ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
King Tweedle Dumb I
Don’t woprry, no matter how K-K-Krazy the Crazy gets, there will be more. There are 408 days left to put up with this crap before we can fix things.
Big News: Three Justice Department officials working on the Kirk case spoke with NBC News, and one said, “Thus far, there is no evidence connecting the suspect with any left-wing groups.” They added there is “every indication that this was one guy who did one really bad thing because he found Kirk’s ideology personally offensive.” The also said it would be difficult to bring federal charges against Robinson, as he committed the crime in Utah and is a resident of the state. Furthermore, Kirk was an influencer activist, and not an elected official. The InJustice Department officially declined to comment on the case as an ongoing investigation.
Ted Cruz, of all people, had this to say about the cancelling of Jimmy Kimmel: “Let me tell you, if the government gets in the business of saying, ‘We don’t like what you, the media, have said; we’re going to ban you from the airwaves if you don’t say what we like’—that will end up bad for conservatives. They will silence us. They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly.”
In response, Dear Leader said: “I disagree with Ted Cruz. I think Brendan Carr doesn’t like to see the airwaves be used illegally and incorrectly, and purposely horribly. He doesn’t like to see a person that won the election in a landslide get 97 percent bad publicity before the election. (FACT CHECK: No, Dilbert, You got 49.81% of the popular vote over Harris' 48.34% - a 1.47% win. Hardly a “landslide”) The networks have to show honesty and integrity. When they take a great success, like you often do, and you make it into like it’s a loser, or you put a negative spin on it, I don’t think that’s right. So I think Brendan Carr is a great American.”
Remember earlier this week - Tuesday, it was - when The Wrong RFK Got Shot got up at the Charlie Kirk Manditory Love-In and fervently spoke about how he met Charlie in 2008, and “we instantly became soulmates”?? Guess what - in 2008, Charlie Kirk was 8, going on 9. I suppose we shouldn’t be too hard on a man whose brain has been turned into wormfood.
A further point about Charlie and his TP-USA Chowder & Marching Society: in 2012, Kirk and his money source, Bill Montgomery, founded TP-USA - their goals were to defend unlimited gun rights and to attack modern medicine, which by 2020 with the arrival of COVID had TP-USA telling every anti-vax covid lie that came along. So Bill Montgomery died in 2020 of complications from COVID. And here five years later, what does Charlie do? I love it when their Karma runs over their Dogma.
Disney is still neck deep in l’affaire Kimmel. In a meeting Thursday afternoon at the Century City law office of his attorney Andy Galker, between Kimmel and Disney’s top TV executive, Dana Walden, there was no agreement over the standoff that has engulfed both sides in one of the rare Hollywood political and business blow-ups that makes headlines worldwide. At the meeting, Kimmel refused to tone down a planned response to the backlash over his Monday comment that “the MAGA gang” was trying to characterize the alleged shooter of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk as “anything other than one of them.” Kimmel’s insistence on delivering an on-air clarification that emphasized he never believed the alleged Kirk killer was MAGA, but also attacked Fox News by name, right-wingers on social media, and others who Kimmel believes dishonestly mischaracterized his comment to fan the flames of outrage, which Walden and her team thought went too far and would inflame tensions and further jeopardize Disney’s station licenses and other business; this led to the ultimate decision by Walden and DizzyWorld C.E.O. Bob Iger to suspend the show “indefinitely.”
Here’s what the continuing corporate surrender looks like as of Friday: Those corporations donating millions to Dear Leader’s ballroom project may be rewarded by having their name etched into the ugly pile of lumber. Donors so far include Google, R.J. Reynolds, Booz Allen Hamilton, Palantir and NextEra Energy. Lockheed Martin, the aerospace and defense company, contributed $10 million to the project. Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman has personally pledged money to the project. Trump has personally lobbied businesses for donations. The administration said Friday it has already received nearly $200 million in pledges for the project, but declined to comment on which companies cut checks, or how those who did will be rewarded.
Friday morning, Trump took a loss in his attempted $14 billion extortion of the new York Times for the crime of telling the truth. The Times’ decision to fight - unlike the Disney-ABC capitulation - saw U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday dismiss Trump’s suit for being “decidedly improper and impermissible” in its length, “vituperation,” and “invective.” He threw out the $15 billion lawsuit filed on September 15 against the New York Times for defamation. Judge Steven Merryday - who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush - called the complaint “decidedly improper and impermissible” and took Trump’s lawyers to task for using a legal complaint as a public forum for abusive language. A lawsuit, Merryday noted, is “not a protected platform to rage against an adversary.” He went on: "Alleging only two simple counts of defamation, the complaint consumes eighty-five pages. Count I appears on page eighty, and Count II appears on page eighty-three. Even under the most generous and lenient application of Rule 8, the complaint is decidedly improper and impermissible.” He set a 40-page limit on any amended complaint. Interestingly, Friday’s order striking the complaint was all the more notable because it was issued sua sponte, meaning on the court's own motion - not in response to a motion from any of the defendants. The Trumpscum who found their law licenses in boxes of Cracker Jacks managed to piss of the judge personally.
