HERE COMES TUESDAY

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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