There are 93 days to the midterms

Trump announced Saturday night that he will cancel a pending attack on Iran after he indicated that a rough framework of a peace deal had been reached. He posted on Lies Anti-Social, "We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to. Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL. He said the deal "would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran's nuclear threat." This is utter bullshit; Trump is so desperate to get out of his biggest fuckup ever that he’s inventing this whole thing. There has been no third party confirmation of any part of this lie. He called off the bombing because the US military is incapable of carrying it out.

Senator Bernie Moreno - who has been criticized for his lack of comment about his daughter’s charges of abuse against his son-in-law and fellow GOP congressperson, Representative Mas Miller - spoke out this morning. He called on Miller to resign, saying of Miller: “If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them. He should not serve in the House of Representatives. I believe Max Miller needs to seek professional help to end the clear pattern of abuse he has left in his wake. I believe he should not be free to continue endangering others until he does.”

Yesterday morning - after US Attorney Jeanine Pirro dropped the Hearn case and pointed out that the physical evidence didn’t support Dilbert’s “treasonous vaqndalism” lie about the Reflecting Pool, but was proof of the shoddy work of his “button man” - Sundowning Grampa crawled to the Golden Throne in the midst of the regularly-scheduled Adderall overdose, and got busy posting at his failed Lies Anti-Social: “I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool. I don’t know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM, that included the grass, which had a big 86 47 emblazoned in giant letters on it, and other elements of the surrounding area. There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!” Yes, he really is delusional. The truth is - like everything else he’s ever attempted in his entire worthless life, Trump botched the Reflecting Pool just like he has botched handling the entire country.

Also yesterday, Republican political commentator Scott Jennings said Olympian David Hearn “ought to sue” Maladministration II for attempting to prosecute him in connection with damage found at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. In an interview on CNN’s “The Source” with host Erica Hill, Jennings was asked if he was concerned the TrumpDOJ rushed to judgement on this case. “Yeah, of course,” Jennings replied. “It looks terrible. And, you know, after everything that was said, this guy, he is owed an apology. They dragged this guy’s name through the mud.”

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum doubled down on claims that vandals were responsible for damage to Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, rejecting the DOJ’s assessment that faulty construction was to blame. Burgum wrote on X Saturday, “The evidence is clear, vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool. Some of these acts were even caught on camera.” Burgum has become a living satire of a Trump Toady. “Intentional damage done to the Reflecting Pool is no different than defacing any one of our other national monuments. We won’t back down to deranged people who want to destroy, deface, or degrade our monuments.” Baghdad Bob couldn’t have pulled off that whopper.

Saturday, in the aftermath of having his lies publicly exposed by his own DOJ, Trump, went on yet another disturbing posting blitz in which he imagined himself as Elvis Presley, mocked his political foes, daydreamed over his “Arc de Trump,” and laid claim to both Venezuela and Greenland, posting 43 times from Saturday morning to afternoon, which included a mix of reposts and his usual AI slop. He self-soothed over his advanced age. One image of himself was captioned, “President Trump ages in reverse!” Another sat current Trump and young Trump next to each other, accompanied by the caption, “Same Guy. Even more energy now!”

In another Dilbert fuckup, Maladministration II has broken the US military to the point where it could not expand the war in Iran - as Dilbert once again threatened to do this past week - because the US is running out of munitions and equipment. Only Donald Dumbfuck could try to expand a war and fail because he has wrecked the military to the point where it is having to cut back. The Washington Post reported Saturday that top military commanders are warning Maladministration II that they no longer have the capacity to protect Israel from missile attacks. From the Post: “The top U.S. general in Europe privately warned the Pentagon this week that he lacks sufficient naval forces to continue protecting Israel from incoming ballistic missiles, officials said, illustrating how the ongoing Iran war has imposed constraints on the military.
Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the head of U.S. European Command, sent written notification to senior Pentagon officials saying that without another Navy destroyer he will be forced to choose defense of the United States “homeland” over that of Israel, said the officials, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the correspondence.” The Pentagon conducted assessments earlier in the war which showed U.S. forces have shouldered the brunt of defending Israel from Iranian ballistic missiles, according to the Post. The threat comes not just from Iran, but also from Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are reportedly equipped by Tehran. The Iranians are using drones and missiles to attack Israel and US military resources while the United States is responding with multi-million dolar missiles, munitions, and defensive systems. Thanks to Trump being such an incompetent president, Nitwityahoo may finally have to stand on his own without US cover.

Dilbert trumps Dilbert (again): Dilbert visited Michigan this week, where he climbed in a Cadillac. Ordinarily, watching someone get in a car would not qualify as breaking news. But Dilbert didn’t get into the driver’s seat - he climbed directly into the back seat. That tells you all you need to know - his instinct was to occupy the seat reserved for people who expect somebody else to do the work while they enjoy the ride. Another one of those things we screenwriters call “a character tell.”

Republicans could lose a Senate seat in Nebraska they’ve never had to think about. Dan Osborn, a union guy running without a party is in the margin of error according to latest polls. Two years ago, he came within seven points of beating a Republican senator there. This month, Democrat Cindy Burbank, dropped out of the race so he’d have a straight shot at GOP Sen. Pete Ricketts. The last poll has Dan within two points of Ricketts.

New Hampshire’s Republican-majority legislature passed a very strick voter suppression law, requiring new voters to bring a passport or a birth certificate to register. This past week, Federal Judge Samantha Elliott threw the law out as being unconstitutional. The state asked to keep enforcing it through November anyway, and she said no this past Friday. For 2026, voting in New Hampshire - which has never ever had a problem with non-citizens voting - will be like it has always been.

Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego walked out of ICE detention Wednesday after three weeks in a cell. ICE had stopped the van he was riding to work in on July 7, 2026. An ICE goon then murdered the driver - 52-year-old homebuilder Lorenzo Salgado Araujo - and Rojas Pliego saw all of it; ICE locked him up as a “material witness.” This week, Federal Judge Keith Ellison ordered him released. The first place he went was the memorial for the man who’d been driving. Rojas Pliego’s eyewitness testimony directly contradicts every ICE lie about the murder.

Trump ordered his own agencies to build a list of who counts as a voter, and told the Postal Service not to mail a ballot to anybody who wasn’t on it. Judge Indira Talwani killed that, the appeals court refused to bring it back, and now he’s begging the Supreme Court to reinstate it. The Court has not responded. Those ballots go out either way in the 23 states covered by Judge Talwani’s order - which includes all Blue States.

Thirty-some people applied for a lab tech job at a hospital in Hettinger, North Dakota last Spring. None were American; Trump had just put a $100,000 price tag on hiring anyone from abroad. Federal Judge Judge Leo Sorokin struck the fee down and last week the Sixth Circuit appeals court refused to revive it. Hospitals like that one can fill those jobs now.

A company wanted to build a data center out by Spaceport America in New mexico. Those things swallow enormous amounts of water - and this one is located in a stretch of New Mexico desert that hasn’t got water to spare. County commissioners were only supposed to vote on a letter of concern. Commissioner Sandy Jones pushed for a ban instead, and all three voted yes. Nobody’s building out there for 18 months. Data centers are getting killed everywhere. The Silly Con Valley Bros are finding out that nobody likes them - none of their “progess” they have foisted on us over the past 30+ years have been that “progressive,” and that fact has finally caught up with them.

On Second National Enshittifcation Day back in January 22025, Trump signed an order saying babies born here to immigrant parents aren’t citizens unless the paperwork is right. Back in June, the Supreme Court threw that out, ruling 6-3 that the Fourteenth Amendment continues to be the law of the land. Trumpe swore he’d demand a rehearing IMMEDIATELY. and then he had 25 days to do it. Last Monday - the day for that to happen - there was no notice at the Court that such a requiest for a rehearing came and went with nothing filed. Those babies are citizens and Trump has once again managed to Trump Himself.

Sebastian

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James Talarico appears to be winning support from a sizable block of Republican voters, according to a new Fox News poll released Thursday. The survey found Talarico leading Ken Paxton 51-48 percent - despite receiving Trump’s endorsement, Paxton’s string of legal troubles and scandals - including felony securities fraud charges, an impeachment and an extramarital affair - have made it difficult for him to unify the GOP.

Three people were killed and 15 injured after an explosion tore through an upscale Moscow restaurant Saturday evening. Local reports said the restaurant had been closed for a private event celebrating the 55th birthday of General Alexander Chayko, notorious for his alleged involvement in war crimes committed in Ukraine during the first months of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. . Alexander Chaiko was recently appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces by Putin. The blast occurred around 8 p.m. local time at the Balzi Rossi restaurant on Kudrinskaya Square, located on the ground floor of one of Moscow’s Stalin-era skyscrapers. After a flurry of conflicting reports suggesting the blast had been caused by a gas leak or a freak accident, Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee said an explosive device was to blame. Video from the scene showed shattered windows, debris strewn across the entrance, a severed arm, and heavily armed law enforcement officers guarding the area as emergency crews searched the building. The explosion also disrupted city events, with Moscow’s Department of Transport postponing its Night Bike Festival, which had been scheduled to begin later Saturday. The explosion comes as Putin faces mounting criticism over a series of security failures inside Russia.

Saturday, Trump floated the possibility of further controls on AI development in the wake of an OpenAI model going rogue and industry leaders joining calls for a pause. More than 1,200 AI company employees, including Anthropic’s CEO and senior Google DeepMind and OpenAI executives, signed a “Pacing the Frontier” petition calling for “technical and governance tools” to “buy time to address emerging risks.” Those risks may be severe: 272 experts surveyed by MIT thought 18 of 24 potential risk categories, including AI models developing dangerous capabilities or providing them to users, had a more than 10% chance of causing “catastrophic” outcomes, meaning 1 million deaths, $100 billion in losses, or “civilization-scale” harms, before 2030. Skynet is watching.

Friday in Minnesota, U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank denied a request from Elmo’s artificial intelligence company xAI to block a Minnesota law that will be the first in the nation to ban nudification technology. The judge ruled that there was little risk of immediate harm from the law going into effect as scheduled on Saturday, despite a lawsuit this week from xAI claiming that the law violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech. In a two-page order denying the request, Judge Frank wrote, “xAI filed the motion on July 29, 2026, nearly three months after the law was signed, and only three days before the law is set to take effect. Such a delay in bringing the action and the motion suggests that harm is not immediate.” The court could still pause the law at a later time. The judge wrote that he’ll hold a hearing on Aug. 19 on whether to grant a preliminary injunction. The law prohibits a person who owns or controls a website, application or software to allow their users to “nudify” images of others. It also prohibits anyone from advertising nudification capabilities. Another smackdown for the silliest goon in Silly Con Valley. In response to the lawsuit, Governor Walz posted last Tuesday, “See you in court, creep.” Violating Minnesota’s law could result in a civil penalty of up to $500,000 “for each unlawful access, download or use,” in addition to civil penalties for mental anguish, punitive damages, attorney’s fees or “other relief the court deems just and equitable.” The law says the state’s attorney general may enforce it and that victims may sue on their own. The law does not include criminal penalties.

On July 30, former Afghan National Army Special Operations and 215th Corps Commander General Sami Sadat’s Afghanistan United Front (AUF) claimed its first attack against the Taliban since the fall of Kabul in 2021. The AUF announced the attack on X, posting images that appeared to show two dead Taliban fighters. According to the group, the attack occurred along the Kandahar–Spin Boldak Highway. Shortly afterward, the AUF released a statement officially announcing the commencement of combat operations against the Taliban. “In continuation of the Afghanistan United Front’s political, cultural, and civil programs, the Military Commission of the United Front, in support of the mission of liberating Afghanistan and returning power to the people, will assume responsibility for leading military operations against the Taliban and other terrorist groups present in Afghanistan.”

After years of hinting at impending combat operations, the AUF’s claimed attack is significant for three reasons. First - it strikes at the Taliban’s spiritual homeland of Kandahar. Sadat, a Pashtun, is intimately familiar with the province, having commanded hundreds of operations in Kandahar and neighboring Helmand during the war. Sadat’s decision to begin operations in Kandahar sends a clear signal that he intends to challenge the Taliban in their traditional stronghold. Second - the AUF is the first major resistance organization led by a prominent Pashtun commander. While Ahmad Massoud’s National Resistance Front (NRF) and Yasin Zia’s Afghan Freedom Front (AFF) both include Pashtun fighters, both leaders are Tajiks and are more closely associated with northern Afghanistan. A Pashtun-led movement could prove better positioned to recruit and operate in the country’s Pashtun-dominated south and southeast, where the Taliban have historically enjoyed their strongest support. Third, Sadat is arguably the best-known anti-Taliban resistance leader in the United States. Since the fall of Kabul, he has testified before Congress, appeared frequently in American media, and toured the country. With Sadat’s entrance into the battlefield, the Taliban now face armed opposition led by commanders from Afghanistan’s major ethnic communities.

With regard to miniature self-chartered opthamologist Rand Paul’s attempt to go after Dr. Fauci this week, a poster on X put out: “Rand Paul doesn’t belong in the senate. He belongs in a cabin in Montana, writing manifestoes on the inside of ripped-open Slim Jim boxes.” Also, here’s how Dr. Fauci described Trump in his “diary”: Rambling, Crazy, Desperate, Bumbling, Incompetent, an Idiot, a True Embarrassment, Totally Nuts, Truly an Obnoxious Adolescent, - and Paul thought releasing this was supposed to make Fauci look bad?
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley on BlueSky: “Odyssey this/Odessey that/We Odyssey ICE abolished.”

Lastly: during an appearance at the Rome film festival this week, Sir Ian McKellan told a story bout how he created his performance for a scene in “Avengers Doomsday.” The Russo Brothers who directed the film asked him to play Magento “more fierce” while acting out the character’s magnetic powers. McKellan said that he imagined destroying Mar-A-Lardo with the magnetic powers, which inspired his rage.

Remember, you are not the crazy ones, and we were made for these times. Regardless of what you may feel right now, act as if you believe that and redouble your efforts.

“Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it.” - Abraham Lincoln

Sweetie

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There are 94 days to the midterms.

Senate Republicans are close to cutting a deal with their Democratic counterparts to avoid a government shutdown and rein in a proposed rule from the White House budget office that would give Trump appointees more power to withhold congressional appropriations, according to senators familiar with the negotiations.

GOP lawmakers are desperate to avoid another shutdown before the election, but any proposal to quash President Trump’s ability to hold up federal money from going to programs the administration deems “woke” could draw the president’s opposition and scuttle a funding deal.

The proposal would fund the government through Dec. 4, and some Democrats believe that if it passes, there would be a tacit agreement from Senate GOP colleagues to postpone Trump’s demanded budget reconciliation package until after the election.

In an admission of error in court yesterday, the TrumpDOJ US Attorney’s Office for D.C. withdrew criminal charges against an Olympic canoeist David Hearn, accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The TrumpDOJ persecutors acknowledged in a court filing that contrary to the assertions they made that David 'Davey' Hearn had damaged the iconic landmark, "damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor." Winebox Jeanine’s office further admitted they have new information "showing that the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented by the Department of the Interior." It's an abrupt end to a trial that was plagued with prosecutorial missteps throughout. Trump lied that this damage was the result of a "gash" in the monument inflicted by political protesters, but no evidence of such a gash was found when the pool was drained for remedial maintenance. The end of the case, which followed a series of prosecutorial blunders and national ridicule of Trump for his failure to properly renovate the pool, drew immediate reaction from commenters on social media — with many calling it a monumental failure for Trump's hand-picked D.C. U.S. Attorney, Winebox Jeanine. As one observer said last night, “Apparently she’s more worried about losing her law license than pissing off Trump.” "I hope he sues the ever loving shit out of every single one of these assholes," wrote podcaster Joanne "JoJoFromJerz" Carducci.

Showing that Senators Cornyn and Tillis are right to demand the death of the Traitor Fund in writing, Dilbert renewed his criticism of the delayed confirmation for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, warning he could keep Blanche in the interim spot and revive the controversial $1.776 billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund. He said: “If Senators Cornyn and Tillis, both upset because I wouldn’t Endorse them (they lost, and quit, respectively!), aren’t going to approve Todd Blanche, one of the most respected professionals, according to everybody, in the Country, to be the United States Attorney General, then I will keep Todd as Acting A.G., and push hard to get the Anti-Weaponization Bill, which takes care of those who have been so badly treated by the Crooked Joe Biden (and Obuma!) Administration (I get nothing, although I was treated horribly!), PASSED. Todd Blanche was a voice of reason! It will immediately be back on the table, and I will get it done.” Like Napoleon said at Austerlitz, “Never interfere with an enemy who is defeating himself.”

A recent Fox News poll showed Democratic Texas gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa within the margin of error of defeating Gov. “Hot Wheels” Greg Abbott, and critics wasted little time taunting the MAGA governor over his potential election loss. Despite President Donald Trump winning Texas in 2024 by close to 14 percentage points, Abbott – a fierce Trump ally – is favored to win his re-election bid by just 1 percentage point over his Democratic opponent, well within the margin of error. Conducted between July 23-27, the poll also found that Texas voters indicated they were “falling behind financially” by a more than 2-to-1 margin. Writin on X on Friday, Sara McGee, the Democratic nominee for Texas’ 132nd Congressional District, predicted the new polling data would force Abbott’s hand: “Republicans will say this poll is fake only for Greg Abbott to turn around and flip on data centers, and then roll out a ‘healthcare plan’ after refusing federal Medicaid expansion dollars for the last 12 years. He’s seen the numbers. November is coming.” In 2024, Trump performed strongly with several key demographics in Texas, securing more support from independent and Hispanic voters than his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris. According to the new poll, however, Hinojosa leads Abbott with both groups by 27 and 16 points, respectively.

Republican Governor Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma is insisting that states remain in charge of conducting their own elections, without interference from the federal government. He made sure to follow up his remarks with an expression of support for the SAVE Act itself. But Stitt drew the line when it came to the bigger question of Trump federalizing all elections. He observed that small-government conservatives would likely never be okay with a Democratic president taking over elections in red states, saying “we believe in the federalist system—that’s states’ rights.”
This isn’t the first time Stitt has publicly distanced himself from Trump. In February, he pushed Maladministration II to include Democratic governors in a White House meeting, which led to Trump publicly calling him a “RINO.” Last fall, Stitt publicly criticized Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard into blue states like Illinois. But Stitt can’t have his cake and eat it too. Oklahoma has already handed over its voter rolls, including personal data, to the TrumpDOJ.

After the Supreme Court ruled in April’s Louisiana v. Callais, Republican legislatures across the Deep South rushed to redraw their own congressional maps specifically to deny Black voters adequate representation in Congress. Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, and Alabama all moved fast to redraw maps that sought to weaken Black Americans’ political power. Mississippi’s governor is scrambling to do the same before the midterms. But according to a new analysis from VoteHub, a data-focused election research group, Republicans may have bit off more than they can chew. In 78 Black Belt counties across the South, all but one shifted further left in partisan turnout compared to 2024. Alabama’s Greene County saw 50% turnout in its primary, a jump of nearly 28%. Bullock County, which is more than 70% Black and sits squarely inside the district Republican lawmakers targeted, had the third-highest turnout in the entire state. Louisiana showed similar results. Black voters made up almost 36% of the primary electorate in the primary, even though they’re only 32% of the population. Nearly 31% of Black voters cast ballots, outpacing white turnout by more than 3%. The data is clear: when Republicans go out of their way to erase Black political power, it’s lighting a fire under the very voters they’re trying to sideline, who could in turn show up in record numbers in November and throw out the Republicans who tried to silence them.

Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball - one of the most highly regarded election forecasters - just moved 14 congressional races in Democrats’ favor. Republicans are now trailing in 13 House seats and one Senate race. Three districts that used to lean Republican have now been recategorized as tossups: Pennsylvania’s 8th, New York’s 17th, and North Carolina’s 11th. That last one got downgraded partly because the incumbent posted less than ideal fundraising numbers and is currently under an ethics investigation. Several other Republican seats didn’t flip to tossup status but got shakier anyway. Ohio’s 7th District is now more favorable for Democrats over allegations of domestic abuse lodged by Republican Congressman Max Miller’s ex-wife, which he denies. Texas’ 15th slipped too, with Democrats feeling good about the Latino-heavy South Texas district and the popularity of their candidate, singer Bobby Pulido. Even Lauren Boebert’s Colorado district got downgraded, from safe to merely likely Republican, following a strong quarter of fundraising from her Democratic opponent. Georgia’s Senate race moved from lean Democrat to likely Democrat, as incumbent Senator Jon Ossoff is aiming to secure another six-year term. A recent Emerson College poll has Democrats up 11%s on the generic ballot, 53-42. That’s climbed steadily from the mid-40s just last summer, and is an even more lopsided margin than at this same point in 2018, when Democrats flipped 40 Republican seats. Crystal Ball isn’t calling this a landslide just yet, as Republicans could still hang on if the GOP’s outside spending advantage makes a difference. But the current forecast has Democrats winning somewhere in the low-to-mid 220-seat range, which would be enough to flip the House and give the speaker’s gavel back to Democrats.