Trump signed a proclamation on Friday to impose an annual $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications. Howard Nutlicker said that “all the big companies” had been briefed on the new fee. “A hundred-thousand dollars a year for H-1B visas, and all of the big companies are on board. We’ve spoken to them. If you’re going to train somebody, you’re going to train one of the recent graduates from one of the great universities across our land. Train Americans. Stop bringing in people to take our jobs.” He went on: “Either the person is very valuable to the company and America, or they are going to depart and the company is going to hire an American. And that’s the point of immigration. Hire Americans and make sure the people coming in are the top, top people. Stop the nonsense.” Trump’s threat to crack down on H-1B visas has become a major flashpoint with the tech industry, which contributed millions of dollars to his presidential campaign. The industry relies, more than any other sector of the US economy, on H-1B visa holders. Roughly 2/3 of jobs secured through the H-1B program are computer-related, but employers also use the visa to bring in engineers, educators and healthcare workers. In the first half of 2025, Amazon had more than 10,000 H-1B visas approved, while Microsoft and Meta Platforms had more than 5,000 approvals each. The H-1B program offers 65,000 visas annually to employers bringing in temporary foreign workers in specialized fields, with another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees. Adding new fees “creates disincentive to attract the world’s smartest talent to the US”, Deedy Das, partner at venture capital firm Menlo Ventures, wrote on X. “If the US ceases to attract the best talent, it drastically reduces its ability to innovate and grow the economy.” Dear Leader also took the opportunity to unveil a “Trump Gold Card” visa program: for the price of $1 million, individuals can get US residency. Businesses can buy residency permits for $2 million per employee, while a new platinum-level card set to be issued soon would cost $5 million and allow the holder to come to the US for up to 270 days a year without being subject to US taxes on non-US income. The restrictions and fees go into effect on Sunday.
Yesterday, U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert resigned his position of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Friday amid pressure from Trump to bring a criminal case against New York Attorney General Letitia James, which he has refused to do after investigators were unable to find incriminating evidence of mortgage fraud against James. He also declined to prosecute James Comey for lack of evidence. Officials had pushed Siebert to bring charges against James and Comey, regardless of the lack of evidence. Friday afternoon, Trump told reporters, "It looks to me like she is very guilty of something, but I really don't know." When asked about Siebert, Trump said he wanted him "out" of the position because Virginia's two Democratic Senators supported his nomination (as well as the state GOP and all the federal judges in the district). Saturday, it was announced Siebert’s replacement would be Mary “Maggie” Cleary, whose experience is in the Commonwealth attorney’s office, the federal Western District of Virgina, and DHS. She’s been with the DOJ Criminal Division since Kakistoracy II took over last January. She has nowhere near the prosecutorial experience Siebert has. She takes the job knowing her job is to rubberstamp the prosecutions of James and Comey, which will greatly assist the defense in claiming political harassment and getting the cases thrown out in court. Trump has made it even easier for the defense, complaining on Lies Anti-Social in a missive to “Pam” - which was supposed to be a private “truth” but D. Dumbruck managed to send it out to several million followers - that “nothing is being done,” telling her to go after Comey, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, and “Leticia.” “They’re all guilty as hell and nothing is being done!” “...there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, many pundits, say so.” He concluded, “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice and INDICTED ME (5 times!) OVER NOTHING! JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” He also suggested a different nominee for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsay Halligan, who is currently a “Special Assistant to the President,” working on the purge at the Smithsonian. Before this, she practiced insurance law in Florida, becoming a “Trump lawyer” when Mar-a-Lago was searched. She has no apparent ties to the Eastern District of Virginia and does not appear to be a member of the Virginia Bar. She has never handled any kind of prosecution. But she’s a Trumper and will follow Dear Leader’s orders. When the two cases get thrown out for Trump’s ignoramus interference, for sure he won’t let it be his fault. The oprder to Bondi has since been taken down, but the knowledge of the act is widespread.
