E. Hatt-Swank

Resurrecting Arizona’s 2020 Election Denial Lunacy Hi, and welcome back to The Franchise! This week, we’ll be looking...

The Trump administration has expanded its 2020 election probe to Arizona — specifically, Maricopa County, ground zero for 2020 election conspiracy theories.

Right-Wing Attacks on James Talarico Are a Reminder That Christian Extremism Is Official Republican Policy The reaction to Talarico's Christian rhetoric demonstrates the ways in which far-right theology is about underwriting misogyny and racism.

Right-wing Christians and even the NRSC have lined up to mock James Talarico’s inclusive, open-hearted Christianity.

Some have even called it blasphemy.

But the Christ of the outsider and the poor is a threat to their political power.

My latest:

www.liberalcurrents.com/right-wing-a...

The FBI is now just a Make-A-Wish Foundation for Kash Patel

Trump’s Iran Blunders Suddenly Look Darker after Damning New Leaks Hit As brutal revelations emerge about Trump’s handling of the war, a foreign policy expert explains why he won’t be able to extricate us from this debacle anytime soon—and provides a roadmap to what’s ne...

Trump officials privately pessimistic there's a strategy to end war, but they fear telling this to Trump, NYT reports. On the pod, @profsaunders.bsky.social brilliantly explains how this shows perils of "personalist" rule and the total absence of constraints on him:
newrepublic.com/article/2076...

The White House’s failure to think a step or two ahead—such as what Iran could do with the Strait of Hormuz—is another “reminder of what it means to purge government and decision-making of all the experts.”

@profsaunders.bsky.social dropping some political science with @gregsargent.bsky.social.

Crazy that U.S. planning for the Strait of Hormuz apparently boiled down to "that'll sort itself out, hopefully"

Veterans Who Depend on Mental Health Care Keep Losing Their Therapists Under Trump Hundreds of mental health professionals have left the Department of Veterans Affairs since President Donald Trump took office, leaving staff “at a breaking point” and some veterans waiting as long as ...

NEW: Under Trump, mental health care for vets is getting squeezed

VA is bleeding shrinks & *not replacing them*

One told me she's so overloaded her sessions can be *16 mins*

She's had to online sessions w/ 35 vets

How is that therapeutic? It's not, she said

www.propublica.org/article/vete...

U.S. Plan to Unblock Strait of Hormuz Collides With Realities of Global Insurance The U.S.-centric insurance idea runs counter to the realities of an international market, according to industry executives.

"U.S. officials called London insurers and brokers, trying to figure out how the market operates, industry insiders said."

When applied to the current administration, I urge caution in using terms like "plans," "strategy," "policy," or "doctrine."

www.wsj.com/finance/u-s-...

“'The administration thoughtlessly terminated people with crisis experience, and now they’re left without depth in the bench in the middle of a wide scale and broadening crisis,' said a former official with more than a decade experience in evacuation operations..."

www.cnn.com/2026/03/10/p...

HUGE.

I asked President Trump about the FBI reportedly seizing election records in Arizona. He said they must have done that because it was a “rigged” election. I pointed out to him that his own AG said there was not measurable voter fraud to overturn that election. Then he called me a rotten reporter.

It's so much worse.

Nadia Schadlow: "Congress does not have a constitutional role in the declaration of war."

Ezra Klein calmly reads Article I: "Congress shall have the power to declare war."

Schadlow:
<<<Awkward pause, eyes drop, and stammer as this sinks in>>>

Don't worry, the President's worst impulses on war are being checked by his advisors who are afraid to tell him that the shoes he gave them are the wrong size

You can have the best armed forces in the history of the world, but if you are an incompetent criminal without a plan, you can still lose a war, and rather quickly.

“.. the largest ever weekly increase in both price a gallon and percentage terms since the government started tracking diesel prices in 1994.”

@wsj.com ⛽️
www.wsj.com/logistics-re...

Republicans ripped away your health care for this bullshit

We need reparations for ICE victims.

Anything short of that is setting the stage for a massive wealth grab from people of color that will re-entrench racial disparities for generations.

we remain firmly on track for 'republican president leaves the country an omnishambles, next democratic president is punished for not cleaning it up fast enough'

U.S. at Fault in Strike on School in Iran, Preliminary Inquiry Says

That the US made this horrendous mistake is outrageous. The fact that the administration then LIED about it ought to be impeachable. But we don't live in a nation of accountability. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/u...

Five-byline alert: 🚨

“.. An ongoing military investigation has determined that the United States is responsible for a deadly Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian elementary school, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the preliminary findings.”

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/u...

Leaked Documents Show a Border Patrol Remade in the Image of Gregory Bovino - The American Prospect Bovino’s smash-and-grab tactics are now the norm for immigration enforcement across the country.

Leaked documents show the US Border Patrol being remade in the image of Gregory Bovino. Example: last November "guidance was issued across the Border Patrol to clarify how to smash suspects’ car windows and extract them from vehicles while minimizing legal liability."
prospect.org/2026/03/11/b...

ICE has spun a massive surveillance web. We talked to people caught in it The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and Border Patrol, is using a broad web of surveillance tools &mdash; purchased as its budget has ballooned under this administration &mdash; to...

This dystopian future is here now.

"Emily, who NPR is only identifying by her first name because she fears retribution from the federal government, says she followed an ICE vehicle at a safe distance into a parking lot.

www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/npr/nx-...

They're afraid of legitimate voters being unable to vote because they have to go through a bunch of stupid unnecessary hoops for no good reason. Every study that's ever been done shows that there are very few instances of vote fraud. We know what they're doing.

Can we drop them on Mar-a-Lago instead?

The Beginning Of History Hi! If you like this piece and want to support my work, please subscribe to my premium newsletter. It’s $70 a year, or $7 a month, and in return you get a weekly newsletter that’s usually anywhere fro...

It's the beginning of history - and an era where we'll see thorough tests of the assumptions of the AI bubble as a result of the war in Iran and the economic and social chaos to follow.

It's time to stop using the past as a guide to what happens next.

www.wheresyoured.at/the-beginnin...

I could keep arguing with folks about primaries & Nazi tattoos or l can do what I have been doing for the last 10 years…PUT IN SOME WORK.

This is my 1st batch of GOTV postcards & they’re heading to Georgia.

It’s go time Dems!

Y’all know what to do!

#AllGasNoBrakes until the last vote is cast💪🏾😤

This is real life.

RFK Jr.'s MAHA Allies Call to Eliminate All Childhood Vaccine Recommendations Inside the MAHA movement’s Washington meetup.

“The childhood vaccination schedule needs to be eliminated," MAHA Institute's president said at a meeting Monday, @notus.com reports www.notus.org/health-scien...

But he said "forthwith"! I think that should do it.