8th Republican Debate

Rep. Jamie Raskin called for an investigation after Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat, said non-committee members were drinking in the chamber during a hearing where Marge Greene kicked things off by insulting lawmaker Jasmine Crockett. Via the Independent: “I didn’t see the drinking but the gentlelady from New Mexico, Melanie Stansbury, raised it,” Mr Raskin told Fox News outside the US Capitol on Friday.

The Drain the Swamp fabulist spoke at the wholly corrupt National Rifle Association's event on Saturday in Dallas, Texas, and went on to brag about doing absolutely "nothing" about gun violence. Trump is very proud of that, just as he is proud of overturning Roe. Trump can't feel empathy, and he's sucking up to the NRA out of desperation for votes to keep him out of prison.

Crooked Timber - Originalism for Realists; Just an Earthbound Misfit - they're called 'self-inflicted wounds'; No More Mr. Nice Blog - Yastreblyansky for the record; Reveal - shot by a civilian with a police gun; Tell Me a Story - Hairy Butthead talks at female graduates. Send tips to mbru (AT) crooksandliars (DOT) com. read more

Sometimes I just feel like remembering why I blog at DWT. And in the end, it always comes down to economic inequality and how it’s one of the most pressing and divisive issues facing our country. Imagine a nation, our nation, where the top 1% possess more wealth than the bottom 90% combined— a nation, our nation, where the gap between the haves and the have-nots widens with each passing year.

“The deaths of President Ebrahim Raisi and Iran’s foreign minister leave the country without two influential leaders at a particularly tumultuous moment of international tension and domestic discontent,” the New York Times reports. “Mr. Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday, Iranian state news media reported.

“Secretary of State Antony Blinken directed his top staff to crack down on leaks about diplomacy relating to the Israel-Hamas war, saying clearly that he was ‘angry’ with the constant stream of press reports revealing sensitive information,” Politico reports. “Not only did classified materials make it into press reports, he chided State leadership earlier this month in a small team meeting, but also fresh proposals to broker a cease-fire and secure the release of hostages held by Hamas.