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

Donald Gets What He Wants Before Americans Get What They Need

 Earlier this week the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate did something that many, in this age of hyper-partisanship, thought had become impossible. Both major U.S. political parties got together to sponsor a bill, then passed it. The bill, titled, the 21st Century Road to Housing Act was sponsored in the House by Maxine Waters, D-CA, Mike Flood, R-NE, and Emmanuel Cleaver, D-MO. It was introduced by French Hill, R-AR. On the Senate side Tim Scott, R-SC and Elizabeth Warren, D-MA were key contributors. The bill, designed to help Americans find and maintain affordable housing, passed the House 358 to 32. Over in the Senate it won, 85 to 5. 

So, break out the bubbly, streamers, and ballons, right? Congress finally got together to work for the good of the American people! What could possibly go wrong?

Well, how about that aging pile of Cheez Whiz named Donald John Trump?

Yes, the man who promised the republic he would lower the cost of everything almost immediately--then did everything he could to raise them--refused to sign the bill. (He couldn't veto it, the votes were there to override a veto which his ego could never take. Not to mention his absolute contempt for average Americans would have been fully exposed. Trump always prefers his cruelty to come with an excuse the rubes will buy.)

After the bill passed the President took to social media--where else--and announced, "Today's Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT"

That's right, unless I get what I want--in this case virtually no mail in voting, photo id's at polls, and a dark labyrinth of voter registration regulations--everyone gets screwed. When one GOP hack was asked about Trump's petulant snit fit with consequences on CNN his response was, "This is the President's way of negotiating." 

Luckily for us, Trump's way of negotiating doesn't have the best track record. (Check out what the Iranians are saying and doing today.) According to law, a bill passed by both houses becomes law in 10 days--not counting Sundays--with, or without the President's signature. However, as we all know, Donald Trump considers laws more suggestions and guidelines which really don't apply to him. Hell, some of his shysters even went to the Supreme Court to argue the Constitution doesn't really mean what it says right there in black and white, because it inconveniences their boss. Given this attitude, there can be little doubt he has a cadre of lawyers, probably DOJ types, already working to somehow get around this one., or at least hang it up in the courts for as long as possible.

Meanwhile the U.S. Postal Service is moving to comply with a Trump executive order signed earlier this year. It commands the post office not to deliver ballots in states which have refused to hand over voter rolls to the Trump administration. It isn't just a coincidence that most of the states who haven't are controlled by democrats and many rely heavily on mail in voting. Despite his own preference to mail his voles in, Donald Trump is insistent democratic controlled states use mail in ballots in order to commit fraud--to rig the elections against him and his hand-picked toadies. He has said more than once, the only way democrats can win elections is by cheating. 

All of this tends to confirm what Maggie Haberman and Johnathan Swan wrote in their book, "Regime Change." In it, they contend Donald Trump no longer pays attention to polls, or cares about them. One CNN analyst put it another way: Donald Trump isn't trying to expand his base, because he doesn't think he has to. He believes he can win through manipulating the voting laws. 

Today a CNN poll says the American electorate's most pressing concerns are 1, rising healthcare costs and 2, the rising costs of housing. (Gas prices, even though easiest to see, are fourth or fifth on the list.) In nearly six years of attacking and chipping away at the Affordable Care Act the Trump bunch has yet to propose anything remotely workable, let alone affordable to replace it. Now, thanks to his obsession with altering the outcome of the midterm elections, he is willing to jam up cost of housing relief.  According to that poll, Trump's approval ratings on both healthcare and housing are so far underwater the man is in desperate need of SCUBA gear.  

Haberman and Swan are right.

And we can all see what is coming down the road in November. If Donald Trump's voting schemes fail and there is in fact a Blue Wave this fall, he is going to scream fraud to high heaven. The problem we all face when that happens is, what will he actually do about it? After all, the man is fucking nuts and now no one around him has the guts to tell him no.   

Just ask the people who have tried.

6-26-26

Searching for Immortality, Gold, and Glory in Stone and History

 According to the new book by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan top Trump administration and DOJ officials met in White House situation room at least twice in order to come up with a damage control plan in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Titled, "Regime Change; Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," the expose' reveals the President, while the topic of the discussion, wasn't in the room either time. When asked why, last night, Haberman explained, "Because he doesn't like talking about it." 

 Actually, there a a few things Donald Trump doesn't like talking about these days. It's why Swan said, "If you don't pin him down, no matter what the question he will give you 20 minutes on the reflecting pond. Everything is geared to deflect and divert." When asked how Trump gets away with it, they both said, in effect, because the White House press corps has been whittled down and is now manned, almost exclusively, by reporters who are sympathetic to, that's right, Donald J. Trump. 

No doubt, the current President finds life much easier and more convenient that way. Unfortunately, that isn't how this democracy is supposed to operate. Although, as stated last night, right now Trump is obsessed not with democracy and how it works, but rather leaving his distinctive mark on the nation and world. 

Both Haberman and Swan painted a disturbing picture of a man steeped in delusion and ego who seeks raw power without any sense of morality. The prime example being, when they last met him a couple of months ago for a fact checking interview. He produced a two-page paper, "written by a historian." It described him as the most powerful man in the history of the world. More powerful than a list of ruthless dictators and conquerors ranging from Stalin and Mao to Hitler and from Genghis Khan to Napolean among others. Trump didn't care what they did. All he was interested in was their acquisition and use of power. 

Trump told the pair he had met the historian at an event honoring hall of fame pro golfer, Gary Player. Since neither of them had ever heard of the guy, Swan did some research on him. He found the, "historian's," academic credentials were a tad questionable. It turned out the man was Player's long time golf caddy.  

When Benjiman Netanyahu came to Washington to pitch his idea for a war with Iran, according to Swan and Haberman most the people in the situation room weren't buying it. It's unclear how strongly they objected though, since the reporters maintain, Trump has an almost, "mystical hold," over his staff and cabinet. (They've seen him get away Scot free so many times--he tried to overthrow the government for God's sake--then watched him easily win the 2024 election. By now they believe he can pull off anything.) Despite this, the reporters say the consensus in the room was Netanyahu's hard sell was full of holes and bullshit. Trump, however, emboldened by the success of the adventure in Venezuela, "had a hunch," that after a massive first strike, the government in Iran would crumble. 

Yes, according to the two New York Times reporters, the United States went to war in Iran because Donald J. Trump had a fucking hunch it would be over quickly. 

That certainly worked out well, didn't it?  Thousands of Iranians and 13 U.S. service members are dead and only God knows how many are wounded. Vice President J.D. Vance, who apparently opposed the start of the war to begin with, has been sent overseas multiple times to try to clean up the mess. Some reports say it is Trump's way of punishing Vance for his opposition.  The truth is probably closer to the reason Trump wasn't in the room during the Epstein strategy meetings--he doesn't like talking about it.

The original memorandum of understanding, which Trump broke within 24 hours--both sides had agreed not to threaten each other with military force--appears to have granted Iran pretty much everything Trump said he'd never allow. It includes proposals that allow Iran access to scads of cash and leaves what remains of their ballistic missile arsenal intact. It also allows Iran to keep some of their nuclear material for peaceful purposes with the caveat of international inspections.  Does that sound familiar? It should, it is exactly the same deal Obama got during his Presidency, only without all the war and death shit. For those with selective memories, Trump had torn up that agreement during his first term. As late as last week he claimed the Iranians laughed at Obama and called him, "stupid son of a bitch," for making the deal that included a massive cash payout. 

To say American negotiating strategy felt like a Second City improve bit is understating things.  The Vice President told the media the U.S. delegation had tried to reach the nuclear inspectors by phone, but because it was 2AM when the calls were made none of them picked up. In addition, Vance assured the press that much of the cash handed over to the Iranians would be used to buy various grains and soy products grown by American farmers. The VP made sure everyone knew a very Trumpian deal was taking shape.    

None of this surreal nonsense has pleased republican hawks in congress and elsewhere. Louisiana GOP Senator, John Kenedy put it this way, "Unless you were homeschooled by a day drinker no one's confident that Iran is going to do anything."  At least one Fox talking head urged Trump to get personally involved in the talks. He also fumed about Vance's performance, at one point saying he should be fired. Of course, the only problem with that is the Vice President of the United States can't be fired, not by the President, or even Rupert by God Murdoch. Once elected the VP can only be impeached or politically exiled to the Senate, or by being sent on trips to places like, Burgenstock, Switzerland for increasingly incomprehensible diplomatic meetings.          

Haberman and Swan both insist that unlike in his first term, Donald Trump no longer reacts to or even cares about polls. He is that far gone in his search for immortality, gold, and glory, in stone, his bank account, and a well-crafted history--even if that history is written by a golf caddy.  

And just think, there are two and a half more years of this growing madness to go. Sleep well tonight, America. 

6-23-26

Temporarily Embarrassed in Oklahoma

 Socialism never took root in Ameriica because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.

