When he's not busy exposing White Christian Nationalism, Congressional Freethought Caucus co-Chair @realjaredhuffman.bsky.social manages to find time to expose good ol' fashioned fraud and corruption.

Bill Prady@billprady.com · last mo.

There were two entities: America 250, a bipartisan organization chartered by Congress, and Freedom 250, a Trump-backed group. Companies intending to donate to America250 were supplied routing and account numbers that directed their funds to Freedom 250. wapo.st/4fe4Whs

Ken Paxton’s own party impeached him. His own staff reported him to the FBI. Now his own defense attorney is endorsing our campaign. Those closest to Ken Paxton know he's unfit for office.

Let’s send these terrific candidates some energy NOW so that they are in a better place to win their elections this November ✅ #separationofchurchandstate

So let’s be clear: Christian Nationalism is not a scholarly debate about our history, about how our country was founded. It’s a sinister, exclusionary movement. ... Full Substack article is available to read and share.

NYT on my recent Paul Pressler piece: "Political evangelicalism is a system that is deeply influenced by depraved men, and it has exactly the features that depraved men will demand of an institution they control."

Opinion | I Don’t Think You Can Even Call This Hypocrisy

nytimes.com

Trump’s religious extremist event this weekend to “rededicate” our country as a Christian nation would have our founders rolling in their graves. We. Are. NOT. And using taxpayer resources and public lands for this kind of event is a gross misuse of power to destroy church-state separation.

Trump administration will join a prayer gathering criticized for promoting Christian nationalism

President Donald Trump and several top administration officials are joining with a cast of mostly conservative Christian clergy this Sunday for a prayer gathering.

apnews.com

Here’s my piece on the “now-completed demolition” of the Voting Rights Act in @thenation.com The VRA is the most important piece of legislation in American history. It more than anything is what ended American-style apartheid. And now Republicans have killed it.

The Supreme Court Has Completed Its Quest to Kill the Voting Rights Act

In its 6-3 decision, the court gutted the legislation that ended apartheid in this country—and once again gave white people the ability to suppress Black political power.

thenation.com

Tomorrow morning, we will be dropping a ~12,000 word story on Paul Pressler, the alleged sexual predator who remade the Southern Baptist Convention and helped ordain the marriage between the GOP and white evangelical voters. There is *a lot* in there and I hope you'll read it.

Meenu Batra has lived in the South Texas border colonia of Laguna Heights since 2002. She’s a court interpreter, the only one licensed in Texas for Hindi, Punjabi, or Urdu. But, on March 17, Batra was detained by ICE agents at the Harlingen Airport: www.texasobserver.org/immigration-...

Longtime Immigration Court Interpreter Arrested by ICE at South Texas Airport

The state’s only licensed Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu legal interpreter is now languishing in a Raymondville detention center. She’s lived in America for 35 years.

texasobserver.org

We LOVE it when adults converse. Great podcast, terrific guests.

Pete Dominick@petedominick.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Great perspective's from both of these very smart guys. Thank you @stevehofstetter.bsky.social and @billbindc.bsky.social l

@drneilstone.bsky.social

In addition to experiencing a longer total eclipse totality from space — lasting nearly one hour instead of just a few minutes here on Earth — the Artemis II crew got a glimpse at the Sun’s corona wispily peeking out from behind the Moon without interference from the Earth’s atmosphere.

First photos of solar eclipse from Artemis II crew look almost too good to be real

A solar eclipse from space.

theverge.com

Trump is completely unhinged. He's lashing out with no plan, threatening horrific war crimes after already bombing a girl's school. It's making the entire world, including the United States, less safe. Every Republican enabling him is responsible. Congress must act.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 4mo ago

Trump: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will … We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end”

Join us this Thursday!

New episode: James Talarico Is A Unicorn For Secular Voters With Wil Jeudy We talk to Wil Jeudy, a secula #james-talarico #secular-houston #secularism https://podfollow.com/secular-left

Is Democrat James Talarico a man of faith who supports the separation of church and state? Secular activist Wil Jeudy believes he is podfollow.com/secular-left

Raskin: "It doesn't give me a lot of comfort that Todd Blanche is now the acting AG. This is the guy who transferred Ghislaine Maxwell from the higher security prison to the low security prison camp in Texas."

The Primary runoff election is on May 26!

Thank you @secularleft.us for having us on! We are proud to be in coalition with people like @jamestalarico.bsky.social to push back on #christiannationalism. youtu.be/UQ1SjhC1_0A?...

James Talarico Is A Unicorn For Secular Voters With Wil Jeudy

YouTube video by Secular Left

youtu.be

Cosplaying working class Rafael Cruz went to Princeton and Harvard. When he flees his constituents without power, he stays at the Ritz-Carlton. His wife, Heidi, is Managing Director at the fancy investment firm Goldman Sachs. They are not men & women with callouses on their hands. They are elites.

Bonus interview with @audreyforhouston.bsky.social

Drive around Fort Worth, or any populous Texas city, and you’ll see Muslim mosques, Hindu and Buddhist temples, Sikh gurdwaras, and Jewish synagogues, as well as Christian churches of all sizes and varieties. A diversity that depends on a wall of separation. www.texasobserver.org/a-wall-thats...

A Wall That’s Worth Defending

Some evangelical Christians are hammering away at the very church-state separation that allowed them, and other believers, to first flourish in America.

texasobserver.org

If you haven't read this yet, you should “'Epstein gravitated toward fields and figures that rank humans, explain away cruelty, or biologize inequality...He identified and aligned himself with the intellectual machinery now justifying our current dystopia.'" newlinesmag.com/argument/the...

The Academic Justification for Male Supremacy

From Noam Chomsky to Larry Summers, elite intellectuals shared more than they want to admit with Jeffrey Epstein

newlinesmag.com

Early voting for the Houston City Council Dist C race (special election) begins TODAY!

epstein files

The Democrats who made it to the next round. www.lonestarleft.com/p/the-texas-...

The Texas Democratic Primary Runoffs

The Democrats who made it to the next round.

lonestarleft.com

The Texas Comptroller's office has long been seen as a backwater and a waystation for ambitious politicians seeking higher office. But when wielded in the proper way—as an engine of good, clean, efficient government—it can be a powerful post.

Sarah Eckhardt Wants to Return the Texas Comptroller to the Bob Bullock Era

The Democratic candidate hopes to bring the statewide accountant’s office back to its rightful role—independently enforcing good government.

texasobserver.org

Sometimes I think he’s just trolling us. But no, he really is this stupid.

The first US Cabinet happened in 1789.