We don’t talk enough about how autocrats view taxpayer dollars—not as public resources to serve the people, but as a pot of gold to enrich themselves and their allies. Their focus isn’t public welfare; it’s personal profit and power.

I’d actually like to thank the SBC on behalf of all my future plaintiff survivors for demonstrating that the parent organization DOES in fact exercise control over the local churches &, therefore, should be sued for allowing instances of abuse in those churches. We’ll chat soon

.@JamesTalarico: There's been a lot of talk in this race about what it means to be a real man. Recently on the campaign trail I told the story of my adoptive dad, Mark Talarico. Every Saturday morning, he would mow our lawn, and then without anyone asking him to, he would go next door and mow our neighbor's lawn because she was a widow. My dad never talked about it — he just did it, because that's what a man does. A man takes responsibility, upholds his commitments to his family and his neighbors, and does what's right, even when no one is watching. Here's what real men don't do. They don't lie and cheat their way through life, sell their soul to the highest bidder, or steal from other people in order to enrich themselves. Real men serve others. Weak men serve themselves. I welcome this debate about what it means to be a man, and I don't think Ken Paxton or Ted Cruz are in a position to tell anybody what a real man is.

Honored to be included in this excellent @notusperspect piece on what Washington gets wrong about religion-- and in such great company. @JamesMartinSJ @drmoore @rachelklaser @simran @EbooPatel and many other. My quote: “The right weaponizes religion. The left ignores it.” That’s the challenge: faith is shaping public life, and democracy leaders can’t afford to ignore it. notus.org/perspectives/what-…

What If Christian Nationalism Loses Its Monopoly on Faith? open.substack.com/pub/revjen…

BREAKING: Ken Paxton’s own lawyer just endorsed James Talarico: “I defended Ken Paxton for years in the impeachment trial and in state criminal cases. But in my view, I think Ken has lost sight of his core mission, which is to represent the people of Texas.  And unlike Ken, I believe that you, James, believe in unity over division and that you know how to assemble not only Democrats but Independents and Republicans and we need that right now.  We need unity, we don't need any more division and that's why I'm supporting you.”

The details about the Tate brothers in this @newyorker profile are as sick as anything you will ever read. They are rapists, pornographers, traffickers - and heroes to the "conservative" MAGA movement newyorker.com/magazine/2026/…

The only "rigged" elections are the ones Republicans lose

What a rotten, braindead party that requires all of its members to tell the same absurd, destructive lie to the American people.

Donald Trump proposes a 1.776 billion slush fund for terrorists. In my book "On Freedom" I proposed $1776 as guaranteed monthly fixed income for Americans. Each kind of future is possible. We choose.

.@SarahAMatthews1 on the first US case of flesh-eating screwworm in 60 years after DOGE cuts to the program that monitored it: “Turns out that letting a bunch of 20-year-old incels with no subject matter expertise take a chainsaw to federal programs ended up having consequences.”

James Talarico on abortion bans: “It doesn’t seem like it’s about children. It doesn’t seem like it’s about mothers and women and girls. It does seem like it’s about control. That’s what we see across this Christian nationalist movement. This is religion at its worst. Trying to control people and what they do”

This is Ken Paxton's mugshot. He was indicted on 3 felony counts for investment fraud. He was reported to the FBI by his own staff for bribery. He was impeached by his own party for corruption. Now he’s the Republican nominee for US Senate in Texas. Together we will stop him.

Pope Leo XIV: "Among these ideologies, I consider particularly insidious the one that suggests that every person must earn or justify his or her own worth, to the point of attributing greater value to those who are more efficient or effective. From this perspective, persons end up being reduced to a means of achieving results, a resource to be used and exploited, and are no longer recognized as a proper end in themselves who should never be instrumentalized. The value of persons, however, does not depend on what they achieve or produce. There are rights that apply to everyone simply by virtue of being human, and no human power can legitimately deny or arbitrarily limit them." #MagnificaHumanitas

The Trump slush fund is a clear cut impeachable offense. latimes.com/opinion/story/20…

How authoritarian corruption works

You could start by walking down the hall. See why your boss keeps pardoning people convicted of money laundering, wire fraud, tax evasion, and securities fraud.

Looting public funds to pay off allies and henchmen is a naked abuse of power, but doing it to precisely the tune of 1.776 billion dollars is a brazen civic blasphemy. nytimes.com/live/2026/05/18/…

Trump’s Border Patrol chief abruptly resigned amid allegations he traveled abroad to solicit sex workers huffpost.com/entry/latest-ne…