05/13/26
Good morning! It’s Wednesday, May 13th.
Apple Pie Day
Well dang! That sounds as wholesome as…
And now, the news.
Update: Iran
-via CBS News
Starting in Iran where, after Trump said the ceasefire was on “life support,” Iran’s speaker of parliament said their military is ready to “teach a lesson” to anyone who decides to be an aggressor and attack the country. Adding, "a bad strategy and bad decisions always lead to bad results — the world already understands this."
Okay, alright. I hear you.
But what if I told you we had NO strategy? Would that change anything??
No Strategy Trump is currently in China, but before he left, he took questions from the press. One reporter asked him if he thought about Americans’ financial situations when he’s negotiating with Iran.
Trump’s answer?
"Not even a little bit."
Oof. Would you like to finesse that a little bit, my dude? "The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon. I don't think about Americans' financial situation, I don't think about anybody."
ANYBODY??
Weird flex but alright…
Meanwhile, as gas prices continue to climb, Trump is proposing pressing pause on the federal gas tax “for a period of time.”
This would require an act of Congress to pass (Republicans in the House and Senate have already said they would put forward legislation, while Dems have already actually done it), and would cost the government around $.5 billion a week.
Tack that on (I mean, they won’t, but they should) to the $29 billion this war is purported to cost (with internal assessments actually suggesting the number is closer to $50 billion).
What a cool time to be an American!
Supreme Court Allows Mifepristone Access
-via ABC News
On Monday, the Supreme Court announced that they are allowing for an administrative stay to allow the abortion pill to be delivered by mail until 5 PM Eastern tomorrow.
Why?
Can’t say.
No, literally. Justice Alito, who handed down the stay, didn’t say why he extended it. The high court is considering lifting a lower court ruling that bars the drug from being sent by mail while litigation continues. So… I guess we’ll see what tomorrow brings. Casually waiting on Sammy Aleaks to decide whether half the country can keep a core piece of access to bodily autonomy.
Pretty pretty cool
SCOTUS v Voting
But of course the big story continues to be… if you can’t beat em, Sweetums!
I mean, I guess yes technically it’s if you can’t beat ‘em, cheat 'em, but every time I think about this story, my blood pressure goes up about 17 points and, medically speaking, Parks and Rec references do chill me out.
Anyway…
On Monday, in a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that, based on the fact that they’re letting Louisiana do racial gerrymandering now, everyone can, and so Alabama can.
Let me explain.
The decision out of Louisiana that all but voided Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because it took away the three Gingles preconditions, which determined whether a district or system was illegally diluting a minority’s voting power.
Through this decision, basically now the vibe is – hey, I noticed you’re doing racial gerrymandering. But did you mean to? No? Cool – Have at it.
Literally now, without those preconditions, it’s intent over effect.
Did you mean to murder? No? Alright, get outta here, you crazy kid!
Do you see how maybe that’s not the best way to do laws?
As you know, every ten years these maps get redrawn based on the census. Alabama’s post-2020 was, at that time, believed to be a violation of Section 2 of the VRA because it didn’t provide a second majority-Black district.
So, because of that, they issued a new map in 2023, which was used in the 2024 election.
Now, however, the state has asked the Supreme Court if they can pretty please go back to that old map, using the old “who me? Racist? I don’t see color” argument. Yeah, how do you like that? You’re the racist for acknowledging that Black people exist.
I… hate it here.
So that’s their argument and the Supreme Court was like “good enough for me! We hate voting rights, famously, so yee-haw have at it” and then Chief Justice Roberts did a happy little skipping dance all the way down the road because he has bad where there should be good and he hates voting rights.
Now you might be wondering, which election will this affect? Probably not a super close one, right?
Noppers! This Supreme Court decision now hands the map back down to a lower court, which will decide if it can be used. In anticipation of a judicial thumbs up, Alabama-onians have enacted a law to void the May 19th primary for some districts, and they will instead hold a new primary with the new boundaries.
It used to be that when a map changed this close to the election, it wouldn’t be put into effect until after the election.
But not anymore! No time to waste when there are elections to muck with.
Motivated by all this mucking, South Carolina has entered the chat. They need a 2/3 vote in the state House and Senate to gerrymander – an issue that could come up as soon as today. It’s unclear whether they have the moves to make it happen. Why?
Because it could backfire and result in a 2nd Democrat in the US House of Reps.
Why? Because people are, rightfully, mad.
We’re mad and we also understand this fact – every single seat is up for grabs.
Two democratic House seats in South Carolina. Dang right.
435 House seats and we’re fighting for every single one of them.
As for Virginia, they have asked the Supremes to let the state use the map that voters approved. This one is very TBD because on the one hand, that court hates voting rights. But on the other hand, this one isn’t about voting rights but about not overturning the will of the voters.
Which do they want do to more? Ya know?
TBD. When we know more, we’ll know more. And you’ll know right away, trust me. Because when I have to talk about that, I’ll start it at a 12 (depending on how they rule). Like – even without me saying how they rule, you’ll know how they’ve ruled.
And that’s it. That’s the news.
The focus right now is the Republicans mucking with our elections. It’s a 5-alarm fire.
I’m proud of pie! Apple pie? Hot apple pie? Name something better, I dare you.
That was a trick - Voting rights. Voting rights are better.
But more than apple pie… because you’re as warm as an apple pie, as spicy as an apple pie, but unlike an apple pie, there’s no such thing as just one season you’re best in… I’m proud of you.