by Anthony L. Fisher | Aug 9, 2026 | elections, Opinion, White House
“This is the last of the prosecutions seeking to hold accountable those responsible for the events of January 6. That book is now closed,” U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta wrote in his opinion last week as he “reluctantly” dismissed charges in the last eight criminal cases against Jan. 6 rioters.
They, along with six others, were the only Capitol rioters or conspirators not fully pardoned by President Donald Trump on the day he retook office. (On that day, Trump commuted their sentences instead.)Because Trump’s Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss the cases against Stewart Rhodes and his fellow Oath Keepers, Mehta had to oblige. But not before he wrote: “Today’s epilogue diminishes the gravity of that day, denigrates the work of the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who secured these convictions, and excuses criminal acts that caused a centuries-long pillar of our democracy — the peaceful transfer of presidential power — to buckle.”
It’s a remarkable and tragic conclusion. The final chapter of Trump’s Big Lie began with his victory in 2024, and this dismissal almost certainly marks its culmination: The anti-democracy thugs won, decisively.
The system barely held on Jan. 6, but it hasn’t held since. And the next time MAGA Republicans lose a national election, they’re in a much better position to successfully pull off the coup that only narrowly failed.
Since Trump issued his mass clemency, at least 97 of the roughly 1,500 pardoned rioters (about 1 in 16) have been arrested, prosecuted or convicted for other crimes, according to a June 2026 Lawfare study. At least 14 of those “have been charged with sex crimes or crimes related to
by Symone D. Sanders Townsend | Aug 8, 2026 | Congress, elections, Opinion, Politics
There has been no shortage of explanations this week for what Democratic voters are signaling.
As voters cast ballots in Michigan, Missouri, Kansas, Virginia, Washington and Tennessee, candidates have weighed in. Political commentators have weighed in. Strategists, activists and voters have all offered their own theories of the case. Depending on whom you ask, the results were either a rejection of the establishment, a victory for the establishment or proof that the establishment isn’t nearly as powerful as people think.
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Why Abdul El-Sayed’s win is a ‘wake-up call’ for Democrats
August 6, 2026 / 11:10
The more I’ve listened this week, the more I’ve noticed one word keeps coming up: establishment.
“The establishment” won.
“The establishment” lost.
Voters rejected “the establishment.”
“The establishment” dug in.
I found myself asking over and over again: Who exactly is “the establishment”?
I found myself asking over and over again: Who exactly is “the establishment”?
I asked that question on MS NOW’s election night coverage Tuesday because I genuinely wanted an answer. If we’re going to explain an election by saying voters embraced or rejected “the establishment,” we ought to be able to identify who, or what, we mean.
The response on our program was essentially “it means different things to different people.”
Well, that’s exactly why I’m asking.
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MS NOW’s Peter Alexander discusses the Michigan primary and what voters there say they want
August 5, 2026 / 16:26
I’ve spent my career inside political campaigns, inside government, around party politics and now in television. One thing all of those experiences have reinforced for me is how words shape understanding. Politics is hard enough without using words that mean something different to each person every time they’re spoken.
by Zeeshan Aleem | Aug 8, 2026 | culture, elections, Opinion, White House
Right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson announced in June that he was leaving the Republican Party because he was incensed at President Donald Trump for launching a war against Iran. Surprisingly, what began as a theatrical (and possibly temporary) exit from the GOP has led to a more adversarial and organized opposition. The former Fox News personality appears to be trying to help launch — or encourage the launch of — a right-wing third party. If it comes to fruition, that could be a terrible thorn in the side of Republicans.
In an interview with the Columbia Journalism Review published in July, Carlson said he was “going to help build a third party” as part of his “good-faith effort to figure out what benefits the country.” In his explanation he leaned into the same isolationism he cited when he said he was leaving the GOP.
“Your life expectancy has gone down, and the promise of your children’s lives is likely gone. No one seems to care,” he said to CJR. “It’s not even a factor. ‘What about Hamas?’ I officially don’t care about Hamas. The US government should have, as its first priority, the welfare of its own people.”
Carlson said later in the interview that on matters of finance and war, there is “a one-party state posing as a democracy, and it needs to be broken.” He also said he didn’t want to be a candidate for this party.
The Carlson rebellion reflects the strange state of the organized right.
