Growing up at Hickory Hill, my father was fully engaged with us, always fair and so much fun.
One day, playing in the tree outside our house, my brother Michael chucked a magnolia pod at me one too many times. I burst into my father's study, tears streaming down my face. He called Michael in, asked me to tell him exactly what happened, and then asked Michael to do the same.
It was irritating listening to Michael’s side of the story, but it made me realize I was not all right, and he was not all wrong. Then Daddy made us kiss, make up, and go to our rooms to read for an hour.
The message he had for two kids standing in that study is the message he had for our country: "We need to stop regarding our adversaries as enemies, but realize they are our brothers and sisters. Peace is not just something you pray for, it's something you're responsible for creating, and educate yourself.”
That's the kind of father he was. The way he conducted himself in his most private life is the way he conducted himself in public. Full of wit, grace, compassion, and moral imagination.
Happy Father's Day, Daddy. Miss you every day.
The ironic part about every compliment we’ve gotten about the World Cup is what the guests are falling in love with is Diversity. It’s the thing that actually makes this place worth staying in and why we can’t allow it to be destroyed.
Evening update on the Shore Fire: likely near 2,000 acres (will get an exact acreage in a couple hours), the fire is impacting the 60 freeway very soon with westbound lanes closed, and is continuing to burn pretty good, theres also 3-4 night ops helis out tonight. #ShoreFire
Current view of the #ShoreFire from a Cam on Highway 60, seems like the Fire will be approaching the Highway soon.
Air Attack and All Air Tankers have been Released for the Evening.
Helco Copter 8AS, Helitankers 7PJ, 9PJ, Copter 605 is overhead on the Fire for Night Ops.
.@JamesTalarico: There's been a lot of talk in this race about what it means to be a real man.
Recently on the campaign trail I told the story of my adoptive dad, Mark Talarico. Every Saturday morning, he would mow our lawn, and then without anyone asking him to, he would go next door and mow our neighbor's lawn because she was a widow. My dad never talked about it �� he just did it, because that's what a man does.
A man takes responsibility, upholds his commitments to his family and his neighbors, and does what's right, even when no one is watching.
Here's what real men don't do. They don't lie and cheat their way through life, sell their soul to the highest bidder, or steal from other people in order to enrich themselves. Real men serve others. Weak men serve themselves.
I welcome this debate about what it means to be a man, and I don't think Ken Paxton or Ted Cruz are in a position to tell anybody what a real man is.
If you think I’m trashing MAGA (whatever that is now) I really am sorry. I know for certain there are millions of Americans who voted for Donald Trump that love this country and love their neighbors and love their families and struggle and succeed and fail just like me and you and everyone. And I don’t begrudge them their political affiliation in any way. I just abhor the hate. The meanness for the sake of being mean. No matter where it’s coming from. I’m not your enemy man. I’m really not. They’re trying to get us to fight among ourselves while they pick our pockets and piss on our legs and tell us it’s raining. I’m not doing that to you and I sure as hell know you’re not doing that to me. What could we possibly gain by hating each other as they walk off with all the food on the table. We can disagree with each other without hating each other. We just all need to break the algorithm man. It’s so much more fun finding a reason to love someone than it is finding a reason to hate them.
Florida paid a portable toilet company called Doodie Calls more than $92 million over six months to haul wastewater out of the Everglades. The state projected it would pay Doodie Calls $480 million over two years. For comparison, building a sewage treatment plant for a city of 10,000 people costs about $5 million.
That is one vendor. At one facility. Built in eight days on an Everglades airstrip using hurricane disaster funds because Ron DeSantis declared immigration a state of emergency in 2023 to access a $5 billion fund set aside for floods and hurricanes.
The facility costs between $1.2 million and $3 million per day to operate. A conservative estimate puts the annual per-capita cost at $500,000 per detainee. Florida spends $30,000 a year to house a convicted criminal in a state prison. The math on Alligator Alcatraz is not tougher than a prison. It is more than sixteen times more expensive.
