Bush killed inquiry: A U.S. grand jury in Guam opened an investigation of controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff more than two years ago, but President Bush removed the supervising federal prosecutor and the inquiry ended soon after. The previously undisclosed Guam inquiry is separate from a federal grand jury in Washington that is investigating allegations that Abramoff bilked Indian tribes out of millions of dollars.
WH withholds 9/11 files: Members of the now-disbanded 9/11 commission are going public with complaints that the Bush Administration is stonewalling on the release of files that show whether the government is taking action on the commission’s recommendations for preventing new attacks on the United States. The GOP chair of the commission, Tom Kean, says he disappointed and surprised. Well, that’s one of us, Tom.
Financiers pledge liberal dollars: At least 80 wealthy liberals have pledged to contribute $1 million or more apiece to fund a network of think tanks and advocacy groups to compete with the potent conservative infrastructure built up over the past three decades.The money will be channeled through a new partnership called the Democracy Alliance, which was founded last spring — the latest in a series of liberal initiatives as the Democratic Party and its allies continue to struggle with the loss of the House and the Senate in 1994 and the presidency in 2000.
When Joe Biden tripped, Donald Trump made a big to-do.
When Trump slipped, tripped and gripped, it went viral, too!
But hey, you’re the president,
And it pays to have a sycophant
Like Li’l Marco, who will badly fake a trip to cover for you.
“I noted over the weekend several reasons why Donald Trump himself, his presidency, and his administration overall are nowhere near prepared for the Iran/Israel situation. … But the more that it becomes an Iran/US situation, the more it’s important to add one more important point: Trump is absolutely, utterly unprepared to rally the nation around a war effort. And nothing we’ve seen in the last ten years even hints that he’s capable of it.”
“Conventional political analyses do not come close to describing the way our world has been turned on its head. Yes, the GOP lost its spine and its balls; Democrats flailed; the electorate realigned. The enter>tainment wing of the GOP routed the establishment. Much of the rest of the media has been enshittified. … But that really doesn’t capture the velocity or the scope of the transformation. It’s not just our politics. America has become dumber, crueler, crazier, and more violent. To much of the rest of the world, we have become unrecognizable.”
“As is so often the case, Donald Trump’s opponents are playing into his hands. This is exactly the kind of fight that Donald Trump loves, with his opponents carrying Mexican flags past burning cars.”
“Don’t kid yourself they know they are absolutely getting cooked politically with their terrible bill and rising prices, and they want to create a violent spectacle to feed their content machine. It’s time for the mainstream media to describe this authoritarian madness accurately.”
— Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), reacting on X to President Trump sending National Guard troops to Los Angeles.
“The people have spoken. A new political party is needed in America to represent the 80% in the middle! And exactly 80% of people agree. This is fate.”
— Elon Musk floated a new political party on Friday after falling out with President Trump over the big, beautiful bill, The Hill reports. He followed up with a potential name for the group, “The America Party.”
America’s millionaire population grew by 379,000 for a total of 23.8 million, the most of any country, according to a new study by UBS, CNBC reports. Much of that wealth growth came from strong markets and a stable dollar, which both have been disrupted so far in 2025 by a trade war and recession fears.
A new Economist/YouGov poll finds 60% of Americans think the U.S. military should not get involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran. Only 16% support U.S. military action, and 24% are unsure.
A new Washington Post poll finds Americans opposing U.S. airstrikes against Iran by a 20 percentage-point margin — 45 percent to 25 percent — with a sizable 30 percent saying they are unsure.
Americans broadly disapprove of the job Donald Trump is doing as president and favor Democratic U.S. House candidates for the 2026 midterms by 8 points, 45% to 37%, a new Strength In Numbers/Verasight poll finds. The president is underwater on 10 out of 11 issues.
An Economist/YouGov poll found that only 16% of U.S. adults and less than a quarter of Republicans think the U.S. should get involved in the conflict between Iran and Israel. Trump voters are even less enthusiastic than Republicans as a whole. Only 19% of 2024 Trump voters support U.S. involvement.