More Than One Way to Comply With Law Enforcement

 This past weekend, the White House Border Czar--yes, that's the job's actual title--Tom Homan had this to say about ICE agents recently gunning down people in Texas and Maine. "It comes down to a simple fact--these people failed to comply with law enforcement. All they had to do is simply comply with law enforcement. If you don't like what law enforcement did to you, then go to the courts, sue, call the ACLU. do whatever you wanna do, but you, but you should always comply with law enforcement. If they did, they'd be alive today." 

One supposes that's good advice. Well, as long as you actually know the guys forcing you to stop are really cops. Sometimes it's sort of tough to tell. Especially when the car carrying them is unmarked and without any of the normal lights associated with law enforcement vehicles. Not to mention, even tougher to tell when the cops aren't wearing any kind of visible police identification and at least some of them are wearing masks while brandishing weapons. Let's face it, taken as a whole, one's first impression under such circumstances could legitimately be, it's a robbery, a carjacking, or, in the worst-case scenario, a paid hit. 

Even if these quite plausible thoughts don't occur to you, recent history has proven that once ICE agents snatch you off the street the opportunities of getting yourself into court range from limited to impossible. As for calling the ACLU, most don't even get a chance to call their families, much less a lawyer. You disappear into an ICE concentration camp. (I know they call them Detention Centers, but a camp by any other name is still a camp.) Or you're already on a one-way plane ride to someplace south of the border--the current ICE policy being, if you aren't an American citizen all that due process shit doesn't apply. 

According to Wikipedia, after being a local cop for a year, Tom Homan joined what was then called the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in 1984. Over the years he steadily rose through the ranks and by the time Barack Obama sat down in the Oval Office was what is known as senior official. He was so effective at his job, Obama even gave him an award. (These days, for different reasons, it's convenient for both the left and right to ignore that Barack H. Obama deported a hell of a lot of people. He just did it legally and quietly, without the violence we've come to know and loathe today.) What Obama did not do, however, was give the green light to one of Tom Homan's proposals--family separation at the border. 

That's right, although that ghoulish little cretin, Stephen Miller gets most of credit for forcibly separating migrant parents from their children no matter how young, the original idea was Tom Homan's. In the early 2020's Homan was a part-time contributor to the, "fair and balanced," team at FOX News. He had also joined the Heritage Foundation and was credited with helping to write, Project 2025--the blueprint for turning the United States into a perpetual right-wing strong-man authoritarian government.

By 2024 he knew he was in line for a big job in the Trump administration if the election went that way. In order to prove he'd fit right in and pick up a few bucks he allegedly accepted $50,000 in cash from two, "business executives." In exchange for the money, he promised to recommend that their company receive border security related government contracts. According to reports, Homan was recorded on both video and audio tape accepting the cash in a brown paper bag, then waking out of the restaurant where the meeting was held with it. 

There was a major problem though. The "executives," were FBI undercover agents and the whole thing was an agency sting operation. Luckily for future Border Czar in February 2025 Pam Bondi took over the Department of Justice, quickly followed by Kash Patel at the FBI. The case was dropped for various reasons, my personal favorite being, "FBI agents had more important things to do." The video and audio evidence disappeared and so did the brown bag containing the money. To this day no one knows, or at least admits to knowing, what happened to that 50 grand of taxpayer cash. It was, as they say, a clean getaway.  

So, what have we learned from White House Border Czar, Thomas D. Homan? Number 1: comply with law enforcement, even if you aren't sure it is law enforcement, or it will be your fault you get killed. Number 2: there is more than one way to comply with law enforcement these days and some are more profitable than others, depending on who you know and how the chips fall. 

Hey, who says America isn't great?

7-23-26   

Shame, Degradation, an Unreliable Source, and Utter Madness

 For those wondering about the depths of Donald Trump's obsession with his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, one really didn't need to sit through his unhinged harangue last Thursday. No, all you needed to do was watch a few painfully awkward moments during the confirmation hearing of Trump's DNI nominee, Jay Clayton. To put it bluntly, toads dropped on hot plates come across as more graceful than Clayton did when he was asked one simple question.

The question, initially posed by GA Senator, Jon Ossoff was, "Who won the 2020 presidential election?"