Ronald Wright

And so it was yesterday here in Oklahoma. Yesterday the state held its primary elections. Oklahoma has a closed primary, meaning when it comes state offices and Congressional seats democrats can only vote for democratic hopefuls, republicans can only vote for republicans, and independents can stay home until November. That was the case yesterday with one exception. 

State Question 832 was on a sperate ballot handed to both democrats and republicans. In addition, if independents wanted, they could vote on this single issue. Unless you are Elon Musk or the ghost of John D. Rockefeller SQ 832 cannot be considered a prime slice of socialism. It didn't guarantee medical care, and it certainly wasn't designed to provide state sponsored affordable housing. If passed the question would have raised the state's minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour. Not all at once, but through smaller increases spread out over three years. 

It was rejected 55.4% to 44.6%, proving Ronald Wright's assessment is still dead-on target. Further proof is provided by looking at county by county results. State Question 832 passed in the states three most populous counties and arguably richest. The measure carried in Oklahoma, Cleveland, and Tulsa counties. It came reasonably close in Commanche County, home to Lawton, the state's largest town not in either the Tulsa or OKC metro areas. In the 74 remaining counties, the losses were staggering. From McCurtain County in the southeastern corner--72.6% no, to Beaver County in the panhandle--85.3% no. In Garfield County up north--70.2% no, and in Bryan County in the south--62.2% no.  

Such is the fate of any idea, or candidate considered even faintly progressive in a statewide election in Oklahoma. 

Meanwhile, on the GOP side of things were only slightly less depressing. The republican gubernatorial primary saw five different candidates spending wads of cash and getting a lot of help from sources unknown. Gertner Drummond, brother-in-law to the Food Network celebrity, Ree Drummond (aka the Pioneer Woman) barely edged out Mike Mazzei, who was endorsed by Donald by God Trump himself. Both candidates had been frequently and savagely attacked in TV ads paid for by dark money groups. Mazzei, especially despite the endorsement, was accused by anonymous people of being some sort of democratic mole who was a secret supporter of Hillary Clinton. (Yes, the mere mention of her name still drives MAGA types into fits of uncontrollable rage.) 

Mazzei and Drummond each received a little over 26% of the votes cast, forcing a runoff later this year. Chip Keating, the son of former Governor, Frank Keating, who had promised to build a world class multi bazillion dollar energy research center named after Trump, won a little over 18%.    

In the end, all five of these clowns repeatedly pledged allegiance to the Holy Fat Man, although interestingly, it was the two candidates who were the most restrained about it who will face each other in the runoffs. The other three, who used dark money in repeated character and political attack ads are going home to figure out what went wrong. 

Finally, in Oklahoma's 5th Congressional District, iron worker and union man, Trey Martin faced off against educator, Jena Nelson in the democratic primary. Martin apparently had some semi-serious labor money backing him. His TV spots were more frequent and every time I opened my mailbox there was one of his mailers. He even had what identified itself as the League of Labor Voters manning phone banks, calling registered democrats in the district. Actually, the guy had me at the first mailer I saw. I mean any politician in Oklahoma who has the incredible audacity to boast about his union activism and an endorsement by Senator Bernie Sandders, is my kind of crazy.  

Unfortunately, my kind of crazy hardly ever wins. Nelson, who ran a low-key campaign in comparison won with 56.7% of the vote. She will now face the republican incumbent, Stephanie Bice in November. The Oklahoma 5th District is the last congressional district that was won by a democrat, however thanks to some, let's say, creative boundary drawing by republicans it is still a tough nut to crack. 

The truth is, while there might be a blue wave in other locales this November, Oklahoma will remain a bright red rock with no signs of erosion. That's because in Oklahoma, even though not all of the nearly two and a half million voters consider themselves, "temporarily embarrassed millionaires," far too many do and always will. 

6-17-26

All-Day, All-Night Donnie John

 We will probably never learn what is contained in the witches' brew of pharmaceuticals Donald Trump uses to keep himself up all night. It's probably safe to assume meth amphetamines aren't included since one of the chief side effects of meth is weight loss, something our man in the White House has never been afflicted with. If yesterday and early today proved anything, whatever the unholy concoction is, it works. 

After last night's gladiatorial festival held at the White House, within two hours of the last fight, Trump hit the road to Geneva. He arrived there this morning to attend the G-7 conference and possibly personally sign a peace deal with Iran which is scheduled for Friday. The bloodletting on the south lawn didn't end until a little after one am. However, the President, still pumped from all the violence held in honor of Flag Day and not coincidently his 80th birthday--and no doubt those mysterious drugs--continued posting on social media all through the early morning hours.  

Most had to do with the fight itself. One read, "The weather was supposed to be horrendous, and it turned out PERFECT! So much for weather predicting." Of course, El Don can't tell the whole truth to save his life. One of the reasons the fights ran well past midnight was because bad weather delayed their start for 45 minutes. When it came to the combat itself, the President wrote, "Most people have never seen anything like that kind of human power and speed before. The White House never looked more beautiful." 

One supposes a huge industrial steel arc of lighting, tiers of temporary seating, and a canvas covered stage surrounded by cyclone fencing can be considered beautiful. Others, however, might think the entire scene a crudely offensive affront to both Presidential and national dignity. But hey, as the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 

Meanwhile, Trump's long awaited peace deal was announced. At least that it is being billed as. No one is quite sure what is in it because the details haven't been released to the media. In fact, the President and Vice President made sperate statements which differed on details just enough it made the situation a tad murky. 

The morning Mr. Trump told everyone ships were beginning to move through the Strait of Hormuz, although it isn't clear if it has been completely swept clean of Iranian mines. The Donald made the announcement with all the pride of a conquering hero. This didn't deter some cynics from pointing out the strait was closed only because of Trump and Netanyahu's war in the first place. Others were quick to remark on rumors that the agreement included freeing up around $300 million in Iranian cash assets which had been frozen. If true, it put the administration in the position of having to send all that cash back to Iran, just like the Obama administration did over a decade ago--something Trump has repeatedly condemned Obama for doing.  

While irony is certainly not Donald Trump's strong suit, he is quite accomplished at hypocrisy. Both tend to go hand in hand when he is involved. 

Yes, we will simply have to wait until Friday to actually see what is exactly on paper. Or not. By then the whole thing might fall apart thanks to Netanyahu's continued attacks in Lebanon. Israeli politicians on both his left and right are all over him because of the agreement and he desperately needs the war to continue in order to keep him out of a courtroom and quite possibly jail. 

Indeed, it would seem both he and Donald Trump made major errors months ago when the war began. Trump trusted the Israeli Prime Minister and Netanyahu never dreamed Trump would call it quits so quickly. Not to mention neither man even considered the Iranians might close the Strait. (Even if Netanyahu did, he'd never let Trump in on it.)

But back to Trump's late night posting adventures. Recently a person on YouTube with a channel titled, Ask AI loaded over 32,000 of Trump's social media posts into Anthropic's AI program, Claude. It was asked to analyze the President's language, behavior, and personality. Claude wasn't told anything about Trump's job, politics, or personality. What Claude found was that no matter what the topic, Donald Trump most frequently put himself at the center of events, no matter what. Also, roughly one in 11 of all those posts were filled with self-praise. Additionally, Claude found El Donald frequently described himself as both the victim of unfair treatment and a triumphant winner at the same time. 

Which might explain a post early this morning which had nothing to do with fight night at the White House. It read, "Dumocrats want FISA (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) because that's what they used to go after me for three years during my First Term. I'm against FISA if it doesn't come with The Save America Act (FULL version) firmly attached to it. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" He then highlighted the provisions of the Save America Act, which, among other things, forces voters to present photo ID's and proof of citizenship, plus severely restricts mail in ballots.   In other words, despite his, "victimhood," Donald Trump is willing to fund FISA in order to make it harder for Americans to vote.  

Who says Donald Trump doesn't understand self-sacrifice? His Truth Social account didn't go quiet until around 4am. He arrived in Switzerland between 9 am and 10am EDT. 

That's right, baby. Better living through chemistry.

6-15-26

Donald Trump: An Interview, a Basketball Game and Finally Back to His Sort of People

 Even though it is only Wednesday it has already been quite a week for our man in the White House, Donald J. Trump. On Sunday he appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," for an interview with journalist, Kristen Welker. They sat down together somewhere in Wisconsin on a farm. The building had a solid roof without any leaks but also had very little insulation. When heavy rain came and went both Welker and Trump had to raise their voices considerably to be heard over the noise. Whether that was a factor in what happened during the interview is up for speculation. 

What we do know is that in the long history of Donald Trump's unhinged rants what we saw Sunday was quite possibly his most off the rails performance to date. In fact, off the rails doesn't really do it justice. Maybe we should go with off a cliff. How else can you describe it when the President of the United States tells the journalist interviewing him, "You're either crooked or stupid." 

