Aaron Boxerman & of the New York Times: “People across the Middle East waited uneasily on Saturday for a decision from ... [Donald] Trump about a proposal to end the war with Iran, as the United States reaffirmed its resolve to emerge with a deal he finds acceptable. Mr. Trump said on social media on Friday that he was meeting with advisers at the White House Situation Room to make a 'final determination' about the proposed deal, but that meeting ended with no announcement. Mr. Trump has zigzagged on his positions during the negotiations, vacillating between talk of progress on a deal and threats of renewed strikes. Later on Friday evening, Iran said there was still “no final agreement” with the United States.... Some people in Iran who had hoped that the war could lead to the end of the Islamic Republic’s authoritarian rule said they were disillusioned and indifferent to the idea of a potential agreement.”
Well, we can all stop fretting that no big stars will appear at the 250th celebrations in the capital and that even most of the D-listers who had signed up have dropped out. The great carnival barker himself has come to his own rescue:
~~~ Jesse Bedayn & Collin Binkley of the AP: “An upcoming celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, 'The Great American State Fair,' recently had several musical guests back out partly over the event’s ties to ... Donald Trump. Now, Trump himself is slated to headline the festivities, the organizers said Saturday. 'I understand Artists are getting “the yips” having to do with their performance,' Trump posted to his social media platform Truth Social Saturday, adding that he was thinking of bringing 'the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate “Artists.’” The group organizing the June fair on Washington’s National Mall, Freedom 250, confirmed the billing in a statement, writing, 'we are excited to announce that President Trump will personally kick off this historic celebration on Wednesday, June 24.'” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Gosh, I remember the day before Barack Obama was inaugurated. Not even a big ole sesquicentennial, just as ordinary presidential inauguration. Here's a list of who-all came to perform before a crowd of tens of thousands during the dead of winter. ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~
Marie: I suppose schadenfreude is a sin. Oh, shame on me. But maybe I'll indulge my endorphins just a while longer. ~~~
~~~ For the Fat Fascist, It Was Fucked-up Friday: ~~~
A One. Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: “A federal judge Friday ordered that ... Donald Trump’s name be removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and that officials halt its plan to close the venue for two years. In a pair of rulings, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper granted in part Rep. Joyce Beatty’s (D-Ohio) request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily block Trump from taking any further steps toward closing the institution. The judge also ordered Kennedy Center officials to remove Trump’s name within two weeks. The ruling throws the Kennedy Center’s near future into uncertainty, blocking leaders from shutting down the performing arts venue in July after they have canceled most performances in anticipation of the closure.... In December, Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board, sued her fellow trustees days after they voted to rename the institution 'The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.' Beatty said she was muted during the virtual board meeting when she tried to voice opposition to the name change, a claim the center disputed. She later amended the lawsuit to seek a broader halt to the closure, and the court granted her request for key documents related to the renovation plan, including building assessments and budget materials.” The AP's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. Trump Is Incensed. Julia Jacobs & Zach Montague of the New York Times: “Mr. Trump railed against the judge’s ruling in an incensed social media post, suggesting that he was considering casting the Kennedy Center aside as one of his personal projects. The president wrote that unless he was free to decide the center’s trajectory, he had 'no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey.' 'Unfortunately, Judge Cooper and the Radical Left would rather see it DIE than have President Trump transform it into something that everyone could be proud of, much as I have done, in many cases, throughout my life,] he wrote. Judge Christopher R. Cooper, of the Federal District Court in Washington, determined that the board’s decision to add Mr. Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center violated a law passed by Congress in 1964 that made 'crystal clear the institution was to be named for former President John F. Kennedy.... Roma Daravi, a spokeswoman for the center, said that it would appeal the ruling, signing her statement as the 'Trump Kennedy Center Vice President of Public Relations.'” (Portions of this report were included in a NYT liveblog linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ And a Two. Trump's Slush Fund Hits a Speed Bump. Kyle Cheney, et al., of Politico: “A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s effort to establish a fund to reimburse people who claim they were targeted by the 'weaponization' of the federal government. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said the restraining order was meant to ensure that no funds are 'irreversibly disbursed' before the legal fight over the newly announced fund has a chance to play out.... The order from Brinkema, a Clinton appointee based in northern Virginia, will pause the establishment of the fund until at least June 12, when she has set a hearing to consider the matter further.... It was an unusually urgent action by the judge, who said in her brief order that she was compelled to rule prior to a formal response from the Trump administration because of concerns that the fund might quickly begin doling out cash. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by a former Justice Department prosecutor and other plaintiffs who contended that it was an illegal and unconstitutional abuse of taxpayer funds. Rather than apply the fund in a 'viewpoint neutral' manner, they argue that it’s essentially rigged to reward Trump’s political allies.” The New York Times story is here. Thanks to RAS for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Here's the press release from Democracy Forward, which represented the plaintiffs in the case. