In another era, a story like this would be in 50-point on A1: ELECTION OFFICIALS ACROSS NATION PREPARE FOR DIRECT THREATS FROM PRESIDENT Alas, in today's world, this is just a Wednesday. I hope we can come back from this brink. Too many lives depend on it.

Zeteo@zeteo.com · 2h ago

“Everyone is wargaming like a motherf*cker.” @swin24.bsky.social and @justinglawe.bsky.social talk to Democrats, election officials, and activist groups talk with Zeteo about how they’re planning to defend the midterms from ICE agents at the polls, and ballot seizures. zeteo.com/p/inside-dem...

If not paying a fee comes with the risk of being blown up I really don’t think you can call the fee “voluntary”

Bill Grueskin@bgrueskin.bsky.social · 13h ago

Reuters: Iran wants fees of 5%-7% of the price of cargo from ships using the strait; Oman wants 3%. "Making fees voluntary, at least nominally, could be a way out of the impasse, although an implied threat of Iranian attacks could mean shippers would be ​unlikely to risk transit without paying."

It's funny that Jeanine Pirro brought a box of evidence to WH to persuade Trump. He wants her to consciously *throw out* exculpatory facts and *knowingly* prosecute innocent people. So facts can't persuade him by definition. Me and @barbmcquade.bsky.social on this: newrepublic.com/article/2139...

Dying at the right-wing activists that (1) held a call with Todd Blanche in which Blanche made a lot of anti-abortion promises, (2) said "uh this is off the record" like doing so would magically ward off journalists, and then (3) UPLOADED IT TO THEIR YOUTUBE CHANNEL www.politico.com/news/2026/08...

Your little oopsie "mistakes" had me worrying for a year of my life about my partner going to jail for up to a decade based on lies likely fed to you by the top of the federal government. Show everyone what you're covering up in these emails and texts. There's a reason you don't want them released.

Boutros acknowledges 'mistakes' in 'Broadview 6' case but says sanctions, special counsel aren't needed

Chicago's top federal prosecutor noted in a court filing that his office has already dropped charges in the case, implemented “robust root-cause changes” and started the process of reviewing over 1,00...

chicago.suntimes.com

* It's unreal how terrible Trump's nominees are * DURBIN: You wrote, 'Feminists advanced a theory that rape is meant to perpetuate male domination.' Do you still oppose Violence Against Women Act? CANDEUB: I haven't really thought it D: In 2023 you did an interview & decried harassment laws ...

Every judge that is receiving a lifetime appointment here is signaling that they are pretty flexible when it comes to defending American democracy donmoynihan.substack.com/p/scenes-fro...

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 11h ago

BLUMENTHAL: Judge Cronan, you're already on the district court. Who won the 2020 election? CRONAN: Joseph Biden received the majority of electoral votes B: You have nothing to lose. You have a lifetime appointment, and yet you're unwilling to state the simple fact that Biden won the 2020 election

Just to make the point abundantly clear, Chris Wallace is now a paid advisor to an investment firm that has a large stake in Paramount and a vested interest in getting the Warner Bros. merger over the line. www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Chris Wallace: States Are Playing Politics With the Law to Block Paramount’s Warner Bros. Deal

"I don’t believe government should use its powers to determine who owns a news platform or to control how that outlet reports the news," writes the former Fox and CNN anchor, who is now a paid advisor...

hollywoodreporter.com

it’s cool that if you turn on ESPN nowadays you’re fairly likely to see the 24th best QB in the NFL discussing the lab leak conspiracy with a man in a tank top

Former 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...

Former J6 Prosecutors Beg Senators To Stop Confirming Election Deniers To Court Seats

huffpost.com

as noted yesterday, Trump has now come around to treating an Iranian toll system covering the Strait of Hormuz as a given. Hard to overstate the level of strategic failure. US started the war purely as a war of choice and ends up dramatically empowering Iran and given the Iranian govt big wins.

Bill Grueskin@bgrueskin.bsky.social · 13h ago

Reuters: Iran wants fees of 5%-7% of the price of cargo from ships using the strait; Oman wants 3%. "Making fees voluntary, at least nominally, could be a way out of the impasse, although an implied threat of Iranian attacks could mean shippers would be ​unlikely to risk transit without paying."

Call me crazy, but if a Democratic president had 350 accounts closed by their bank for money laundering it’d be more than a blip in the media

honestly can't stress enough, as a former family law attorney, how depressingly common Max Miller's behavior and words are, right down to the petty fixation on custody procedure and rules when faced with allegations of shocking violence.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · yesterday

Rep. Max Miller: "When I was reported for child abuse of my daughter for a broken collarbone, my daughter was in my ex-wife's care 9 out of the last 11 days and she took her to the emergency room, which is a contempt violation from our shared parenting plan."

