Pete Hegseth caught lying about dead troops

Millions more Americans uninsured after lapse of premium subsidies

Top Stories for March 20:

Father of service member killed in Iran war said he never told Pete Hegseth to “finish” the job
We know this may come as a shock, but Secretary of War Crimes Pete Hegseth was apparently lying through his lily white teeth when he claimed the families of six service members who died in the Iran war all unequivocally told him to “finish the job.” Speaking to hand-selected members of the press following private meetings with the fallen service members’ families, Pete claimed, “What I heard through tears, through hugs, through strength and through unbreakable resolve was the same from family after family. They said, ‘Finish this. Honor their sacrifice. Do not waver. Do not stop until the job is done.'”

Charles Simmons, the father of 28-year-old Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, who was among the six crew members killed when their refueling plane crashed in Iraq last week, had a different story to tell. “I can’t speak for the other families. When he spoke to me, that was not something we talked about,” Simmons told NBC News. Speaking for the grieving and putting words in others’ mouths was a line Hegseth was more than willing to cross, however.

Take Action: Tell the Senate: Don’t pass Trump’s election-steal act!

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Trump sinks himself with staggering Iran war confession
Donald Trump’s war in Iran — which, again, he claims we’ve already won — is going so well he’s going to ask Congress for 200 BILLION MORE TAXPAYER DOLLARS to continue waging it. When asked about reports that a massive new Pentagon funding request was forthcoming the wannabe dictator didn’t even bother lying or blurting out a canned “I don’t know anything about it” deflection.

Instead, the 79-year-old charlatan offered up this headache-inducing word salad: “Well we’re asking for a lot of reasons beyond, even, what we’re talking about in Iran. This is a very volatile world, and the military equipment of some of this weaponry is unthinkable. You don’t even want to know about it. Oh, you could end this thing in two seconds if you wanted to.”

Wait, what? Is the 2025 FIFA Peace Prizer winner planning on launching even more wars after Iran? And are we just casually waxing philosophical about using nuclear weapons to win the war in Iran…that we’ve already won? Serious question: what the fuck are we actually doing here, and why is this man still in charge?

UNFPA launches Ramadan drive to deliver 2,500 Dignity Kits to the world’s most vulnerable women
USA for UNFPA: The United Nations Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency (UNFPA) is leading a drive to provide 2,500 Dignity Kits to women and girls in crisis in Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan, and beyond in an effort to bring relief during the holy month of Ramadan. It’s vital that we make sure women and girls in crisis zones have menstrual products, soap, toothbrushes, and clean clothing so they can maintain their dignity and hope, even in the darkest of times. Each kit costs just $15 to produce. Will you chip in to help ease the suffering of some of the world’s most vulnerable women and girls?

Lauren Boebert comes out swinging against Trump regime request for Iran war money: “I’m not doing that”
It turns out $200 BILLION is a pill at least some Republicans in Congress aren’t quite ready to swallow. When asked by CNN’s Manu Raju about Donald Trump’s imminent war funding request, Rep. Lauren Boebert had this to say: “I will not vote for a war supplemental. No. I am a no. I’ve already told leadership. I am a no on any war supplementals. I am so tired of spending money elsewhere. I am tired of the industrial-war complex getting all of our hard-earned tax dollars. I have folks in Colorado who can’t afford to live. We need America First policies right now, and that? I’m not doing that.”

Republicans currently hold a razor-thin 218-214 majority in the House, so Speaker Mike Johnson can’t lose any other members of his caucus without convincing a few “moderate” Democrats to abandon common sense and the overwhelming wishes of their constituents. Time will soon tell.

Take Action: Tell the Senate: Don’t confirm Markwayne Mullin to lead Trump’s deportation agency!

Republican senator claims you can’t shovel snow in NYC without ID
GOP Senator Katie Britt spent part of her day yesterday trying to defend the indefensible — namely Republicans’ all out assault on representative democracy otherwise known as the SAVE Act. The draconian voter ID bill would disenfranchise millions of lower-income voters and minority voters, which is exactly why the GOP is so hellbent on passing it. In her attempt to whitewash the legislation, Britt had this to say: “You can’t rent a home, you can’t go to work, you can’t shovel snow in New York City without an ID…” Uh, okay. But what kind of badge must you flash to shovel horseshit in the halls of Congress? It sure seems like they’ll let pretty much anyone in there these days.

Take Action: Stop Trump’s fake “emergency” plot to take over our elections!

Teen dies in ICE custody, youngest person yet of Trump’s term
A 19-year-old Mexican teenager arrested over a minor traffic infraction died in an ICE facility in south Florida this week. Royer Perez-Jimenez died on Monday of a “presumed suicide” in his cell at Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, Florida, according to a statement from ICE. His official cause of death remains under investigation. Perez-Jimenez was arrested on January 22 after police officers spotted him crossing multiple lanes of traffic on a scooter without using a crosswalk, according to the Miami New Times. Perez-Jimenez eventually told police he had overstayed his visa, and ICE placed a detainer on him. During his intake, he denied having behavioral health issues and answered no to all suicide screening questions.

Perez-Jimenez is the thirteenth person to die in ICE custody this year, and the thirty-sixth person to die in detention since Donald Trump launched his sweeping immigration crackdown. He is also the youngest to die in custody since the MAGA cult leader resumed office.

Seven-year-old Canadian girl with autism and mother detained by ICE in Texas
Edward Warner, an American citizen from Kingsville, Texas, was driving home with his wife, Tania Warner, and their daughter, Ayla Lucas, from a baby shower on March 14 when they were suddenly stopped at a border checkpoint and plunged into a nightmare. ICE goons said there was an “error” with Tania’s Employment Authorization Document and needed to send her fingerprints — and seven-year-old Ayla’s fingerprints — to Border Patrol headquarters in Washington. Without further explanation, Tania and Ayla were then thrown into the gulag at the Rio Grande Valley Central Processing Center in McAllen, Texas, a site notorious for housing little kids in chain-link cages during Donald Trump’s first term.

This is what happens when you build a machine designed to incarcerate people for profit with no regard for the law or basic human decency. There’s a private prison company making a fat profit off of locking up this poor little girl and her mother and an evil, angry, little man in the White House, Stephen Miller, ordering Border Patrol and ICE to fill quotas of arrestees, no matter who or how innocent they are.

Republican congressman says Iranians should pay US to wage war on them: “We gotta pay for this somehow”
We truly are living in the dumbest timeline imaginable.

Republican senator explains, “I’m married to a married woman”
Florida Republican and super normal guy who in no way should ever be confused for a reptile Rick Scott had this super normal thing to say while trying to defend his party’s disenfranchisement scheme known as the SAVE Act: “I’m married to a married woman.” Scott, who when parched has been known to consume water that is wet, was trying to put human words together in a manner that might explain how the GOP’s all-out assault on voting rights is somehow not an all-out assault on voting rights, but the best he could muster was a half-baked assertion that women can “figure out how to get whatever ID they want.”

Federal arts commission stacked with Trump sycophants unanimously approves new US coin with Donald’s stupid face on it
Nope. Definitely not a cult.