Anne Laurie
@annelaurie.bsky.social
Blogs at Balloon-Juice.com
Reposted by Anne Laurie
President Trump — who campaigned against America’s worsening drug crisis — has pardoned or granted clemency to at least 10 people for drug-related crimes since the beginning of his second term, according to a Post analysis.
Trump pardons major drug traffickers despite his anti-drug rhetoric
The president has granted clemency to about 100 people accused of drug-related crimes during his two terms in office, a Post analysis shows.
wapo.st
December 8, 2025 at 6:00 PM
President Trump — who campaigned against America’s worsening drug crisis — has pardoned or granted clemency to at least 10 people for drug-related crimes since the beginning of his second term, according to a Post analysis.
Reposted by Anne Laurie
A federal judge said he is seeking testimony from a former Justice Dept. attorney–turned–whistleblower in an inquiry over whether Trump officials should be referred for prosecution for disobeying a court order temporarily barring two planes with Venezuelan detainees from going to El Salvador.
Judge calls for Justice Dept. whistleblower to testify in migrant planes case
Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District of Columbia has scheduled the former Justice Department attorney to appear in court on Dec. 15.
wapo.st
December 9, 2025 at 1:30 AM
A federal judge said he is seeking testimony from a former Justice Dept. attorney–turned–whistleblower in an inquiry over whether Trump officials should be referred for prosecution for disobeying a court order temporarily barring two planes with Venezuelan detainees from going to El Salvador.
Reposted by Anne Laurie
Lot of blond hair for a state that’s only 40% non-Hispanic white (and lower among children & teens)
Happening now: Texas leaders announcing a rollout of a statewide program to put TPUSA chapters in high schools and colleges across the state. Gov. Abbott adds that schools that stand in the way should be reported to the Texas Education Agency.
December 8, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Lot of blond hair for a state that’s only 40% non-Hispanic white (and lower among children & teens)
Reposted by Anne Laurie
The 81-year-old, second-richest man on earth, calls up president directly and demands that he be allowed to use $100 billion including capital from world’s most repressive regimes and Trump’s son-in-law to conquer a massive entertainment and news complex to preserve “competition“
Dad got involved:
“.. Larry Ellison, a Trump ally, called the president after the Netflix deal was announced and told him the transaction would hurt competition ..”
@wsj.com $WBD $PSKY
www.wsj.com/business/med...
“.. Larry Ellison, a Trump ally, called the president after the Netflix deal was announced and told him the transaction would hurt competition ..”
@wsj.com $WBD $PSKY
www.wsj.com/business/med...
December 9, 2025 at 1:32 AM
The 81-year-old, second-richest man on earth, calls up president directly and demands that he be allowed to use $100 billion including capital from world’s most repressive regimes and Trump’s son-in-law to conquer a massive entertainment and news complex to preserve “competition“
Reposted by Anne Laurie
And what they’re attempting is impossible.
Saturday ICE went after a guy outside of Chicago. He ran in to a building. They finally got him, 5 1/2 hours later. It took 25 agents.
They cannot hit Miller’s 3,000 arrests per day quota. Nobody can ever meet Miller’s expectations.
Saturday ICE went after a guy outside of Chicago. He ran in to a building. They finally got him, 5 1/2 hours later. It took 25 agents.
They cannot hit Miller’s 3,000 arrests per day quota. Nobody can ever meet Miller’s expectations.
That Miller reportedly wants Noem gone because she's not being aggressive enough really shows how high on their own supply these guys are. What they're doing is already historically unpopular, and they want to do it even harder.
i am skeptical trump would actually go through with this, even if miller wants it, but i am even *more* skeptical of the idea that youngkin would take the job.
December 9, 2025 at 5:34 AM
And what they’re attempting is impossible.
Saturday ICE went after a guy outside of Chicago. He ran in to a building. They finally got him, 5 1/2 hours later. It took 25 agents.
