Dutch white nationalist MP Geert Wilders, who for months tried and failed to bang together a coalition and take the premiership after his very Islamophobic and Reich-y Party for Freedom placed first in Tulipland’s November elections, has given up on the prime minister’s office for now at least, tweeting on Thursday that he “can only become premier if ALL parties in the coalition support that. That wasn’t the case,” though vowing to try again after the next election, the AP reports.

Thus ends lesson #4,905 in “Actually governing is harder than it looks” for right wingers and their asshole voters. See also lesson #4,587: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s nine months in power.

Kamala Harris will become the first president or vice president to visit a reproductive health clinic that provides abortions during a trip to Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic on Thursday, USA Today reports.  The messaging from the visit will be clear:  Republicans want to take away women’s reproductive freedom and endanger their lives.

The messaging is so focused, the stop is actually the sixth on Harris’s “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour, where the VP is discussing the availability of care in Minnesota, where liberal abortion laws have brought in patients from more conservative states where access is either limited or denied.  Harris has also brought attention to the lack of reproductive care providers in some states because practitioners fear for their safety.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee and presumptive future federal detainee Trump sat down with Newsmax’s Greg Kelly and he whined like it was 2016:  he still can’t get over Hillary.  One fun nugget:  Trump thinks Bleachbit–the opensource app that clears hard drives–is an actual liquid that can ooze out to a 10-mile radius.  No, really.  He said that.

Sixteen members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department were treated for injuries, including at least one who will require surgery, after a blast during a training exercise at an FBI training site in California left participants bleeding, concussed and disoriented, CBS News reports.

Fifteen participants were taken to local hospitals for various injuries including two with serious leg wounds; one is expected to require surgery.  One reported a back injury, and thirteen reported problems with their hearing.

The Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad and SWAT teams were using the site for a training exercise when an explosion went off in a small building on site, signaling the thunderous failure of that bomb squad crew in the test.

Asked by MSNBC host and proud geek Chris Hayes about the status of the House GOP’s continuing effort to find something, anything they can glom on to so they can justify an impeachment vote against Biden, California Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell was blunt:

A coroner would pronounce it dead.  They didn’t prove anything.  They don’t have anything. They just don’t accept Joe Biden as President.  But the cul-de-sac they’re in is so interesting, right, because the Marjorie Taylor Greenes, the Matt Gaetzes have promised that an impeachment vote was coming.  Now they’re saying they’re going to make a criminal referral, not do impeachment.  How would you criminally refer somebody you’re not going to impeach?  The whole point of impeachment is that they committed a crime, so they’re stuck and it’s because they don’t have anything.

Courts in two states are restoring sanity and the rule of law with recent moves to reverse partisan decisions putting state election laws in the hands of conservatives.  Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court announced it will review a July 2022 decision that limited voters’ flexibility to vote.  That decision dictated that the only place ballot drop boxes could be located could be county election offices and the only person allowed to drop off a ballot is the voter named on it.

In North Carolina, a three-judge panel consisting of two Republicans and a Democrat declared unconstitutional a law passed by the Republican legislature’s supermajority last year stripping Democratic Governor Roy Cooper of his appointment power to county election boards, saying the law “infringes upon” the Governor’s constitutional duties and constitutes “the most stark and blatant removal of appointment power” in recent state history.

The ruling means the governor will continue to have three appointees on each county election board, versus just two for Republicans.  Republicans passed a law that would have expanded county boards to six members split evenly between the two Parties; critics called the move a blatant attempt to cause deadlocks on election results at a county level, throwing the system in chaos.  Republicans plan to appeal the ruling.

In another sign of chaos on the right–or in this case, Reich–wing, Fox Hausmutter and demoted hostess Laura Ingraham widens the crack by mocking the Catherine the Great of north Georgia, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who argued on the floor of the House that America should be as concerned about Chinese purchases of farmland as it is about TikTok.  “Ok… farmland?  I-I-I’m losin’ that caboose of thought there, God bless her.”

