PBS Terra shows 'We Saw What AI Data Centers Don't Want You to See'

Today's brief educational entry I can share in June features Overview on PBS Terra showing We Saw What AI Data Centers Don't Want You to See.

We investigated one of the world’s largest AI data centers, using thermal drone footage to reveal the hidden pollution powering the AI boom. As companies race to build the future of artificial intelligence, residents and experts warn that fossil fuels, secrecy, and weak regulation may be putting communities at risk.

I reproduced my usual warning about AI in TODAY reveals TIME's people of the year for 2025.

I'm repeating what I wrote about the Economics Nobel Prize in Science, peace, economics, and literature winners for Nobel Prize Day 2025.

This award is as much about technology as it is about economics. May it mean that AI be a net benefit for the economy. Right now, it looks like it's doing more destruction than creation.

If the projections are correct, it will be doing both, with 20% of people losing their current jobs while quintupling GDP. Yikes! That's an outcome the residents of Richistan would approve of. As for the rest of us, I'll repeat what I wrote a dozen years ago in Robots are coming for our jobs, "the loss of jobs to robots will be the major effect of the Singularity, not everyone becoming cyborgs or the machines enslaving or killing off humanity." It's not like we weren't warned.

That would be an end result. Joe Hanson is showing that getting there is already a risk in terms of increased consumption of land, water, materials to make the data centers and the power plants to run them, and natural gas, as well as increased production of waste in the form of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants. It reminds me of an equation I teach my environmental science students to describe environmental impact: "I=P*A*T, where I is impact, P is population, A is affluence, and T is technology." A.I., or at least the data centers to support it, are becoming an example of a technology that supports affluence but increases the impact of the population on the environment. I prefer technology that decreases the impact of an affluent population by being more efficient. Data centers aren't that, not until they use sustainable energy.

Overview's video is a follow-up to Floodlight News reporting We Caught Elon Musk’s AI Company Defying Federal Law two months ago.

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, is fueling its data centers with unpermitted gas turbines, according to a Floodlight visual investigation. Thermal drone footage captured in late January 2026 shows xAI running the unpermitted turbines at its custom-built power plant in Southaven, Miss., nearly two weeks after the Environmental Protection Agency reiterated that doing so requires a state permit in advance. The ad hoc gas plant's sole task is to power the data center behind Grok and an example of AI's growing reliance on fossil fuels. Investigative Producer Evan Simon breaks down the investigation and what the findings could mean for the AI buildout occurring across the country.

**UPDATE** Mississippi regulators approved xAI's permit application to run 41 gas powered turbines at its Southaven gas plant on 3/10/26. The decision comes despite heavy pushback from local community members and will result in the creation of one of Mississippi's largest fossil fuel power plants.

This got me to subscribe to the Floodlight News YouTube channel, "The only U.S. newsroom with the specific mission to investigate climate polluters." Expect to see more from them.

Another lesson I teach my students is about the principles for environmental policy. Two of them are human rights, in this case the right to clean air and an environment not permeated by harmful noise, and public participation. The United States is supposed to be a democracy within a republic, where the people decide and the government represents the people. The Floodlight News video shows that the way data centers are being installed and operated respects neither. That's also the point of yesterday's MS NOW video, Erin Brockovich on AI data centers: 'People aren't being heard'.

Americans on both sides of the aisle have found common ground opposing construction of AI data centers in their communities. In Texas, one lifelong conservative voter told MSNOW reporter Josh Einiger that the issue could flip the Senate. And longtime consumer advocate Erin Brockovich joins to lay out what she's learned since she started tracking the issue.

I'm surprised I've never mentioned Erin Brockovich in 15+ years of blogging. It's about time I did.

That's a wrap for today. I'm sure I'll have more to say on the matter. In the meantime, stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature.

Vox and MS NOW explain 'The voting rights case that could set us back 60 years'

I'm returning to current events by embedding Vox explaining The voting rights case that could set us back 60 years.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a very big deal. It transformed America, marking the end of the Jim Crow era and effectively banning racial discrimination in elections. Finally fulfilling the promise of a multiracial democracy, Black voter registration increased, and political representation across the nation better reflected America’s diverse population.

60 years later, a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act is at risk of being erased. In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court has sided with the plaintiffs in a redistricting case out of Louisiana called Louisiana v. Callais. The case focused on Louisiana’s legislative maps, which were amended after a 2022 lawsuit in which civil rights groups and community members sued the state of Louisiana, claiming the maps drawn after the 2020 census didn’t properly reflect Louisiana’s Black population.

Once the new map with two majority-Black districts passed in the Louisiana state legislature in 2024, a group of “non African-American voters” filed a lawsuit that alleged the new map was unconstitutional and racially gerrymandered, intended to cut white voters out of power. Following the Supreme Court ruling, Louisiana must redraw that map.

What happens next could ignite a widespread gerrymandering effort that would alter electoral maps across red states and have major effects on minority political representation in the United States at every level of government.

I haven't blogged about the Voting Rights Act since 2023's FiveThirtyEight asks 'How Impactful Was This Supreme Court Term?'* Then, I wrote, "I think America dodged two bullets to democracy in the decisions about the Voting Rights Act and the 'Independent State Legislature Theory.'" I can't write that today; the conservative majority of the Supreme Court shot multiracial democracy in America in the leg, if not an even more vital part of the body. The bullet is still traveling, injuring tissues and organs on its way. MS NOW documents the damage in ‘They’re fighting hard because we were winning’: Stacey Abrams on GOP gerrymandering surge.

“They want our weariness to turn into paralysis.” This week, The Supreme Court delivered a massive new blow to the Voting Rights Act that greenlights GOP gerrymandering efforts. Stacey Abrams joins The Weekend to break down what comes next, where we have seen these actions before in authoritarian regimes throughout history, and how to use people power to brace against fascism.

