09/05/25
Good morning! It’s Friday, September 5th.
International Day of Charity.
How do you like that? Hey there’s actually a very cool nonprofit called We Are Voters you might be interested in… I think, if I understand correctly, they’re trying to increase voter turnout through education. And the founder is just cute as a button.
And now, the news.
DOJ Seeks Voter Info
-via Washington Post
Starting in Missouri where a top official in the Department of Justice recently sought access to voting equipment used by two Republican clerks in 2020.
Trump won Mississippi in all three elections. But he continues to tell people that somehow, even though he won two out of three of the elections, that there was fraud in all three. Fraud even when he won.
That man is so broken.
Ankles to the brain.
Anyway, they’ve requested this equipment, and it is crucial to note that the state has denied it. The state has not turned any of it over.
But they’re not saying why they need it. They’re not saying if it’s for 2020 or to “safeguard” (but not really) 2026. What we do know is that Missouri is also about to redraw their districts in a way that appears to give Republicans an advantage. Which they’re doing after significant pressure from Trump.
So… he’s putting his grub hands in elections. That’s what he’s always going to do because he’s a cheater. Once a cheater, always a cheater.
But we are going to fight for every single district. Every single seat.
RFK Jr. Senate Hearing
-via AP News
And over in DC, Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr (cursed sentence), had himself a rough Thursday (that’s fun!) due to a three-hour hearing that turned into a bunch of people screaming at each other multiple times.
You know, like adults do.
The point was to ask him… hey? Why are you… doing all the things you’re doing? Like, in general. Are you trying to literally kill us? Even Republicans were mad!
Did you know they were allowed to do that? I sure didn’t.
At one point, when asked about why he fired the CDC director he recalled a (fake) interaction where “I asked her: ‘Are you a trustworthy person?’ and she said ‘No.’”
That is so funny to imagine actually happening.
He recently said that antidepressants could lead to violence, and when pressed about that, he told one Senator she was making that up. When democratic Senator Warnock asked about his rhetoric about the CDC before the shooting at the CDC, he said: “Are you complicit in the assassination attempts on President Trump?”
All in all… not a… I don’t actually even know how to end that sentence. Or this story.
DOJ v Transgender Americans
-via ABC News
And now for a collection of stories about how the Department of Justice is not… great.
Starting with the news that the department is considering restricting transgender folks from being able to own guns.
Yeah.
For no other reason than they are transgender.
There is no evidence that transgender folks are more violent than anyone else in the country. Though I don’t know how because all this country wants to do is use them as a punching bag over and over and over again.
There is no need for any of this.
And yet! And yet… the absolute outsized abject cruelty (and danger, frankly) is the point here.
Except it not to pass, as it is, say it with me now – a 1A violation.
Still…. It’s cruel. It’s cruel to paint transgender Americans as an exceptionally violent group of people when you know, as they know, that it’s patently false.
DC Sues DOJ
-via CBS News, NY Times, and CNN
And in Washington, DC, which is still under hostile government takeover, a federal judge gave the DOJ the whatfor, saying it brought “embarrassment and shame” on the government as it plays “cops and robbers, like children” while the country is “past the point of constitutional crisis.”
My goodness.
Buy a girl a drink first!
He also said they’re more concerned with a “rush to get stats on Twitter or Truth Social" instead of actually being correct, accusing the department of having a policy of "we'll arrest people… then see what happens."
PUT THIS IN MY VEINS!
This all relates to a case surrounding a man, Edward Dana, who was arrested and charged with threatening to kill Trump last month. He spent a week in jail before the charges were dropped.
The incident that led to his arrest you ask? Suspicion of damaging a light fixture at a restaurant.
Yeah… from suspicion of damaging a light fixture to charges of threatening to assassinate the president. If you had to guess… what do you think this man looks like?
Not white! I’ll tell ya that!
Apparently, he said he was intoxicated that night, and there was hyperbolic ranting, which… the hyperbolic ranting did include him saying he’d kill the president. Not a great look!
But that’s not an actual threat against the president’s life. That’s a drunk doofus.
Anyway, I will be cross-stitching the entire decision onto a pillow to read every night for the rest of my life. It’s delicious.
DC is also suing the Trump administration for doing hostile government takeover. Copycats!
So we’ll see how that goes. This one will be interesting since DC is not a state but I’m rooting for them! This whole thing is dumb and dangerous. Rough combo.
I’m also rooting for them because those poor troops!
CNN has an article up, there’s a link in show notes, and they spoke with a bunch of those National Guard members and their morale is low. “We haven’t gotten critically low on morale, but we’re falling fast.”
They signed up to serve this country. To respond to hurricanes and wildfires – and now they’re picking up trash, raking leaves, and worrying that they’re going to have to arrest an American citizen for using their First Amendment right and accidentally start a Civil War.
And it’s expensive! To the tune of $1M a day!
Can’t afford to give everyone food, shelter, or healthcare. Teachers gotta buy their own books and supplies. But we can do hostile government takeover for $1M a day.
Boy oh boy… this President doesn’t care about democracy or the Constitush OR our troops or… or anything, actually. Nothing at all.
Whatever. Who Cares.
-via Axios
And finally – listen, this is the least of our problems but Trump is going to rename the Defense Department the Department of War.
Hegseth already renamed his Pentagon conference room the W.A.R. room.
It’s just the secondary title, it’s not an official title. It’s like the Gulf of America thing. This is a cow’s opinion. It’s an executive order. It’s presidential fan fiction.
Hegseth gets to play make believe and use a secondary title and call himself the Secretary of War.
We get it! You’re big brave boys! Yeah man, call yourself the Secretary of War. That’ll fix what’s broken inside of you.
Oh my god… go to therapy! Go to therapy and then get a sweet treat and sit on a bench in the park and eat your sweet treat and let the sun hit your face and think about how it’s okay that your dad never said he was proud but you can still be proud of yourself.
That’s it. That’s the news.
I’m proud of… not Trump and Hegseth! That’s for sure! Dorks.
Dorks!
Charity, definitely.
I’m putting a link in show notes to charities that are doing awesome work for people who were affected by the Alta Dena fires. Because I know we have short memories, I get it. But just because the news moved on, doesn’t mean the story is done. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, and a lot of very generous people, to rebuild one of Los Angeles’ best neighborhoods.
The Eaton Fire Collaborative is a group of nonprofits you can support that are helping those in the area. You can donate time or money there.
Or, if you want to get more specific, Civic Soul, which was started by my good friend Caitlin Stamos, and is a part of the Eaton Fire Collaborative, works to get resources straight to people as they rebuild. Incredibly, because their admin costs are so low, 100% of donations go directly to Eaton Fire survivors.
And… after I wrote all of that I just remembered that Caitlin is so much nicer than me and I don’t really know what to do for a segue here.
Hey, it’s also it’s also National Cheese Pizza Day and because it’s not too cheesy to brag about your friends at all times… I’m proud of you!