If it were professionally allowed, Jack Smith’s response to the America First Legal amicus brief in Donald Trump’s Florida federal documents case should read as a very succinct, “LOL.”  Former Trump White House staffer and balding Bantu Stephen Miller’s attempt to set up a far-right version of the ACLU, AFL made three distinct claims as to why the federal prosecution of Donald Trump for holding a multitude of classified documents without authorization is unconstitutional, and Smith’s team easily knocked down each one.  It took the Special Counsel’s Office just five pages to dismantle the claims.

To summarize:  AFL claims the National Archives didn’t have authority to make a criminal referral; a different version of the prior argument; and finally, because the National Archives doesn’t have the necessary statutory authority to make a criminal referral, all proceedings stemming from said referral are void.

And to summarize the Special Counsel’s response:  Anyone can make a referral to the Justice Department if they believe a federal crime has been committed; no one needs any “statutory authority.”  BUT if such fictional “statutory authority” was required within a federal agency, NARA’s Inspector General’s office would by its mission have the necessary authority to make such a referral.  So there, pfffffffft.

In an article titled “RFK Jr’s VP prospect Aaron Rodgers has shared false Sandy Hook conspiracy theories in private conversations,” CNN anchor Pamela Brown writes, verbatim with a staff writer, “Brown was covering the Kentucky Derby for CNN in 2013 when she was introduced to Rodgers, then with the Green Bay Packers, at a post-Derby party. Hearing that she was a journalist with CNN, Rodgers immediately began attacking the news media for covering up important stories. Rodgers brought up the tragic killing of 20 children and 6 adults by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School, claiming it was actually a government inside job and the media was intentionally ignoring it. When Brown questioned him on the evidence to show this very real shooting was staged, Rodgers began sharing various theories that have been disproven numerous times.”

Which is fucked up of course but also weird that Brown waited more than 10 years and after RFK Jr was supposedly drafting Rodgers as a VP pick did they publish this story. Like it needed just a small, tiny sliver of political salience to be printed about a guy who was already pretty famous?

We’d love it if some Trump fans would weigh in here on the question of whether or not they’re better off than they were four years ago. And not like in the political sense of not having the president they worship in the White House or the fake sense that Venezuelan migrants are hiding in their basement, but in the real sense of having a leader who knows what the fuck he’s doing during a massive global emergency and not feeling a sense of dread over his incompetence. Like this fat bastard said right above, in not so many words, that the buck stops elsewhere. What kind of cunt wants this guy back in the White House? You don’t have to like Joe Biden. You do need to be medicated or lobotomized if you want Donald Trump back though, as you have something deeply wrong with you.

You’re of course welcome to explain how inflation would not have happened if not for Biden, provided you include at least three links to peer-reviewed academic analyses arguing as such.

After publicly rejecting House Oversight Chairbilly James Comer’s invitation to testify publicly next week, a source close to Hunter Biden’s legal team tells ABC News their client will happily show up if Comer can get Jared Kushner to come and answer similar questions. The hearing will still feature former Hunter pals Tony Bobulinksi, Devon Archer, and Jason Gallanis, the last of whom is currently in federal prison in Alabama. Not sure if he’s going to testify via Zoom or what.

Apparently having caught a lot of shit from other customers about the obviously corrupt deal that led his company into footing the $91 million bond for fat former President Trump’s appeal of the defamation verdict brought by rape victim EJ Carroll, Chubb CEO (and former Trump appointee) Evan Greenberg on Wednesday tried to calm them down with an explanation about why he did it.

