LOOKING AROUND ON SATURDAY

“This is great. I love your blog. Keep at it.” - Stephen King (free subscriber on March 15, paid subscriber on April 28, and yes...)

There are 176 days to the mid terms.

Republicans stripping majority-Black Memphis, where 39-year-old Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated 58 years ago, of its majority-Black congressional district takes its place in a rancid arc of American history that seems to be bending backwards. The same folks who fought integration tooth and nail in the 1960s, continued to drag their feet in the 1970s and ’80s, and spent the intervening decades fomenting racial strife for their own electoral gains became the first people to insist — without irony or self-awareness, let alone repentance or shame — that racism was behind us. Integration went from “never” to “too soon” to “enough already.” Faced with the old burdens anew, State Rep. Justin J. Pearson (D), who was running for the eliminated congressional seat in Memphis, echoed civil rights leaders of the past in drawing on scripture: “This is not over. We will fight and will not stop until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” He’s right. NAACP has field a lawsuit charging this violates the state constitution (which it does). We’ll see how a MAGA court rules about a MAGA violation.

Justice Alito cited incorrect data (provided by the TrumpDOJ, surprise surprise) in his opinion wrecking the Voting Rights Act. In his opinion gutting section 2 of the Voting Rights Act last week, Alito said that Black voter turnout had exceeded white voter turnout in two of the five most recent presidential elections, both nationally and in Louisiana. Alito’s claim was copied almost verbatim from a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the TrumpDOJ. Alito used it to make the argument that the kind of discrimination that once made the Voting Rights Act necessary no longer exists. A review of turnout and racial data in Louisiana reveals that assertion relies on an unusual methodology: The TrumpDOJ brief Alito cited calculated Black and white voter turnout in Louisiana as a proportion of the total population of each racial group over the age of 18. Such an approach is not preferred by experts in calculating statewide turnout because the general over-18 population may include non-citizens, people with felony convictions and others who cannot legally vote. But it does yield Alito’s conclusion that Black voter turnout exceeded white voter turnout in the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections in Louisiana. The widely accepted approach is to consider voter turnout as a proportion of the citizen voting age population or the voter eligible population, the latter of which excludes non-citizens as well as people who cannot vote because of a felony conviction or because they have been deemed mentally incapacitated. When the turnout numbers in Louisiana were analyzed using the citizen voting age population, it found Black voter turnout only exceeded white voter turnout in the 2012 presidential election. Alito’s claim about national turnout also misses the more recent picture that the turnout gap is actually widening. Obama was the first Black US president on the ballot in 2008 and 2012, the two elections where Black turnout was higher than white turnout. In the three most recent presidential elections since then, Black voter turnout has lagged white voter turnout.

Trump met Friday’s news that the Virginia Supreme Court had struck down a voter-approved redistricting referendum with delight, but many questioned the ruling as unjust. The court ruled 4-3 that the state’s Democratic-led legislature had violated procedural requirements when it placed the constitutional amendment on the ballot asking voters to authorize the mid-decade redistricting, but the ruling strikes down the narrowly approved measure. Democracy Docket warned: “The decision overturns the will of voters for technical reasons and gives Republicans a leg up for the 2026 midterms. The decision marks a significant and terrifying moment in our democracy as the court allowed an election to be cancelled after its completion.” Waldo Jaquith, of U.S. Digital Response posted: “The rules of redistricting are simple: Republicans are free to do whatever they want, and Democrats are also free to do whatever Republicans want.” Human rights lawyer Qasim Rashid: “So, SCOTUS says Red states can ignore the will of the people and gerrymander their districts 9-0 in favor of MAGA. But VA Supreme Court says Blue states cannot put the vote to the will of the people and follow through on the people’s will to redistrict. Beyond Absurd.” “Time for Virginia to do an Ohio and go with the maps voters approved,” suggested Karoli Kuns, of Crooks and Liars. “Voters should trump procedural objections.”