It’s one thing to float the possibility of creating a third party, but there are signs Carlson may be trying to make it happen. Carlson recently hosted
by Joseph Zeballos-Roig | Aug 8, 2026 | Economy, Opinion, White House, World
Long before becoming president of the United States, Donald Trump coveted other nations’ oil fields. In years past he’s talked about America seizing oil in Libya and Iraq after those wars ended, arguing that anything less than full-on resource acquisition was a boneheaded mistake. Trump seems determined to correct that supposed error in his second term — no matter the costs to his country and party.
At a rally in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Trump boasted that the U.S. is “taking a lot of oil from Venezuela.” Since the American military raid that deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and replaced him with a more obedient authoritarian in Delcy Rodríguez, the Trump administration has assumed effective control over the sale of Venezuelan oil and the revenue it generates.
“We paid for the war with what we’ve taken out many, many, many times. That’s the old-fashioned way,” he told the crowd. “To the victor belong the spoils, right?”
Politically, the president is struggling with his worst approval ratings of either term, due in no small part to his war with Iran raising gas prices.
The comments are a fresh reminder of a key principle of Trump’s foreign policy: Might makes right. It’s a modern spin on the 19th and early 20th century imperialism that exploited the resources of colonized regions and carved borders at a whim. It evokes the “jet-propelled technocrats” that Uruguayan journalist Eduardo Galeano singled out as a key group managing “mechanisms of plunder” in his 1971 book “Open Veins of Latin America.”
Trump spelled out this same belief verbatim in April when asked about his endgame with Iran and its sizable oil reserves. “To
by Evette Dionne | Aug 8, 2026 | culture, Opinion, Pop Culture
In 2023, Oscar-nominated actor and singer Ariana Grande recorded a video addressing people concerned about her thin appearance on the set of “Wicked.”
“I think we should be gentler and less comfortable commenting on people’s bodies, no matter what,” she said on TikTok. “We should really work toward not doing that as much. … There are really different ways to look healthy and beautiful.”
In some ways, Grande is right. The bodies of celebrities, especially female celebrities, are constantly under a microscope, with every pound they lose or gain fodder for stories splashed across tabloid covers. In a society as fame-obsessed as ours, the parasocial entitlement that exists between famous people and the broader public must indeed be emotionally and mentally taxing for celebrities, who are often regarded as possessions, not humans. Commentary about the size of their bodies is a particularly nasty feature of that perceived ownership.
It’s hard to ignore Grande’s appearance in recent days.
Yet in light of reporting that she’ll be taking a break from public work, it’s hard to ignore Grande’s recent appearance. While looks can be misleading and may not accurately reflect one’s health, she seems even thinner now than she did more than three years ago. When she shared the video for her latest single, “Petal,” on Instagram, a community note was attached encouraging people navigating eating disorders to seek care. That may feel like overstepping, or another form of body-shaming a famous woman. It shouldn’t be considered problematic, however, to point out the obvious: that Grande is not merely thin.
To be clear, we don’t know if Grande is experiencing any particular medical condition, including an eating disorder.
by Ja'han Jones | Aug 8, 2026 | Opinion
Republicans, members of the so-called “America First” party, claim to be laser-focused on the issues that matter to everyday Americans as the midterm elections approach.
And what does that mean to Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee? Evidently, meddling with South Korea’s effort to stop the spread of disinformation and misinformation online.
CNBC reported Thursday that Jordan led a group of lawmakers in sending a letter to South Korea’s Media and Communications Commission expressing concerns over a new law in the country that punishes large media outlets and publishers for deliberately spreading false information. The context here is that Jordan and the conservative movement — which often relies heavily on misinformation and disinformation to spread their propaganda — have spent several years now targeting people and institutions interested in, and competent in, combatting fake news online.
Jordan and the MAGA movement are currently in lockstep with President Donald Trump, a man who has launched the most brazen assault on free speech, the free press and corporate independence of any president in modern history — if not ever.
And yet CNBC reported Jordan and his fellow Republican lawmakers claimed their concerns are centered on free-speech issues and protections for American companies:
“This amendment serves as a major threat to online speech and expression and would allow the KMCC to punish American companies and their users for exercising their constitutionally protected rights,” the lawmakers, including House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote.
One can easily read that excerpt and presume Jordan and his colleagues are just caping for Trump-aligned social media companies — such as Elon Musk’s X platform and the Mark
