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Category: Politics

Roger Alford: What I saw inside Pam Bondi’s DOJ

Roger Alford: What I saw inside Pam Bondi’s DOJ

Roger P. Alford served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice in the first Trump administration, and as principal deputy assistant attorney general in the division in the second term. He writes: The Republican Party today is a battleground. The confrontation isn’t between traditional conservatives and Trump supporters. Rather, it pits genuine MAGA reformers against MAGA-in-name-only lobbyists. It’s a fight over whether Americans will have equal justice under law, or whether the…

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Republican bid to help Trump move past Epstein falls flat

Republican bid to help Trump move past Epstein falls flat

The New York Times reports: When House Republican leaders rushed to leave Washington for a long August break, they seemed desperate to quell the anger among their supporters about the Trump administration’s backtracking on a promise to release files related to its investigation of the accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. But halfway through a five-week congressional recess, the clamor shows little sign of quieting. While Republicans had hoped that legal rulings might insulate them from having to confront the issue,…

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The lies behind Trump’s D.C. troop surge

The lies behind Trump’s D.C. troop surge

Robert J. Shapiro writes: Last week, Donald Trump claimed the authority to deploy the country’s military to the streets of Washington, D.C. to help fight crime. Yet, hard data show it’s not about crime in the nation’s capital. Instead, the evidence points to other, more troubling reasons and aspirations, especially the president’s personal sense of entitlement to power, MAGA’s approach to partisan politics, and an implied threat to public opposition to his exercise of power in the future. Trump is…

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An account using the same name as Trump’s BLS pick posted red-pilled conspiracy theories

An account using the same name as Trump’s BLS pick posted red-pilled conspiracy theories

Wired reports: In the months leading up to the January 6 Capitol riot, a now deleted Twitter account bearing the full name of E. J. Antoni, President Donald Trump’s pick to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), betrayed a seeming obsession with promoting election denial conspiracy theories while talking about violent threats to those who stood in Trump’s way. The account, which used “Dr. Erwin J. Antoni III” as its screen name for a time, was linked by the…

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Join ICE, get a $50,000 signing bonus, and ‘deport illegals with your absolute boys’

Join ICE, get a $50,000 signing bonus, and ‘deport illegals with your absolute boys’

The Wall Street Journal reports: Uncle Sam. Miami Vice. When it comes to recruiting new Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, the Trump administration is getting creative. A social-media campaign launched late last month touted immigration enforcement as an opportunity for father-son bonding and to “deport illegals with your absolute boys,” a slang term for close friends. The WSJ probably isn’t the most reliable source when it comes to definitions of slang terms. The Urban Dictionary, on the other hand, offers…

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Trump poses a threat to the U.S. military

Trump poses a threat to the U.S. military

David French writes: One of my life’s greatest regrets is that I didn’t join the Army sooner. I was commissioned at age 37, late for the military, and I didn’t exactly impress my officer basic course instructors with my physical prowess. But I made it through, and I spent eight years in the reserves, with active-duty deployments to Iraq and South Korea. I love this country, I believed in our missions, and I felt great purpose playing my very small…

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Trump wants troops on the streets of DC — crime is a flimsy pretext

Trump wants troops on the streets of DC — crime is a flimsy pretext

Philip Bump writes: Governors of three states — Ohio, South Carolina and West Virginia — are sending members of their state National Guards to D.C. to … well, theoretically to combat crime but, if the past week is any indicator, mostly to stand near tourist sites and wear uniforms. This isn’t because there’s no crime in D.C. to combat (of course there is, as the right-wing media insists one acknowledge) but because the mission as established by President Trump isn’t…

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Trump’s military occupation of D.C. is hurting local businesses too

Trump’s military occupation of D.C. is hurting local businesses too

Rolling Stone reports: Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to the nation’s capital and forcing a federal law enforcement takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department is not only terrorizing residents and workers, it’s also harming local businesses. Washington, D.C., restaurants are experiencing significant drops in reservations, and bars are seeing fewer customers. Online reservations for D.C. restaurants plunged more than 25 percent in the days immediately after Trump announced the takeover of D.C. police for the first time in…

