiming that evil humanoids will be marching around, ordering up nuclear missiles and maybe laser-gunning down G-men. Trump pictured a sci-fi movie and he determined with his "high-IQ" brain that this movie was fiction; the concerns over computer-generated terrorism and other mishaps therefore amount to a "hoax." That said, Trump is a stupid man, and unless he forgets he favored A.I., no amount of reasoning will change his mind, because he thinks the genetic superiority of his high-I.Q. brain makes him the expert on A.I. -- and on everything else, including the "b" in "dumb." ~~~

~~~ Herb Scribner of Axios: Donald "Trump lashed out at calls for new AI guardrails and protections, arguing AI only needs a 'STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT' and that AI critics should 'BEWARE!' Trump continues to plant himself against calls for AI safety regulations as a growing chorus of AI leaders and CEOs, spearheaded by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei over the weekend, call for a slowdown in AI's development and better regulations to help keep humanity safe." MB: I guess nobody has told Trump all the U.S. has is a weak, stupid, lazy, corrupt fake president*, so even by his own standards, no protection from A.I. gone wild. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

 ~~~ Zachary Basu of Axios: Donald "Trump declared war on the AI safety panic Monday, dismissing the industry's apocalyptic warnings as part of a 'sick conspiracy' to sabotage America and his legacy.... Trump is rewriting a complex, years-long debate over AI's dangers in the partisan grammar that has defined MAGA for a decade — hoaxes, conspiracies, traitors and, at the center of it all, one man.... Trump explicitly placed AI doomerism in the same bucket as the Russia investigation, climate change and his impeachments — the latest entry in a catalog of 'hoaxes' that has also included the Epstein files and the affordability crisis. He turned his fire on the AI leaders urging restraint, questioning why CEOs would seek regulations that could cripple their own companies and arguing that any slowdown would squander America's lead over China." Among his self-portrayals as various superheroes and action figures (Superman, Green Lantern) Trump has now declared, "I am the Hoax Buster." ~~~

~~~ Mia McCarthy of Politico: “... Donald Trump is setting up a new loyalty test for the GOP on artificial intelligence, and House Republicans have to decide whether it’s an exam they want to pass. On the one hand, their party’s standard-bearer posted multiple times on Truth Social Monday that warnings of the risks posed by rapidly-developing AI technology is a 'HOAX' and urged Republicans not to fall behind China by regulating the industry. On the other hand, the heads of the nation’s leading AI labs united over the weekend in petitioning Congress to put guardrails on AI development to prevent a human extinction-level catastrophe in a matter of years — a message that’s becoming difficult to ignore on Capitol Hill. Speaker Mike Johnson, asked about the feedback he’s hearing from his members, said 'there’s a lot of opinions on this.'” ~~~ 

~~~ Jordain Carney & Kelsey Brugger of Politico: “John Thune has urged Congress to act on artificial intelligence for years. Now, as concerns about the rapidly advancing technology explode, the Senate majority leader is moving carefully. A former Commerce Committee chair with a long-running interest in tech policy, Thune is locked in negotiations over a bipartisan AI safety bill. The measure, which he introduced a version of in 2023, would establish some safety and security guardrails for the riskiest models — giving the South Dakota Republican, on paper at least, a solution to Washington’s growing AI nightmare....  Despite growing alarm bells from industry insiders about the potentially catastrophic fallout of runaway AI, Republicans and Democrats remain far apart on how stringent a regulatory framework should be — particularly if it overrides state safety laws.... In addition to negotiating his own bill, Thune will need to navigate Trump’s growing recalcitrance.”

AND from (Pravda's?) Society Pages. Justin Elliott, et al., of ProPublica: “... Umar Kremlev, a Russian oligarch close to President Vladimir Putin ... footed the bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars of wedding expenses [for Donald Trump Junior, and his lovely bride Bettina Anderson], according to records reviewed by ProPublica and interviews with three people familiar with the event. The oligarch paid to rent out one of the private [Bahama] islands, where a reception was held and where guests slept. He also covered other big-ticket items, like the fireworks show, and his team helped plan the event. Kremlev is the head of the International Boxing Association, a scandal-plagued sports group that has been financed by the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom. The wedding payments came from an IBA-affiliated entity in Dubai that the boxing association uses for financial transactions. The guest list numbered around 50. It included Trump Jr.’s brother-in-law Jared Kushner, Eric Trump — and Kremlev, an imposing man with a shaved head who speaks limited English.