In response to Jonathan Capehart, Jacqueline Alemany, and Eugene Daniels, the hosts of The Weekend, outlining Louisiana suspending its primary election and the legislatures of Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee going into special sessions to redistrict their states, Stacey Abrams outlined an ambitious pro-democracy agenda. I'm here for all of it.

The Weekend on MS NOW continued on the topic in ‘You are no longer in the democracy that was promised’: South redistricts ahead of midterms.

For decades, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act acted as a guardrail, preventing Republican-led state legislatures from carving Black voters out of political power. But, in the words of Justice Elena Kagan, the Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais has weakened the provision to “all but a dead letter.” MS NOW legal analyst Melissa Murray and President & CEO of Democracy Forward, Skye Perryman join “The Weekend” to discuss.

I agree with Skye Perryman; people in favor of multiracial democracy are going to have to vote in large enough numbers this fall and in 2028 to overwhelm the forces trying to send the U.S. back 60 years or more. May we succeed.

That's a wrap for today's topical post. Stay tuned for highlights of tonight's Saturday Night Live as today's Sunday entertainment feature.

*The video in that entry has been made private, just like every video I've embedded from FiveThirtyEight. Disney/ABC didn't just disband the unit, it hid its history. That's a great loss that makes me sad, angry, and powerless. I don't know what news consumers can do to get it back. Sigh.

For Throwback Thursday, Vox asks 'The end of birthright citizenship as we know it?'

Today's Throwback Thursday topic is Vox asking The end of birthright citizenship as we know it?

Is the Supreme Court considering a radical reinterpretation of the 14th amendment?

President Donald Trump has been on a crusade to end birthright citizenship for years. Challenging the long-held legal consensus that anyone born in the United States is granted citizenship, he signed an executive order stripping that right away from the children of undocumented parents and temporary visa holders.

The executive order after returning to the White House set in motion a series of lawsuits challenging Trump’s ability to make sweeping changes to birthright citizenship. And now it’s headed to the Supreme Court in a case called Trump v. Barbara.

The 14th Amendment was passed to guarantee citizenship to freed enslaved people and their children, but was later clarified to apply to anybody born on US soil with a few very specific exceptions. For well over 100 years, birthright citizenship has been enshrined in the Constitution with that understanding.

In Trump v. Barbara, the Trump administration claims that the law applies to those who are not just born in the United States but also “owe allegiance” to it — except…the words “owe allegiance” don’t appear anywhere in the 14th Amendment.

The plaintiffs are representing a group of people affected by Trump’s executive order, and their argument is simple: Leave birthright citizenship alone.

This is a throwback to last year's Vox explains 'Why the US has birthright citizenship', where I wrote the following.

As Vox points out, this is an old debate, one that goes back to the adoption of the 14th Amendment and it always turns out the same way; people born here, other than children of diplomats, residents of American Samoa, and formerly Native Americans — I don't know if we've ever had children of enemy aliens occupying American soil other than Japanese in the Philippines, and I don't know if the Filipinos were American citizens back then — are citizens.

That's what Vox expects will happen again, at least this time.

Vox originally uploaded this video to its Patreon in January and then uploaded it to YouTube yesterday, so it didn't include anything from yesterday's arguments before the Supreme Court. For that, I turn to PBS NewsHour Analyzing the arguments as Supreme Court hears birthright citizenship case.

On his first day back in office, President Trump signed an executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship, a cornerstone of immigration policy enshrined in the 14th Amendment and affirmed by the Supreme Court more than 100 years ago. But now the justices are reexamining the policy. Ali Rogin discussed the legal debate with Amy Howe and Amanda Frost.

PBS NewsHour featured five Justices who expressed skepticism of the government's argument, Gorsuch, Cavanaugh, Barrett, Roberts and Jackson, enough to overturn Donald "Hoover Harding Cleveland" Trump's executive order. Add in Kagen and Sotomayor, and that's seven votes. Alito might go along with Hoover Harding Cleveland, but I don't know about Thomas; he could go either way, not that it will matter. Hoover Harding Cleveland will lose and birthright citizenship will win.

MS NOW, formerly MSNBC, presented information leading to the same conclusion after a livelier discussion in SCOTUS considers limits to birthright citizenship: 'Off the wall theory'.

Some Supreme Cout justices -- including key conservatives -- seem skeptical about the Trump administration's argument for ending birthright citizenship. And in a presidential first, Trump attended the beginning of the proceedings. Afterwards he posted that the U.S. was "stupid" for allowing birthright citizenship. Hayes Brown, Basil Smikle, Ron Insana and Melissa Murray.

That was worth including for the Mean Girls reference alone.

I'm looking forward to the decision later this year. In the meantime, stay tuned for another retrospective about holidays tomorrow.

Election results from New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and Detroit add many firsts

I messed up when I wrote "I plan on re-examining ABC suspending Jimmy Kimmel" today. No, that's tomorrow. Today, I'm looking at election results, beginning with Morning Joe on MSNBC declaring 'As big as it gets': Joe on why it was a massive, massive night for Democrats.

Democrats swept key races on Tuesday night, gaining momentum against President Trump. Zohran Mamdani won the NYC mayoral race, while the party notched victories in Virginia and New Jersey governor's races. The Morning Joe panel discusses.

While I selected this video for the preview image, which made a great visual headline, I'm glad I selected it because the panel told a much bigger story of victories for Democrats, democracy, and diversity. In addition to Democratic wins in New Jersey, New York, and Virginia, which added the first female Governor and Muslim Attorney General in Virginia, first female Democratic Governor in New Jersey, and first Muslim Mayor of New York City, former U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill listed victories for Democrats, voting rights, and gun control in Maine and Georgia. Joe Scarborough added that the Pennsylvania voters retained three Democratic State Supreme Court Justices in Pennsylvania. It's not just blue states that voted for Democrats and against Hoover Cleveland and his policies. Speaking of pushing back, Mika mentioned Proposition 50 passing in California, which counteracted Texas's redistricting to gain more Republican seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Fight fire with fire!

