Author name: moderat ereport

Chris Lehmann The president’s denial of the existence of government material on Jeffrey Epstein isn’t going over well with his followers. The post Trump’s Deep-State Conspiracy Theories Are Getting Beyond His Control appeared first on The Nation.

Gia Ruiz U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to conduct mass immigration arrests all around the country, leading to overcrowding in detention facilities, with reports of unsanitary and inhumane condition. The post Cold as ICE appeared first on The Nation.

Over the last few days, millions of Americans have gone to the movie theater to watch James Gunn’s new “Superman,” making it the No. 1 movie in the United States.  The movie’s success is another humiliating loss for the MAGA movement, which campaigned against the film’s pro-immigrant themes. But the film is also a resounding rejection of the bitter, cynical meanness that’s been a hallmark of President Donald Trump’s second term. Since its release on July 11, the movie has earned more than $122 million and received a rating of 83% from critics and 93% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. That resounding success follows a full-throated meltdown from the right, slamming the movie as “woke” and predicting its failure. Conservatives were triggered after Gunn said that the film is about an “immigrant that came from other places.” Director James Gunn is seen at the premiere of “Superman.” Actor Dean Cain, a Trump supporter who starred as Superman in the television series “Lois & Clark,” was representative of the ill-informed right-wing complaints about the film. Cain whined that the film was “woke” and said that calling the iconic character an immigrant would “hurt” box office receipts.  Similarly, Fox News pundit Tami Lahren predicted the “woke” film’s demise.  “The new ‘Superman’ movie went woke and will probably flop,” she said. Not only were these predictions wrong, but the right’s comments about the superhero were also woefully misinformed. I have been a fan of Superman’s for more than 40 years, and his origin has been consistent since he debuted in Action Comics #1 in 1938. Superman, the sole survivor of the planet Krypton, landed in Kansas and was adopted by a family who passed him off as their own child. Superman is an undocumented immigrant—and he has been for all 87 years of his existence. YouTube Video And the character has been “woke”—that is, a champion of social justice—since the beginning as well. Superman is described in his debut comic as a “champion of the oppressed” and a “physical marvel who has sworn to devote his existence to helping those in need.” In that comic, Superman also fights spousal abuse, an unjust execution, and political corruption. These are notions that have been in place since 1938 and have been part of the character in the comics published every month since. Conservatives’ complaints have demonstrated how out of touch they are with one of America’s most well-known cultural icons. In fact, the new movie is more in touch with the classic portrayal of Superman as a beacon of hope and optimism than the character’s grittier portrayal in more recent films like “Man of Steel.” Related | Trump declares himself Superman amid MAGA meltdown over ‘woke’ reboot The new “Superman” was written and filmed before Trump won the 2024 election, but audiences can see the clear contrast between the film’s embrace of kindness and the daily meanness of the Trump administration.  For Trump, cruelty is the point. But for Superman, that is absolutely not the way. Superman stands for truth and justice—the complete opposite of what MAGA is all about. He is a fantasy, an ideal that doesn’t exist in the real world. But at the box office, despite the right’s fuming, Superman—and his values—has triumphed once again.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is leading an investigation into former President Joe Biden’s occasional use of an autopen. But according to a new report, Comer hasn’t exactly been putting pen to paper himself. NBC News revealed that Comer’s signature on letters and subpoena notices related to the investigation is a digital image, inserted by someone else. Metadata confirms these weren’t created by Comer, and hovering over his signature in Adobe Acrobat shows it’s a digital stamp, not a handwritten signature. In other words, Comer is investigating Biden for using an autopen while relying on a digital signature himself. A cartoon by Tim Campbell. “Using digital signatures for official correspondence is a common practice for both Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives,” a House Oversight Committee spokeswoman told NBC in response to a list of questions. “Chairman Comer has never hidden the fact that he uses a digital signature when appropriate, and he approves all official correspondence that is signed digitally.” The spokeswoman added: “Legally binding subpoenas issued by Chairman Comer always bear a wet signature and are never signed using an autopen or digital signature. Comparing Chairman Comer’s use of digital signatures for letters to the unauthorized use of an autopen in the Biden White House for legally binding executive actions is absurd and misleading. The two are not even remotely comparable.” NBC also found that all 16 letters Comer sent to former Biden White House officials requesting transcribed interviews were signed with inserted digital images, meaning they were not signed by the chairman himself. To be clear, using digital signatures isn’t new in Washington. It’s long been standard practice across Congress and the White House, especially for routine correspondence. Members of Congress often rely on staff or digital stamps to respond to the large volume of mail they receive. Even the Jan. 6 committee used digital signatures on its official letters. But critics argue that’s precisely the point. “Comer using an autopen to investigate an autopen is just so James,” quipped Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz. “That’s what we love about him, his attention to detail.  Autopens also have precedent. The Department of Justice approved their use in 2005. Former President Barack Obama was the first to use it on legislation in 2011. Trump used the autopen, too, although he initially lied about it. What’s changed is the Republican narrative: that Biden’s use of an autopen somehow proves he wasn’t aware of what he was signing.  Trump has gone as far as to call it “one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history” and ordered a Department of Justice investigation. Biden has denied the claim, recently telling The New York Times, “I made every single”[ decision. “I understand why Trump would think that, because obviously, I guess, he doesn’t focus much,” Biden said. Related | Biden smacks down GOP’s fake scandal Comer’s committee has eagerly joined in, suggesting the use of the autopen may indicate Biden wasn’t in control. But they’ve yet to produce a single document proving that—or any actual evidence that Biden’s use of the device was inappropriate. Comer has tried to distinguish between the practices. “Presidents use the autopen, just like I use an autopen, or [Rep.] Jim Jordan or anyone else in Congress to sign correspondence to the massive amounts of messages that you get,” Comer told Newsmax this month. “But no one uses an autopen for legal documents. I can’t use an autopen to sign subpoenas. That’s my legal document. Subpoenas. I have to fly back to Washington, D.C., just to sign one piece of paper.” Democrats disagree with this distinction. They argue Biden’s use of the autopen is within legal norms and far less troubling than Comer and Trump’s attempts to turn a nonissue into a scandal, while secretly using similar tools themselves. “I think the American people are far more concerned about what Trump has to hide about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein than Biden’s legal use of autopen—a practice enjoyed by Comer, Trump, and virtually every elected official in Washington,” a Biden White House official said.