“The oligarch was part of a large group whose presence puzzled other attendees. They sometimes stood off by themselves, speaking Russian. 'It was really small, like, just really close friends,' Trump Jr. later said on his podcast. 'Tried to keep it really tight. And it was just awesome.' Kremlev’s previously unreported relationship with Trump Jr. represents an extraordinary development: a member of Putin’s circle financially supporting the president’s son and gaining intimate access to the Trump family.... National security experts expressed alarm at Trump Jr. accepting the oligarch’s largesse....” Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: And here I was, so surprised that Jared was taking Putin's side in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine (story linked yesterday). If only Volodymyr had invited Jared to a Ukrainian wedding, which I'll bet are tremendous fun (when Russia isn't bombing the hell out of them), maybe Jared would have been nicer to Ukraine. Seriously, the corruption and treasonous behavior are jaw-dropping. I guess the upside here is that Junior tried to keep secret this humongous wedding gift from a major U.S. adversary. And maybe the CIA warned Trump Senior not to show up. And maybe Trump listened for once. (Okay, I'm probably dreaming on that last one; Trump was just too lazy to show up at his son and heir's wedding.) ~~~

     ~~~ Ben Protess of the New York Times: “The payments represented an extraordinary flouting of ethical norms for an American president’s family. To avoid foreign influence, a president’s family is generally expected to steer clear of these sorts of personal and pricey gifts, particularly from someone in a country like Russia, an adversary known to surreptitiously push its geopolitical agenda.... [A statement by Junior, et uxor,] did not address why Mr. Trump, 48, did not pay for the island stay and fireworks display himself. Forbes recently estimated his net worth to be around $300 million.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ That "corruption & treasonous behavior," BTW, does fit right in with Anne Applebaum's cover story for the Atlantic: ~~~

     ~~~⭐Anne Applebaum of the Atlantic: The U.S.'s allies around the world have learned "The United States of America is no longer the entity they knew. And American power is no longer deployed solely by trained diplomats and reliable officials, working through state channels. Informal envoys, private companies, online grifters, and hardened ideologues both inside and outside the government matter more. Unlike their predecessors, these people do not talk about spreading democracy, and don’t want to build long-term relationships. They don’t care about America’s reputation. They are deploying the tools of American diplomacy and government for their own purposes, to promote their own business interests or their own ideological goals, because, suddenly, they can.... The clan of predators currently in charge of the U.S. federal government ... believe they represent ... the vanguard of a movement that will alter not just America, but the world." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Thank you to akaWendy for this gift link. As Wendy wrote, it's a long read. But if you can, take the time to read it, perhaps in more than one sitting. The "Ugly American" has been around since the U.S. became a major power after World War II. But we are a malignant force throughout the world now, and we no longer have any friends. Why would we? ~~~

~~~ Unfortunately, even for those accustomed to "transactional diplomacy," it doesn't always work when the guy on the other side is the Faithless Fascist: ~~~

~~~  Iran to the East of Them, Houthis to the West.... Vivian Nereim of the New York Times: “Saudi Arabia has increasingly found itself caught in the middle of the war between the United States and Iran. Now, the kingdom’s leadership is assessing dwindling options on how to respond. In recent weeks, the Iran-allied Houthi militia in Yemen has repeatedly attacked the kingdom, threatening to throttle its ability to export oil and piling pressure on the global economy. But Saudi Arabia has been left frustrated and disappointed by ... [Donald] Trump’s reluctance to confront the Houthis, former diplomats and analysts say. The kingdom’s diplomatic efforts to engage with Iran have also had limited results. A meeting planned on Monday between officials from Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries was abruptly postponed on Sunday night, as the gap between their positions remained vast.... The kingdom’s conundrum underscores the heavy costs that the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has imposed across the Middle East....” The link is a gift link.