That's our Donald alright. When challenged, especially by a female, he comes back hard. The extended rant and abrupt end of the interview--Trump stormed out--led at least one wag to say that while Trump still likes the title of President, he no longer wants the duties of the office. He'd prefer to attend sporting events and plan grand memorials to himself. While we can't be sure of that, Sunday's interview showed us he is a man who has run completely out of patience. Out of patience with a war he started but can't finish. There wasn't a plan B because he couldn't conceive he would need one. Now, because the Iranians didn't cave in, every time he opens another door to end it, he finds a crouching tiger. Out of patience with an increasingly disillusioned electorate. Out of patience with the rising costs of everything. (It's tough to gaslight people when they are the ones buying groceries every week.) And certainly, out of patience with all these fucking questions. (Why won't these people just believe me anymore?)

It has been my personal belief Donald Trump's somewhat tenuous grip on reality truly started to slide away on election night, 2020. By early January 2021 we saw the first real manifestation of the insanity. A lot of people had told him no. His brain simply couldn't handle it. The lie about the election results became an all-consuming obsession. So much so, you could probably strap the old coot into a lie detector right now and he would pass it. Indeed, after all the questions about the war that isn't a war and the economy, the brakes on the crazy train didn't completely fail until Kristen Welker kept insisting there was no proof any election, including the most recent one in California, had been rigged. 

when reminded no evidence had ever been presented in court, the President of the United States responded, "You have more evidence, there's more evidence than ever presented." To quote the TV character, Amy Farah Fowler, "It's hard to argue with street smarts like that." 

Moments later, after a few more insults ("Your elections are crooked and you're crooked and Meet the Press is crooked.) Donald Trump stormed off the set as Kristen Welker whined, "But I flew all the way to Wisconsin to interview you."

Not to worry though. Donald Trump resurfaced on Monday in New York City. He was there to watch the New York Knicks play the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA finals. 

To put this in a little historical perspective, the Knicks haven't appeared so therefore haven't hosted a finals game since 1999. The last time they won a championship since 1973. To say tickets to the game on Monday were the hottest thing in town was an understatement of epic proportions. Now, in comes Donald Trump, who moved out of New York years ago and quite honestly hasn't had anything nice to say about it since. In addition, unlike Barack Obama he has rarely if ever shown any interest in the sport.  

Because of security concerns a Knick's street/watch party outside of Madison Square Garden was cancelled, denying fans without tickets a chance to get in on the action even if from the periphery. Then Garden officials announced security to get in the building would be so tight, fans should arrive two hours prior to the tipoff. Finally, thanks to Trump's caravan, traffic in Manhattan, especially around Madison Square Garden was snarled for hours. 

When Trump and his party showed up in a private box, the whole bunch was roundly booed. The general consensus was the boos were equally divided between those who don't like Trump's politics and others who were simply pissed off at the inconvenience his presence caused. Long time Knicks super fan and film director, Spike Lee arrived wearing a Knicks jersey with the name, Pope Leo, across the back. ESPN personality, Stephen A. Smith, who is normally friendlier to Trump than many on the network said his attendance was, "Selfish and narcissistic."

Proving Smith was right, multiple reports say Donald Trump, while attending the biggest New York Knicks game in 27 years fell asleep during the middle of it. The game itself was a barn burner 115-111 loss for New York, their first since April. The next day, Knicks fans everywhere demanded Trump be banned from the Garden and all future Knicks playoff games. As one pointed out, "we won the first two. The only thing that changed was he was there." Game four is tonight. As far as anyone knows, Donald Trump won't be in the Garden.

Yes, the Master of Madness and Chaos has moved on. He is, no doubt, back in Washington preparing to appear at the super-duper display of muscle, sweat and violence the UFC fights promise to deliver on Sunday. One assumes this crowd won't boo him since it is restricted to military guests, donors, and fans of, not the New York Knicks, but Donald John Trump. 

You know, the sort of crowd he likes best. People who won't try his patience with any questions. 

(For those interested in double talk, half-truths, outright lies, and insanity, the entire transcript of the Kristen Welker-Donald Trump interview is available online thanks to the NBC News website.) 

6-10-26

Bill Pulte is the Man Who Will Figure it Out

 The office of the Director of National Intelligence didn't exist until after the horrors of 9/11, 2001. When the pre-attack intelligence was finally analyzed, it was found there were clues something was up well before the disaster. The most glaring of which was a report that a handful of Saudi nationals were learning how to fly commercial sized jets but showed no interest in being taught how to land them. 

The problem was that this ominous indicator, and others were spread out over various U. S. intel services and at the time there was no single person, or department who saw them all in detail. In other words, there wasn't anybody in charge of piecing together the puzzle. The answer was to create a clearing house, as it were, for all the different departments and agencies to send their findings to for analysis. The Director of National Intelligence and his, or her staff boils it all down, then through meetings and daily reports tells the President on what is going on and advises him what actions he might take or consider taking. 

As one can imagine, with all this different information flooding into one office the Director, whoever he, or she is, needs to have a good deal of intelligence and security experience. In fact, it says just that in the job description that was written by the Congress which authorized the office. In short, anyone who wants the position has to know the business. 

Well, at least until Bill Pulte came along. 

Brother Pulte graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in broadcast journalism. After graduating, he interned with Huron Capital Partners and later worked for Penske Capital Partners. He then started his own company--with a lot of help from his grandfather--Pulte Capital. It became wildly successful within a couple of years. So much so, Forbes Magazine named to their 30 under 30 list.     

Despite the success the rest of the board of directors considered him a pain in the ass ego maniac. Not long after Pulte's grandfather died, the board gave him the heave ho. In 2019 he became chums with Donald J. Trump. By 2024 he was what you would call a big-time donor to the Republican National Committee, the Trump campaign, and other republican causes. In 2025 he became Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. 

While it isn't a job that normally grabs headlines Bill Pulte managed to do so. When Trump began looking for reasons to prosecute his political enemies it turned out Pulte was just the man for the job. It was Pulte who, "referred," NY Attorney Gomersal, Letticia James, Senator Adam Schiff and others to the DOJ for federal prosecution--the charges being, Mortgage Fraud. It didn't matter all the indictments either fell through, or failed to get out of grand juries, that was all Pam Bondi's fault. (And probably one of the reasons she got fired.) What mattered was that in Uncle Donald's time of need, Bill Pulte came through for him. 

Which brings us back to the Director of National Intelligence job. The other day, Donald Trump named Bill Pulte the Acting Director. He will now be in charge of analyzing intel data received from 18 different agencies, then deciding which parts of it should be acted on by the President of the United States. To put it mildly when the announcement was made, people from all corners and sides of politics and the media went what is commonly referred to as ape shit crazy. The appointment was so spectacularly insane (Hell, no one could even confirm the guy had any security clearance at all.) it led one talking head to speculate it was a diversion to keep the attention away from Todd Blanche's nomination as Attorney General. 

When asked about Pulte's complete lack of experience, Donald Trump initially said something along the lines of, "he's a smart guy, he'll figure it out." When the outrage and disbelief persisted--one GOP Senator said there was absolutely no chance the upper house would approve Pulte's nomination--the president reassured everyone the appointment was strictly, "temporary," He insisted interviews of permanent candidates were ongoing.  To prove it, Pulte remains in his capacity as Director of the FHFA. 

Ah yes that's quite reassuring. The guy in charge of the President's daily intel briefing, during a war, is not only a raw rookie, but splitting his time between two completely different jobs. 

The brutal truth is there is probably a reason for this madness. Donald Trump needs someone in the intel community to do two things. First, finally come up with some sort of proof the 2020 election was stolen, even if there is none. Second, he needs a person who can somehow, someway throw a wrench into the 2026 midterm elections. Thanks to the mortgage fraud nonsense he figures Bill Pulte might be his boy. He is a complete loyalist who finds out of the box excuses, no matter how flimsy, to go after Trump's enemies, which right now includes an ever-increasing number of pissed off voters. Trump wants a a man who will scare the bejesus out of people. Somebody capable of accusing everyone from polling station volunteers to county employees, and even Ma and Pa Kettle of criminal election fraud. You know, make all those fuckers never want to participate in democracy again--which is the ultimate Trump endgame. 

Yes, Bill Pulte might not know diddly squat about intelligence, but that sort of thing seems right in his wheelhouse. 

Call me paranoid if you want, but the fact is, Bill Pulte's appointment as Acting Director of National Intelligence by law can last 210 days, or nearly seven months. Right now, the 2026 midterm elections are five months out. And for a man of his loyalty and zeal, that might just be all the time he needs.  

6-7-26

President Donald J. Trump and a King Named Ozymandias

 Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name and only Congress can change it.

Federal Judge, Christopher Cooper in his decision which ordered Donald Trump's administration to remove Trump's name from the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

Judge Cooper's ruling did not go over well with the Narcissist in Chief, Donald Trump. Trump had named himself to the Board of Trustees of the Kennedy Center months ago, then packed it with loyal toadies who made him Chairman. The new board's first significant act was to arbitrarily rename the place, The Donald J. Trump John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Seemingly within days after the board's, "unanimous," decision Trump's name was slapped onto the building's facade for all to see. After artists who were scheduled to appear at the center began cancelling in droves and others flat out refused to perform, the Trump chaired board decided to close the place for two years in order to renovate it. (And possibly let everyone cool off and accept the new name--as we know, in this country what outrages today is normal tomorrow.)