Mike Waltz has returned from the shadows of Signalgate to try his hand at a nomination for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and the hearing is just as spicy as you’d imagine.  The former national security adviser, who managed to include the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic in an unsecured group chat discussing war plans, was grilled across the board Tuesday, for his missteps of handling classified information.  ​​“I have no questions for you, sir,” Sen. Cory Booker said, adding that Waltz showed “profound cowardice” for not taking responsibility for his failures around Signalgate.   “I have nothing but deep disappointment in what I consider a failure of leadership on your part.” Sen. Cory Booker to Mike Waltz: “You were involved in the sharing of sensative information about imminent military operations…You said [Jeffrey Goldberg] intentionally infiltrated your Signal chain. You said that he was ‘sucked in.’…It shows profound cowardice.” — The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2025-07-15T16:15:49.495Z Then again, if you ask Waltz or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—who texted times and dates of weapons deployments before a pending strike on a terrorist group in Yemen—they both agree that no classified information was shared.  However, Sen. Chris Coons wasn’t buying that.  “This was demonstrably sensitive information,” he said to Waltz.  WALTZ: The use of Signal was not only authorized, it’s still authorized, and highly recommended COONS: Would you recommend the use of Signal for classified information? WALTZ: There was no classified information shared — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-07-15T15:37:54.452Z Despite the intense scrutiny brought about from Waltz and Hegseth’s mishandling, no disciplinary action was taken against them, Waltz confirmed to Coons. Not only did he get away with less than a slap on the wrist, but Waltz has managed to keep his cushy annual salary of $195,200 throughout all of this despite being let go from his previous role in March. But Waltz isn’t just raising eyebrows over his Signal controversy or his salary for doing … nothing. The potential new ambassador to the UN is also echoing President Donald Trump’s potentially anti-UN approach. According to Waltz’s opening remarks, the former green beret plans to make the UN “great again,” echoing his boss’ favorite slogan.  “We should have one place in the world where everyone can talk—where China, Russia, Europe and the developing world can come together and resolve conflicts,” he said “But after 80 years, it’s drifted from its core mission of peacemaking.” He went on to push the idea that the UN promotes antisemitism, agreeing with the popular Trump stance of pulling funding that doesn’t fit their narrative. The UN has been outspoken against Israel’s role in the Gaza conflict and has condemned their harm toward the Palestinian people.  But while the UN as a whole works to ensure peace and the upkeep of human rights across cultures worldwide, Waltz and the Trump administration maintain that giving funding is more so “America last.” “The U.S. must ensure that every foreign aid dollar and every contribution to an international organization, particularly the UN, draws a straight and direct line to a compelling U.S. national interest, one that puts America first, not last,” he said.  Trump just continues to put the least-qualified candidates up for the job. 