Clayton could not bring himself to publicly say those apparently forbidden words, "Joe Biden won." His most frequent response was, "Joe Biden was certified as President." Even when asked, "How did Joe Biden get certified?" he couldn't say it. His response was something along the lines 0f, "He received the most electoral votes." In the end, he chose to look like a complete fool, rather than say the simple truth aloud. 

And it's all because if you want to work for Donald J. Trump, you can't say it. To say Joe Biden won, is proof to Donald you are not only disloyal, but possibly a member of, "the deep state," he claimed lied to him in 2020. In other words, if you say, Biden won you will either get you fired, or your job application immediately deep sixed. Yes, the man sitting on the golden toilet doesn't care if you end up shaming yourself and denigrate your own character by denying he lost the election. All he cares about and demands is that you maintain the grotesque myth he somehow won it. 

When it came to Thursday's national address--which wasn't nearly as national as Trump planned--MS NOW's Lawrence O'Donnell described it as nothing more than a 25-minute sales pitch for his SAVE America Act. Actually, the first 10 minutes, or so was all about how everything in the nation is now peachy keen thanks to Donald J. Trump, including the minor spat with Iran. (Today word comes that at least two more members of the U.S. military and quite probably a third were killed by an Iranian attack on a base in Jordan.)  

The good folks at ABC and NBC must have had at least a hint of what was coming, because they refused to air it live, which earned both networks an in-speech condemnation from the President.  MS NOW showed the first third, or so, but when the outright lies and mis-leading half-truths began to pile up, they cut away to begin fact checking. 

The President blamed so much of the nefarious election chicanery on the Chinese one wag later said the speech bordered on a, "yellow peril," diatribe. Fact checkers and current politicians were quick to point out the voter info the Chinese, "accessed," was and is public information. You don't need spies to get it, you simply need a checkbook, because it can all be bought online. When Trump accused the Maduro government of rigging voting machines in Venezuela fact checkers noticed, he never said the Maduro regime rigged them here. In fact, the CIA reports the Venezuelans have never been capable of rigging voting machines in the United States. 

However, Trump's most incendiary accusation that Homeland Security, through voting rolls and public records, has discovered there are 278,000 illegal aliens registered to vote. The next day DHS Secretary, Markwayne Mullin altered the number a little by saying there was 250,00 illegal aliens registered to vote in four states. "Think of how many more we will find in the other 46 states," Mullin told the media on Friday. Senior CNN reporter Marshall Cohen described the sources who came up with that information as, "unreliable." It's a diplomatic way of saying the numbers are bullshit. 

Thursday night Trump identified the source of the number as the DHS. On Friday Mullin never specified how, or who obtained the numbers. Most agree the figures are wildly overstated. It is actually unclear at this time where Trump and Mullin came up with over a quarter million illegal voters although the main suspect is the Heritage Foundation--the same people who brought us Project 2025. More dependable researchers place the figure at around 28,000. (Quick, add 28,000 to 250,000 and see what you get.) The smaller number is spread out over 25 or so states and 30,000,000 plus legal voters. While both men's totals might be baffling to those who take a little time to poke around the internet, the four states mentioned by Mullin are not. They are California, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and New York. You know, two states Trump can't win and two which are core pieces of his 2020 election conspiracy fantasy.

To give Lawrence O'Donnell his due, part way through the speech Donald Trump did plea with voters to, "call their Senators," and urge them to pass the SAVE America Act immediately. Most analysts, however, are saying the real aim of the speech is to justify his objections to the results of the mid-terms if the republicans do take a solid beating. Many are predicting all sorts of unconstitutional responses to a massive loss, or honestly to any loss, of power by this President. According to them, Thursday night was Donald Trump's way of forewarning his plans and justifying them. 

Well, that's all probably true, but I tend to think his motive is simpler, although maybe more disturbing. That old man just can't let the 2020 loss to Biden go. He is emotionally and psychologically incapable of it. Deep down he has to prove and make everyone see, that Donald Trump has never lost and cannot lose. They all must know and understand he is the, True El Supremo. 

In short, I believe him to be utterly mad.

But hey, I'm a romantic.