In addition to removing Trump's name from the center--his name has to come down from the facade within two weeks--Cooper ruled that while repairs can continue the center must re-open. He did, however, leave open a way around the it by saying if the board decided the re-opening isn't feasible, given the renovation work the center could be closed again.  

Predictably, the President threw a snit fit the likes of which are usually associated with five-year-old spoiled brats. On social media, one of his many posts read, "Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into NEVER NEVER LAND. In other words, If I can't do what I want, how I want all by myself, I'll shut the fucking joint down.  

Along with that post came the inevitable personal attacks on Cooper and his wife. He called the jurist, "a Trump hating Judge," and a "Radical Left Democrat," although in the President's defense, he pretty much considers all democrats, "radical left." He accused Cooper's wife as also being, "an, "anti Trump Hater," a claim which actually might have some validity. Cooper's wife, Amy Jeffrees is an attorney who worked on the Jan. 6th committee and has represented former President Joe Biden and fired FBI lawyer, Lisa Page, who Trump once called, "a dirty cop." 

Unfortunately for the board and their chairman, no matter what his politics, Cooper's logic in the ruling seems pretty unassailable, Congress, by statue, named the Kennedy Center and only Congress can change it. In short, no matter what he thinks, Donald Trump's ego alone can't change a law.

Meanwhile, the White House south lawn is now dominated by a giant arched lighting grid set to illuminate the June 14th UFC mixed martial arts fights. The fight is supposed to be part of the 250th celebration of the nation's founding--because, you know, noting says America quite like two half naked guys kicking the living shit out of each other. The date is also Donal Trump's 80th birthday which might have something to do with it. Crowd estimates are hovering around 90,000 which seems a bit optimistic for an event that isn't selling any public tickets. Large numbers of the U.S. military will be invited but allowed in only if they meet the official height and weight requirements and are clad in short sleeved, dress uniforms. Just to make sure the nation's dignity is completely debased, the televised fighter weigh-ins will be held at the Lincoln Memorial. 

The event is supposedly being paid for by the fight organizers and various sponsors, although there have been reports that the budgets of a couple of different government departments have been dipped into to help pay for it. The organizers will split the profits if there are any, so one has to suspect the birthday boy himself, Donald J. Trump will get a cut. because, as we all know, that's the way he rolls. 

When it comes to the days long music festival/fair set for the mall so many acts have cancelled Trump has scheduled himself as a headliner one night. He says it will be a balls to the wall MAGA rally, which the whole thing was to begin with, even if no one was admitting it. The only, "big name," music act remaining on the card is Vanilla Ice. He is a white rapper who had a single hit a few decades ago, then watched his street cred tank when he showed up in the movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." Apparently Kid Rock and Ted Nugent weren't available for the festivities, although late negotiations might be feverishly underway as these words ate being typed. 

It isn't clear right now if Trump is aware of his sinking poll numbers, or if he is, he believes them. Maybe he just doesn't care. What is clear is that instead of trying to help the people of the republic like he promised to do, he is frantically trying to remake it in his own graven image. 

It's enough to make you think of a poem written by Percy Bysshe Shelley.  It is called, "Ozymandias." Maybe Donald Trump could add his name to that piece of work's title too. 

6-1-26

Brute Corruption and Adultery: Ken Paxton is MAGA's Man in Texas

 A little while ago, Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton in the U.S. Senate race down in the Lone Star state. He chose Paxton in the GOP primary run off instead of the republican incumbent, John Coryn. This was despite the fact Cornyn was a staunch conservative republican who had been in the Senate long enough he had achieved a good deal of power and influence in the upper chamber. 

However, none of that sort of stuff means anything to our man, Donald. He demands complete loyalty, not to just his party, or nation, and most certainly not the people of Texas. He wants utter fealty to Donald John Trump alone--a sort of low-grade Nazi-Hitler thing without the snazzy uniforms. Paxton, who in 2020 sued states like Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin because they harmed Texas by voting for Joe Biden, was just his kind of guy. It didn't matter Paxton's suit was thrown out by the Supreme Court as prima facie bull shit, Trump knew he had a real soldier down in Austin. 

This past Tuesday in the GOP primary runoff election Ken Paxton kicked John Cornyn's ass by 27 points. The margin was so decisive it moved Trump to publicly say, "I don't care about the mid-terms. Look what happened yesterday." Indeed, the old man was feeling his oats--or more likely his Egg McMuffins. He had proven once again, he was in total control of the republican party. If you aren't with him 100% start looking for a new job and if you were a big enough irritant, over your shoulder for the FBI. 

What was also proven Tuesday is the MAGA wing of the republican party doesn't give a rat's ass about character when it comes to choosing candidates. Of course, Trump's re-election proved it first, but Paxton's runaway win confirmed it with an exclamation point. He is, by any measure the single most corrupt politician and quite possibly the most despicable human being west of the Mississippi. 

The list of his malfeasance both in politics and life is breathtaking. Boiling them down, in 2008 Paxton has been accused of voting for state contracts that were awarded to a company he secretly owned stock in. In 2015 he was accused of securities fraud.  In 2020 his own staff in the AG's office reported him to the FBI, accusing him of bribery and abuse of his office. The scandal involved a hot shot Austin real estate developer and a woman Paxton had an affair with beginning in 2018. Also, in 2020 he canned the staffers who reported him to the FBI. They sued him for violating the Texas Whistleblower Act. In 2022 the Texas State Bar Association sued Paxton for professional misconduct over that effort to overturn the 2020 election results in other states. In 2023 he was impeached by the republican controlled Texas House of Representatives over the bribery and abuse of office charges, but the state Senate let him off the hook. In 2025, Paxton's wife of 38 years, state Senator, Angela Paxton filed for divorce citing, "biblical grounds." It appears adultery was part of those, grounds. Apparently, her husband's hottie from the 2020 scandal was around even after he told her it was over and asked for her forgiveness. 

And just think, I didn't even mention the multiple homes he owns. He has claimed at least three different ones as his primary residence in order to get lower mortgage rates. 

Like the man who endorsed him, Ken Paxton has managed to slip the noose on all these alleged crimes and scandals, at least so far. Now he faces Texas State Representative, James Talarico in the general election. Talarico, who has three collegiate degrees, one a Master of Divinity from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, is scandal free. He is comfortable talking about his faith and is calm under fire. Paxton is already accusing him of being radical leftist. He has even claimed Talarico is running a vegan campaign, whatever that is. (Talarico's response was, "I began eating Texas Bar-B-Q before Ken Paxton was charged the first time.) 

Democrats are hopeful the Senate seat can be flipped, however such hope has been misplaced before. There was huge optimism surrounding Beto O'Rourke's run against Ted Cruz. It fell short by three points. We know to win, Talarico has to count on not just democrats, but large numbers of independents and more than a few republicans. The latter will be an especially hard nut to crack no matter how repugnant Paxton's behavior has been. Cornyn ran ad after ad highlighting Paxton's scandals and look where that got him.

If there is a bright spot in all this for James Talarico it is that in the republican runoff, the number of votes cast in total was around 1.3 million. Currently in Texas there are 6.6 million registered republicans. That's a hell of a lot of republicans who chose not to vote at all. In fact, one Texas analyst said that almost everyone who turned out Tuesday was hard core MAGA. It's an easy claim to make considering the outcome. 

Another analyst put it this way, "MAGA doesn't care about character or traditional politics. They simply want someone to throw cherry bombs on the floor of the Senate. They want a Maximus who will stand and shout, Are you not entertained?"

And that, ultimately is what James Talarico is up against. He can only hope is there are enough sane people left in the party of Lincoln who will walk away from that peculiar brand of nihilism and if not vote for him, at least sit this one out. 

It might not be much of a shot, but at least it is one.

5-29-26

Remembering Harry and J.C. on Memorial Day

 In the United States the last Monday in May is designated as, Memorial Day. It's the day Americans set aside to honor the country's war dead. It is estimated the current number of U.S. military personnel who died in wars is around 1.1 million human beings. No one knows the exact number because back in the early days of the republic the record keeping wasn't exactly scientific It was particularly poor in the confederate states during the Civil War. That's why the total number of dead from that conflict--counting both Union and Confederate fatalities as American--ranges between 620,000 all the way to 750,000. (Roughly, 2% of the nation's entire population at the time.)

According to the site, Copilot Search, the day was initially known as Decoration Day. The first known public ceremony was observed in Columbus, Mississippi on April 25th, 1866, when the town's women decorated the graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers with fresh flowers. In the north, other towns from New York and Pennsylvania to Illinois also held post-civil war observances. In 1868, in the north, at least, the date May 30th was settled on mainly because it was in the spring--flowers were in bloom everywhere--and it was one the few dates available when there wasn't a major battle being fought between 1861 and 1865. 

