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A right-wing domestic terrorist threatened to blow up Capitol Hill unless President Biden resigned from office, but rest assured, elected Republicans have responded with a very stern “We feel ya, buddy.”
- A man identified as Floyd Ray Roseberry from North Carolina surrendered to Capitol Police after a five-hour standoff outside the Library of Congress on Thursday. Roseberry claimed to have a bomb in his pickup truck and four more planted in the area, prompting the evacuations of several nearby government buildings. (Few if any lawmakers were around, since Congress isn’t in session this week.) Police didn’t find a bomb in the pickup, but said that “possible bomb making materials were collected from the truck.”
- Roseberry livestreamed his bomb threat for hours before Facebook got around to taking down his account, and whatever rambling MAGA manifesto you just imagined, you’re not far off. At various points he demanded that Joe Biden and other Democrats resign, called on “other patriots” to come give him a hand, and said, “the revolution’s on.” Other videos posted to his Facebook page showed him attending Stop the Steal rallies late last year. Anyway, it’s impossible to say what his motive might have been.
- While most Republicans have been conspicuously silent about the latest Big Lie-fueled threat to their workplace, insurrection-inciter Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) quickly issued a written statement empathizing with the perpetrator: “Generally speaking, I understand citizenry anger directed at dictatorial Socialism and its threat to liberty, freedom and the very fabric of American society.” With the exception of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Brooks’s GOP colleagues haven’t felt it necessary to condemn his heartfelt sympathy for terrorists, either.
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Thursday’s bomb threat was a frightening reminder of what security agencies have warned: The far-right’s foray into political violence didn’t end on January 6.
- Just two weeks ago, the Department of Homeland Security alerted local law enforcement agencies about an uptick in online calls for election-related violence. Federal judges have repeatedly expressed concern that prosecutors weren’t pursuing serious enough sentences for January 6 rioters to deter future attacks; on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson questioned plea deals that didn’t give judges the option of requiring more court oversight of released defendants.
- As Republicans explicitly or tacitly approve placing bombs around Washington, DC, as a mode of political participation, Americans have recalibrated their anxieties accordingly. A new AP-NORC poll on the war in Afghanistan found that a majority of Americans from both parties are more worried about the threat posed by domestic extremist groups than about extremist groups based outside the U.S. (Of course, it seems apparent that when Republican voters talk about “domestic extremist groups,” they’re thinking of Donald Trump’s imagined version of Antifa, which is itself an incitement of and a cover for right-wing violence.)
It’s a measure of how far the Republican Party has rotted that a sitting GOP congressman sympathizing with a would-be Capitol bomber doesn’t elicit even mechanical statements of disapproval from GOP leaders, let alone demands for his resignation. One party continues to send a clear signal that violence is warranted when its members lose elections, and no party in the state can be permitted to regain power.
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Lovett or Leave It is coming to New York! Jon Lovett is bringing Lovett or Leave It to the New York Comedy Festival on November 12 at the Beacon Theater. Presale tickets are on sale now with the code “NYCF,” so go get yours! For more information and the ticket link, head to crooked.com/events!
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Hundreds of Afghan protesters took to the streets in at least four cities to rally against Taliban rule, and the Taliban continued to respond with gunfire and brutality. The Pentagon has ramped up efforts to evacuate American citizens and Afghan civilians; President Biden said on Wednesday that he would be willing to leave U.S. troops in place past his August 31 withdrawal deadline if necessary to ensure that all Americans are able to leave the country. The U.S. has airlifted about 7,000 people out of Kabul in the past five days, according to the Pentagon, and State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Thursday that there are currently 6,000 people at the airport who have been cleared for evacuation. The State Department has waived the requirement for evacuees to get negative COVID-19 tests, in a move to speed things up. Targeted rescue efforts are also underway: With the help of allies, the U.S. military has successfully rescued Mohammad Khalid Wardak, a high-profile police officer who spent years working with the U.S. military and wasn’t able to get inside the airport.
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- New unemployment claims have hit a pandemic low after falling for the fourth straight week.
- The Federal Trade Commission has filed a new antitrust complaint against Facebook after a federal judge threw out its original lawsuit in June, somewhat overshadowing Facebook’s big announcement that it has figured out how to make Zoom meetings more exhausting.
- Alabama has run out of available ICU beds, for the first time in the course of the pandemic. As of last week, one in five American ICUs was at least 95 percent full.
- Three senators have become the latest lawmakers to test positive for breakthrough coronavirus infections: Sens. Angus King (I-ME), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and John Hickenlooper D-CO). All three said they were experiencing mild symptoms.
- Palm Beach County has defied Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-FL) ban on mask requirements, joining four other Florida school districts that would rather not sacrifice children on the altar of culture war. Meanwhile, it turns out a top DeSantis donor has a major investment in Regeneron, the maker of the very coronavirus drug that DeSantis has been tirelessly promoting instead of vaccines.
- Fox News has asked its employees to disclose their vaccination status, while Reborn Vaccine Advocate Sean Hannity goes on TV and says that the vaccine is “not protecting many people.”
- Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-CO) husband made $478,000 as a consultant for an energy firm, which Boebert, who sits on the House Natural Resources Committee, did not disclose during her campaign.
- OnlyFans will prohibit creators from posting sexually explicit content starting in October, in a huge blow to the livelihoods of sex workers who made the platform popular.
- Amazon has single-handedly murdered the name Alexa. May it rest peacefully in the Borders graveyard.
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Just a few quick fun facts about the GOP frontrunner in the California gubernatorial recall election! Not only is he a climate-denier and staunchly against mask and vaccine requirements, Larry Elder has a harmful set of views about violent crime and police brutality that were shaped by bogus data from Jared Taylor, a white supremacist Elder has repeatedly quoted over the years. Elder was a mentor to Stephen Miller, and would be in a position to make life much harder for undocumented immigrants in California if he becomes governor. As cool of a guy as he might sound so far, you should also know that Elder’s ex-fiancee says he waved a gun at her. Again, if California Democrats don’t bother to send back their recall ballots by September 14, this is the likely next governor of the most populous state in the nation. Whether you’re registered to vote in California or ready to send out some reminders, here’s all the information you’ll need: votesaveamerica.com/state/california.
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Across the country, our right to abortion is under attack. A growing number of states are attempting to ban abortion and there are also more subtle and nefarious restrictions quickly being considered – bills that will push abortion out of reach, even while not banning it outright. Click here to sign the ACLU’s petition and demand safe access to abortion now.
Recently, we sued Texas over its blatantly unconstitutional abortion ban, Senate Bill (SB) 8. Over the past few months, politicians in Texas introduced a slew of extreme anti-abortion restrictions. Several of those bills passed, including SB 8, which bans abortions at about six weeks – before most people know they are pregnant. SB 8 authorizes any person in the country to sue a person who performed or helped a patient access an abortion in violation of the ban. That means that anyone can try to block abortion access and dismantle abortion support networks by suing abortion providers and anyone who helps a patient access abortion like a family member who drives someone to an appointment or a trusted clergy member who advises a patient.
The ACLU, along with partner organizations, are fighting back in courts and legislatures every day and we will not be stopping any time soon. Are you with us? Click here to add your name today.
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The Education Department will eliminate the student debt of more than 323,000 borrowers who have significant disabilities.
The Pfizer booster shot can significantly improve immunity in older people, according to early data from an Israeli study.
The U.S. just administered more than one million vaccine doses in 24 hours, for the first time in nearly seven weeks.
The Texas Supreme Court has denied Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R-TX) request to uphold his ban on mask mandates.
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