7-19-26

Anticipating Der Fuhrer's Speech as ICE Runs Amok Again

 The President of the United States is going to speak to the nation tonight via television. Usually, nationally televised addresses by the President occur when there is some sort of crisis, or major policy announcement the administration wants to drive home. They have ranged from John Kennedy telling us there are Soviet ICBMs in Cuba, so there will be a U.S. naval blockade of the island, to Richard Nixon's I quit speech, to Barack Obama's we just killed bin Laden announcement. 

So, what will Donald J. Trump speak to the nation about tonight? Will it be the self-created miasma in Iran? A radical new plan to cut the ever-rising cost of living?  Will he tell us we are pulling out of NATO? Or maybe we're getting in deeper? 

Well, less than 12 hours before he hits the airwaves most analysts agree Donald Trump is going to talk about an election which took place over six years ago. That's right, he is still obsessed with his lie that the Biden Crime Syndicate, aka the democratic party, and nefarious foreign actors stole the presidency from him in 2020. The odds are he will also tell us that now, by God, he has the proof. Speculation is rife he will trot out, CIA chief John Radcliffe and temporary Director of National Intelligence and full-time head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte to back him up. 

Yes sur--this is a moment for some real gravitas. And who better to deliver it than two guys who are such toadies they'd give Trump public blowjobs if he demanded it of them. 

In reality Donald Trump is expected to produce some previously classified info that claims foreign powers such as China attempted to influence voters through social media posts and news releases. You know, like the Russians did in 2016 when they went public with the hacked Hillary Clinton emails.  At this hour most experts believe this nothing burger will be the full extent of Trump's, "proof," that the election was rigged. 

Although you never know. The man has had a year and a half to manufacture all sorts of evidence. For all we know he might have picked up a flash drive somewhere and filled it with all kinds of fanciful nonsense. I mean planting false evidence does sound right up his alley. 

The truth is this whole spectacle is designed to convince his base and other suckers the mid-term elections this fall are somehow riddled with cheating and voter fraud. Trump's attempts at voter exclusion have gone nowhere in the courts and Senate. If recent polls are even anywhere close, the House is on the cusp of flipping to a democratic majority. And while the GOP will probably hang on to the Senate (Thank you Graham Platner.) the margin will remain razor thin. 

 To Donald Trump, a would-be Fuhrer, such a situation will be intolerable. Creating doubt in the very foundation of democracy--free elections--is the best way to erode the Hoi polloi's faith in democracy. It might not be fascism per se but is very Adolfian in nature.  This evening he has promised us a big announcement which has remained unknown to the media and perhaps even most of his cabinet. Given the situation it could be anything from stationing armed troops at polling stations to declaring Georgia's two Senators, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff illegitimate. James Carville has warned that republicans might try to hang onto power by refusing to swear in new House members. (They did it before, just on a much smaller scale.) However, it's doubtful Trump would announce that sort of move tonight. It just isn't splashy enough for a man who is remaking the White House into his version of Versailles. 

It appears we will just have to wait and see. It won't be long now, whatever it is. And no, I don't have my, "The End is Near," sign nearby, but I do have a blank placard, a can of paint, and a brush ready.

Meanwhile, just to make sure we all remember what ethnic cleansing looks like, those rowdy guys at ICE were in the news again. First in Houston, TX they shot and killed, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. Araujo was a Mexican national who had lived in the U.S. for decades and owned his own homebuilding company. He had just picked up his construction crew and was headed to a work site when an unmarked SUV began chasing him. After he stopped the ICE agents shot Araujo through an open passenger window. They claimed Araujo tried to run them down with his van, which sounds a tad familiar these days. Videos of the incident don't show that happening however, which is also familiar to those who follow this gruesome shit. It was later revealed the ICE team was hunting for a different immigrant to deport.

Up in Maine a couple of days later ICE agents were also looking for someone else when they shot and killed, Duran Guerrero. Guerrero was a 25 year old Colombian who had obtained a Social Security card and was allowed to work in the U.S. He was on his way to his job, as a food delivery driver. When he was shot his three year old daughter was in the vehicle with him. ICE agents claimed he tried to flee after they stopped him and they gunned him down, in front of his child because he, "was a danger to the public." 

After the smoke cleared in both locales our man in the White House posted on social media, "We CANNOT give up one of ICE's most important and effective crime fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!"  

Ah yes, very Adolfian indeed.