Max Boot of the Washington Post: “There is no moral comparison between Ukraine and Iran: The former is a liberal democracy, the latter a vicious dictatorship whose rulers kill their own people to stay in power. But in purely military terms, there are a number of parallels between the wars they are fighting against much larger adversaries — Russia and the United States. Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump launched wars of choice because they thought that Ukraine and Iran, respectively, would be defeated in a matter of days. But both countries have proved much more resilient and resourceful than expected. Neither Moscow nor Washington has achieved its objective of regime change. In recent months, however, the military situation on the ground — and at sea — has shifted slightly in favor of the larger powers.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I am reminded again and again that one of the significant ways we are in a different place from the one we were in ten years ago is that liberals and conservatives are so often on the same side now -- at least when it comes to Trump and his fascistic coterie. Ten years ago, it is unlikely you would have found yourself often agreeing with Max Boot (or Anne Applebaum, for that matter). If you watch MSNBC, as I do almost daily, you will find that among the station's contributors are many conservative commentators -- Tim Miller, Miles Taylor, Sarah Matthews, for instance. Then there are Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and even Bill Kristol, for Pete's sake. Maybe one day we'll all get back to normal and resume arguing about Social Security and child care benefits. 

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: “The thing I’ve found most shocking about Donald Trump’s second presidency is not the epic grift, the ICE paramilitary violence or the assaults on free speech. These abuses, while horrifying, are predictable. What has stunned me has been the capitulation of so many American elites to Trump’s vulgar authoritarianism.... Why were so many powerful people in America, a country whose civic culture is steeped in resistance to tyranny, so willing to abase themselves and their institutions? That’s the question at the heart of Jacob Weisberg’s important new book, 'Profiles in Cowardice: A Study of Collaboration in the Trump Era.'...  Courage is contagious, but so, it turns out, is cravenness.... The philosopher Susan Neiman’s new book, 'Call It Evil: Understanding the Trump Era,' is a useful companion to 'Profiles in Cowardice.'... [Neiman concludes that people immersed in economics] grow convinced that maximizing self-interest is normal, and that to do otherwise makes you a sucker. The more the logic of capitalism pervades the rest of life, the less room there is for compassion, honor or heroism.” The link is a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Selfishness has myriad fathers, but primal fear would seem to be one of them. This explains why so many people evolve from being altruistic, generous teenagers to becoming uptight, conservative, money-grasping "adults." A teenager sees myriad possibilities in front of him; a middle-aged man sees his only realistic avenue to "success" as walking timidly along the narrow path he has chosen (or fallen into). When my son was a child and I asked him why he did some stupid thing, his go-to excuse was "peer pressure." He was usually kidding, because like most kids, he could come up with stupid moves on his own. But the truth is that "peer pressure" is not just a kid thing; it follows us throughout life. It is a primary way societies cope with diverse individual self-interests. (Someone like Donald Trump, on the other hand, turns that childish altruism inward. Throughout life, he maintains his childish illusions, but the beneficiary of his largesse was always himself and nobody else. "Altruism" to Trump is doing good things for Trump. He is like those robots he imagines: an autonomous, malevolent, destructive humanoid. ~~~

     ~~~ Thomas Edsall of the New York Times gathers some expert opinions on what a pathetic liar and deranged nutjob Trump is. The link is a gift link.

Chris Cameron of the New York Times: “A federal judge in Massachusetts blocked a Trump administration rule that would have shortened the length of visas for international students, academics and foreign journalists. The rule would have upended a long-running system that allows millions of international students in the United States to stay until they complete their studies. The new rule would instead have capped the stay of a student, researcher, professor or other academic at four years — a change that would significantly affect most Ph.D. students. The rule would also have restricted foreign students from getting a second degree of the same level.... Foreign journalists would also have been limited to visas of just 240 days.... Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV of the Federal District Court in Massachusetts, who was nominated to the court by President George W. Bush, ruled that the Trump administration’s reasoning for implementing the rule was so arbitrary that it was unlawful.” The link is a gift link.