They cannot hit Miller’s 3,000 arrests per day quota. Nobody can ever meet Miller’s expectations.
Saturday ICE went after a guy outside of Chicago. He ran in to a building. They finally got him, 5 1/2 hours later. It took 25 agents.
They cannot hit Miller’s 3,000 arrests per day quota. Nobody can ever meet Miller’s expectations.
Reposted by Anne Laurie
the overriding message of the trump administration is everything should go backwards, things were better when they were worse, and you should enjoy being miserable.
fucking truly inspiring stuff.
fucking truly inspiring stuff.
NEW: Dr. Oz is quite literally telling his federal employees to eat less.
“You don't have to try every cookie on the holiday table,” wrote Mehmet Oz in an email to all Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services employees.
“You don't have to try every cookie on the holiday table,” wrote Mehmet Oz in an email to all Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services employees.
Dr. Oz Tells His Federal Employees to Eat Less
“You don't have to try every cookie on the holiday table,” wrote Mehmet Oz in an email to all Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services staffers.
www.wired.com
December 8, 2025 at 10:15 PM
the overriding message of the trump administration is everything should go backwards, things were better when they were worse, and you should enjoy being miserable.
fucking truly inspiring stuff.
fucking truly inspiring stuff.
Reposted by Anne Laurie
nixon won forty nine states. trump has the popularity of childhood leukemia. they just don’t think liberals should exist or participate in the democratic project.
the true believers around nixon genuinely saw him as some kind of embodiment of the people and thought that congressional attempts to corral his authority were illegitimate on that basis. straight line from them to the executive power fetishists on the supreme court.
it is incredible that legalizing watergate has been the overriding ideological project of the american right for fifty years
December 8, 2025 at 9:30 PM
nixon won forty nine states. trump has the popularity of childhood leukemia. they just don’t think liberals should exist or participate in the democratic project.
Reposted by Anne Laurie
I can hold two truths in my soul at once: every man in her story is a creepy-ass predator who should be marooned at sea, and also she's an ethics black hole who may have brought upon a new age of victorian era infant mortality.
people who can't hate them all need more spite in their hearts, I guess
people who can't hate them all need more spite in their hearts, I guess
Possibly the only thing more freakish than Nuzzi's prose is the contortions her defenders twist themselves into. "She's not just hot, but she definitely is hot, while also being a vulnerable smol child. Also, criticizing her is sexist."
December 8, 2025 at 7:47 PM
I can hold two truths in my soul at once: every man in her story is a creepy-ass predator who should be marooned at sea, and also she's an ethics black hole who may have brought upon a new age of victorian era infant mortality.
people who can't hate them all need more spite in their hearts, I guess
people who can't hate them all need more spite in their hearts, I guess
Reposted by Anne Laurie
i don’t think it’s possible to know barack obama and it wasn’t possible to know franklin roosevelt or ronald reagan.
donald trump is easy to know. he’s just a mean old dumb racist bitch. i’ve seen more complexity in a slice of ham.
donald trump is easy to know. he’s just a mean old dumb racist bitch. i’ve seen more complexity in a slice of ham.
watching this older interview with letterman and obama and as always i’m struck by how incredibly charming barack obama is and yet sort of very guarded about the real inner life.
what my wife says about me, you’re gonna get a really good person but you’re not getting under the actor’s mask.
what my wife says about me, you’re gonna get a really good person but you’re not getting under the actor’s mask.
December 9, 2025 at 2:16 AM
i don’t think it’s possible to know barack obama and it wasn’t possible to know franklin roosevelt or ronald reagan.
donald trump is easy to know. he’s just a mean old dumb racist bitch. i’ve seen more complexity in a slice of ham.
donald trump is easy to know. he’s just a mean old dumb racist bitch. i’ve seen more complexity in a slice of ham.
