PJ walker
@pj1304.bsky.social
Still seeking the truth 🏳️🌈🌻🏳️⚧️ ❌👑 Spreading gift articles when they're worth the read. If you "like" a post please repost. Information promotes action. Engaged by the lofty and invigorated by the fight.
www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/202...
Was Herbert Hoover America’s Most Misunderstood President?
Margaret Hoover on Herbert Hoover’s life, presidency, and legacy, and the renovation of his presidential library. Plus: Trump’s dropped Reflecting Pool indictment and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold...
theatlantic.com
Representative Shirley Chisholm, 1972: "[W]e have looked in vain to the Nixon administration for the courage, the spirit, the character, and the words to lift us, to bring out the best in us, to rekindle in each of us our faith in the American dream."
Shirley Chisholm: Declares Presidential Bid, January 25, 1972
YouTube video by NYC Department of Records and Information Services
youtube.com
Just a note that @jbendery.bsky.social is 100% worth following. Always finds stories like these that matter, and yet are a bit under the radar.
Jen Bendery@jbendery.bsky.social · 3h agoFormer J6 federal prosecutors are begging senators -- mostly GOPers, but a handful of Dems are in there, too -- to stop confirming election deniers to lifetime federal courts seats. “Please stop poisoning our courts." www.huffpost.com/entry/live-u...
A major defeat for conservatives in Kansas, who were hoping to make inroads on the state supreme court by switching the state to regular elections. Their measure was defeated 61/39. (I'll have more to say on what this means for the court going forward soon.)
Legal theorists obsess over the countermajoritarian difficulty, the idea that it is undemocratic for judges to stand in the way of legislation enacted by the elected legislature Voters, meanwhile, love it and will defend it
Douglas Keith@douglaskeith.bsky.social · 16h agoKansas voters sent a strong message tonight - they want a judiciary that stands up to the legislature, not one controlled by it or shaped by big money judicial elections
In other Michigan news, the state looks set to elect it's first transgender lawmaker. Joanna Whaley won her Democratic primary and will compete in November for a state house seat, beating a primary opponent who tried and failed to disqualify her for not running under her deadname
What Did Jeanine Pirro Know and When Did She Know It? emptywheel.net/2026/08/05/w...
What Did Jeanine Pirro Know and When Did She Know It? - emptywheel
In a bid to get the indictment against him dismissed with prejudice, Davey Hearn reveals that DOJ misrepresented the circumstances of a "before" picture proving he didn't damage the reflecting pool.
emptywheel.net
This morning’s First Edition is about the desperate attempts to make Ceuta look like an “invasion” - and how the EU’s border policies mean this is bound to keep happening. With @trillingual.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
Wednesday briefing: How misinformation and a hardened immigration policy turned Ceuta into Europe’s latest flashpoint
In today’s newsletter: The past week shows how quickly images, rumours and right-wing political opportunism can eclipse the facts on the ground
theguardian.com
The calculation is that he’s desperate to get out and has come to a point where accepting total defeat and claiming victory is his only card to play. We’ll see.
Nicholas Grossman@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 5h agoI can’t believe Iran saying they think they’ve got Oman on board with their plan to thwart US war aims is being treated as successful peace talks or an American accomplishment, even a little. That is crazy-making to me.
BREAKING: www.nytimes.com/live/2026/08...
Michigan Election Results Live Updates: Abdul El-Sayed Wins Democratic Senate Primary (Gift Article)
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive, defeated Representative Haley Stevens, a moderate, in a Senate primary that had divided the Democrats, according to The Associated Press.
nytimes.com
Let's review: Reflecting pool. 1-Trump has no-bid contract go to pal who isn't qualified. 2-Trump Imperiously inspects, mid job, in motorcade. 3-Multiple complex failures revealed. 4-Cyclist dips hand in water, gets charged with vandalism. 5-DOJ lies to Grand Jury, defense & judge 6-DOJ drops case.
