Progressive search for action

9+ min ago (373+ words) Claire McCaskill, the former Democratic senator from Missouri, warned Wednesday that the Trump administration's controversial boat strike last month may become the catalyst that brings it down. In September, the Trump administration carried out a follow-up strike on a boat suspected of carrying narcotics in the Caribbean in order to kill its survivors, who were observed clinging to the wreckage, an act that would likely constitute a war crime, according to a whistleblower. Critics have demanded that video of the strike be released, though Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has remained hesitant to do so, in spite of President Donald Trump having initially said he had "no problem" with releasing the footage. While appearing on MS NOW Wednesday, McCaskill characterized the Trump administration's hesitancy to release the video as an admission that its content was damning, and argued that the controversy…...

16+ min ago (851+ words) Donald Trump and then Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey at a February 2020 rally at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona, Gage Skidmore National Democrats are looking to spend big next year to win legislative seats across the nation, and flipping control of the Arizona Legislature will once again be a top priority, even after record spending in 2024 resulted in Republicans expanding their majorities in both chambers. A memo from the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee outlines plans to flip more than 650 state legislative seats from red to blue, including in battleground states like Arizona, Michigan, New Hampshire, Minnesota and Wisconsin. That is possible, the DLCC believes, because of the historic unpopularity of President Donald Trump in his second term and a resulting hostility among voters toward Republicans up and down the ballot. "The favorable political environment taking shape for Democrats is…...

20+ min ago (417+ words) For twenty years, conservative media called Al Jazeera "terror TV" because Qatar funded it. They insisted that Qatari money in journalism meant Qatari influence, and Qatari influence meant danger. This was the refrain on Fox News, talk radio, and all across the right-wing blogosphere. A foreign state owning a news outlet was treated not as a story but as a threat. Instead, there is silence. The reason is obvious. The difference is not Qatar. The difference is Donald Trump " whose son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is serving as a proxy in a deal built around Gulf sovereign wealth, a deal Trump appears positioned to benefit from. And conservative media will defend that deal before it defends press independence. This is not ideological inconsistency. It is hierarchy. Conservative media has become more loyal to Trump's interests than to the values it once claimed…...

23+ min ago (276+ words) Trump has been'fighting a battle'over "affordability" since the Election Day bloodbath, insisting concerns over prices'are a "con job," and repeatedly claiming he's already solved the issue. After a raft of new polls showed Trump getting clobbered on the economy, he decided to take to the road to spread his message. His first stop was beautiful Mount Airy Casino Resort on Tuesday night, where he rallied to a cheering crowd. In one section, a laughing Trump admitted and expanded on the 2018 rant in which he decried migrants from predominantly Black countries and praised those from overwhelmingly White ones: PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I've also announced a permanent pause on third world migration, including from hell holes like Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia, and many other countries. Remember I said that to the senators they came in? The Democrats. They wanted to be bipartisan. So…...

23+ min ago (692+ words) In 2020, he found an old draft and decided to return to his writing roots and give that teen his dream by materializing his characters into a YA book. He imparts his adult wisdom and inspiration in their humorous, heartbreaking, and thrilling swashbuckling pirate adventure with Scarlet Morning, the initial installment of a planned duology. I spoke with Stevenson about returning to their world after many years, the childhood and adulthood inspirations for the book's unique pirate world from history and media, subverting common gender tropes and exploring complex relationships like found family and sibling-like bonds. And, of course, potential fan art AU. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Rendy: What was the first memory you had upon returning to your world that you made as a kid? Rendy: What were some of your inspirations upon crafting this…...

24+ min ago (768+ words) Influencers head to Walmart to participate in the retailer's Angel Tree holiday giving campaign. However, one Austin, Texas, shopper believes some TikTokers may be pretending to participate. TikToker Misha Brown (@yourbestiemisha) shares the disturbing behind-the-scenes look he got into an Angel Tree shopping video at Walmart. "I saw a new low when it comes to social media," he laments in a video, garnering 4.8 million views. Brown explains that he saw two young women shopping for Angel Tree at Walmart and filming the process. "They have a cart full of stuff, and they're filming, and I hear the girl say, "OMG this kid is gonna love his Christmas,'" he recounts. "They were doing an Angel Tree shopping video." Walmart partners with charity The Salvation Army to compile Angel Tree wish lists from kids whose families can't afford presents. Walmart displays the…...

36+ min ago (592+ words) AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. The investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein published a copy of Bondi's memo on his Substack page on Saturday. Klippenstein notes Bondi's language echoes a National Security Presidential Memorandum issued by President Trump, known as NSPM-7, to target nonprofits and activists. Trump signed the directive in September in the wake of the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. Ken Klippenstein, thanks so much for being with us from Madison, Wisconsin. Why don't you tell us how you got a hold of this memo? AMY GOODMAN: So, explain the significance of this, Ken Klippenstein. And part of that intelligence production effort involves soliciting tips from the public, getting people to narc on their fellow citizens who are evincing this anti-Trump sentiment. So, in one case, it tells…...

37+ min ago (285+ words) When Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) found out that radical communists from California were trying to meddle with the critical gerrymandering efforts of Missouri Republicans, she sprang into action. There was one small problem, however, with Wagner's righteous indignation. It turns out that she had her Californians a little mixed up. You see, the offensive post from the California Democrat was referencing a gathering of concerned citizens at the California City Hall Railroad Park right down there on 500 Oak Street in the fine little town of California, Missouri. Population 4,458, nestled in beautiful Moniteau County, 24 miles west of Jefferson City. As the great Gilda Radner's legendary Saturday Night Live character Emily Litella would have said: "Never mind." In Wagner's defense, both the state of California and the town of California, MO are indeed located to our west. The little town is about…...

38+ min ago (901+ words) Donald Trump's return to the White House may have begun with projections of strength and voter support, but now, according to an analysis from The Hill, his "political mortality is all too clear" as he grapples with a second-term "vibe shift."The piece, from senior staff writer and veteran political analyst Niall Stanage, argued that Trump's presidency is "in a very different political spot compared with 12 months ago," when he and many allies claimed that his victory represented an overwhelming mandate from voters."Back then, Trump and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) allies were euphoric about his convincing victory over former Vice President Kamala Harris. Their excitement was not just about his winning the White House," Stanage wrote. "It was fueled by the hope that Trump had forced a shifting of the tectonic plates of national politics."This "new…...

45+ min ago (175+ words) The president last month accused six elected Democrats of "seditious behavior," which he said was "punishable by death," for recording a video urging military and intelligence service members not to follow illegal orders " and that reminder took on enhanced meaning over revelations about an attack on survivors of a boat strike near Venezuela. "[Uniform Code of Military Justice] says that you're never obligated to follow an unlawful order," said Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT). "But this is what's happening, you've heard it every day over 3,000 times. This president is unlawful, this president's actions are unconstitutional. His actions to deploy the [National] Guard is unlawful. His action to support ICE is unlawful." Cornish pointed out that those actions are still being challenged in court. "Yeah, but it's not unlawful," Zinke argued. "Yet," Cornish said, smiling. Cornish was baffled by the congressman's historical…...