by Ja'han Jones | Sep 15, 2026 | Civil Rights, Opinion, White House
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ tenure is being consumed by scandal on his way out the door, and a new report from the Department of Homeland Security epitomizes the cruelty and incompetence his GOP administration will be remembered for.
A report from the DHS inspector general’s office released last week outlines disturbing violations of the agency’s standards at the Florida immigration facility that Republicans — aided by sickening propaganda reminiscent of the Jim Crow era — marketed as “Alligator Alcatraz.” The detention center was one of several that Trump and his allies sought to brand as a harsh destination for immigrants.
This report comes shortly after the release of a grand jury report that found the DeSantis administration used a charity founded by the governor’s wife to misuse public money for political purposes, adding to the stench of scandal the governor will carry with him when his term ends in January.
Damning new federal investigation of the much-hyped Alligator Alcatraz detention facilty found operators “confined 79 detainees in small metal enclosures — each offering about 18 square feet of floor space — for periods ranging from several minutes to nearly 2 hours. Use of these… pic.twitter.com/cyPsxHECJZ— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) September 14, 2026
According to the DHS report, detainees were held in “highly unconventional” small metal enclosures — cages, basically — that facility staff called “calming areas.” Human rights groups previously flagged these enclosures, which were part of an inquiry launched in March by Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Dick Durbin of Illinois.
Per the report:
Between July 17, 2025, and January 18, 2026, [the facility] confined 79 detainees in small metal enclosures — each offering
by María Teresa Kumar | Sep 15, 2026 | elections, Opinion
Every election cycle, people ask me the same question: Why focus on Texas?
The answer is simple: Texas is home to one of the largest, most dynamic Latino electorates in the nation. Making up over 40% of the state’s population, Latinos are a driving force in shaping America’s civic future. Texas is also undergoing rapid demographic expansion, adding more than 950,000 voters between recent election cycles alone. This isn’t just a state to watch — it is a cornerstone of American democracy.
Yet, transforming demographic growth into lasting civic power requires intentional, on-the-ground engagement. Nationwide, 1 in 3 young voters is unregistered. In Texas, that gap is even wider, leaving 3 in 5 young adults off the voter rolls. Young people aren’t sitting out because they lack interest; they are deeply passionate about the issues shaping their lives, from student debt and climate change to good jobs and healthcare. But turning those priorities into policy requires fundamental first steps: registering to vote and establishing a concrete plan to cast a ballot.
Earlier this month, with less than 10 weeks before the election, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court voted to cut 92 polling locations.
Right now, more than 1.2 million Texas voters are sitting on what the state calls a “suspense list,” and in Travis County alone, that represents 16% of eligible voters. Being on that list doesn’t mean you can’t vote, but it does mean the system is putting an extra burden on you to prove you still belong on the rolls — a burden a lot of people don’t even know they’re carrying until they’re standing at the polls.
That is the urgency of
by Adam Johnson | Sep 15, 2026 | Article, Israel, Media Criticism, Opinion, Palestine, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US
Once again, anti-semitism is being cynically—and falsely—redefined in the press and broader Discourse as “pointing out uncomfortable facts about the nation state of Israel.”
This past weekend, the Israel Crybully Lobby, using a familiar script I’ve detailed before, led a smear campaign against actor Mark Ruffalo because he had the temerity and integrity to note that the family vying to control not only 60 Minutes and CBS News, but CNN and HBO, is a committed and open supporter of Israel and its genocidal military.
Ruffalo is leading a broad coalition of antitrust activists, creatives, and filmgoers to oppose the pending Skydance Paramount-Warner Brothers Discovery merger and, in doing so, violated an unwritten rule against noting that the father-son duo behind the merger, David and Larry Ellison, are well-documented and open zionist advocates that not only lobby for and support Israel, but “privately” donate to their military. A military that—it’s worth noting—Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, B’Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, OxFam, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, and dozens of other humanitarian and human rights organizations have determined is committing genocide in Gaza. Ruffalo also pointed out that the Ellisons’ $400 billion fortune was largely built on military and surveillance technology from Oracle that is used, in part, to surveil, imprison, and kill Palestinians, as well combat opposition to Israel stateside.
Ruffalo simply noted the open and well-documented ideological commitments that the Ellisons themselves have long championed.