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ And a Three. Alan Feuer & Andrew Duehren of the New York Times: “A federal judge in Miami reopened ... [Donald] Trump’s $10 billion case against the I.R.S. in a striking turnabout, saying that she wanted to investigate 'grievous allegations' that the hasty deal to resolve it was 'premised on deception.' The ruling by the judge, Kathleen M. Williams, on Friday to revive the case shortly after closing it was a significant blow both to Mr. Trump, who had voluntarily dismissed the suit last week, and to the Justice Department. After the president withdrew the suit, senior department officials released a pair of extraordinary agreements that settled the case by establishing a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who claimed they were victims of government 'weaponization' by Democrats. The deal also conferred lucrative tax benefits on Mr. Trump, his family and his businesses. Judge Williams’s decision came in response to court papers filed on Wednesday by a bipartisan group of 35 former federal judges who urged her to bring the case back to life and dig into the details of the agreement to settle it. The former judges said that Mr. Trump’s settlement agreement raised serious questions about his 'candor toward the court and manipulation of the judicial system.'” (Also linked yesterday. However, the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link.) Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "White House officials are seriously considering abandoning ... Donald Trump's $1.776 billion 'Anti-Weaponization Fund,' a controversial legal 'settlement' Trump arranged with his own administration that critics have called a slush fund to pay out his allies who have faced legal troubles.... According to the Wall Street Journal, over a dozen GOP senators 'privately urged top Trump aides to drop the fund since its creation last week, said people familiar with the outreach' — one of them being Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).... 'Administration officials have grown increasingly concerned about the viability of the fund, people familiar with the matter said...,' said the report. The president, for his part, 'hasn’t agreed to drop the fund' as of now, but has acknowledged it has created significant political problems for the GOP."
Chris Cameron of the New York Times: “The White House released a three-page report from ... [Donald] Trump’s physician late Friday detailing the
results of his physical exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical
Center earlier this week. Mr. Trump’s
doctors in the past have released positive health reports that stress
the president’s excellent condition and good health habits. Friday’s
report, written by the president’s physician, Dr. Sean P. Barbabella,
gave a similarly upbeat assessment of Mr. Trump’s health, declaring that
the 79-year-old president 'remains in excellent health, demonstrating
strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and overall physical function.' Mr. Trump, the oldest man to be inaugurated
as president, underwent an extensive battery of physical and mental
tests, according to the report. The president had an echocardiogram, an ultrasound image of the heart, following increased testing of his cardiovascular system last year and a diagnosis of chronic venous insufficiency, a condition that occurs when veins have trouble moving blood back to the heart.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: See? Trump does maintain some White House traditions, after all. Like having his doctor lie about the results of his physical exam.
Matt Moret of the Athletic: “... Donald Trump purchased between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of stock in TKO Holding Group, the parent company of UFC and WWE, weeks ahead of a White House UFC event he’s promoted for months. The purchase was disclosed in Trump’s May 8 financial disclosures, which are publicly available through the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. Those documents do not specify how much stock Trump purchased but say he acquired it March 25 — a little more than two weeks after the Freedom Fights 250 fight card was publicly revealed.... UFC is scheduled to hold the first professional sports event on the White House grounds on June 14, Trump’s 80th birthday, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding. Construction is underway on the White House South Lawn, with seating for roughly 4,300 attendees and a large temporary arch dubbed 'The Claw' going up earlier this week.” (MB: Although I don't have an Athletic subscription, I was able to access this article, perhaps via my NYT subscription.) A Huffington Post story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: As I've mentioned before, this is a form of corrupt insider trading in which Trump buys stock in a company whose value he can raise, then he acts in ways that indeed raise the stock's value. Ergo, he profits. While CEOs and other insider traders can do the same thing (or something similar) regarding the companies they control, perhaps the POTUS* is uniquely positioned to manipulate the values of so many different stocks in so many different types of companies.
Desperately Seeking Spectators. Must be Handsome. Dan Lamothe & Alex Horton of the Washington Post: “The Pentagon is moving to recruit hundreds of troops to appear as spectators at ... Donald Trump’s UFC cage-fighting event at the White House, and requiring those who attend to pay for their travel and meet height and weight requirements, according to people familiar with the matter and internal memos reviewed by The Washington Post. The Defense Department in recent days has solicited volunteers across the services to attend the June 14 event in uniform. Officials are seeking junior enlisted personnel and junior officers specifically, according to internal messages.... Junior troops make up the military’s lowest pay grades. One memo, circulated within the Air Force, stipulates that to be eligible, personnel 'MUST MEET CURRENT WAIST-HEIGHT RATIO and current physical fitness standard.' Troops will be required to wear their short-sleeve dress uniforms, the memo adds.” The NBC News story is here.