CNN anchor Erin Burnett aired footage of Trump's cabinet members showering him with praise, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touting Dilbert’s transparency and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying the economy under Trump is "the envy of the world" and a feat the founding fathers "could not have imagined." She contrasted that with recent poll numbers that show Americans don't quite view Trump the same way, including a 34% approval rating. It marks Trump's "lowest approval rating among the American people so far," Burnett noted. She also stressed that 73% of Americans said Trump's priorities are wrong. "Three-quarters of the American people say that the president of the United States is not paying attention to the country's most important problems. That is a stunning number, three-quarters of Americans." She also played video of Trump saying, "America is safer and stronger and far more successful than it was two years ago, and I don't think it's ever been anything like this. We're going to leave this country in very, very good shape, better shape than it's ever been. This is the golden age of America." Burnett said, "Trump's not hearing it. It's an incredible cognitive dissonance."

Science-denying “self certified opthamologist” libertarian loonie Sen. Rand Paul fumed Wednesday after Sen. Richard Blumenthal shamed him for throwing Dr. Anthony Fauci's lawyer out of a Senate hearing. Blumenthal delivered the rebuke after attorney David Schertler tried to speak on Fauci's behalf. Paul refused to recognize him. "Another word and you're gone!" Paul warned before ordering security to escort Schertler from the room. When his turn came, Blumenthal said, "His attorney has been gagged, thrown out of this hearing room, but he has written a letter to the chairman that is an explanation for the reasons why Dr. Fauci is, in fact, invoking his constitutional right. This hearing is the culmination of a years-long crusade which started more than six years ago when Dr. Fauci dared to contradict President Donald Trump."
Blumenthal then read from Schertler's letter, which cited Paul's own public statements, including social media posts calling to put Fauci "in jail" and demanding "a subpoena and a jail cell" as evidence that the hearing was designed to trap Fauci in a criminal case, not gather information.
"This years-long public crusade against Dr. Fauci makes one thing clear. You are single- mindedly fixated on seeing Dr. Fauci prosecuted for imaginary crimes, and you are so invested in that outcome that you have created a personal brand around it. It is an insult to the memory of more than 1 million Americans who died from COVID-19. America deserves better."

It’s all OK till their nanny gets grabbed: Houston resident Maureen Mendrek-Laske - an engineer and a mother of fou - expressed anger at Maladministration II after ICE agents detained her family’s longtime childcare provider, 64 year-old Joyce Basele. Mendrek-Laske, who voted for Trump in 2024, told Newsweek: “I don't think this is really what I voted for if I was voting for immigration reform. I thought we were targeting criminals.” Too late they open their eyes.

Sam

Maladministration II isn’t about making America great. The real point is to make Trump as much money as possible by abusing the office of the presidency. Trump’s latest scheme is the open selling of insider access to him. Trump’s Lies Anti-Social posts can shift the stock market and prediction markets. Trump has been accused of using his social media posts to manipulate the markets. Now, he’s turning his market manipulation for personal gain into a subscription service for insider trading. Trump is going to sell early access to his posts to hedge fund managers and traders for $100,000 a month. House Judiciary Committee Democrats, led by Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) have taken notice of Trump’s scheme and have launched an investigation.Raskin wrote to the Interim Chief Executive Officer of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp notifying him of the investigation. “This reverse Robin Hood scheme appears to be a last-ditch effort by Trump Media to monetize the only valuable asset available to it: the President’s public statements. Since going public in March 2024, Trump Media’s stock has plummeted by over 80%, wiping out billions of dollars in wealth for many of Trump Media’s investors. Despite these losses, President Trump and his inner circle have continued to profit on the floundering company.”

Friday, Maladministration II appealed a ruling by Florida-based U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, who found Trump effectively colluded with his own government in bringing a $10 billion suit against the IRS. That suit, which the TrumpDOJ pointed to as the basis for creating its $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, was highly criticized. Judge Williams said the case was “brought to manipulate the judicial process.” The TrumpDOJ never needed the litigation to create the fund, and Williams’s ruling did not block it, though she did order the parties to not refer to the fund as a settlement in the case. But it nonetheless shows Maladministration II’s appetite for continued battle over the fund and could indicate an effort to revive Trump’s suit against the IRS.

Former President Barack Obama tore into Trump in private as an “idiot” and a “liar.” And he privately used ”Fuck” in a way which would inevitably trigger a wave of right-wing criticism.
Obama’s frank thoughts on Trump, and on his son Donald Trump Jr., were recorded by Dr. Tony Fauci in a diary he kept, which was spitefully leaked by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Obama contacted Fauci to give his support as MAGA attacked the doctor in 2021 for his COVID leadership. Among the pages released was a November 2021 entry revealing the scientist discussing a conversation he had with Obama about the “crazy things that the far-right Republicans” were attacking him over amid the pandemic. This included Donald Trump Jr. selling merchandise such as T-shirts and sweatshirts on his website featuring the slogan “Fauci Kills Puppies.” Obama reassured him that Trump Jr. is “a fucking moron” before apologizing for using crude language. “But he went on to say that Donald Trump was a hopeless idiot who was a pathologic liar,” Fauci added. “He was very upset that none of the moderate Republicans were actually speaking out on my behalf and were distancing themselves from all of this terrible, slanderous behavior against me.” Former heroin addict and relentless science-denier RFK Jr has bragged about his role in handing the Fauci diary to Paul, attempting to defend the leak by claiming that they are “not personal journals” but “government records created on a government computer by a federal employee during one of the most consequential public health emergencies in history.”

Trump has been slapped down by an Obama-appointed federal judge he tried to boot from overseeing a case against him. The first judge assigned, George W. Bush appointee Ricardo Martinez, recused himself, and the lawsuit passed to Stanley Bastian, 68, chief judge in Washington’s Eastern District, an Obama pick confirmed 95-0 by the Senate, under a standing Ninth Circuit designation letting outside judges sit in the district, court records show. TrumpDOJ demanded Bastian recuse himself over his sideline as a regular visiting judge in Seattle. Bastian’s answer, delivered Thursday without so much as an oral argument, was a flat no, writing in the three-page order that the government offered “no binding authority” requiring him to step aside, noting drily that the defendants considered the reassignment “somehow improper.” Roger Rogoff was unanimously handed the job of U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington by the district’s 17 federal judges on July 15, and axed by Trump, 80, just 54 minutes after being sworn in. His appointment would have made him the boss of Trump’s own man in Seattle. Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi installed Charles Neil Floyd, a Tacoma immigration judge, at the office’s helm in September. Trump never asked the Senate to confirm Floyd, and when Floyd’s interim term lapsed in February, the Justice Department simply made him first assistant U.S. attorney for the district and left the top job vacant, leaving him in charge by default.

Elmo’s toy rockets are making a show again: A drifting SpaceX rocket is on a collision course with the moon after launching a pair of lunar landers more than a year ago. The rocket’s upper stage will unintentionally slam into the moon on Wednesday, carving out a crater and sending up a plume of dust and rubble that scientists and skygazers are eager to observe. Space tracking expert Bill Gray predicts an impact of 5,400 mph (8,700 kph) - seven times the speed of sound - near Einstein Crater on the moon’s sunlit western limb. With the action unfolding in the wee hours, the eastern portions of the U.S. and Canada, and much of South America should have the best views. While scientists are not too concerned about this particular piece of space junk, it highlights the growing threat as more and more items cram into orbit. It was never SpaceX’s intent to hit the moon. But space experts said the crash could have been avoided if the upper stage had been nudged into orbit around the sun. It will be the second dead rocket known to crash into the moon accidentally. A Chinese rocket segment dug out a pair of craters on the lunar far side in 2022. Lucky for astronomers, the upcoming smashup will occur on the moon’s near side, packing the equivalent energy of three tons of TNT.

Remember, you are not the crazy ones, and we were made for these times. Regardless of what you may feel right now, act as if you believe that and redouble your efforts.

“Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it.” - Abraham Lincoln

Creampuff

The current media scene is a stark reminder of the importance of independent journalism. We can bring down Trump, with your support. Across Substack, authors like me need your help! It’s only 21 cents a day. Thomas Jefferson said he’d rather have newspapers without a government than a government without newspapers because he understood that a republic cannot survive without an adversarial press willing to challenge power. Since January, TAFM has lost 100 paid subscribers; a loss we cannot afford that is happening across Substack for we “originals.” We really need new paid supporters, which is why there is now a special TC’s Birthday offer of 20% off for the first year for new subscribers between now and this coming Fridaye end of the month. (Now the price of a cup of coffee monthly) Thank you for your support.

“This is great, I love your blog. Keep at it.” - Stephen King (free subscriber on March 15, paid subscriber on April 28)

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There are 90 days to the midterms.

Polling seems all over the place in Michigan’s Democratic Primary. A new independent poll from Emerson College has Abdul El-Sayyed leading Haley Stephens. However, Democrats are staring at the possibility that the party won’t unify behind El-Sayyed in the general. Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich, said in a recent interview, “I will not stand beside someone who has allowed distinctly anti-American sentiment to enter our public dialogue,” referencing his decision to campaign with far-left streamer Hasan Piker - who publicly supported Hamas and has attacked several progressive Democrats over support for Israel. Democrats also do not forget that, while he said in the 2024 presidential election that he would support Democrats, he was a leader of the “Uncommitted” movement, when a sizable bloc of Democrats — including El-Sayed — protested Joe Biden in the primary over his Gaza policy. El-Sayed stressed he would support Democrats in the general election over Trump. But Democrats believe Kamala Harris’ eventual loss in Michigan stemmed in part from the lingering splits over Gaza, leading disaffected voters to stay home despite the urging of many progressives who had previously backed the protest. Scholten claimed that, while El-Sayyed may lead online, “in the field” Haley Stevens is drawing large crowds. This is a crucial seat that Democrats must hold if they are to retake the Senate. According to another poll, El-Sayyed is far behind Stevens in the essential black voter bloc. Whuile El-Sayyed polls stronger for the primary, Stevens polls stronger against Republican Mike Rogers.

Thursday, Trump proclaimed on Lies Anti-Social platform that he has reached a solution for the Gaza war” “Today, the Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza. This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY. This is a major milestone in the implementation of the Trump 20-Point Plan. The agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases. As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors. One year ago there was a violent raging war, humanitarian crisis and hostages kept in brutal captivity. We have made historic progress and there is still much work to do, the threat that emerged from Gaza on October 7 will NOT be allowed to rebuild! Under this agreement, Gaza will finally be in the hands of a new Palestinian government that serves its PEOPLE. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL ON THIS AMAZING DEVELOPMENT, THAT EVERYBODY SAID COULD NEVER BE ACHIEVED!” As to the truth of this statement, there has never been a report of Trump’s Board of Authoritarians holding any meeting since he initially announced its existence. While Trump still largely wants a solution that gives Israel everything it wants while making bombastic threats against Hamas, he has recently grown more frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump did not provide details of the phases in his post. Amit Segal, chief political analyst for Israel’s N12News, outlined some terms the reported 15-point document earlier, saying Hamas would surrender all weapons within “weeks” to depots guarded by multinational forces, as well as ending all military activity and recruitment. Israel would not withdraw its military behind the “yellow line” until disarmament is complete. Neither the Israelis or Hamas had officially commented on Trump’s announcement. The “Board of Peace” was proclaimed by Trump as the organization that would oversee Gaza’s reconstruction earlier this year. Thursday evening, Hamas confirmed the deal and said it is committed to implementing the plan.

Trump’s inability to understand war and international trade continues to make everything worse. The conflict in the Middle East is widening. On Wednesday, a drone hit gas vessels at Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Damietta, signalling a potential new front in the war. The attack renewed concerns about the nearby Suez Canal and Sumed pipeline, a vital route for Saudi oil exports.
Egypt’s cabinet said on Thursday that an initial investigation found an unidentified drone caused a fire on two vessels at Damietta port on Wednesday. Trading sources said the drone hit U.S.-owned gas storage tanker Energos Winter, causing a fire that spread to a second vessel. A drone attack on gas tankers at an Egyptian port on the Mediterranean is a worrying development for Gulf energy producers who have gotten ever more reliant on the Suez Canal to get their supplies out if the Gulf. Suez is an expensive but critical alternative option after the U.S.-Iran war choked off the Strait of Hormuz and the Iran-backed Houthis started targeting Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia on Thursday unveiled plans for a multinational maritime defence coalition aimed at protecting international shipping and energy supply routes in the Red Sea region. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Egypt’s security is of “utmost importance” to the Islamic Republic. “Egypt is an important friend and partner in the region, and its security is of utmost importance to us.” All this is creating an alarming new norm for Gulf energy supplies, with worries about the reliability of supply becoming increasingly entrenched among buyers. India’s state-owned Mangalore Refinery this week issued a crude purchase tender that, for the first time, explicitly asked suppliers to avoid using the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz. This suggests that, even if shipping resumes and a diplomatic agreement is reached, a big if, Gulf exporters may be forced to offer discounts to retain customers. Brent futures settled down at $89.03 a barrel. Trade was choppy; Brent touched a session high of $93.31 earlier in the session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled down 87 cents at $83.59, after hitting a high of $85.94.

Many observers have pointed out that Trump’s threat to withdraw Blanche’s nomination for Attorney General, and then resubmit it in the new Congress where Cornyn and Tillis will not hold office, ignores the fact that there is a good likelihood Democrats may control the Senate in the new congress, which would make any such nomination DOA. Tillis sees the fund as a campaign liability for his colleagues, something Trump is ignoring as he seeks to keep the fund alive. Trump sent Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to Congress today to talk with Republicans about how to revive Trump’s agenda legislatively. She got an earful from John Thune, who told her he would like to support Trump but “the votes aren’t there” in the Senate to move the third reconciliation bill with the SAVE Act attached. Trump took square aim at Thune Wednesday, suggesting to reporters that Thune might not be the right man to lead Senate Republicans. “We will find out, and I will let you know.” Trump really is the “most persistent ignoramus,” as John Kelly observed five years ago. Senate Republicans are not going to strip themselves of tyhe filibuster, their major tool to prevent passage of Democratic legislation and maintain their minority rule whether or not they hold a Senate majority, and there are not 60 votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster to pass the SAVE Act, no matter how desperate Dilbert gets.

In a Thursday piece for The Wall Street Journal, Sen. John Curtis made it clear, “I won’t change the filibuster. Under no circumstance will I support any effort to end or alter the filibuster, as any party that does so wouldn’t be guaranteed survival. Their agenda would be guaranteed death come the next majority.” Curtis defended the filibuster, writing that it “protects independence” and “gives individual senators the ability to stop or slow a bill—a significant amount of influence for one person.” He added that the filibuster protects the minority, which “isn’t just a party. It can be any senator, on any issue, at any time, whose view doesn’t align with the majority.” He noted this kind of resistance “happens more often than people might think” and that the filibuster makes it so a senator who disagrees with party leadership “can’t easily be overruled and pushed aside.”

A drone factory in Kyiv destroyed by a Russian ballistic missile last Friday was owned by a US corporation registered in Delaware, in what appears to be the first time Moscow has targeted a US company in the conflict. Terminal Autonomy makes precision “deep-strike” drones with guidance systems that are resistant to Russian jamming signals. The phrase “terminal autonomy” refers to the final phase of a kamikaze drone’s attack in which AI takes over control of the weapon after the defending force jams radio waves or mobile service.

Thursday, Judge Daniel Bress, appointed by Trump during Maladministration I, joined a slew of other federal courts in rejecting Trump’s efforts to expand “mandatory detention” for long-time but undocumented U.S. residents. Bress wrote: “ Although no reading of the complicated and interrelated textual provisions at issue here is without some shortcomings, the historical understanding of the statute is the better one. The government’s new interpretation, by contrast, is less consistent with the statutory text and introduces a series of interpretive complications. We accordingly do not think that Congress in 1996 made such a large-scale change to our established system of immigration detention in the way that the government now contends.” The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in the 2-1 decision written by Bress, joined the Second, Sixth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuit courts in making similar decisions stopping Maladminstration II. In 2025, Maladministration II had “declared that a 1996 law had, without anyone noticing, mandated the detention of every undocumented immigrant who initially entered the country unlawfully, no matter how long ago.”

Georgia Republican Senate candidate Mike Collins’ press conference abruptly ended after reporters questioned him about his son-in-law’s pro-Nazi online posts. Thursday, Collins tried to shift the topic to his Democratic opponent, Sen. Jon Ossoff. But reporters pressed the issue, and Collins ultimately walked away from the podium with minimal comments about how David Alan Scheer II, according to a CNN investigation, is “a pro-White nationalist and social media influencer with a track record of sharing antisemitic material and Nazi imagery in comments across the internet.” Towards the end of Collins’ seven-minute press conference outside the Monroe County Hospital, a reporter asked him if he wanted to comment on what Scheer posted online, like how, “There’s nothing wrong with White Nationalism.” Scheer also shared Nazi imagery. Despite his decision to call on other reporters, they each kept asking the question. Finally, he said, “Listen, I appreciate y’all’s time. I appreciate you coming out this morning,” Collins said as another reporter asked if he really was not going to talk about his son-in-law “at all.” He then walked away. Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball has moved the race from “lean Democratic” to full-on “Democratic” as Ossoff continues to surpass Collins.

Thursday the National Capital Planning Commission, one of the numerous federal agencies Trump has staffed with his allies, approved his controversial arch project following a lengthy public hearing in which members of the public spent hours detailing their opposition to it - and pointed out its Nazi forefather. Preliminary site and building plans for the 250-foot gilded ‘Arc de Trump,’ planned for Memorial Circle near Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., were approved after three hours of public testimony in which multiple people raised concerns about the arch’s height and its potential to obstruct views of the cemetery. At 250 feet, it would be more than twice as tall as the nearby Lincoln Memorial, and taller than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. One person highlighted the similarities between Trump’s arch and an arch that Adolf Hitler wanted to erect in Berlin. Chief Nazi architect Albert Speer designed a triumphal arch to be built in Berlin, three times as large as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, as part of Adolf Hitler’s plan to remake the German capital in his own image. “The arch is fascist in design.” “I’m not sure what you think you’re accomplishing,” commission Chairman Will Scharf, who also serves as a White House staff secretary, replied. Scharf said a final approval vote could take place at the commission’s next meeting in September. He went on to say, “I think commemorating America’s 250th anniversary is important. I think that the proposed arch is a fitting commemoration of 250 years.” Priya Jain, chair of the heritage conservation committee of the Society of Architectural Historians, told the commission, “Reject this hasty and inappropriate proposal. Respect public opinion and engage in a deliberative design process to ensure that we end up with a fitting memorial for America’s 250th anniversary.” The panel voted 8-1 to approve the project, with Trump allies and congressional Republicans all voting in favor. According to National Park Service documents published last month, Maladministration II is scrambling to complete Trump’s arch before he’s out of office. To meet the 2028 deadline, construction workers would need to work 20-hour days year-round for two to three years.

Remember, you are not the crazy ones, and we were made for these times. Regardless of what you may feel right now, act as if you believe that and redouble your efforts.

“Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it.” - Abraham Lincoln

Brother and sister: Cary and Phantom

The current media scene is a stark reminder of the importance of independent journalism. We can bring down Trump, with your support. Across Substack, authors like me need your help! It’s only 21 cents a day. Thomas Jefferson said he’d rather have newspapers without a government than a government without newspapers because he understood that a republic cannot survive without an adversarial press willing to challenge power. Since January, TAFM has lost 100 paid subscribers; a loss we cannot afford that is happening across Substack for we “originals.” We really need new paid supporters, which is why there is now a special TC’s Birthday offer of 20% off for the first year for new subscribers between now and this coming Fridaye end of the month. (Now the price of a cup of coffee monthly) Thank you for your support.

“This is great, I love your blog. Keep at it.” - Stephen King (free subscriber on March 15, paid subscriber on April 28)

Comments are for paid subscribers.

Subscribe now

There are 91 days to the midterms.

The latest Quinnipiac University poll found only 32% of registered voters support how Trump has handled his second term in office; 58% disapproved, and 10% had no opinion. The approval rating marks a new low for Trump.A CNN survey reported an approval rating of 34%.

Todd Blanche’s nomination for Attorney General has run aground with Sens. Thom Tillis and John Cornyn, over whether Maladministration II could revive a the $1.776 billion “thug fund.” Both have said their vote was contingent on the fund being formally and permanently disbanded.
A “no” vote from either could doom the nomination in committee. As of 7 p.m. Wednesday, an increasingly frustrated-seeming Cornyn told reporters the DOJ had “stonewalled” his request, which he’d been making for months. “They’ve simply refused to cooperate.” Late4 last night, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley canceled today’s scheduled meeting to vote on Blanche’s nomination. Chairman Grassley works to set President Trump’s nominees up for success in committee, not failure. Senators Cornyn and Tillis want written assurances from the Department of Justice regarding the Trump-IRS settlement. Tomorrow’s markup is postponed as work continues to secure sufficient support in committee to favorably report Attorney General-nominee Todd Blanche, who is highly qualified for the job.”

This morning, David Kurtz at TPM takes on the question of just what it is that John Cornyn is negotiating to obtain. Citing Cornyn’s own statements and reports of the “negotiation” in the NYT, it appears that Cornyn is NOT attempting to get the tax immunity deal for Trump and his family killed off completely - he is attempting to insure that it only covers Trump, Don Jr and Eric, and The Trump Organization, and only for the retrospective tax liability that is covered in the period of the Trump lawsuit; he wants to insure it does not extend to anyone else in the Trump family or anyone involved in Trump’s shenanigans, and that it does not cover immunity going forward from the IRS for anyone but Trump, Beavis and Butthead, and the Trump Org. This still gives Trump et al at least a $100 million pass on their tax crimes (and we know he has committed them because that’s what the 34 felony convictions in New York were about). Once again, it appears that you really can’t trust a Republican farther than you can see them with your eyes closed, and that Harry Truman was right when he observed that “The only ‘Good Republicans’ are pushing up daisies.” MS NOW has also reported this.