“I am writing to you because I have been made aware of your concerns about the appeal bond the company’s surety division provided in the E Jean Carroll defamation suit against Donald Trump. I want to provide you the facts including the purpose of appeal bonds and why our company provides these bonds so you understand our actions. An appeal bond is an important, neutral mechanism in our justice system ensuring the defendants have access to the appellate courts, ie right to appeal, while guaranteeing the plaintiffs will receive any damages that were awarded and affirmed on appeal. When Chubb provides an appeal bond it has nothing to do with the underlying merits or with favoring any of the parties in the case. As the surety, we don’t take sides, it would be wrong for us to do so and we are in no way supporting the defendant. We are supporting and are part of the justice system plumbing included in this case,” Greenberg wrote in an open letter to pissed off clients.

“When Chubb issues an appeal bond, it isn’t making judgments about the claims, even when the claims involve alleged reprehensible conduct. We, like you, leave judgments to the courts and our bond serves the important purpose of facilitating the legal process, providing the certainty that courts and plaintiffs require after an adverse trial court decision. Importantly, in the bonding process, Chubb protects its own assets by requiring that a bond be fully collateralized. If the bond is called, then Chubb takes the collateral which is intended to make us whole,” he continued, washing his hands of any simple moral discretion he could’ve exercised and then skipping any mention of who exactly collateralized the bond and if they might be a corrupt and/or hostile foreign entity.

Mentally ill Congresswomen Marjorie Taylor Greene and Nancy Mace denied their opposition to the bill forcing a sale of TikTok to an American company had nothing to do with disgraced former President Trump’s reversal on his hatred of the platform. This of course comes just a few months after Greene tweeted “Not only is TikTok brainwashing our kids with CCP propaganda but any conservative who wishes to share content gets immediately banned.” Real principled that one.

The Maine state Senate on Wednesday sent a bill adding the state to the National Popular Interstate Vote Compact to Gov Janey Mills’s desk, putting another four electoral votes to the compact’s total, now at 209, Daily Kos reports while claiming that another 82 are “possible” by 2028.

It’s not, but like we keep saying, don’t bet against it happening by 2040 as Pennsylvania (19), Nevada (6), Virginia (13), Arizona (11), and Wisconsin (10) may have Dem trifectas at varying points over the next decade. Daily Kos’s report says Michigan’s NPVIC bill advanced out of committee but remains stalled pending the outcome of two special state House elections next month.

Fat former President Trump on Wednesday posted he’s “asked Congressman Mark Walker to join my Campaign team to work with Faith Groups and Minority Communities, and he has agreed to immediately do so. During his tenure in the US House, Mark led on the FUTURE ACT, launched the HBCU paid internship program on Capitol Hill, and organized the largest ever fly-in for HBCU Chancellors for meetings with our Nation’s top leaders. Congressman Walker is also the only Republican in Congress to have won the prestigious UNCF President’s List Award, and delivered the Commencement Address at one of our Nation’s great HBCUs. He is very well suited for this important work” and some other shit that Donald is pretty unlikely to have written himself.

It’s possible this is some kind of bribe since Walker, the former North Carolina 6th District Congressman from 2015 to 2021, is about to face Trump’s endorsed candidate Addison McDowell in a runoff for the nomination, which is the general since there’s no Dem running in the 6th. McDowell, a lobbyist acolyte of NRCC Chair Richard Hudson, came in first at 26.1 percent, just ahead of Walker’s 24.1 percent in the first round five-way, so Walker may have the edge in the May 14th runoff given his name ID. Whether this means Walker’s actually going to step back from the race so Trump doesn’t have to take yet another L on his overrated endorsement record is not clear yet.

Either way there are some problems here. Well really just one in that Walker is white and it might come across as a little, uh, condescending to Black people of faith that Walker is Trump’s chosen ambassador to them. Like Tim Scott wasn’t available to do more or less the same shit he already does but have some kind of title attached to it? If not, there aren’t any other Black MAGAchurch pastors out there who want to step into the role? There has to be at least 12 of them.

Former “CNN This Morning” host Don Lemon is now also the former host of “The Don Lemon Show on Twitter X” after the platform’s ketamine-brained owner Elon Musk fired Lemon for asking him about… wait for it …reports of Musk’s heavy ketamine usage, freelancer Kara Swisher reports.