Once again, the game isn’t over till it’s over. Friday afternoon, a three-judge panel on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Alabama a stay in the state’s attempt to undo a federal injunction that came out of the case Allen v. Milligan, which restricts state lawmakers from redistricting until the next Census in 2030. Alabama officials filed an emergency motion demanding a stay that ended up before the three-judge panel earlier in the week, asking it to lift its own injunction. A separate emergency order was filed to conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, who handles requests from the 11th Circuit asking the Supreme Court to lift an injunction. The appeals panel said they don’t have the jurisdiction to provide such relief, writing: “Quite simply, we do not have the authority to issue an order that upends Alabama’s status quo, especially in the middle of an election, while our injunction establishing that status quo is well under review in the nation’s highest court.” The Supreme Court is the only hope for Alabama officials seeking to redistrict in time for the midterms, as it’s the only arena left where they can get what they want before the new May 19 primary date.

The enemy is taking hits elsewhere: As the Atlantic puts it: “At least for now, the man who had The Art of the Deal (ghostwritten for him) can’t even get Iran to the negotiating table. Washington is still waiting for Iran to respond to the latest offering, a one-page memorandum of understanding that is far more of an extension of the cease-fire than a treaty to end the conflict.” ran is willing to drag this out because it was reported that Iran wants to humiliate Trump. Wait till he’s still flailing in October...

Critics hounded Maladministration II on Friday after the release of the 2026 “Counterterrorism Strategy” report earlier that morning, which onlookers immediately noticed was riddled with typos and grammatical errors. The document, which includes a lengthy foreword written by President Donald Trump attacking the “weakness” of the Biden administration, includes countless typos: the word “capability” is misspelled as “capbility,” the word “specific” is misspelled as “specifc,” and “school board” is merged into a single word as “schoolboard.” The document also contains sentences that appear to have words missing. One sentence reads “counterterrorism is a core part the national security mission,” which appears to be missing the word “of.” “This entire document looks like something written by an intern,” wrote author and foreign policy analyst Kabir Taneja on Friday on X. Juliette Kayyem, a senior lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School and former government official posted: “This was once a serious document written by serious people in both Dem and GOP Admins. Now it reads like a partisan screed, lacking data or analysis or discussion of capabilities or relative threats, filled with typos, and mocks the American public’s intelligence.”

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins recently celebrated the removal of food stamps from 4.5 million Americans. During an interview with Newsmax host Rob Finnerty this week, Rollins seemed jubilant about her success in moving people off of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). She said: “It’s a supplemental program. It’s only supposed to last for a little bit of time. Every red state said, yes, we want to participate. We want to make sure we’re doing right by our taxpayers.” According to Rollins, officials found “200,000 dead people” and “500,000 people getting more than one benefit” in red states. “The blue states sued us. They won’t share the data with us, even though we’re funding those programs.” Finnerty pointed out that 41 million Americans relied on SNAP benefits to not go hungry. “Can you explain how these people are taking advantage of the program?” he asked. Rollins replied: “Under the Biden years, they increased the program by 40%. Of course, they were working to buy the election, but the billions and billions and billions of dollars that we have lost is just shocking.” She concluded: “ Now, the good news, in just one year alone, we’ve already moved four and a half million people off of SNAP. So this idea that once a government program is in place, you can never roll it back, President Trump has proven that to be wrong, with the vice president leading the way. And that’s just the beginning. So we’re going to be pulling more and more people off that shouldn’t be on the program.” Amazing how Republicans never look at “waste, fraud and abuse” at the Pentagon, which has never been able to pass an audit of their programs.

ABC has filed an aggressive defense against FCC regulatory action, accusing the agency of violating the network’s free speech rights and creating a chilling effect on political content. The filing, made public Friday, represents the network’s most forceful pushback since Trump began pressuring media organizations last year. The dispute centers on ABC’s morning talk show “The View,” after FCC Chair Brendan Carr questioned whether the program qualifies for a news exemption under equal time rules, which require broadcast stations to provide political candidates equal airtime, reported the New York Times. The show features political interviews and commentary, often critical of Trump. According to ABC’s filing, the FCC ordered the company’s station in Houston, KTRK-TV, to file a formal request asking whether ‘The View’ qualified for the exemption. The FCC suggested that if the show was not exempt, then KTRK should have registered formal paperwork required under the equal time rules in February when ‘The View’ booked James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas. ABC has hired prominent Supreme Court litigator Paul D. Clement. The network argued the FCC’s demand for a new exemption request is “unprecedented” and “beyond the Commission’s authority,” since “The View” received a news exemption in 2002 that has never been challenged in 24 years. ABC pointed out the agency has scrutinized programs critical of the president, including “The View” and late-night shows, while leaving conservative talk radio hosts untouched, and the filing noted the timing of inquiries coincides with midterm election season. ABC disputes Carr’s statement that it provided incomplete cooperation, stating it supplied 11,000 documents on schedule, and the network suggested it may launch a broad challenge to equal time rules as outdated given modern media options. This is different from their cave-in to Trump’s gangster move last year.