So, how important is that tax immunity to Trump? This important: last night on Lies Anti-Social, he conceded he may pull Blanche’s nomination, rather than give Senators Cornyn and Tillis what they are demanding. He wrote: Todd Blanche is a STAR, and everyone knows it! He has the potential to go down as one of the Greatest Attorney Generals of All Time. “I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd’s name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office.” Trump also attacked both senators directly, calling them men “whose political careers have been ended by my action” What’s going on here is that Blanche can continue as Acting AG for all of Trump’s remaining term. The possibility of the Thug Fund being revived is still in play as well as the ongoing tax immunity - unrestricted as to beneficiaries. Trump now only cares for one thing: his personal enrichment for the rest of his time in office.

This morning, the Senate Finance Committee voted down a check on Maladministration II’s efforts to shield Trump and his spawn from tax audits. Republicans in the Senate Finance Committee defeated a Democratic block in a 14-13 vote as part of committee work on a broader tax-administration bill. While Democrats argued Trump’s audit immunity arrangement amounted to an abuse of power, Republicans claimed the Senate committee wasn’t the correct venue to address it.Committee chairman Mike Crap-o said, “This is not the place. If this bill were to become the vehicle where this issue is resolved, it would achieve basically making this bill a partisan bill and that would turn this bill into a bill that has a much dimmer future for becoming law.” Lawmakers approved the full bill at 26-1 with Sen. Elizabeth Warren the lone dissenting vote. She said, “No other taxpayer, ever, has gotten this kind of a deal. I cannot support a bill that rubber stamps Donald Trump’s corruption. Congress needs to stand up and put a stop to it.” Please Senator, don’t hold your breath waiting for that, you’ll turn blue and die and we need you.

Just when you think you’ve arrived at the worst, that’s when it all goes to hell in a handbasket.

The Ohio Immigrant Alliance has released a detailed report revealing that 59 ICE and CBP agents have long histories of sexual and physical abuse, with most of it directed toward women and children. Nearly 85 percent of the agents on the list have been charged with or convicted of sex offenses - 35 committed sex offenses against children. Cases from 2025 and 2026 alone make up over 42 percent of the entire list. Many are longtime veterans of their respective agencies. One served 20 years in CBP while being known as the East Valley Serial Rapist. Anothert murdered women he’d paid for sex. One ICE agentwho oversaw background checks for others was himself convicted of soliciting prostitution involving a minor. The evidence shows a deep problem within the culture of these agencies, which has only been exacerbated by the Trump administration effectively eliminating all prior vetting and training standards. A former ICE training attorney called the current program “deficient, defective and broken,” noting that 240 hours of vital training got cut from what used to be a 584-hour curriculum. Immigration is not supposed to be the work of morally-deficient otherwise-unemployables who terrorize these neighborhoods and get their jollies from so doing. I am now fully on with abolish ICE and CBP, burn them to the ground and start over - with any of them brought onboard considered guilty till they prove themselves innocent.

Marco Rubio’s State Department has turned to a high school dropout with ties to Donald Trump Jr. to help staff the country’s diplomatic corps. Andrew Crapuchettes, a 49-year-old conservative fundraiser with no education beyond a Christian nationalist Pastor Doug Wilson-affiliated private Christian “college,” was hired by the State Department to help fill its depleted Foreign Service ranks. Crapuchettes was messaged by a State Department spokesperson on LinkedIn, who praised his Idaho firm, RedBalloon, which headhunts conservative employees. He was encouraged by someone at State to bid for a contract to replace more than 600 Foreign Service workers in the early days of DOGE. Crapuchettes bid, and won the contract. “We’re focused on merit, hard work, patriotism, and not the latest political correctness, whatever that is, because that shifts,” Crapuchettes told Bloomberg. Crapuchettes is now tasked with helping to reshape the formery apolitical State Department, aided by a nearly $1 million contract for MilitaryHire, a subsidiary of RedBalloon that counts Donald Trump Jr. among its investors - surprise surprise. Crapuchettes founded his company after he was fired as CEO of his previous employer over his “conservative and Christian views.”His LinkedIn profile says his previous position was CEO of EMSI, a labor market analytics firm based in Moscow, Idaho. He also funds Liberty PAC, whihc aims to sway “the tide of mainstream American culture toward a more conservative future.” He serves as an elder at Pastor Doug Wilson’s Christ Church in Moscow. Wilson is known for his hardline misogynistic views of society, advocating women lose the right to vote and work outside the home.

Further proff of how low thing can go: State Department officials caused major embarrassment after using a map of Africa in a presentation that failed to place a single country in the correct part of the continent. The error-filled map was used during a State Department presentation at AIDS 2026, a global conference held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, earlier this week. The map—which was supposed to display opportunities for Annual Program Statements (APS) in several African countries—mislabels every single one of the countries it highlights. Nigeria, the West African nation on the Gulf of Guinea, was placed in the Sahara Desert; Mozambique, which is in southeastern Africa, was relocated to the Horn of Africa on the eastern side of the continent; Ivory Coast, in West Africa, was moved to the eastern part of the continent. There were more. The errors appear to be the result of someone trying to create the map using an Artificial Idiot;Reuters analysis fund it was created using OpenAI.

Tuesday, former FBI Director James Comey filed a motion to dismiss Trump’s case against him. The motion to dismiss and the documents attached to that filing revealed a string of bizarre details about the case. Last September, the department accused Comey of lying to Congress over press leaks, a case that was thrown out after a judge determined that Lindsey Halligan had been illegally appointed. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi failed to make that case against him stick, but the seashell case was revived under acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. The White House was so fixated on the initial Secret Service investigation that top officials demanded updates while Trump was flying home from Europe. Law enforcement, they argue, went to extreme lengths to track him down. Federal agents used emergency phone-tracking to follow Comey as he drove from North Carolina to northern Virginia shortly after the post with the sea shell photo went up. That kind of warrant-free location tracking is supposed to be reserved for true emergencies, requiring law enforcement to claim there is “an imminent threat to life or limb,” one Secret Service official noted in the filings. Internal records show agents knew they were crossing a line. One unnamed Secret Service official admitted in a memo, “we did not believe that anyone’s life was in immediate danger and legally it was a bad idea to ping the phone.” Agents also noted they believed the activity was illegal at the time, but did it anyway In an effort to prove “86” meant murder, TrumpDOJ interviewed Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano. In those interviews, Gravano said real mobsters wouldn’t even use the term, since it’s too obvious. Gravano ended up helping Comey’s case when he suggested FBI agents contact longtime prosecutor John Gleeson for his take. “The claim that ’86 is mafia jargon for ‘kill’ is preposterous,” Gleeson wrote, citing thousands of hours of debriefings and conversations with mafia members in which the term was never used that way. An unnamed Comey associate, interviewed by the FBI in April, said they told Comey’s wife, Patricia, about the term’s meaning soon after the post went live, and then contacted the Secret Service, arguing Comey would have known what the numbers meant. That associate’s belief was reportedly based on having listened to a Rudy Giuliani podcast, in which he suggested Comey’s law enforcement background meant he’d have known the term’s origins. Comey’s lawyers argued that none of his cases ever involved the word, and noted the associate is estranged from him.

The legal community is reacting with shock (“I am shocked - shocked! - to discover that gambling is going on here!”) after Sullivan & Cromwell - the leading law firm supporting American Imperialism since its founding, whose partner Jamie McDonald was sworn in Wednesday as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York - officially joined the fight against an $83.3 million verdict writer E. Jean Carroll won against Trump. The firm filed a petition Tuesday asking the Supreme Court to overturn the verdict. McDonald had served as a personal lawyer to Trump at Sullivan & Cromwell before the president nominated him to his current post. “My goodness. There it is. The once-venerated white-shoe New York law firm of @sullcrom is representing an adjudicated rapist in a case brought by the victim. I never thought I would live to see something like this. Wow,” George Conway wrote on X. Sullivan & Cromwell have been the enemy of the law since they participated in the rape of Central America as the representatives of the United Fruit Company, starting in the 1880s. Both John Foster Dulles, far right promoter of the Cold War as Secretary of State under Eisenhower, and his brother Allan - who was responsible for starting the CIA off on the wrong foot in the 1950s - came from this organization of worthless scumbags. When Sullivan & Cromwell took Trump on as a client last year, firm co-chair Robert Giuffra promised partners the firm would stay out of the Carroll cases, the WSJ reported. Giuffra reversed course after Trump’s personal lawyer Boris Epshteyn pushed the firm to take on the Carroll matter, prompting a revolt among some partners. The petition asks the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that Trump’s White House statements denying Carroll’s allegations were official presidential acts shielded by immunity, and to wipe out the $83.3 million judgment. It was filed the day before McDonald moved over to SDNY.

Tuesday, Maladministration II said it would move to end a Biden-era Medicare premium subsidy program, alleging it benefited insurance companies more than enrollees. As a result, Medicare Part D subsidies will expire at the end of the year and no longer be offered in 2027. The program was restructured under former President Biden to implement a $2,000 annual cap on out-of- pocket spending on prescription drugs. It also permitted Medicare to negotiate prices for certain high-cost Part D drugs. The majority of enrollees in the subsidy program were seniors or those with disabilities, who are now awaiting information regarding new monthly prices. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said it’s expecting to release details on costs in mid- to late-September. In 2027, the national average monthly bid amount will be $296.05, per the agency’s announcement, and will influence the federal government’s direct subsidy payments to insurance plans. For 2027, the base beneficiary premium will be $41.33. About 25 million Americans carry standalone Part D drug plans. And these fjucking morons are doing this literally the week before the midterms - to the voting demographic most likely to turn up for midterms.

Ken Paxton is turning into the child nobody wants, with two major campaign funders waiting for the other to step into the breach. The GOP’s top spending committees are locked in a “high-stakes game of chicken” over Paxton’s floundering Senate campaign, each hoping the other will kick in tens of millions needed to save his sinking candidacy. Texas demands approximately $15 million weekly in super PAC advertising for a credible campaign, making it a resource drain compared to cheaper battlegrounds with equal strategic value. Republican strategists are increasingly questioning whether Paxton is worth the investment. The NYT article states, According to the report, “Mr. Paxton finds himself in a unique situation among Senate candidates, according to interviews with a dozen Republicans with ties to his campaign. Republican donors still hold grudges from a bruising primary. The state, with its 18-plus television markets, is an epically expensive setting. And his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, has proved to be a particularly strong fund-raiser.” Paxton is also being shunned by Washington campaign cash rainmakers. “National Republican groups are slated to spend tens of millions of dollars this summer and fall in every other top-tier Senate race, including in some states that prominent handicappers think are not as competitive as Texas,” the Times is reporting. “They even plan to spend more in noncompetitive Kansas. In most states, Republicans are expected to outspend Democrats - for instance in Ohio, where the G.O.P. commitment totals over $100 million.” The Times notes that “the amount of Republican spending planned in Texas from now through Election Day, according to AdImpact, a media tracking firm: $0.”

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady for a fifth straight time Wednesday amid mounting pressure on the bank to stay ahead of another war-driven energy price shock. In a 9-3 decision, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) maintained its baseline interest rate at a range of 3.5 percent to 3.75 percent. It marked the second consecutive hold under new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari all voted to raise rates by 0.25 percentage points.

Remember, you are not the crazy ones, and we were made for these times. Regardless of what you may feel right now, act as if you believe that and redouble your efforts.

“Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it.” - Abraham Lincoln

Cary

The current media scene is a stark reminder of the importance of independent journalism. We can bring down Trump, with your support. Across Substack, authors like me need your help! It’s only 21 cents a day. Thomas Jefferson said he’d rather have newspapers without a government than a government without newspapers because he understood that a republic cannot survive without an adversarial press willing to challenge power. Since January, TAFM has lost 100 paid subscribers; a loss we cannot afford that is happening across Substack for we “originals.” We really need new paid supporters, which is why there is now a special TC’s Birthday offer of 20% off for the first year for new subscribers between now and this coming Fridaye end of the month. (Now the price of a cup of coffee monthly) Thank you for your support.

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“It’s off to work we go…”

There are 98 days to the midterms.

The vote on Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation is coming down to the wire.

Just 48 hours before a key Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Blanche’s nomination for the permanent AG job, GOP Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis are holding firm on their conditions for backing Blanche, and indicating there’s been little movement toward a deal that would unlock their support. Both senators, are demanding the TrumpDOJ formally eliminate the “anti-weaponization” fund and curtail an audit immunity deal for Trump. Cornyn said Monday that DOJ has “not sufficiently” addressed his concerns but noted they’re “still talking.” Here’s more from Cornyn: “We just need for the documents to conform to what Blanche’s testimony was at the hearing, where he said the weaponization fund was dead and he said that the immunity from future audits does not extend to people beyond the parties to the lawsuit.”

How desperate is Dilbert? This desperate: Yesterday, the senile old fartsack posted the following on his Lies Anti-Social: “John Thune should not allow the United States Senate to “leave town” until it passes The Save America Act or, far better still, TERMINATES THE FILIBUSTER, where Republicans can then quickly pass everything they ever dreamed of, including a full and deep throated SAVE AMERICA ACT, the Budget, and the ever looming Debt Ceiling disaster, 1929! The Dumocrats will do it on day one, and can’t believe how lucky they got with this Senate leadership. Remember, stupidity always brings LOSING & DEATH!” This is his response to being told repeatedly by both Senate Republicans as well as Democrats that his plan to destroy democracy in America - in order to prevent his impeachment and conviction, followed by his arrest, conviction and imprisonment - is DOA in the Senate and that no Republican senator will ever vote to destroy to Filibuster due to the fact it is the only way in which the GOP can maintain national legislative power. In response to Dilbert ranting about this in his speech to autoworkers in Michigan, HOP Senate leader John Thune replied, “If I thought there was a path to getting a result, I’m all for it. But if we are going to be sitting here and in endless quorum calls, I don’t know if that’s in anybody’s best interest.”

The Pentagon revealed on Saturday that more than 600 troops have been wounded in the Iran war, almost 200 more than previously known. The new figures bring the current total of U.S. troops wounded in the war to 624, according to the Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS. As of Friday, DCAS listed the number of troops injured in the conflict at 420. The new system, mirroring labels announced by the Pentagon in recent weeks, removes most casualties in July from the tallies of Trump’s War, and puts them instead in a new category, “Overseas Operations.” In a New York Times report Monday, a defense official blamed operational security as the reason for inconsistent or delayed casualty information.

ICE is launching operations in New York City. Enforcement operations began Monday morning in Queens and will move to Long Island on Tuesday. The operations will target people who had prior immigration detainers that were not upheld. These include ICE requests to other law enforcement agencies for information about an immigrant’s custody status and to hold on to the immigrant for longer than they normally would.

Maladministration II announced Monday that it is exempting power plants that only serve data centers and do not connect to the broader grid from pollution limits that seek to prevent acid rain.

The TrumpEPA announced new guidance clarifying that these “islanded” power plants do not have to be part of the Clean Air Act’s Acid Rain Program (ARP). Acid rain can cause environmental damage, including to aquatic wildlife, such as fish. In addition, exposure to sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides can worsen respiratory issues in humans. The EPA said it was taking the action to try to help data centers flourish while also mitigating their impacts on consumer electric bills by incentivizing data centers to bring their own power plants instead of relying on the electricity that’s already on the grid.

Monday, Trump spoke to a crowd at the General Motors Milford Proving Ground in Milford, Michigan, defending his economic record amid souring polls. At one point, Trump repeated a promise that he and other Republicans have made for multiple years: “We will pass The Great Health Care Plan. That’s what it’s called. ‘The Great Health Care Plan,’ to stop all payments to big insurance companies and give the money directly to you, the people, so that they can buy their own health care, which will be much less expensive and be a much better health care.” FACT CHECK: under the ACA, people ALREADY buy their own health care. Unlike Dilbert’s bullshit, the ACA actually covers all treatments, which his scam would mostly deny. “Trump’s made this promise FOR 9 YEARS, but you wouldn’t know that since the page with the transcript has seemingly been removed!” California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office posted on X. “It’s coming in two weeks!” Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of MeidasTouch, posted.

Monday, The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, which is made up primarily of Trump appointees, voted to propose rewriting existing requirements to consult with the public if a project may impact historic sites. Maladministration II says the exiting process slows down projects.Among the projects currently undergoing review under the National Historic Preservation Act is the Arch de Dilbert. If finalized, the changes to the review process could impact infrastructure projects near historic sites around the country. Greg Werkheiser, co-founder of Cultural Heritage Partners, said he expects the regulations to either axe public participation or make it optional for federal agencies. “You’ve got to talk about it publicly. You’ve got to see if there’s alternatives. You’ve got to consult experts. You can’t just like hire the pool guy from Mar-a-Lago to put the blue paint down … and the federal government has very detailed standards that you’re supposed to comply with about those processes.” Werkheiser added that his organization and others are likely to sue over the proposed changes, saying, “We are fully gearing up for litigation.”

Monday, former FBI Director James Comey urged a judge to throw out federal charges against him, arguing that a photo of seashells arranged on a beach he posted on social media was not a call to violence against Trump but protected political speech. Comey’s lawyers argue the government cannot prove the Instagram photo of seashells in the numerical arrangement of “86 47” constituted a “true threat” against the Republican president, who fired Comey in 2017 and has publicly called for his prosecution. The slogan, which has long meant to “get rid of” or “eject,” has been featured on thousands of items sold online and regularly displayed at protests, defense lawyers wrote in court papers. “But the government now singles out Mr. Comey to prosecute one of the President’s most prominent critics for publishing another person’s statement of political opposition. That attempt to suppress core political speech contravenes both the statutes at issue and the First Amendment.”

Surprise surprise - the “Vandals trashed the beautiful Reflecting Pool” charge in Maladministration II’s prosecution of an Olympic canoeist accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is already cracking up in front of the grand jury in D.C. According to NBC News, a witness before the grand jury in the case against David Hearn “testified that the area was already damaged and would have required repairs regardless,” citing what lawyers said in a court filing Monday. This would cast serious doubt on the Trump-appointed prosecutors’ claim that Hearn, who has pleaded not guilty, was responsible for damage to the monument. A key witness in the case admitted that the landmark was already damaged and would have needed thousands of dollars’ worth of repairs anyway. He also said he “could not quantify any loss” attributable to Hearn’s conduct.

Monday, Trump was heckled by a protester calling him a “pedophile protector” as he headlined a rally hoping to boost his economic credentials ahead of November’s midterm elections. “I’ve done more for you than your parents, OK? Your parents are good, I’m not gonna knock your parents, but I have been better to you than your parents.” He was partway into a speech filled with his usual tirades on everything from transgender athletes to the Iran war when a man in the crowd started yelling “Pedophile protector!” repeatedly. At first, Trump ignored the protester and continued to talk up his agenda, including the “historic tariffs” he had placed on foreign producers. As the heckling went on, Trump eventually looked over at the man and declared, “He’s a communist! We’re running against communists!” His fans in the crowd chanted “USA! USA!” in unison. A second group of protesters also unfurled a banner that read “Stop Data Centers” before being removed by security personnel. The fact that protesters were able to interfere with a rally demonstrates Trump’s political weakness.

The Navy is reinstating flu vaccine requirements for deploying sailors and boot camp trainees, as well as some civilian employees, just three months after the Pentagon removed the mandate. The Navy policy announced Sunday takes effect immediately; it makes a flu shot mandatory for deployed active duty sailors and trainees in “officer accession programs” like Officer Candidate School and the U.S. Naval Academy, along with officers who are directly commissioned, according to a Navy administrative notice, or NAVADMIN. The requirement also applies to Navy Reserve sailors who work in Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Enhanced Response jobs, Reservists mobilized on Title 10 orders which are directed by the President, and those involved in direct or indirect patient care. Yes, despoite being commanded by someone who managed to pop out here from his 17th century life, the National Boating Society is going to - hesitatingly - rejoin the 21st century.

Sophie Cunningham - the WNBA star who created a firestorm over her comments about transgender athletes - has also shared videos promoting anti-immigration and other right-wing sentiments. First reported by MeidasTouch, the Indiana Fever guard reposted a video on TikTok, where she has 3.2 million followers, captioned: “the illegal immigrant conversation confuses me so much.” Cunningham also reposted a video that declared “rap is demonic,” “being promiscuous leads to regret,” and referred to “modern tv” as “propoganda.” She also reshared a compilation video of “USA core” - reasons to love America - which included a clip ofTrump kissing the American flag at CPAC in 2020.

