Author name: moderat ereport

Adam Zyglis Maga broadens their horizons. The post HELP! appeared first on The Nation.

Tjeerd Royaards Netanyahu’s Gaza horror show marches on. The post Bloody Line in the Sand appeared first on The Nation.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s office in the Bronx was vandalized early on Monday by masked protesters claiming to support Palestinian rights. They defaced her image by splattering red paint across the windows and left behind a sign reading “AOC funds genocide in Gaza.” The New York Democrat has also received violent threats in recent days, according to her senior adviser Oliver Hidalgo-Wohlleben. Last night, our campaign office in the Bronx was vandalized and we are in the process of cleaning it up. Our office is a hub in the community and we want it to be a safe space for all of our neighbors. In the past few days, we also have received multiple threats on the… — Oliver Hidalgo-Wohlleben (@OliverHidWoh) July 21, 2025 For a crowd that’s supposedly fighting for Palestinian freedom, they sure have a knack for attacking exactly the wrong people. During the 2024 presidential campaign, these activists bizarrely fixated on Vice President Kamala Harris—hardly the puppet master of U.S. foreign policy on Gaza—and heckled her relentlessly, even at her own party’s convention. They even cheered when Donald Trump won the election, with peak absurdity displayed in this viral celebratory tweet: Now it’s 2025, and they’ve left Vice President JD Vance alone. I guess vice presidents have no power over Gaza, after all?  And after dubbing former President Joe Biden “Genocide Joe,” they seem to have misplaced their creativity when it comes to Trump, who now has the power to reshape U.S. policy. Instead, he has openly embraced the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Among other things, Trump moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, defunded UNRWA, and greenlit Israel’s annexation plans. And who could forget the video he posted of his Gaza fantasy—replete with a golden Trump idol at his Trump-branded Gaza casino?  Yet none of these pro-Palestine activists protest Trump. No chants, no stupid nicknames, no disruption. Nothing. Instead, they obsessively focus on Ocasio-Cortez, known as AOC—the true villain, apparently, of the push for peace in the Middle East. Disowned by the Democratic Socialists of America and hounded by a segment of the far left that ignores real enemies in favor of cannibalizing allies, AOC’s latest crime was voting “no” on an amendment pushed by far-right wack job Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to defund Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. AOC’s response was direct and principled. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s amendment does nothing to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza. Of course I voted against it. What it does do is cut off defensive Iron Dome capacities while allowing the actual bombs killing Palestinians to… — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 19, 2025 Only six House members supported that amendment: Republicans Greene and Thomas Massie, who opposes all government spending; and Democrats Al Green, Summer Lee, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. It’s a bizarre coalition, to put it mildly. This was the sign left behind at AOC’s vandalized Bronx office. The far right is isolationist and opposes all foreign funding, no matter the context. The far left, meanwhile, insists there’s no distinction between offensive and defensive weapons—arguing that by shielding Israeli civilians from rocket attacks, Iron Dome enables further aggression. But there is a difference, and it matters. Because any deliberate attack on civilians—whether Israeli or Palestinian—is terrorism, period. Civilians should never be targets. And yes, that applies to Israel as well, which has shown it can eliminate threats surgically when it chooses to, as Hezbollah painfully learned. But this isn’t about untangling the endless knot of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which none of us can do (no matter how much yelling is done in the comments attached to this story). It’s about where pro-Palestinian activists choose to aim their fire. And right now, they’re ignoring the people gleefully fueling this war—Trump and his minions—and attacking people like AOC, who have neither the power nor the posture to support genocide, and who actually agree with them on the end goal! Why not go after the dozens of other Democrats who voted the same way AOC did—i.e., against Greene’s stunt amendment? Why not target Republicans who support Israeli occupation without conditions? Why team up with literal white supremacists like Marjorie Taylor Greene? Thankfully, AOC didn’t mince words. Google is free. If you’re saying I voted for military funding, you are lying. Receipts attached. Drag me for my positions all you want, but lying about them doesn’t make you part of the “left.” If you believe neo-nazis are welcome and operating in good faith, you can have them! pic.twitter.com/leQo1cvXTD — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 21, 2025 “If you believe neo-nazis are welcome and operating in good faith, you can have them!” she tweeted—and she couldn’t be more right. 