One of the notable results in New Jersey was the swing of Latino voters toward Democrats. That reminds me of what I wrote last year.

Latino support for Trump was even more pronounced in Michigan, where exit polling showed 62% of Michigan Latinos voting for Trump. That could be enough to swing the state to him...For Latinos, there is nothing I can do that Trump and his core supporters would do more effectively except be a positive example. Who knows, Trump might actually overcome his bigotry and cater to his new voters. We should be so lucky.

We, including Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump, the rest of the Republican Party, and Latinos themselves, were not that lucky. As Scarborough pointed out, Hoover Cleveland and Stephen Miller couldn't help themselves. This is still a democracy and the voters pushed back.

That was the national picture, what about the local one? For that, I turn to Click On Detroit | Local 4 | WDIV reporting History in Detroit: Voters elect first woman mayor with decisive victory.

Detroit made history Tuesday night by electing its first woman mayor, marking a significant milestone as the city continues its post-bankruptcy revival. The Associated Press called the race at 9:17 p.m., about an hour after polls closed. Mary Sheffield built on her primary success by securing more than 75% of the vote over Solomon Kinloch Jr. Sheffield addressed the city for the first time just minutes after the race was called, celebrating the victory and the opportunity to lead Detroit into its next chapter. But Detroit was not the only community making decisions Tuesday. More than a dozen other cities also voted on new mayors and important proposals that could shape their neighborhoods for years to come.

Congratulations, Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield! Add your victory to those of Mikey Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger to history-making wins by women!

WDIV's anchors mentioned other mayoral contests being decided last night. One that might take longer than the rest is the Hamtramck mayoral race: Why it’s too close to call, how a few rejected votes could change outcome.

The Hamtramck mayoral race remains undecided, with dozens of rejected ballots potentially impacting the outcome in what has become a razor-thin contest. Adam Alharbi currently leads Muhith Mahmood by just 11 votes with all five precincts reporting, but city officials say the final results could change as voters have an opportunity to correct rejected ballots.

File this story under every vote counts.

That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for Vox and the Marsh Family on free speech tomorrow.

Yahoo! News asks 'How does the 25th Amendment work?' A Veep Day special

Happy National Veep Day! Last year, I celebrated with A History of the US Vice Presidency for Veep Day. This year, I'm looking forward to something that hasn't happened, but definitely could, the Vice President invoking the 25th Amendment. Watch Yahoo! News ask and answer How does the 25th Amendment work?

In the wake of the violent raid on Congress by pro-Trump rioters on Wednesday, there's speculation that Vice President Pence, along with heads of executive departments, will invoke Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to temporarily remove the president from power. Harold Hongju Koh, professor of international law at Yale Law School and co-author of a reader's guide to the 25th Amendment, explains how this unprecedented action might play out.

Inside Edition added another detail when it asked What Is the 25th Amendment?

Demands mounted Thursday from lawmakers, business leaders and former government officials for the immediate removal of President Trump after a violent mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attack that left four people dead. Many have called for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump. So what is the 25th Amendment? Here's a synopsis of the constitutional provision that allows for the president's removal under certain circumstances.

I found Margaret Brennan saying "a two-thirds majority of the House and Senate would have to be on board with doing so" ambiguous — two-thirds to sustain the President's objection or two-thirds to keep him out of office? Here's the text of Section 4 from the National Constitution Center.

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

It would be two-thirds to keep him out. That's a high hurdle for this to succeed. I don't think Congress can jump that high right now. I don't even think Vice President Vance can get eight members of the current Cabinet on board. A President Vance could get more competent Cabinet secretaries than Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump was able to, at least during his second term. Also, should an attempt fail, Hoover Cleveland would replace anyone who voted for him to be removed. It's bad for their careers either way.

Besides, Vance invoking the 25th Amendment might result in a cure worse than the disease, as Katie Phang pointed out in Trump, Vance and the 25th Amendment.

78-year-old Donald Trump, who has survived two alleged assassination attempts in the past three months, would end his second term as the oldest person ever to serve as President of the United States. Katie Phang explains the reality of what could happen in the event of an emergency where Trump becomes incapacitated or dies and JD Vance could become president of the United States.

True, Vance would be less erratic (mercurial would be a polite way of saying it) and not driven by Hoover Cleveland's obsessions with tariffs, grifts, and revenge, but he'd be more likely to implement the parts of Project 2025 that Hoover Cleveland hasn't yet. He'd also be more under the influence of Palantir founder Peter Thiel, his pet bad philosopher Curtis Yarvin, and Palantir CEO Alex Karp. They're the sources of what I called "cyberpunk villain ideas straight out of Snow Crash..." Vance can certainly learn new tricks, but I worry about the ones Thiel, Yarvin, and Karp could teach him. They might be worse.

Enough DOOM. Stay tuned for the winners of the Super Awards as the Sunday entertainment feature.

CBS canceling 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is enough to drive one to drink on National Daiquiri Day

I was planning on continuing my series on the Emmy nominees today with the nominees for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special today, but I'm just not feeling it.* Instead, I'm writing about what happened to another Emmy nominee this week, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. On Tuesday, Stephen's show earned two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Talk Series and Outstanding Directing For A Variety Series. Thursday night, Stephen Colbert Announce[d] The Cancellation Of “The Late Show”.

Stephen Colbert tells his audience that the next season of “The Late Show” will be the last, and that the series will end in May 2026.

I'm reminded of what I wrote in 'You're Not Alone' and 'Now What?' Closer looks at Trump's re-election from Colbert, Meyers, 'The Daily Show,' and Kimmel.

Now I'm wondering if people will protect Jimmy, Stephen, Seth, and the rest of the late-night talk show hosts. If so, it would be another example of the surest way to get Americans to act is to mess with their entertainm­ent. As I first wrote in 2011, "America is quite clear about its screwed up priorities­."