Having been publicly huiliated for their racist and sexist attacks on the continued success of “The Odyssey” as the morons they are, the MAGAverse is now going after Anne Hathaway - who plays Penelope in the film, for something that happened back in 2018. An eight-year-old clip of Hathaway receiving the 2018 National Ally for Equality Award from the LGBTQ organization the Human Rights Campaign is now being shared by right-wing figures online. As part of her 12-minute impassioned speech, Hathaway discussed culture war issues that were becoming politicized one year into Maladministration I. “It is important to acknowledge with the exception of being a cisgender male, everything about how I was born has put me at the current center of a damaging and widely accepted myth,” Hathaway said. “That myth is that gayness orbits around straightness, transgender orbits around cisgender, and that all races orbit around whiteness,” provoking a major round of applause from the audience. “This myth is wrong. But this myth is too real for too many. It is a habit, so it’s assumed to be the way things are. And it is a myth that keeps money and power in the hands of the few, instead of being invested in the lives of the free,” she said, adding that she “rejected” the myth and planned to “destroy it.” Her speech ended with, “Now, let’s tear this world apart and build a better one.” A clip of her comments was posted by a MAGA account on X called Her Tribe Vibe, with less than 3,000 followers. Saying it was a “new speech,” the account, which supports JK Rowling, said it was a “lie” that gender is just a social construct. “ Her claim that biological reality must be destroyed is not a `solution’ to anything. It is a direct assault on truth. No matter how many celebrities smile and applaud, men cannot be women, and biological sex is a fundamental fact.” The clip has been viewed 3 million times, ten times the full speech on YouTube. Sunday, MAGA podcaster Buck Sexton ran with the clip, saying, “Imagine being so narcissistic and deluded that you’d say something like this in front of a crowd because you think it makes you sound wise and virtuous.” Elmo chimed in with, “She’s just reading the script someone else wrote. No critical thinking is happening here at all.” Professional blonde beachbunny bimbo Tomi Lahren charged, “A reminder that her standing up there on her perch in her fancy gown and updo delivering this self-righteous lecture cost her absolutely zero. She makes no sacrifice. She loses nothing. Yet, she is hailed as brave and bold. For what? Words.”

Yesterday, singer-songwriter Carly Simon announced she has Parkinson’s disease, saying, “So many people have written to me, kindly wondering about my relative silence, asking how I am and what I have been doing. The truth is, I’ve been learning how to live with Parkinson’s disease. It has taken me some time to understand the diagnosis, to adjust to it, and to decide how much I wanted to say about it publicly. Parkinson’s is different for everyone, and it can be unpredictable. Some days I’m so tired I can’t get the day moving at all. On others, it gives me a little more room to move, think, work, and feel like myself. There is no tidy or predictable schedule to the illness. It does not consult my calendar before deciding what kind of day I am going to have. I do not consider Parkinson’s a gift or a blessing. It is neither. It is difficult, frustrating, and sometimes frightening. I am still learning how to live with it and how to accept it without feeling that I have surrendered something essential.” Having lost my wife and two fellow writer friends, with the prospect of losing my former screenwriting partner, all to this terrible disease, I send her my best wishes - there is nothing easy to what will come in her life, however it manifests.

Benedict Cumberbatch, Alan Cumming and Benedict Wong wrote an op-ed Monday citing the dangers to industry competition, jobs and a concentration of power if Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery merge. “We have watched, with growing alarm, what consolidation does to the breadth and depth of the work we produce: independent film acquisitions at the leading independent film festival Sundance fell by half between 2019 and 2025,” the three actors wrote. “Award-winning documentaries – films that won Oscars and topped festival juries – have struggled to find commercial distribution because they touched subjects the remaining handful of buyers found inconvenient. Every merger of this kind narrows the funnel through which stories can reach audiences,” they added. The actors said Paramount Skydance plans to “swallow” Warner Bros. Discovery, which they argue would cause “redundancies, cancelled productions, fewer films commissioned and fewer risks taken.” Cumberbatch, Cumming and Wong applauded U.K. Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy for being “minded” to intervene in the $110 billion Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery merger because of worries over media plurality.

Remember, you are not the crazy ones, and we were made for these times. Regardless of what you may feel right now, act as if you believe that and redouble your efforts.

“Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it.” - Abraham Lincoln

Roscoe

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The current media scene is a stark reminder of the importance of independent journalism. We can bring down Trump, with your support. Across Substack, authors like me need your help! It’s only 21 cents a day. Thomas Jefferson said he’d rather have newspapers without a government than a government without newspapers because he understood that a republic cannot survive without an adversarial press willing to challenge power. I know that my writing too often only serves to confirm what my enlightened readers already think. While I’d like a wider audience, I believe I perform a necessary function, because sometimes just knowing you aren’t alone with your worry can provide the strength to carry on with saving yourself first, and America second. Since January, TAFM has lost 100 paid subscribers; a loss we cannot afford which is happening across Substack for we “originals.” We really need new paid supporters, which is why there is now a special TC’s Birthday offer of 20% off for the first year for new subscribers between now and the end of the month. (Now the price of a cup of coffee monthly) Thank you for your support.

“This is great, I love your blog. Keep at it.” - Stephen King (free subscriber on March 15, paid subscriber on April 28)

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There are 99 days to the midterms

This morning, the TrumpDOJ asked the Supreme Court to lift a judge’s block on Trump’s executive order to restrict mail-in voting, calling the halt premature. Solicitor General D. John Sauer said courts have no power to intervene yet because the USPS and other involved agencies are still sorting out how they’ll implement Trump’s directive. “And the injunction is especially indefensible because the agencies are still deliberating over how (if at all) to implement the Order, yet the district court preemptively decided that whatever the agencies may choose to do will necessarily be unlawful.” (Any choice by any Trumper to do anything - including whether or not to order Chinese take-out for lunch - is illegal.) Maladministration II wants the high court to immediately intervene to ensure agencies can resume in time for this year’s midterm elections. (There are 99 days to the midterms - that is too short a time to change anything.)

In his latest confession of profound stupidity, er, I mean “strategic reversal” over the weekend - which came with no prior announcement - Trump halted the 13 successive nights of intensifying bombing that prompted Tehran to fire on U.S. bases in response. This morning, Trump lied to Axios, telling them that Maladministration II was in “very deep talks with Iran” then warned he is ready for “strong military action” if diplomacy fails. When asked how long he was willing to give for talks, he told Axios: “Not much time. Either it goes fast or not at all.” In response, Iran said it is not seeking to resume peace talks with the U.S., although it would pause its own attacks for as long as Trump’s self-imposed ceasefire continues. It also said it was still in control of the contested Strait of Hormuz, pointing to six ships they turned back in the strait trying to pass without Tehran’s permission. Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq reported drone attacks on earlier today, two days after the US abruptly suspended a two-week campaign of airstrikes against Iran, as Tehran appeared to put President Donald Trump’s latest strategic U-turn to the test. The Saudis said they shot down drones aimed at petroleum targets, including in the capital Riyadh, and that the drones had been launched from Iraq by Iran-backed armed groups. Trump’s decision to suspend the bombing reflected advice from his military that the bombing had reached the limits of what it could achieve, according to a U.S. official and several U.S. media reports. The halt to the renewed bombing leaves no clear indication of what leverage Maladministration II can exert to achieve Trump’s aim to break Iran’s grip on the strait. The end of the bombing sent oil prices tumbling: Brent crude fell 6.5% this morning to just over $90, having touched levels as low as $87.55.

Two Israeli settler attacks on Tal village near Nablus in the West Bank on July 24, 2026, resulted in the killing of four Palestinians and two Israelis, Human Rights Watch said Sunday. The incident triggered a wave of settler reprisal attacks in nearby Palestinian villages, the Israeli government’s announcement of a “major counterterrorism operation,” and Israeli officials calling for the destruction of Palestinian homes and villages. “The Israeli government didn’t prevent the settler attacks on Tal village, so now it needs to stop settler reprisals and escalating military action that will make a bad situation worse,” said Sarah Sanbar, acting Israel and Palestine researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Years of lawlessness and impunity for attacks has turned the West Bank into a powder keg waiting to explode, and decisive action is urgently needed.”

The July 24 killings in Tal bring the Palestinian death toll in the occupied West Bank since July 19 to 10. As of July 19, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported 68 Palestinians killed in the West Bank in 2026, at least 13 by settlers. OCHA reported that as of July 15, 20 Israelis had been injured in 2026 in the West Bank. Settler violence has risen sharply since the current Israeli government took office in October 2022, with the most recent spike in March and April 2026, during the United States and Israel’s war with Iran. Between 6:10 and 6:45 a.m. on July 24, 40 to 50 settlers, including children, approached Tal from the east, attacked four or five Palestinian homes with stones, and tried to break in, witnesses said. A confrontation between the settlers and Palestinians erupted, during which an armed settler shot and wounded a Palestinian man, the witnesses said. More Palestinians then arrived to assist the family, and the settlers fled. About 30 minutes later, the same group of settlers reentered Tal from the southwest, where they were joined by Israeli soldiers, said Mujahid Waleed, a local resident who witnessed both incidents. “When I arrived [to the second location], the settlers and the Palestinians were already fighting,” Waleed said. “The settlers were attacking the Palestinians, and the army stood by and didn’t intervene. The army only intervened once a Palestinian man disarmed a settler and started shooting at the soldier and settlers. The army fired back and killed point-blank the [Palestinian] carrying the weapon, and settlers and soldiers shot the other three unarmed Palestinians.” The attacks took place in Area B, an area under joint Israeli-Palestinian Authority security control under the Oslo II Accords. The four Palestinians killed were two brothers and two cousins from the Ramadan family. Sttler attacks are more and more receiving public support from the Nitwityahoo Regime.

Brazil’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it denied visas to two U.S. State Department officials who sought to travel to the South American nation next week, in the latest political barb between the two countries. The move became public after The Washington Post reported the Brazilian government saying the officials, Riley M. Barnes, an assistant secretary, and Samuel Samson, a deputy assistant, wanted to cast doubt on the upcoming October elections in Brazil. A spokesperson for Brazil’s foreign office said Barnes and Samson requested visas on July 20 and they were denied Friday. He did not disclose the reasons behind the decision.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will bid for reelection against Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently imprisoned, serving a sentence of 27 years and three months for plotting a military coup to overturn the 2022 election results. The Trump administration imposed an up to 37.5% tariff hike on thousands of Brazilian exports, which came into force Friday, claiming Brzil has unfair competition practices and fails to stop forced labor practices, both accusations rejected by the Lula administration as an attempt to sway the election to Sen. Bolsonaro. The State Department said Barnes and Samson planned to go to Brasilia July 27-30 to meet government officials, religious leaders and others about “election integrity,” religious freedom and freedom of expression. The department, in response to a query from The Associated Press, called it a routine visit and said that “any insinuation of a ‘ploy’ to undermine a democratic nation’s election is a baseless lie.” (When Maladministration II says anything, it’s always a lie.) Jair Bolsonaro has for years fed concerns about the country’s electronic voting system, without providing any evidence for his claims. He has long insisted that the machines, used for a quarter-century, are prone to fraud. Sen. Bolsonaro has recently repeated some of these claims, although he steered clear on Saturday when his Liberal Party confirmed him as a presidential candidate in Sao Paulo. (Not allowing representatives of Maladministration II into a country - where they are bound to be conspiring with the native fascists - is a good idea.)

Kaitlan Collins appeared to brush off Donald Trump’s latest attack with a message from Eleanor Roosevelt. Collins, who was singled out during Trump’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech Friday, shared the former first lady’s famous quote - “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent” - after accepting an award earlier in the evening for her coverage of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Oval Office visit. Earlier in the evening, after her colleague Wolf Blitzer presented her with the award, Collins graciously shook Trump’s hand as he sat beside the podium. Later, when it was his turn to speak, Trump ranted, “I want to personally congratulate CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on receiving her award. It was all about me. It was a fake, she shouldn’t get the award, it was a fake. But I didn’t mind. I said, ‘Kaitlan, congratulations.’ But it was fake, there’s no question about it. “She never smiles. I said, ‘Kaitlan do you ever smile? Smile!’ You have a nice position; you’re at CNN fake news. You should be a happy person. So smile, Kaitlan! Just smile.” He then made a “joke” about a Bud Light sponsorship that was really an anti-trans slur and sank faster than a stone, implying he had once confused Collins with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who appeared in a controversial ad for Bud Light in 2023. The president’s seeming attempt at humor prompted immediate backlash. Collins posted about the eventful evening on Instagram Saturday afternoon, sharing a carousel of images to her main page. “The second best part of last night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner was receiving an award from my friend and mentor, @wolfblitzer. The first was reminding everyone why the First Amendment - and asking uncomfortable questions that people in power don’t like - matters,” she continued, in an apparent nod to Trump’s comments. She posted two photos of herself and Blitzer, a video of Blitzer announcing her award, a statement from CNN management expressing support for her and other CNN journalists targeted by Trump, and the Roosevelt quote.

“The Odyssey” continued to exert a mighty hold on moviegoers in its second weekend in North American theaters, with $87 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. That’s only a 30% drop from its first weekend, an incredibly modest slide for a blockbuster. It’s also filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s best second weekend ever, not accounting for inflation. In 2008, “The Dark Knight” earned $75.2 million in weekend two. “That would be an impressive opening weekend for any film,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Rentrak’s head of marketplace trends. “This is a testament to the outpouring of excitement and enthusiasm that moviegoers are having for Christopher Nolan’s latest epic.” With $128.3 million from international theaters, “The Odyssey” has made an estimated $639.6 million globally. Theaters around the world are adding showtimes to try to meet the demand, Dergarabedian said. Yes, Elmo, consider this Christopher Nolan’s fist in your face and a dump on the bunch of you ignorant, illiterate, untalented far right LOSERS.

Trump alarmed onlookers on Sunday after he went on an hours-long AI picture posting spree on Truth Social. In all, p posted more than 40 AI-generated photos over multiple hours on Truth Social. Some of the photos included Trump standing on top of an Iranian oil tanker declaring “It is our oil tanker now!” and three late-night comedians who recently drew the president’s ire panhandling on a sidewalk. There was also the all-too-expected jab at Rosie O’Donnell, who has been feuding with the president for nearly two decades. The photos were posted on a day when reporters caught Trump out playing golf and inspecting the White House renovations. Political analysts and observers reacted with concern to Trump’s posting spree. “A man who posts this ‘joke’ this many times is not joking. This is pure delusion,” Vance Wilson, a liberal political commentator, posted on X. “I am confident he will try to find some way to run in 2028. He may not succeed at the Supreme Court, but I am nearly certain he doesn’t see this as a ‘joke.’”

Elmo is facing fresh mockery after attacking Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes days after she pressed him on a series of contradictions during a combative interview. He sat down with Beddoes for an interview published last Thursday that quickly turned tense. When Beddoes challenged him on how his predicted utopian future of abundant artificial intelligence and robot labor squared with his repeated claims that Europe is being ruined by immigrants, Musk struggled to answer, saying only, “I don’t think they’re inconsistent.” Beddoes also pushed him on accusations of racism, which he denied by citing his partner Shivon Zillis’s heritage, and on whether he’s anti-Muslim, which he was noticeably less willing to deny outright. By the end, he pivoted to grievance, insisting his following of “a quarter billion people” on X proved he was more liked than disliked, and that “a lot more people hate you and the media more than you realize.” His behavior during the interview was described as a “melt down” in an analysis published by Gizmodo on Thursday; by Saturday, Elmo apparently still had the interview fresh on his mind. Musk wrote on X Saturday night, referring to Beddoes: “She is a traitor to the West, plain and simple.” Mehdi Hasan responded with a pointed jab: “Musk did an interview with the editor of the Economist, a posh white woman, centrist, daughter of an army officer. It went badly for Musk. So now she’s a ‘traitor to the West.’ Totally normal response from a normal guy.”

According to DHS, ICE won’t rule out making arrests at polling places during the November midterm elections in the event of “an active public safety threat.” The details of what would constitute such a threat were left vague. The statement comes as ICE faces an Aug. 7 deadline to begin turning over some 11,000 documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the Democratic Party; Secretary Markwayne Mullet is threatening prison time for election officials who refuse to go along with a demand by Maladministration II that states purge alleged noncitizens from the voter rolls. The stat ement reads: “ICE is not planning operations targeting polling location. ICE conducts intelligence-driven targeted enforcement and if an active public safety threat endangered a polling location, they may be arrested as a result of that targeted enforcement action.” My reaction: Do not retreat into Chicken Little Mode. This is Trump Bullshit like the rest of his baloney, meant to spread fear and angst among his enemies. It’s a sign of how desperate he is. There is no act he could commit that is more likely to result in the death and dismemberment of MAGA by the rest of us. Even Dilbert Dimbulb knows that. How many times does the senile old moron have to pull the Same Old Same Old - his version of Lucy and the Football - before people wise up?

Things were going pretty much as expected during Leon Black’s June 26 testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which had invited the Apollo Global Management co-founder to discuss his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. According to a newly released transcript of the closed-door hearing, Leon read his prepared statement, that he had only paid Epstein for “bona fide” financial advice about his tax and estate problems ($158 million over five years?) and to help him “improve the operation” of Elysium, his family office. He confirmed he was fully aware of Epstein’s guilty plea, in June 2008, to Florida state charges “relating to prostitution involving a minor,” but that “five years after his conviction” he decided to give Epstein “a second chance.” He said again that he had no idea about any of Epstein’s subsequent “heinous” behavior, despite their decades-long friendship, and had committed no crimes of his own. “Let me state unequivocally that I have never abused a woman. I have never been with an underage woman. I have never engaged in sex trafficking. I have never paid Epstein for access to women. I was never blackmailed by Epstein.” As he has done on many occasions, Black said he hoped that the January 2021 Dechert Report - an investigation commissioned by a special committee of the Apollo Global Management board of directors and requested by Black - would have “definitively answered the questions” about his involvement with Epstein.

Leon also revealed that he began to think that Epstein could actually be helpful to him after the convicted sex offender told him about the personal financial assistance he’d been providing for Les Wexner, the billionaire founder of The Limited fashion empire. He “had managed a lot of his strategies and tax, estate planning, and he was pretty intimately involved with him,” Leon said. (Wexner has also denied under oath any knowledge of Epstein’s nefarious deeds.) The $158 million he ended up paying Epstein, he added, was akin to a 5 percent “commission” on the $1 to $2 billion Epstein had figured out how to save him on estate planning and other tax payments - “All vetted, by major law and accounting firms.”

Final words from Dr. Philips O’Brien that I totally agree with: “I believe there are not a host of disconnected, smaller struggles these days, but that there is one fundamental divide—and that is the same divide in Ukraine, the USA, Europe, etc. That is the struggle between those who still believe in a democratic system, civil liberties, the rule of law, curbing the power of the state to abuse and kill, and curbing the powers of massive amounts of capital to control that state. The world will be a much darker place if Ukraine wins and the US devolves into a state of permanent Trumpist self-loathing and international isolation. Likewise, the world will be far bleaker if the USA regains its senses, but in the meantime Ukraine is abandoned and severely damaged by Russia. In the end, the struggle in Ukraine and the USA is one combined fight with lots of separate battles.”

Remember, you are not the crazy ones, and we were made for these times. Regardless of what you may feel right now, act as if you believe that and redouble your efforts.

“Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it.” - Abraham Lincoln

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The current media scene is a stark reminder of the importance of independent journalism. We can bring down Trump, with your support. Across Substack, authors like me need your help! It’s only 21 cents a day. Thomas Jefferson said he’d rather have newspapers without a government than a government without newspapers because he understood that a republic cannot survive without an adversarial press willing to challenge power. I know that my writing too often only serves to confirm what my enlightened readers already think. While I’d like a wider audience, I believe I perform a necessary function, because sometimes just knowing you aren’t alone with your worry can provide the strength to carry on with saving yourself first, and America second. Since January, TAFM has lost 100 paid subscribers; a loss we cannot afford which is happening across Substack for we “originals.” We really need new paid supporters, which is why there is now a special TC’s Birthday offer of 20% off for the first year for new subscribers between now and the end of the month. (Now the price of a cup of coffee monthly) Thank you for your support.

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There are 102 days to the midterms.

The “unstoppable force” admits it has run into an “immovable object”: Friday, Paramount-Skydance agreed to delay their $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery amid a pending lawsuit from 12 state attorneys general to block the merger. PSKY and the attorneys general said in a court filing that both sides have agreed to halt the merger until a judge’s ruling or until June 2027 at the latest. The decision follows California District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín’s Monday decision to grant California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s request for a two-week pause on the acquisition while the court weighs claims of antitrust violations. New York Attorney General Letitia James celebrated the pause in a statement: “From the workers and artists who bring stories to life to the families who buy tickets at the box office, Paramount’s illegal takeover of Warner Bros. is a bad deal for all those who count on a competitive entertainment industry. Halting this merger while our case proceeds is a critical victory in our efforts to uphold the law and protect the film and television industries. I look forward to continuing our case to stop this illegal merger.” A PSKY spokesperson called the new agreement “a significant win” in a statement, saying it gives the company “a direct path to a trial based on the evidence. This is the fastest and clearest way to prove that this transaction is good for competition, good for consumers, and good for creators, a conclusion dozens of competition authorities around the world have already reached. Plaintiffs’ market definitions bear no relationship to the realities of today’s marketplace and cannot withstand scrutiny. We look forward to proving our case at trial.” Well, yes, that puts the best face on it. No mention of the $6million/day payments they’ll start making in 62 days to WBD stockholders when the merger doesn’t go through. Unfortunately for PSKY, the judge has already held that their defense that they need to be big to compete with Netflixin the streaming wars is not a valid defense to the claim of market disruption made by the AG’s. My bet is Larry Ellison taps the brakes by mid September, which ends Talentless Nepobaby David’s attempt to show himself talented somewhere.