Maxine Joselow of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Friday rescinded two decades-old executive orders that restricted off-road vehicles on public lands, in a move that could lift prohibitions on their use in most national parks. The first executive order, signed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1972, established strict criteria for the use of off-road vehicles on federal lands, in an effort to minimize their environmental impact. The second, signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977, authorized the government to immediately shut down off-road driving if it was causing ecological damage. Both orders applied to a variety of vehicles designed to drive on unpaved surfaces like dirt, sand, gravel, mud, rocks and snow. That included all-terrain vehicles, dirt bikes and snowmobiles. In a fact sheet, the White House called both executive orders 'outdated and burdensome,' noting that they were issued before the advent of modern technologies that can help the government detect off-road vehicle tracks in sensitive ecosystems.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: I'll be damned if I can see what detecting ATV tracks has to do with it. But never mind. Trump signed these orders because he and his ilk think violent and destructive "sports" are "manly." Destroy the vegetation and terrify small animals? What power! What a rush! These people are pathetic.
Does the following story help you answer this T/F question? "Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans really care about me." ~~~
~~~ Jesse Drucker & Dylan Freedman of the New York Times: “A year ago, the Trump administration withdrew from a global effort to curb offshore tax-dodging by multinational companies. That decision has been a huge gift to corporate America, enabling companies to avoid at least $40 billion in income taxes since the beginning of 2025. A New York Times review of securities filings from nearly 500 companies showed that they avoided taxes by attributing hundreds of billions of dollars in earnings to low- or no-tax foreign locales like Cyprus, Bermuda, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. Often, corporations funneled the profits through subsidiaries in places where they had no employees, offices or customers. Tax havens became more appealing after ... [Donald] Trump signed an order on his first day back in office withdrawing the United States from a 13-year international effort to end such schemes. The effort led to dozens of countries imposing a minimum corporate tax and rules for pursuing companies using tax havens. After House Republicans passed legislation last year targeting some of those countries with a new tax, international officials agreed to exempt U.S. companies from much of the crackdown.” Thanks to Ken W. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Follow-up Question: Since profitable, multinational companies are evading U.S. taxes, who is doing the taxpaying for them? Answer: Yeah, you. Class dismissed.
Owen Scott of the Independent: “Katie Miller, the wife of controversial home security advisor Stephen Miller, has claimed that a tweet from one of the Democratic Party’s social media accounts which told her husband to 'shut up' is 'violent political rhetoric.' The official Democrats account on X hit out at Mr Miller, who is White House deputy chief of staff for policy, after he falsely claimed on X that Texan State Representative James Talarico was the Democratic Party’s first 'transgender Senate candidate.' Replying to Mr Miller, the Democrats’ account wrote, 'Shut up you ugly f[uck].' Later, on Fox News show The Ingraham Angle, Ms Miller claimed, 'This is the same violent political rhetoric that is leading people to shooting up, whether it be the White House Correspondents’ Dinner or President Trump in Butler.'” Read on. Of course there's more of this high-minded dialog. (Also linked yesterday.)
Adam Sella, et al., of the New York Times: “The Trump administration has quietly slowed funding for scientific research at Harvard and other universities that have been targets of a White House pressure campaign, according to government data reviewed by The New York Times. The funding slowdowns at the National Science Foundation, one of the largest single sources of federal research dollars for universities, have also affected Duke, Princeton and Yale, records show. Grant proposals that had previously been recommended for funding by employees who oversee the review process have been flagged in recent months for additional scrutiny, but with no clear explanation provided in the records and researchers left largely in the dark. The holds had set off alarm bells inside the agency and on some campuses. Federal judges ruled in two separate cases last year that the Trump administration had broken the law by halting research grants as a way to impose policy changes.”
They Really Don't Know What They're Doing, Ctd. Em Luetkemeyer of NOTUS: “The White House’s new website highlighting arrests of undocumented immigrants lists the United States as a country of origin for some of those arrested in many cities across the country. The White House teased the Aliens.gov website as if it were dropping UFO files, but it turned out to be a map compiled by the Trump administration of ICE arrests, searchable from areas across the country — after nearly a whole minute of unskippable intro text in the style of the TV show 'The X Files.' When NOTUS asked why the United States was listed for arrests made by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the White House said it was an error.... As of Friday afternoon, the 'United States' was still listed as a country of origin for people arrested by ICE in many cities, including Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, Miami and more.”
Uh-oh. Trouble on Retribution Beach. Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "A rookie federal prosecutor who brought a case accusing former FBI Director James Comey of threatening ... Donald Trump’s life by posting a photo of seashells on Instagram has stepped off the case. Matthew Petracca, who had been recently hired as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of North Carolina, is no longer on the Comey case, according to a court filing. Petracca also dropped off of other criminal cases in the Eastern District of North Carolina in recent days, according to court filings. Petracca is a former Republican county committeeman in New Jersey whom U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina W. Ellis Boyle hired months ago, NBC News has reported. Boyle oversaw the highly criticized case, which will go to trial in October if it manages to survive legal challenges. Petracca had contemplated leaving the Justice Department altogether, according to two people familiar with the matter, but instead remained a DOJ employee after taking a week off.... Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Severo is now heading the Comey case." ~~~
~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "Congratulations to Mr. Severo on his pending abject humiliation, whether that comes from the case being dismissed with extreme prejudice or another preemptive resignation."