Reposted by Anne Laurie
i’d put it third behind annihilating the new deal and annihilating the civil rights act. okay fourth behind annihilating second wave feminism. but it’s top four.
okay fifth behind annihilating everything post stonewall. but it’s a solid fifth.
okay fifth behind annihilating everything post stonewall. but it’s a solid fifth.
it is incredible that legalizing watergate has been the overriding ideological project of the american right for fifty years
December 9, 2025 at 12:50 AM
i’d put it third behind annihilating the new deal and annihilating the civil rights act. okay fourth behind annihilating second wave feminism. but it’s top four.
okay fifth behind annihilating everything post stonewall. but it’s a solid fifth.
okay fifth behind annihilating everything post stonewall. but it’s a solid fifth.
Reposted by Anne Laurie
Trump's bandaged hand last night at the Kennedy Center Honors gala
(photos via Getty and by Allison Robbert and Brendan Smialowski)
(photos via Getty and by Allison Robbert and Brendan Smialowski)
December 8, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Trump's bandaged hand last night at the Kennedy Center Honors gala
(photos via Getty and by Allison Robbert and Brendan Smialowski)
(photos via Getty and by Allison Robbert and Brendan Smialowski)
Reposted by Anne Laurie
Literally a week ago Musk said that falsely labeling people as Nazis "should be treated as incitement to murder." And here he is (falsely) labeling the EU as Nazis.
December 8, 2025 at 5:35 AM
Literally a week ago Musk said that falsely labeling people as Nazis "should be treated as incitement to murder." And here he is (falsely) labeling the EU as Nazis.
Reposted by Anne Laurie
Here apparently meaning that, if you lose a competition, that you can appeal to the refs for a second chance.
CNBC: Do you sense that the president is in your corner here?
DAVID ELLISON: What I would say is I'm incredibly grateful for the relations with the president, and I also believe he believes in competition
DAVID ELLISON: What I would say is I'm incredibly grateful for the relations with the president, and I also believe he believes in competition
December 8, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Here apparently meaning that, if you lose a competition, that you can appeal to the refs for a second chance.
Reposted by Anne Laurie
Reposted by Anne Laurie
I already know all the rationale for how Jasmine Crockett allegedly can't win statewide in Texas.
But we need 100 more Jasmine Crocketts in the national Democratic party and she's one of the few candidates left that will get a donation from me.
She's tough. She's unafraid. She fights.
But we need 100 more Jasmine Crocketts in the national Democratic party and she's one of the few candidates left that will get a donation from me.
She's tough. She's unafraid. She fights.
DALLAS (AP) — Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett launches bid for U.S. Senate in Texas, looking to flip a Republican-held seat.
December 9, 2025 at 3:28 AM
I already know all the rationale for how Jasmine Crockett allegedly can't win statewide in Texas.
But we need 100 more Jasmine Crocketts in the national Democratic party and she's one of the few candidates left that will get a donation from me.
She's tough. She's unafraid. She fights.
But we need 100 more Jasmine Crocketts in the national Democratic party and she's one of the few candidates left that will get a donation from me.
She's tough. She's unafraid. She fights.
Reposted by Anne Laurie
GOD. I LOVE HER MOXIE, HER GRIT, HER DETERMINATION..
I would vote for her for ANY seat she wanted.
Thank you Jasmine Crockett
I would vote for her for ANY seat she wanted.
Thank you Jasmine Crockett
December 9, 2025 at 4:03 AM
GOD. I LOVE HER MOXIE, HER GRIT, HER DETERMINATION..
I would vote for her for ANY seat she wanted.
Thank you Jasmine Crockett
I would vote for her for ANY seat she wanted.
Thank you Jasmine Crockett
Reposted by Anne Laurie
This is another case of our discourse's inability to speak of abuse of rightful power. The president has great power under the law to negotiate & extract concessions & enforce his preferences, & he has a literal obligation to the American people & to God to use that power wisely & impartially
Saying Trump is “transactional” is just a gentle way of saying he’s corrupt. Every power he has been trusted with, he treats as a way to extract favors and benefits from anyone he sees as situationally vulnerable.