Their audiences would likely protect them against direct government action, but not the parent companies of their networks. Other than boycotts, I don't know how their viewers can pressure the media corporations. Being number one in late night certainly didn't help.

Follow over the jump for reactions for CNN, PBS, and MSNBC, plus an observance of National Daiquiri Day.

Heather Cox Richardson explains 'What is Juneteenth and Why Does it Matter: A Short History'

A joyous Juneteenth 2025! I'm celebrating the newest federal holiday with Heather Cox Richardson explaining What is Juneteenth and Why Does it Matter: A Short History | Journey to American Democracy.


Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith fleeing to Mexico after surrendering is an amusing fact I'd missed in previous tellings of the story. It didn't appear in KPRC 2 Click2Houston's Celebrating Juneteenth In Galveston: Birthplace Of Freedom.

Big celebrations are underway here in Galveston, the birthplace of Juneteenth.

Former President Joe Biden, who signed the law making Juneteenth a federal holiday, coming to Galveston to celebrate, makes for an appropriate closing of the circle. That written, the story of Juneteenth continues, as MSNBC tells in 'History is being challenged': Rev. Al slams DEI attacks on Juneteenth holiday.

Thursday, June 19 marks the Juneteenth holiday, the day in 1865 when enslaved African-Americans in Galveston, Texas learned they were free. The Rev. Al Sharpton and Maura Gay discuss.

The struggle continues.

Stay tuned for American Eagle Day and Seashell Day on the Summer Solstice and World Giraffe Day.

Federalized National Guard mobilized against protests in Los Angeles

When I told my readers to “stay tuned” because “I plan on writing something more topical and less involved” today, I didn’t think it would be about Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump federalizing and mobilizing the California National Guard to quell protests against immigration enforcement, but here I am. Watch MSNBC report Trump wants 'these images, but it's for all the wrong reasons': analyst yesterday.

Members of the California National Guard arrived in Los Angeles Sunday morning in response to Friday and Saturday's protest against federal immigration raids. President Donald Trump moved to deploy the 2,000 members over the opposition of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who called the move inflammatory and unnecessary. Julian Castro, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and now an MSNBC political analyst, along with Don Calloway, host of The Caucus Room Podcast and CEO of Pine Street Strategies, and republican strategist and MSNBC political analyst Susan Del Percio discuss these latest developments, and more.

Hoover Cleveland has not invoked the Insurrection Act, but I’ve been worried it about since last June, when I wrote: “I think the parts of Comstock Act that are currently unconstitutional need to be repealed, restricting the ability of anti-choice advocates to reanimate them. I have the same opinion of the Insurrection Act, which is also being touted as a way for the more extreme right-wing activists, including Hoover Cleveland, to suppress dissent.” I quoted that in MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 1, where I added “The Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups have decided to revive zombie laws to consolidate their power given the opportunity.” It’s not as if I and others didn’t warn people!

Hoover Cleveland mentioned the Insurrection Act in the opening to 500 Marines on standby to deploy to Los Angeles amid protests.

Roughly 500 Marines are prepared to deploy if needed to help authorities in Los Angeles amid protests. NBC News' Courtney Kube discusses.

Deploying the Marines would be a major escalation. That fits the theme of the next segment from MSNBC, Trump wants a fight, not trying to calm tensions: Senator slams president's handling of protests.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., joins Morning Joe to discuss the president's handling of Los Angeles protests and why he says Trump is trying to distract the public from the impact of his big bill.

I’m with Mika; “many things can be true at the same time.” Hoover Cleveland is exploiting the situation in my old hometown, but it isn’t just a distraction from the budget bill that Elon Musk called “a disgusting abomination” or the Trump-Musk feud. My wife thinks the latter is a distraction, albeit a very entertaining one. That’s what I was thinking of blogging about today, but I decided that Hoover Cleveland escalating domestic tensions was more important.

I expect I will examine the situation through comedy tomorrow, as the late-night talk-show hosts will chime in, especially Jimmy Kimmel, who records his show only a few miles away from the protests. Stay tuned.

'The Sixth' leads nominees for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards

As I promised twice, it's time for the next installment in my coverage of the News & Doc Emmy Awards by examining The Sixth and the rest of the nominees for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary. The Sixth on the sixth!*

Since it is the only nominee in this category with another nomination and that is for Best Documentary, I begin with THE SIXTH | Trailer from Change Content.

THE SIXTH (www.thesixthmovie.com) is a feature documentary produced in collaboration with A24. From Academy Award® winning filmmakers Andrea Nix Fine & Sean Fine, THE SIXTH takes you inside the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol through six personal accounts, including Rep. Jamie Raskin and MPD Chief Robert Contee. This harrowing yet hopeful film, is a powerful reminder that the fate of democracy is in all our hands.

This isn't the first time the News & Doc Emmy Awards recognized coverage of January 6th; for starters, CNN's 'Live from the Capitol: January 6th, One Year Later' won two News & Doc Emmy Awards in 2023. It is the first time I've covered a nominated documentary about the event, although it probably won't be the last. In the meantime, this is still my favorite to win this category, although it is facing worthy competition and isn't a guaranteed winner. After all, Good Night Oppy had six nominations and was my pick to win Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary two years ago, but lost to How to Survive a Pandemic. Something similar could happen here.

Follow over the jump to watch the trailers or the equivalent for the rest of the nominees in this category and another look at Best Documentary.

Elon Musk calls budget bill 'a disgusting abomination' — MSNBC reports

Sorry, no results of the primary elections in New Jersey and Virginia today. Those will happen in two weeks. Instead, I'm revisiting Elon Musk leaving with MSNBC reporting Lawrence: And on day 134, Musk turned against Trump.

Democrats can now call the Donald Trump-Republican budget bill a "disgusting abomination" and they’d be quoting Elon Musk every time they do it, says MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell. Now that the budget bill is in the Senate, Lawrence explains that Republican senators are now able to stop the bill or risk Musk funding an opponent in their reelection campaign to the Senate next year.