Stephen Groves of the AP: “Former Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to answer questions Friday on ... Donald Trump’s involvement in the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files as she defended the Trump administration’s actions before House lawmakers scrutinizing the process. Bondi, who spent roughly four hours on Capitol Hill for her closed-door interview, was again defiant when she was confronted by lawmakers about the Epstein investigation. In her opening statement, she stood behind the Department of Justice’s handling of the case files and said that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, now the acting attorney general and Trump’s former personal attorney, had overseen the process to publish them.... Several survivors of Epstein’s abuse gathered outside the Capitol office where the interview was taking place. They tried to make their presence known to Bondi as she entered the room, but several said they were shoved aside by police officers.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
Julie Bosman & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: “The federal prosecutor overseeing a criminal investigation related to E. Jean Carroll, a former magazine writer who accused Donald J. Trump of sexual assault, has presided over a Chicago office marked by high-profile prosecutorial failures and a deluge of staff resignations. The prosecutor, Andrew S. Boutros, was appointed by the Trump administration as the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois just over a year ago.... He has emerged as a prosecutor closely aligned with Mr. Trump’s agenda, apparently undeterred by repeated pushback from judges and juries in recent months.... Last week, Mr. Boutros was admonished by Judge April M. Perry in her courtroom after the judge found that prosecutors in his office had acted improperly before a grand jury.... The charges in that case, whose defendants, including Mr. Parente’s client, became known as the Broadview Six, were dismissed. That ended one of the Trump administration’s most highly publicized prosecutions of protesters during Operation Midway Blitz, the immigration crackdown. Other cases tied to the crackdown have fizzled.” For more on Boutros-behaving-badly, see Michelle Goldberg's NYT column, gift-linked yesterday.
Owen Jones of the Guardian: “The US war machine has turned its sights on Cuba. Marco Rubio, the Cuban-American secretary of state who has long craved the fall of the island’s communist government, made that clear again last week. While professing a preference for a 'negotiated settlement', he said the chances of a deal were 'not high'. A couple of months ago, I saw up close the economic devastation already inflicted by decades of US siege – and, since January, by a crippling oil blockade introduced by Donald Trump. The US has now charged the country’s former president Raúl Castro with conspiracy to kill US nationals, four counts of murder and two counts of destruction of aircraft over the downing of two planes in 1996. The evidence points increasingly in one direction: it is all grimly reminiscent of the indictment of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, used to justify his kidnapping by US forces.... Trump is hardly keeping his intentions secret. 'I do believe I’ll be … having the honour of taking Cuba,' he declared in March, reminiscent of the 19th-century European colonialists who carved up Africa.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Earlier this year, I figured Maduro was Marco's participation trophy, a hard-earned prize awarded for his complete submission to Trump the Magnificent. But it appears now that Trump is planning to give Little Marco yet another, more cherished, award, an epic acknowledgment of Trump's complete domination of his former presidential rival.
They Really Don't Know What They're Doing, Ctd. Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: “The Department of Homeland Security sought on Friday to clarify its announcement last week that immigrants seeking permanent residency would have to return to their home countries to await their green cards, claiming there was no major change in policy and that only some will have to go back. The clarification appeared to be a partial walk-back of an announcement in a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services news release last week. Despite a longstanding policy of allowing immigrants to remain in the country while they wait for their green cards, it said individuals would now have to go back while they wait except in 'extraordinary' cases. But on Friday, the Homeland Security Department said it was not a blanket change and that it would be up to individual immigration officers to decide whether someone should be forced to go abroad to gain a green card. They said that officers have long had such discretion.... It was a substantial shift from last week’s announcement, but was unlikely to reduce confusion or fear, as details are still scant about who might be affected and how.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: We could ask Markwayne to clarify the policy, but I suppose he's too busy trying to get his wife a no-show job so she can also get the taxpayers to ferry her back & forth between D.C. & Oklahoma.
Ana Ley & Mark Bonamo of the New York Times: “Hours after federal agents agreed to withdraw from the parking lot of an immigration detention center in New Jersey to allow oversight from local law enforcement, state troopers scuffled late Friday with protesters who have been gathering there since the Memorial Day weekend. Sgt. First Class Charles Marchan of the New Jersey State Police said in an interview on Friday that his agency had negotiated with federal officials to leave the area outside the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark so that the state police could assume control. The change could restore order outside the center, where federal officers on Friday charged into a crowd, pushed protesters to the ground and sprayed a chemical irritant. One officer beat a demonstrator with a baton across the torso, thighs, knee and calves as he tried to flee. Three protesters were arrested and carried past a razor-wire fence into the detention center. Later on Friday, around 50 protesters remained outside the facility, with about two dozen law enforcement officers seen standing guard. Several protesters said that state troopers charged them on foot and on horseback in an attempt to disperse the demonstration.” The link has been updated to one that appears to be a gift link.
