Mark Kelly RIPS Hegseth over pathetic demotion stunt

Top Stories for January 6:

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Mark Kelly drops hammer on Pete Hegseth for trying to downgrade his rank
Secretary of War Crimes Pete Hegseth’s absurd crusade to demote and denigrate Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a decorated veteran who has faithfully served his country for decades as a Navy captain, astronaut, and member of Congress, has officially gone off the deep end. Yesterday, Trump’s DUI hire of a Pentagon chief officially censured Kelly for having the temerity to remind active military personnel of their constitutional duty to refuse illegal orders from their superiors, namely Hegseth. Kelly, who has served in multiple wars and piloted a frickin’ Space Shuttle, brushed off the stunt as nothing more than a pathetic move by an unserious sycophant ceaselessly aiming to please his dictatorial boss. Brian Tyler Cohen spoke with the Arizona senator yesterday about Hegseth’s vendetta against him and the broader message the Trump regime is sending to those in the military who might dare to speak up in the future.

Take Action: Demand Pete Hegseth stop his pathetic attacks on Sen. Mark Kelly!

Danish prime minister says a US takeover of Greenland would mark the end of NATO
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen made it very clear that Denmark is not a willing participant in Trump’s delusional dreams of imperial grandeur, threatening to invoke Article 5 of the NATO treaty that would compel the other members to come to their aid against the United States should the MAGA cult leader try any kind of Crimea-style annexation. “I therefore strongly urge the United States to cease its threats against a historically close ally, and against another country and another people who have stated very clearly that they are not for sale,” wrote Frederiksen in a furious statement. Invoking Article 5 would of course mean the end of NATO as individual states would have to choose between their alliance obligations or retribution from Washington. This state of affairs would have been unthinkable a year ago; it’s a mark of how deeply committed America’s wannabe dictator is to tearing up the international order and returning us back to the bad old days of imperial conflict and might-makes-right aggression. Vladimir Putin could NOT be happier.

Take Action: Demand Congress stop Trump’s illegal war!

Trump plans huge handout for Big Oil and puts our coastline in serious danger
Protect Our Coast Coalition: At a time when our climate change studies are desperately begging us to stop fossil fuel pollution before it’s too late, Donald Trump just unveiled a huge new handout to Big Oil, proposing a new National Offshore Drilling Plan that would open up huge swathes of ocean in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, and California to industrial defilement. American taxpayers spent $1 TRILLION last year cleaning up from climate-related natural disasters, but Trump is happy to pass those costs on to us while his cronies get rich — and he’s putting our coastal communities and their livelihoods under threat from destructive oil spills. Click here to make your voice heard and tell the Trump team we want NO more offshore oil drilling!

Senate judiciary leaders slam White House for excluding them from Venezuela briefing
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley and ranking member Dick Durbin have released a strongly worded joint statement over the Trump administration’s “unacceptable” decision not to include them in Monday evening’s briefing on Nicolás Maduro’s disturbing kidnapping mission, which reportedly claimed the lives of 80 people. No word yet on which ghoul in the lawless Trump regime promptly wadded up the statement, tossed it in the trash, and set it aflame with lighter fluid.

GOP lawmaker slams Stephen Miller after bellicose Greenland interview: “This is really dumb”
A pugnacious Stephen Miller sauntering onto TV and saying alarmingly stupid stuff? File under E for evergreen.

Trump regime cuts the number of vaccines recommended for every child, a move slammed by physicians
Herd immunity has had impressive run, but it’s quite clear that, under the incredibly unsteady and deeply unscientific leadership of RFK Jr., the Department of Health and Human Services has decided it’s never too late for a comeback story. Stay tuned for the exciting resurgence of hepatitis (A and B!), meningitis, and RSV and an explosion of influenza and rotovirus cases coming soon to a community near you!

Take Action: Take action to protect our Social Security offices!

New study’s data shows Supreme Court increasingly favors the rich
if this news comes as a shock to you, please hold on the line. A representative will be with you shortly do discuss an exciting new investment opportunity in a shiny, new bridge we have for sale.

Proven winner Mallory McMorrow launches bid to protect VITAL battleground Senate seat
Mallory McMorrow for Senate: Progressive champion Mallory McMorrow gained national attention with her viral speech defending LGBTQ rights in the Michigan state Senate, and now she’s running to pick up the torch from retiring Senator Gary Peters. McMorrow has a proven history-making track record, having helped flip the Michigan Senate for the first time since the 80s and winning a blue trifecta. Now she’s ready to defeat MAGA extremist Mike Rogers and flip the US Senate blue. Will you chip in to jump-start her campaign?

Jan. 6 plaque honoring law enforcement is nowhere to be found at the Capitol, despite law requiring its display
On the fifth anniversary of Donald Trump’s seditious attack on the Capitol and American democracy itself, the official plaque honoring the police who bravely defended both the US Capitol and members of Congress from thousands of rabid rioters that day is curiously nowhere to be found. House Speaker and MAGA doormat Mike Johnson has declined to unveil the plaque for some odd reason. And the Trump administration’s Department of Justice is actually seeking to dismiss a police officers’ lawsuit asking that it be displayed as intended. Something, something, thin blue line, eh?

US may subsidize oil companies to rebuild Venezuela’s energy infrastructure, Trump says
Translation: we’re going to use public funds to pay for the expenses, but let private companies keep the profits. This coming from the same regime that told us we can’t afford to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies to keep healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for millions of Americans. Got it.

Trump administration says it’s cutting welfare funds to blue states over alleged Minnesota fraud
The Trump regime announced yesterday that it had slashed billions in social services funds to a handful of blue states as part of its escalating response to new and unproven fraud allegations in Minnesota. The Department of Health and Human Services will freeze $10 billion worth of federal grants to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York, an HHS official told HuffPost, targeting programs most closely associated with the word “welfare.” There is, of course, zero connection between the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program in, say, California and what may or may not be happening with federal child nutrition funds in Minnesota, but then coherent policy is not the point. Cruelty is. In Trumpland, welfare is a four-letter word, unless it comes in the form of tax cuts or multi-billion-dollar bailouts for the already obscenely wealthy.

Lindsey Graham salivates over Trump’s potential next targets
Old necon habits die hard, we suppose. It’s no surprise that Lindsey Graham, one of the Senate’s most outspoken war hawks, is all hot and bothered over this past weekend’s incredibly illegal and destabilizing raid in Venezuela, or that he’s champing at the bit for what might come next, namely in Cuba. Salivating on Fox News, the warmongering senator proclaimed, “Donald Trump will have done something that’s eluded America since the fifties: deal with the Communist dictatorship 90 miles off the coast of Florida. I can’t wait till that day comes. To our Cuban friends in Florida … the liberation of your homeland is close.” Quality stuff from the “America First” crowd.