7-16-26

The Gangs of Lake Arcadia Redux

 On May 3rd of this year a promotion company, of sorts, called crowd Control Entertainment sponsored a get together it called, Sunday Funday. The site of the event was Edmond, OK's Arcadia Lake, specifically the Scissortail campground, which features a large wooden pavilion. The host of the shindig, which according to the online ads would feature, "food, drinks, music, and good vibes," was a guy going by the stage name, DJ Drop It.

The city of Edmond's Park Department which in theory is in charge of the lake didn't know Sunday Funday was going to happen. Apparently, they weren't as in tune with the world of social media like the impresarios of Crowd Control Entertainment were. Because they had no clue the party was about to happen there weren't any restrictions on crowd size, alcohol consumption, and most importantly, there weren't any requirements for Crowd Control Entertainment to provide security personnel. So, seeing a way to improve the bottom line, they didn't.        

While it is unknown what the food, drink, and music were like the good vibes never made an appearance. As the media has reported, Sunday Funday quickly turned into the Oklahoma City metro's version of the Gunfight at the OK Corral. Over 20 people were injured, although the number may have been higher since some were reluctant to report injuries. One of those injured, Avianna Smith-Gray died on May 5th.  

This week, the local CBS affiliate, KWTV reported Edmond Police had arrested three more suspects in connection with the Arcadia Lake shootout. Makhi Magness, 19, Hezekiah Ricks, 20, and Omarion Gabriel, 20 were all charged. Magness was hit with, shooting with intent to kill, possession of a firearm during a violent felony incident, and other gang related charges--whatever that means. Ricks and Gabriel were both slapped with, accessory to first degree murder. That brings the total number of people charged in the shooting to nine. 

From the very start of their coverage OKC media outlets have been reporting the Arcadia Lake violence was gang related. However, after witnesses claimed the whole nightmare began when two young women in the crowd got into a fistfight, to some, including myself. felt a gang vs gang battle seemed a bit of a convenient stretch--just an easy way to categorize a spur of the moment drunken brawl turned deadly shootout at an unsupervised event. 

Now though, things are starting to lean away from spontaneous combustion to something darker. According to KWTV Edmond police did some searching of Makhi Magness' social media accounts. Among other things investigators are saying they found a post from Magness time stamped hours before the shootings began. It read, "Let's bump guns today, it's gone be nkaps at Lake Hefner an I got ride."  Someone unidentified responded, "okk hefner or arcadia." Magness, who uses the street moniker, M7, responded, "Arcadia." (For those thinking I had a small stroke right then, all the spelling and syntax are theirs.) 

While I'm not completely sure of the literal translation of that, it does sound as if Makhi Magness was planning for trouble at Scissortail Campground. Edmond police certainly believe it.  They say exactly that in the written affidavit included with the criminal charges. 

It didn't take long after the shooting for Hezekiah Ricks to prove that like M7 he isn't exactly a Professor Moriarty either. A mere 20 minutes after the smoke began to clear, he posted a message on a group chat thread claiming he had the gun used by Daviion Wycoff that night. He also said he had Wycoff's blood on him. (Wycoff is also one of the nine charged in the shooting.) To prove it police say Ricks posted a photo of his hand with blood on it and later images of the weapon. On May 8th police say Ricks and Gabriel had a little online chat about moving the weapon from one spot to another. 

In addition to Magness, Ricks, Gabriel, and Wycoff--who is charged with first degree murder, the list of those popped by the Edmond Police includes one unnamed juvenile. Then there is Jaylan Davis, first degree murder, Breeon Mortonn, accessory to a felony, Trinity Brown, assault with a deadly weapon, and Marcus Jones, accessory to murder. 

The entity known as Crowd Management Entertainment has, for obvious reasons, disappeared. The headliner that night, DJ Drop It has a Facebook account which maintains he was, "a victim too." It is unclear if he was being literal or speaking strictly in the metaphorical sense. 

Meanwhile the authorities say they believe even more people were involved. They are still soliciting help from the public for additional information.  Although, to be honest, given the level of criminal sophistication being displayed around here lately, all they really need to do is visit different social media sites every so often. I mean, for God's sake, these gruesome clowns not only can't keep their mouths shut, but it looks like they don't even understand that when you commit a crime, any crime, one of the goals is not to get fucking caught.  