Friday, Trump attempted to pressure Senate Majority Leader John Thune to immediately take up a House-passed budget resolution to advance critical funding for the Iran war - which also contains Dilbert’s “precious,” the SAVE (my fat ass) Act - despite Thune’s Thursday statement that there aren’t the votes to pass in the Senate. Trump turned the screws on the Senate GOP leader to act on the House-passed bill two days after complaining at a rally in Georgia that “the Senate is a place you send things when you want them to die,” posting on Lies Anti-Social Friday that, “I am asking that the Senate adopt a Budget Resolution, which can pass with a simple Majority, before leaving for the August recess. We are ready to work side-by-side with the Senate to get this done for the American People!” Yes, he really is “the most persistent ignoramus” John Kelly described five years ago. Thune told him he doesn’t have enough votes to advance the $95 billion House-passed budget bill, which includes $73 billion in funding for the Pentagon and intelligence agencies, $12 billion for farmers and $10 billion for election-related reforms because there aren’t 50 GOP votes for the whole package in the Senate -

“As I’ve said before, you got to get to 50, and I can’t count to 50 right now on a budget resolution.” That’s not to mention that Dilbert’s Precious can’t survive inside the bill because the Senate Parliamentarian has already ruled it can’t be in a budget reconciliation bill - something Dilbert is too stupid to understand. Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump’s “patience is running out” with Thune, and “the Senate needs to do its job.” “Maybe she or somebody else ought to get on the phone and get the votes. Right? It’s 50 around here,” Thune shot back. “Instead of pointing the finger at Republicans, they might think about going after the people who are stopping it on the floor, which is the Democrats. And if there are Republicans they think are gettable, get on the phone.” GOP senators in the Extremely Stupid Caucus want to offset the cost of the $95 billion package with other spending cuts - which are completely unpopular with legislators just before midterm elections.

The other Persistent Ignoramus has returned to the fight. Former Sen. Joe Manchin is returning to politics by announcing a new organization aimed at recruiting and electing “independent” candidates to Congress. He launched the Independent Leadership Council (ILC), which is focused on building support and infrastructure for candidates running outside the Democratic and Republican parties in congressional races and will lead the group alongside his daughter Heather Manchin, a former pharmaceutical executive. “We’re not trying to start another party,” Joe Manchin said in an interview with CNN. “We’re trying to get a person who can be committed to - and totally committed to - being an independent with an independent voice. They can vote with Democrats and Republicans when they’re right and speak out against them when they’re wrong. I don’t see me getting back into the fray, I really don’t. Now I’m trying to help people around the country that want that same outcome.” He convened prospective candidates and political strategists in the state this week for the group’s inaugural summit. Attendees included Rep. Kevin Kiley (Calif.), who is still a Republican despite announcing he’s an “Independent” as he faces a contentious reelection bid this year in the wake of being gerrymandered out of his district. Attendees also independent Montana Senate candidate Seth Bodnar and Iowa House candidate Michael Bridgford. “The gathering served as both a strategy session and a call to action for Americans who believe the country’s most important problems cannot be solved through partisan warfare alone,” the ILC said in a statement. This is another non-event of clueless morons who are unable to differentiate between being “bipartisan” and collaborating with fascist traitors intent on destroying the democracy these fools think they’re defending.

Friday, Maladministration II admitted in court that Federal green grants canceled last year were selected “solely” based on a state’s political affiliation. Department of Energy (DOE) lawyer Jeff Novak said the department came up with a list of 624 grants slated for potential termination. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) selected 284 of those grants to be included in a tranche of cancellations, of which all except one of the 284 grants had ties to states that voted for then-Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 and had two Democratic-caucusing senators. Novak noted that the other 340 grants have not been canceled.“DOE accepts that the inclusion of grants in the October notice tranche was based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state,” he wrote. Last year, OMB Director Russell Vought announced that the administration was cutting nearly $8 billion in green energy-related funding. He particularly touted that grants would be cut in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington state. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has repeatedly said in Capitol Hill testimony that while the timing of the announcement may have been political, the actual selection was not. Top energy appropriations Democrats, Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Marcy Kaptur said a joint statement:“This administration has now admitted in court what has long been obvious: it terminated nearly 300 cost-cutting energy projects for no reason other than the fact that the states they were in did not vote for the president in the 2024 election. This is an astounding admission that the president and his team corruptly abused their power to kill good jobs and punish hard-working families because of their political views. Secretary Wright swore up and down for months that these project terminations had absolutely nothing to do with politics, and now his lawyers are declaring that, in fact, politics was the only consideration.” In a similar filing last year, Maladministration II lawyers acknowledged that political affiliation played a role, but the newer filing says that the inclusion of the grants was “based solely” on politics.

Surprise surprise (not): Sophie Cunningham - a WNBA star recently held up by Maladministration II - has a MAGA-friendly social media account, according to a new report.

MeidasTouch News reported that Cunningham’s TikTok account suggests support for Trump’s politics when it comes to immigration, national identity, and political expression by athletes. The Trump administration recently used Cunningham’s statements against transgender athletes playing in women’s sports to advance its own policy agenda. Cunningham’s official TikTok account reposted a video in December by @matrixunni, a creator with MAGA social and cultural commentary, MeidasTouch News reported. In the video, the creator says that immigrants who enter the country illegally should not expect sympathy if immigration enforcement separates their families. The video also dismissed racism and systemic inequality, and attacked critics of the U.S. who support immigration.

Friday, Trump signed an executive order directing warning signs outside the Smithsonian’s history museum. The order accuses museum leadership of “ideological capture” and says the signs must direct visitors to “locations and resources for accurate information regarding America’s history.” Lawmakers and historians ridiculed Trump, calling the EO the “dumbest” order yet. “He’s insisting on posting these ignorant signs on sidewalks and walkways because he has no control over what is INSIDE the museum,” Yale historian Joanne Freeman wrote on Bluesky. “Notably, this absurd executive order appears to recognize that Trump cannot directly control the Smithsonian,” former Justice Department official Eric Columbus wrote on Bluesky. The signs, Columbus noted, are ordered onto sidewalks maintained by the National Park Service, not on the museum itself. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) wrote on X: “This is one of the dumbest and most bizarre Executive Orders we have ever read. This EO is a clear political overreach, driven by an ideological agenda to rewrite American history. Our Smithsonian institutions do not belong to the president, but the American people, and so does our national story.”

ADMIN NOTE: Unless Trump starts World War III tomorrow, this is the weekend post. See you Monday and I’ll drag myself back to the copyediting on the next book, thank you.

Remember, you are not the crazy ones, and we were made for these times. Regardless of what you may feel right now, act as if you believe that and redouble your efforts.

“Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it.” - Abraham Lincoln

Bastet

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The current media scene is a stark reminder of the importance of independent journalism. We can bring down Trump, with your support. Across Substack, authors like me need your help! Thomas Jefferson said he’d rather have newspapers without a government than a government without newspapers because he understood that a republic cannot survive without an adversarial press willing to challenge power. Since January, TAFM has lost over 100 paid subscribers; a loss we cannot afford which is happening across Substack for we “originals.” We really need 20 new paid supporters this week; TAFM is close to having too few subscribers to qualify for special status, which is crucial to keeping interest. This is why there is now a special TC’s Birthday offer of 20% off for the first year for new subscribers between now and the end of the month. (A subscription is now the price of a cup of coffee monthly - how hard is that?) Free subscribers are close to having nothing. Thank you for your support.

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There are 103 days to the midterms.

Thursday, the House narrowly approved a Democratic-sponsored war powers resolution with the help of four GOP lawmakers. Meanwhile, Republicans defeated a motion to advance a similar war powers resolution in the Senate. They come as Trump’s support for the Iran conflict is reaching a new low among his base.

Wednesday, Bill O’Reilly wrapped up the latest episode of his podcast, “No Spin News,” with a reflection on the roughly 40 years he has known Trump “before prescribing his recommendation that Trump should “take the next month off” as he faces widening foreign and domestic dilemmas.

Thursday, Trump said he is weighing a significant escalation in combat operations against Iran following the U.S. military’s 12th day of consecutive strikes Wednesday, telling Axios he is “considering a massive attack” against the country that would be “bigger than ever before.” “I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it.” He said Israel would join these new military operations “in two minutes if I ask them to.” However, he added that the U.S. does not “need anybody” for a potential next attack. Earlier on Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Trump’s military stance toward Tehran, “The president’s policy is a head for an eye. I mean honestly, that’s what it’s going to be. I mean, they will pay a very heavy price for the things they’re doing.” Rubio made the comment to reporters at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’s 2026 annual summit in Manila in response to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying that Tehran’s defense strategy against the U.S. was an “eye for an eye.” Trump told Axios the Iranians “want to negotiate” but that they are not yet prepared to reach a final agreement. “They haven’t received enough pain yet.” So, the most persistent ignoramus in U.S. history is going to commit war crimes.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday the votes aren’t there in the Senate to advance a House-passed budget resolution that would pave the way for a $95 billion reconciliation bill to fund the war in Iran, farm aid and election-related reforms. The bill contains the SAVE Act in it, which is DOA in the Senate. “As I’ve said before you got to get to 50, and I can’t count to 50 right now on a budget resolution,” Thune said. “We’ll see. We’ll have those conversations with the conference. The priority is funding the government. To me that’s the thing we got to keep our eyes on.” The Senate will drop the SAVE Act and likely pass the rest of the bill under reconciliation, leaving the Caucus of Misfit Toys the alternative of accepting the Senate action or shutting down the government a month before the elections. Earlier, Karoline Leavitt said that Trump’s “patience” with Thune over the SAVE Act is “running out.”

The TrumpDOJ said Thursday it would withdraw subpoenas issued to several New York Times reporters earlier this month over their reporting on security concerns regarding the new Air Force One jet gifted by Qatar. The development came during a hearing in which Judge Arun Subramanian was weighing whether to grant the outlet’s motion to quash, according to multiple reports. “The government is prepared to unilaterally withdraw the subpoenas at this time,” Sean Buckley, the chief counsel to U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, said at the hearing in U.S. District Court, according to the New York Times. NYT lawyers wrote in a court filing: “The Subpoenas were issued in a bad faith effort to harass, intimidate, and retaliate against members of the press for reporting on subjects the President finds embarrassing.” Subramanian noted that with protections for journalists at stake, the government was required to ensure it could not obtain what it needed from any other sources before issuing subpoenas to journalists. “Subpoenas are not the first thing you do, they are the last thing you do,” he said in a proceeding in which he became increasingly heated and testy in his questioning of government lawyers about steps they took in their investigation. “When you see something like this, if this were a civil proceeding, what I would normally do is ask the parties to show causes why sanctions should not be issued.”

There was no vote yesterday by the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the nomination of Trumpstooge Todd Blanche to be Lord High Executioner, er, I mean Attorney General. Commitee chairman Chuck Grassley used his powers, “per standard committee practice,” to delay the vote to July 30, upon his discovery that there were not sufficient Republican members of the committee present to allow them to follow orders and destroy the rule of law by appointing Blanche as Lord High Executioner, er, I mean Attorney General. Grassley and the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, used the time that had been allocated for the vote to comment at length on Blanche’s nomination. Grassley praised the selection of Blanche and said the TrumpDOJ under his leadership as deputy and acting attorney general “has protected Americans at every turn,” but that committee Democrats “like clockwork, sought to defame him.” Durbin said he and fellow Democrats oppose Blanche because he “will continue to serve the interests of Donald Trump, not the American people.”

Pete Buttigieg is the frontrunner in a new Emerson College poll released Thursday among a crowded list of possible Democratic presidential nominees. Buttigieg was in the lead with 19% of Democratic primary voters saying they would support him, followed by California Governor Gavin Newsom with 17%, Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff with 13%, and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also with 13%. Buttigieg garnered equal support from both men and women. Ossoff had 18% support from men compared to 8% among women. Newsom was stronger among women at 25% compared to 8% among men. Support for Ocasio-Cortez was also higher among women at 16% against 9% among men. (Dear female readers: Jon Ossoff is a billion times superior to Gavin Newsom, who is mostly a show pony.)

J(uvenile) D(elinquent) Vance suspended a Secret Service agent suspected of leaking his diva demands to the press, according to reports. A damning report by MS NOW earlier this month revealed that Vance’s security detail was “fed up” with his erratic travel plans, which require agents to drop everything to accompany the vice president’s family, as well as “inappropriate” use of taxpayer-funded protection. Frustration among the agents has resulted in some making custom coins and stickers mocking the vice president and his family’s irregular trips. MS NOW reviewed images with Vance’s Secret Service code name, “Bobcat,” used on coins reading “Bobcat OTR Survivors Club.”

Trump suggested Thursday that tech companies need to overcome resistance to AI data center in a speech unveiling his “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” - which requires AI companies and data center developers to cover their own energy and infrastructure costs rather than passing them to consumers - at the Environmental Protection Agency. “You have to convince your communities how great these things are. You can’t fight it. You have to go with it.” (How big is his personal investment in AI Data Centers?) The event marked a significant expansion of the data center pledge, which now spans more than 200 organizations, including 23 governors, more than 150 utilities and cooperatives, and 28 data center developers, covering roughly 80% of the power delivered to American homes and businesses, according to the White House. The expansion comes as public opposition to data centers has surged ahead of the midterm elections. Analyst Paul Waldman argued, “Poll after poll shows Americans turning against data centers. Trump seems to have decided to become the face of an issue on which he’s on the wrong side of two-thirds of the public.” Trump was candid about the limits of his own grasp on the policy: “Nobody’s ever explained to me why it’s so much electricity, why you need so much. Nor did I care that much, to be honest with you.”

An evidence team from the FBI had visited the drained Reflecting Pool last week to assist U.S. Park Police in their investigation into the nonexistent “nefarious actors.” Trump has grown obsessed over his disastrous renovations, the cost of which has ballooned to $17 million. The lining of the pool has peeled in several areas, and the water turned green as the result of an algae bloom. Experts believe the lining troubles, which saw patches of lining floating to the top of the water, are likely due to a shoddy installation job by the no-bid contractor selected for the project. Trump claimed the (non-existent) vandals “took some form of knife or blade,” and made a 250-foot-long gash. In another Lies Anti-Social rant he increased the size of the nonexistent gash to 300 yards. “The slashes were 300 yards long, and the floor of the pool was cut and then pulled upward, with great force, by these thugs,” Trump wrote, also claiming the bad actors “poured corrosive and destructive chemicals into the Pool.”

The future of the newly announced US-Saudi Arabia nuclear deal is already in question after Trump said Thursday morning that the country will have to normalize relations with Israel as a condition of the agreement. “If they don’t join the Abraham Accords, the deal is off,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. It’s a stipulation that wasn’t included in the deal when it was announced earlier this week, and apparently wasn’t discussed with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Leavitt told reporters that Trump is “the final dealmaker.” While he has not spoken to the crown prince since putting out his statement, Leavitt said he had raised the issue in prior conversations. Still, the requirement would be a red line for Saudi Arabia, which has resisted joining the accords until there’s clearer progress toward a Palestinian state.

Democrats’ electability debate between its establishment and progressive wings keeps playing out vividly in their Michigan Senate primary. Thursday, CNN published leaked audio of the presumptive Republican nominee former Rep. Mike Rogers privately saying he’d prefer to run against Abdul El-Sayed, rather than Rep. Haley Stevens. “If he wins, I think we’re in good shape. I mean, I think he’s so radical,” Rogers said. The Stevens campaign seized on the clip. Stevens dealt with her own uncomfortable headline today, too, dismissing a consultant who Drop Site reported also works for defense contractor Palantir.

Trump’s tariffs policy suffered a damaging blow back in February when the Supreme Court ruled many of those tariffs were illegal. While Maladministration II replaced those tariffs with a 10% tariff regime on much of the world, these are due to expire today. During a heated exchange before US senators Wednesday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer claimed Trump’s policies had not driven prices higher. Asked by senator Elizabeth Warren if the tariffs had increased prices for American families, Greer said: “No.” He added: “Core inflation fell to 2.6% year on year, much better than in January 2025. (FACT CHECK: Core inflation excludes food and energy. Overall inflation - including food and energy - is higher than it was when Biden left office.)

Yes, the Space-X I.P.O. is a “pump-and-dump: Puck’s Bill Cohan writes that a month after the IPO, the picture has become considerably more complicated. SpaceX started trading at $150 a share, and shot up as high as $225, giving the institutional investors who bought at the I.P.O. price plenty of room to get out at a tidy profit. But the stock has since come back to Earth. It’s currently trading around $115, which means that all the people who bought SpaceX on day one have collectively lost about half a trillion dollars! Upon the completion of an I.P.O., federal securities law mandates a 25-day “quiet period” before the underwriters can publish their research on the prospects for the new stock. For SpaceX, that quiet period ended July 7. Every Wall Street bank that served as underwriter and has published research has a buy rating on the stock, with several of the price targets seemingly truly aspirational, and borderline absurd. “I am not questioning the integrity of the research analysts who wrote these reports - I am certain they are men and women of high moral character - but the obvious tension flicks at one of the realities on Wall Street. To wit, if you trashed the stock in your initial research report about the company, you can hardly expect Elon to reward your firm with more fees from follow-on investment banking business. A fine line must be walked, obviously.” In its initial report, Morgan Stanley has a buy rating and a price target of $300 a share, a modest 160 percent gain from where it’s trading today. Bank of America has a buy rating and a $235 price target. Deutsche Bank, which collected $11.1 million in underwriting fees, has a buy rating and a price target of $255 a share. Wells Fargo, which also got $11.1 million in fees, has a buy rating and a target of $230 a share. JPMorgan Chase: buy; $225. Citigroup: buy; $200. Goldman Sachs, the other lead underwriter, has a buy rating and a $205 price target, merely 78 percent higher than where the stock is currently trading. Keith Snyder at CFRA Research, is the lone research bear on SpaceX, and has been pretty much since the S-1 filing was made public back in May. He has a sell rating on the stock, with a price target of $115. He is unconvinced by the Wall Street hyperbole, and sees reusable rockets as a potential “bottleneck” if there are delays or technical setbacks. He also appeared to not be a fan of SpaceX’s A.I. initiatives - both X/Grok and the Colossus data centers.

The leaders of the Caucus of Misfit Toys are trying to find a bill that’s such a “must do” that the fact they have included the SAVE Act inside it won’t matter to Democrats who don’t want to face negative comments over opposition to an “extremely good” bill. The latest is the so-called Stop Insider Trading Act (which includes SAVE) by a vote of 232 to 198. They call it “landmark ethics reform” since it would stop members of Congress and their families from buying individual stocks while they’re in office. Lawmakers could maintain their current portfolios, but any new purchases would be banned while all investments would have to be disclosed well in advance of any sale. That all sounds positive (even with the assault on democracy included) but there’s a catch: the bill’s definition of “covered individuals” includes members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children. Notably, it does not include the president or the vice president. Trump’s 2026 financial disclosure showed roughly 3,600 stock transactions in just the first quarter of the year. His portfolio is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and is spread across companies with active federal contracts like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla. Presidents have typically avoided active trading precisely because of the inherent conflict of interest. This president has disregarded that longstanding historical precedent for awhile now, and even if this bill becomes law he’ll still be allowed to freely trade as much as he sees fit. We’re in luck, the Democrats have learned how they’ve been sucker-punched in the past and are already opposed to this manure pile. Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey noted that members of Congress can still keep their stocks, meaning the bill doesn’t actually stop members from profiting off industries they’re tasked with regulating. Former G.W. Bush ethics lawyer Richard Painter calls it “a significant step forward” and totally misses the point about the SAVE Act - which he opposes otherwise. The bill now heads to the Senate, where similar proposals have died before due to the 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster.

24 states sued Maladministration II yesterday, for holding FEMA disaster relief money hostage to Trump’s partisan pet projects, including the demands that states overhaul their election systems and verify the citizenship of every single registered voter, as well as to assist Trump’s immigration crackdown. DHS has given itself the power to yank funds from states at any time for any reason. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said Maladministration II is improperly withholding critical funds to chase debunked election conspiracy theories. Trump has already tried this without success. Courts previously ruled against this kind of hostage-taking. A federal judge already found that approach unconstitutional. Now Trump is forging ahead anyway, just with a different pot of money. If they don’t comply with these demands, states risk losing 20% of grant funding for things like cyberattack and terrorism prevention.

The fight to save democracy even sees red states opposing Trump. Thursday, a Trump-appointed judge in Kentucky became the latest to rule against his plot to rig the midterm election. It followd the court decision in Michigan: “In reaching this conclusion, the Sixth Circuit considered three letters sent by the government to Michigan’s chief election official, Jocelyn Benson. Id. Two of the letters sent to Benson referenced the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) as the authority for the request but omitted any mention of Title III. Id. The third letter referenced Title III and “specified the purpose for the government’s request,” but did not indicate the basis. Id. ... even assuming the letters contained a sufficient basis for the demand, they did not identify a purpose. Regarding the third letter, the Sixth Circuit found that it specified a purpose but contained no basis for the request. Id. Thus, “[n]one of the three letters contains both a statement of the basis along with the purpose of the government’s request for Michigan’s qualified voter file.” ... this proved problematic in the Sixth Circuit’s view because “[t]he statutory context suggests that any demand must contain both [a basis and a purpose].” Id. Accordingly, the Sixth Circuit found that the government’s noncompliance with “its mandatory statutory obligation” provided an independent basis to dismiss the complaint. Id. ... Thus, the United States cannot point to a written demand that contains both the basis and purpose for the request... Consequently, because the United States did not comply with its mandatory statutory obligation to submit a demand to the Defendants containing a statement of both the basis and purpose of its request, the Defendants did not violate Title III by refusing to produce Kentucky’s Statewide Voter Registration List (SVRL) to the government.” This is loss number 18 for Maladministration II.