The NYT could have written a news story about this, with actual sources. Or at the very least they could have interviewed Ellison & asked him some tough questions. Instead they just handed over the most valuable media real estate in the world to a billionaire nepo baby to lobby for his company.

Oliver Darcy@oliverdarcy.bsky.social · yesterday

I spoke with 10 CNNers about David Ellison's essay in The NYT, in which he tried to convince the public he'll be a good steward of CNN. Suffice to say, no one at the network is buying what he's selling. “We all have eyes and ears and see what’s happening at CBS." www.status.news/p/david-elli...

Trump's guy is losing to someone who isn't even running anymore because his name is Amir Hassan and though he's an evangelical Christian, MAGAts assume he's Muslim. Who could've seen that coming?

The Downballot@the-downballot.com · 24h ago

Seems like an upset might be brewing in the GOP primary in #MI08 to take on Dem Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet. Trump endorsed Amir Hassan, but he currently trails an absolute nobody who suspended his campaign a month ago by a wide margin.

I’d love to believe this, but I thought it was over for Donald Trump when he said that E. Jean Carroll was too ugly to sexually assault.

Ron Filipkowski@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · yesterday

It was over for Max Miller politically when he said his wife couldn’t have been abused because she offered to make him dinner 6 days later. He may not have known it when he said it, but that was the end. You have to be a sick bastard to come up with that as your defense.

When this shit started, there was a scramble to appease it, to be seen taking it seriously. But there was never scientific evidence for it. Never any reason to treat it as anything more than a conspiracy theory. It’s shameful that so many publications didn’t see the clear disinformation campaign.

If they can send even a single scientist to prison over something that plainly did not happen, they can imprison anyone for anything at any time for any reason. Those are the stakes. You don’t hear that from legacy publications like NYT.

Republicans like Rand Paul are lying to the public and wielding those lies like a wrecking ball, targeting academia and public health. He and the administration want to imprison scientists over what is very clearly a conspiracy theory. It’s the most incredible and dangerous thing I’ve ever seen.

SARS-CoV-2 did not come from a lab. There is no evidence pointing to laboratory origins. There’s been a massive disinformation campaign to convince the public otherwise. It’s scary how effective that campaign has been.

If you show up to Bluesky without following anyone, you'll be treated to a series of posts about art, music, and dogs. If you show up to X without following anyone, you'll be bombarded with right-wing conspiracies and white supremacist slop. It's weird which one is seen as a "political bubble"

"Liberal bubble" has only ever meant anywhere where right wing perspectives aren't artificially elevated and forced into everyone's feeds.

lmao you hired bari weiss to run CBS News dude who are you trying to fool here

Justin Baragona@justinbaragona.bsky.social · 2d ago

Oh yeah, David Ellison is legit scared he's gonna lose. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/o...

i shouldn't say *even if* because the conservative theory of why this would work is that by demonstrating you're barbaric and cruel enough to kill a bunch of innocent people too you will scare the drug traffickers into not trafficking drugs, so killing civilians is a feature, not a bug.

this is a weird line to draw since the liberal position (correct) is that it's not reasonable to summarily execute people in international waters even if they're involved in drug trafficking and the conservative position is that you must do that even if you kill a bunch of innocent people too

CNN@cnn.com · 2d ago

The US military’s strikes on alleged drug boats have likely illegally killed “individuals who are not involved in narcotrafficking,” Sen. Tim Kaine told the White House, following “a careful review” of classified information he has seen so far.

Bluesky oldheads will remember that brief period of time when the conservative trolls tried to storm the place and were flummoxed by the idea they would have to organically grow an audience and that someone who didn't want to talk to them could nuke every interaction they ever had from orbit

Bluesky is a "liberal bubble" because fascist chuds can't get traction without algorithmic assistance and because people here trained themselves to block "debate me" trybois the instant they roll up

The Verge@theverge.com · 2d ago

Bluesky's new CEO Toni Schneider on the platform's reputation for being a liberal bubble: "Yes, we definitely want that to change. It is already changing. It certainly wasn’t designed to attract one specific group of people."

Pundits *thrilled* over the supposed "realignment" that had black and brown voters swinging to Trump in meaningful numbers. It was so counterintuitive! And a chance to lecture the left! Turns out the whole thing was as substantial as a fart in a breeze. Pundits were projecting their fantasies.

Americans Are Turning on Trump

The president’s big gains with Black, Hispanic, and young voters in 2024 suggested a major shift. Less than two years later, he has lost those new supporters.

theatlantic.com

This dude was on TV basically every day during the pandemic and published tons of articles -- and he's saying "free speech was suspended" over COVID-19.

Normally it would be a huge story that the President of the United States is using the full force of the government to prosecute innocent people just so he can continue to lie about the absolute dumbest shit in the world.

MeidasTouch@meidastouch.com · 2d ago

Federal prosecutors just dropped charges against 3 MORE defendants who were falsely accused of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool www.cbsnews.com/news/lincoln...