In 1873 New York recognized it as an official holiday and by 1890 all the Union States had declared it a holiday. In the old confederate states different states recognized different dates. Apparently, Decoration Day began to morph into Memorial Day in the early 1880s, It remained reserved for civil war dead until after WWI. Possibly because it finally dawned on people we actually are one country and there had been a lot of American wars and there would be a lot more. The name, Memorial Day didn't become official until 1967. In comparison, Armistice Day was legally changed to Veteran's Day in 1954. The last Monday of May didn't become legally standardized by the government until 1971. 

America's wars have varied in scope and duration. For example, among those 1.1 million we honor today is private Harry Eagan of the 2nd U.S. Infantry. He is the only United States soldier to die in what is known as The Sheepeater Indian War. It lasted from May of 1879 until October that same year. "The "war," pitted the U.S. army against a 300-member (men, women, and children) band of the Shoshone tribe who raised sheep in the Idaho Rockies for food and clothing. The Sheepeater Indian War was the last military conflict between U.S. troops and Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest. 

An even briefer, "war," occurred in February of 1904. It was known as the Santo Domingo Affair. The U.S. Navy was in port to, "observe" the revolution going on in the Dominican Republic. It seemed the rebels had burned some sugar cane fields which were owned by American corporations. As a shore party approached the piers Seaman J.C. Johnson was shot and killed. Like Harry Eagan, he was the only American service member who died in the action, which lasted 10 days. In response to his death President Theodore Roosevelt sent in more ships and the Marines.   

All the fire breathing American patriots out there can rest easy. Both military campaigns were considered U.S. victories. The Sheepeaters surrendered and as the Navy shelled the city the Marines routed the rebels.   

It is unknown where Harry Eagan and J.C. Johnson are buried, although in Johnson's case the odds are his remains are at the bottom of Santo Domingo harbor. It is doubtful either one has a grave someone will stick a little American flag on--a practice which has largely replaced the fresh flowers in the last seven or so decades. In truth, most people in this nation will honor our war dead by not thinking about them at all. They'll be too busy enjoying time with their family, guzzling beer, watching sports, or doing something else. 

However, ol' Harry and J.C. are out there somewhere. And while it's debatable if either man's death measurably helped all of us remain free, they both died while serving their country. That in itself makes them worth being remembered. 

Well, at least for one day every year. 

5-25-26 

Stephen Colbert's Last Hurrah

 As Stephen Colbert's last Late Show approached there was a great deal of debate about who would be his final guest. Rumors swirled and the speculation grew more fantastical each day. Even Pope Leo XIV's name was mentioned. It was a bit of farce thought to be planted either by Colbert or his staff and taken to the extreme last night during the grand finale. After his monologue Colbert introduced the Pope. He was quickly then informed the first American born Pontiff refused to leave his dressing room because he hadn't been provided with a, "Chicago style hotdog." A backstage camera showed a closed dressing room door with Leo's name on it. It opened a crack, then white robed arm emerged holding a hotdog. The imitation Pope yelled, "Does this look like a Chicago style hotdog to you?" The hotdog was thrown to the floor and the door slammed shut. It was the last we heard from late night TV's version of Leo. 

Actually, Stephen Colbert's last sit-down guest was rock legend, Paul McCartney. McCartney and the rest of the Beatles made their American debut at the Ed Sullivan Theater, where the Late Show was taped, 62 years ago. That didn't mean there weren't other celebrities salted throughout the audience and in the wings. It was an eclectic bunch ranging from Paul Rudd, who was there with the, "traditional" retirement gift of five bananas, to Tim Meadows, a Second City Improv Group teammate of Colbert's years ago, to Physicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson--there to explain a glowing inter-dimensional worm hole which had appeared backstage. ("Your cancellation has created a rift in the comedy-variety-talk continuum.")

The list of cameos ran on and on, but that isn't the point. The point is a show, which could have sunk into an abyss of bitter, ruthless, satire, refused to do so. Yes, the network which had just cancelled the highest rated late-night show was mentioned, but barely. And although Donald Trump's presence loomed in everyone's thoughts, his name wasn't mentioned a single time by anyone. A fact which must have irked that crazed ego to no end. 

Come on, you know he had to have been watching. He can't stay away from the stuff that enrages him the most. He fuels his late-night adventures with it. Anger is the man's drug of choice--although one does have to think he also throws in a few unknown chemical additives. 

Of course there is a cure for TV rage junkies that's very obvious. If you don't like something on television or a particular personality, just don't fucking watch. Do I give a rat's ass what Sean Hannity says? No, because I never watch his show. It saves me and everyone around me a lot of grief.  

CBS claimed they cancelled The Late Show because it cost too much to produce. According to Wikipedia, David Ellison, the son of Oracle co-founder, Larry Ellison went from actor, to producer, to head of Skydance Media. In 2024 Skydance made a bid to take over Paramount Global, which was, "under political pressure from President Donald Trump, including the settlement of a $16 million lawsuit by Trump." The deal was approved by the Trump administration, and it went through in 2025. No one admits it, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out getting rid of Colbert, an effective critic of Trump, was part of the deal. Almost immediately after Ellison took over it was announced Colbert would be gone.  

CBS/Paramount, not wanting to be too obvious, didn't just dump Colbert, but the entire show. However, knowing public and media reaction would be overwhelmingly harsh, the corporation scraped together enough cash to continue the, "costly," production for several months after the announcement. 

Today, Trump posted on social media, "Colbert is finally finished at CBS. Amazing that he lasted this long! No talent, no no ratings, no life. He was like a dead person. You could take any person off the street and they would be better. than this total jerk. Thank goodness he is finally gone." That's our man Donald, both wrong and bitter to the end.

Stephen Colbert was certainly alive last night. So were his guests and the audience. The show ended with McCartney, Elvis Costello, Colbert, and others singing the Beatles' "Hello, Goodbye." The stage was jammed with staff and members of the audience singing along and dancing. In the final scene, Sir Paul and Colbert stood by a large leaver backstage. When McCartney threw it, the entire Ed Sullivan theater was consumed by the swirling green glowing worm hole. 

But, like I said, no one mentioned Donald Trump by name. 

5-22-26

Settling the Lawsuit and Paying Off Friends and Family

 A while back an Internal Revenue Service contractor named Charles Littlejohn leaked some of Donald Trump's tax information to the media. Since it was illegal to do something like that Littlejohn was arrested. In 2023 he copped a plea and got five years in a federal lockup. In January of this year, Donald John Trump, once again President of the United States sued the IRS on behalf of himself, Don Jr, Eric, and the Trump Organization in the U.S. District Court for southern Florida. The suit claimed the IRS was responsible for Littlejohn's actions which had damaged all four parties. It sought $10 billion in compensation. What this ultimately meant is the President of the United States was suing the very government he runs, seeking a $10 billion payoff.  It also means the attorneys defending the government against the President are lawyers who work for the Attorney General of the United States--a person who is appointed by the President and serves at his pleasure

Yes, you can say many things about Don Trump, but when it comes to corruption, you will never be able to accuse him of being subtle. The man is unashamedly greedy and he does think big.  

The immediate reaction to the lawsuit ranged from disbelief to outrage, not to mention a heavy doses of cynicism. One of those who have been a tad skeptical about the propriety of a President suing his own government is Federal Judge, Kathleen M. Williams who was assigned the case. She ordered a hearing about the constitutionality of the suit, writing, "Although President Trump avers that he is bringing this lawsuit in his personal capacity, he is the sitting President and his named adversaries are entities whose decisions are subject to his directions." 

Oops. Faced with judge's doubts all of the lawyers working for Donald Trump, on both sides, asked the judge for an extension in order to reach an out of court settlement. Yesterday they announced the details of the deal they had miraculously reached. Donald Trump dropped the $10 billion lawsuit and the $230 million claim for damages due to the Mar-a-Lago classified papers search and seizure and the ensuing investigation. In exchange $1.776 billion (1776, get it?) of taxpayer money will be set aside to create an, "Anti-Weaponization Fund." According to Acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche--who previously worked for Trump as his personal attorney--the President, his eldest sons, and the Trump Org. won't receive any of it. Instead, they will settle for written apologies from the DOJ, which is currently run by Todd Blanche. 

Pretty convenient, right?  

The fund will be administered by the Todd Blanche led DOJ. It will dole out money to people who the government prosecuted while Donald Trump wasn't President. In other words, if someone claims they were targeted by the Biden administration, or one presumes any other administration not bearing the name Trump, for political retribution a commission will decide if and how much they'll be compensated from the fund. The five-person commission will be appointed by the aforementioned Mr. Blanche--the same guy who desperately wants to become Attorney General on a permanent basis--a decision which rests with Donald Trump. For those with short memories Blanche is the same guy who got Ghislaine Maxwell moved to her cushy new digs and defended Trump in the secret documents case.

The out of court settlement says it is, "self-executing." The argument being Judge Williams can't rule on the deal because both sides, no matter how suspiciously appearing to be the same side, agreed on it. In addition, because this is a Trump operation (even though he claims he has had nothing to do with it) the Blanche commission will have complete say on who gets how much and when. There won't be any Congressional input, or oversight.