Anna Griffin of the New York Times: “A jury in Spokane, Wash., on Thursday convicted three anti-ICE demonstrators in a closely watched case that tested the effectiveness of the Trump administration’s effort to use federal conspiracy charges against protesters, and prompted the region’s acting U.S. attorney to resign. The eight-day trial of the protesters, Bajun Mavalwalla II, Justice Forral and Jac Archer, stemmed from a June 2025 demonstration outside a building rented by the federal government.... Shortly after the demonstration, Richard Barker, then the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, authorized prosecutors to examine whether protesters could face charges.... A federal grand jury later indicted nine people. Mr. Barker resigned before the indictments were filed and has since said that he did not believe the charges were warranted because no officers or protesters had been injured. His successor, Stephanie Van Marter, signed the indictments charging the nine defendants with federal felonies. Six reached plea agreements on lesser charges, but the other three rejected plea deals, arguing the federal government was violating their First Amendment rights.”
Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times: “Law enforcement officials from Minnesota and Texas on Friday arrested an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of shooting a Venezuelan immigrant this year and lying about it. The agent, Christian J. Castro, 52, was caught in Texas after investigators from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension tracked him down, according to the Hennepin County attorney’s office, which had charged him with four counts of second-degree assault this month. He faces an additional charge of filing a false police report.... Mr. Castro was placed on leave in February and ICE’s interim director, Todd Lyons, said that Mr. Castro was under investigation for appearing to have lied under oath, a federal crime. ICE officials described the state charges against Mr. Castro as 'unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt' in a statement issued the day he was charged. State prosecutors have acknowledged that they face significant practical and legal hurdles, because federal officials enjoy broad immunity from prosecutions that stem from conduct in the line of duty.” (Also linked yesterday.) Update: the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link. An MS NOW story is here.
⭐The Mass Disenfranchisement of Eligible Voters: Method 1. Jacob Knutson & Jim Saksa of Democracy Docket: "The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) said in a yet-to-be-published proposed rule Friday that it’s drawing up plans to radically crack down on mail voting by sending ballots only to voters who are registered with the federal government. The proposed rule, which will be formally published next week, is an alarming step toward implementing ... Donald Trump’s sweeping attack on mail voting ahead of the 2026 midterm election. And it would represent a massive expansion of federal control over voting, without congressional authorization.... The order is currently the subject of multiple lawsuits. USPS’s proposed rule came a day after a federal judge overseeing one of the lawsuits declined to block the order. The judge concluded the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the order since federal agencies had not yet taken steps to implement it. Now, that appears to have changed." ~~~
~~~ Marie: This truly is horrifying. If implemented, millions of people could lose their votes. That includes, well, me! Now, if I could somehow "register" with the feds online, it might not be so bad for me. But millions of lower-info voters will have no idea they need to get approval from the federal government to get a ballot. Plus, if you read on down Knutson & Saksa's report, you'll see that there is lots of room for bureaucratic screw-ups, either by local officials or USPS personnel. The usual time to request a mail-in ballot begins in a few months. Yet the Post Office hasn't even started to design, develop, test & implement a computer system meant to identify millions of people over the course of a few weeks. This is a massive screw-up waiting to happen. And that, of course, is the plan. ~~~
~~~ Because for Trump, facts are a problem: ~~~
~~~ Lok Darjee of the Guardian: “Utah released the results of a year-long audit [link fixed] of the state’s voter rolls, finding that the vast majority of its voters are verifiably US citizens, amid an escalating legal battle with the Trump administration over access to voter registration data. The audit, launched in April 2025, found that 99.72% of Utah’s registered voters are confirmed US citizens. Of the more than 2 million voter records reviewed, 27 individuals were identified as non-citizens and removed from the rolls. Only 13 of those individuals had ever cast a ballot. The review, released on Wednesday by Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson’s office, also flagged 25 probable non-citizens, who have been given 30 days to provide proof of citizenship or face removal from the voter rolls. The Trump administration has made supposed election integrity a central priority, following Trump’s long-running false claims that the 2020 election was rigged against him. The administration has pursued voter registration information from a wide raft of states, even at times resorting to lawsuits. But states already regularly monitor and maintain their own voter rolls.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Henderson is a Republican, as I imagine are most Utah state officials. So these are not exactly left-wing radicals trying to falsely dismiss Trump's claims.