Indeed. Makhi Magness also wrote in one post to his mother, "...at least Yk your raised a shooter..." Unfortunately for us all, especially Avianna Smith-Gray, is that what M7's mother didn't do is raise a genius.   

7-12-26

The Massacre in Seattle, Folarin Balogun Makes Trump's Short List, and How the President's Brain Works

It was a disaster of epic proportions. Within a few minutes of the opening kickoff last night, the U.S..-Belgium soccer match went from the Battle in Seattle to the World Cup's version of Custer at the Little Big Horn. The onslaught was immediate and overwhelming. Even when the U.S. managed to briefly tie the game 1-1 (the tie lasted for about two minutes of playing time) it felt like the ceiling was giving way. 

The final was 4-1, which is pretty much the American football equivalent to getting your ass kicked 42-7. 

Analysts, almost exclusively American, blamed the loss on a series of costly mistakes made by the U.S. team. The reality however, is that the Belgians, at least light night, had a vastly superior team. The U.S. could have trotted David fucking Beckham in his prime out there and they would have still lost. 

Actually, they did put someone unexpected onto the pitch. The best U.S. player in the tournament, Folarin Balogun had been suspended for last night's match after he received a red card during the U.S. win over Bosnia-Herzegovina. Then President Donald J. Trump made a phone call to FIFA head honcho, Gianni Infantino.

What happened next depended on who was talking. Infantino hasn't commented at all. United States Senator, Ted Cruz (R-TX) publicly thanked Trump for getting Balogun's red card removed so he could play last night. Trump himself claimed he only asked Infantino to review the play involved since in his opinion, "It wasn't a foul." (He knew this because Trump is such an accomplished student of the game and FIFA rules, just ask him.) The Belgians and others screamed the fix was in. Despite Trump's claim, the affair did feel a little sketchy, especially when the media reminded everyone FIFA had just rented space for offices in Trump Tower. 

In truth, yes, the red card call was questionable, and the foul, if there was one, did appear accidental not intentional. But no, the President of the United States should not have called the head of FIFA to complain about it. Sometimes bad calls are just part of the breaks in sports. Besides, doesn't the supposed leader of the free world have more important things to do?     

In order to put a lid on the controversy Infantino did say the decision could not be appealed, no matter how loudly Belgium protested. The result was two-fold. First, Balogun played. Second, it really, really, pissed off the Belgian team. One former U.S. player said the Belgians came out mad with something to prove.  

And they did. Even 67,000 American fans and their relentless renditions of that quasi fascist chant, USA, USA, USA couldn't stem the tide. The U.S. team was doomed. 

Now comes the weird part. In 2001, Folarin Balogun's parents, who were both born in Nigeria, but living in the UK, came to visit the good old US of A. When they tried to return to the U.K. after their trip, she was so far along in her pregnancy the airline was afraid she would deliver the baby somewhere over the Atlantic. They refused to let her board the plane. The child, future U.S. soccer star, Folarin was born in Brooklyn a little later. Thanks to the 14th amendment to the Constitution, because he was born on American soil, he automatically became an American citizen. Yes, just as much of one as Stephen Miller.

It's called--the term has been in the news a lot lately--Birthright Citizenship. After mom and child were deemed healthy enough, some reports say seven weeks later, they flew back to the U.K. where they have lived ever since. However, because he has never formally renounced his U.S. birthright citizenship, Folarin Balogun remains an American citizen and was eligible to play on team U.S.A. 

That's right, Donald Trump just intervened, one way or another, on behalf of a guy who is here only because of a Constitutional amendment the President desperately wants to get rid of says he can. 

It is unclear which word, irony or hypocrisy, is more applicable at this moment. However, if Trump does manage to void the 14th amendment, now that the U.S. has been unceremoniously eliminated, there can be little doubt Folarin Balogun's name will be on the short list of the people Trump wants to, let's say de-citizeniize. You can almost hear him saying something like, I did the guy a favor and look how he repaid me.

Knowing Donald Trump as we do it is easy to speculate he was interested in the outcome of the World Cup for only one reason. In his own twisted mind, a United States win in a men's World Cup tournament, America's first, would somehow enhance his own greatness. That's right baby, when I was President the United State men were the best in the world and I helped. The odds are better than 50-50 he even envisioned that trophy sitting in his gilded Oval Office somewhere, then later at home on the mantle. Hells bells, it wouldn't be surprising if even now he didn't try to con the winning team into giving it to him. 