The media and some democrats quickly predicted the money will be used to pay off all those January 6th rioters who were prosecuted for invading the capitol building and assaulting the police who were guarding it. Some speculated the payoffs would also help finance what they are calling, "Trump's personal white nationalist militia." 

Maybe some of it. However, the feeling here is the cut for those brutal thugs will be small compared to what Trump's closest pals and family members will end up getting. One can almost hear the testimony before the commission now. Gentlemen, Melania and Barron Trump suffered irreparable trauma during the search of Mar-a-Lago. That's right, even though they weren't there that night. So did Ivanka Trump when she was forced to testify in front of the Jan. 6th committee. Why not?  They weren't plaintiffs in the original suit. 

Yesterday, when asked if the January 6th rioters and he, or any member of his family would be compensated he responded by saying in part, "It'll all be dependent on a committee." (Not exactly a no when it came to him and his family.) Then he added, "A committee is being set up of very talented people, very highly respected people." 

You mean talented and respected like Kristi Noem? Or the hard drinking evangelical Christian warrior, Pete Hegseth? Or the run amok Kash Patel?  Perhaps Trump means his old pal, Roger Stone, or he and Blanche will simply cut out the middlemen and name guys like the former leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, Enrico Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes. They are both out now, thanks to Trump's pardons.  

In the end, no matter who is named to this, "committee," we can be sure of one thing. There is something in this deal that rewards Donald J. Trump personally. And the less Congress and the judicial branch are involved the better. It is, as they say, his known modus operandi. 

5-19-26

The Gangs of Lake Arcadia

 According to the site, "Slang Dictionary," in 1969 two guys who lived in Compton, CA named Sylvester Scott and Vincent Owens got together and formed a gang. Because they both lived on Piru Street Owens and Scott named their little group, The Piru Street Boys. They originally aligned themselves with the already established Crips. Then in 1972, there was a, "falling out," between the two organizations. The Piru Street Boys joined forces with other local gangs, and this loose alliance quickly became known as, the Bloods, although other names are still used. For example, those members from Compton are still called Pirus, while those from other locales are known generally as Bloods.  

Here is the reason for that abbreviated history. The Oklahoma City FOX News affiliate is now reporting 18-year-old, Jaylan Davis, the first person arrested in the May 3rd Lake Arcadia mass shooting, is a member of the North Highland Piru Bloods. He apparently goes by the street moniker, 3-zzy. (Presumably pronounced three-zy.) According to court records 3-zzy has been a busy young dude when it comes to establishing his creds. He was popped in 2023 for burglary and for being involved in a drive by shooting. In 2024 he was picked up on a firearms charge. All of these, let's say, adventures, were handled through the juvenile court system. 

Well 3-zzy has hit the big time now. Police are saying at least 80 shots were fired at the unlicensed party thrown by what was known as, Crowd Control Entertainment. (Crowd Control's Instagram account has been deleted. There is still a YouTube Channel with 13 subscribers, but it doesn't have any content.) By the time it was over 22 people were either wounded, or injured and one, Avianna Smith-Gray, who like 3-zzy was 18--although, unlike him, she was scheduled to graduate from high school a few days after her death. 3-zzy, who reportedly turned himself in, is now looking at felony murder charges. 

The cops have also picked up 20-year-old, Trinity Brown in connection with the shooting. Currently she is charged with assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm after juvenile adjudication. At age 20 she is also ready for prime time. 

The local media accounts of the mass shooting has shifted. Tales of two masked men entering the campground, then randomly opening fire like crazed terrorists have long disappeared. What seems to have transpired was that halfway through the party a fight between two females broke out in the middle of the crowd. It quickly turned into a brawl between to rival gangs. Because of 3-zzy's arrest we can assume one of them was the North Highland Piru Bloods, but the other remains unidentified.

Thanks to the media's reluctance to name the second gang or even to confirm the North Highland outfit's involvement--other than 3zzy's--the entire disaster night boil down to a simple case of alcohol fueled anarchy among a bunch of young people. A bunch of young people who were packing guns, because, you know, this is America and everyone here can and does. 

The Edmond police were continuing to search the scene at Scissortail Campground yesterday. It is unclear if they found any new evidence, although one news reporter did find a bullet he pointed out to them. The word is more arrests could be made. Hey, 80 rounds are a lot for just two people. Meanwhile, Edmond Mayor, Mark Nash is continuing to tell everyone the shooting isn't representative of his home which has a population of a little over 100,000. The Mayor has yet to comment on why his police department, or the town's park department who oversees Lake Arcadia, didn't have a clue the May 3rd event was taking place beforehand. I mean, let's face it, Crowd Control Entertainment went out of their way to make sure the party wasn't a secret. 

It's unknown if any criminal charges will be filed against Crowd Control Entertainment, or the event's host, DJ Drop It. Right now, it isn't even clear Crowd Control has or had offices. It increasingly feels like it was something thrown together by some pals, one of whom knew Lake Arcadia wasn't patrolled at night by any authorities, at a bar in order to make a quick score.   

Indeed, much remains unknown. One thing we do know for sure, however is the family, loved ones, and friends of Avianna Smith-Gray are mourning her loss. She is gone forever not because she was in some gang, real or imagined or because she was involved in the initial altercation in any way. Her life cut short simply because she was at the wrong place at exactly the wrong time. 

The other thing we know is Mark Nash and the City of Edmond (79% white, 5% black) are going to make sure someone takes the fall for the Lake Arcadia shooting. The tragedy is that their fervor to get justice might not have anything to do with Avianna Smith-Gray, but rather Edmond's precious public image. Which means, when it comes to Jaylan, 3-zzy, Davis and Trinity Brown--to paraphrase the words of a rural Oklahoma Bail Bondman speaking 31 years ago--that boy and girl need lawyers worse than anyone I've ever seen. 

5-15-26  

Breaking Up With Canada, Donald's New Squeeze, More Late Night Tweets, and Old Fashioned Racism

 There is, what appears to be, an increasing number of people on this blue ball, who consider the President of the United States a delusional, somewhat unhinged, old man who has brazen ambitions of becoming a dictator for life. In short, these people, both home and abroad, think the guy is bat shit crazy. In addition, the same people believe he has surrounded himself with people who are as nuts as he is and have the same contempt for the constitution and the concept of democracy as he does. They also are convinced those who steadfastly support the President are devotees to what is known as a, "cult of personality."

Are the people who believe these awful things about Donald Trump and his followers crazy themselves? Are they Communists?

Yesterday, FOX News anchor, John Roberts (As opposed to Chief Justice John Roberts, who recently resurrected the Jim Crow era.) spoke about a phone conversation he had with Donald Trump. Roberts quoted the President as saying, "John, I just want to tell you I'm very serious. So you can talk about this. I'm serious about beginning a process to make Venezuela the 51st state."

Venezuela? Wait, wasn't Canada supposed to be the 51st state? One can only suppose Mr. Trump has grown tired and probably bored with the Canucks constant rejections to his overtures of absorption and has decided to move on. Well, he does seem a fickle sort. Now, apparently, he has decided on someplace new. Someplace that might be more willing to disappear from world maps. Someplace warmer, more suited to year-round golf. Someplace that still has scads of natural resources his family and pals can exploit with few or no consequences. 

But wait. Let's get back to Canada for a moment. It's unclear if the Canadians were aware of this breakup. Apparently, Mr. Trump didn't even have the courtesy to send Canada an email telling them he has found a new squeeze. However, despite the sudden turn of events, Canada seems unphased. So much so, the other day, former U.S. President, Barack Obama was up there speaking at a Canadian think tank gala. After he was done, Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney said in part, "Thank you for joining us in Toronto for important conversations on how we can build a better and more just future--and empower more people to build with us." 

This prompted Trumpista  commentator, Nick Sortor to write, "...Obama needs to sit down and figure out his freaking place before his ass ends up in prison for violating The Logan Act. Trump is our President; you've been sidelined Hussein." For those unfamiliar with it The Logan Act was enacted into law in January 1799.  It basically provides for criminal charges against any American citizen who negotiates with a foreign power without official authorization. You know, like Geworge H.W. Bush did with the Iranians during the 1980 presidential campaign. According to the Federalist Society, The Logan Act has never resulted in a successful prosecution. The Society also said there was, "no evidence," Obama was negotiating anything with the Canadian government.  

That didn't stop the MAGA types from howling like gut shot wolves. Another commentator, David J. Freeman wrote, "Barack Obama belongs in jail. A third, attorney Mike Davis asked, "What's Obama, a subversive Marxist, cooking up in Canada?"

All this MAGA outrage over an Obama speech in Toronto triggered Donald Trump last night. Over a five hour span he bombarded social media with 54 posts that said things like, Obama is, "demonic." Another concluded, "Arrest them all. Prosecute them all. Incarcerate them all for treachery, treason, and seditious conspiracy to overthrow the United States government. But first Barack Obama."