Three quarters of the men held there have never been convicted of a crime. They are awaiting civil immigration proceedings. They are being held in kennels - cages with steel mesh sides, 16 bunks, three toilets, brightly lit 24 hours a day. Amnesty International documented what it called deliberate neglect designed to dehumanize, including credible allegations of men held in stress positions in direct sunlight without food or water for hours at a time.
Governor Braun opened the Speedway Slammer at an Indiana prison. The Cornhusker Clink in Nebraska. The Louisiana Lockup at Angola. The naming contest is ongoing. The cruelty is the point. The cost is someone else's problem. Florida's emergency fund has dwindled to $200 million. The facility cannot run to the end of the year.
The men in the cages are still there.
This is so insanely corrupt, I can’t even believe it.
More than half the donors to Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom just won over $50 billion in new federal contracts in six months.
And here’s the part that should make your blood boil.
Sixteen of these 27 donors were facing federal enforcement actions, antitrust reviews, labor cases, securities charges. Many of those cases have been quietly dropped or scaled back since Trump took office. You write a check, your legal problems disappear. That’s not a coincidence.
The White House won’t even release the full donor list. They’re hiding it on purpose, because daylight is the one thing pay-to-play can’t survive. A federal judge already ruled ballroom construction has to stop until Congress authorizes it.
Government is supposed to serve the people, not auction itself off to the highest bidder. When access goes to whoever pays the most, working families always end up paying the price.
We either end the corruption, or the corruption will end us.
https://t.co/4MGFzSseFl
This crew, along with several others who could not stay, set up The Wall That Heals in Reynolds, Indiana. Thank you to all volunteers.
The Wall That Heals in Reynolds, Indiana, is open around the clock until Sunday at 2pm.
Visit https://t.co/VP956Z9FOt for more information and the full 2026 tour schedule.
He flew an unarmed helicopter through 14 hours of relentless enemy fire.
Today we honor Col. Bruce Crandall, who passed away on May 31. Read the true story of the pilot who flew through hell to save his Soldiers. 🧵 (1/7)
After 14 brutal hours in combat, Crandall had completed 22 flights and 14 landings. He and Freeman delivered the crucial ammo that saved the battalion and evacuated over 70 wounded comrades. His courage in the face of certain peril displayed the ultimate example of what it means to leave no man behind. (6/7)
Dolly Parton on her Imagination Library program that Republicans defunded:
"[My daddy] was the smartest man I have ever known, but I knew [...] his inability to read probably kept him from seeing all of his dreams come true. Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission."
i’m just gonna say it: some of yall aren’t qualified for self checkout. if you don’t have an internal sense of urgency and fine motor skills, leave it to the professionals cause the rest of us are trying to keep it pushin
Last night, I made a simple request on X. I asked if anybody visiting Arlington National Cemetery for Memorial Day would stop by Alan’s grave and leave a photo for our family.
What happened next honestly caught me off guard.
By this afternoon, dozens of Americans from all walks of life had made the walk to Section 60 to visit SSG Alan W. Shaw. Veterans. Families. Complete strangers. People who had never met Alan, but chose to honor him anyway.
For one day on social media, people put aside the constant noise and negativity and came together for something bigger than themselves. My notifications filled with photos, kind messages, prayers, and stories from people honoring not just Alan, but so many of our fallen heroes.
I don’t think people fully understand what moments like this mean to Gold Star families. The fear is never just losing them. It’s losing them slowly over time as the world moves on and fewer people remember their name.
But today showed me that Alan will never be forgotten.
After years of watching social media reward some of the worst parts of humanity, today gave me a reminder that the good is still out there too.
Thank you to every single person who stopped by to visit Alan today, said his name, shared his story, or took a moment to honor the fallen.
This right here is the America Alan knew and loved enough to fight and die for.
And today, y’all showed us all that it’s still here and it’s still worth fighting for. 🇺🇸