Trump ROASTED By Conservatives And Liberals For BLS Pick

Even conservative economists are saying that Trump’s pick to lead BLS is essentially a partisan ideological hack whose work is clearly biased and riddled with mistakes.

Trump fired the former BLS leader because he didn’t like the poor job numbers.

Economic data helps us know what’s going on in the country. If hacks lead the agencies that produce the data, we won’t be able to trust the data, and leaders and citizens won’t have this basic information to help them make decisions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXUFZhAzsl0

Toppled Confederate statue will rise again in Washington

Statues of leaders in parks have less to do with history and more to do with celebrating certain ideologies and causes. A statue doesn’t tell you much about history, but it does honor the person in stone, and it honors what they are known for. Confederate leaders and soldiers are known for using deadly force in rebellion against the United States of America for the primary cause of keeping most black people in the south as slaves. These acts were traitorous, anti-freedom, racist, and anti-democratic because the south only seceded because they lost an election to an abolitionist named Lincoln.

Such statues should be removed legally.

“the National Park Service says it’s obligated to restore the Pike statue by executive orders issued by President Donald Trump”

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/04/confederal-statue-reinstated-washington-00493394

The FBI Has No Business Tracking Down Texas Democrats

“Texas already has several mechanisms to use in coaxing the Democrats back. Each day they’re gone, the fleeing Democrats incur a $500-per-day fine. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott also released an order for their arrest by the Texas Department of Public Safety, describing the Democrats’ conduct as “abandonment or forfeiture.” Republicans in the Texas House, meanwhile, have issued arrest warrants for the absent Democrats, and Attorney General Ken Paxton—who is challenging Cornyn in his re-election bid—has called for their removal from office.

Regardless of how involved the FBI will become, the bureau’s involvement at all degrades the principle of federalism by infringing upon Texas’s authority to discipline its lawmakers. It is also the most recent example of the Trump Justice Department being weaponized for political gain and tasked with duties outside its standard wheelhouse.

Though Patel dismissed concerns during his confirmation hearing that he would weaponize the FBI, he seems to have set his sights on the Texas Democrats, despite Trump’s Day One executive order to end the “weaponization of law enforcement and the weaponization of the Intelligence Community.”

While the Democrats’ plan is an attempt to circumvent a vote, they’ve broken no federal laws or statutes. There is simply no need for the FBI’s involvement.”

https://reason.com/2025/08/08/the-fbi-has-no-business-tracking-down-texas-democrats/

Republicans’ next redistricting target: Missouri

“Missouri Republicans are considering redrawing their state’s congressional lines to add another red House seat, the latest volley in a national battle over control of the lower chamber in 2026.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/05/missouri-redistricting-2026-midterms-00494356

‘This is sending a message’: DOJ moves to sanction lawyer who took pro bono deportation case

“The Trump administration is escalating its efforts to punish lawyers whom it sees as obstacles to the president’s agenda.

The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to impose “substantial monetary sanctions” on a California lawyer who briefly halted but ultimately failed to block the deportation of an immigrant from Laos who pleaded guilty to attempted murder in the 1990s.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/06/justice-department-sanctions-immigration-lawyer-00496886

Mahmoud Khalil Tells His Story | The Ezra Klein Show

President Trump literally arrested a legal resident based on his speech. This is a huge, massive infringement of basic democratic rights by a president who ran on free speech.

Because the man was educated, in custody, people getting deported would talk to him and ask him questions. A man who had been in the country for over 20 years and had four children under 11, was showing up to his immigration hearing when he was grabbed to be deported. Another person asked him what a paper he signed was. The paper said he was to be deported. Another 19-year old asked if it would be safe for his mom to visit him, the answer was no. The immigration detention center had a lot of crying people in it. These people were depicted as criminals by the administration when they were picked up at their immigration hearings and their jobs.

Khalil missed the birth of his child because Trump decided to arrest him based on speech. The justification required the Secretary of State to go along with it. Marco Rubio did, losing what little dignity he had left. Khalil requested to be temporarily let out for the birth of his child. HIs request was denied.

I disagree with a lot of what he says about Palestine and Israel, but his detention was an insult to the principles that democracy stands on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2BLU3Gy3YE

Republicans are full steam ahead on redistricting — and not just in Texas

“Trump’s team is putting “maximum pressure on everywhere where redistricting is an option and it could provide a good return on investment,” according to a person familiar with the team’s thinking and granted anonymity to describe it.

a handful of Democratic-leaning states — including California — handed mapmaking power to independent commissions instead of leaving it in the hands of the state legislatures. States where Democrats retain the power to gerrymander, like Illinois and Maryland, have very little room to draw more advantageous maps than their current ones.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/07/republicans-are-full-steam-ahead-on-redistricting-and-not-just-in-texas-00496450

Vance meeting doesn’t immediately convince Indiana leaders to redistrict

“Republican Gov. Mike Braun remained noncommittal about a mid-decade redistricting push following his meeting with Vice President JD Vance in Indiana on Thursday.
“We covered a wide array of topics. We listened,” Braun told reporters in response to a question about whether an agreement was reached.

Vance’s visit to the state comes amid a push from President Donald Trump’s team to redraw maps “everywhere where redistricting is an option.” A plan in Texas is already well underway, where Republican lawmakers drew a new map that could net Republicans as many as five Republican-leaning seats, and Democrats in the Lone Star state fled in a last-ditch effort to stop the map from passing.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/07/vance-indiana-00497634

Democrats Flee Texas, Trump’s BLS Firing Raises Alarms, Ghislaine Maxwell Moved | The Headlines

Having independent professionals in parts of the government who provide key statistics is important for having a better idea of what’s going on in the country. We need these professionals to be independent so we can have a level of trust in the numbers. Trump fires such professionals just because he doesn’t like their outcomes, not because he has a fundamental disagreement with their methods. This is how we go dark in understanding our economy; with our main source of data being controlled by the leader.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F7RXXlUM4Y

Trump, Israel, and the Future of Liberal Democracy — with Ezra Klein | Prof G Conversations

Israel is committing war crimes. However horrible a terrorist organization is, whatever that organization will or will not agree to, holding a civilian population hostage is not justifiable. The U.S. makes mistakes in its wars, but has not tried the mass starvation of civilians.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPsu4pMpIjk