In further media news, Mr. Katy Tur’s, er, Tony Dokoupil’s ratings crisis at CBS Evening News is spiraling as viewer figures hit free-fall mode. Dokoupil became the de facto face of the new regime when MAGA-friendly Bari Weiss was installed as the boss of CBS News, despite having no broadcast experience. She promoted Dokoupil from CBS Mornings to the prime-time slot. Fresh numbers reveal that the show averaged just 3.85 million viewers last week, well below the industry- recognized benchmark of four million. Among the coveted 25-54 age group, it averaged just 539,000, below the psychological floor of 600,000. The new data, from the week beginning on April 27, is part of a broader theme. It is the fourth consecutive week the show’s ratings tanked below the four million benchmark, and the thirteenth time it has failed to produce over 600,000 viewers in the 25-54 age group.

MAGA congressman Rep. Max Miller has been accused of years of physical abuse against his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, daughter of Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno. Miller was elected to represent Ohio’s 7th District in 2022, with Trump’s endorsement. He had previously worked on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and was appointed to several roles during the first Trump administration. According to court filings and three sources who spoke to the Daily Mail, his ex-wife has sought changes to their custody arrangement as a result of her growing concerns about his “dangerous physical behavior” in their daughter’s presence. According to the newspaper, the latest incident took place on Feb. 1 of this year. Moreno, 32, alleges that Miller, 37, struck her during a custody exchange at his home in full view of the couple’s 2-year-old daughter, leaving bruises on her arm, elbow, and torso. In an earlier incident she claims took place in June 2024, Miller allegedly threw a pot of boiling water at her, some of it hitting her chest, while their daughter was present. The Party of Family Values strikes again, and MAGA men once again demonstrate why they should be “fixed.” Permanently.

Republicans are making moves in Iowa to limit the next governor’s powers in what has been seen as an acknowledgement that a Democrat might hold that role in the deep red state for the first time in decades. Democratic state auditor Rob Sand is campaigning for governor by highlighting economic struggles, population decline and health crises in the state, arguing that Republican leadership has failed Iowans, and he’ll face off against the winner of a jumbled GOP primary. Sand is running unopposed on the Democratic side. The Cook Political Report moved this race to “tossup” last month. In the Legislature, lawmakers have moved to limit the governor’s emergency powers in a bill that is seen as an acknowledgment that Sand could be Governor Reynolds’s successor. Sand has raised $9.5 million in 2025, outraising all Republican opponents combined. More than 1,500 registered Republicans and over 4,000 unaffiliated voters have contributed to his campaign. Sand portrays himself as a pragmatist above partisan divisions, using the slogan “Not redder or bluer, but better and truer.” He has avoided publicly campaigning alongside national Democratic leaders.

Kyle Kondi, the Managing Editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia, broke down the numbers in a post on X: “Following VA and new TN/FL maps, 211 at least Leans R, 208 at least Leans D, 16 Toss-ups. I do think it’s reasonable to think Ds will win the bulk of the Toss-ups, though, and quite possibly more beyond that.”

I’ll let Dan Pfeiffer have the last word: “Democrats have been outperforming Kamala Harris’s 2024 numbers by about 13 points in special elections and maintain a sizable enthusiasm advantage going forward. Democrats are fired up. Republicans are divided and depressed. These court rulings don’t change the basic reality that the American people think Trump and the Republicans are doing a terrible job, are focused on all of the wrong things, and want a change in Washington. The hurdle is higher, but Democrats can absolutely still get over it. This sucks, but all is not lost.”

Remember, you are not the crazy ones, and we were made for these times. Regardless of what you may feel right now, act as if you believe that and redouble your efforts.

“Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it.” - Abraham Lincoln

Squeaky

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