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U.S. economy is on the brink of recession, says Moody’s chief economist

U.S. economy is on the brink of recession, says Moody’s chief economist

Business Insider reports: Mark Zandi sees trouble ahead for the US economy. The Moody’s Analytics chief economist recently predicted in a post on X that the US economy is on the brink of recession following some of the latest economic data. While Zandi later noted that he doesn’t think the US economy is in a recession yet, there are certain industries that have already entered one. Yet, that’s just one of the reasons he thinks that the US economy is…

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Israel is the last vestige of European colonialism — the reason Trump defends it at all costs

Israel is the last vestige of European colonialism — the reason Trump defends it at all costs

Kyle J Anderson writes: How do we explain this alliance between the seemingly antisemitic Maga movement and Israel? Analysts usually point to two major factors. First is the power and influence of pro-Israel lobbying groups, donors, media figures and political operatives, famously analysed by political scientists John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt. Second is the role of Christian Zionists in the Maga movement, including prominent figures like the current American ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. Huckabee has explicitly stated that his…

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Trump has made himself a bystander watching Putin’s war

Trump has made himself a bystander watching Putin’s war

Anne Applebaum writes: President Donald Trump berated President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. He allowed the Pentagon twice to halt prearranged military shipments to Ukraine. He promised that when the current tranche of armaments runs out, there will be no more. He has cut or threatened to cut the U.S. funds that previously supported independent Russian-language media and opposition. His administration is slowly, quietly easing sanctions on Russia, ending “basic sanctions and export control actions that had maintained and…

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Once again, Trump exposed his weakness and ‘got played’ by Putin

Once again, Trump exposed his weakness and ‘got played’ by Putin

Peter Baker writes: On the flight to Alaska, President Trump declared that if he did not secure a cease-fire in Ukraine during talks with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, “I’m not going to be happy,” and there would be “severe consequences.” Just hours later, he got back on Air Force One and departed Alaska without the cease-fire he deemed so critical. Yet he had imposed no consequences, and had pronounced himself so happy with how things went with Mr….

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Trump cuts off medical visas from Gaza as he bows to pressure from Laura Loomer

Trump cuts off medical visas from Gaza as he bows to pressure from Laura Loomer

Rolling Stone reports: Donald Trump’s administration stopped all visitor visas from Gaza — including those for humanitarian and medical aid — on Saturday after far-right provocateur and Trump friend Laura Loomer posted about several Palestinian children being allowed into the U.S. for medical care amid Israel’s relentless siege and blockade. The State Department said it will “conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days,”…

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In DC, Trump’s masked thugs voice their contempt for the people who pay their salaries

In DC, Trump’s masked thugs voice their contempt for the people who pay their salaries

Marisa Kabas writes: A delivery worker was tased, punched and kicked by multiple federal agents in the middle of the street outside a popular brunch spot in Northwest DC on Saturday morning, a video shared with The Handbasket shows. While customers sitting outside at the Logan Circle cafe munched on avocado smash and matcha pancakes, two and then an additional four masked agents beat the shit out of the man in broad daylight. This is America.   America’s largest cities…

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How mediocre white men and their fragility are destroying America

How mediocre white men and their fragility are destroying America

  The Trump Administration & corporate media are Affirmative Action for the world’s most fragile, mediocre, white men who see equality as oppression & would rather burn the country down than share it. In this blunt as F conversation with the great Joy-Ann Reid, we connect the dots and explain how the Trump Administration is populated by the world’s most mediocre conservative Affirmative Action hires who would rather burn America down than share the country with the rest of us.

How tribal radio stations are preparing for a future without the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

How tribal radio stations are preparing for a future without the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Nieman Lab reports: In the most remote parts of Alaska, staying in touch can involve a bit more effort than sending a text. Cell service is spotty, highways are nonexistent, and the postal service remains a vital lifeline, delivering supplies and mail by plane. But for anyone who wants to broadcast a different kind of message — a reminder to pick up milk, for example, or birthday wishes — there’s always the Muktuk Telegram. Named for a traditional food of…

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