Predictably, the Israel Crybully Lobby and its one-note propaganda organs in the nonprofit and media world responded to these comments by accusing Ruffalo of “antisemitism” and engaging in “tropes”—many of which are not, of course,
by Ja'han Jones | Sep 15, 2026 | Congress, Opinion, Sports
Saturday’s college football game between Ohio State and Texas began, as usual, with the home fans singing “The Eyes of Texas,” a song introduced by white students at a minstrel show in 1903. And remarkably, things got more racist from there.
After the Longhorns erased a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter en route to a wild comeback win, the fans in Austin erupted with glee, as normal people tend to do when their team wins. Yet the scene had some prominent figures in the MAGA movement angrily typing and posting about images of nonwhite fans sharing in the joy.
This, to be clear, is an insane way for anyone to experience sports. And the abject racism that has been unleashed by these posts is fueling infighting among Republicans as they reckon with the bigotry festering within their own party.
Bo French, the Republican nominee for Texas railroad commissioner, set things off with several racist posts bemoaning nonwhite fans, and the idea of what he called “foreigners” on campus. These posts on X were promoted and defended by conservative influencers and activists, but they received pushback from some on the right as well, including a warning from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
“This is the Republican nominee for statewide office,” Cornyn wrote about French. “Are other Republican elected officials going to condemn the intolerance and racism, or look the other way while it becomes normalized. This is how great political parties self-destruct. Sad.”
This is the Republican nominee for statewide office. Are other Republican elected officials going to condemn the intolerance and racism, or look the other way while it becomes normalized. This is how great
by Noor Noman | Sep 15, 2026 | culture, Opinion, Politics
Ed Sheeran’s avowed political neutrality — as if such a thing exists — has finally caught up with him. After facing pressure, the British singer-songwriter, who is playing U.S. stadiums as part of his Loop Tour, dropped Seattle rapper Macklemore from the tour after he made “Free Palestine” statements during a show at MetLife Stadium on Sept. 4.
Let us be clear about what has happened here: Even if he thinks it’s possible to not take a side on hot-button issues — “I don’t get involved in politics,” he said in 2017 about the previous year’s Brexit vote — he’s illustrating that not picking a side means upholding existing power structures and buttressing the oppressive ideologies that support them.
Rather than standing up to this brazen display of ideological censorship, by all appearances, Sheeran kowtowed. He hasn’t made any public statements about what Macklemore said or any statements about his removal.
Billionaire Robert Kraft, who owns the NFL’s New England Patriots, is Jewish and a strong supporter of Israel, told Rolling Stone in a statement that he made the call to keep Macklemore from performing at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is owned by the Kraft Group. Kraft cited what he called the rapper’s “recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.”
The magazine said Kraft’s statement didn’t acknowledge Macklemore’s claim that Kraft “rallied some of the other stadium owners” who allegedly “gave [Sheeran] an ultimatum: If Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not
by Andra Gillespie | Aug 18, 2026 | Congress, Opinion, Politics
In the spring, the big news concerning Florida’s 20th Congressional District was the announcement from Luther Campbell (more popularly known as Uncle Luke from the rap group 2 Live Crew) that he would be challenging embattled Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick in a Democratic primary. But after the incumbent resigned under indictment (it should be noted that she is running again in the primary), and the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais ruling gave Florida Republicans permission to redraw district lines to benefit their party, the biggest news is the decision by Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a white woman, to run in the state’s only plurality-Black district. Her candidacy there highlights the tensions between descriptive and substantive representation and the strategic risks that emerge when a large field of candidates run for the same seat.
After the Callais ruling, Florida redistributed Black voters out of the original 20th District and put 22-year incumbent Wasserman Schultz, who represented the nearby 23rd District, into a mostly Republican district. The Constitution only requires members of Congress to live in the state (not the district) they will represent, so Wasserman Schultz chose to run in Florida’s 20th District against multiple Black candidates, including Campbell, former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness and progressive favorite Elijah Manley.
Her candidacy highlights the tensions between descriptive and substantive representation and the strategic risks that emerge when a large field of candidates run for the same seat.
Political scientist David Mayhew noted decades ago that members of Congress are almost single-mindedly focused on winning re-election, so it is not surprising that Wasserman Schultz would choose to run in a district more favorable for her