Depending on one's point of view, it can be either less, or even more disturbing that, during all this it didn't seem like Trump gave a rat's ass about Obama's Toronto speech. He was raving about the accusations that Russia interfered with the 2016 election on his behalf. The Irish Star reports that interspersed with the barrage of messages there were, "several videos of black individuals engaged in alleged crimes or improper behavior."          

Yes, it would seem we can add old fashioned racism to the ever-expanding list of Donald Trump's mental conditions. To prove it, on Sunday he called California Ro Khanna, "SLEAZEBAG, a wolf in sheep's clothing, (who) LIES,LIES AND LIES AGAIN." Then, just for good measure referred to him as, "SCUM." Khanna is of East Indian descent. Then Trump claimed House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries has a, "very low IQ" and, "considers the Supreme Court illegitimate and probably hates our country." Jeffries, who is black was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. At last look, Brooklyn is part of the United States which makes the, "our country," Trump wrote about, Jeffries' country too.     

Yes, first Canada, then Greenland, and now Venezuela. Then a Trumpian court who just tossed us back over a century when it comes to voting rights, threats to broadcasters and incarcerations without legal recourse, or even trials. Plus, a new ballroom and, if the bureaucrats get out of the way, an arch so big you'll be able to see it from the fucking International Space station. And both of them will be named after Donald John Trump, who, Evangelical Pastor, Robert Jeffries (No relation to Hakeem.) insists, "...has a better understanding of what the bible teaches than the Pope." 

That's right, all that, unabashed corruption on a scale never seen before, and a war without end, amen. 

You know all those people who think Donald Trump and his die-hard supporters are crazy? They're right. 

5-12-26

Donald Trump vs. Leo XIV: Another Fight the President Can't Win

 Yesterday, the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio sat down to meet with Pope Leo XIV for around two hours. During the meeting, the Secretary gifted the Pope a small crystal American style football bearing the seal of the American State Department. The Pope's feelings about the game are a little murky, although since he is originally from Chicago one would guess, as presumably Rubio did, he is a Chicago Bears fan. Since the State Department doesn't field a team, it remains a mystery why the ball was stamped with its seal. Maybe the Bears' licensing fee was too steep for the department's budget. After all, thanks to recent events, Rubio has been on the road a lot and the cost and availability of jet fuel is at a premium lately.    

The football was a symbolic peace offering as the Secretary was there to try to smooth out the relationship between the Vatican and his boss, American President Donald Trump. Apparently, at some point in the last couple of weeks, as Trump's approval ratings flame out like the Hindenburg, it dawned on someone in the White House, the old man has finally bitten off more than even can chew. 

Not that long ago, as the spiritual leader of a little over 1.4 billion Christians worldwide--somewhere between 50 to 54 million of them in the United States--spoke publicly about his opposition to the war in Iran and in fact all wars. He had urged everyone involved to seek peace, not violence. Donald Trump responded on social media--as always--writing, in part, "Pope Leo is WEAK on crime. and terrible for foreign policy.   I don't want a Pope who thinks it's okay for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.  I don't want a Pope who thinks it's terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States." Then, he added, "Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a politician." Along with all that, Axios reported, Trump claimed Leo had been elected Pope only because he was President and then had gone ballistic when the Pontiff met with former Obama advisor, David Axelrod the week before. 

Then, less than one hour after that message hit the internet, Donald Trump posted the infamous AI generated image of himself as Jesus Christ. He was clothed long flowing robes, healing a sick man in bed as people around him prayed, eagles and jet fighters soared overhead, and a mysterious winged and possibly horned figure charged out of a heavenly light in the background. Later, as it dawned on him the reaction to the image wasn't, let's say, what he had hoped it would be, the post was deleted. It was replaced by another, which depicted Christ personally advising him as he sat at a desk pondering various papers. 

Now, we are getting a clearer look at just how bad the reaction, especially to the first image, was. A recent Washington Post-ABC News-IPSOS poll shows 80% of the people who voted for Trump in 2024 "reacted negatively," to the image. 78% of registered republicans felt the same way. Overall, 87% of Americans rejected his online fantasy artwork.  In addition, 65% of the public, "reacted positively," to Leo's plea for Americans to seek peace. 41% viewed the Pope favorably during his dust up with the President while 19% did not. Axios reported that when asked this question many either declined to answer or claimed they were unfamiliar with the confrontation. 

After deleting the original post, Donald Trump said he simply thought it was a picture of him as a doctor. The comment prompted one wag to say, "If I'm sick and in a hospital and a doctor came in dressed like that, I'm getting out of there as fast as I can." Trump later claimed the image had something to do with the Red Cross, although the Red Cross flag, or symbol isn't seen anywhere in it. All of which just goes to prove, you might be able to claim you are blessed, or anointed by God, but when you start portraying yourself as God, even the trailer park rubes get a tad edgy. 

Of course, not everyone was as appalled as Marjorie Taylor Greene (The picture was, "beyond blasphemy.") White House spiritual advisor, Paula White-Cain was quoted as saying she could never disagree with Donald Trump, "because it would be like disagreeing with God." Vice President J.D. Vance, a convert to Roman Catholicism, warned the Pope to be, "careful when speaking about theology." It is a warning the Vice President himself might do well to heed. 

Today, Rubio is trying to smooth out the diplomatic kinks with Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. After she criticized Trump's post about Leo XIV, she also took time to be critical of the war in Iran. The President's reaction was what you would expect. Among other things he threatened to pull U.S. troops out of her country, the same as he did when German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz criticized the war.

Unfortunately, and no doubt frustratingly for Donald Trump, he can't do that with Pope Leo XIV. Vatican City doesn't house any American troops for mutual defense. He can't even slap any tariffs on it. You can't tax faith, the Holy See's only export. And it's doubtful, Donald Trump, as nuts as he is, will attempt a forcible, "regime change," in Rome, like he has done, with questionable success, in Venezuela and Iran. Not even a newly minted Catholic theologian like J.D. Vance would stick with him if he did. 

 The simple fact is, all of this came about is because of Donald J. Trump's unhinged narcissism. His only response to those who disagree with him is boorish, brutal, and increasingly deadly buffoonery. He isn't capable of anything else. 

And just think, we elected this mad beast twice. No wonder, to rephrase a movie line, America enjoys the reputation it has today.   

5-8-26 

Sunday Funday Goes Sideways at Lake Arcadia

 As the war that is no longer a war according to some, continues its slow boil in the waters near Iran and in Lebanon, a group of entrepreneurs in Oklahoma City decided to throw a kick-ass party in the suburb of Edmond. An outfit calling itself, Crowd Control Entertainment began promoting the bash, which was scheduled for this past Sunday evening at a Lake Arcadia campground. The featured performer was billed as being, DJ Drop It. The flyers, spread across various social media platforms, promised, "food, drinks, music, and good vibes." The event was named, "Sunday Funday."

In theory you had to be an adult to attend, but no one was checking IDs, so reports are there were scads and scads of underage kids who showed up. In addition, Crowd Control Entertainment didn't reserve the campgrounds, or get a permit to hold the party from the Edmond, OK Parks Department. 

So, Sunday evening, what is described as a, "large number, " of young adults and teen-agers showed up at Lake Arcadia's Scissortail Campground for a party held at night. One being thrown without a permit, and, apparently, without any security. Maybe because, you know, security might put a chill on those, "good vibes." A party where presumably alcohol was being served, or at the very least, being brought in by those in attendance.

Oh, what could possibly go wrong?

Initial reports that still persist say two unidentified men wearing ski masks showed up and began randomly firing weapons. One witness interviewed by the local CBS affiliate didn't mention anyone in ski masks, but said a fight broke out in the crowd which almost immediately turned into a widespread brawl. During the melee, shots were fired, possibly because these days no one has time for a fist fight. As the scene quickly turned into a cross between the gunfight at the OK Corral and the Battle of Los Angeles, people understandably panicked and ran every which direction. By the time it was over 23 were either wounded by bullets, or sustained injuries during the mad rush to get out of there. (When you run wildly into a wooded area at night there is always the distinct possibility of slamming face first into a fucking tree.)

Reports today say seven people remain hospitalized, three of them in critical condition. It's also reported Crowd Control Entertainment--a misnomer if there ever was one--and DJ Drop It have apologized online for the event. Beyond that, neither are responding to media requests for interviews. Who can blame them? At this point the odds seem good name changes and relocations are already in progress for everyone who organized this disaster. If they have any brains at all, they must know that potential litigants are lining up at attorney's offices all across the metro at this very moment.

The Mayor of Edmond, Mark Nash held a news conference during which he reassured citizens and potential residents, Edmond remains one of the most, "desirable," places to live in the state and nation. He added, such crimes hardly ever occur in the OKC burb of a little over 100,000. What he didn't say was that when they do happen in Edmond, the casualties are always staggering. 

40 years ago this summer, postal worker, Patrick Sherrill walked into the Edmond post office. Before he blew his own diseased head off, he killed 14 of his fellow employees and wounded six others. Sherrill's madness, coupled with other postal worker acts of violence led to the invention of the uniquely American phrase, "Going postal."