National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard is working her ass off to deflect the growing scrutiny over the Epstein files. After accusing President Barack Obama of a “treasonous conspiracy” to undermine President Donald Trump during the 2016 election, she’s now refusing to provide any real evidence. When asked to back up her accusation during a press conference Wednesday, Gabbard told reporters that they needed to figure out for themselves how to connect the dots—which two bipartisan National Intelligence committees were unable to connect.  “I’m not asking you to take my word for it. I’m asking you in the media to conduct honest journalism and the American people to see for yourself in the documents that we’ve released now,” she said. YouTube Video According to The New York Times, these “new” documents show nothing more than the internal debate within the intelligence community, but they do not contradict the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee’s 2020 findings: Russia did try to interfere in the 2016 election in favor of Trump. An Obama spokesperson has called Gabbard’s accusations “ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,“ to which Gabbard gave a very ironic response.  “It’s a disservice to the American people that former President Obama’s office and others who are criticizing the transparency that is being delivered by releasing these documents. They are doing a disservice to the American people and trying to deflect away from their culpability in what is a historic scandal,” she said. YouTube Video Projection much?  Gabbard’s press appearance followed a statement on X calling this calorie-free conspiracy theory “the most egregious weaponization and politicization of intelligence in American history.” Meanwhile, Trump is off in a fantasy land insisting that his approval ratings are rising, even as his refusal to release the Epstein files increases concerns across party lines.

A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. Trump: Actually, the Epstein scandal is great for me The man never polls better than he does in his own head. ‘Release the damn files’: Outgoing GOP senator slams Trump over Epstein At this point, we’ll take any criticism of Trump from the right. Secret memo reportedly reveals Trump doesn’t actually care about the border Who needs borders when you can just deport anyone you don’t like? Trump deals another blow to American automakers Make America walk everywhere. Big Lie-boosting election clerk is begging for Trump to save her Tina Peters simply will not go away. Cartoon: Ozzy RIP to the Prince of Darkness. Conservative rich dudes think they’ll Make Movies Great Again Ah, yes, a Palantir-Ayn Rand mashup. Just what literally no one wanted. Click here to see more cartoons.

Consider supporting my work so I can continue creating it: Substack: https://nickanderson.substack.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/editorialcartoons Ko-Fi: https://www.patreon.com/c/editorialcartoons Related | CBS cancels Trump critic Colbert’s ‘Late Show’—and faces sharp blowback

President Donald Trump is now ordering congressional Republicans to change the subject if ever asked about his administration’s refusal to release the Epstein files. During a reception Tuesday evening, Trump told the GOP lawmakers that if they are ever asked about the Epstein files, they should respond by saying that President Barack Obama “cheated on the election”—a baseless lie that the Trump administration cooked up to distract from the Epstein scandal. “You should mention that every time they give you a question that’s not appropriate. Just say, ‘Oh, by the way, Obama cheated on the election.’ You’ll watch the camera turn off instantly,” Trump said. YouTube Video Trump is referring to a ridiculous fiction National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard helped create, in which she accused Obama of the “treasonous conspiracy” that Trump’s 2016 presidential election win was due to Russian interference. Of course, Trump’s own Secretary of State Marco Rubio oversaw a Senate investigation that found that Russia did meddle in the 2016 election and that Trump’s campaign was happy to have the foreign adversary’s help.  A cartoon by Clay Jones. Obama, for his part, gave a rare response to Trump’s latest attempt to change the subject from the Epstein files, saying that he was engaging in “a weak attempt at distraction.” “Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes. These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio,” Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush said in a statement. But it seems that Republicans are already heeding Trump’s advice to lie about Obama to distract from the Epstein files. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin used this exact technique in an interview with NewsNation. “I also completely agree with President Trump, the major story should be what Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released,” Johnson said, after playing dumb about the Epstein files. YouTube Video Politico reported Wednesday that Trump is “furious” about the scandal his administration created by not releasing the Epstein files. And since the Trump administration claimed that there are no incriminating Epstein files, multiple reports have surfaced showing just how close—and creepy—Trump’s relationship was with Jeffrey Epstein. President Donald Trump is seen with Jeffrey Epstein at Mar-a-Lago in 1992. The Wall Street Journal revealed a birthday message that Trump sent to Epstein in 2003, which included a drawing of a naked woman along with the text, “Happy Birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret.” CNN also uncovered photos of Epstein at Trump and Marla Maples’ wedding in 1993 and of Trump and Epstein laughing together at a 1999 Victoria’s Secret fashion show.  And let’s not forget when, shortly after his breakup with the president, Elon Musk claimed that the Trump administration’s decision not to release the Epstein files was a “cover-up” because Trump is in them. In an attempt to quell the anger, Trump is throwing meaningless breadcrumbs to his base, saying that he wants the release of grand jury testimony from the case of convicted Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. But experts say that testimony is unlikely to contain evidence implicating third parties.  Related | Is Trump preparing to pardon Epstein’s notorious accomplice? The Trump administration also said that it will speak to Maxwell—who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence—to see if she has any information that could implicate third parties. But Maxwell’s testimony in those potential interviews would be suspect at best, as she has a motive to lie for Trump in exchange for a pardon.  It’s unclear if that will pacify the MAGA base, which is enraged after being promised for years that Trump would release the files. For now, the scandal has paralyzed the House, with Speaker Mike Johnson sending the chamber home early for its summer recess to avoid a vote on bipartisan legislation that would order the release of the files. Now those same lawmakers are going home to face their constituents, who will demand answers on the Epstein scandal anyway. And surely some bullshit distraction about Obama from 2016 isn’t going to satisfy them.