M. Gessen of the New York Times susses out some lessons from Hungary's defeat of Orban that could work in the U.S. to defeat Trump. MB: I hope Democratic politicians take these lessons to heart, because they need to work on their techniques. They're definitely not the masters of some of Gessen's suggestions: like calling out the Trump regime for what it is: "a fundamentally criminal enterprise."
~~~~~~~~~~
Marie: Looks like the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office is staffed with very Trumpy deputies: ~~~
~~~ Florida. Mark Walker of the New York Times: “In February, a sheriff’s deputy was working on traffic enforcement in Lake Worth Beach, Fla., when he stopped a 36-year-old woman named Kathleen Thomas. After approaching her car, he explained why he had pulled her over: She had been holding her cellphone in her right hand. But before he could get very far with his explanation, Ms. Thomas held up her right arm. There was no phone in it. There had never been a phone in it because she has no right hand.... The deputy eventually requested that the citation be dismissed, according to court records.” MB: That deputy should definitely see if he can get one of those big old ICE signing bonuses, because he sure has what it takes to be an ICE agent, what with his experience in charging people for no reason.
Iowa. Mitch Smith of the New York Times: “Ian Roberts began this academic year as superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools.... But on Friday, about a week before classes let out for the summer, Dr. Roberts was sentenced by a federal judge to two years in prison for lying about his citizenship on an employment form and for possessing guns while in the country illegally.... The unraveling of Dr. Roberts’s career began in September when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers tried to detain him. Dr. Roberts, a former Olympic runner who was scheduled to be at an elementary school field day, fled from the officers. He was eventually arrested, and a gun was found in his district-issued vehicle.”
15 comments:
From the Kencen NYT story above, the board spox said they intend to appeal the order to remove DiJiT's name from the building and publications, because they expect an appeal judge would recognize the board's "... will to recognize President Trump's historic achievements ..."
Whereas, the judgment is based on the black letters of the law, not the judge's perception of the board's "will."
This is a good example of how autocrats' sycophants think ... el jefe wants it, so we must provide it, despite the law.
Financial Times
"Farmers in northern Vietnam are dismantling a decades-old cemetery to make way for a $1.5bn golf course and luxury residential development by the Trump Organization and its local partners, a project seen as crucial for ties between Hanoi and Washington"
"Sharp Drop in Number of Children Receiving SNAP Food Assistance Under New Federal Law
In the 12 states with available data, the number of children receiving SNAP food assistance has fallen by more than 700,000 since the Republican reconciliation law (H.R. 1) was enacted in July 2025. That accounts for nearly half of the 1.6-million-person decline among people of all ages in those states."
So in three short comments, (1) Patrick shows that Trumpettes can't even think straight; (2) RAS shows that Trump is a bully who (has been upset for decades that Scotland placed some offshore windmills near his golf course but) thinks it's fine to dig up graves that are no doubt sacred to some local people; and (3) RAS shows that Trump is causing millions of U.S. children to go hungry.
There have been scandals and/or negative stories during every administration I can remember, and in some of those cases, the scandals were the faults of the presidents themselves (Nixon, Bush II). But there has never been any U.S. president in my lifetime who made the news several times a day for scandals of his own making. In just these three little stories, Trump is the crux of the problem in each. Whether it's in his private business or his public life, he is a wrecking ball.
In a way, his insanity is a good thing -- at least for him. It's a coping mechanism. Otherwise, he'd have to get up this morning and instead of being enraged at Obama & Biden & Comey & Jack Smith & whoever, he'd have to crawl into a ball and hide in a closet in shame at his own behavior. His narcissism is both the cause of his wrongdoing and the antidote to taking responsibility for that wrongdoing. How conveeenient!
Janay Kingsberry, in The Atlantic, adds to the Kennedy Center drama, writing that "staffers I spoke with today worried that he’d already permanently broken the institution that lives there.
The center has felt like a ghost ship in recent months, they told me. With internal communications scarce, programming thin, and departments gutted or entirely shuttered, the national cultural center seemed to be entering hibernation."
The Kennedy Center Enters the Unknown
"The president wrote today on Truth Social that he wants to offload responsibility for the Kennedy Center to Congress: “Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into ‘NEVER NEVER LAND.’”
Wendy,
Fat Hitler whining that he’s the only one who can “fix” the Kennedy Center” is like the guy who stole a rare, beautiful, vintage Rolls Royce, spray painted his name on the hood, then took it out joy riding to show off for his loser pals, and slammed it into a wall. When a judge ordered the car returned to its rightful owner and the spray paint removed, the car thief whines that the owner didn’t deserve the car and he was only trying to “make it better”. If, however, the judge allowed him to keep the car to fulfill his promise to “fix” it, the thief, after a while would simply abandon the vehicle, saying it was now unfixable, blaming both the owner and the wall for his inability to restore it to its former glory.