When I read or heard speculation on when, not if, Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump and Elon Musk would have a falling out, the assumption would be that Hoover Cleveland would initiate it. Nope. I guess Musk is the bigger prima donna. Surprise! What's not a surprise is that Musk is doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. What Musk wants will probably make the final result crueler, not kinder.

The drama continued on MSNBC's Morning Joe, which uploaded Musk ‘wrecked the White House’s afternoon’ savaging Trump’s signature agenda this morning.

Elon Musk issued a blistering criticism of the massive Republican bill for President Donald Trump’s agenda Tuesday, posting on X that it is a "disgusting abomination." "I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore," Musk wrote. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. The Morning Joe panel discusses.

MSNBC quoted Axios's reporting, which listed four reasons for Musk opposing the budget bill, none of which involve increasing the deficit, and all of which harm him, or at least make him look and feel bad.


With Hoover Cleveland withdrawing Jared Issacman, I might get my wish that he'd appoint Newt Gingrich as NASA Administrator. As I wrote seven years ago, "I could live with that."

Hoover Cleveland hasn't responded directly to Musk's criticism of the bill as I'm writing this, but he did something related, as MSNBC reported White House sends Congress request for $9.4B in DOGE cuts.

The White House sent congressional leaders a request Tuesday to claw back $9.4 billion in approved spending, most of it for foreign aid.

This would codify much of "Elon Musk's...Chainsaw Massacre of our federal workforce" and is a sign that what Musk wants would indeed make the budget bill crueler. Ugh.

That's a wrap for today's topical post. Stay tuned for the next installment in my coverage of the News & Doc Emmy Awards tomorrow, when I plan on examining The Sixth and the rest of the nominees for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary.

Trump implementing Project 2025 for a Flashback Good Friday

Happy Flashback Good Friday! I'm looking back at last year's second most popular series after Randy Rainbow, Project 2025. I begin with The Wall Street Journal describing How Trump’s Policies Align With Project 2025: A Comparison.

President Trump distanced himself from Project 2025’s radical conservative vision on the campaign trail. Now, more than half of his executive orders including some on immigration and DEI policies align with recommendations made in the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint. Trump has even hired multiple key architects and contributors of Project 2025 to be in his administration.

WSJ explores some of the notable ways Trump’s first few months are aligning with Project 2025 – and what that can tell us about his second term.

I begin my reaction by recycling what I first wrote in MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 5.

"I know nothing about Project 2025" — Convicted criminal Hoover Cleveland is doing his best Sergeant Schultz impression about Project 2025.

As for Hoover Cleveland (un)truthing "I have no idea who is behind [Project 2025]," check out MSNBC's list of chapter authors.

All of them have worked for him, so of course he's lying. He's not fooling anyone but himself and his most devoted followers.
...
I leave my readers with the following list Digby embedded in Incomplete Cheat Sheet.

As I've written before, yikes! No wonder it's unpopular!

I last included this list in Vox explains 'Why the US has birthright citizenship' and commented, "Look at the list and notice how many of these Hoover Cleveland is already trying to enact. It's not as if people like Digby and me didn't do our best to warn Americans!"

Shortly after WSJ uploaded the above, MSNBC reported Tracker says Trump has already implemented nearly half of Project 2025 policies.

On the campaign trail, President Trump distanced himself from the writers and content of Project 2025, but just two months into his presidency, much of what was laid out in the sprawling document has been enacted. Atlantic staff writer David Graham, who has written on Project 2025, joins Katy Tur to discuss how far along the Trump administration is in the conservative playbook.

In addition to mentioning unitary executive "theory" (I'm a scientist, so I won't let that usage go uncontested, even if it's proper in constitutional law) and possible use of the zombie Comstock Act, Katy Tur and David Graham shared this graphic.


That's after only two months! Angelo Carusone on tracking Project 2025 and right-wing media remarked on both the unitary executive and the speed of implementation as a guest on PBS NewsHour.

Project 2025, the conservative policy project, became a flashpoint during the presidential campaign. Angelo Carusone of Media Matters studied the 900-page document and spoke with Geoff Bennett for our series, On Democracy, where we hear a range of perspectives on how government should function, what led to this moment in American history and where the country goes next.

I attribute the rapidity of its implementation to Trump's "shock and awful" and especially "Elon Musk's...Chainsaw Massacre of our federal workforce." Russell Vought wouldn't have moved this fast.

Carusone and PBS News host Geoff Bennett also shared this graphic.


That illustrates the problem for Democrats and other resisters; a lot of people get their news and views from podcasts and videos and the overwhelming majority learn right. The stat that 32% of Americans get their news from YouTube now compared to 23% in 2020 shows the effect of the pandemic on Americans' media diet. I resemble that remark, as I'm using YouTube uploads of mainstream media here on my blog instead of watching the newscasts directly. I hope my curation helps direct my readers to good sources of news!

Follow over the jump for a retrospective of the top posts examining Project 2025.

MSNBC explains 'Trump’s tariffs will cost you. Here’s how'

I promised a topical post today and I'm delivering. Today's topic: tariffs! I begin with Ali Velshi on MSNBC telling his viewers Trump’s tariffs will cost you. Here’s how.

Trump’s tariffs against the United States’ three largest trading partners, Canada, Mexico, and China are now in effect. These taxes levied on imported goods are not paid by the exporting country, but rather a cost that is passed on to the American consumer. Now, products like electronics, cars, denim, home goods, and food could see an increase in price.

Velshi presented a lot of statistics, especially about energy, including oil, and food. A dozen years ago, I found energy and food were among the top two labels on this blog, so of course I found them interesting. I might find them useful. Welcome to blogging as professional development.

MSNBC presented the Canadian side in ‘Utter madness’: Canadian PM candidate slams Trump's tariffs.