The New York Daily News reported yesterday that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter to Senate leaders on several committees Wednesday that lists the renaming of New York Penn Station as part of the “administration priorities.” He wrote that Maladministration II intends to “direct Amtrak to rename New York Penn Station.” The idea of Trump’s name going on Penn Station has long been suggested, including in internal renderings of an overhaul showing “President Donald J. Trump” etched into marble. Duffy’s letter requested funding for Amtrak, which owns Penn Station, and support for legislation that would allow Amtrak to take in more state and local taxes. Back in February, Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman reported Maladministration II asked Chuck Schumer to support renaming Washington Dulles Airport and New York Penn Station after Trump. In exchange, Trump would release funding for the Gateway project, a roughly $40 billion portfolio of projects to modernize a corridor from Newark to New York Penn Station.

Years after punching a police officer during the attack at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Dr. Jacquelyn Starer of Ashland has lost her right to renew her medical license. She pleaded guilty in 2024 to two felony counts of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers, as well as misdemeanor offenses. The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine announced its disciplinary action against Starer on Thursday, saying it revoked her right to renew her license “after finding that she was among a crowd which stormed and breached the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, and that she struck a Metropolitan Police Officer with her closed fist.” Starer first received a license to practice medicine in the Bay State in 1983. After being charged in the Capitol attack, she “entered into a Voluntary Agreement Not to Practice,” the board said. In addition to the felony charges, Starer pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. Every last one of these scum needs to have their lives wrecked like this.

Remember, you are not the crazy ones, and we were made for these times. Regardless of what you may feel right now, act as if you believe that and redouble your efforts.

“Neither let us be slandered froim our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it.” - Abraham Lincoln

Three in a box - our first round of domesticating the backyard ferals back in 2011

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The current media scene is a stark reminder of the importance of independent journalism. We can bring down Trump, with your support. Across Substack, authors like me need your help! It’s only 21 cents a day. Thomas Jefferson said he’d rather have newspapers without a government than a government without newspapers because he understood that a republic cannot survive without an adversarial press willing to challenge power. I know that my writing too often only serves to confirm what my enlightened readers already think. While I’d like a wider audience, I believe I perform a necessary function, because sometimes just knowing you aren’t alone with your worry can provide the strength to carry on with saving yourself first, and America second. Since January, TAFM has lost 100 paid subscribers; a loss we cannot afford which is happening across Substack for we “originals.” We really need new paid supporters, which is why there is now a special TC’s Birthday offer of 20% off for the first year for new subscribers between now and the end of the month. (Now the price of a cup of coffee monthly) Thank you for your support.

“This is great, I love your blog. Keep at it.” - Stephen King (free subscriber on March 15, paid subscriber on April 28)

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There are 104 days to the midterms.

Following the announcement by the Houthis that they had attacked two Saudi Arabian oil tankers - Encilia and Layla - in the Red Sea yesterday with drones and missiles, Brent Crude rose 6.6% overnight, hitting $100.28/gallon this morning; it hasn’t been this high since eary May. West Texas Intermediate for September delivery rose to 89.14/gallon. Iran announced that the Houthis had attacked the ships in response to U.S. airstrikes in Iran targeting civilian infrastructure. Sdaudi Arabian sources in the oil industry have confirmed the attacks. The European Union Naval Force warned U.S., Israeli and Saudi Arabian shipping not to enter the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Trump has managed t he Ultimate Fuckuo of the World Economy.

The Economist/YouGov poll released Tuesday shows 36% of respondents said they either “strongly” or “somewhat” approve of the way Trump is handling his job, while 61% said they either “strongly” or “somewhat” disapprove. 4% said they were unsure about Trump’s job performance. 68% say Trumjp’s War isn’t worth its cost. Also - back in May - half of the MAGA base told pollsters they believed the war with Iran was worth the economic pain. According to a new Politico poll, that number has rapidly dropped to just a little over a third. That’s a 13-point collapse in just two months. The poll found 37% of MAGA voters now say the U.S. should only continue fighting the war if costs don’t keep rising. Almost 20% of MAGA voters now say the U.S. should end the war outright, regardless of cost. Non-MAGA Trump voters are even more opposed to the war, with only 21% saying it’s worth the cost. A majority of both MAGA and non-MAGA Trump voters now directly blame the war for higher gas prices. The MAGA base is divided on whether prices would have risen more, less, or stayed at the same level under a Democratic president, with 20% saying things have actually gotten worse under Trump than they would have if a Democrat was in power. One anonymous White House staffer told Politico that Maladministration II knows it’s in an unwinnable position. Senior officials apparently now believe the kind of victory Trump wants is politically impossible, because Americans simply won’t support the level of troop deaths and tax dollars such a victory would require.

Trump is now considering waging another war, this time in the West African country of Mali. The Washington Post reported - citing current and former U.S. officials familiar with the deliberations - that Maladministration II is looking to strike an al-Qaeda-affiliated group known as JNIM. If approved, it would mark the eighth country that Trump, who has dubbed himself “president of peace,” has ordered strikes on in his second term. The National Security Council’s senior director for counterterrorism, “Goulash Nazi” Sebastian Gorka, is the most vocal advocate for such a strike.

Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta opened the door for an appeals court to decide whether Trump’s Jan. 6 tweet - sent as rioters stormed the Capitol - was protected by presidential immunity, ruling that he would not reverse his earlier decision shielding the tweet from a civil lawsuit filed under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a Reconstruction-era law that bars conspiracies to prevent members of Congress from carrying out their duties. But Mehta certified the question for interlocutory review, allowing plaintiffs to challenge the immunity ruling at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit now, without waiting for the full case to conclude. The suit was originally filed in February 2021 by Rep. Bennie Thompson, who later withdrew as a plaintiff to chair the House Select Committee investigating Jan. 6 - former Rep. Barbara Lee of California became the lead plaintiff. The complaint accuses Trump of conspiring with Rudy Giuliani, the Proud Boys, and the Oath Keepers to block Congress from certifying the 2020 election results. At issue is a tweet Trump sent at 2:24 p.m. on Jan. 6, as rioters were breaching the Capitol which said: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.” In March, Mehta ruled the tweet was an official act and therefore immune from civil liability. His reasoning, per Wednesday’s ruling, was that moments before Trump sent it, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone had walked into the dining room to urge Trump to stop the riot. Trump refused, then posted the tweet. Mehta acknowledged the tweet “arguably poured gasoline on the fire” but said that did not change the analysis. The plaintiffs argued in their reconsideration filing that “Any act taken by the president - no matter how outlandish (like organizing a poker game) or plainly office-seeking (like firing a campaign pollster) - would thus become official simply because they occurred after the President received some advice about not engaging in such acts from government officials.” Mehta rejected the argument but agreed the question was close enough to warrant appellate review. Plaintiffs must file their notice of appeal no later than Aug. 5, with the D.C. Circuit’s opening brief due Aug. 10.

Trump’s scheme to subvert the legal process for appointing U.S. Attorneys is about to be put the test by a carefully planned, first-of-its-kind legal challenge from the judge-appointed U.S. attorney in Seattle, Roger Rogoff, who was fired last week by Trump within an hour of his appointment. In his new lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington state, Rogoff places his firing in the broader context of Trump’s strategy to circumvent the Senate and the law: “By disregarding the carefully calibrated statutory framework Congress enacted to address U.S. Attorney vacancies, Defendants ignore Congress’s exercise of its authority under the Appointments Clause to determine how inferior officers are appointed, and they claim the power to install and remove U.S. Attorneys at will in this district - and elsewhere - without Senate confirmation and outside the bounds of federal law. As illustrated in districts across the country, those actions threaten the very harms that the Appointments Clause was intended to prevent, leaving the President (and all future Presidents) free to appoint whomever he chooses as de facto U.S. Attorney indefinitely, regardless of their qualifications for the role. This case is ultimately about whether Trump can install U.S. attorneys indefinitely no matter how unqualified or corrupt or beholden to him they are, and in the process sideline the Senate and judges, to whom the law gives roles in checking his powers in this regard. The speed with which Rogoff filed his lawsuit and motion for preliminary injunction, the quality of the complaint, and the caliber of the lawyers representing him suggest this is going to be a hard fought, fully engaged case that ends up before the 9th Circuit and perhaps the Supreme Court.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett ruled Tuesday that Trump must hand over detailed financial information as part of his $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC, despite his lawyer’s efforts to prevent the information from being revealed in court. Back in December, he sued the BBC, claiming it had defamed him by “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively” editing two parts of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech to make it seem as though he had encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol. The complaint claims the editing “damaged the value of Trump’s brand, properties, and businesses,” but his lawyers objected to subpoenas seeking information about the business interests and assets held in the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. Judge Lett ruled that given that business damages were alleged in the complaint, the BBC was entitled to demand information about Trump’s businesses, saying: “All of President Trump’s brand, properties, and businesses are impugned or said to have been impugned. Reputational, economic damages - all of that is now at issue in this case.” The ruling allows the BBC to explore the finances of more than 400 companies owned by Trump’s family trust. If the decision withstands the inevitable appeal, a lawsuit begun as an attempt to generate headlines and pressure the media into adopting his preferred narrative could ultimately backfire by giving the press access to information Trump would rather keep secret. If the ruling is sustained, watch him drop the case like a hot potato. BBC’s attorney, Chuck Tobin, hammered Trump’s team for refusing to schedule a deposition, which would be unavoidable if the suit continues. Since Trump can’t survive a deposition, scheduling one will also send him running. A a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said his “powerhouse lawsuit is holding the BBC accountable for its defamation and reckless election interference just as he has held other fake news mainstream media responsible for their wrongdoing.” The BBC has no reason to pay a bribe, as happened with CBS and ABC when they were sued.

Surprise surprise, Dilbert decided to rewrite history on Tuesday when he published a video of his humiliation Sunday at the World Cup - minus the humiliation. The video has him walking to the stage to present the trophy to the winners - without all the boos from the crowd. It also removed the awkward footage of Dilbert standing on the side of the stage looking like the dazed and confused senile old oaf he is, as confetti cannons exploded; instead, it ends just before the cameras zoomed in on the winning team, instead of him.

Wednesday morning, Trump went to Dover AFB to attend the dignified transfer of service members killed over the weekend in Jordan and Iraq. He took SecDrunk Kegstand with him. Before leaving for Dover, he again demanded Iran end its targeting of vessels and threatened to destroy its civilian infrastructure, writing on Lies Anti-social late Tuesday during the regularly-schedule overdose that “From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran.” Before leaving for Dover, he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews that Iran will “pay a big price” following the recent deaths of four U.S. service members in the war. “They’re going to pay a big price. They’re being decimated,” he said, when asked about a report that Iran targeted U.S. soldiers’ barracks. “Some of you are going with us to honor our heroes, and that are indeed great heroes actually. All of them said very strongly, ‘We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.’”

Late Tuesday, the House Caucus of Misfit Toys - along with six Vichy Democrats who joined Republicans - passed a stopgap measure to fund the government through Dec. 4. One GOP member voted against it. The bill is a nonstarter in the Senate. Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the top Democrat on the House Armed Service Committee, said in a statement: “The problem with this year’s defense authorization bill is that it comes with the inclusion of $1.15 trillion in discretionary spending. I cannot and do not support meeting these needs by making massive cuts to critically important domestic programs and slashing taxes.” Separately on Wednesday, House Republicans advanced a $95 billion budget blueprint. The framework, which still needs to pass the Senate, outlines more than $70 billion for the Iran war, $12 billion in assistance for farmers and money to implement provisions of the SAVE Act. The bill will not pass in the Senate with the SAVE Act in it. The bill was put forth under reconciliation, but there is no Republican majority possible to pass Trump’s assault on democracy.

The vote was 216 to 214. GOP fiscal hardliners were frustrated that none of the spending called for by the bill would be paid for by spending reductions elsewhere. Other lawmakers were concerned about appropriating more funds for a war effort that seems to be rapidly escalating and remains unpopular with the American public.

A key claim used by DHS to defend immigration enforcement agent-involved shootings was exposed as a “stunning failure” Wednesday following an exhaustive investigation from The Guardian. On at least a dozen occasions, DHS has defended shootings perpetrated by ICE or CBP officers by claiming a vehicle had been “weaponized” against them. The exhaustive investigation published by The Guardian found DHS and prosecutors had suffered a “stunning failure” in their attempts to prove those claims accurate. In its report, The Guardian identified 26 individuals that had been accused of using their vehicles to “threaten, assault or injure immigration officers,” five of whom were shot by agents, one fatally. Of those 26, 15 never faced federal charges, and of the 11 that did face federal charges, eight had their charges dismissed. Furthermore, even after cases against individuals accused by DHS of weaponizing their vehicle against immigration agents had fallen apart, DHS “repeatedly continued to promote people’s cases as evidence of violence,” The Guardian found. “This whole narrative that all of these people were trying to run over officers with their cars is frankly bizarre and laughable,” said Margaret Hellerstein, a lawyer with The Jurado Firm in Long Beach, California, speaking with The Guardian. “It’s just brazen to tell the same story over and over when it’s been disproven over and over. They believe they have ultimate power and they’re phoning in their explanations.” The report concludes, “The review of cases also reveals a pattern of DHS blasting statements to the press and on social media, painting the subjects of their traffic stops as violent assailants without evidence and then failing to correct the record when those claims collapse under basic scrutiny.”

Back in January, American troops captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and replaced him with Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. Since then, Maladministration II has seized control of Venezuela’s oil exports, which make up roughly a quarter of that country’s entire economy. The Financial Times reports that the move has generated about $13 billion in revenue so far. And the White House has been unusually quiet about what happened to all that money. Trump has been bragging that the U.S. is “making a lot of money” off Venezuelan oil. The Department of Energy insists the money will benefit “the American people and the Venezuelan people,” without providing any further explanation. Economists are telling the Financial Times that Venezuela’s economy shows effectively no signs of recovery more than six months after Maduro’s capture. That should be a huge red flag for anyone paying attention. If billions in oil revenue were actually flowing back into Venezuela’s economy, there would be evidence of it. Someone is surprised when the Thief in the Oval Bordello turns out to be a... thief?

Ken Paxton was holding a press event with various Texas county sheriffs Tuesday when journalists asked him about. ProPublica’s report that Paxton may have committed voter fraud by casting a ballot from an address where he no longer lives, and also asked him about a recent NYT report that he owns a whopping 15 homes worth a combined $9 million, all on a government salary. Paxton told the reporters he only wanted to answer questions about law enforcement and that he wouldn’t address anything else. When the journalists kept pushing him to answer the previous questions, one of Paxton’s staffers jumped in and announced they were leaving. And just like that, Paxton ended the press conference. James Talarico’s campaign didn’t waste any time mocking Paxton for his quick exit. A Talarico campaign spokesperson said Paxton should answer questions about potentially violating Texas’ election laws and having a massive real estate portfolio on a public employee’s salary. The spokesperson then asked a pretty fair question of their own: if Paxton can’t handle this in a casual press setting, how would he handle an actual debate?

Thank you, Wrong RFK Got Shot: The number of measles cases in the U.S. this year has surpassed last year’s annual total, hitting the highest number of cases recorded in more than three decades, according to Johns Hopkins University. Per Johns Hopkins University’s measles tracker, there have been 2,295 recorded measles cases this year, just surpassing 2025’s total of 2,289. The CDC has not updated its measles figures since July 17, so the agency’s tally does not currently reflect this milestone. At roughly 2,300 cases, this record is the highest number of measles infections the country has seen since 1990, when 27,808 cases were recorded. Cases dramatically fell after that year in response to an aggressive vaccination campaign and the rollout of the two-dose measles vaccine schedule the year before.

Jake Tapper investigated Maladministration II’s Operation Metro Surge - which sent about 3,000 immigration agents into Minneapolis in January 2026, and the corresponding departure of Trump administration prosecutors assigned to the case. He said the investigation found the prosecutors had already raised alarms about the operation and former CBP commander Greg Bovino’s actions when Good and Pretti were killed. Prosecutors also expressed consternation that the statements of ICE agents were found to be repeatedly false. Prosecutors thought Bovino and CBP were intentionally trying to incite a riot to go after protesters.

In case you were wondering, Trump really can’t do those two and three hour blabbathons he used to do performing for the MAGAts. His vocal skills have gone the way of his makeup’s ability to make him look good to people with no taste. At yesterday’s rally in Georgia, in which he tried and failed to go after Jon Ossoff, the best he could come up with was this: “Your terrible senator, Jon Ossoff, he’s terrible. And the Democrats in Congress are voting with the communists every single time. They’re afraid of the communists. You look at it... Now, I was, uh, I fought Ossoff before, as you know, and we won. We had a great success against this guy. He reminds me of Pinky Herman. Did you ever see Pinky Herman?” (Likely even the Jawjah Goobers were going “Who’s Pinky Herman?” Dilbert loves 1980s cultural references, but in this case, Paul Ruebens, who played PeeWee Herman, is no longer with us.) FACT CHECK: No, Ossoff beat Trump and his sad little band of gap-toothed shitkickers and hayshakers; according to Trump, he defeated Ossoff in a 2017 House special election. Also, a new “star” was born during the failed blabbathon with one audience member in the box directly behind Trump dressed in blue suit, white shirt and red tie mirrored Trump’s hand movements and head rocking exactly during the show.

It was announced that a crew from “Discovery: Expedition Unknown” has located the remains of the Pan-Am DC-4 “Clipper Endeavor” that crashed into the sea off the coast of Puerto Rico shortly after takeoff 74 years ago on April 11, 1952 have been found at a depth of 2,000 feet. Everyone aboard survived the impact, but they then struggled to find life vests and rafts as the airplane quickly sank, taking 52 passengers and crew with it, leaving 17 survivors. The disaster led to sweeping reforms in aviation safety. This is why on every commercial flight you have ever made, you have received a pre-takeoff safety lecture informing you where all the safety gear and exits are on the airplane.

“Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump,” written by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, has sold more than 500,000 copies across hardcover, audio and e-book formats since its June 23 release, Axios reported. The book has topped the NYT nonfiction bestseller list for three straight weeks. Simon & Schuster has since ordered a seventh printing, bringing total hardcovers in print to 460,000, after already adding 150,000 copies on publication day to meet demand. (Executive summary: Things aren’t as bad as you think - they’re far worse.)

Remember, you are not the crazy ones, and we were made for these times. Regardless of what you may feel right now, act as if you believe that and redouble your efforts.

“Neither let us be slandered froim our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it.” - Abraham Lincoln

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Two War Criminals - one asleep

There are 105 days to the midterms.

Two tankers loaded with Saudi crude reversed course in the Red Sea Tuesday - without being fired on - after the Houthis threatened any ship calling at Saudi ports. The blockade doesn’t need to sink tankers to work, one analyst argues; the real danger is a tanker fleet stretched too thin to absorb a second chokepoint. The Xin Long Yang, a very large crude carrier hauling two million barrels toward China, turned north for Suez instead of heading south through Bab el-Mandeb. The Rodos, a smaller tanker carrying Saudi crude for India, made the same turn. The Houthis had warned a day earlier that ships loading at Saudi ports could be targeted anywhere within their reach, and that was enough. Nobody had to shoot at either ship for the threat to already be working. That’s the part the coverage keeps missing. A blockade doesn’t need to physically stop a tanker to change what the tanker does. It just needs to make the direct route look like a bad bet to the people who insure it, crew it, and own it. Under the normal route, those Asia-bound barrels clear Bab el-Mandeb and continue on to their destination directly. The alternative, the one the Xin Long Yang and the Rodos had begun taking, is to sail north through Suez, across the Mediterranean, and then around the whole of Africa to get to Asia anyway. Fully laden VLCCs can’t make that trip through the canal without first discharging part of their cargo into the SUMED pipeline, which has a fixed capacity of its own. Riyadh spent considerable money building a way around one chokepoint threatened by Iran. It just watched two tankers carrying its crude demonstrate how expensive the fallback really is. More than 3 million barrels a day of that Yanbu-to-Asia crude could get forced onto the long route around Africa, and some Asian refiners could face roughly another month’s wait for cargo that would otherwise have gone straight through. The arithmetic is rough but worth doing anyway. A VLCC typically carries about two million barrels. Diverting 3 million barrels a day for an extra month works out to something like the equivalent of forty-five fully laden VLCC cargoes tied up in additional transit at any given time, before anyone counts the empty return legs, the refueling stops, or the owners who simply decide Saudi business isn’t worth the exposure anymore.

Seven tankers have now changed course in the Red Sea as of this morning to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb strait and travel around Africa since the Houthis’ threat on Tuesday to block Saudi oil exports, highlighting a new risk to global oil supplies from the intensifying conflict. Iran’s near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf has stoked inflation around the world, and the new risk to shipping from the Houthis, who control areas near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, pushed oil prices to a near six-week high. Brent crude futures were up $2.31, or 2.54%, at $93.32 a barrel by 11:42 a.m. EDT (1642 GMT) Wednesday, their highest in almost six weeks, after hitting a session high of $95.47 before settling at $93/gallon. The Houthis have earned a reputation as hardened, nimble fighters who have successfully resisted earlier Saudi and U.S. bombing campaigns. Taking them on would mean stretching American resources already focused on fighting Iran and maintaining the United States’ own blockade of Iranian ports in the Gulf. Iranian media also cited parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Committee spokesperson Hasan Qashqavi as saying Trump was in a “quagmire”. U.S. strikes have widened from the south to western and central Iran in recent days; Iran has pounded vital water desalination and energy plants in Kuwait this week and targeted U.S. military assets there, in Bahrain and in Jordan. The Iranian health ministry said 53 civilians had been killed and 592 wounded since late last month; the U.S. military has said it never targets civilians.