With Trump, every single problem is the direct result of his belief in his own superiority, but when the bill comes due for the messes he causes, he hands it off because it’s always someone else’s fault.
He bears no responsibility for anything, but he is more than happy to steal good things created by others, taking full credit for those things, until he slams them into a wall and destroys them. At that point, someone or something else is always to blame.
Marie calls him a wrecking ball. Partially true. But at least a wrecking ball, in the right hands, has a purpose and does its job well. With this fat fuck, that wrecking ball is swung at everything in sight.
I've been reading a lot about how Fat Hitler's support of the scandal plagued crook, Ken Paxton, may tip the balance of power in the Senate. It seems several other Senate seats occupied by Party of Traitors butts could be in jeopardy (ie, handed to someone who understands rule of law, the Constitution, etc.).
I'll believe it when I see it. Not so much that these seats might be recoverable by a party that isn't in demonic thrall to the Fat Fascist, but that the democratic process will proceed unencumbered.
Back in Texas, word is that the scandal plagued crook, Ken Paxton, could be in for a rough time against the Democratic candidate. That seems entirely likely, and so Fatty and his democracy despising henchmen, and their media shills are mounting a multi pronged attack on James Talarico.
These include calling him a transgender candidate (by Mr. Civility himself, Beelzebub lookalike, Stephen Miller), branding him a VEGAN! HOLY SHIT! Not that! And my favorite? Some POS PoT candidate for congress in Florida, some Dan Weldon person, has mounted a serious attack on Talarico's ability to serve in the United States Senate: he might not be able to name a single (not even ONE!) obscure wide receiver from the early 2000's. Jesus Christ! How would the nation survive that catastrophe?
This, in case you haven't been paying attention, is now considered a serious threat to the country. Not being able to name a single OBSCURE wide receiver from 20 years ago. Listen, I'm a football fan. I played a lot of football (brain still working, for now), in college and even after. I know a fair amount about it. And I am lucky to be able to come up with two or three "obscure" wide receivers from that era. This is what we're down to now? How about we ask Mr. Weldon to name a single obscure political philosopher from the 18th century whose work made a great impact on the creation of this nation? How about we ask him to name a single obscure scientist who worked on the Manhattan Project? How about we challenge him to a spelling contest?
Fuck me.
And before I forget, Weldon's football question comes from his own background. He played for the University of Florida Gators, historically, the most criminal team in NCAA college history. At one point, the Gators fielded a team in which a full 25% of players were wanted for crimes.
But okay, Talarico is not fit for office because he's not in that caliber of shitheads.
But my larger point is this: everyone and his cis sister will be after Talarico. Fatty will find some way for his personal law firm, Todd Blanche, LLC, formerly the US Department of Justice, to indict him for parking tickets or maybe not knowing obscure football players. Never mind that Paxton is a walking crime wave, all the attention (and the supine media will follow right along) will be on Talafreako, or whatever other stupid name this collection of fifth grade booger eaters can come up with. Can he win? In a fair election he stands a very good chance.
This one won't be fair. Neither will most of the midterm elections, if the Fatty brownshirts can help it.
Youse guys have probably all heard that director Christopher Nolan ("Oppenheimer") is releasing his version of "The Odyssey" this summer. My son and I are raring to see it. He has recently finished his first run through of the epic, and I have just read my third translation of it, so our popcorn is ready, baby!
What we're not WICKED concerned about is how "historically accurate" the movie is.
Know who is having a yuuuugge sad about that though? The MAGAts! Especially the South African Chainsaw Nazi, Elon the Musky. He is very, very, very upset that Nolan's take on a fictional story is not historically accurate.
I, for one, have always maintained a great concern that Santa Claus couldn't possibly fly around the world in one night delivering toys to every good boy and girl. It defies the laws of physics, and I demand an explanation! Harrumph! Also, I've been very displeased that none of the actresses hired to play Elizabeth Bennet in "Pride and Prejudice" resemble the actual Elizabeth Bennet. Wait....what?
So, this is so stupid as to defy any reasonable conception of logic, but it's the usual conniption of the MAGAts with their culture warrior hats nailed in place. Remember the diaper pooping over "Barbie"? This will be worse. So the main concern is that Helen of Troy (not a real person--ever) is being played by a black actress, Lupita Nyong’o, a very beautiful woman, something for which the aforementioned fictional Helen was renowned (the thousand ships thing, eg).
One could argue that not a single member of the cast is "historically accurate". Matt Damon, who plays Ulysses, is a white guy who grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, not the Greek island of Ithaca. A British actor plays his son, Telemachus, and so on. In fact, the only film I've ever seen of Homer's characters that could be vaguely considered "accurate", was "Iphigenia" directed by Michael Cacoyannis in 1977. The entire cast was Greek. But since it was based on a play by Euripides, it too was NOT HISTORICAL! (But it's a really good movie. Poor Iphigenia. No wonder Clytemnesta gave Agamemnon the axe when he got back from Troy.)