Nick Corasaniti & Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: “Investigators may have broken state laws under the direction of top Homeland Security leaders as part of an expansive effort to find noncitizens on the nation’s voter rolls, according to a federal whistle-blower’s account released on Monday. The authorities also required agents to examine at least 40 voters each day, the account said, suggesting a rushed pace that raises questions about the thoroughness of the investigation. The effort has relied on questionable data, and has likely improperly flagged U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote, the whistle-blower said in a nearly 30-page report. The whistle-blower report, provided to Senators Chuck Schumer and Alex Padilla, both Democrats, offers an inside view of what the Department of Homeland Security is calling the 'Unlawful Voter Initiative.' The New York Times revealed last month the existence of the operation, which has deployed hundreds of federal agents to scour voter rolls managed by the states in a widespread hunt for evidence of voter fraud. The investigation stems from ... [Donald] Trump’s longstanding fixation on noncitizen voting, despite decades of research showing the practice is vanishingly rare.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Individuals are put in the ‘box’, their hands are shackled and their feet are attached to restraints on the ground.... They are unable to sit down or move positions, and are forced to remain there for hours in the heat with hardly any water or protection from the sun, heat and insects. -- From an Amnesty International report on cages used to punish detainees at Alligator Alcatraz ~~~

~~~ Laura Strickler, et al., of NBC News: “Some immigrants detained at Florida’s now-shuttered 'Alligator Alcatraz' were confined in outdoor cages only slightly larger than telephone booths for more than an hour at a time, according to a new report by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general. The watchdog report marks the first time a government agency has confirmed the existence of the cramped cages.... Amnesty International found in a report published in December, based on interviews with detainees and a tour of the facility, that the cages were used to punish detainees and amounted to torture, sparking a congressional probe. The inspector general’s findings don’t go as far, but the report says 'the use of such restrictive spaces is highly unconventional and does not align with standards for humane treatment.' The DHS watchdog findings are a rare instance when a federal inspector general has publicly criticized the Trump administration. Since he returned to office in 2025..., Donald Trump has fired at least 18 inspectors general....” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Being a Republican Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry. Kylie Williams of Politico: “Gov. Ron DeSantis brushed off a new report Monday from the Department of Homeland Security’s independent watchdog that found the immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as 'Alligator Alcatraz' kept detainees in small cages and did not comply with a slew of federal and state standards. During a news conference in Lakeland, DeSantis said he hadn’t read the report but added the facility had been inspected and defended the state’s immigration enforcement tactics. The detainees sent to Alligator Alcatraz had 'serious, serious issues,' the governor said, and detaining them in the facility saved lives and resources.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Everything the Trump Environmental Pollution Agency Does Is Wrong. Daniel Wu of the Washington Post: “Air pollution in dozens of cities around the world rose after U.S. embassies and consulates stopped monitoring air quality readings last year, according to a study published Monday. The Trump administration halted the program that published independent air quality data at more than 80 U.S. diplomatic sites in March 2025, citing budget constraints. Later that year, local air pollution levels increased by between 24 and 33 percent in 46 of those cities, according to Monday’s study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.... Its pullback came amid other moves the administration has made to curtail climate change research and regulations on air quality. The Environmental Protection Agency repealed limits on greenhouse gas emissions for coal and natural gas power plants on Monday.”

It's Alive! Raquel Uribe & Frank Thorp of NBC News: “Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., returned to the Senate on Monday after a more than three-month absence. 'Today, I’ll cast my first Senate vote since I took a bad fall back in June. I’m really looking forward to being back on the Senate floor and seeing my colleagues,' McConnell wrote in a statement Monday. The senator added that his recovery had been 'a long and frustrating process,' saying it had been complicated by 'lingering effects of childhood polio.'... The senator has been missing from the Senate since mid-June, when he suffered a fall at home and was 'briefly unconscious,' according to a July statement.” (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here; this is a gift link.

Presidential Race 2028. Raquel Uribe & Frank Thorp of NBC News: “California Gov. Gavin Newsom made a surprise announcement that he won’t launch a 2028 White House bid if former Vice President Kamala Harris decides to run again.... Newsom said running against Harris, a fellow California Democrat who was the state’s attorney general before she became a senator, would be an electoral 'gift' for everybody else.” MB: Looks like Newsom's way of telling Harris not to run.

Here's a full list of Emmy winners, via the New York Times; this is a gift link. 