This morning, Senator Chris Murphy was asked about Trump publicly ordering his Attorney General to prosecute his political enemies, evidence be damned. Here is his full reply: “This is one of the most dangerous moments America has ever faced. We are quickly turning into a banana republic. The president of the United States is now employing the full power of the federal government, the FCC, the Department of Justice, in order to punish, lock up, take down off the air all of his political enemies. There is no more fundamental right in America than the right to protest your government. And the question today is, when is enough, enough for Republicans? I was very glad to see Ted Cruz stand up and say what is simply true -- it is unconstitutional and deeply immoral for the president to jail or to silence his political enemies. And it will come back and boomerang on conservatives and Republicans at some point if this becomes the norm. But next week, we need every Republican in the Senate, in the House, not only speaking up, but going to Donald Trump and telling him that they are not going to let him get away with this massive, new contraction of speech. This is a decisive moment for the country. It is a decisive moment for Republicans who have to decide to serve this core, fundamental American value: the freedom of speech.”
Pete Kegstand, cosplaying as “Defense Secretary,” has introduced new guidelines that heavily restrict press freedom at the so-called “Department of War.” Reporters will now need express approval from the department in order to publish any information gathered at the Pentagon, and are forbidden from accessing most of the building without a minder. Journalists will be made to sign compliance forms pledging to protect “sensitive information” and will be stripped of their credentials if they do not adhere to the new rules. When these plans were originally announced back in May, the Pentagon Press Association issued a statement decrying the move as “a direct attack on the freedom of the press and America’s right to know what its military is doing.” The Pentagon press corps have also said the changes as a “form of targeted retribution against publications that the Trump administration doesn’t like.” Secretary Kegstand said: “The ‘press’ does not run the Pentagon - the people do. The press is no longer allowed to roam the halls of a secure facility. Wear a badge and follow the rules - or go home.”
Also Friday, President Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping “made progress” on “the approval of the TikTok deal,” which suggests that the Oracle-led consortium of investors is moving closer to acquiring the app. Lingering in the background is the longstanding assumption that Larry Ellison’s stake would help fuel his son David’s ambitions at Paramount by enabling him to create a fully vertically integrated business turbocharged by TikTok algorithms: studio, streaming, social. Media consolidation under far right control continues.
Good news for our side: The latest AP Poll shows nearly 75% of respondents feel that the country is going in the wrong direction, including 50% of Republicans. AP’s analysis: “Among Republicans younger than 45, the decline is particularly glaring: 61% say the country is headed in the wrong direction, a spike of 30 percentage points since June. GOP women’s view of the nation’s course has shifted almost as much as younger Republicans. About 57% of Republican women say the country is going in the wrong direction, up from 27% in June. And 56% of Republican men say the country is going the wrong way, up from 30% in June. Republicans are also worried about high prices, the economy, and the increasing inability of people to get a good job.
And of course, the pro-Israeli Zionism MSM hasn’t been able to bother itself with the alarming report by the UN Commission, charging the Netanyahu regime with committing actual genocide in Gaza. It’s been determined that the Gazans won’t be there long one way or the other, and that the “big story” is how Israel - and the Trump Organization - are going to “transform” Gaza into The Levantine Riviera. But with this report, Netanyahu and his regime now stand accused of genocide by all responsible observers. The 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide - to which nearly every country and most assuredly the U.S. is a signatory - makes it illegal for signatories to fail to intervene when a genocide occurs. Article 1 of the Convention states, “Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.” So, as a UN spokesperson said, “All states are under a legal obligation to use all means that are reasonably available to them to stop the genocide in Gaza.” That won’t be happening here; certainly not among Republicans who view supporting Israel’s wars as the fastest way to get to Armageddon and the End Times, so long as Miriam Adelson and her billions draw breath and make campaign donations, or among Democrats so long as Haim Saban and AIPAC are around. We are now officially at that awful moment my Israeli Sabra grad school friend feared when he and his IDF company liberated the Wailing Wall in 1967 and he heard his CO pray, “Help us, God - we won.”
The paperclip resistance is here! A few days ago, E. Jean Carroll posted about how - during World War II - Norwegians opposed to the Nazis identified themselves: they wore a paper clip on their clothing, as a piece of decorative art that identified themselves to each other. Since E. Jean suggested we do this now, the idea has really taken off. Last night, Joyce Vance brought this up to her many thousands of subscribers. The idea has really taken off - this morning I saw two people in the local supermarket with paperclips on their clothing. So, grab a paperclip and let people know we’re everywhere.
We have to keep pushing to defeat all this. Let’s adopt the motto of the SAS: “Who Dares, Wins.”
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Currently attempting to construct a very large purple paper clip for my window. HOA says “NO signs in windows!” Doesn’t say anything about art. 😬
I’m sure I’m not alone in going ballistic in my head every time that delusional son of a bitch uses ANY opening to spew his litany of whines and grievances. Jesus Tap-dancing Christ! Enough already, you overgrown toddler!!! Sheesh!!! I was so happy to read the judge’s comments upon throwing out the suit against the Times.