If the white supremacists want to get into it, how about all the white guys who played African Americans in DW Griffith's KKK masterpiece, "Birth of a Nation"? How about a German actor, Peter Lorre, playing the Japanese detective, Mr. Moto, or all the white guys who played Charlie Chan? You wanna talk about terrible casting? How about John Wayne playing Ghengis Khan??? (Or military service-avoiding John Wayne playing any war hero?)
Oh yeah, the MAGAts are also up in arms because of the rumor that Elliot Page, a Canadian trans actor, will be playing Achilles (or as I prefer, Akhilleus), demanding instead that someone like a muscle bound Brad Pitt play the famous king of the Myrmidons (another white American guy).
Okay, let's dial it back. First of all, I will bet everything all of us own that neither Elon Musk nor most of the MAGAts screaming about this have ever read "The Odyssey" (or "The Iliad" for that matter). Second, as I've pointed out, we're talking about mythological characters. Helen was the daughter of Zeus who was born out of a fucking EGG! How historically accurate could they make that? And so what if Elliot Page plays Achilles in "The Odyssey"? He's a minor character, and Ulysses meets him in the underworld where he is DEAD! He's a spirit. He could be played by Pee Wee Herman. And Helen is a much more minor character in this epic than she was in "The Iliad".
They just can't let go of anything they need to be outraged about. Oh, I have an even worse casting complaint: Donald Trump as a US president! Worst casting in history.
Fuckers.
Like Akhilleus, comedian John Fugelsang, has a few things to say about Paxton on substack - The Texas Chainsaw Candidate
"This week on the Late-Stage-Capitalism Comedy Review, Texas Republicans looked at a man indicted for securities fraud, impeached by his own party, investigated by the FBI, publicly rebuked by his mistreated wife, tied to corruption scandals, whistleblower scandals, election denial scandals, and said: “Finally - someone with traditional values.”
Ken Paxton just won the Republican Senate nomination in Texas, because in modern American politics, indictments are basically Pokémon cards for MAGA officials."
As seen on Threads, James Talarico answers a question on his views on abortion adamantly pro-choice
Another band pulls out of the 250 Fair
People to find out their local public transportation
"Exxon Mobil warned Thursday that oil inventories will fall to record low levels in coming weeks, forcing prices to spike and curbing demand.
“We’re approaching unheard of inventory levels,” said Exxon Senior Vice President Neil Chapman at a conference hosted by Bernstein in New York."
More doo-doo in the prezidenshul diaper!
RAS,
Sad to see the Chuck E Cheese robot band pull out. Those dudes can rock. But these cancellations are really pissing off a certain fat dementia patient.
Bands pulling out of his Me Me Me Extravaganza this summer have the rotund robber baron ready to take the stage his fat self. "I don't need anyone! I'm bigger than Elvis!"
Fatty sez "I understand Artists are getting 'the yips' having to do with their performance on Wednesday, so I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate 'Artists,' and give a major speech, rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President!!"
The "yips"? Sorry little donnie, these are professional performers. They're not hack golfers like you. They don't get the 'yips". What they're all getting is the "nopes". Nope, we ain't gonna support a fat fascist trying to glom onto the nation's birthday and make it all about him.
As for Fatty jumping on stage and giving a speech, I'm sure the place will empty out faster than the Oval Office after one of his fart attacks.
The saddest thing is that he really believes this bullshit about him being the greatest human being in the history of the planet. Even sadder? We have two more years of this stupidity.
About this "perfect health" report on the most out of shape, overweight, can-barely-walk president in modern times....Was this from the same doctor who claimed Fatty had bone spurs and couldn't possibly join the losers and suckers in Vietnam? This is right up there with "Cheese found on the moon!" sorts of headlines.
The list of artists and celebs who showed up for Obama is incredible. Not just A-listers, although plenty of those, but all-time Hall of Fame greats: Stevie Wonder, Pete Seeger, Herbie Hancock? Wow.
And who does the Orange Monster get? A couple of drunk guys wearing MAGA hats playing kazoos? Losers like Kid Rock? Fascist "influencers" from YouTube? Himself? Yeah.
A show for the ages.
Ages 2 through 4.
Oh noes! CANCEL MAN Fatty is now saying his glorious ME ME ME celebration should be nixed. He must have been envisioning trying to fill four hours with those MAGA guys playing kazoos. He's pulling a TACO again--and channeling Emily Litella:
"Never mind".
Oh, but wait....wasn't this supposed to be the greatest show in the history of shows? The GOAT of shows? The show of shows? The mother of all shows?
Sucks to be a shithead hated by millions and deserted by smart people with self respect.
Oh well, there's always his cage match thingie being built on the White House lawn with tatted up guys kicking each other in the nuts. What better way to celebrate America's 250th? Jefferson would be so proud!
Post a Comment