Canadian PM candidate Chrystia Freeland joins Morning Joe to discuss how Trump's tariffs are impacting Canada and the U.S.

Chrystia Freeland, who I'm rooting for to replace Trudeau as Canadian PM, says the tariffs are being imposed for no reason. I'd say no good reason, as she stumbled upon what I suspect is the real reason, Trump's designs on Greenland and Canada. Many of the horse loose in the hospital's supporters say he's a "peace president." In reality, he's an imperialist who just has his sights set closer to home.* Vladimir Putin must be pleased. His bad bromance is paying off.

Speaking of closer to home, House member warns Trump's tariffs could impact Michigan auto plants.

A second judge is blocking Trump's federal aid funding freeze. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., joins Way Too Early to react to this news and to Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China.

Stevens represents the district literally across the street from me and is a friend of mine on Facebook. She's someone I listen to and I think my readers should, too.

I'm sure I'll revisit this topic and other current events tomorrow through comedy. Stay tuned.

*Hoover Cleveland's threats to buy Greenland, invade Panama to seize the canal, and subjugate Canada and Mexico remind me of a proposal Elon Musk's grandfather supported, the North American Technate. I don't think that's a coincidence. I also think this is a topic for another time.

A meme and a song for Trump's sentencing

I wrote, "Unfortunately, Hoover Cleveland is more likely to receive an unconditional release. Sigh." That happened. Watch MSNBC's report BREAKING: Judge sentences Trump to an unconditional discharge in hush money case.

Judge Juan Merchan sentences President-elect Trump to an unconditional discharge in the New York hush money case. Trump remains a convicted felon but faces no other punishment. Former Manhattan prosecutor Jeremy Saland, civil rights attorney Kristen Gibbons Feden and former New York Assistant Attorney General Adam Pollock join Ana Cabrera and José Díaz-Balart to discuss. Also, NBC News' Vaughn Hillyard reports from outside the courthouse.

While my prediction that he would not be sentenced to prison for these crimes came true, I can keep calling him a convicted criminal, now convicted felon, and I feel a bit better after watching the MSNBC report, that's cold comfort. This entire exercise demonstrates the truth of this meme.


It worked. Like Donald Trump's whitewashing and inversion of the attack on the Capitol, the new Big Lie, enough people bought it that Trump got re-elected and he avoided any actual punishment. That jammed "the wheels of justice," dashing my hope that I repeated most recently in Colbert and Kimmel examine Jack Smith's filing: "'The wheels of justice are grinding slowly in this case, but I expect they will indeed grind exceedingly fine.' May they also grind exceedingly fine for Trump and his seditious supporters, if not as slowly." Trump escaped before the wheels finished their work. Sigh.

This is enough for me to conclude by recycling the song I used in The law is an ass with music by Leonard Cohen, By request, 'Everybody Knows', and I saw the impeachment verdict coming, but I still don't like it, so here's a cover of 'Everybody Knows', Leonard Cohen - Everybody Knows (Live in London), the song I embed when I'm most disappointed by the legal system (or its political equivalent, impeachment).


It was time to give the original artist his say.

This blog passed its monthly page view goals today, so I'm going to switch from topical posts to evergreen and holiday entries until the end of the month. Stay tuned.

Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow react to the Hunter Biden pardon

I told my readers to "Stay tuned for topical non-holiday programming..." I'm following through with Jon Stewart's monologue from Monday, Trump Nominates Kash Patel for Head of FBI & Hunter Biden’s Last Minute Pardon, on The Daily Show.

Jon Stewart on Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Biden’s last-minute pardon for his son Hunter, and how Democrats can't seem to hold the high ground no matter how low Republicans sink.

While Stewart succeeded in finding the comedy in this news, I don't completely agree with him about the hypocrisy in it. I also think that the announcement of Kash Patel's nomination for a position that isn't open yet — Christopher Wray's term doesn't expire for another three years — and Joe Biden's pardon of his son Hunter are more closely connected than he lets on. Patel might just have gone after Hunter even after he had gone to prison just to please convicted criminal Donald Trump. I have more to say, but Rachel Maddow said it better in Trump's shameless abuse of pardons, nepotism disqualifies him from criticizing Biden pardon on MSNBC.

Rachel Maddow looks at Donald Trump's shameless abuse of the presidential pardon power and the disgraceful level of nepotism in the early staffing of his second administration, in comparison to President Biden's pardoning of his son, Hunter, to spare him further politically motivated prosecution by Trump's acolytes.

Looking at the list of people Trump has pardoned reminds me of what I first wrote in MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 1: "Jailbirds of a feather flock together."

Jon Stewart's message to his viewers about the election

I closed Meyers, Colbert, and 'The Daily Show' take their last closer looks at the election before the votes are counted by writing "I hope election night doesn't turn into an election month, but I'm not optimistic." I should be careful what I wish for. Donald Trump, who is still a convicted criminal, beat Kamala Harris when he won first Pennsylvania then Wisconsin overnight to be the projected winner of the presidency, duplicating the feat of Grover Cleveland by becoming only the second President elected to non-consecutive terms. My reaction eight years ago was Kunstler said Americans would elect maniacs. That still works eight years later, so I'm not going to repeat it. Instead, I'm sharing Jon Stewart’s Election Night Takeaway | The Daily Show.

Jon Stewart shares his takeaways from Election Night 2024: A glimpse into the fate of the presidency and the mistakes that'll be made all over again.

That's a convincing list of lessons that people hoped would be right, but which ended up being wrong.

So, what are the lessons being learned that could turn out not to be true? MSNBC has one, ‘This will rewrite how the parties approach Latinos’ – Latino support for Trump increases from 2020.

Julián Castro discusses evolving Latino support for Donald Trump.