Elon Musk might have left his job running the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, but he and DOGE remain entangled with the government. Now DOGE is leaking data, and a Musk-owned AI is set to run wild at the Department of Defense, all while the right-wing billionaire continues to line his pockets with your tax dollars.  On Monday, independent security researcher Brian Krebs reported that a DOGE worker accidentally posted a private Application Programming Interface for xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence company, on GitHub, a public repository for code. APIs let computers talk to one another and transfer data easily. Because of this, literally anyone could access over four dozen of xAI’s large language models, including Grok, which you may know from its integration on X.  Which big-brained genius did this? Marko Elez.  Thousands of protesters gather at the Washington Monument on April 5. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because earlier this year, Elez resigned after his history of racist online posts surfaced, but he was reinstated by Musk and Vance because they are racists too. Elez is the same dude who “mistakenly” got full access to sensitive Treasury Department data, then reportedly emailed a spreadsheet with unencrypted private data to officials at the General Services Administration. So this racist 25-year-old continues to have expansive access to government data but can’t take basic security precautions.  Of course, Elez isn’t the only DOGE employee who is now burrowed into the government as a regular employee. Nineteen-year-old Edward “Big Balls” Coristine is still around, as is Ethan Shaotran, who publicly whined about how people ostracized him because of his work with DOGE. Yeah, buddy, people tend not to like it when you wreck their government.  On top of this, the Department of Defense gave Musk a sweetheart contract on Monday that could net his xAI up to $200 million. To be scrupulously fair to Musk, three other companies—Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI—are also eligible for $200 million each.  It’s exceedingly vague what xAI and the rest of these companies will do. The government announcement is full of language about leveraging technology, mission areas, and supporting warfighters, but it features no information about what those private companies are required to do with their $200 million.  It was definitely odd timing for the government to give Musk $200 million to “address critical national security challenges” with his xAI technology. The award was announced mere days after Musk had to shut off Grok, his chatbot, for going full Nazi, with posts praising Adolf Hitler and detailing violent rape fantasies. This was a result of Musk reportedly changing Grok’s prompt to “not shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect, so long as they are well substantiated.” President Donald Trump, left, and Elon Musk depart the White House on March 21. It seems bad that Musk’s changes turned Grok into a 4Chan poster, basically. Never fear, though. Musk has an explanation of how that’s not his fault: He made Grok too eager to please users.  Per Musk, when Grok received a racist prompt from an X user, those users were “manipulat[ing]” Grok into giving racist answers. This explanation probably does not make you feel better about Musk’s chatbots being turned loose in the Department of Defense. If you’d like to feel even worse, recall that Musk also programmed Grok to check in with him before answering questions.  It’s likely that xAI and other tech companies will net more than their initial awards. The award announcement goes on about it at length, saying that DOD is implementing a “commercial-first approach to accelerating DOD adoption of AI” and “leveraging commercially available solutions.” But what the announcement is clear about is that the government is planning on streamlining its own ability to give Musk and other tech bros money by making it easier for the government to purchase private AI tools through the General Services Administration. xAI also announced on Monday that it is developing Grok for Government, which will bring “strong reasoning capabilities with extensive pretraining models.” Buddy, Grok went full fascist in front of God and everyone just a few days ago and is not displaying any “strong reasoning capabilities.” Overall, the Trump administration’s approach to accelerate the use of AI in the government is to pay private companies vast sums to do a thing that the government was already doing until Trump shuttered 18F, the agency tasked with making government digital services more efficient. That team had created a National Security and Intelligence Portfolio nearly six years ago, helping defense agencies get new digital solutions. But they had to get wiped out so private companies could take their place.  Now your private data is at risk thanks to the incompetence of DOGE, and Musk is going to make a ton of money shoveling that data into his racist chatbot. Totally normal way to run the government, yes indeed.