Maladministration II’s instinct will be to hand this to the Navy; American ships can intercept missiles and escort convoys. What they can’t do is compel an owner to accept a charter whose insurance costs and crew risk have become commercially unacceptable, and they can’t conjure a replacement supertanker out of nowhere when the existing ones are weeks out of position on the wrong side of Africa. The earlier Red Sea campaign is the reason to stay skeptical here rather than optimistic. The Trump administration’s 2025 bombing campaign against the Houthis, aimed at restoring free passage through the strait, cost well over a billion dollars. By early 2025, two commercial vessels had already been sunk in the fighting since 2023, and further vessels were sunk later that year even after a ceasefire had briefly taken hold. The Houthis repeatedly demonstrated that they retained the ability to resume missile and drone attacks on shipping. Much of the industry kept avoiding the route anyway. None of that makes naval power irrelevant. It just means a strike package that destroys launchers but leaves tanker schedules in disarray has accomplished less than the battle-damage assessment suggests. Brent Crude initially moved less than 1% on the blockade announcement, trading near $89, before climbing above $91 as the regional fighting intensified. Freight rates, canceled fixtures, and how many owners still call at Yanbu next month will say more than a single day of trading ever could. Maladministration II has not yet shown that it understands how to solve it. This is how the “most persistent ignoramus” in the White House is fucking up the world in ways that will take years to unfuck.

Yesterday, the spineless jellyfish of the GOP Senate sitting on the Intelligence Committee decided to continue to do Dear Leader’s bidding and advance the nomination of election-denying lawyer Jay Clayton to be “Director of National Stupidity,” aka DNI. Committee Chairman (and living proof of the value of “fragging” that didn’t happen to him but should have) Biggest Asshole in the Senate Tom Cotton said: “Jay Clayton is a highly qualified nominee with a deep experience combatting a wide range of national security threats. I’m pleased that the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to advance his nomination to be Director of National Intelligence. Once confirmed, I look forward to working with Mr. Clayton to keep Americans safe and continue reforming the Office of Director of National Intelligence.” The 9-8 vote clears the way for Clayton to be considered by the full Senate and take over a role being held on an acting basis by Bill Pulte, whose example Clayton already telegraphed he would follow, with his refusal to answer the question “who won the 2020 presidential election?” he couldn’t bring his cowardly ass to answer.

MAGA Mike cleared the first major hurdle of his packed legislative agenda Tuesday, when the Caucus of Misfit Toys - aka House Republicans - voted 214-211 to pass a rule setting up floor debate and final votes on a slate of high-profile Republican priorities before lawmakers leave Washington. This advances the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a stock trading ban bill, a budget framework for a third reconciliation package and a stopgap measure that would fund federal agencies at existing levels until Dec. 4. Since the rule also includes language to merge the SAVE Act with the NDAA before it is sent to the Senate, all MAGA Mike’s effort will be for nought when this bullshit is stripped from the bill in the Senate, where the SAVE Act in any form is DOA.

Judge Todd E. Edelman, an Obama appointee, warned U.S. Attorney for D.C. “Wino Jeanine” Pirro, Monday that the Trump administration is “operating at its own peril” in the way it has handled its case against David Hearn, 67, a former Olympic canoeist. Trump and Pirro have accused Hearn of vandalizing the D.C. landmark after the president’s botched $16 million attempt to turn its waters “American flag blue” succeeded only in transforming the pool into a slimy green monstrosity. Hearn’s attorneys filed a motion on Thursday to have the case against him thrown out, arguing that Pirro had failed to preserve the government’s key evidence against him. The TrumpDOJ accused Hearn of “forcefully and violently” ripping up parts of the pool lining, which they claim led to the runaway algal bloom. They wrote: “Despite the importance of the pool liner to the case, in the brief period since June 19, 2026, the same government that presented and returned the indictment against Mr. Hearn has fenced off the scene, begun draining the pool yet again, and publicly announced its intention to repair the very liner whose condition is at issue.” Judge Edelman denied Hearn’s attorneys’ motion to have the case dismissed outright but asked prosecutors to account for the current status of work at the site. The Kidz Who Found Their Law Licenses in a Cheerios Box could not, telling the court they were unsure whether the evidence against Hearn had been preserved. Edelman set a trial date for September 28. He asked why Maladministration II could not “maintain the status quo” for the rest of the week to avoid access to evidence becoming an “issue at this trial,” warning the government they were endangering chances of a successful prosecution. He also urged the “government to not do anything further” on the pool before denying Hearn’s motion to dismiss the case. Calling the motion “entirely premature” - he did not prohibit Hearn’s attorneys from filing another motion to dismiss going forward.

Trump and SecDrunk Kegstand try to unfuck their war and have now fucked things up royally at the Pentagon: The Pentagon faces an urgent budget shortfall caused largely by the war in Iran, with some critical lines of funding set to run out within weeks even as Trump escalates the conflict with Iran, according to lawmakers and current and former U.S. officials. The military accounts for approximately 13% to 14% of the total U.S. federal budget. This allocation represents roughly $916 billion to $961 billion in direct funding. Not only that, but they have wasted enough of our high-tech “smart” weapons that it’s now unlikely we could engage in a conflict with anyone else - and all done for no result (replacing a thousand Tomahawks will take 20 years). Senator Jon Ossoff did a marvelous job yesterday of treating Kegstand like a grasshopper being tortured by a child - only Kegstand is not only the grasshopper but the child. Kegstand is begging for $67 billion to be flushed down his warhole. A total of $67 billion would pay for 899,389 to 1,029,186 average US teacher salaries for one year (depending on the data source used for calculation).

News for Maine Democrats: A new Pine Tree State Poll from the University of New Hampshire reveals that Collins has never been more beatable: 35% of Mainers have a favorable opinion of her, 53% have an unfavorable opinion, 12% are neutral, and less than 1% don’t know enough about her to say. Collins’s net favorability rating is -18. Collins is quite popular among Republicans (+73), but is unpopular among Independents (-28) and very unpopular among Democrats (-84). Democrat Troy Jackson fares much better than Collins with the state’s voters, but it is her job performance that has the long-time incumbent in jeopardy. Unlike Collins, Jackson has a net positive approval rating with voters: 37% of Mainers have a favorable opinion of Jackson, 32% have an unfavorable opinion, 15% are neutral, and 15% don’t know enough about him to say. Jackson’s net favorability rating +5. Jackson is quite popular among Democrats (+64), but is very unpopular among Republicans (-66), while Independents are divided (-2). A majority of Mainers (53%) rate Collins as very good (31%) or good (22%) at bringing federal dollars to Maine. Twenty-one percent rate her as fair, while only 23% rate her as poor (9%) or very poor (14%). A plurality (43%) rate Collins as very good or good on working with other Senators to pass legislation, while a plurality rate her as poor or very poor on representing Maine citizens (45%). Slim majorities of Mainers rate Collins as poor or very poor on: Votes on key legislation: 51%; Confirmation votes on Cabinet nominees: 51%; Confirmation votes on Supreme Court Justices: 53% - One of Collins’ votes that is coming to haunt her is her decisive vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. Overall, Troy Jackson leads Collins 49%-46%, with 2% voting for another candidate and 3% undecided. Collins has been able to keep winning by getting the support of Republicans, Independents, and a few Democrats. So far in this contest, Collins is getting support from 99% of Republicans. A plurality of Independents are supporting Jackson, but Jackson is getting the support of just 88% of Democrats, so there is room for the typical Collins coalition to come through for her again. If Jackson can gain more support from Independents and Democrats, he will have an outstanding chance of beating Collins.

Responsibility is coming: Jesus Espinosa, a CBP officer in El Paso has been officially indicted and arrested over an incident from August 2021. Federal prosecutors say he used excessive force while detaining someone, including putting the person in a chokehold that caused injuries. The TrumpDOJ accused Espinosa of lying to his supervisor about the incident, falsely claiming the detainee had been aggressive and noncompliant. That account led to an official report describing an assault on a federal officer, rather than what prosecutors say actually happened: a CBP agent using excessive force and then covering it up. Espinosa was indicted on one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of making a false statement to a federal agency. He was arrested July 17, had his bond set at $10,000, and was released from the El Paso County Detention Center on Monday. If convicted on both counts, he could spend up to 15 years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison issued an order Monday blocking the deportation of Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego and ordered ICE agents to keep him in the Southern District of Texas. Pliego was a witness in the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, killed by ICE agents earlier this month. Salgado Araujo was transporting three men in his van when he was killed, and their attorneys have denied ICE’s account of events. According to reporting by the Texas Tribune, two of the passengers in the van said two unmarked vehicles struck them from behind and the side before they stopped. Rojas Pliego wrote in his statement, per the Texas Tribune:

“Out of nowhere, they suddenly cornered us, and we told Lorenzo to stop the van. When Lorenzo stopped the van, the officer shot him anyway.” Rojas Pliego added that it was “impossible to say that they were going to get run over. That’s a lie - no officer was behind nor in front - they were on the sides.”

There are few things that spread faster than explosive diarrhea; except, perhaps, a good political conspiracy theory. Taylor Farms, led by founder and CEO Bruce Taylor, has discovered that the hard way this week. After the FDA reversed its initial Cyclospora test result and apologized this weekend, the online conversation didn’t calm down; it detonated. According to PeakMetrics, roughly 60% of all virtual chatter about Taylor Farms over the past 24 hours has centered on an unsubstantiated theory that the company’s $1 million donation to Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC, and/or the company’s White House visit last week, somehow persuaded the FDA to walk back its findings. Politics has now eclipsed the food safety story itself. Overall sentiment toward Taylor Farms is 78% unfavorable, but conspiracy-related posts are even harsher, with 85% posting negative views.

Mexico’s health minister has pushed back against the FDA’s finding that the lettuce consumed by people who fell ill was sourced in central Mexico. Mexican Health Minister David Kershenobich said no evidence has been found showing that the produce originated from the central Mexican state of Guanajuato. He sdaid in a press conference: “So far, no evidence has been found to indicate that it originated there. However, we are taking all precautions in case that were the case.” Mexican health officials have traveled to Guanajuato to take samples and conduct their own probe alongside the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to Kershenobich.

Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries have spread the fuel crisis into the countryside just as harvest begins, with farmers warning diesel shortages could cost the world’s top wheat exporter up to ten million tons; After drones damaged both primary processing units at Moscow’s largest refinery in separate attacks on June 16 and June 18, the facility is now expected to undergo at least six months of repairs, leaving one of the capital’s key fuel suppliers largely offline through the end of the year. Russia’s fuel crisis is bad enough. For civilians, it makes something as simple as filling up a car almost impossible in some parts of the country, while also sending food and goods prices skyrocketing. For President Vladimir Putin, it raises domestic pressure and the political cost of continuing the war against Ukraine. Fuel shortages are rocking Russia just as farmers across the southern regions of the country prepare for harvest, with those farmers warning that diesel shortages and rising fuel prices are making it extremely difficult to harvest crops and transport grain. Farmers are even warning that it will become increasingly difficult to prepare winter feed for livestock, which will cause a knock-on effect for the country’s livestock farmers. It’s good news for Ukraine in that, in theory, it should force the Russian president to reconsider the war and come back to the negotiating table. It’s bad news, however, for the Russian people; Putin, after all, seems to be intent on sustaining the conflict and pushing on for as long as humanly possible. As Moscow diverts fuel supplies to major cities and imports gasoline from India and Belarus, and prioritizes deliveries to its capital city while leaving rural regions behind, the country is set to experience serious shortages during one of the busiest periods of the agricultural calendar. Farmer Vladimir Fedorchenko and his wife described how the fuel shortage is causing both direct and indirect damage to their business, noting that their workers are spending hours just to fill up with enough fuel to reach them. “They’re queueing for half a day,” they said.

For rural Russia, where towns are far apart, and even a store may be miles away, the fuel shortages prevent people from living their everyday lives. The problem is affecting more than just farms; it is affecting the rural communities that surround them. New restrictions on filling portable fuel cans are making it difficult for rural villagers to live. Tractor operators, who often work miles away from the nearest filling station, are left unable to operate their equipment. For rural communities, it also has a very specific impact: it will hurt the summer haymaking process across the rural regions of the country. Farmers only have a limited window to cut and store hay before winter arrives, when livestock rely almost entirely on those reserves. Other villages also described how fuel would once provide backup electricity via generators during power outages, and how chainsaws used to collect winter firewood may also become inoperable as a result of the shortages. Fuel drives rural Russian life, and with no immediate solution to the problem, Russia is risking a total collapse of its economy, starting with the rural heartlands on which it is based.

Finally, this morning Senator John Cornyn proved he’s just as useless as any other dumbfuck with “R” after his name. It would only take one GOP senator voting no to sink Todd Blanche, but that one won’t be Cornyn. Tuesday, he said he wouldn’t vote for Krazy Kari Lake or Looney Doug Mastriano for ambassdorships if he did not see evidence Maladministration II was releasing funds it owed for the President’s Emergency Plan For Aids Relief (PEPFAR). During the Wednesday morning Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting to vote on those positions, Cornyn said the administration had assured him it would release every dollar owed to PEPFAR.

A Cornyn spokesperson said “he will be closely watching future action on PEPFAR to ensure they make good on these assurances ahead of a floor vote on these nominations.” It’s now down to Senator Tillis, who has an alligator mouth attached to a mickey mouse ass.

Remember, you are not the crazy ones, and we were made for these times. Regardless of what you may feel right now, act as if you believe that and redouble your efforts.

“Neither let us be slandered froim our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it.” - Abraham Lincoln

Pyewacket (RIP)

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The current media scene is a stark reminder of the importance of independent journalism. We can bring down Trump, with your support. Across Substack, authors like me need your help! It’s only 21 cents a day. Thomas Jefferson said he’d rather have newspapers without a government than a government without newspapers because he understood that a republic cannot survive without an adversarial press willing to challenge power. I know that my writing too often only serves to confirm what my enlightened readers already think. While I’d like a wider audience, I believe I perform a necessary function, because sometimes just knowing you aren’t alone with your worry can provide the strength to carry on with saving yourself first, and America second. Since January, TAFM has lost 100 paid subscribers; a loss we cannot afford which is happening across Substack for we “originals.” We really need new paid supporters, which is why there is now a special TC’s Birthday offer of 20% off for the first year for new subscribers between now and the end of the month. (Now the price of a cup of coffee monthly) We need ten free subscribers to upgrade by the end of this month to keep things on an even keel. Thank you for your support.

“This is great, I love your blog. Keep at it.” - Stephen King (free subscriber on March 15, paid subscriber on April 28)

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There are 106 days to the midterms.

MAGAt athletic bullshit continues: Bryson DeChambeau held up play at The British Open Championship at Royal Birkdale during the 154th Open Championship on Friday for nearly an hour while pushing to have Trump brought into a dispute over a two-stroke penalty. DeChambeau, a LIV Golf star, had finished his second round Friday evening at 7 under par, believing he was one shot off the lead. But officials from the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews were waiting for him at the scoring area. They had reviewed video from the 5th hole, where DeChambeau’s tee shot had found tall rough earlier in the round. Video showed DeChambeau appearing to “purposefully stomp” the grass behind his ball to clear a path for his swing. “Bryson has been penalized two strokes for inadvertently improving the area of his intended swing,” R&A executive director of governance Grant Moir said. “I would reiterate: This rule applies even when there’s no intention to improve the area, as was the case with Bryson.” The penalty turned his 66 into a 68 and dropped him from solo second to tied for fifth, three shots off the lead. DeChambeau had not signed his scorecard and, according to the Quadrilateral newsletter, pushed to have Trump brought into the penalty discussion. The request was denied. Late finishers coming off the 18th green could not sign their own scorecards until the dispute was resolved, pushing the delay past midnight.

Monday morning, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín granted a request from California Attorney General Rob Bonta that has put Paramount’s planned takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on hold while the court considers a sweeping antitrust lawsuit challenging the multibillion-dollar transaction, which was brought against the company last week. Bonta had requested the merger be paused for two weeks while the court considers whether to hear a case he and 11 other state attorneys general are pursuing, which seeks to kill the merger on antitrust grounds of disrupting the market for media distribution.. Bonta said: “This is a critical first win in our case to ensure this megamerger never sees the light of day. History tells the tale of what happens when a few people have great power over markets that are central to Americans’ lives: fewer opportunities for more people to make and distribute films and TV shows, worse products and services for all people.” The court would not have taken this action unless it believed Bonta’s case was strong. Many industry observers had believed the suit would not survive this point in court, which indicates the Ellisons’ plan for takeover is not on the strong ground they have been telling everyone is inevitable. Paramount was definitely not expecting the judge’s ruling that the merger is now under the “Code Napoleon” - guilty until it proves its innocence. Her statement that the state had made a “a strong showing” in its contention that the most threatened of the three markets defined in the California suit is “theatrical wide release” was also unexpected. She was also unimpressed with Paramount’s argument that the merger will help it compete with Big Tech in the streaming wars. Her ruling states that the court “cannot accept” the argument that efficiencies in other markets are a defense to illegal effects in the markets defined in the lawsuit. Paramount’s argument that it needs to be bigger to be successful isn’t flying. Both sides have until August 3 to present their responses. This is suddenly a different battlefield than all industry observers were expecting the parties to fight it out on. This is the fight that Simon & Shuster lost when they tried to take over Penguin-Random House in publishing a few years back. What was thought to be a skirmish is now shaping up as the Hollywood version of the Battle of Stalingrad.

Iran recently carried out three separate strikes against American troops at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, which wounded dozens of U.S. service members and damaged multiple helicopters. The Pentagon never told the American public. The DOD remained silent about the Jordan strikes until Friday, when a fourth Iranian attack killed two American soldiers and left another service member missing. But the three earlier attacks, and their resulting injuries still haven’t been fully accounted for. There is also news that a third American soldier died Saturday during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone; in the process one American was killed while another suffered minor injuries. DOD did not identify the deceased, citing policies to withhold the name until family is notified. Monday afternoon, the Pentagon confirmed nearly 100 U.S. service members have sustained injuries since the military began launching continuous attacks against Iran earlier this month, with 96% having returned to duty. Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell said, “They are determined to get back in the fight. The vast majority of injuries experienced were minor concussions. Further updates will be posted on the Defense Casualty Analysis System. God is good!” (FACT CHECK: “There is no such thing as a minor concussion” - American Assn. Of Neurological Surgeons)) As with everything Trump touches, even the military is dying; the world now knows we’re the Big Bad Wolf who huffs and puffs and can’t blow anything down - despite all-out US attacks on Iran in Trump’s War, nothing has been achieved. General Mark Hertling says that “Iran still has the upper hand in this fight.” We really are the “paper tiger” Mao used to say we were.

Trump has found a dubious new way to try to fast-track his latest $100 million vanity project - the Arch d’Trump - even though it would exceed building height limits in D.C. and hasn’t received congressional approval as required by federal law; it must also undergo a review process under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 to determine its impact on D.C.’s historic buildings. Maladministration II thinks they have a workaround for this requirement: the vice chair of Trump’s handpicked Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, which oversees the Section 106 review, has encouraged other members to vote to weaken the rules for the process - instead of prioritizing the avoidance of harm and accepting proposals for alternative designs or locations, officials would only need to create a plan to minimize adverse effects. The new rules would also narrow the types of projects governed by Section 106, limit the type of historic properties protected, and weaken consultation with tribal nations and the public. Maladministration II is also proposing to create the mitigation plan after the project is approved instead of before. The practical outcome would be that Trump could quickly push through a plan to build the arch where and how he wants it. Sara Bronin, a law professor at the George Washington University Law School, said, “If adopted, these regulations will be challenged in court, and I doubt they will survive judicial scrutiny.”

“I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!” - Stephen Miller revealed his own desperation and fear when he made an astonishing plea last week. Miller spoke last Thursday at a summit in Washington, D.C. titled “Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism,” an event that highlighted Maladministration II’s plans to crack down on those it considers to be far-left extremists. Miller complained that “the left” frequently tried to appeal to “civil liberties” to escape “criminal punishment,” and issued an impassioned plea. “It is essential that we are wise enough and strong enough to understand that these appeals must fall on deaf ears. When the leftist protests that we are violating his rights, understand that he is lying to try to persuade people who are not closely following the political scene that some injustice has been perpetrated against him.” Miles Taylor observed that Miller’s remarks not only sounded “like someone who uses the Constitution as a doormat,” but revealed a growing fear among the administration that its crackdown on dissent may be doomed from the start. “Those aren’t the words of a confident man. They’re the words of a scared and petulant boy. Someone who’s hatching a plan to break the rules and wants you to know the rules are unfair anyway – and should be ignored. Someone like that is admitting guilt before committing the crime. And it never ends well for that kid.” Despite the event’s focus on “political terrorism” from left-wing extremists, multiple studies have found a far greater number of terrorist attacks in the United States were perpetrated by those with right-wing affiliations. One such study published by the DOJ in 2024 found that right- wing acts of political violence “outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism.” Maladministration II has since scrubbed the study from the TrumpDOJ website.