Latino support for Trump was even more pronounced in Michigan, where exit polling showed 62% of Michigan Latinos voting for Trump. That could be enough to swing the state to him. If the uncommitted movement does it, I'd know what my agenda would be, denounce Jill Stein and the Green Party and support a quality primary opponent to Rashida Tlaib, although if she wins the primary, I'll still vote for her in the general. I'm not going to be like my neighbors, who voted for the Republican nominee. I have limits and standards. For Latinos, there is nothing I can do that Trump and his core supporters would do more effectively except be a positive example. Who knows, Trump might actually overcome his bigotry and cater to his new voters. We should be so lucky.

Michigan still hasn't been called for either President or U.S. Senate as I write this, so stay tuned for those results tomorrow.

The BBC World Service examines 'How the US election could change our climate' plus MSNBC on Project 2025 and climate

Change of plans — instead of "returning to the Emmy Awards with the diversity in Emmy winners posts I've been promising," I'm returning to the intersection of the election and climate change thanks to BBC World Service examining How the US election could change our climate - The Global Story podcast.

In the second of our pre-election series we look at America and... climate change. How could Kamala Harris or Donald Trump shape the global response to the climate crisis?
...
As one of the world’s largest producers of fossil fuels and carbon emissions, the US plays a pivotal role in addressing climate change. The environmental policies of the next president could reshape American industry and the economy, while influencing the global fight against climate change.

Sumi Somaskanda speaks to the BBC’s climate editor Justin Rowlatt and Carl Nasman, who covers US climate issues for the BBC.

Yes, the United States does face a stark choice on a number of issues next month (this month for people who are filling their ballots early and mailing them in, as my wife and I are planning on doing) as I described most recently in CityNerd examines Agenda 47 and cities in 'And You Thought Project 2025 Was Bad', not least of which are climate and energy, which I promised to cover months ago in MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 4. Then, I had two videos from MSNBC to share. Now, I have five, beginning with the most recent, Project 2025 calls for break up of nation's top weather and climate service. That makes this part 8 of MSNBC examines Project 2025.

Project 2025 is calling for the breaking up of the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA). Monica Medina, former Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, joins Morning Joe to discuss as Hurricane Milton is set to hit Florida.

FEMA having to debunk rumors on its webpage reminds me of what I wrote in Kamala Harris visits 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'.

As for Trump's lies about FEMA's response to Hurricane Helene, I'm being a good environmentalist by recycling what I last wrote in 'SNL' returns with Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris after winning six Emmy Awards; "the voices he's listening to aren't reliable sources. This includes JD Vance.' It also includes the voices in his head." Who are he and his supporters going to believe, their narrative or their own eyes and ears? So far, it's their narrative.

That's damage that's already been done and needs to be repaired. I'd rather not imagine the impact of breaking up NOAA, which paid my salary twice. That would make the consequences of extreme weather and other natural disasters worse.

Monica Medina appeared previously in ‘He will weaponize’ and politicize the weather: Trump and Project 2025’s wrecking ball climate plan, one of the videos I have been saving.

This year’s presidential election will determine the fate of our democracy and, with it, hard-won environmental and climate gains. Project 2025, the conservative playbook for another Trump term, promises to completely eviscerate climate policy and empower Big Oil. Activist and author Bill McKibben and Monica Medina, a former top climate official at the State Department, DoD, and NOAA, join Ali Velshi to discuss what’s at stake this November. 'Biden has done more to support clean energy by far than any president before,' says McKibben. Trump “won’t just politicize the weather – he will weaponize it,” warns Medina.

Not only did McKibben imagine what a U.S. without NOAA would be like, he compared it to convicted criminal Donald Trump's response to the pandemic, "if we don't know, then we don't have to talk about it." He also brought up Ron DeSantis forbidding mention of climate change in Florida's official documents, all while the Sunshine State was already facing one of the worst hurricane seasons forecast. So far, that dire prediction is coming true. Speaking of which, Trump weaponizing the weather against his enemies isn't a prediction; it already happened during his time as President.

I have three more MSNBC videos about Project 2025 and climate policy to share, but I have papers to correct and dinner to grill, so I'm saving them for part 9. In the meantime, stay tuned for a highlights post of tonight's Saturday Night Live as the Sunday entertainment feature. Ariana Grande and Stevie Nicks!

Rachel Maddow examines Curtis Yarvin, one of JD Vance's influences

I suggested a future topic in Kosta, Colbert, and Hayes react to the VP Debate.

I think I should start paying attention to Peter Thiel and Curtis "Mencius Moldbug" Yarvin, both of whom have cyberpunk villain ideas straight out of Snow Crash that are influencing Vance. They would be right on target for this blog.

I repeated part of this in CityNerd examines Agenda 47 and cities in 'And You Thought Project 2025 Was Bad', then wrote "expect me to blog about them." On that note, Watch: Rachel Maddow lays out why you should care about JD Vance's real agenda in which both Yarvin and Thiel figure heavily.

Rachel Maddow shows JD Vance explaining his lack of faith that democracy can deliver on his conservative ideals, and shows the influences behind Vance's preference that the United States government be gutted and instead run by a dictator.

Listening to Yarvin and Vance talk about replacing American institutions, including democratic governance, reminds me of David Frum's warning that I quoted in 'The Daily Show,' Vox, and CBS News explain QAnon, silly to serious examinations of a conspiracy theory: "If conservatives become convinced that they can not win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy." Yarvin, Thiel, and Vance are proving Frum right.

The above was part 2. Here's part 1, Maddow: JD Vance wants to destroy anything conservatives can't control, which sets up part 2, but gets a bit too long to get to the point I want to make.

Rachel Maddow looks at the conservative history of attacking universities for exposing students to ideas that conservatives don't like, and highlights JD Vance in his own words discussing ideas for punishing universities and well as businesses that he sees as being on the wrong side of the culture war he is waging. This is part one of two clips cut from the Monday, September 30, 2024 Rachel Maddow Show. Find part two and other Maddow clips on YouTube at MSNBC.com/Rachel.

