Senator Padilla was forcibly removed from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference in Los Angeles while attempting to ask a question.

Padilla was thrown down and handcuffed. A senator in his own state! (He has since been released.)

The Trump regime is out of control.

Today they have crossed a deep red line.

We, the people, must hold the president and his appointees accountable for this outrageous abuse against American liberty.

this is a letter to the editor from a high school track runner who came in second to a trans girl in a race. her state house rep in maine started talking about it. so she wrote this: www.pressherald.com/2025/05/14/r...

See also: people with tattoos in languages they don't speak and have no heritage in (particularly Japanese and Chinese).

The Declaration of Independence does not directly mention slavery, but the Three-fifths Compromise was in the Constitution.
(www.archives.gov/founding-doc...)
(www.archives.gov/founding-doc...)

It's frustrating how much misinformation gets peddled by people who otherwise are making good points!

Here’s why I’m optimistic about the American people and our future: Trump is not popular and is perceived to be doing a bad job! From the Economist/YouGov: as of April 19-22, Trump’s job approval rating is (-13).

I’ve never seen anything quite as ghoulish as the White House Instagram posting “prisoner deportation ASMR”. I kinda don’t even think that was Trump’s idea—I’m beginning to suspect that Leavitt is personally generating these taglines. How do you even come up with something so vile?

Seeing more and more “centrist” and conservative influencers turn their backs on the current administration is quite reassuring. It’s too late to change the result of the last election—but in a situation as dire as ours, I think we’ll need all the help we can get. It’s not over yet!

Feeling bullish about AOC and Buttigieg. They have a couple years to use the Republicans’ mess as leverage and build their own movements once again—and this time, I suspect there won’t be enough of a Democratic establishment left to stop them.

This isn’t surprising, given what happened to Columbia—it turns out that punishing people the who capitulated entirely removes the incentive to capitulate. Another win for incompetence!

I wrote an article about the Abrego Garcia case, and what it means for the rule of law in America (hardlyworking1.substack.com/p/what-you-n...). In case you don’t have time to read the whole thing, I’ll quote from my conclusion here:

I’m reminded of a point made by Charles Perrow in his book Normal Accidents—part of aviation safety’s excellent record is due to personal investment. When lawmakers rely on the systems they develop, they are personally incentivized to improve them. (You can see the inverse in public transit.)

This is worth repeating: by prioritizing executive orders over actual legislation, Trump is prioritizing the personal exercise of power over lasting change. He doesn’t act in a way consistent with preserving a legacy or passing permanent policy—instead, his orders are fast and reversible at will.

On April 2nd, the Economist and YouGov released a poll that asked voters various questions about American politics. I thought I’d analyze these, because these were taken *before* the recent tariff and stock market crash fiascos—so they provide a good baseline for the next set of polls.