It is, after all, how his brain works.

7-7-26

July 3rd, 2026: Happy, Happy, Happy Donald and Busting Notorious Nuns

 Thanks to the fans of various World Cup teams the United States has been in party mode for weeks now. Most notably, the Scots roared into Boston and drank the town out of beer--a feat which many considered impossible. While the Tartan Army is gone now, others remain and will contribute to the mood of the nation tomorrow when the republic celebrates the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. (Just a side note here: despite all the paintings, musicals, and weird evangelical fantasies, no, not everyone who signed it did so that day and no, Jesus did not make an appearance, spectral or otherwise to bless the event.)

Mythology aside, the American Declaration of Independence was then and is now the most revolutionary document ever written and endorsed. Every man in that Continental Congress was, if you were British, committing high treason and faced a death sentence. Luckily for them the Americans, with more help from the French than we will ever admit to, won. Ever since then on the 4th of July, Americans have been, as the Duck Dynasty dude says, "Happy, happy, happy." 

The happiest of us all during all the festivities should be the President himself, Donald John Trump. (Oh come on, you knew I would get to him eventually.) Recent reports indicate Mr. Trump's wealth has increased by $3 billion since his second inauguration. When asked about it the other day, Trump replied that yes, he was getting richer thanks to the stock market where he has millions invested. He claimed everyone is. He went so far as to tell the journalist to check her 401K account, then said it had gone up by 85% thanks to the robust stock market his policies have created. His parting shot was a sarcastic, "Thank you, Mr. Trump." 

Now, while I don't have a 401K and never had one, my wife does. When she heard Trump's statement her first comment was something along the lines of, "Bullshit. If mine had gone up that much, I'd retire right now." 

Others were quick to point out, Donald Trump was flat out lying. The dramatic increase in his wealth had little to do with the stock market. It was almost exclusively due to investments by a murky band of super rich Americans and foreign Pooh-bahs in his crypto business dealings. (All of which feel distinctly like a grift of such profoundly epic proportions it makes Bernie Madoff look like some two-bit street hustler.) 

No other President in the history of the United States has ever pulled something like this. Some of them might have wanted to--Dick Nixon comes to mind--but all of them actually knew what the Constitution of the United States has to say about shit like this.  Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 of the Constitution limits the President's income to his fixed salary of $400,000 a year. It strictly prohibits the President from receiving any other emolument (payments from the federal or state governments. Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8, prohibits the President from "any gift, payment, or title from a foreign state without the consent of Congress."  Foreign states are further defined as, "national governments, government owned companies, sovereign wealth funds, and regional authorities."  Later Congress passed the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act which limits the value of gifts to a President from foreign governments to $525 or less. 

Oops. How much did that Boeing 747-8 gifted to Trump by Qatar cost again? You know, the one he insists he will keep after he leaves office. 

The out for our boy, Don, and there always is one, is that the Constitution didn't make violations of the emolument's acts crimes. And even though the online site, Copilot Search notes violations can lead to, "legal challenges, political fallout, and possible impeachment, we know Donald Trump doesn't give a rat's ass about the first two consequences and considers himself immune from the third. Although it might help explain why he is so obsessed with keeping everybody he can away from voting booths this fall. 

Meanwhile, in its never-ending campaign to make America safe (not to mention whiter) Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents busted one of the worst of the worst last Sunday. ICE detained the notorious Nigerian born, Sister Letticia Ugboaja while she was walking to Sunday Mass, dressed in her religious habit. Sister Letty, as she is called, is a registered nurse who not only serves in her McAllen, TX church, Our Lady of Sorrows, but is also works for South Texas Health System. 

After her church published the news of her detention--handcuffs and all--on social media, members of Congress from both sides of the aisle intervened to get her released. So far as anyone knows ICE hasn't offered an excuse, or apology for the nun's arrest. Hey, who says America is getting soft?

So here we are America. On the eve of the nation's 250th birthday. The President and his pals, both domestic and foreign are getting richer and our law enforcement is busting nuns. You have to think the guys who signed the Declaration of Independence didn't quite envision the nation this way. You can never know for sure though. After all, the same guy who wrote the words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..." bought and sold human beings like they were nothing more than farm tools. 