Maladministration II dropped its appellate fight to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, three weeks after the Supreme Court blocked the firing in a 5-4 ruling. Both sides filed a joint request Monday asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to send the case back to the lower court. The underlying legal question - whether Trump’s attempt to fire Cook violated the Federal Reserve Act - will now be decided by a federal district judge. Cook became the first Federal Reserve governor fired in the central bank’s 111-year history when Trump moved against her in August 2025, citing mortgage fraud allegations she has denied. The June 29 Supreme Court ruling blocked the removal. Cook said in a statement after the ruling, “This was never about mortgage documents signed years before I became a Federal Reserve governor. It was an attempt to remove me on a manufactured pretext because I refused to bow to political pressure.” Cook’s attorney Abbe Lowell told PBS News, “There are some walls left that he cannot get over.” Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, warned removing Cook without proper process “would allow the President to remove a member of the Federal Reserve at any time, for any reason, without any notice before, and without any judicial check after.”

How to unfuck another TrumpDOJ fuckup: Yesterday, the people who found their law licenses in boxes of Crackerjacks, aka the TrumpDOJ, went into court in New York and said they were stepping back from enforcing the subpeonas they served on NYT reporters for the crime of reporting that Dilbert’s Flying Arabian Whorehouse was defenseless, thus pissing off Dilbert when he was caught in yet another fuckup. They admitted they had not exhausted all other alternative information sources before going after the reporters - which is the law in the Second Circuit that covers New York. They asked for 14 days to unfuck their fuckup. Yes, they’re clowns, but remember: clowns with flamethrowers still have flamethrowers.

Trump’s mass deportation operation continues to embody all of the worst elements of his second presidency: the retribution, the destruction, and the corruption, a lawless trifecta that subjugates immigrants while eroding the rights of American citizens. However, they’re not achieving the success they want: An employee of the contractor that runs the ICE Processing Center in Aurora, Colorado, was arrested by local authorities in connection with the shooting of a protester last Thursday evening outside the facility. Brandon Booth, 42, faces charges of attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, attempted first-degree assault, felony menacing, and unlawful carrying of a concealed weapon in the shooting of the protester, who suffered non-fatal injuries to her lower body. In Florida, Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán, 28 - the Mexican national hit and killed by a semi truck last Tuesday in St. Augustine while fleeing an encounter with ICE - was legally in the country on a tourist visa and had planned to return to his home country on Saturday, according to an account given by his wife. Coronilla was the father of two young children and had been married for a decade; he ran a restaurant in his hometown, San Luis de la Paz.

Sen. Darline Graham - who has been in office less than a week - says she’s going to run in the special primary election to replace her late brother for a full term in the Senate. This comes after Trump posted on Lies Anti-Social last Friday urging her to run. He called her a “WINNER” and a spectacular person and said if she decided to get in the race, she would have his endorsement. Despite being close to her brother and being featured in his campaign videos and introducing him when he ran for president in the 2016 election, little is known of Graham’s personal politics. She will have to prove her MAGA credentials for the GOP nomination quickly, as other Republicans have ignored Trump’s endorsement and jumped into the race. Whoever wins the Republican primary special election on August 11 will face Democratic Senate nominee Dr. Annie Andrew for the seat in a red state. Andrew was within 5% of Lindsey Graham just before his death.

Trump’s popularity among parents has dipped sharply in the last year, with the biggest shift coming from mothers abandoning him in droves. A new poll by Echelon Insights shows that since July 2025 support for Trump has dropped by nearly 30 points among moms, with the majority of dads also rejecting the president. Overall, Trump’s approval rating in the new poll reflected his poor performance across polls generally, with 61 percent of voters disapproving of him. That’s a net approval rating of -23. Among mothers, his net rating is -20. Among mothers, 62% think the economic situation is going to get worse, not better. 80% of mothers say they intend to vote in the midterms. While 54% identified as Republicans, compared with just 43% of fathers, that partisan advantage did not translate into support for the president: only 37% they considered themselves primarily Trump supporters. Asked who they voted for in 2024, 50% said Trump, with 48 percent nominating Kamala Harris. (I guess I wasn’t the only kid with a “Mommie Dearest.”)

Trump is mad at Canada for wildfire smoke, so he put a new 50% tariff on some Canadian goods. Canada is dealing with hundreds of wildfires, but so is the United States. In fact, the number of wildfires currently burning in the US is more than twice the number in Canada (467 to 200). Trump thinks that tariffs are all-powerful. He also seems to believe that tariffs can stop wildfires, because if there is one thing that natural disasters respect, it’s international trade. He imposed 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, declaring Canada has unfairly discriminated against American autos, alcohol and dairy products. The 50% tariffs would exclude energy products, potash, fish and critical minerals. Trump is punishing Canada by raising prices on the American people; Canada doesn’t pay the tariff - American consumers do.

For all the turmoil Maine Democrats have faced following the implosion of Graham Platner’s Senate candidacy, they have moved quickly and decisively to choose a replacement to take on Republican incumbent Susan Collins in November. In the initial rounds of the process leading up to a nominating convention on July 25-26, former legislative leader and labor stalwart Troy Jackson has performed so overwhelmingly well his major opponents promptly dropped out. During the County Conventions this past weekend, Jackson effectively locked up the nomination after candidates on his endorsed slate won a majority of the 601 delegate slots that will determine the nominee this coming weekend. While Jackson’s endorsed slate of candidates aren’t legally bound to vote for him at the nominating convention, they’re widely expected to come through for the fifth-generation logger. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced she was dropping out of the race Sunday, followed by former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Nirav Shah, Maine Beer Company co-founder Dan Kleban and former Senate and House hopeful Jordan Wood, as each of them encouraged Democrats to come together to defeat Sen. Susan Collins in November. Jackson’s weekend campaign was helped by a private poll from last week showing him ahead of Collins, though still within the margin of error.

Ending on interesting news: Right-wing “influencer” Laura Loomer has been backing off her pro-Kremlin characterization of the war since earlier this year, but she posted a mea culpa this morning on X after experiencing an air raid while visiting Ukraine: “Just experienced my first air raid in Ukraine. Sirens blaring. This is everyday for every Ukrainian. I feel like such an asshole for minimizing the struggle of Ukrainians for the last 5 years. I often said I don’t care. Looking back, that wasn’t very nice of me to say.” She explicitly denounced some of the Kremlin narratives she has pushed over the years: “There are people in Ukraine who have to run to a bomb shelter everyday and some of us had the audacity to say Russia wasn’t wrong because we believed the lie that Ukraine is a country full of Nazi sympathizers. We have been so propagandized by Russia and we don’t even realize it.” She then reminded everyone why she’s known as Looney Laura: “Air sirens could very well be the future of America if we don’t start demanding our lawmakers crack down on communism and multipolarity,” citing no evidence to back her claim.

Remember, you are not the crazy ones, and we were made for these times. Regardless of what you may feel right now, act as if you believe that and redouble your efforts.

“Neither let us be slandered froim our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it.” - Abraham Lincoln

Hummingbirds in my back yard

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The current media scene is a stark reminder of the importance of independent journalism. We can bring down Trump, with your support. Across Substack, authors like me need your help! It’s only 21 cents a day. Thomas Jefferson said he’d rather have newspapers without a government than a government without newspapers because he understood that a republic cannot survive without an adversarial press willing to challenge power. I know that my writing too often only serves to confirm what my enlightened readers already think. While I’d like a wider audience, I believe I perform a necessary function, because sometimes just knowing you aren’t alone with your worry can provide the strength to carry on with saving yourself first, and America second. Since January, TAFM has lost 100 paid subscribers; a loss we cannot afford which is happening across Substack for we “originals.” We really need new paid supporters, which is why there is now a special TC’s Birthday offer of 20% off for the first year for new subscribers between now and the end of the month. We really need 20 of the free subscribers to step up with support. (Now the price of a cup of coffee monthly) Thank you to everyone else for your support.

“This is great, I love your blog. Keep at it.” - Stephen King (free subscriber on March 15, paid subscriber on April 28)

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There are 107 days to the midterms. As of today, polls give Democrats a 62% chance of taking the House, down from a high of 73% on June 4. Work on everyone you know to get them to the polls - follow Willie Brown’s Rule: run like you’re 10% down till election day, then pop the champagne. (Trust me, it works; we won a lot back then, using it.)

Brian Krassenstein reported that a “massive wave of boos” was heard from fans Sunday at the start of the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina. As Trump appeared on the screen just after Jennifer Hudson performed the National Anthem, a wave of boos rang out until the shot of Preznit Shitbird was swapped with an aerial shot of the stadium. Trump watched the game from in a box at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey alongside his friend and fellow corrupt POS, FIFA President Gianni Infantino,, accompanied by Melanoma. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum were also in attendance. He received a massive “Boooo!!” when he awarded the gewgaw to Spain after their 1-0 victory over Argentine from fans waving special red cards that called out his corruption: “After review, for political corruption and abuse of the presidency - the decision is RED CARD!” He was his attention-whore self with his vacant “Where’s Waldo” expression as he tried to steal some of the spotlight from Spain’s World Cup-winning soccer team, who completely ignored him as he joined Gianni Infantino to greet them. Several players appeared visibly reluctant to shake his hand. That should have been the end of it. Instead, Trump planted himself front and center as the team’s captain, Rodrigo Hernández Cascante, or Rodri, prepared to lift the trophy. Rodri tried to usher him off the stage, but Trump stayed put. Spanish radio commentator Dani Garrido described how Rodri held his position, calling it an act of real personality on Rodri’s part. FIFA president Gianni Infantino finally had to tug his arm to escort Trump away as he looked dazed and disoriented. FIFA edited Trump out of World Cup victory photos. Even foreign institutions with no stake in American politics now edit Trump out of their own coverage rather than deal with his behavior. What a pathetic piece of mentally-not-there shit he is.

Perhaps it was a strange kind of blessing that this World Cup landed in the U.S. in the middle of Trump’s second term. The world already disliked and mocked him before the tournament started, and sadly, by extension Americans. Now, its worst instincts about him have been validated. At the same time those visitors from the rest of the world have found average Americans to be friendly and helpful, and have discovered many things about us they really like - like Ranch Dressing. America’s “soft power” - the spirit of Americans - has not been beaten down. We needed that reminder of who we really are.

Now on to the Same Old:

Oil prices jumped about 3% on Monday, with Brent oil prices surpassing $90 per barrel, as escalating U.S.-Iran hostilities in the Middle East restricted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures climbed $2.77, or 3.14%, to $90.87 by 0612 GMT, touching the highest since June 11, extending gains after rising 15.9% last week, its biggest weekly gain since April. U..S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $84.84 a barrel, up $2.35, or 2.85%, the loftiest since June 12. Front-month prices gained 15.5% last week, the largest weekly ascent since early March. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Monday that two oil tankers had exploded and been immobilised after attempting to transit what it described as an unsafe southern route through the Strait of Hormuz, alleging they had been encouraged by the U.S. military to use the passage. The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve will arrive at the point it can no longer release additional supplies by mid-August. Barclays analyst Amarpreet Singh said in a note: “As things stand, we think oil markets are still too complacent about the potential fallout for inventories, which, unlike at the beginning of the war, are at the tightest of the past five years.” Oil prices at the pump are back to over $4/gal.

Surprise surprise, Trump continues his war on the planet: Over the weekend Sundowning Gramps called for a review related to the Federal Judicial Center’s scientific reference manual in cases involving climate change, writing Saturday night in a demented Lies Anti-Social post early Sunday that the work contains “discredited” information that led to “huge losses” for the country. “Our Nation’s Federal Judges deserve Facts and Science, not Political Fraud and False Science on Climate. With this TRUTH, I hereby order Federal Suspension and Debarment Officials to review this conduct.”Earlier this year, the U.S. federal judiciary withdrew a chapter from the newest edition of its reference manual on scientific evidence that addressed climate change after Republican state attorneys general argued it was biased against fossil fuel companies.

Speaking to reporters after returning from the humiliation of being booed off the stage at the World Cup, Sundowning Gramps announced the Flying Arabian Whorehouse needed to be sent off for a month to be “maxed out,” after reports of security concerns on a trip to Turkey. “It has a lot of capability, but as I understand it, in about a month or so, they’re going to send it to have it be maxed out. So they’re going to be sending it, and they’ll have it be maxed out. It’ll take about a month.” (Like everything else that Never Happens)

MAGA Senators are open to attaching Trump’s top legislative priority, the SAVE Act, to a stopgap measure funding the government past Sept. 30, but the move is getting strong pushback from GOP colleagues who worry it will lead to a government shutdown right before Congress adjourns for the midterms. A Republican senator said colleagues are looking more seriously at the continuing resolution as a vehicle, even though it could risk another government shutdown. Incoming Budget Committee Chairman - and one of the dumbest Republicans in Congress - Ron Johnson said he’s open to the idea. He also wants to end the filibuster. Go Republicans! Do both of these things and slit your own throats on November 3!

This morning, the NRCC added seven districts to its list of targets, as the GOP works to hang on to its majority in the lower chamber this November. They added Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, Florida’s 14th and 22nd, Louisiana’s 6th, Missouri’s 5th, Ohio’s 1st and Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District to its target list. All seven additions were impacted by redistricting in their respective states. In Louisiana, for instance, the state Legislature redrew its congressional map after the Supreme Court ruled its addition of a second majority-Black district was an illegal racial gerrymander.

What? You thought he could actually act like a decent human being? Two more U.S. service personnel were killed in Trump’s War Saturday. Dilbert was busy cheating a golf up at Bedminster - waiting to go steal the spotlight Sunday by awarding the golden gewgaw to the World Cup winners - so it took awahile for him to get around to his “suckers and losers” who still manage to believe in this sackashit country enough to have more courage than the Coward-in-Chief had, and sign up to serve. So, he acted... like you think a dimbulb dumbfuck would act, as NewsNation correspondent Hannah Brandt found when she had called him specifically to ask about the soldiers, who were killed in an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack on an air base in Jordan. A third soldier is also missing, and four more were injured. Giving the golf ball a kick in the direction of the hole, he responded: “It’s a very sad thing. We hate to see it happen,” he said, before quickly pivoting to his favorite Iran talking point. “It’s in service to our country… we’re never, they’re never going to allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” (FACT CHECK: Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and was not even close to obtaining one when Trump launched his “don’t you dare call it a war.”) Brandt then “quickly asked him what he thought of Iran also saying that it no longer plans to follow that Memorandum of Understanding.” He replied, “I couldn’t care less.” The deaths apparently didn’t have too great of an impact, as he spent the rest of the evening with a dressed-up MAGA crowd for the “America’s 250th Birthday Gala” at his Bedminster graveyard. The party was also in support of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s bid for governor of Minnesota. He was seen speaking to the crowd alongside Lindell, where he ranted about nonexistent voter fraud in the 2020 election he lost six years ago. The menu for the evening was a surf and turf “Duet Entree” of roasted beef tenderloin and poached lobster, with a dessert called “The President’s Favorite Cake Trio a la Mode,” featuring “a historically accurate recreation of the favorite desserts of four of America’s favorite presidents,” including “President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Famous Chocolate Cake” followed by “President Lincoln: Mary Todd’s Vanilla almond cake,” followed by “President Washington: Martha Washington Great Cake,” followed by “President Jefferson’s President Jefferson Original Ice Cream recipe.”

Darline Graham Nordone is signaling she’ll take a different approach from her brother, Lindsey Graham, after succeeding him in the Senate. After saying how humbled she was to find out how many people “really lovd” her brother and lauding his work in the Senate, she said, “Yet I am not Lindsey. I have my own way of doing things. But we were raised with the same values: work hard each day, trust in the Lord, remember your roots, and never forget who you work for. That’s why I’ve spent my career helping South Carolinians with disabilities find employment and live independently.” Trump has described Graham Nordone as a “spectacular person, and a true American Patriot,” and revealed on Truth Social: “During her visit, I asked Darline, for the Good of our Nation, to run for the U.S. Senate in the Special Republican Primary on Tuesday, August 11, 2026.” He may be about to discover he didn’t do himself a favor.

“Senator” Fetterman’s bold threat to leave his party if it crosses his proverbial “red line” drew sharp criticism Sunday as an analyst argued that the lawmaker’s “tiresome performance” has worn out. Fetterman has threatened to leave the Democratic Party if it votes to end financial aid to Israel, which he described as his “red line.” Fetterman’s comments came after more than 100 Democrats voted to withdraw U.S. support for Israel amid its incursions into Lebanon and Jordan, as well as the ongoing onslaught against Palestinians. Democratic pundit Jack Hopkins said, “This was not courage. It was the loudest tell yet in a long tiresome performance. Because John Fetterman has spent his entire Senate term doing one thing exceptionally well: collecting the benefits of the ‘D’ next to his name while doing everything in his power to spite the people who put it there.” Mehdi Hasan said, “Every day he is on Fox, every day he is talking about Israel. Beyond parody, at this point.”

A new Reuters analysis of federal court data undercuts Trump’s assertion that a conspiracy of noncitizen voting is afoot in America. Case records show that federal prosecutors have charged just 129 people under a federal “voting by aliens” statute created by Congress in 1996, Reuters found. More than two-thirds of those prosecutions - 86 - have been filed during Trump’s five-and-a-half years in office. In none of the cases did prosecutors allege a coordinated effort to influence an election. And no defendant was accused of being paid to vote. Instead, many appear to stem from voter confusion, miscommunication with election officials or administrative errors. In an irony Trump will never get, one of the highest-profile prosecutions of a permanent lawful resident registering to vote was a 79-year-old grandmother who voted for Trump. She received a couple of weeks in prison (given her lack of prior criminal record). Maladministration II then deported her. As is usual, it’s just more Trumpbullshit.

Between widespread cuts to vital government agencies, various disease and illness outbreaks, and new environmental disaster vulnerabilities, the United States is facing a convergence of crises with widespread repercussions. Last week, Trump appointed a critic of mainstream climate science to oversee the government’s flagship report about the impact of climate change on the United States. Maladministration II has embarked on a far-reaching assault on environmental protections, rolling back clean air and water standards and promoting fossil fuels. Even as much of the country struggles to breathe as Canadian wildfire smoke spreads over swaths of the US, experts warn of an even grimmer future in which the US grows ever more vulnerable to environmental disasters and toxic exposure. The US is also on course for another record year of measles cases in 2026, surpassing last year, which was itself the worst year for cases in three decades. Some public health officials worry the US is on course to lose its measles elimination status, gained in 2000.

New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani has said he was reviewing whether his administration could arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if as expected the Israeli prime minister visits the city for the UN general assembly in September. “He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the international criminal court, and what you will find is that is an opinion that is held by many, purely because of what his actions have wrought over these past many years.” Mamdani said it was unclear to him whether he has the legal authority to order the New York police department (NYPD), which he oversees, to detain a foreign leader like Netanyahu. But he said he was in “an active conversation” with the city’s law department about the matter. “Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do,” Mamdani added. “But we won’t be writing our own laws to that end.” The warrant which the ICC issued for the arrest of Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders accused them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including “starvation as a method of warfare, and … murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.” Asked by the NYT about the political weight he places on Israel and support for it by the US, Mamdani said ongoing war in Gaza was motivating voters throughout the country, including when his endorsed candidates swept House races in New York in June. “It is hard to find a more bankrupt policy approach than what our country has done to Gaza and to Palestine,” he said.

A message from Robert Hubble that I strongly support:

“Whenever I try to bring perspective and analysis to claims that Trump will “declare an emergency and use the military / ICE to seize ballots,” I get a fair amount of pushback—as in dozens of emails in response to Saturday’s newsletter Almost all the pushback boils down to this: “It doesn’t matter what you say, what technicalities apply, Trump is just going to do it.”

“Such emails announce a firm belief in a conclusion and cut off discussion. So, if there is nothing I or anyone can say to suggest that armed intervention to seize ballots is remote and that if Trump resorts to such tactics, he will be stopped, then there is little point in carrying on a discussion.

“But for those who firmly believe that Trump will use force to interfere in the election, a few questions present themselves.

“If it is a certainty (in your view) that Trump will overturn the election, what then? Do we just give up? Why bother to vote? Are you simply going to wait for the end of democracy in November and say, “See! I told you so!” Or does something happen before and after that? Are you protesting? Canvassing? Encouraging voter turnout in any way?

“I do not understand the compulsion to convince others that Trump will intervene in the election by force . . . followed by a full stop about what happens next. Just 100% focus on what Trump will do, and nothing about what we will do.

“While I don’t understand that approach, I want to flag a serious problem it creates. If you view your role at this moment in our nation’s history as convincing others that Trump will overturn the election through force, you should recognize that you are likely dissuading people from voting and doing all of the hard work that it takes to win a wave election. You are effectively telling them their work doesn’t matter; if you tell them enough times, they might believe you.

“And “No,” we are not naïve and are not refusing to recognize reality. We understand what is happening. But we refuse to quit. We refuse to surrender to fear. We refuse to make self-defeating predictions about future outcomes that are still within our ability to influence. We refuse to cry “Uncle!” if Trump does make a move to seize ballots. We will take to the courts. We will take to the streets. We will engage in massive boycotts of Trump’s business allies. We will call a national strike and shut down the nation until all ballots are counted in a free and fair manner.”

Remember, you are not the crazy ones, and we were made for these times. Regardless of what you may feel right now, act as if you believe that and redouble your efforts.

“Neither let us be slandered froim our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it.” - Abraham Lincoln

Midnight

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