Penelope Green of the New York Times: “Bob Mackie, the exuberant costume and fashion designer whose glittering, beaded, sequined, rhinestoned, feathered and often winged creations bedecked, bedazzled and elevated performers like Carol Burnett, Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Bernadette Peters, Bette Midler, Mitzi Gaynor, Liza Minnelli, Elton John, RuPaul and, most memorably and enduringly, Cher — as well as an 11½-inch model named Barbie — died on Monday in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 87.” The link is a gift link. ~~~

Marie: Mackie also worked on Carol Burnett's show. Here's Burnett in a Mackie costume designed for a spoof on the film "Gone with the Wind," delivering one of the best lines in TV comedy history:

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Florida State House Race. Christopher Mathias of TPM: “The Republican nominee for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives marched alongside neo-Nazis at the deadly 2017 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, a new Talking Points Memo investigation can reveal. Marshall Rawson — who won an upset victory in Florida’s District 10 Republican primary last month — attended the infamous Charlottesville rally, considered the largest white supremacist gathering in a generation, marching with the League of the South, a racist and antisemitic neo-Confederate group that advocates for the secession of southern states from the U.S.” Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

New York. Sharon Otterman of the New York Times: “A group of pro-Palestinian former student activists, including Mahmoud Khalil, sued Columbia University in federal court on Monday, accusing the institution of failing to address the persistent and severe harassment they said they encountered as a result of their advocacy. Mr. Khalil, 31, became the face of Columbia’s pro-Palestinian movement on March 8, 2025, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested him at his Columbia University apartment building, even though he was a legal permanent resident and not accused of a crime. He spent 104 days in detention, missing the birth of his first child. In the weeks and months before his arrest, he had repeatedly asked Columbia administrators to help protect him against the escalating threats he was receiving for his pro-Palestinian advocacy, he said in an interview on Sunday. He said he did not receive assistance.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Texas State Election. Carlos Ramos of the Texas Tribune: "Karl Rove, former adviser to President George W. Bush and longtime Texas GOP political consultant, said he will vote for Jon Rosenthal, a Houston Democrat running to serve the Texas Railroad Commission, after Republican Bo French posted racist comments on Sunday about South Asian students at the University of Texas at Austin. Rove made the comments at a members-only lunch event at the Headliners Club in Austin, where he called French a “bigot,” according to three attendees.... Late Monday..., Donald Trump said Rove was 'bad' for Republicans and often wrong...."

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China. Lily Kuo of the New York Times: “China’s top spy chief has warned that artificial intelligence could pose a direct threat to the Chinese Communist Party’s hold on power, in what is the highest-level and most detailed articulation yet of how Beijing sees the technology’s security risks. The unusually blunt assessment by Chen Yixin, the head of China’s Ministry of State Security, is in contrast to the warnings dominating the A.I. debate in the United States, which have focused on the possibility that A.I. could slip out of human control or pose a threat to humanity itself. In an article published on Sunday in the state-run magazine China Cyberspace, Mr. Chen called for more party control over A.I. and stricter government oversight. This, he said, was necessary to protect political stability at home; to defend against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks and misinformation campaigns from 'hostile forces'; and to compete militarily with countries like the United States.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Russia, et al. Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: “Offering a grim assessment of Russia’s relations with the West, President Vladimir Putin pointedly warned European governments not to deploy any troops, including peacekeeping forces, to Ukraine, saying it would mean 'war.' 'They speak of contemplating the dispatch of troops to the territory of Ukraine,' Putin said, following his participation Friday at a summit of leaders of the BRICS bloc of nations in New Delhi. 'This would mean war with Russia.' Putin lashed out at what he called systemic errors committed by the 'West’s globalist circles,' insisting that Russia posed no danger to European countries, which he said 'seek to frighten their populations with a mythical Russian threat.' He also insisted that the West was to blame for the war in Ukraine by seeking to expand NATO.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Russia, et al. France 24 liveblog: "NATO fighter jets shot down a drone over Lithuania, the Baltic state's president said Tuesday, in the latest security incident on the alliance's eastern flank during Russia's war with Ukraine. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – NATO members sharing a long border with Russia – have regularly reported drone incursions since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In a separate incident, Denmark said a Russian warship fired two emergency flares at a Danish helicopter in the Baltic Sea late on Monday, adding that the Russian ambassador had been summoned for clarification."