Well, we've never been perfect, or even close to it. However, it does feel like Donald Trump and his crowd have now pushed us dangerously close to something irreversible--the belief that arrogant corruption and brutality are not only normal, but the ideal--The Real American Way.      

7-3-26

Eating and Being Eaten by the Bear

 Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

According to the online site, Quote Investigator, that isn't exactly what Emerson wrote in an 1870 essay about early man hunting with a sharpened stick. However, that's what the transcendentalist's words have morphed into in the modern vernacular. And they pretty much describe what happened yesterday and this morning when it came to Donald J. Trump and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Yes, in many ways the last 36 hours, or so have been weird, almost schizoid even by the standards of this court. How else do you describe a decision that gives the President unpreceded power to fire members of governmental regulatory boards simply because they make rulings he doesn't like. The very purpose of these boards, like the Federal Trade Commission and others are to be able make rulings free of political pressure and threats. Now, a President, like Trump, can replace board members with any political hack he likes. One analyst put it this way, "It's like the umpire is an employee of one team playing and can be fired anytime that team doesn't like the call."  Donald Trump called the decision a restoration of exertive power, which is, of course absolute bullshit. Over the years, as these different boards and commissions created by Congress, no President has ever had the power to fire members without cause. 

Which brings us to the weird part, At the same time the court ruled the Federal Reserve Board of Governors is the one exception to the rule. Specifically, Trump couldn't fire Federal Reserve Governor, Lisa Cook, who didn't agree with Trump about lowering interest rates--and happened to be a black woman. The Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte had pulled an accusation of mortgage fraud against Cook out of a hat--a move which impressed Trump so much he made Pulte the temporary Director of National Intelligence just in time for the midterms. The unproven accusation gave Trump the excuse he wanted to fire Cook. But now, the Supremes say, Cook wasn't afforded due process, so she can't be touched.

The major blow to Trump, however, came when SCOTUS upheld a Mississippi law that allows mail-in ballots that are delivered after election day to be counted. According to our man in the Oval Office this allows those evil democrats to not only delay the results but rig the outcomes. He doesn't have any proof of that happening--ever--but he is convinced of it. (How else could I ever lose?)  It also throws a wrench into his plan to foul up the midterms through the postal service's delivery process.

Of course, my favorite Supreme Court ruling yesterday wasn't a ruling at all, it was their refusal to even consider Trump's appeal of the E. Jean Carroll lawsuit. Carroll had taken El Donald to court twice, once receiving a $5 million settlement. The second time around she hooked him for $85 plus million. This case involved the $5 million judgement. By refusing to hear it, Donald Trump is now out of options and appeals. He owes the writer five big ones, no ifs ands or buts. Get out the old checkbook, Donnie and please, no crypto currency. This is a cash only transaction. 

This morning started well for Trump. The court ruled the states--not the feds, as Trump ultimately wants--can ban men and boys who have transitioned to women from playing women's sports. The issue has become a major MAGA rallying cry, mainly because everything else they're doing so is so reprehensible they'd rather not talk about any of it. This little slice of culture war feels like a winner to them. Although lately Trump has also decided New York democratic socialists are another. ("They are really communists and they are a greater danger to our country than the attack on Pearl Harbor.") 

Meanwhile, for many of us old time democrats the whole transgender/sports thing is a non-issue. No, women, who were born men, should not be playing against biological women. And honestly, any democrat who is willing to defend that particular hill is politically suicidal and not worth serious consideration.           

Seemingly within minutes of the whole biologically born men in women sports ruling, the president found out at last that one of his executive orders cannot change what the Constitution says or means. No matter what fanciful the interpretations might be, no matter how the times have changed, the words in the Constitution cannot be rendered void by Presidential decree. The 14th amendment remains sacrosanct.  If you are born in the United States, you are a citizen of the United States. The only way to change it is to amend the Constitution or by passing some tortuously worded bill through Congress.

It didn't take long for Donald Trump to advocate just that. Not long after the decision was announced he wrote, in part, on social media, "Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship. They will have my complete and total Support!"

We bet they do, Brother Don. However, you'd better get Big Bill Pulte to work in a hurry. November is edging closer and then, trust me, you are going to run into another bear. 

6-30-26