"Everything that went wrong with the reflecting pool, including the damage to the pool itself and the fabricated charges against Hearn, went wrong for two reasons: Trump’s unprecedented corruption and his rush to include the reflecting pool in his Narcissistic hijacking of the Nation’s celebration."
emptywheel@emptywheel.bsky.social · 18h agoNone of the apparently Pirro-sourced columns about what happened with her and Trump have bothered to mention that she, like Trump, was rushing to get something done by July 4. emptywheel.net/2026/08/04/t...
Via @oliverdarcy.bsky.social: www.status.news/p/david-elli... CNN reporters were not amused by David Ellison's op-ed in the NYT.
![The piece was "insulting," one CNNer told Status, adding, “We all have eyes and ears and see what’s happening at CBS. You can’t just write an op-ed and erase that.” Another CNNer said it was obvious to them Ellison "says whatever is best for him to get the merger through."
"The thing David Ellison seems to be missing is the wild mismanagement and disrespect that Bari [Weiss] has displayed at '60' and CBS," a third CNNer told Status. "These people just simply do not know what they are doing. We see it. And we don’t want it here."
Indeed, several CNNers said that Ellison's stewardship of CBS News had caused them to lose confidence in his ability to run a news organization and sour on his repeated assurances about respecting the independence of newsrooms. In The Times essay, Ellison wrote, "I understand that promises from an executive in the middle of a merger invite skepticism. So judge us by the year we just had."
But the last year at CBS News has been an unmitigated disaster. Most notably, Ellison allowed his handpicked news chief to take a sledgehammer to "60 Minutes," firing multiple correspondents and senior executives from television news' most prestigious broadcast—in most of the cases, without ever stating a cause for the dismissals. Beyond that, Weiss' tenure has been defined by her expunging those she is not ideologically aligned with, presiding over the worst ratings of the century for flagship programs like the "CBS Evening News" and "CBS Mornings," establishing a cozier relationship with an overtly corrupt White House, and sending employee morale cratering to astonishing lows.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bbp2b224lro3bfnzcqwwnkfo/bafkreicybrw5xm7wnrleduxjtlfwlrcvjzs7qwwjijswwlluzh5x67iadi)
Under an ethical cloud over allegations of sexual harassment involving two of his female staffers, Rep. Chuck Edwards R-NC announced overnight that he will drop his bid for re-election. jamiedupree.substack.com/p/under-ethi...
Under ethics cloud, House Republican drops reelection bid
Mixed primary night for progressive Democrats
jamiedupree.substack.com
Cat Alyst 🏳️⚧️🇨🇦 (they/them)@catalystmeow.bsky.social · 15h agoThis is important to note! Republicans scheduled their Medicare cuts for January 2027. They want to say, “Look! The Democrats took back the House and cut your Medicare.” If you know someone on Medicare, expose the Republicans' dirty trick. #USDemocracy #MomSky #RepublicanMedicareCuts
Peabody Award-winning storyteller and journalist, Al Letson, profiles Dwayne McDuffie, the trailblazing writer and artist who brought realistic Black representation to comic books and animation. #WeAreAmerica250
Judge Wise finds that ICE coerced a 20-year-old Tongan man — admitted legally to the country three years ago — to sign a document accepting deportation, despite no criminal record or immigration proceedings against him. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
That was quick. Speak up, people! Bullies are cowards; the would-be vote suppressors backed down. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
GOP backs down from suppression scheme in Texas after voter outrage
The plan changed at the last moment, when Republican officials were faced with a massive backlash from outraged voters
democracydocket.com
Susan Collins announcing she'll vote against a controversial nominee is basically the moment it becomes clear that nominee will be confirmed. It means Thune has enough votes to confirm, and thus, Collins gets a pass to look independent.
These Republican amendments went down in flames. WE WON!
Russia’s ballistic missile attacks on Ukraine pose an urgent question for NATO leaders. foreignpolicy.com/2026/08/03/n...
Europe’s Dangerous Hesitation on Its Own Air Defense
Russia’s ballistic missile attacks on Ukraine pose an urgent question for NATO leaders.
foreignpolicy.com