Mayor Nash went on to tell the media he wouldn't hesitate to take his own family out to Lake Arcadia, but added, "not at midnight." According to the His Honor the lake isn't patrolled at night. It's a policy you might want to re-think, Mr. Mayor. Especially since there was a small number of overnight campers at Scissortail that night who had their peaceful evening by the lake interrupted by Sunday Funday. A couple were among the first to deliver aid to the victims before the police and EMT's arrived. 

The Edmond Police who are handling the mass shooting, hasn't identified any suspects, at least not publicly. Perhaps it is best they don't. There is no telling who is in the wind already because of this nightmare. The entire investigation at this time remains, as they say, ongoing. All we know for sure at moment, is that there were more people out at Lake Arcadia with guns than just those two mysterious masked men. However, that shouldn't surprise anyone. This is America for God's sake. The land of the Free and the home of the well-armed. 

Hey, it's in the Constitution and if you got 'em you might as well use 'em. 

5-5-26

James Comey and the Seashells on the Sea Shore

 Cool shell formation on my beach walk.

The caption to a photo posted by James Comey on social media last year of seashells arraigned into the number 8647.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term 86 as, "to refuse to serve (a customer)" or to, "get rid of," or, "throw out," someone or something. Apparently, it originated among soda fountain and lunch counter employees back in the 1920's or 30's. One legend, the one I prefer, had it originating during prohibition at a bar called Chumley's in New York City's west village. One of its two entrances was at 86 Bedford Street. When the staff was tipped off about impending police raids, they would, "86 the customers." In other words, rush them out of the joint via the Bedford Street door.

The point here being nowhere in the history, or usage of the term do the words, kill, or assassinate, or harm come up. "Getting rid of," which can be interpreted in any number of ways--86 the milk, it has gone bad--is the closest to anything you can imagine referring to violence. Be that as it may, Donald Trump and some of his cronies, at the time the post showed up, declared it a thinly veiled lethal threat against President number 47, the afore mentioned, Donald J. Trump. In response, Comey deleted the photo while saying he had no idea it could be taken that way and had meant it as a joke. Not long afterward the whole issue dropped off everyone's radar. 

It wasn't the first time 86 has been used by some when referring to a President. ABC News reports that during a 2020 TV interview Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer sat near a small figurine bearing the number, 8645--Trump's first term number. While Joe Biden was President hotshot MAGA commentator, Jack Posobiec sent out a social post which read simply, "8646."No one said a word about threats of violence in either instance.

Ah yes, those were more innocent times. Trump hadn't lost all his marbles yet and Biden, as infirm as he might have been, was actually trying to be a President rather than some mad king fixated on a gilded ballroom no one but him gives a flying fuck about. James Comey's first indictment during the reign of number 47 came when Pam Bondi was running the DOJ. It had nothing to do with messages in the sand. After it was summerly tossed by a federal judge, Bondi seemed to lose interest in Comey altogether. 

Who can blame her?  By then she had become neck deep in that vast swamp known as the Epstein files. Trump got rid of her earlier this year. One of the rumored reasons was he felt she was dragging her feet when it came to pursuing his political enemies with criminal charges. 

Then along came Todd Blanche. He is now the acting Attorney General and head of the DOJ. He is best remembered as once being Trump's personal lawyer. Then later as the Deputy Attorney General who interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell who was at the time in a heavy-duty federal lockup. Maxwell assured Blanche that number 47 wasn't involved in any of Epstein's deviant behavior, then she was, "just coincidentally," moved to a minimum-security facility. She now reportedly receives catered meals and regular visits from puppies so she can play with them.

It is also being reported Todd Blanche really wants to be named Attorney General of the United States, not just acting Attorney General. In his search to find a way to please El Donald the long forgotten 8647 episode must have hit him like a bolt of lightning. His path of suck uppery was clear. Find a federal grand jury in North Carolina--home of the beach with the shells--and indict James Comey. So, he did just that. The indictment includes one charge of, "Threats against the President and successors," and one of, "Transmitting a threat in interstate commerce." ABC reports the prosecutors who parented the case wrote, Comey's deleted post constituted a threat that any, "reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret as serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States." 

In a statement the ever-ambitious Blanche said in part, "...you are not allowed to threaten the President of the United States of America. That's not my decision. That's Congress' decision, and a statute that they passed that we charge multiple times a year." 

Oh really? Earlier this year at the C-PAC smoke and mirrors jamboree, Jack Posobiec, of 8646 fame interviewed the acting Attorney General in front of a live audience. The subject of Posobiec's post while Biden was President never came up. Well, one supposes there are threats you don't have to worry about and then there are THREATS that you do.  It just depends on how nuts the boss is. 

And, in Todd Blanche's case, just how badly you want the job.  

4-30-26

Cole Allen's Righteous Duty, Security Questions, and Conspiracy Theories

 We know Cole Thomas Allen is smart. You don't get into, then graduate from the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) without having some brains. Allen's initial degree was in engineering, his Masters was in Computer Science. The guy is 31 years old, reportedly designs computer games, and works for a company that specializes in tutoring AP students. Apparently, neither of those jobs pays enough to allow him to have his own space, because until a few days ago he lived with his parents in their Torrence, CA home. 

We also know--at least since Saturday night and Sunday morning--Cole Allen is pretty good when it comes to planning and logistics. Reports are he bought the guns in his possession at least a year ago, if not longer. He stashed them at his parent's place, without their knowledge, and periodically snuck them out to practice with at a gun range. He also avoided security questions by taking trains from LA to Chicago, then to Washington D.C. In addition, he booked a room into the Washington Hilton, prior to White House Correspondents Association Dinner, which featured President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, a number of high-ranking cabinet members and of government officials. Also present at the annual soiree that evening was every big-time media executive and reporter who covers the White House and politics in general. (For those with a taste for coincidence, Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinkley right outside of the same hotel.)

Fortunately for the President, his wife, and God only knows how many others, when it came to tactics, Cole Allen wasn't worth a shit. After all the planning, all the patient preparation, the only thing he could come up with to assassinate, Donald J. Trump and others was a crazed bum-rush through a metal detector and past a perimeter of armed security. It was a move that had all the crafty nuances of a plot hitched by Wile E. Coyote. 

Minutes before he tried to bull his way through security, Cole Allen emailed his family, letting them know what he was going to do and why. In the message he prioritized his hit list, while explaining how he was planning to deal, "nonlethally," with guards who would try to stop him. He apologized to them all for lying to them about the excuses he made up to travel to Wahington. He also apologized to his employer and students. In addition, he accused the President of treason and being a pedophile. In the letter he described the impending attack as his, "righteous duty." When it came to the Christian principle of, "turning the other cheek," he argued it applied only to the one being oppressed, not to someone who sees others being oppressed--proving once again interpretations are completely at the whims and prejudices of the interpreter. He signed off with the moniker, Cole, ColdForce Friendly Federal Assassin, Allen. (As opposed to Stan Lee's Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman.)  

As soon as his brother read the email, he contacted the local police who got in touch with the Secret Service, but by then Cole Allen had already pulled the trigger--a couple of times. One of the shots hit a Secret Service agent square in the chest--so much for that nonlethal stuff--but luckily the man was saved by his body armor.    

Questions about security were immediately posed. The main one being, how did this heavily armed clown check into a hotel that was going to host the President, his wife, and key members of his cabinet and staff without someone taking a look in his luggage? Not to mention how did he get from his room all the way to the main line of security while openly carrying a fucking shotgun? The answer to that question was brutally simple.  He used the stairs rather than the elevators. 

Since this is America, all the guns he brought were legally purchased in CA. And because Americans are a tad delusional, immediately after the attempt, the internet came alive with conspiracy theories. The most common accusation was that Donald Trump and, or his people staged the event in order to revive his tanking approval ratings. As proof at least one cited Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt's pre-shooting statement to FOX News. Describing the President's upcoming speech, she said it would be, "funny and entertaining," then added, "there will be some shots fired in the room tonight." Yeah, and Jack Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln and Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy, so what?  

Late Saturday evening Donald Trump, back at the White House, held a brief press conference. By all accounts, even from outlets which are openly hostile to him, he sounded reasonable, measured, and downright Presidential. By the next morning, however he had recovered from this moment of sanity. In a social media post, he claimed the shooting was the reason that, "military leaders and the heads of all the security agencies," had, "spent years begging to have a grand White House ball room built." You know, like the one he is building.

It didn't take long after that for Trumpista talking heads to blame the assassination attempt on, "democratic hate speech. Their argument apparently being if you criticize the man in any way, it will automatically create a Cole Allen. 

Meanwhile, last week, mere hours prior to the shooting Donald Trump posted this on social media. "The Southern Poverty Law Center has dedicated their existence to attacking my voters in the Klan. (The italics are mine.) That's FRAUD! Therefore the 2020 Presidential Election should be permanently wiped from the books!!!" That's our man Donnie Trump. He is, as God and the rest of us are his witnesses, standing up to defend what he believes is one of his key voter demographics--members of the nation's original organized hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. 

 Which leads us to another Christian principle we might want to interpret. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

4-27-26