Raw Story: GOP trolled as planes circle major cities with three-word taunt

Some daring pilots took to the friendly skies over the capitals of Democratic-led states Monday with a three-word taunt meant to troll President Donald Trump and Texas Republicans, according to HuffPost.

Several planes were spotted over Albany, New York; Springfield, Illinois; and Annapolis, Maryland, while trailing banners that said simply, “Mess with Texas.”

Planes towing the message were also seen over Augusta, Maine; Trenton, New Jersey; and Sacramento, CaliforniaPolitico reported.

The banners were a play on the Texas slogan, “Don’t Mess With Texas,” which is seen as a declaration of state pride.

But the “anonymous group of self-described democracy advocates” altered the slogan in a plea to lawmakers in Democratic states “to help fight what many view as a gerrymandering scheme going down in Texas that will help secure Republicans’ control in the U.S. House after the midterm elections in 2026.”

Some 56 Democratic lawmakers fled Texas for blue states to prevent a quorum as Republicans sought to vote for a redistricting map that could give the GOP up to five new congressional seats. The ploy was orchestrated by President Donald Trump, who told CNBC on Tuesday that Republicans “had the right” to the seats because he swept the state so soundly in the 2024 presidential elections.

The Democrats say they’re hunkered down for the long haul away from home, even as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton issued warrants for the arrests. Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R) asked the FBI to get involved in the hunt in a letter to MAGA director Kash Patel.

https://www.rawstory.com/gerrymandering-2673861437

Raw Story: Bullying misstep threatens to leave Trump presidency ‘dead in the water’: WSJ

Instead of letting the Republican Party’s Senate leadership wheel and deal with the megabill budget hold-outs, Donald Trump inserted himself — and now has been called out by the editorial board of the conservative Wall Street Journal for his bullying which, it wrote, could put his presidency at risk.

In a late Sunday afternoon editorial, the editors wrote that the president’s attacks on Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) are not helping and, in fact, are hampering the prospects of getting a deal done.

On top of that, they note, driving Tillis to announce he won’t run for re-election could lead to a lost GOP seat in purple North Carolina — and with it the GOP’s slim hold on the Senate.

Trump is an increasingly senile oaf who just doesn’t know when to zip it. Expect a lot more of this as he slowly slithers into memory-care.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-presidency-2672500111