December 8, 2025 at 7:52 PM
This is another case of our discourse's inability to speak of abuse of rightful power. The president has great power under the law to negotiate & extract concessions & enforce his preferences, & he has a literal obligation to the American people & to God to use that power wisely & impartially
Reposted by Anne Laurie
If we cannot distinguish between what the president ought to do & what the president has the power to do, we are no longer a republic regardless of what laws we pass or uphold
December 8, 2025 at 7:52 PM
If we cannot distinguish between what the president ought to do & what the president has the power to do, we are no longer a republic regardless of what laws we pass or uphold
Reposted by Anne Laurie
the thing about failson the younger is that he is first and foremost an idiot, because this is not a statement you want to have to explain when this inevitably goes to court
December 8, 2025 at 5:38 PM
the thing about failson the younger is that he is first and foremost an idiot, because this is not a statement you want to have to explain when this inevitably goes to court
Reposted by Anne Laurie
The President of the United States unilaterally levied a tax on all of us and is redistributing our taxes to a core segment of his supporters.
Trump: "I'm delighted to announce this afternoon that the US will be taking a small portion of the hundreds of billions of dollars we receive in tariffs ... and we're going to be giving and providing it to the farmers in economic assistance. We love our farmers. The farmers like me ... $12 billion"
December 8, 2025 at 7:48 PM
The President of the United States unilaterally levied a tax on all of us and is redistributing our taxes to a core segment of his supporters.
Reposted by Anne Laurie
the lesson executives should learn from this whole paramount debacle is that it is extraordinarily corrosive to a functional business environment to have a personalist authoritarian regime, and they should not support that in the future
what they will learn is they should get closer to trump
what they will learn is they should get closer to trump
December 8, 2025 at 6:04 PM
the lesson executives should learn from this whole paramount debacle is that it is extraordinarily corrosive to a functional business environment to have a personalist authoritarian regime, and they should not support that in the future
what they will learn is they should get closer to trump
what they will learn is they should get closer to trump
Reposted by Anne Laurie
I know people say it's important to fund PBS, but framing this situation like Donald The Dove is the glue keeping this thing together and blaming Ukraine for not folding doesn't seem like the kind of thing I should pay money for
U.S. President Donald Trump has unleashed the most extensive diplomatic effort to end the fighting in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly four years ago, but Washington’s efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv. https://to.pbs.org/4rKTs9z
What to know about peace talks on Russia's war in Ukraine
Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner visited Moscow last week for five-hour talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
www.pbs.org
December 8, 2025 at 8:09 PM
I know people say it's important to fund PBS, but framing this situation like Donald The Dove is the glue keeping this thing together and blaming Ukraine for not folding doesn't seem like the kind of thing I should pay money for
Reposted by Anne Laurie
this is one of the worst things to happen in the 21st century, and like... its pulling teeth to get anyone to mention that its happening at all.
The death rate among children under 5 is expected to grow this year for the first time in the 21st century, researchers say. A key factor, they say, is cuts to U.S. and other foreign aid
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
Child deaths under 5 believed to be rising for first time in decades
Cuts to development aid from several countries is a key factor, researchers said.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 8, 2025 at 3:18 AM
this is one of the worst things to happen in the 21st century, and like... its pulling teeth to get anyone to mention that its happening at all.
Reposted by Anne Laurie
Son-in-Law Watch:
When he’s not brokering geopolitical surrenders in meetings with Putin, he’s financing global media consolidation.
When he’s not brokering geopolitical surrenders in meetings with Putin, he’s financing global media consolidation.
December 8, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Son-in-Law Watch:
When he’s not brokering geopolitical surrenders in meetings with Putin, he’s financing global media consolidation.
When he’s not brokering geopolitical surrenders in meetings with Putin, he’s financing global media consolidation.
Reposted by Anne Laurie
December 8, 2025 at 4:44 PM