“Contract terminated” was the text Musk sent to Lemon after the interview Friday. Swisher writes that she had warned Lemon this was going to happen “despite promises by Musk and CEO Linda Yaccarino – who extravagantly touted this deal at CES to advertisers – that this time was different.”

Unknown to us until we saw Lemon’s tweet announcing the breakup on Wednesday was that this was actually the first and now obviously the only episode of “The Don Lemon Show on X” to be produced under the partnership. “There were no restrictions on the interview that he willingly agreed to, and my questions were respectful and wide ranging, covering everything from SpaceX to the presidential election. We had a good conversation. Clearly he felt differently. His commitment to a global town square where all questions can be asked and all ideas can be shared seems not to include questions of him from people like me,” Lemon wrote, not mentioning the ketamine thing.

The presumptive 2024 Republican nominee for president pic.twitter.com/7O1QXWSCc6

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) March 13, 2024

QAnon fan Congressidiot Lauren Boebert on Wednesday hinted to CNN’s Manu Raju she’s won’t be putting her name in the Colorado 4th District primary to serve the rest of Ken Buck’s term after he resigns next week, but will press forward with her original plan to switch districts for the regular primary and general only. Oh and that this shitshow is somehow a conspiracy against her.

“I think this is a play by the uniparty, and I’m not resigning and giving up on my constituents in the third,” Boebert said. “And I will win the primary.” A committee of Colorado GOP officials will decide the nominee for the 4th District partial term, a process that if Boebert angled for and ended up winning would require her to switch seats and create another vacancy. What makes this maybe a little less risky for both her and the House GOP’s majority is that the Buck replacement special and the primary for the regular election will be on the same day. That said the state party could fuck her by picking a candidate who’s already on the primary ballot and give them the edge over Boebert.

Fulton County, Georgia Judge Scott McAfee on Wednesday tossed three of the counts against fat former President Trump and his minions, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, bail bondsman Ray Smith, and alcoholic shitbrain Rudy Giuliani, in the sprawling RICO indictment brought by District Attorney Fani Willis over their failed post-2020 election coup attempt in the Peach State.

“These six challenged counts charge various Defendants with Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer in violation of OCGA §§ 16-4-7 and 16-10-1. The crime of Violation of Oath by Public Officer, OCGA § 16-10-1, prohibits any public officer from willfully and intentionally violating the terms of his or her oath as prescribed by law. The term of the oath alleged to have been violated must be ‘expressly prescribed,’ meaning it is explicitly contained in the applicable statutory provisions… The Court’s concern is less that the State has failed to allege sufficient conduct of the Defendants – in fact it has alleged an abundance. However, the lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned’s opinion, fatal. As written, these six counts contain all the essential elements of the crimes but fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of their commission. They do not give the Defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligently, as the Defendants could have violated the Constitutions and thus the statute in dozens, if not hundreds, of distinct ways,” McAfee wrote while spiking other motions to dismiss.

The bad news is that Trump’s felony counts have dropped from 91 to 88. The good news is that, barring the disqualification of Fani Willis which McAfee is set to rule yes or no on this week, this obviously streamlines the case and makes it possible to bring it to trial sooner.

In a move one insider tells the Daily Beast is a short-sighted plan to “Make the RNC White Again,” the newly extra-Trumpfied Republican National Committee will not be restarting their already largely shuttered “minority community outreach” center strategy in 2024, a result of the party’s piss-poor financial situation but also not really something Trump gives a fuck about given his demands for unconditional loyalty and goal to use the RNC as an ATM for his massive legal defense bills.

The move comes amid a purge of personnel for the Committee which, per the Beast, could have serious consequences stretching far beyond whether or not they can use rented storefronts to rope in a few ten thousand Black and Latino voters in key states by giving out free pizza and t-shirts. The loss of institutional knowledge and experience while Biden and the DNC are comparatively well-oiled and flush with cash may one day be high on a “post-mortem” article of the 2024 election.