As Maddow points out, Vance is continuing a cause championed by cranky people pursuing a sometimes explicitly fascist agenda. I call that being on the wrong side of history. May Vance and Yarvin also be on the wrong side of the future.

Project 2025 and Trump on Social Security and Medicare

I posted Musical question for today exactly one year ago. The impulse that made me write that is motivating me to post about something personal related to the anniversary of the same event.* I begin with Verify claiming No, Project 2025 doesn’t propose eliminating Social Security benefits.

Contrary to online claims, Project 2025 doesn’t call for ending Social Security benefits. But the Heritage Foundation has advocated for changes to the program.

By fact-checking for "eliminating Social Security benefits," Verify minimizes the risk to the program and its beneficiaries. To their credit, they do point out that people behind Project 2025 have advocated raising the retirement age and privatizing Social Security. Both of those will weaken Social Security and harm its beneficiaries.

Via KREM 2 News, they do much the same for convicted criminal Donald Trump in VERIFY | Does former President Trump want to cut social security benefits?

The campaign is in full swing and many people have questions about statements Kamala Harris has been making at her rallies.

"Currently" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. He may not favor cutting Social Security now, but he talked out of both sides of his mouth about the issue in the past. Watch and listen to CNN Trump made promises to never touch Social Security. Hear what he thinks about it now to hear that history, including the quote first Joe Biden and now Kamala Harris and Tim Walz seized upon.

CNN's Abby Phillip breaks down what former President Donald Trump has said about federal entitlement programs in the past after Trump suggests he is open to making cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Then, she is joined by former Obama adviser Dan Pfieffer.

Pay attention to what Trump has done, not just what he said. As Phieffer noted, his administration proposed cutting Social Security and Medicare in every budget he proposed. Fortunately, Congress didn't go along then, although the current Speaker of the House favors them. Here's to hoping we don't have to find out if the next Congress would go along with that plan.

Follow over the jump for the latest on Trump's ideas on Social Security and Medicare.

Vox, MSNBC, and PBS NewsHour explain 'Exactly how Trump could ban abortion'

I promised "an entry that will be good to share in October, like Emmy Award winners" and I'm following through, but it won't be Emmy Award winners. I'm not feeling like writing about entertainment today. Instead, I'm sharing Vox explaining Exactly how Trump could ban abortion.

Whether the US bans it completely is basically up to the next president.
...
For decades, the anti-abortion movement in the United States worked toward one major goal: the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that established a federal right to abortion. In 2022, they finally succeeded, and states across the country began banning abortion immediately. Today about half the states either ban or severely restrict abortion. But now the anti-abortion movement is regrouping around a new goal: using the federal government to ban abortion in the rest of the country.

If Republicans take control of Congress in the 2024 election, it’s very possible they could pass a national abortion ban law. But experts don’t consider that the most likely way a national abortion ban could come about, for two reasons: Polling shows it would be extremely unpopular, and it would require the elimination of the Senate filibuster. Instead, they point to a different branch of the federal government — the president’s office and all the federal agencies it oversees.

In the federal agencies, opponents of abortion could fashion a de facto abortion ban by chipping away at abortion access in numerous ways, for example limiting access to medication abortion, which now constitutes two-thirds of all abortions in the US. The biggest way that the president’s office could limit abortion is by deciding to enforce something called the Comstock Act: a 150-year-old abortion ban killed by Roe v. Wade and brought back to life by its repeal.

The final way the next president could determine the future of abortion rights is through federal court appointments. The anti-abortion movement’s “next Roe v. Wade” is the national legal recognition of fetal personhood, an idea that would by definition outlaw all abortion. The current Supreme Court isn’t yet right-wing enough to endorse this idea. But after another Trump term, that could change.

Watch the video above for the details of how this all could happen.

No surprise, the plan involves the revival of the zombie Comstock Act through Project 2025. Follow over the jump for more.

Harris campaigns in Detroit on Labor Day

I closed Project 2025's plans for labor and unions, part 7 of MSNBC examines Project 2025, a Labor Day special with a program note.

By the way, Kamala Harris is speaking in Detroit for Labor Day as I type this. I might visit that tomorrow. Stay tuned.

CBS Detroit uploaded her speech as Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to union members in Detroit during Labor Day visit.

Vice President Kamala Harris made a stop in Detroit on Labor Day to speak with union members and leaders.

I watched this speech on Instagram yesterday, but I enjoyed CBS Detroit's coverage of it even more. I guess it took a second listen to appreciate it more fully, including Harris's applause lines and the enthusiastic crowd reaction.

MSNBC reacted to Harris's address in the following segments, beginning with David Jolly telling Nicolle Wallace ‘She’s putting in the work, Trump is sitting at his golf course’: VP Harris hits swing states hard.

Eddie Glaude, Princeton University Professor, David Jolly, former Republican Congressman from Florida join Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House to break down the battle ground tour that the Harris campaign is embarking on for Labor Day and how VP Harris has begun to hone in her message to voters.

I agree with Wallace and her guests, particularly Jolly. Harris is working hard and becoming more effective, while convicted criminal Donald Trump AKA Hoover Cleveland is staying at one of his homes. His running mate JD Vance didn't hold any events yesterday, either. I guess they wanted to relax on the holiday. That's the point Jason Johnson made in Trump's 2024 nightmare: Women voting surge could elect Harris.

Kamala Harris takes the lead with women voters, as abortion access becomes a crucial issue on the ballot in key swing states. MSNBC’s Ari Melber reports and is joined by Molly Jong Fast and Jason Johnson.

My wife and I watched this clip together last night and it also benefited from a second viewing. In particular, the contrast between Trump and Vance staying home while not just Harris, but also President Joe Biden, Governor Tim Walz, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff all campaigning yesterday. It's obvious which ticket has the energy.

That's a wrap for today's post. I might resume Emmy Awards coverage tomorrow. Stay tuned.